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unknownentry404 · 2 years ago

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Unpopular opinion, but I feel like engaging with “opposite” queer media, can be a “safe” way to interact with queerness when you are still young and figuring yourself out. Like look! Being a teen and like: “ I like [insert heteronormative response relating to the gender you were assigned at birth]. I’m not queer! It’s okay!”

Like, obviously that’s not everyone. But some people definitely love fic because they’re queer, some because they’re young and questioning, some love it just to love love and interesting story dynamics not found enough in media, and some do love it because they’re cishet it is hot for them. And yes, that last group can make you uncomfortable and it’s fine to be so, but fic is so varied and writers are such a spectrum, so I think it is deeply unfair to blanket sweep all fanfic and fanfic readers/writers as “fetishists.”

I mean, god. Look at tumblr and how queer we all are on here. Those two audiences often overlap you know? I certainly don’t find many other ficcers on other social media sites (rest in piece LiveJournal my beloved). Fic has a deep and storied queer history and that should be cherished.

TLDR: a cishet person writing/reading mlm/film/etc is not inherently bad/your-problem. BUT if you meet someone that makes you uncomfortable because they are cishet and “obsessed with gays/yaoi,” you are allowed to feel uncomfortable and even call them out. But also, don’t go looking for fics and/or writers to hate on? You have no idea WHO is writing the fic you hate: it could be a 12 y/o queer/questioning teen or it could be a conservative mom with a fetish for the “forbidden” or some bullshit, etc.

Fanfic. It’s not curated, it’s not monetised, it’s not professionally edited nor written by a professional writer. (I mean I’m sure some golden gems are, but they are not the norm nor the starting point).

You’re allowed to be squicked out about it if it relates to you (and you’re not just an Ally making unnecessary fuss on what doesn’t concern you), but don’t go looking for trouble and attacking/shaming people you don’t know. But obviously, if someone attacks you with shit that is deeply triggering to you? In person or online? Go ham. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Once again I’m just asking for nuance.

(AND also for the pro-ao3-censorship people to reconsider: please understand that banning/censoring stories of any kind is a rabbit hole that never ends well. I mean look at the republicans! They tried to censor books in schools in Utah, in the “name of keeping porn from children,” but with the not so subtle agenda to get rid of queer and critical race theory books. And it backfired when the Bible got pulled. Trying to censor fic will just eventually lead to the banning of some legit queer/minority works of art and stifling creativity. Book burning/banning is NEVER the answer.

(As I always say: there is NO such thing as a bad story premise, just bad execution. Some topics are obviously more taboo and/or tricky to do respectively than others, but that doesn’t mean they can never be done well? Especially when it’s done by people who’ve survived such trauma trying to work through it in their story telling. Not to even mention that those people don’t need to out themselves or even be good writers for you to “justify” their work’s existence.

(And yes, by god is there undoubtedly some disgusting fics out there, in ao3 and published work alike! But that’s what makes ao3 so beautiful. Tags are beautiful. The culture of authors putting Trigger Warnings in notes are beautiful. More information not less. Look, it’s like the banning of porn on tumblr. It didn’t make porn less common, just made it more likely to stumble across when you could no longer blacklist nsfw. .

Essay clear.

[ . . OP, why did you turn off comment replies, my lack of a character limit made me go off the wall, I apologise. :’)c I’m too passionate about this. But it’s also such a hard topic to discuss concisely. Also: stating I’m so gay I’m straight here, to give perspective to my voice, (transmasc, loving the fems/enbies, etc). And have been reading fic for over a decade and a half, in all parts of my queer journey. . . Confession time: I grew up in such a small town and had such a controlling Homelife, that I came across “gay stuff”/“representation” for the first time with Yaoi when I was like 14. Was it a good starting off point? ABSOLUTELY NOT. But it also helped me break down that block of “don’t think-about/acknowledge gay people or you’ll turn gay” mindset I was brought up and brainwashed in. It made me not scared/“phobic” of just the very “concept,” which in turn eventually made me more open to learning when I went to uni and then eventually discovering myself in the years following uni. People are messy man. Love and compassion and good faith is the answer. Unless someone is actually coming for you, and has reached the point of no return: THEN punch em in the face. :3 But the world is too exhausting to go looking for hate. Take care of yourself, and be careful not to inadvertently hurt yourself or others].

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ghoste-catte · 3 years ago

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I usually avoid unfinished works like the plague because they may stop at a random unsatisfying moment but at this point I am dying of starvation. Can you reccomend any good unfinished gaalee fics? Ongoing ones or abandoned works. Thank you in advance! :3

Oh, anon. You have innocently stumbled across the intersection of my obsessions like a fawn into the open mouth of a bear trap.

That being said, GaaLee? Stories cut agonizingly short?? Do I have some recommendations for you!!

This is gonna get long as hell, so let me slap it behind a cut.

Okay, let me start off with a couple of GaaLee powerhouses. You have probably come across their stories before:

Luna_Lee: A good chunk of @sagemoderocklee's works are WIPs, so if you're looking for something to get invested in and then cry about when it's not quite done, they're definitely your person. Come here for politics-heavy AUs, worldbuilding, and descriptions so lush you'll want to eat them, specifically:

Thirteen Strokes (Canonverse, slow burn, drama, intrigue, and falling in love, 2/13, 25k)

The Art of Love (Canon divergence, slow burn, politics, worldbuilding, and travel, 12/26, 135k)

It Eats Your Heart (Horror, haunted house, psychodrama, trauma, 1/6, 6.7k)

Whazzername: I recommend anything by Whazz for your fun and fluffy feels needs, but for WIPs, I specifically suggest:

A Golden Opportunity (Olympics AU!, modern AU, family drama, pining from a distance, 1/?, 3k)

Love's Revenge (Pirate AU, mistaken identities, worldbuilding, 2/?, 8.5k)

Fools Rush In series (Canonverse, surrogacy, baby Metal, falling in love and first times; Part 1 complete, 9/9, 29k; Part 2 incomplete, 5/9, 25k)

EgregiousDerp: @egregiousderp is another always-recommend, particularly if you like intensive worldbuilding, chaotic!horny Gaara and lawful!horny Lee, complicated relationships, and characterizations that aren't where the rest of fanon goes but feel so right. Specifically, I'd suggest:

Things You Said series (Canonverse, Neji lives, cultural notes, idiots in love, Parts 1 & 2 compete, 1/1 & 1/1, 18k & 17k; Part 3 not posted)

Word and Deed (Soulmarks AU, nontraditional soulmates, post-Boruto, old men in love, 4/?, 19k)

HEROES COME BACK!!! (A RUMBLEBIRDS remix) (Magic AU, worldbuilding, humor, 2/?, 12k)

Okay, having set aside the regular players, let's dig into the hidden gems of the pairing:

Years and Years by @requirings (Illustrated!, fic outline, canonverse, slow burn, falling in love, firsts, 14/?, 32k)

A Memory of Sand and Silence by @snailcronomycota (Silent Hill AU, horror, atmospheric, 2/?, 13k)

The Moss by @sodii and @m-jeevas (Illustrated!, '90s AU, substance use and addiction, mental health, lots of smut, 18/?, 211k)

Brunch by rayo (@lizardyeast) (Modern AU, recluse Gaara, Shukaku as a chihuahua, chaotic roommate Naruto, 4/?, 19k)

Recklessness and Other Spaces by Virlatta (Post-canon/Pre-Boruto, dystopian, shinobi system critique, Naruto-critical, angst, 14/?, 28k)

Catharsis by sepiacigarettes (Arranged marriage AU, slow burn, Suna worldbuilding, also SNS, 22/?, 50k)

Risen from Ash by @bushierbrows (Canon divergence, anti-war, shinobi system critique, 2/?, 19k)

EUNOIA series by YumKiwiDelicious (Lost memories, dreams, I honestly don't want to spoil this one just READ IT, Part 1 complete, 12/12, 50k; Part 2+ not posted)

Nature vs. Nurture by Bidiza (plants, canon divergence, one-shots, 3/10, 6.8k)

Beneath the Mask by LilacNoctua (@lilac-writes) and Almost_sad (@flightlessdevotee) (Illustrated!, Victorian AU, masquerades, fleeing the law, 3/6, 14k)

Odd One by ManaBanana (@missdetache) (Gaara being a whole freak, canonverse, humor, 3/?, 8k)

Properties of Emergence series by Myrddinembreis (Canon-adjacent, worldbuilding, lush descriptions, beautiful language, Parts 1 & 2 complete, 1/1 & 2/2, 29k & 30k; Part 3+ not posted)

Mirotic by thejammys (College AU, slow burn, photographer!Gaara, track star!Lee, 9/25, 50k)

Antinomy by GooseAndGold (Blank Period, soul bonds, dreamsharing, 4/?, 14k)

Pressure Point by BaffledFox (Canonverse, mission fic, kidnapping, high stakes, 3/?, 14k)

Triple Time by @gidget-goes (Magic AU, Fantasy AU, djinn, worldbuilding, visual language galore, 2/5, 10k)

#answered #anonymous #gaalee #fic recs

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daisies-and-chai · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,121 times in 2022

That's 923 more posts than 2021!

54 posts created (3%)

2,067 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@malfoytookmyheart

@silverswallow

@funnytwittertweets

@ashstfu

@swiftmendeshoran

I tagged 232 of my posts in 2022

#i- - 13 posts

#lol - 12 posts

#facts - 10 posts

#chris evans - 9 posts

#spotify - 6 posts

#the weeknd - 5 posts

#omg - 5 posts

#g rants - 4 posts

#smh - 4 posts

#my baby 🥺😌 - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 102 characters

#i can't flip a pancake so makes sense why i can't get physics through this shit load of a brain i have

My Top Posts in 2022:

youtube

because it is a new year and a new day, it must start on an extremely positive and loving note.

10 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

HAPPY NEW YEAR BBYS 🥳🌻💃

Today, 1st January 2022 brings with it so many new opportunities for us. We have 365 days to evolve into a better person, to grow. I genuinely wish that this year brings us loads of positivity, happiness and good health. I hope all those moments we have felt I'm not good enough are replaced by realising our self worth. All the moments we have not liked even hated a part of us get turned into pure adoration and self love. I wish everyone a very happy new year. Let the past stay in the past let's make new, beautiful memories and achieve more than we have yet.

My Tumblr mutuals I LOVE YOU GUYS. You're like a blessing. I can come to talk to you when I can't talk to the people ik irl. You guys never judge and are always there. You make my life so so so much better. I came on here to be a part of a fandom but who knew I'd find three gems 🥺❤️

@mendesblurb @yournameoneverypage @silverswallow

@swiftmendeshoran babe you are amazing.

@malfoytookmyheart and @chocochipcookie305 you guys are the freakin best.

@the creators who's stories I have read, balled my eyes out to, the memes i have laughed my heart out to and all the beautiful art I have seen, thankyouuu!

@my mutuals, followers or anyone who stumbles across this post guys have the BEST FUCKING YEAR. Stay safe and healthy AND SLAY 😌.

12 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

Hey y'all!

My exam date is 'almost' declared. It's on 17th July, 2022 most probably. So I thought in this last leg of the journey I must give my one hundred percent, right? I'll be going off Tumblr till my exam. I'd miss you all so much. Just thought I'd let everyone know before disappearing without any heads up and making my besties worried. I'll see you soon bbys hopefully as a medico🤞

BYE!

Stay hydrated and keep slaying 💅😚❤️

13 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

Me unintentionally romanticising my life by playing music while cooking or bathing; lighting scented candles while studying and going for long solo strolls every evening, just me, my music and nature.

How do you romanticise your life?

@mendesblurb @swiftmendeshoran @silverswallow @yournameoneverypage @chocochipcookie-305 @malfoytookmyheart

16 notes - Posted February 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Guys... it's my two year Tumblr-versary lol. The way I FORGOT-

😩❤️🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Bruh, TWO FREAKING years?!?! Like two whole years. But okay, WOW i.

I'm so so so so soooo happy. My first year was so lowkey; I was scared to text 'popular blog owners'; I was legit scared to reblog at one point lol! It's been such a journey. I've loved every bit of it.

I've met such amazing people and I'd never trade this for anything.

@silverswallow @mendesblurb These two people have been my rocks here. They were the ones who made me stay and I'll never forget that. When I started writing they were my source of encouragement. I love you both SO MUCH.

@swiftmendeshoran Britt, the freaking VIBE you have, I LOVE you.

@yournameoneverypage Babe your fics ✨😩

@malfoytookmyheart bro like BRO your blog gets more relatable everytime I'm on there.

@chocochipcookie305 Mal, thankyou for being here.

Tumblr is literally my coping mechanism.

There is so much going on. I've met SUCH great people. All of my studyblr mutuals are the freaking best. I'm EMO and I'm not kidding. @alfalfaaarya @rae-blogging @proving-myself

I have and always will cherish every moment I've spent on here.

