#the fact that I didn’t have to q another post for this specific day shocks and amazes me

[usatorachive]

this fight takes place today and also on the day barnaby’s parents died… happy anniversary! 🎉🥳🎊

[h2bakugou]

Yes yes yes yesyesyesyesyes ok!! So then can I request present mic? Doing anything??? No I’m kidding I do actually have a prompt. I was thinking abt mic’s radio show and specifically, if he had an s/o who wrote music. Bc u know he would help them produce it and then play it nonstop on air aaaaaa

a/n: yes!! present mic love!! i love him so much i swear! <3 he has my heart dkdkmn this is such a cute request please- i apologize for the late posting!!

summary: you're an ambitious, gleeful, songbird at heart, and though you're quirkless, you've captivated the heart of the music-loving, radio show hosting, loud, sweetheart, present mic!

key: (y/n) - your name / (f/n) - first name / (l/n) - last name / (e/c) - eye color / (h/c) - hair color / (y/q) - your quirk

warnings: swearing, fluff

word count: 1.3k

;cut for length;

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You started as an intern. A beaming smile on your lips most days, always happy to be in the studio with Mic when he was teaching you the ins and outs of radio hosting.

You'd majored in music business, the end goal in mind of writing and releasing your own music, though most of your plans had fallen through, the only opportunity to get you back on your feet after college being this deal you couldn't pass up.

Co-hosting with Present Mic on his own radio show.

The offer had actually been given to you by one of your superiors at the studio you worked at, having seen your optimism when it came to writing music and your love of music in general.

They wished you good luck and would always welcome you back if things didn't go so well. But you kept your head up high and marched into that studio ready to take on the world alongside the loud blonde.

And down the line, three years later, you were surprised to say the least.

"Your coffee as usual." Hizashi sets down the patriotic blue U.A. thermos sent out to the teachers at the beginning of the year. Since you'd practically moved in 'unofficially' with Mic, unofficially because you weren't technically allowed to stay due to the fact you didn't work for the school, rather employed by Mic himself in his private studio, but you were the tiny exception since you did technically work in the school.

"Thanks! Hey, I was wondering if you could check this new thing I've been working on and give me some criticism, it's just a rough draft, the lyrics just kind of came to me after a shot or two at Vlad's birthday party the other night." You giggled as you tossed him the flash drive containing your latest project, the sensitive information contained on the tiny disc landing in the palm of your boyfriend's hands.

"Another song? You're blessing my ears so early in the morning. I'm dreaming! Pinch me!" He teases. Mic's been the biggest supporter of your music since he overheard the pipes you had.

You'd had that kind of night the second week of your internship, battling the oncoming hangover after drinking with your cool new pro-hero teacher friends, your thoughts turning to lyrics as you worked in the studio, the only light being the small lamp on the side Mic kept when he worked late too.

He'd forgotten his room keys in the studio again, something you realized he did often and as he stopped by to pick them back up, that's when he heard you. You sounded so angelic, almost as if you were some sort of angel.

At first, he thought maybe it was just a recording or some sort of dare he say, Melodyne filter while you were messing around in the mic at night.

But you weren't. Your authentic voice shell-shocked him, and he sort of listened to you the entire night until you nearly pissed your pants turning around and seeing him.

“Yeah, it’s nothing special really-” You’re back to reality as Mic quickly has his headphones over his ears, a large grin on his lips as he listens, his fingers tapping away to the beat already.

You work on other tasks, filtering through requests and putting them in the queue while Mic listens to your song, his heart pounding. You were so talented and he’d wish you’d give yourself a bit more credit. You have what it takes to make it big, and he’d support you every step of the way.

“You know with this and the other tracks you have, you’d have enough to push out an EP. All you need is a bit of marketing and producing, and I’d be more than willing to help!” Mic smiles, wheeling over to you, pressing an encouraging peck to your cheek.

“It sounds great, but who would wanna listen to what I write?” You giggle, toggling an advertisement as you glance over at the blonde.

“How about this, You let me help you, I’ll spread the trial around here at work and if it gets good reviews, we publish.” Hizashi is nothing short of persuasive, and for the rest of the week he has you in his studio, adding layer after layer, fine-tuning and weeding out bits of the collection of songs you’d written until you have an EP.

Long nights fueled by coffee, water, and tea, and takeout eventually land you with the very first copy of your own EP. 

In your hands, it’s palpable. It’s real. It doesn’t have any cover art, or a title, let alone who sang it, but Mic hands you a sharpie and you feel this fire coursing through your veins.

You feel more than accomplished.

You scribble some title down that you’d work on later and messily sign your name for Mic to make copies and then throughout the next week, you’ve got dozens of messages flooding your inbox telling you to drop it on some streaming platforms.

And the following night Mic is consoling your tears as you hit your first 100 streams. 

“I’m so proud of you.” He coos, kissing your cheeks, wiping your tears away with his kisses, patting you on the head.

“You’re so cheesy.” You tease him.

“Says you! You named an entire song after me.” Mic huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What if ‘my beloved’ was about Marty?” You giggle. Marty, the sparkly, beautiful, elegant, beta-fish you’d adopted as the studio mascot swam around in his tank, decked out with super cool aquatic music themed stuff.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Mic laughs, his long blonde hair sweeping over his shoulders. 

“Your hair always looks so nice down.” You snuggle into him, your fingers twisting around the ends. Hizashi shakes his head and stares down at you.

“And you’re as radiant as ever, my love.” Hizashi pulls you into him, snuggling his head into your neck, placing a gentle kiss to your skin as he holds you near to him.

“Do you sing, ‘Zashi?” You ask quietly.

“No comment.” Mic giggles, his laughs tickling your skin.

“Would you work on a song with me?” You ask sweetly.

“I would love to.”

Callers chime in every so often for requests, since Mic loves to annoy the listeners by playing your EP track by track almost daily. You have to knock some sense into him telling him that there’s a quota to fill and while you love how he supports you, you’ve got them stuck in your head too.

And when you play them every so often, your heart warms when someone requests one of yours to play. Even more so, when your songs rise to much more notable fame, you’re working on your own album, with the lovely producing of Mic, and it even features a lovely duet between the two of you.

In fact, something you’d found out with having so many connections to pros, was the amount of hidden talent.

You’d requested a song with Kyoka Jiro, the beautiful voice you’d heard at the school festival had belonged to her and you’d been wanting to work with her since she also shared a love for music, and though she was young, she seemed rather happy to sing, even if she might’ve been shy about it first.

An unlikely duo might’ve come from a dare, Hawks. While he was rather against the idea at first, his voice was smooth and mellow, and it clashed with yours perfectly for some sort of sappy anti-romantic love song. Whatever the case, it made charts. 

But Mic continued to be your biggest supporter, no matter how or if you got big. You’d always find your way back into his arms, messing around with him on the radio show, and dodging paparazzi whenever you two left campus.

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masterlist

[falseh0od]

So I had the idea... what if the boys were Pokemon trainers?? I know the idea of a Pokémon/Sanders Sides crossover has been done by many (I’m particularly partial to the one by @sugarglider9603- I name my eeveelutions after the boys respectively 😅)

But! I decided to take the Pokémon they chose as the ones they’d be in the Q&A video and give them 5 more Pokémon for a full team! Only three of the boys have a specific typing, but each one has a trait that sets their team apart!

I ALSO included Janus, Remus, Emile, and Remy in this. Janus and Remus’s partners are straightforward as Arbok and Alolan Raticate respectively, but I chose a possible oddball for Emile in Ditto. I’ll elaborate more! Remy’s partner is Snorlax though, which I think is also a perfect match.

I’ll also be explaining the backgrounds of each of the boys and how they caught each of their Pokémon.

Anyway, here we go!