🥂 To many more shitposts and rants and fics (reading and hopefully writing)

Signing off

23 notes - Posted March 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Youtube

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thesleepiesthufflepuff · 4 years ago

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My Favorite Fics 2020

Alrighty. I read a decent amount of fanfiction this year (mostly thanks to Wizards Hearts/Game of Drarry), and I’m here to list out some of my very favorites. Thank you to all of the creators out there who put so much time, effort, and energy into creating beautiful stories, and here’s to lots of reading in the new year 💜 also, this is in no particular order and all rec notes are from my personal fic tracker spreadsheet (if anyone wants details on how I set up my spreadsheet, etc. please feel free to send an ask!) 💕

1) Change on the Horizon by Static_abyss / @static-abyss [Explicit, 118.6k,]

When things settle down after the war, Harry has trouble figuring out who he’s supposed to be and what’s expected of him. At the same time, Draco finds himself having to decide between what his parents want and what he wants for himself. Together, Harry and Draco embark on a journey to figure out who they are as individuals and what that means for their future together.

A canon AU drarry fic based on the relationship between Mickey and Ian from Shameless.

Hands down one of the best fics I've ever read. Ana did the most amazing job at translating Micky and Ian's relationship to Harry and Draco, although it’s definitely not necessary to know Shameless in order to enjoy the story. The writing is stunning, and I loved every single bit of this

2) I’ll Play Your Game by JayseHasNoGrace [Mature, 52.2k]

After quitting the Auror department at the ripe old age of twenty two, Harry Potter finds a nice, uneventful job in an apothecary. At least, it's uneventful until his old rival Draco Malfoy comes into the shop.

They strike up an unlikely friendship, which evolves into an increasingly convoluted scheme, which then snowballs spectacularly out of control into a tangle of lies and blurred lines.

They'd agreed to a fake relationship — in Harry's case, to get the wizarding world to take him off his 'perfect saviour' pedestal, and in Draco's case, just to be given a chance in wizarding society at all — but neither of them expected just how difficult that might really turn out to be. Especially when the stakes grow ever higher, and they both start falling for each other. Just a little bit.

FAKE DATING!!! Ugh, this was so good. I love the media aspect of it, and the way that everything comes together is just brilliant. A must-read for anyone who loves fake dating!!

3) I Can be Your Lighthouse by orpheous87 / @orpheous87 [Teen, 4k]

When Harry gets called to investigate reports of Dark magic, the last thing he expects to find is an almost unconscious Draco Malfoy. After multiple instances, he resolves to find out what's going on.

inspired by the song The Lighthouse by The Used.

So, so sweet. I love Harry's determination to figure out what's going on. This is such a lovely fic, and I enjoyed every minute of it

4) Freedom to be by Quicksilvermaid / @quicksilvermaid [Explicit, 169.5k]

Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived.

12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends.

Only nothing feels perfect.

Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.

This left such an impact on me, and it’s a fic I think about often. I can't even begin to explain how incredible everything about this is.

5) Dear Diary by AWickedMemory (TeddyLaCroix) [Teen, 20.4k]

// This can’t possibly go worse than the last time I kept a diary. //

After the war, Harry picks up a journal to write in… and it writes back. Luckily, it’s not a Horcrux on the other end this time.

Absolutely amazing. The relationship that develops between Harry and Draco as they write to each other was so soft and wonderful, and I would easily read 100k of this!

6) Grounds for Divorce by Tepre [Explicit, 122.2k]

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

I loved this. It was so angsty at times, but well worth it. An absolute classic that I’m so pleased to be able to say I’ve read.

7) Nero Su Bianco by Zuzallove [Explicit, 40.5k]

September 1997. Hogwarts is under the regime of Voldemort and the Carrows. Finding himself alienated by both his friends and his supposed enemies, Draco puts quill to parchment, and writes letters. He addresses them to the only person he can think of, as Hogwarts rapidly falls into chaos and ruin: Harry Potter. He goes to great lengths to ensure the letters are never discovered, and he’s pretty certain he’s done a great job.

Until the day of his trial.

The letters were so much fun to read, even though they were heartbreaking at times. I loved Draco’s characterization in this, as well as how his relationship develops with Harry.

8) Thunder by Keyflight790 [Explicit, 21.5k]

The storm will disappear; the rain will subside; but what's left in its wake will last forever. A story of love and loss, redemption and thunder

I really loved how well Draco's addiction was written. I'm not a huge fan of past relationships, but this was done in such a beautiful way. Plus, talking to dragons!!!

9) dirtynumbangelboy by magpie_fngrl [Explicit, 39.4k]

After Harry’s unfortunate encounter with his ex, Draco Malfoy makes him a proposition. Draco wants his parents to stop matchmaking him and Harry wants to make his ex jealous. All they need to do is simply pretend they’re in love. Problem is… Draco already is.

Amazing. This has absolutely sucked me into the world of fake dating. I could ramble about this forever, to be honest. Simply incredible, and I love how snarky their relationship was. It was the epitome of a good Drarry fic.

10) just tell me when it’s alright by M0stlyVoid / @bonesliketambourines [Explicit, 23k]

Harry’s been fighting tooth and nail for any bit of normalcy he can get his hands on. He’s sick of feeling like something’s wrong with him, tired of feeling different. He thinks he’s finally gotten to the root of it, and has settled into a routine that makes him happy. Naturally, that’s when Draco Malfoy walks back into his life and upends it once again. Has Harry bitten off more than he can chew with his former rival?

YES!! I genuinely loved Harry’s clinginess. This fic was absolutely amazing, and the secret dating was lovely. Plus, bi awakening!!

11) When Hippogriffs and Pygmy Puffs Collide by oldenuf2nb [Mature, 32.7k]

Harry Potter bakes cakes, brilliantly. Draco Malfoy inks tattoos, brilliantly. Owls deliver post, including messages from clients, with an occasional lack of brilliance.

I was really surprised at how much I loved this, especially since I’ve not really read many fics with odd jobs. I absolutely adored the fact that Harry was a baker and Draco was a tattoo artist, and the characterizations were absolute perfection

12) You Send Me (Honest You Do) by firethesound [Explicit, 37k]

As far as potion accidents go in general, and deaging incidents go in particular, Draco knew this could have been so much worse. Harry only lost about ten years, and all his memories are still intact. But the sight of him looking as if he’s stepped straight out of Draco’s Hogwarts memories has dredged up a whole mess of complicated feelings Draco thought he’d buried years ago, and Draco really doesn’t know what to do with any of it.

I absolutely adored this, and I thought the de-aging aspect was done is such a tasteful way. Such a good read.

13) Highly (in)Compatible by daisymondays [Teen, 36.8k]

Draco’s been shagging The Prat Who Lived on and off for a few months when his soul mark starts to change. Draco’s had to accept a lot of adjustments to his life, but accepting that Harry Potter could be his soulmate is one step too far. It can’t be true? Can it?

I LOVED THIS! Oh man, that ending! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant

14) Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by ICMezzo [Mature, 37.8k]

The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.

An amazing, beautiful, tender fic! The ROR has given them the gift of each other, and I honestly love that it's just the two of them and no other characters. An incredible and soft read

15) December Never Felt So Wrong by MaesterChill / @maesterchill [Explicit, 50k]

'Twas the month before Christmas and sixteen year old Draco Malfoy had never felt worse. His attempts to kill Dumbledore were failing and, as usual, Harry Fucking Potter was a constant thorn in his side.

All that suddenly changed when Draco woke up 15 years in the future and discovered that not only was he allegedly shagging Harry Fucking Potter, he also had thinning hair and a five year old son, and no fucking clue how he got there.

Truly brilliant, and I was laughing from the start. The combination of the aging up, Harry’s off-tune singing to Muggle songs, and soft parenthood were all things I immediately fell in love with. Will be reading again and again

16) Catch Me If I Fall by keeli_marie [Explicit, 38.2k]

When Draco Malfoy collides with Harry Potter one morning while dropping the kids off at school, things don’t go quite the way either of them would have expected.

Another absolute gem, and I'm still reeling from how amazing it was. I'm always a bit hesitant with kid fics, but this is one of the best depictions of love between Harry and Draco that I've read. I love how supportive Astoria is. Such a lovely fic

16) Love Found by Peachpety / @peachpety [Explicit, 7.5k]

During Harry’s sixth year, Draco Malfoy joins the Order as a double-agent and continues with his task to get the Death Eaters into the castle as assigned by Voldemort. Draco succeeds with his mission the evening Harry returns from the caves with Dumbledore. The boys reunite on the Astronomy Tower and, with the Death Eater’s arrival, are forced to engage in a fight, driving Harry to come to terms with his feelings about true friendship and romantic love.

SUCH a good rewrite of the astronomy tower scene. I can’t describe how much I love the pre-existing relationship, which is a trope I typically steer clear from. And the snark!!! Such a good fucking fic

17) Taro Milk Tea with a side of Depression by Veelawings / @veelawings [Mature, 1k]

Draco sat through twenty grievous minutes of Ministry-mandated group therapy for Newly Registered Magical Beings & Creatures — then promptly stormed out.

Okay, I loved this. The play format was so cool and fit the narration so well. Absolute perfection and SO. GOOD.

18) The Dragon At The Bottom Of The Garden by Zopno [Explicit, 52.3k]

At 25 Harry Potter's life was simple; he flew, sculpted, and had the vault in the back of his mind to keep all unpleasant business. It was stable, but when Draco Malfoy literally hit him with a giant rock; all that changed.

I loved the storyline, especially Animagus bird Harry!! This was such a unique take on an Animagus and post-war fic, and I loved reading it so much

19) Exposure by GallaPlacidia [Mature, 26.9k]

When Seamus uncovers Draco Malfoy's camboy profile, he, Harry and Ron decide to anonymously book a private show so as to humiliate him later. Fascinated by Draco's confidence, Harry keeps booking private shows under the disguise...

Self prompt: Draco is a camboy. Harry betrays him.

I can't give this enough praise. The hurt of it all was so brilliant. A new favorite for sure

20) you've got the antidote for me by Kandakicksass [Mature, 20.7k]

When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want.

He's never been selfless before, but for Harry, he can try.

Fuck. Like...fuck. This was so sad and angsty and perfect in all the right ways. Watching everything unfold was so painful but so worth it. Another new favorite

21) A Room Up There (And You In It) by thestarryknight [Teen, 59.2k]

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit. Featuring a grumpy antiques lover who most certainly did not sign up for this, encounters with a vengeful apparition, and a healthy application of Christmas spirit.

Absolutely fucking fantastic. This fic reads intimacy all over, despite there being no sex. I love preservationist Draco and the way in which information about Harry unfolds. I can’t say enough how much I loved this advent fic, and Starry did such a great job

And now for three fics that I have yet to read/need to emotionally prepare myself for:

1) Modern Love by Tackytiger / @tackytigerfic [Explicit, 61.2k]

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

And it really doesn’t seem fair that Draco Malfoy is back in Harry’s life, all of a sudden, and even though he’s wandless, and living with Muggles, and making his mother cry with his lifestyle choices, he’s happy. So what's he doing right, that Harry isn’t?

Because things don’t really change, do they? And if Harry can’t be happy, he’ll settle for a good night’s sleep, some posh antiques, and the opportunity to find out what Malfoy has been up to for all these years.

And that’s what starts it all.

2) Dragons Don't Know Paradise by tainara_black / @teacup-tai [Explicit, 50.9k]

In 2004, when Remus spends two scary weeks in the ITU due to complications of pneumonia and his HIV condition, Sirius walks around the house like a ghost and Harry finds comfort and strength in Draco through a chat in an online LGBT forum. Harry falls for him, but Draco has a lot of secrets and, before long, will need to come clean—even if he believes that no one is able to understand a dragon.

This is a story about falling in love online and about facing the reality of death, but above all, this is a story about hope, finding love and acceptance. (Non-magical / bookshop AU, written for the 25 days of Drarry 2020)

3) Aeternus Solem by onbeinganangel / @onbeinganangel [Explicit, 36.9k]

On December 1st, Harry Potter gets sent halfway across the world to attempt to break a possibly fatal curse on an unnamed British Unspeakable — except said Unspeakable is not unnamed at all and Harry has been in love with him for over four years.

{If anyone spots any mistakes in this list, PLEASE let me know! I hope you all have a lovely New Year’s, and may 2021 be less of a dumpster on fire than its predecessor 💜}

#drarry #draco malfoy #harry potter #draco x harry #harry x draco #drarry fanfiction #drarry fic recs #drarry favorites #fay recs

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hallmark-movie-fanatics · 6 years ago

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The Second Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Inside Hallmark's Christmas in July 2019

By Ingela Ratledge Ingela Ratledge

Ah, the dog days of summer. A time for coconut-scented sunscreen, backyard barbecues, and — thanks to Hallmark — a monthlong marathon of cozy holiday movies.

For the fifth year, fans of mistletoe and merrymaking will be treated to an early fix as a bacchanal of more than 225 original Christmas flicks from its extensive catalog are served up on Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and the streaming service Hallmark Movies Now.

"There is such a magical feeling around the holidays — it's like a halo effect," says Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming and publicity for Crown Media Family Networks. "Tapping into that during the summer is fun and decadent."