Logan Berry

(TW for mentions of abuse)

Logan was born in Hoenn, way back before any of the events of the games happened. Steven Stone is still champion of the region and is very, very well known. However, Logan’s parents were abusive and very strict, and absolutely hated Pokemon. They weren’t very secretive of their abuse, though, and one day it got bad enough that the neighbors came to investigate and called the police. This was when Logan was officially taken from their custody and sent to live with his Grandma in the Galar region... aka, Professor Magnolia. In this AU, Logan takes the place of Sonia. Which means he becomes a Pokémon Professor, which shouldn’t surprise anybody lmao. He does also end up being Leon’s rival in the gym challenge too! He also decides to specialize in Psychic-Type Pokémon.

Alakazam

Logan found his Alakazam when it was just a baby, a young Abra. This Abra was his first Pokemon, and one of the only two Pokémon he caught in Hoenn. In fact, this Abra is what set off the argument with his parents that led to them being arrested in the first place. His parents forbid him from having a Pokémon, despite the fact that Logan loved Pokémon with all his heart and it was his dream to be a trainer. This resulted in them becoming furious when he came home with his Abra. However, Abra actively protected Logan from the blows of his parents (using its psychic powers ofc) and is the main reason why Logan wasn’t in worse shape after that. Because of this, Alakazam isn’t just Logan’s partner, but is also his emotional support Pokemon, and Logan hates to be away from him for too long.

Metagross

This is the second Pokémon Logan brought with him to Galar from Hoenn, and it just so happens that this Pokémon was a gift to him. Steven Stone himself heard that there was a young boy who had been abused by his parents, and took it upon himself to come visit Logan before he was sent to Galar. The two struck up an immediate friendship, and Steven decided to gift him with the one thing the boy loved more than anything- a Pokemon. A Beldum, to be exact. He told Logan to take good care of the young Pokemon and Logan promised he would- and he would keep that promise.

Espeon

Espeon was the first pokemon Logan caught in Galar. It was just an Eevee at the time! Professor Magnolia had taken him with her when she went to visit Milo at one point, and when passing through Route Four Logan had found the Eevee. Professor Magnolia gifted him with a Pokeball to use to catch it, and Logan had his third Pokémon!

Xatu

It was in the wild area as an older teen that Logan found his fourth team member. He found a little Natu hopping around in the grass, minding its own business. Logan initially didn’t think much of it, and went on with his business... but the Natu thought MUCH of him, and ended up following Logan all around the Wild Area. Logan eventually caved in, catching the little bird and forming such a close bond with him that he added him to his team when he evolved into Xatu.

Galarian Rapidash

Logan found the Galarian Rapidash when he was in the middle of his Gym challenge with Leon, as he was on his way to Ballonlea. It was a Ponyta at the time, and it was actually injured. Logan quickly caught it and ran back to Wedgehurst to have Professor Magnolia take a look at her, almost missing his sixth gym. However, the Ponyta made a quick recovery and Logan added her to his team.

Reuniclus

Logan’s final team member was also found in its unevolved form, Solosis. He found Solosis in the wild area as well, in after he had beaten every gym and before he went on to Wyndon for the finals. There wasn’t much fate about the meeting- but Logan felt a connection from the moment he saw the Pokémon. He caught it, trained it, and it joined him in Wyndon, a Duosion, and Logan’s final team member.

Roman Prince

Roman (and Remus, his twin ofc) was born and raised in Alola. He had his mom, a kind and caring woman who loved her sons deeply. His dad had died when he was very little, so he didn’t remember much about him. His mom was also friends with Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet, and Roman was close friends with their adopted son... Remy. In fact, Professor Kukui was the one who gifted Roman his first Pokemon, and we’ll get into that story right now!

Wigglytuff

Wigglytuff (an Igglybuff at the time) was Roman’s first pokemon and has since been his loyal partner. He received the Pokémon as an egg, a gift from Professor Kukui when he, Remus, and Remy were all old enough to start training Pokémon (Remus originally thought Pokémon were stupid, however, and would change his mind and get his first Pokémon later). After he got the egg, Roman spent every waking hour working to hatch it, and three days after receiving it, it hatched, much to his delight, and Igglybuff was brought into the world. He and his now Wigglytuff have an incredibly close connection, and Roman almost never puts her in her Pokeball.