It also ranks surprisingly high on a lot of wish lists. According to Vicary, the concept was initially inspired by the devoted cadre of shoppers who eagerly anticipate the release of Hallmark's keepsake ornaments in stores each July: "We realized that they were thinking about Christmas in July, and we could [cater] to that with our programming."

(A Very Merry Mix-Up)

Considering the success the network enjoys with its annual Countdown to Christmas, traditionally beginning in late October, the decision to keep the eggnog flowing was a good call. Last July, Hallmark Channel's Christmas offerings reached 24.8 million folks.

"Our audience loves what we do at the holidays and experiences a sense of heartbreak when it's over," Vicary says. "This is a way to give them what they want."

Behold, a glimpse at the treasures awaiting under the (palm) tree.

The New Addition

Per usual, the lineups will be dominated by previously aired movies — i.e., ghosts of Christmases past. But making its Hallmark Movies & Mysteries grand debut on July 11 (9/8c) is Christmas Camp, starring Lily Anne Harrison, daughter of Hallmark vet Gregory Harrison (2014's The Nine Lives of Christmas, July 14, 4/3c, Hallmark). She plays Hayley, an executive at a slick ad agency who, in an effort to land a toy company account, heads off for a crash course in the real spirit of the season.

"It's a story about family, hope, and what's truly important," Harrison says. "Those things never get old!"

(The Nine Lives of Christmas)

If Christmas Camp strikes a chord, it will earn the right to countless future airings. Says Harrison, "I've watched my dad touch so many people over the years [with his Hallmark movies]. It's a very big deal to know I'll be on TV in so many homes."

Greatest Hits

Too much of a good thing? As if! Scores of the most beloved movies will hit the airwaves a handful of times during HM&M's "Gold Crown Christmas" event (running 24/7 from June 28 to July 14), Hallmark's "Christmas Keepsake" spectacular (July 12–July 27), and Hallmark Movies Now's "Jingle in July" (all month).

The frequent fliers are chosen based on past ratings and broadcast at various times to optimize viewers' chances of catching the ones they crave. A Godwink Christmas — last year's charming, serendipity-fueled yarn starring Kimberley Sustad, Paul Campbell, and Kathie Lee Gifford — will have four encores on HM&M, starting with June 30 at 9/8c.

"We schedule movies to get the most exposure," Vicary explains. "We might air the same movie on a Sunday afternoon and then again on a weekday in order to reach the largest numbers. It's very strategic."

(A Godwink Christmas)

Naturally, many of the oft-rerun titles feature Hallmark's "all-stars," the roster of wildly popular protagonists, like Alicia Witt, whose 2013 movie, A Very Merry Mix-Up (the chronicle of a woman who thinks she's celebrating the holidays with her fiancé's family), airs four times on Hallmark beginning July 13 at 6am/5c.

Lacey Chabert will have six movies on the schedule, including 2014's A Royal Christmas (July 12, 10/9c, Hallmark) and 2018's Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (July 13, 6/5c, Hallmark).

(A Shoe Addict's Christmas)

The brand's reigning queen of Christmas, Candace Cameron Bure, will pop up in seven titles. A Shoe Addict's Christmas (July 15, midnight/11c, Hallmark), in which she portrays a modern-day Scrooge who accidentally gets locked in a department store, raked in 4.23 million viewers when it premiered last November.

"The audience feels like they know Candace," Vicary says. "That's the case with a lot of our stars."

Old Chestnuts

Some of Hallmark's most cherished Christmas movies have an even older vintage, and stumbling across these gems feels like bumping into a long-lost friend.

A Boyfriend for Christmas (July 18, 6am/5c, Hallmark) — starring Kelli Williams as a woman who gets a gift from St. Nick in the form of Patrick Muldoon — dates back to 2004. "The premise is obviously very sweet, and the chemistry between the actors is terrific," Vicary says.

(A Boyfriend for Christmas)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (July 14, 10am/9c, Hallmark) — the 2008 entry starring Brooke Burns and Henry Winkler as her matchmaker uncle — is another classic crowd-pleaser. "Henry is the reason, for sure!" Vicary says.

And true aficionados will have a soft spot for The Christmas Card (July 4, 7/6c, HM&M), starring John Newton as a soldier who receives an inspirational missive from a church volunteer (Alice Evans). It first bowed in 2006 and has aired every year since.

"It's still cited as the favorite movie we've ever made," Vicary says, noting that the lead actors never returned to the fold to make any additional films. Why not, pray tell? "That's a great question!" says Vicary.

Your move, Santa.

"Gold Crown Christmas," June 28-July 14, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

"Christmas Keepsake," July 12-27, Hallmark Channel

"Jingle in July," July, Hallmark Movies Now

SOURCE:

https://www.tvinsider.com/786510/hallmark-christmas-in-july-2019-movies-schedule/

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cats-thoughts · 3 years ago

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procrastination

alrighty while i wait for something else to distract me, anyone who stumbles across this must hear about minecraft and my best friend. suffer >:] anyways my pfp is me n my best friend the Frogord. we r opposite vibes. also they r annoyed by sounds and i am annoyed by sounds that arent me but i also vocal stim so we suffer when we r together but its FINE apparently i give them energy or smthn its wild. he is very cool tho love him lots. anyways we play Minecraft together when we can except i have no time and their computer is baaad sucks 2 be him lol. but we try. anyways we play a modded server now is lots of fun, i made a big yellow tower bc its my favorite color and they're making an edgy mansion right next door, and i call my house the lemon tower and they call it the piss tower >:[ and i realized i did not have any space in my tower so I'm building a huge base under it, like with rooms stacked on top of each other, and all of them are pride flag colored. this is bc my chest room ended up being pan colors on accident i just was like. yellow walls! blue is a good color, floor :] oh hey pink would be a nice way to finish the room! oh this is just the pan flag okay. anyways the next room is the ace flag it's my smelting room. my next one's gonna be nonbinary it'll be my villagers. but i cant work on it bc SCHOOL. which i should work on. anyways we play characters too and by that we pretend like we do bc no one else cares about storylining LMAO im an enderdragon person thingy and he is a shapeshifter. except we are also actually ancient people tied to gems after this whole ordeal with something or another i don't actually know i don't focus on that my character has amnesia and only really remembers their current life. they r very old tho like a few hundred thousand years at least. i found out how to turn netherack into netherite too using a mod bc im just that good. we have no storage space im a grade a hoarder in mc i never get rid of anything. i haven't moved anything but valuables into my house hhsghjs im working on killing the dragon 20 times so i can prevent anyone from ever respawning it again it's a long story im gonna build something in one of the towers. it brings the dragon egg back when you kill the dragon I've got like 12. i don't want anyone else to get one cause then they can have a pet dragon and im being evil and gatekeeping that. if they get one i may or may not be forced to kill it because im evil like that. side note i don't like being evil but i also get way too committed to the bit and the idea of someone else having a pet dragon makes acid rise in my bones for some reason i guess im just an asshole or something i genuinely do not know why??? anyways so much love for froglord they let me talk about my wet cats (lifesteal) and i also got them addicted to mcyt by showing him technoblade's potato wars it was so funny. he is now in love /p with charlie slimecicle. i did this. oh and ivory too he loves /p ivory. i was actually with them when the techno news dropped they tried v hard to comfort me i appreciate it. anyways that's the post haha sorry for the terrible everything i don't want to punctuate properly. or spell. that's for losers. sidenote i wrote this in like 5 minutes why am i so fast at typing no i want to procrastinate more pls there is not much more i can ramble about hhhhh i don't wanna do history claaaaassss it suuuuucks

#chatwithcat

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ginobsessions · 7 years ago

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Over the summer holidays I met up with a work friend who had just got back from a long weekend in Cornwall. “I’ve got a little pressie for you” she said, with a telling glint in her eye…

Tarquin’s Cornish Gin Miniature

There are so many gins being launched these days I must say I am quite frequently distracted by the exciting new offerings which appear on the market, so much so that I forget about some of the greats and Tarquin’s Cornish Gin is definitely that. Crafted on the wild Cornish coast and launched in early 2013, Tarquin’s is distilled with 12 botanicals including almonds, fresh orange, lemon and grapefruit peel and violets.

Pop open the bottle and you’re greeted with a fresh citrus aroma with a touch of pine and a hint of floral. It’s something quite fabulous. Then the really fun part comes, the tasting! Citrusy and fresh, with a touch of sweetness and some gentle warming spice at the end. This really is a fabulous gin and one which leaves me wanting more, and more…and more.

I deemed this miniature far too beautiful to open, so instead headed home to rummage through my collection…I was sure there was a bigger bottle of Tarquin’s in there somewhere! Bottle rediscovered, one gin down and disaster struck…

disaster had struck

What was I to do? Open the miniature? But it was so cute and beautiful…Then, in some wonderful twist of fate and while I was deliberating my options, I received a message through from Tarquin’s, which read

“Hey Natalie!

We wanted to reach out and send a little bit of Cornish Sunshine your way – our beautiful new custom bottles are here and we’d love to gift one to you!”

This is the stuff which dreams are made of! Fast forward a couple of weeks and I arrived home to find a box on the doorstep emblazoned with the familiar emblem of South West distillery…my care package had finally arrived!

With a helping paw from Juniper (our puppy) the box was opened and it’s contents revealed. I was honestly quite humbled, it contained not one, but two bottles of gin AND a couple of gorgeous drinking cups.

I must say the new look bottle is absolutely stunning and is so appealing on both visual and sensory levels, perfectly capturing and celebrating Cornish heritage. Their once clear bottle has been replaced by one of pale blue frosted sea glass, waves have been embossed at the bottom and the image of a puffin sits proudly just below the bottle neck. A new, more delicate label wraps around the body of the bottle, but it is still hand signed with batch tasting notes. Thankfully their iconic dripping paraffin wax seal, stamped with the puffin logo also remains. One more little hidden gem remains to be discovered, which may be easily missed by some…the bottom of the bottle bares the words “Yeghes Da!” and wishes you a Cornish cheers!

Although the bottle and label may be new, its content is still that same, delicious Cornish goodness which I described earlier and utterly adore!

So the only thing left to do was to taste the new limited edition Rhubarb and Raspberry Gin. Using the well known Tarquin’s Cornish Gin as a base, it is then infused with rhubarb and raspberries which give the gin it’s beautiful deep pink hue. As soon as the bottle is opened the raspberry explodes out of it, the delicious tartness of the aroma took me straight back to my Gran’s kitchen when I was little and she was making raspberry jam. There is something almost medicinal about the flavour, it’s warm and soothing, with just a hint of spice, exactly what I’m going to need now the nights are drawing in. I think this would make a great warm gin cocktail…that’s definitely going to be my next weekend project.

If you’ haven’t yet stumbled across Tarquin’s I would highly recommend taking a peek at their range of gins, which are very reasonably priced. Not only is their Tarquin’s Cornish Dry absolutely stunning, but they do some pretty incredible limited edition gins too, the Rhubarb and Raspberry Gin being just one of five currently featured on their website.

Yeghes Da!

Tarquin’s Cornish Gin Over the summer holidays I met up with a work friend who had just got back from a long weekend in Cornwall.

#Cornwall #raspberry #rhubarb #Tarquin&039;s

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betweenthetimeandsound · 4 years ago

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Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#170-161)

#170: Dino Merlin and Beatrice -- Putnici (Bosnia and Herzegovina 1999)

“Šta smo ti i ja, do putnici bez mjesta?”

“What are we, if not travellers without a place?”

In the relatively dull set of 1999, Putnici was a highlight at first listen. From the ethnic instrumental to the almost-philosophical lyrics, I am taken onto the journey Dino and Beatrice go on, with a mix of Bosnian and French lyrics (with the latter a bit less developed than the former, as it sounds like a basic conjugation table). It’s a bit funky, a bit hipsterish, but all kinds of enjoyable. Too bad there isn’t a clear performance video on the internet; every time a video featuring them appears, it gets muted.

It's a shame because it deserves a lot more attention, even though I don't think about it occasionally.

What's a bigger shame was how Bosnia needed ~150 points to make it through to the 2000 contest. They had a bunch of lower-midtable finishes throughout the 1990s, including a second to last in 1996, thus putting them in this position. Despite getting their best result at the time, they still got relegated because of their five-year average.

(On another note, did anybody actually contact Amina to get her to perform the French parts? Asking for a friend.

Personal ranking: 1st/23 Actual ranking: 7th/23 in Jerusalem

Final Impressions of 1999: Compared to the years that preceded it, 1999 was a bit of a letdown. The loosening of both the language and live-music rules didn't immediately lead to better quality songs, as I find most of the field pretty dull. While I accept the top two, I'm not sure how good they were in the end, and the best song of the year used backing vocals on the track. Ugh.

The stage was nice, though one blogger mentioned the "half-finished" catwalk on the left-side, and I can't really unsee that now.

#169: Dana -- All Kinds of Everything (Ireland 1970)

“Seagulls and aeroplanes, things of the sky Winds that go howling, breezes that sigh City sights, neon lights, grey skies or blue All kinds of everything remind me of you...”

The four-way tie of 1969 resulted in four countries withdrawing for the following contest, stripping it down to twelve countries. That year, while short, had its fair share of gems, of which All Kinds of Everything rose to the top of the crop.

While a bit overlooked today, All Kinds of Everything stands out with its tenderness and innocence, as Dana lists the things which remind her of her loved one. It's a list-song, sure, but one that works effectively with Dana's sweet voice.

And Ireland's first win has done wonders--not only was it a hit across the continent, but it represented some semblance of calm. Dana was originally from Northern Ireland, so representing Ireland during the Troubles initially wasn't the best solution. Once she won, she was greeted back in song (and Dana herself was a politician at some point).

If Amsterdam 1970 had a worse winner, we wouldn't have a contest to speak of.

Personal and actual ranking: 1st/12 in Amsterdam

#168: NOX -- Forogj, Világ! (Hungary 2005)

“Ne bánts, világ, Ne ölelj, ne érezz, Szerelmed jobban fáj, Ne játssz, világ, Eressz, ha boldog táj hív.”

“Don't hurt me, world, Don't hug, don't feel Your love hurts more Don't play, world Let me go if a happy land calls”

What happens when you combine Riverdance and influences from the previous winner? You get a vibrant, spirited song with really thoughtful lyrics in between. The mix of percussion, ethnic-influences, and dancing create a throbbing beat to this overlooked bop.

As mentioned, the lyrics are part of this intriguing package. Here, the narrator wants to discover more of herself. The ones mentioned here are a bit paradoxical, in that she wants to to be embraced, but also wants to discover more. Szilvia has a delicate voice, but it works in this context.

For a year which is known for its ethno-bops, 2005's grand final started with a good dose of energy. (And Hungary had to leave the way they came...suddenly)

Personal ranking: 3rd/39 Actual ranking: 12th/24 GF in Kyiv

#167: Aminata -- Love Injected (Latvia 2015)

"I’m safe into your hands Let’s move away, the edges expand"

While I knew for a while Love Injected was a fan-favorite, I initally didn't get it. Most of the time, I listened to the refrain in clips, which put me off from listening to the entire thing.

It wasn't until I stumbled on a mashup of this, with Truth and Skeletons, which it all makes sense. As I liked the latter two songs more, I was initially hooked, but it was the bridge to Love Injected that really stood out to me.

When I watched the final performance in Vienna, the dark sensuality of the verses that attracted me. Very minlmal synthesizers, but well-executed. The chorus then made sense in context, as Aminata shifts from the soft, delicate vocals to a more powerful explosion. Combined with the minimalistic staging, it turns out as a contemporary and sophisticated package.

Personal ranking: 6th/40 Actual ranking: 6th/27 GF in Vienna

#166: 1X Band -- Tih dezeven dan (Slovenia 1993)

“Kako dobro se zlivam v ta svet, ki me omamlja, Kako vase potegne me čas, ki ne obstaja?”

“How well I merge with this world that dazes me, How I'm absorbed in time that doesn't exist?”

Slovenia managed to break off of Yugoslavia with relatively less bloodshed than their fellow successor states, thanks to only needing ten days to fight the Yugoslav army in summer 1991. As a result, they managed to avoid the worst of the conflict, and hosted Kvalificacija za Millstreet, the pre-qualifying round for seven new countries in 1993.

1X Band managed to win that, only to place poorly and getting relegated for the following year.

It wasn’t fair, because Tih dezeven dan is a solid debut entry with some incredibly thoughtful lyrics. Compared to its fellow ex-Yugoslav debutants, it focuses more on existance and how life would be nothing without dreams. Combined with an easy melody, it conveys its own mood--a bouncy, fun soundscape (and good orchestration) with a questioning theme.

(or was it fair because of those costumes? They were better at Kvalificacija za Millstreet...)

Personal ranking: 5th/25 Actual ranking: =22nd/25 (with Denmark) in Millstreet

#165: Urban Trad -- Sanomi (Belgium 2003)

“Léala, léala, sorimana, sorimana.. “

Who would’ve thought a song sung in a fake language would almost win the competition? And in a very tight voting sequence; there was a three-point gap between first and third (for the latter, it's #241).

One thing which helps is the folksy sound of “Sanomi”, which makes it sound more like a folk chant than something gimmickier, like the country's 2008 entry. Personally, it sounds like it could be a song about the joys of fishing, hehe.

The duo’s voices work together to create a mythical atmosphere, and it really challenged my favorite that year with its surrealism. Combined with the drum-machine and the record-scratches, it's still grounded into 2003, without making it sound too over-produced.

In the end, would it have made a better winner? The 2000s featured a bunch of first-time winners, and having Belgium win could bring some help for Western Europe, who progressively became more cynical towards the 100% televote era. On the other hand, it would've reflected the 1990s more than the 2000s, so where would the contest go then?

Personal and actual ranking: 2nd/26 in Riga

#164: Chanée & N'evergreen - In A Moment Like This (Denmark 2010)

“I'm lost and I don't know Where am I supposed to go? I still miss you so...”

You know that last song in a movie which sums up the whole thing while it plays in the credits? And then you ask yourself what that song is called because it got stuck in your head for a while, and then you get relieved because you finally found it on Youtube/Spotify/Shazam?

That’s what I get from In a Moment Like This; its placement as the last song in 2010 grand final adds to that feel (thank you random running order). There was a bit of controversy about the melody itself, because it resembled that from "Every Breath You Take", but it’s still really relaxing and the staging tells a story.

Notoriously, Chanee and N'evergreen didn't really get along that much, and apparently it showed in their chemistry. But in the end, they played their parts in this performance, and got rewarded for it justly.

Personal ranking: 5th/39 Actual ranking: 4th/25 GF in Oslo

#163: Vlado Janevski -- Ne Zori, Zoro (North Macedonia 1998)

“Стој, не зори, зоро, душманке В пушти ноќта да ги сокрие, Очиве што раѓаат бисери, Срцево што друга не љуби,”

“Stop, dawn, don't rise, you fiend, Let the night hide these eyes which bear pearls This heart which can't love another.”

The first song from North Macedonia, and the last song with an orchestral arrangement. Historical significance aside, it’s a powerful song, with an interesting story to tell.

The narrator has his mother go out (in traditional Macedonian way, apparently) and ask for his girlfriend's hand for marriage with the rest of the family. During the night, he waits with tears in his eyes, waiting for an answer. And so he calls on the dawn to not come until then.

Curiously, the original version featured more ethnic instruments, but the orchestration in Birmingham, along with Vlado's deep vocals , was worthy of a finale. Even though the song was a bit too low-key to end the contest (and I kept thinking that the Turkish entry preceding it would make a more dramatic one, along with a better showcase of the strings), there's still some melancholy at the end of an era.

Personal ranking: 5th/25 Actual ranking: 19th/25 in Birmingham

Final Impressions on North Macedonia: They can't catch a break sometimes, can't they? From being the only constituent state of Yugoslavia to not participate while they were all together, to having good songs with bad stagings, it seems like they don't always have the best luck. That said, they still have a bunch of good songs on their repetoire: hopefully their 7th place in 2019 will show that they can do well. (And they have more entries here in this countdown than both sides of Czechoslovakia, hehe)

#162: Brainstorm -- My Star (Latvia 2000)

“I will follow my star till the end of my days And my heart's gonna lead me through so many ways And if you're gonna join me, I'll be your guide Baby, never say never, be my runaway-bride“

I find it weird that Estonia and Lithuania managed to debut in 1994 (and the former participated in Kvalificacija za Millstreet in 1993), but it took six more years for Latvia to do the same. They had the opportunity to do so in 1999, but waited one more year.

When they did so, it turned out it was worth it.

My Star a whimsical song, and reminds me of bicycling on a sunny day. The performance is more of an acquired taste with Renars' eccentric vocals and dancing, but after a few watches it just brings instant joy.

Unfortunately for Latvia, it's also a case of "peaking too early". Despite winning two years later, I still think it's their best song--it's some solid pop-rock with a bit of magic, which one can't say of "I Wanna".

(interestingly this also has some closing-credits energy to it, haha)

Personal ranking: 2nd/24 Actual ranking: 3rd/24 in Stockholm

#161: Roger Pontare -- When Spirits are Calling My Name (Sweden 2000)

“So bring me the power, I'll be the king of the land and the seas Show me the way to go, let me fight with my body and soul”

Originally from the Volga River region of modern-day Russia, the Sami people have inhabited parts of Northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland for millennia. For centuries, they hardly had any contact with their Germanic-speaking Scandinavian neighbors until the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Norwegian and Swedish governments wanted to have more control of the north. This also interplayed with the environment today.

When Spirits are Calling My Name hints at fighting for the protection of theirs lands and beliefs. The native peoples from other groups come and perform with Roger, and that solidifies their solidarity.

This is so epic, and I love the combination of pop/schlager and ethnic elements here. It's rousing and proud and determined--honestly, I would've preferred this to win rather than the entry they actually won with in 1999.

I've also heard about people preferring the original Swedish version--I get it, especially as Roger flubs some of the lyrics in the second verse, but I think the English one holds up just the same!

Also, the performance had the first use of pyrotechnics at Melodifestvalen, so yeah yeah fi

Personal ranking: 1st/24 Actual ranking: 7th/24 in Stockholm

#eurovision song contest #esc 250 #esc top 250 #esc bosnia and herzegovina #esc ireland #esc hungary #esc latvia #esc slovenia #esc belgium #esc denmark #esc north macedonia #esc sweden #vintage eurovision #three minutes of eternity

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rhiminee · 7 years ago

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FAV LIVE PERFORMANCES 2017

Here it is! Finally!!!! My favorite David performances of the year!!!!

This year was harder because there was so much new music that came out and David toured quite a bit so there was an abundance of stellar material to choose from. I know there are very few people as crazy as me that are gonna watch every video on this list but if you’ve not had a chance to catch many performances this year, this is a nice place to start and do a bit of browsing. It’s guaranteed all quality ;p

P.S. There are way more great videos than just what’s here. I had to narrow down so much just to get a top 20. It was torture getting a top 12. Each made the cut for different reasons but all of them made me FEEL.

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Up All Night This gorgeousness. It has the distinction of offering amazing audio quality given the fact it was recorded in a studio-like setting so we’re not depending on someone’s phone camera for the sound. I’m not ripping on fan cams, just saying that clearly this is optimal. ha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJRt_zv9L7Y

Someone To Love The funky groooooove of this song! So good. So so good. This comes from the Nashville show, which was i n c r e d i b l e. He does this smooth growl sliding vocal thing here that really just slays me. Bless. Also that pause at “jumpstart” is 100% kickass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIuyNJuXj04

Other Things in Sight Second Nashville video in a row! I didn’t plan it that way, that’s just how the chips fell. This song. You guys this song and performance is sasschuleta at his divalicious best. I adore everything about it. The little hands on the hips at 2:30 even I’m dying. This is David 2.0 hello. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbJZau1gHJE

Bonus: OTIS acoustic So technically this is kinda cheating but it’s my list so I do what I want. And the vocal on this (from David’s EP launch live on Facebook) is ridiculously good. I was gonna leave it off the list but it just wouldn’t let me. I get chills everytime I listen. He does mess up the lyric in one spot toward the end, which is why I have it as my secondary OTIS choice, but honestly I’m not even mad because something has to show us he’s human. Because damn sure that vocal is perfection, complete and total. I wanna bathe in it. LEGIT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCl93lWzHx4

Parachutes and Thunder There are no words for how surprised I was that David started covering Thunder by Imagine Dragons at his shows this fall. And he absolutely kills it. This boy can seriously embody a song and he does that. The best part is that he ties it into one of his own amazing songs (Parachutes & Airplanes) and I dare you to try and watch this without a huge smile on your face. Truly this is one of my favorite surprises of 2017. This specific video is from the Salt Lake City show and hearing and seeing the enthusiasm of the crowd just makes it even better. This video is 100000% love. He claps! He stomps! He spins!!!! He pulls the crowd in no matter what, they can’t help but be energized by his absolute conviction in delivering this song. I. LOVE. HIM. Honestly there is no one like him. Also he is pretty. Bonus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1QUYYsctvc

Numb Ok I’m gonna be real and say this one caught me by surprise. Until today I had no idea Numb would be included on this post. Then I stumbled across this video and was fully blown away. Who sings like thiiiiiissssssssss. David Freaking Archuleta, that’s who. This is from a morning tv show appearance in Nashville. I was traveling when it happened (to Nashville lol) so I totally missed appreciating it until now. For some perspective, he was coming off 4 nights in a row of concerts and driving half the night between each venue after the shows and being a bit sick at the start of that week. He had been on vocal rest between shows to try and save himself for the grueling schedule. So he got done with his show in KC the night before and flew into Nashville the next morning and did this and then had his Nashville show the next night. This boy has a magic voice, that is all. It’s so soulful and heartfelt and strong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN-VQ8RXFKs

Crush Iconic. This song experienced a bit of renaissance this year and part of it was because of the amazing rendition David did in this video. During his visit to the Philippines this piece of magic happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC4Brtznsb0