Gardevoir

Gardevoir was Roman’s second Pokemon, the first wild Pokémon he ever caught. It was just a Ralts, but Roman was super excited to find a rarer pokemon, and immediately struck up a lasting friendship with Ralts. It evolved quicker than any Ralts Professor Kukui had ever seen.

Alolan Ninetales

It was during a ski trip to Mount Lanakila that Roman stumbled upon a lost and scared Alolan Vulpix. Roman didn’t hesitate to bring it back to the group, and helped it calm down. It was plainly evident not long after that the Vulpix was destined to be Roman’s. He caught it, and went to the ends of the earth to find the ice stone that eventually she evolved with when she was ready.

Aegislash

(tw for killing mention and technically animal abuse?)

Professor Kukui was beyond shocked when a teenaged Roman barged through his door holding a Pokeball that held a Honedge, another incredibly rare Pokémon. Roman told the dashing story, how he rescued it from a hitman who was trying to catch it to make it kill for him against its will. Kukui still doesn’t know how true the story is... but between me and you, Roman didn’t exaggerate a word.

Altaria

Roman’s Swablu was another gift, from a traveling friend of Professor Kukui. After hearing the professor speak so highly of the three kids and their dedication to Pokemon (Remus had decided to be a trainer by this point) the stranger gifted all three with a Pokémon not normally found in Alola. All three of the boys added said pokemon to their teams. Roman fell in love with the Swablu and was elated when it evolved into the majestic Altaria.

Milotic

Roman was traded Milotic. There’s not a big, fluffy story to his 6th pokemon, really. It was his first trade ever and when the other person traded him a Feebas holding a prism scale, he was super excited to watch the Pokémon evolve into Milotic. And so he added Milotic to his team on the spot.

Patton Hart

Patton is from Kalos, and doesn’t have much to his backstory. His mom died when he was ten, and his Dad raised him. His dad was a doctor and also Patton’s hero, so Patton ended up also going on to go to med school to become a doctor as well. He would eventually decide to move to Galar for a change in scenery, but not until he was in his mid-twenties. However, Patton has a major quirk to his Pokémon team. Patton decided to become an expert in training Pokémon to their full extent while they were still in their basic forms, aka not fully evolved... but not just any kind of Pokémon. You’ll see what I mean!

Togepi

Some of you might already have noticed the specific kind of Pokémon Patton specializes in. Anyway, Togepi was hatched an egg Patton found in the wild. His dad wasn’t terribly thrilled with the idea of Patton raising a wild egg since they had no idea what it would be, but after persistent badgering from Patton eventually gave in and let him raise it. Let’s just say he was relieved when it hatched into just a baby Togepi!

The rest of Patton’s team were gifts from various people who had eggs they were looking to give away. There’s not a whole ton of background so I’ll just list off each of the Pokémon in order of when he got them!

Pichu

Munchlax

Magby

Azurill

Riolu

Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, Patton specializes in baby Pokémon! Each holds an everstone and an eviolite, and each was given specialized training with Patton to make them as strong as possible! He holds a close relationship with each one! Patton is incredibly proud of his team, and is even one of the strongest trainers in Kalos!

Virgil Storm

Virgil was born and raised in Galar, and he loves the region more than anything and never plans to move. He’s also a close friend (and *cough* boyfriend- I’ll go into that more at the end of the post) of Logan! Both his parents are alive and are super awesome. They almost become like a second family to Logan. Virgil also has a fascination with ghost Pokémon, and as such, decided early on to be a trainer specializing in Ghost type Pokémon.

Haunter

Virgil met his Haunter before he ever even met Logan. He was wandering in the woods, and was hopelessly lost. Scared and crying, he caught the attention of a young Gastly, who approached the boy and helped him find his way out of the woods. It was when they had finally made their way out that Virgil found an abandoned Pokeball on the ground, and decided to catch the Gastly, who had at that point basically adopted the small human and was more than happy to be his partner. While it eventually evolved into Haunter, Virgil has vowed that he will never give away his Haunter, pretty much making it so the Pokémon will never evolve into Gengar. Logan has offered to try and find a way to get Haunter to evolve without a trade, but Virgil denied. He prefers Haunter over Gengar anyway (though he won’t deny that Gengar is his favorite gigantimax form).