Broken This song doesn’t get lots of attention but honestly it’s one of the most melodically lovely pieces of music. This performance from the L.A. show is stellar. Some of those notes David hits. Wow boy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnVKVWt3u9k

COVERS

Fast Car Ok. Ok ok ok ok ok. This kills me. This is so good. From the Seattle VIP. First you have to know I adore this song. But David singing it is almost more than I can stand. There are no huge showy power notes here or stomping or dancing but it is quietly one of the most startling and moving performances of the year. I am beyond moved. I am reminded of the lyrics of “Killing me softly” when I watch this video. I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style, And so I came to see him, to listen for a while, And there he was, this young boy, a stranger to my eyes, Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song. Yes. That’s this performance. That exactly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBgz8ajtTdw

Higher Ground This has only gotten better and better since David first covered it at Tuacahn last year. Honestly I thought it couldn’t get better but I was so wrong. So happily wrong. I can’t even understand the leaps and bounds that David’s confidence and performing abilities have taken. He just totally owns the stage and the audience and the song. Watch and appreciate. Make sure you keep it on through the band intros. You’ll thank me. And then that absolute WAILING at the end holy crap I cannot even. This is another SLC show gem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWpbh7Nt398

Beautiful / Scars to Your Beautiful Scars to Your Beautiful is totally a David song. Totally. I love love love the way he sings this. From the L.A. show, the crowd reaction is fab too. The second half of the video especially is just A++++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LryGqAIisog

Forevermore Another surprise entry but it’s just so gorgeous that I can’t leave it off this year’s list. David’s voice is divine here, I’m fully enchanted. Just watch. I promise you won’t regret it. Pure musical bliss. This is our third entry from the Nashville concert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrbgT6tMHWI

You Are My Song “oh my god it's amazing” actual comment to this video on Youtube and I really can’t describe it any better. This duet from David’s trip to Manila is stellar. Don’t overlook it just because you don’t know the song. It’s such a gorgeous love song and the way David sings it here I am knocked over. Tippy dos Santos is a wonderful duet partner too and I cannot stop smiling while watching. This is awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Vc94sN3bg

BUT WAIT! WE HAVE AN EXTRA BONUS BONUS. lol I thought I was done but then realized I needed to include this last video because yes. David performing Nandito Ako at his first concert back in the Philippines in over 6 years. David has a special connection with the Philippines and the fans there and they love him in such an unrestrained way and to see his very real very strong reaction to that love when he sang Nandito Ako is a true thing of beauty. You can see David’s surprise at how the emotion caught him and the tears made it difficult to sing and you hear the crowd’s support and love of him throughout. He said he didn’t know if he would still have fans there after so long away. They said don’t doubt us. And here is the culmination. A thoroughly lovely note to end this list on. <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xOWtAS2YS8

These are some of my favorite musical moments of 2017. There are many more but really how long can I make this list???? It’s already probably about 8 songs too long for most people. ha. It took way too long to make this post and I’m sorry it’s late and the descriptions could be better but it’s 2:45 am on January 1st 2018 and all good things must come to an end. If you read this far, I love you. And I can’t wait to see what David brings us this year. Kisses to all y’all!!!

#david archuleta #music #favorites #year in review #Happy New Year #this is way too long #also i ran out of steam and some of the descriptions suffered #also i'm afraid i left off some really good stuff omg why am i overthinking this #i just feel really anxious lol #confessions in the comments #but i'm posting this anyway because i'm giving me hives taking so long #lolol at me #honestly i love everything on this list #i'm just nervous about things that aren't here #STOP TINA ITS FINE #good night world

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persmisc · 7 years ago

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Happiness, 12/6/17

On a search for Christmas decorations, I stumbled across a box of university-era journals. Post high school, my journaling was always well-meant, but inconsistent at best. One notebook – a spiral that I ended up using for lecture notes but started as an assortment of collages and blurbs about what kind of future I wanted for myself, had two really striking gems that reminded me of several intense desires I used to have. A few have resurfaced over the years, others completely fallen by the wayside. But a May 2009 “Strive List”, written at the end of my first year and featuring a fairly well-articulated series of both short and long-term goals I had, was particularly striking.

Write a book? Done. Write a successful screenplay? My biggest current passion project. Own a dog? Hey, have you met Gil?

Some are less black and white. Love my job? Well, yes and no. The luckiest people in this world get to love their job every day. I rank in the second luckiest group, which is that where people get to like their job most of the time, and get paid well for it. So I suppose I’ve achieved that goal in my own way. “Become a yoga aficionado” and “learn how to shoot a gun” make me gag for different reasons. “Not be attracted to horrible, arrogant men” isn’t really one I’ve been confronted with lately – I haven’t been attracted to much of anyone on that front since my last serious relationship, so there that is.

So where those goals are all concerned, I like to think I’ve landed in a solid place for twenty-eight – nine years after the writing of said list.

But the second striking piece was this rather heart-breaking entry about how afraid I was of amounting to nothing beyond a financially unstable, paycheck-to-paycheck “adult”, incapable of ever looking feminine or like a real woman. And, startling for me because I remember more than anything feeling utterly confident, happy, and golden for the majority of the time I spent in England, this entry was written a mere two months before I graduated from college.

The timing of both entries isn’t lost on me. In the middle of college, it’s really easy to casually expect amazing things from life. It wouldn’t occur to me to aim for anything but the absolute sun after one year of college. Even the most dramatic challenges could always be overcome by the right night out with the right people, by the right series of movies and chocolate. And while I’ve retained some of that light-hearted and enviable ability to look past the impossible in my life and aim high, the version of me that wrote hopelessly, two months before entering that dreaded “real world”, that I was likely to never achieve anything was very afraid. She had a real fear that the sunshine that was so recently certain, had no guarantees.

And the truth is, I did spend the year following my graduation coming to terms with those non-guarantees. I returned to my home town, to my old job, and spent a great deal of time doing everything in my power to go back to England, and the surety of the future and life that I had when I lived there. And the same way that everyone – everyone – tells you, the moment you switch your focus away from worrying about how to fix everything, everything somehow fixed itself.

I learned the most important lesson there is when measuring success in life – that success is different for everyone, and that it’s not about checking off specific goals. It’s about finding what makes you happy and taking whatever steps, however small, however gradual, to get you to that end game. Achieving a job title isn’t my measurement of success, the same way that hitting a particular salary isn’t a goal anymore either. Making a home, in a place that feels right, surrounded by the things I love – that’s the goal.

It’s comforting to know that some of the tangible things I was worried about in the post of despair – you know, knowing how to dress well, wear makeup, and become financially stable – are things that I have most definitely achieved. But the important thing is that in the long term, I’m in a far healthier place when it comes to ensuring happiness for myself.

Yes, I’m working on a screenplay. Will it ever see the light of day? God only knows.

But does working on it make me happy? You bet it does.

And that’s all that matters.

#goals #words #life #retrospective #happiness #adulting #writing #text post

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minijenn · 7 years ago

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Notes for Dreamscapers

Under the cut, as per usual:

Characters: Dipper, Mabel, Steven, Soos, Stan, Gideon, Bill Cipher, Gems (in flashback cameos), Greg (flashbacks), Craz, XylerSettings: Mystery Shack, Stan’s mindEpisodes to look at: Dreamscaperers, Journal 3, previous chaptersTone: Humor, some horror, angst, drama, family,

• Start the chapter off with Dipper, Mabel, and Steven hanging out at the shack, but possibly do it a little differently from the episode; have some humor and banter in here • Before long, Stan calls them down to make fun of Gideon’s latest commercial with him; from there, Soos and Wendy come in and everyone briefly discusses their mutual dislike of him (have Stan mention the events of Revenge Trip in here somewhere) • Soon enough, they overhear Gideon breaking into the shack and try to steal the deed to the Mystery Shack from Stan’s safe; have some humor as Stan successfully chases him off • Enraged, Gideon sulks off, determined to get the deed to the shack as he takes out journal 2 and prepares to utilize its greatest secret (be subtle but detailed in foreshadowing Bill here) • Cut back to the shack, where everyone’s relaxing and watching TV; before going back to the episode’s plot, have some fun banter in here between Stan and Steven to be specific, make this humorous but reveal the Gems are gone for the day on an important mission • Eventually, everyone gets into a debate on what to watch, so have some hinting towards Mabel’s dream boys in this • After a little of this, Soos runs in, panicking over a bat in the kitchen; Stan gruffly orders Dipper to take care of it, completely disregarding his protests (maybe lengthen this part a bit, show more of the underlying thematic conflict between Stan and Dipper in here) • So Dipper goes and does so and ends up getting injured in the process; while Mabel, Steven, and Soos tend to his light injuries (have Steven try and do so with his healing spit, but Dipper refuses, for humor’s sake), Dipper wonders why Stan is often so hard on him, so set a lot of things up here for later on in the chapter • Meanwhile, cut to Gideon as he prepares the summoning ritual; drag this part out a bit, be descriptive and build up tension as Gideon summons the dream demon, Bill Cipher • Don’t forget that Mabel, Soos, and Steven are watching all this go down from behind a bush or something • Keep much of Bill’s introduction, but possibly lengthen it a bit, maybe make it a bit more funny and messed up; maybe also include a little more foreshadowing about the stuff that happened between him and the Gems way back when (imply more about that later on in the chapter) • After a little of this, Gideon makes his deal with Bill to get the safe combo out of Stan’s mind, but imply a little more about what Bill wants in return (not too much though) • Shocked, Mabel, Steven, and Soos hurry back to the shack (they consider going to tell the Gems before remembering they’re not around for the day) and tell Dipper about what they’ve just seen • Fortunately, Dipper remembers reading about Bill in the journal, so use the actual Journal 3 for additional lines from this (don’t forget to mention the blood on the page but subtly) • After watching Bill enter Stan’s mind (be descriptive about this) the kids resolve to follow him in to save Stan and the shack; likewise, be descriptive as they do so (play it pretty straight to the episode here though) • The group makes it inside Stan’s mindscape (once more be descriptive about how it looks, imply a few more things) and make it across the mind-shack after a bit of initial exploration • From there, the kids have their first encounter with Bill, so extend it, make it funnier and keep all of the same beats in here (such as Bill shooting the hole through Dipper’s chest and making Mabel’s dream boys, Xyler and Craz, come to life) • However, lengthen this part as Bill takes the time to taunt Steven specifically, hinting at the fact that he knew Rose back in the day (but be vague about how); in this scene, Bill actually “steals” Steven’s gemstone (not the real thing of course though, since nothing’s real in the mindscape) as a form of morbid foreshadowing • After a little of this, Bill heads off to get the combo, and the kids hurry after him; be descriptive about the mind shack; after some dialogue (make sure to include the dream boys for humor in here), the gang starts to explore Stan’s memories • In here, include all of the memories seen in the episode of course, but also include several UF-specific ones, such as Stan and Amethyst on a revenge trip, Stan and Pearl arguing, • In the middle of all this, Dipper separates from the group and discovers a memory where Stan professes to Soos and Amethyst that he thinks that Dipper is weak and useless, which of course upsets him quite a bit (but imply that he’s not sticking around to hear the rest) • Meanwhile, the search is still on for the safe combo, and they eventually do come across it; after this discovery, “Soos” somehow lifts the door up; of course this cover is soon blown as the real Soos returns and the duplicate is revealed to be Bill in disguise • As Bill makes it off with the code, Dipper returns and is still quite salty over what he heard Stan say; the others are quite surprised when he refuses to help them track Bill and the code down (lengthen this part a little, go more into the morality of it and make Dipper’s argument here make a little more sense (less OOC) • Regardless the others go after Bill and stop him from giving the code to Gideon; in a fit of rage, Bill creates an arena to take on the kids and uses their worst fears against them (for Mabel, this is losing her cuteness, for Soos it’s the British dog man, and for Steven, it’s the Gems being disappointed in him (don’t make this too heavy though, but be thorough enough with it, also include a bit more hinting about the history between Bill and the Gems in here maybe) • Meanwhile, Dipper is searching for an exit out of Stan’s mind and once again comes across the memory from before, only this time he actually hears the rest of it: Stan’s tough on him to prepare him to face the world (include brief snippet flashbacks of Stan’s childhood in here) • Of course, Dipper accidentally stumbles into the memory, where Stan, unsurprised, fixes the hole in his chest and gives him the advice that anything is possible in the mind scape; with this knowledge and newfound determination, Dipper hurries off to go help the others • And the others are not doing so well confronting their respective nightmares as Bill taunts them all the while; however, this comes to an end as Dipper arrives and tells the others how to fight back, which they gladly do in a variety of creative ways (Soos and Mabel’s methods are largely the same, but in this have Steven imagine his gem back from Bill and he uses it to easily create his shield for a change) • As the kids gang up and prepare to send Bill out of Stan’s mind, he of course stops them and warns them of an upcoming evil (maybe be more specific, foreshadowy about this) before leaving, but not without heavily implying he’ll be back • Be abrupt about the kids waking up out of Stan’s mind before he wakes up himself; relief and celebration abound and in this, Dipper reconciles with Stan • However, all this levity is short lived as Gideon busts into the shack quite literally and reveals he has the deed, meaning that Stan no longer owns the shack • Everyone is quite shocked and dismayed by this, but end the chapter in an uproar as Gideon forces them out and takes the shack for himself

Cryptogram (A1Z26): Translated:Saw his own dimension burnMisses home and can’t returnSay’s he’s happy, he’s a liarBlame the arson for the fire

Untranslated: 19-1-23 8-9-19 15-23-14 4-9-13-5-14-19-9-15-14 2-21-18-1413-9-19-19-5-19 8-15-13-5 1-14-4 3-1-14'20 18-5-20-21-18-1419-1-25-19 8-5'19 8-1-16-16-25, 8-5'19 1 12-9-1-182-12-1-13-5 20-8-5 1-18-19-15-14 6-15-18 20-8-5 6-9-18-5

#uf notes

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wickedbananas · 8 years ago

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This Is What They Search For: The Most Popular US Industries & Traffic Shares

Posted by Alex-T

After storing this idea in mothballs for quite a while, I finally decided to conduct an analytical study that would breakdown the most popular industries in the US based on the number of monthly online visitors. Special thanks to the SimilarWeb team, who helped me with the convoluted process of assembling data on the industry traffic distribution across 1,000 top-visited US domains.

The purpose of this research isn’t just to share some general trends and observations that will leave you thinking, “Sounds interesting, but what’s next?” I’ve also included a bunch of actionable ideas based off of the data I went over myself.

For those of you wondering whether it’s worth it to read this article in its entirety, below are the key findings:

Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, and Amazon own 32.34% of the total US traffic market. These five online giants decide which sites we're going to visit next and what ads we see.

The top five industries in the US are Internet and Telecom, Arts and Entertainment, News and Media, Shopping, and Adult Entertainment. Altogether, these businesses control 82.55% of the US market share.

In the Internet and Telecom Category, search engines and social network sites get up to 95% of the traffic share.

Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the most visited search engine sites in the US However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people use Yahoo as a search engine.

Wikipedia.org has over 4.7 billion monthly users, with 86% of those users coming from organic search. Wikipedia is known to be a traffic-generating site.

In the Shopping category, 74% of market traffic is split between Amazon (51.24%) and eBay (22.01%).

YouTube promotes the Gambling industry more than any other.

In the Business sector, industries like Marketing, Advertising, and E-commerce have the smallest share compared to other subcategories.

The tourism industry is extremely competitive; however, it has a diverse range of small- and medium-sized players, since the top domains occupy only 17% of the total market share.

82.55% of all US online traffic is shared among five industries

Over 80% of all US online surfers are divided among five industries, while the rest of the traffic (15%) is spread across more than 15 other niches. Among the top five leaders are Internet Telecom (45.9%), Arts and Entertainment (12.35%), News and Media (9.35%), Shopping, and the Adult industry.

I expected to see the Shopping industry at the top of the list with a much higher percentage of traffic, but it may not have made it to the top three because SimilarWeb defines YouTube as part of the Arts and Entertainment industry, which drives over 36% of traffic in this category.

The Reference category is represented mostly by Wikipedia with 1.32% of all US traffic. I can see how one day Wikipedia may be acquired by either Google or Facebook, jacking up their traffic and sales. Currently, Wikipedia is still a non-profit organization, and hopefully things will stay the way they are.

Over 30% (32.34%) of all US online traffic is controlled by five websites

In most cases, these five websites control what information we consume on a daily basis. Even more important, they also determine what sites we visit next and what kinds of ads we see. Here’s a list of the top five sites with their traffic market share:

Google – 16.41%

Facebook – 6.56%

YouTube – 4.91%

Yahoo – 2.55%

Amazon – 1.91%

And yes, all the websites listed above offer advertising opportunities. If your site doesn't have any visibility on Google and Facebook, you're missing the majority of your audience because 67.4% of all US users search on Google, and Facebook gets 68% of all active web users. Without a doubt, Facebook may not be the right fit for all business types, but it is a must-have SMM channel for B2C products.

Keep reading to find out what I discovered about the top 10 categories as well as what kinds of subcategories they sprout into.

Please note that one of the categories has been left aside for the reason that is has no subcategories. Something tells me you’re well aware that Pornhub has the biggest market share in Adult Entertainment.

Internet and Telecom

According to the US Department of Commerce and the Bureau Of Economic Analysis, in 2015 the Information Industry was the largest contributor to the US economy’s 1.4 percent growth, adding close to $900 billion in value.

On the graph below you can see that over 41 percent of US traffic is shared between search engines and social network sites, which are getting most of the juice.

What I find really interesting is that SimilarWeb doesn’t recognize Yahoo as a search engine, and puts it in the News and Media category instead. That’s why, if you check the top search engines in the US, you won’t find Yahoo listed among them, but you’d be surprised to find Baidoo.com ranking number five. That was quite a gem for me to discover even though the Chinese-speaking population in the US is remarkably high. This may be something digital marketers should pay close attention to, especially if they work for big international companies.

Another finding that really left me clueless is that the least popular Russian email agent, Mail.ru, appears to be among the top industry players — and Yahoo’s email agent still wasn’t there.

Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the most visited search engine sites in the US

Before I even started sifting through the data I gathered, I confidently assumed that I’d find Bing in second place. Turns out, the second-most visited search engine site is Yahoo.com.

So, does this mean that Yahoo is used more actively by online surfers than Bing? If you base your answer solely on the collected data, then the answer to the question is yes. But it’s not that simple.

Yes, it’s true that users visit Yahoo more frequently than they do Bing, but that’s not because they want to search for something on Yahoo. First of all, there's a large group of people still using YahooMail (even though it’s 2017), and some people simply prefer checking for weather updates and news reports on Yahoo. With that being said, if we look at ComScore’s latest search engine popularity report, we will find that Yahoo is used as a search engine by 12.2% of all online US traffic and Microsoft is popular among 21.4%. But, realistically, Yahoo’s share of the search market is even smaller, since the majority of their search results are powered by Bing.

So if you’re considering Yahoo as a platform for promoting your product or service, check the demographics data around what kind of businesses typically advertise on Yahoo.

Speaking of demographic insights, I was struggling to find fresh ComScore reports (the last one was released more than three years ago), so I had to use Alexa.com. This isn’t the best and most accurate tool because the company gathers data from its own SEO toolbar, but it’s better than nothing.

Here’s what Alexa.com reports about Yahoo’s user demographics:

There are more female users than male

Most users are college-aged

Following the previously mentioned trend, the top browser location is a school or a college

In order to determine which industries are advertising on Yahoo, I used Yahoo Ad Insights’ Industries report, which includes such businesses as:

Automotive

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Entertainment

Finance

Retail

Tech and TELCO

Travel

And here I stumbled upon another controversial fact. Data from Alexa.com shows that the dominating age group consists of students who, in my opinion and judging from my own experience, can barely afford products that fall into industries like Finance or Retail. If you happen to have experience using Yahoo for advertising, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Bing owns 0.48% of all traffic and 30% of the search engine market in the US

If we compare Bing with Yahoo, the former gets 3.35 times less traffic than Yahoo does. But as we have just discovered, Bing gets two times more search market queries compared to Yahoo. This means that it provides a lot more advertising opportunities for businesses. Also, the majority of Yahoo searches are powered by Bing, which means that once you’re ranking well in Bing, you automatically become visible in Yahoo.

All in all, Bing can boost traffic to your business by 30% and you don’t even need to invest in a new market or launch a new product or service. There’s no doubt you'll need to put some effort into that process, but if you currently have a steady traffic flow from Google, then you’re already receiving visitors from Bing as well. You just need to analyze what exactly is going on with your Bing traffic, and find the right ways to take advantage of it. Here’s a great read supported with a video by John Lincoln who talks about SEO for Bing.

If you’re still not sure whether you should care about traffic coming to your site from Bing, here’s a great example. Searchengineland.com receives a little over 10% of Bing.com’s one million organic traffic visitors on a monthly basis:

Arts and Entertainment

As I’ve previously mentioned, this category ranks second and owns over 12% of all US traffic, all thanks to YouTube. Also if we look at the top industry domains, we’ll find that Netflix gets 5.67% of all traffic in this category. I find it interesting that organic traffic isn’t the top referral traffic source for Netflix. Those would be direct (58.54%) and referrals (23.59%). Obviously, you can tell which of the media streaming platforms — YouTube or Netflix — Google gives its royal preference to. It kind of makes sense because all of Netflix’s content is on-demand.

The graph below demonstrates that YouTube gets three times more organic traffic than Netflix:

Digging deeper, we learn Google can't list Netflix’s content in a video featured snippet because Netflix is only accessible with a paid subscription. In some way, Netflix is cornering itself.

The screenshot below shows that Netflix does have visibility in SERPs via the Knowledge Graph, but it’s not getting any traffic from this ranking because the Knowledge Graph doesn’t feature a link to a domain.

The Music and Audio subcategory has its own peculiar numbers. I was surprised to see Pandora as a leader, ahead with two times more traffic and leaving Spotify with only 3.68 percent.

The pie chart below gives you a breakdown of the traffic distribution for other subcategories:

YouTube sends the majority of its traffic to Gambling sites

SimilarWeb shows that somewhere around 5% of all YouTube ad traffic is sent to Bet365.com, one of the largest gambling websites. Using SEMrush, I also checked the list of sites that get the most visitors from YouTube, and I found out that among the top three sites there’s another gambling site: Freelotto.com:

It’s safe to say that if you have a business in the entertainment industry, you should definitely consider YouTube as one of your traffic sources.

News and Media

Findings from the data collected confirm that people still read newspapers online and check them for weather updates instead of checking their phone apps.

My husband reads the news on his laptop during breakfast. Yet it still drives him nuts when I ask him to check for weather updates for me, despite my having all kinds of gadgets. Oh, well — guess old habits die hard. But it looks like I'm not alone in this world, because the majority of users have the same habit:

In case you've been wondering what the "Other" category stands for in this graph, here’s what it means. Currently, SimilarWeb hasn’t come up with a way to categorize those websites — that’s why it has the highest percentage. But among the most popular sites I found two prominent newspapers: Dailymail.co.uk and Theguardian.com.

Take a look at the screenshot above. Both The New York Times and Washington Post are among the top 5 sites in Newspaper subcategory.

The screenshot below demonstrates top 5 countries that bring traffic to Dailymail.co.uk. As you can see, there’s more traffic coming from the US than from anywhere else in the world:

It's something to keep in mind if you’re searching for the most popular US newspapers online.

Shopping

Online shopping is an integral part of the e-commerce industry, which is, in fact, one of the fastest-growing markets in the US. In the past few years, the e-commerce share of the overall US retail market has grown from 6.6% in 2014 to 8.5% in Q1 2017. However, even though most retail purchases are made online, there’s a big group of people who are inspired to purchase a product offline after visiting a website. Statista reports that the number of web-influenced offline retail sales is 20% higher than non-web influenced sales. This means that for physical stores that don’t have an online representation, establishing their web presence is a must because the conversion process in most cases starts online.

There’s a 74% chance it will either be Amazon or eBay

The subcategory of Shopping called “General Merchandise” accounts for over 60% of web traffic, and is owned by Amazon (51.24%) and eBay (22.01%). The rest of the subcategories can be found in the pie chart below:

When shopping for goods in the Home and Garden category, North American users most likely check Homedepot.com, which gets 20.29% of all traffic in this subcategory, or Lowes.com, which is a go-to place for 10.55% of all users. Interesting fact: the traffic source that drives the most visitors to both sites is organic search results, which brings over 40% of monthly visitors.

Computer and Electronics

The data confirms that Microsoft has more monthly online visitors than Apple. Microsoft’s traffic share is a little over 15%, with Apple being left behind with only 3.28%. However, this doesn’t affect Apple’s sales at all, and it serves as proof of the fact that investing in your brand authority and focusing more on the quality of your product will make you stand out.

Based on R&P Research, Apple net profits surpassed those of Microsoft in 2011. Apple made $25.9 billion in net profits in 2011, and Microsoft saw $23.2 billion. From then on, Apple has outplayed Microsoft in acquired net profits:

If you’d like to dive deeper and learn more about how traffic is distributed across Shopping subcategories, then take a look at the graph below:

Reference category

I’m sure it’s not news to you if I tell you that Wikipedia’s traffic share in the Reference category is 44.55%. When it comes to subcategories, directories such as Yelp, Yellowpages, and Whitepages get over 85% of Internet traffic. It’s funny how I, as a teenager growing up in Russia, used to flip through the Yellow Pages — one of the most popular print directories for finding various companies. Any time I needed to find a store, I’d open up this book and navigate my finger through finely printed lines of text.

Now, you can only find hard copies of the Yellow Pages gathering dust somewhere in a small-town office.

The pie chart below gives a more detailed overview of how traffic is distributed across all the subcategories:

Wikipedia can bring you relevant users from search

Wikipedia.org has over 4.7 billion monthly visitors, and 86 percent of those visitors come from organic search. You should definitely see Wikipedia not only as an authoritative source with high-quality links, but also as a traffic generation channel.