Chandelure

Virgil found Chandelure as a Litwick when he was on a walk in the same woods, this time with Logan by his side. He immediately felt drawn to the Pokémon, and while Logan was terrified that something horrible would happen, the Litwick felt the same connection, and decided to let Virgil catch it. Eventually evolving into Lampent, Virgil was elated when he found a Dusk Stone lying around in the Wild Area, and helped the Pokémon to evolve into Chandelure.

Trevenant

Virgil found his Trevenant as - you guessed it, a Phantump. It was in a forest, but this time, in the forest leading up to Ballonlea. He was on his way to watch Logan’s gym match with Opal! It took some coaxing to get the Phantump into a Pokeball, but the little Pokemon eventually decided to go with Virgil. Though Virgil was resigned to having the Pokémon be a Phantump forever, the incredible connection Phantump made with Virgil led to it surprising Virgil with an evolution out of nowhere one day. (I know- don’t fight me on this, I just have a major problem with trade evolutions and Pokemon needs to make it so there’s another way to evolve those Pokémon 😡).

Dragapult

To no one’s surprise, Virgil found his Dragapult as a Dreepy. It was actually in a Max Raid battle, one that he and Logan did together. Virgil was elated when they found one for Dreepy, because he had been dreaming of getting a Dreepy for years.

Mimikyu

Mimikyu was one of the weirder encounters Virgil had. It was in the wild area, and Virgil was wandering in the fog alone when he noticed movement. It took some time to track down the movement, but it was then that he found the Mimikyu, one of the smallest Mimikyus anyone would ever see. He fell in love and his connection with Mimikyu is incredibly strong, seconded only by his connection with Haunter.

Dusknoir

Dusknoir is the only pokemon any of the boys found in the wild as-is. Not a Duskull, not a Duskclops, a full-out Dusknoir. While the encounter got rocky because the Dusknoir was big and formidable, after Virgil won a battle against it, it let Virgil catch it. That is still one of Virgil’s proudest accomplishments.

Janus Sawyer

Janus is a wandering soul at heart, and never stays in one place for terribly long. He was raised in Kanto, but not being able to travel made him miserable. As soon as he turned 18 he left home, and has never settled down since. He also has a connection with Pokémon that resemble snakes (and no one should be surprised by this).

Arbok

Arbok was the first pokemon Janus ever caught, when it was just an Ekans. Janus found the Ekans in the wild, and though his mom was terrified, he immediately was drawn to it, and begged his mom to let him catch it. His mom finally relented and gave him a Pokeball to use. Janus loves his Arbok more than anything.

Dragonair

Dragonair was the only other Pokémon Janus found in Kanto before he left. He found it as a Dratini, and will never let it evolve into Dragonite as he prefers Dragonair and finds it ridiculous that Dragonite looks nothing like the snake-like Dragonair and Dratini.

Cofagrigus

Cofagrigus is the only non-snake-like Pokemon on Janus’s team. He found it in Unova, the first region he went to after he left Kanto. He wasn’t originally gonna have it on his team, but eventually realized that he had too close a relationship with the Pokémon to not keep it on his team. He loves Cofagrigus a lot.

(AN: I included cofagrigus because arms.)

Serperior

Serperior is another Pokemon Janus found in Unova. He found it as Snivy. He’s especially proud of the odd coloring on his Serperior, as it is a lighter green, and has blue accents. (Yes, it is shiny!)

Zoroark

Zoroark is the last Pokemon Janus caught in Unova. After hearing of the pokemon, he became obsessed with Zoroark and vowed to catch it before he left Unova. He did find it, but it took a few weeks before Zoroark would let him catch it. In those few weeks, Janus stood back to observe Zoroark. Finally, Janus saved Zoroark’s life when it was attacked by a Pokemon hunter, and it decided to allow Janus to catch it. Janus and Zoroark are very close.