For instance, according to SEMrush’s Traffic Analytics tool, SEJ receives more than 300 visitors from Wikipedia on a monthly basis:

Wikipedia is the best option for well-established businesses that really want to increase their online traffic, but suffer from an obnoxiously high level of competition in Google. To make this happen, your business has to have enough authority on the web; otherwise it will take forever. Prior to suggesting that experts link to your content, you have to make sure your brand is recognized. The type of content you want to end up under the “References” section on Wikipedia should be of the exact same quality as everything you read on that website.

Pay attention to the visibility of Wikipedia's pages in SERPs for a keyword you’re targeting

To check that, go to SEMrush and check the domain for keywords:

You can also type in the following query to Google:

site:wikipedia.org your keyword + “dead link”

This will show you all articles on the web with dead links. If you’re looking to learn more about how Wikipedia can help you with your SEO efforts, here’s a post that I’ve recently come across that has tons of actionable advice.

Business Industry

In this category, the largest proportion of traffic is divided between Zillow.com (3.65%), USPS.com (2.50%), and UPS.com (1.69%).

Marketing, Advertising, and E-commerce have the smallest share compared to other subcategories:

Moving further, while looking at the leading sites in Marketing and Advertising, I found that advertising networks are getting the highest number of visitors. Among those sites are Dotomi.com (2.45%), Traffichaus (2.60%), and Innovid (2.63%). In addition, VigLink recently published a study in which they confirm that the demand for ad network is constantly growing, and advertisers are looking to connect with publishers and take advantage of affiliate marketing traffic.

Career and Education

In this niche, Indeed.com and Instructure.com attract the majority of visitors. The latter is an Ed Tech company which develops educational software; the majority of its traffic comes from referrals (61.7%).

The Universities and Colleges subcategory, along with listing Ivy League universities, mentions Purdue University, which, for some reason, happens to rank only 92 in the QS World University Rankings for 2016–2017, but is number 13 in terms of traffic.

We wanted to see which channel brings the most traffic to the world famous universities (ranked by the QS World Universities) compared to Purdue University, and find out the reasons for success in getting online traffic for both Purdue and other world-renowned universities.

All the universities in the screenshot above rank the highest, even though Purdue University is only number 13 when it comes to online traffic. Yet the screenshot clarifies a lot; Purdue University receives much of its traffic from organic search, which contributes greatly to its online visibility.

The is the first industry in which I’ve noticed traffic being distributed equally among all subcategories:

Travel

The travel business is extremely competitive; however, it is made up of a large diversity of small- and medium-sized players, because the top industry domains only have a little over 17% of the total market share. However, a subcategory such as Airlines and Airports has a few major players that get the majority of visitors — 45% of the traffic (in the travel industry), shared among the following businesses:

Southwest.com – 14.74%

American Airlines – 10.68%

Delta – 10.78%

United Airlines – 9.12%

JetBlue – 4.5%

If you look at the graph below, which shows the traffic distribution for the different subcategories, you’ll see that, in general, traffic within the Hotel and Accommodation sector is higher than for airline- and airport-dedicated websites.

The reason for this might be because one of the most common means of traveling in the US is by car.

Speaking of general marketing trends in the travel industry, one of the top sources that brings traffic to that niche is affiliate marketing. For instance, Kayak.com is one of the biggest affiliates of Southwest.com, bringing over 15,000 visitors on a monthly basis:

If you’re interested in learning more about the current state of affiliate marketing in the travel industry, we’ve recently conducted a comprehensive study. We analyzed the top affiliate programs and sites using the SEMrush Traffic Analytics report. We also asked 50 well-known affiliate marketing experts about general affiliate marketing trends and incorporated their answers into our research.

Final thoughts

As always, it flatters me that you've taken the time to familiarize yourself with results of my hard work, and I hope that you now have a good understanding of the current state of traffic distribution across the most popular US industries. Before I began my research, I thought that a good portion of all Internet traffic was controlled by Google, Facebook, YouTube, etc. But it turned out that the top five most visited sites only get a little over 30% of all US traffic. On the other hand, findings from this data prove once again that establishing your business on Facebook, YouTube, and Google is essential to its long-term success.

As for the industry traffic distribution across top-visited domains, what springs to mind is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Categories like Adult Entertainment, Internet and Telecom, Shopping, and News and Media mostly serve our basic psychological needs. And moving down the list of industries, you’ll find that Business and Industry, Reference, Career and Education, and Travel get less searches because, apparently, not that many people nowadays have time to take care of their self-actualization needs.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts about my research as well as any ideas on what I could have covered but didn’t. Let me know if you were able to put any of the aforementioned conclusions into practice.

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terryblount · 6 years ago

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Spyro Reignited Trilogy – Review

20.. err, 21, years ago, Spyro The Dragon was released on the original Playstation. The 3D platformer later became an icon, alongside Crash Bandicoot, as the co-mascots of the PS1 era. Crash received a faithful remake of the trilogy of games in 2017. Thus, Spyro got its due in 2018 with the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. It includes Spyro The Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro 3: Year Of The Dragon, completely remade to look and sound like how you remembered it.

My childhood was filled with times playing Spyro. I loved discovering Spyro 1 in a PAL demo disc, playing the game in black and white. Spyro 2 is the first ever game I completed 100%. And I never got around to finishing Spyro 3 because all the bootleg versions I found are intentionally broken thanks to DRM.

So of course I have to check it out and see if it lives up to my nostalgia.

Presentation

Developers Toys For Bob reversed engineered the original Spyro trilogy. The Reignited Trilogy runs on Unreal 4 engine targeting 30fps. The developers also get some leeway in adding extra details and art to them too. I love the bright pastel colours that have been preserved in the updated visuals. Spyro’s charming, cartoony aesthetic is looking better than ever.

The first Spyro game, which is filled with flat, barren landscapes by today’s standards, got the biggest of the art overhauls and it looks amazing now. The dragons you rescue are not just palette swaps, but unique realised characters. However the Gnorcs, your main goons, look less goofy but nastier- something I find personally bothered by. The rest of the casts as seen in the latter two games are okay in my book though.

There are a few more aesthetic changes that I find odd. You don’t get to see the gems you collected physically tallied during loading transitions from levels. Orbs in Spyro 2 don’t have the satisfying bouncing animation when you are awarded them. Spyro’s animations got some tweaks, his walking cycle and hover animation is different which messed a bit on my muscle memory.

But these are minor quibbles and won’t affect any new players. That’s not saying there are not any.

Some gameplay loses its clarity, obscured by the new graphics. Gems that are usually easy to spot lying on the ground can very well be hidden in the new lush grasses. Walls or surfaces that can be broken by Spyro are easy to miss. Projectile attacks that are telegraphed by use of lights and shadows are hard to see. Some of these issues are a by-product of the evolved gaming standards today, where unique textures, shadows, and lights are not as prominently used outside of making games look good.

Besides that, the use of motion blur might not be the best decision. The camera usually hangs close to the back of Spyro and you have a small, limited field of view. There are many instances where you need to navigate through tight, blind corners either while airborne during time attacks or charging after a thief. Thanks to the motion blur, you can easily lose track of what you are seeing when making sharp turns, makes for many bad screenshots or worse, can make you sick.

That’s not all, the whole subtitle debacle is unfortunate. Spyro 1 has no subtitles (just like the original) while the other two have cut-scenes without subtitles, though there are text boxes for the many character interaction. On the note of lacking accessibility, the game allows you to invert both axis options for the camera, but some mini-games do not invert the aim as you expect it should be.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy features a new dynamic soundtrack rearranged from the original soundtrack by Stewart Copeland. Don’t worry, you can switch between the new and old soundtrack in the pause menu. I kept flipping between the two scores and I’m glad to say the Reignited tracks are ever so faithful to the original with slight twists.

The original soundtrack still has this distinctive, unique sound that is lovely to hear and holds up 21 years on. And it does indeed bring a lot of nostalgia if you’ve played the original games before.

Gameplay

Hopping back to the first world in Spyro The Dragon left me smiling in delight. It takes some adjustments, those new animations threw me off at first, but controlling the little, nude purple dragon feels just like the original games. Or how similar to how I remember them at least.

For the uninitiated, in each game, Spyro has to defeat a villain. To progress, you have to collect enough collectibles (Dragons in Spyro 1, Talismans and Orbs for Spyro 2 and Dragons Eggs for Spyro 3). The little purple dragon has a simple move set. You can jump and glide (and starting Spyro 2, a hover) to get across chasms and platforms.

Enemies come in a ton of variety but your basic attack comes from your flame breath and charging them with your horns. Some enemies can be defeated by either attack or only either one or through powerups or stage gimmicks.

You have a companion, Sparx the Dragonfly, that helps you collect gems and also your health indicator. You heal up by defeating small fodder creatures which will produce butterflies that Sparx can eat. It’s a cool thing to see back in 1998 because, for the most part, the HUD is non-existent during gameplay. And it’s still cool today.

Each game is structured where you begin in a hub world, which holds a few levels. Gain enough collectibles and you can progress to the next level or hub world or boss fight.

If you are turned off from playing a collect-a-thon after playing too many modern AAA open world games, don’t worry. These Spyro games know how to make collect collectibles enjoyable. Grabbing those gems, either by your own or Sparx picking them up, will give you a good ding, a nice number pop-up and a slight rumble on the controller. The gems encourage you to scour every bit of geometry as every bit of traversable land is filled with secrets.

It’s interesting to see how the original developers Insomniac Games managed to iterate their design for each subsequent game. Spyro The Dragon has very simple level layouts but requires your utmost confidence in your platforming abilities to pull off. To the point that some hard section will have a collectible for this game, a Dragon, congratulating you for doing so. It can be difficult, but rewarding.

For Spyro 2, the game is easier in the first few levels and has a better tutorial to help you master the platforming. Levels are more linear, each with a unique objective that technically still is just reach the end of the level. The world is more fleshed out with more characters other than just dragons or Gnorcs.

Additionally, Spyro gets a ton of new moves and there is now some level gating Metroidvania style to finish 100% in some levels. Spyro 2 also introduces elaborate mini-games. From playing hockey to escort mission (sigh) and also some simple puzzles, each is unique and fun for a few minutes you have to play it.

Spyro 3 is peak Spyro, amalgamating the interesting new ideas in Spyro 2 with the difficulty ramp of Spyro 1, which does not take long to ramp up. The side content gets even more elaborate, some homages to other games of the era like Doom, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, and Time Crisis. Instead of Spyro getting new moves, you get to play as more characters in certain sections of the levels.

The new moves and additions add more variety of the usual collect-a-thon main loop. And as ever, exploration in the latter two games are highly rewarded with these fun mini-games. Though I have to warn you, that some of them are infuriatingly annoying. It’s not hard because it’s easy to understand and do. But infuriating, because some of them require trial-and-error (the whack-a-mole in Spyro 3), some will have you fight against the small field of view and motion blur (the double dragon fight in Spyro 3) and some have oddly bad controls just like the original (the minecarts in Spyro 2).

I also like to point out that I feel like Spyro 2 and Spyro 3 feels a bit less polished in some of its later levels. There are some collision issues I found. And there is one skateboard race in Spyro 3 that don’t seem to register the boost gained from doing tricks until I repeatedly retry the event. There are even bad audio and video stutters while loading in the two latter games. The game got delayed for two months as it was near release, I can’t imagine what state it was before that.

Content & Longevity

Each of the games is not that long compared to what you expect of games today. As a trilogy, it’s of okay length if you are going for full completion.

I completed 120% of Spyro 1 in 5 hours, 100% of Spyro 2 in 8 and 117% of Spyro 3 in 12. That’s at most 25 hours, or shorter if you plow through the critical path.

The latter two games have plenty of mini-games, some requiring you to backtrack to past levels. But it’s okay, the level layouts are short- you can reach the end of each level in a minute or two.

It certainly rewards the completionist. So I encourage you to collect all the collectibles for some cool bonuses at the end of each game. Though some of the side content can be annoying, it won’t take that long to complete them all.

Verdict

Personally, playing through Spyro Reignited Trilogy rekindled my love for the series. The three Spyro games were standout 3D platformers back in its day and this remake does them justice.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy faithfully recreated the three games and smartly updated it with thoughtful quality of life changes. But it stumbles in providing expected accessibility options. The new art for the world and characters are all welcome additions. Though some of the choices negatively affect the core gameplay.

The gameplay has aged well, except for some optional content which is annoyingly tricky, even back then.

Should you have any nostalgia of the first three Spyro games, Spyro Reignited Trilogy will rekindle that old flame again. If not, it’s still a solid 3D platformer in 2019 that should spark new interest and love for this genre.

Review based on the PS4 version played on a base PS4. Review copy purchased by the reviewer

Spyro Reignited Trilogy – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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lindyhunt · 6 years ago

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15 Funny Out of Office Messages to Inspire Your Own [+ Templates]

When it comes to the final days before vacation, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) those who watch the clock incessantly, and 2) those who are so busy before they leave, they might even forget to put up an out-of-office email message.

If you're anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn't leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.

Out-of-Office Message

An out-off-office message is an automatic email sent by an email account that is temporarily not being checked by its owner. Every new email to this account will trigger the out-of-office message, which is sent directly to the original email's sender. Most email service providers today allow you to activate this option and customize your message.

Also known as "autoresponder emails," out-of-office (OOO) messages run the gamut. From funny, to clever, to snarky, we've come across some of the best -- from Google, and from colleagues.

Here are some of the gems we found. But first, grab our full collection of out-of-office email templates below.

Once you're ready to write your own out-of-office email, try our free OOO email generator for some help drafting a message that perfectly captures who you are and where you're going.

Funny Out-of-Office Messages

The Not-So-Tropical Getaway

The Sorry-I'm-Not-Sorry

The Popular Film Reference

The Scavenger Hunt

The Blunt Approach

The Third Person

The Twitter Method

The Liquid Update

The Guessing Game

The Warning Signal

The Thank-You Card

The Survey

The Thankfulness Template

The Movie Binge

The Sensitivity Template

Out-of-Office Messages for Vacation

1. The Not-So-Tropical Getaway

We'll give this guy first place, since we almost feel bad for him. Almost. Rather than using an out-of-office message for a tropical vacation, he used one to explain his absence during what would likely be a snowstorm. Not only did it give us a chuckle, but it also generated a certain amount of empathy -- which is often the key to good content.

Source: New Relic

2. The Sorry-I'm-Not-Sorry

If your email client allows it, you could always just use an image to express your out-office-sentiment, like this one. After all, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words -- and, visual content is still essential to successful marketing.

Source: Barry Moroney

3. The Popular Film Reference

Are you familiar with the film Field of Dreams? If not, allow us to fill you in. It centers around baseball and a family in Iowa, but saying any more might spoil the plotline.

Movie synopses aside, the opening line of this out-of-office message was taken directly from the Field of Dreams script -- fitting, given the sender's travels to Iowa. So before you leave, research some famous quotes about the place you're visiting. It might test the recipient's knowledge, but more likely, it'll just make them smile.

Source: New Relic

4. The Scavenger Hunt

When my colleague Sam Mallikarjunan went on vacation, he set an out-of-office message that was both clever and smart. First, he sent the recipient on an imaginary scavenger hunt to "the highest peak of the tallest mountain." He used humorous absurdity to make it clear that he would not be checking email while he was away.

Plus, he incorporated a delightful technique to let people know that if they really wanted him to read their emails, they should probably send them again after his return. Not only does that keep the sender accountable by saying, "If this is really important, you know when to reach me," but it also helps Mallikarjunan truly vacate his work while he's away. And that's hard to do -- And if you struggle with it, check out these tips.

Source: Sam Mallikarjunan

5. The Blunt Approach

Josh Kopelman, we salute you.

Not only did Kopelman manage to turn his out-of-office message into an epic poem of sorts, but also, he actually went through the trouble of creating a delightfully snarky, vacation-specific email address for his recipients.

Giving the option to contact an email address containing "interruptyourvacation" provides two things -- 1) A dose of humor, and 2) discouragement from actually doing what the name suggests. Plus, he prefaces it with a request for empathy, by explaining that he promised quality time to his family.

Here's where honesty is a helpful device. Sure, Kopelman is truthful about the fact that he's on vacation, but he also lets the recipient know that he or she would be interrupting important family time if the first option is chosen. It states a point simply, and uses humor to avoid making it sound like he wants the reader to feel guilty.

Source: Gizmodo

6. The Third Person

When HubSpot Marketing Manager Karsten Köhler is out of the office, he doesn't mess around. In fact, he's turned his auto-responses into a running series of commentary for fictional cartoon character Troy McClure.

Each time McClure makes an appearance in these out-of-office messages, he "speaks" on behalf of Köhler and alludes to the previous auto-responses in which he starred. It's a mild form of self-deprecating humor -- as if to say, "I know, I'm out of the office again" -- made only funnier by the made-up teaser title included in the last line.

As with the Field of Dreams example, don't be afraid to use a pop cultural reference that audience would recognize. Instead of bemoaning your absence, they'll have something fun and familiar to laugh at.

Source: Karsten Köhler

7. The Twitter Method

... and then, there was the out-of-office tweet. We're not entirely sure where it originated, but it has two sides.

If you actually want people to be able to reach you, and you're more likely to be checking Twitter than email while out of the office, it might be an effective way for people to reach you.

But if you tend to use social media during vacation and really do want to be left alone, we would suggest offering a different communication method in your auto-response.

I’m not in the office right now but if it’s important, tweet me using #YOUAREINTERRUPTINGMYVACATION pic.twitter.com/SgL97nof8L

— Philippe Khattou (@Phil_Khattou) August 14, 2015

8. The Liquid Update

We wish we could find the original source of this one. It's made several lists, and its author is likely a legend within his or her network.

That said, even though we've been preaching honesty as the best policy, be careful with messages that are this transparent. Make sure you're familiar enough with your audience -- and your boss, for that matter -- to know that this sort of out-of-office message will be met with a snicker, and not with concern.

"I am currently out of the office and probably out-of-my-mind drunk. Enjoy your work week."

9. The Guessing Game

There's a term that we like to use around here called "snowbirds," which is used to describe those who once resided in the northern part of the U.S., only to flee to warmer parts of the country during the winter.

And although my colleague had mixed feelings about her own parents joining that population in Florida, she couldn't be too upset when her dad suggested flying down from Boston for a Red Sox spring training game.

Naturally, she had to take the day off -- and couldn't let folks know with any old generic auto-response. Instead, she made a guessing game of it in her out-of-office email, below.

Out-of-Office Messages for Holidays

10. The Warning Signal

Not only can colleges get in on the fun of an OOO message, but they're talking to way more people -- and can use the message as an opportunity to deliver tongue-and-cheek announcements to their students.

Here's an out-of-office tweet by Acadia University, using Canada's Civic Holiday on August 6 to remind students not to get too comfortable this month ...

Acadia Students!! We will be out of the office Monday due to the holiday, but back on campus Tuesday!! We will be in training all day Tuesday and Wednesday though so you may experience a delay in response to your emails! Side note Its almost time for move in day hehe 😏 pic.twitter.com/pLPAavgToT

— Acadia Res Life (@residencelife) August 3, 2018

11. The Thank-You Card

This holiday out-of-office email is definitely on theme, if not a little passive aggressive. If you're getting emails during the holidays, why not treat everything you receive that season like the present it is, and send a thank-you note?

My snarky colleague sure did in his out-of-office message below. We send thank-you letters in response to holiday gifts, so it's only natural to expect the same gesture in our work inboxes ...

12. The Survey

Rachel Smith from Collective Hub stumbled across this message from one of our employees, and it certainly turns the tables on the email sender. Right when you thought you were the one requesting action, the recipient sent back an assignment -- a fun one, at least.

While the sender waits for your response to their email, take the sting out of your absence by involving them in a holiday survey, like the one below.

13. The Thankfulness Template

This email comes out of our own collection of out-of-office email templates, which you can get at the end of this blog post. The purpose of this email is to intercept messages during Thanksgiving, and the way in which is does so is, well, with thankfulness.

The funny and charming email template below keeps the confidence of your colleagues with a list of things anyone who works in an office is thankful for. Of course, feel free to customize this list according to the quirks of your own workplace. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reveal them.

14. The Classic Movie Message

There's no shame in using Christmas to indulge in your childhood movie tastes, but there is shame in not sharing that adorable side of yourself when people are trying to reach you during the holidays.

So, take a lesson from @courtwhip, editor at PEDESTRIAN.TV, who wrote this hilarious out-of-office email, fully stocked with mentions of the best movies from the 1990s. (By the way, "Splinter" is from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and as we all know, he loves pizza).

15. The Sensitivity Template

This last out-of-office message is another template available to you within the full collection of fun out-of-office templates at the end of this article. And if it does anything particularly well, it's respect the differing views and opinions of your coworkers -- while amusing so many others.

Your HR department would be proud, or perhaps playfully irritated, at this email's stereotypical impression of your most sensitive coworkers. Read it below.

Are you fully inspired by the creative out-of-office messages above? It's time to write your own -- your upcoming vacation depends on it. Try HubSpot's OOO Email Generator here, and grab your free collection of email templates below.

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robertkstone · 7 years ago

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Parking Lot Stars of Monterey Car Week 2018

Tour d’Elegance! The Quail! Legends of the Autobahn! Concourso Italiano! Japanese Automotive Invitational! And of course, the raison d’être of Monterey Car Week—the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. With so many events curating such fine collections of rolling artwork, it is easy to become overwhelmed and inured.

Even in transit to events or just back to the hotel for dinner, one can stumble across jaw-dropping exotics, the rarest of rare birds, and the just plain weird. Here’s a sampling of the cars that the Motor Trend editors spotted anywhere but on the concours lawns during Monterey Car Week 2018.

Koenigsegg Agera XS

This is one of what has to be only a few Koenigsegg Agera XS models in the U.S. Earlier Koenigseggs were allowed in the U.S. as “show and display” cars, but the XS is the brand’s first truly street-legal model. With the engine from the One:1, it makes more than 1,300 hp and only weighs 3,075 pounds. You know, very normal car to find in a hotel parking lot.—Collin Woodard

Automobili Turismo e Sport

I found all sorts of random supercars in various parking lots this year, but this is the only one that I didn’t recognize in the slightest. No one else I asked knew what it was, either. Turns out, it’s built by a company called Automobili Turismo e Sport, costs more than $1 million, and is one of only 12 that will ever be made.—Collin Woodard

Autobianchi Bianchina Transformabile

Powered by a 17-hp 500cc engine, its essentially a transformed version of a Fiat 500, produced in association with Pirelli for a few years in the early ’60s. The Transformabile features a retracting canvas roof for alfresco fun. Note the watermelon picnic basket.—Mark Rechtin

Pontiac Aztek Camper

Here’s how to do Pebble authentically on the cheap: Acquire a like-new Pontiac Aztek with the highly coveted camping tent and set yourself up right outside the Concours d’Lemons show field where you’ll blend right in. Use a compact bike to get around the peninsula pedaling merrily past the traffic jams.—Frank Markus

TC by Maserati

While the auction houses like Gooding were hammering home Maseratis like the 1955 A6GCS/53 Spyder for north of $5 million, this little gem was available without registering for a paddle. At $9,000, the asking price was well above what you’d pay at the local charity motors lot—call it the Monterey Car Week buyers’ premium. At least it’s shiny!—Frank Markus

Fiat-Abarth 750

This was the only parking-lot car that made me stop in my tracks, grab my phone, and quickly swipe to the camera mode, since it was idling in the valet area of the Inn at Spanish Bay and abruptly took off. If you know Monterey Car Week, you know that the Inn is famous for having some of the most ridiculous rides lined up just opposite the valet stand. A couple of years ago, I spotted an Aston Martin One-77 casually double-parked out front, and this year, it was again a “taste-the-rainbow” collection of supercars, including a new 911 GT2 RS (in red) and a purple McLaren 720S alongside a dark green McLaren Senna (both Michael Fux’s, apparently). But I chose to snap this Fiat-Abarth 750, because—well, look at it. Sexy little body by Zagato, with a double-bubble roofline, on top of an independently suspended chassis powered by an inline four-cylinder engine. No idea what year or how stock this one is, but when new, these babies made about 50 hp, and rowing through the four-speed manual would get you to a top speed of 80 mph. Not bad for a sub-1,200-pound Italian exotic. A quick Google search reveals that a 1959 version sold at auction in 2011 for $93,500.—Ed Loh

Bentley Continental S1

Amidst the sea of crass, carbon-fiber Skittles that typically make up the parking lot of the Inn at Spanish Bay during Car Week rested this absolutely exquisite Bentley S1 Continental Park Ward Coupe. Very few cars can pull off purple. Porsche 911, Dino 246, certain Lamborghinis, a few Mopars, the Maserati A6G, and that’s it. This Bentley is so exquisite, so wonderful, so elegant, that it can pull off two shades of purple. Funny tidbit: Jerry Seinfield’s silver 911 was parked across the lot when I snapped these. That Porsche compared to this Bentley? Yada yada yada.—Jonny Lieberman

1993 Lamborghini Diablo

We spotted another purple specimen at the Inn at Spanish Bay: this 1993 Lamborghini Diablo SE30, built to commemorate 30 years of the Raging Bull brand. This metallic purple paint came standard on all 150 SE30s built, though it could be changed to another color upon request. Why anyone would do that is beyond me.—Jonny Lieberman

Ferrari Enzo

You can hardly go anywhere on the Monterey Peninsula during Car Week without tripping over a Ferrari or three. But finding a Ferrari Enzo left casually in a hotel parking lot is still an event, even by the dizzy standards of Pebble Beach.—Angus MacKenzie

Austin-Healey 100-6

It’s rare to see a big Healey on steel wheels, even though wire wheels were an option. This striking 100-6 2+2, spotted in downtown Carmel, looked fresh out of a thoughtfully executed full restoration—check out the paint under the fenders.—Angus MacKenzie

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