Salamence

In the second region he ever travelled to, Hoenn, Janus found a Bagon- he wasn’t entirely down to catch it, but Bagon desperately wanted to be catched by him. Janus eventually relented and caught the Pokemon, and with some research realized he would love to have a Salamence on his team. The two eventually grew closer and closer, and by the time it evolved into Salamence, they had a bond close enough for mega evolution- so when Janus first heard about the concept, he put all of his effort into finding a key stone and a mega stone for Salamence, which he eventually would.

Remus Prince

Remus, Roman’s twin, originally thought that being a Pokémon trainer was a stupid idea, and vowed never to be a trainer nor to own a single Pokémon. This changed when he was a teen, and he now loves Pokémon and is one of the strongest trainers in Alola (ironically enough). He completed the entire island challenge, and Kukui ends up asking him to be in the Elite Four when he creates the Alola Region Pokemon League. He doesn’t have a specific type, though a good portion of his team is Poison type, so he primarily uses the Poison Z-Move.

Alolan Raticate

Alolan Raticate was the Pokemon that made Remus change his mind about being a trainer. He found the Pokémon, a small rattata, being attacked by a Gumshoos who was way stronger than the Rattata. Remus chased the Gumshoos off, and then Roman handed Remus a Pokeball as if to say “you know you want to”. Remus gave in and caught the rattata. Now, Raticate is his partner, and he is closer with Raticate than with any of his other Pokémon.

Garbodor

Once Remus had given in to being a Pokémon trainer, Kukui finally got to give him an egg for him to raise. It took some time because Remus wasn’t sure how to go about raising the egg, but eventually it hatched into Trubbish. Remus loves Garbodor a lot, and though there’s no real way for him to figure this out, Garbodor is also gigantimax.

Alolan Muk

Muk was a Pokémon that, once he decided to be a trainer, Remus had his heart set on catching. It took a few years, but he finally found a Grimer, and added it to his team. Muk and Garbodor are very close.

Alolan Exeggcutor

Remus has always loved the concept of Exeggcutor- it’s long neck, the egg shaped heads, everything! Yet once he saw how they looked everywhere but Alola, Remus realized just how special the Alolan variants were. He spent three months trying to catch an Alolan Exeggcutor once he decided he wanted to, and was eventually successful.

Swalot

You remember the story of how Roman got his Swablu? That also happens to be how Remus got Swalot. Swalot was merely a Gulpin when he was gifted it. Remus instantly fell in love with the Pokémon and loves that he’s one of the only trainers in Alola with one.

Weezing

It was during a short trip to Kanto that Remus found his Weezing. Professor Kukui was visiting Professor Oak, and had also booked a ticket for Burnet, who unfortunately got sick last minute. With Roman and Remy both busy, Kukui offered to let Remus tag along, and Remus was more than happy to come. It was a chance encounter with Koffing, but Remus instantly fell in love, and Weezing was added to his party as his 6th pokemon.

Remy Burnet-Kukui

Remy was orphaned at only a year old, so he has very little recollection of his parents. Kukui and Burnet were not exactly looking to adopt at the time, but after hearing of Remy’s story, decided they had nothing to lose. They didn’t keep it a secret from Remy that he was adopted, not wanting to lose his trust at a later date. Remy is still incredibly close with his adopted parents and loves them with his whole heart. He became obsessed with the idea of moves Pokemon can use while asleep, and once he became a trainer, decided to specialize in using sleep to his advantage. He only has five Pokémon on his team, but if you saw him battle, you would see that that’s all he needs. He made it most of the way through the island challenge, but was never able to defeat Hapu.

Snorlax

Snorlax was Remy’s first Pokémon, the Pokémon gifted to him by Kukui while it was just an egg. It hatched into Munchlax and Remy was ecstatic. His Munchlax and Burnet’s Munchlax were always close, and while Burnet’s Munchlax never evolved, Remy happily evolved his when they became close enough.

Komala

Komala was the second Pokémon Remy caught, the first one he caught in the wild. It was in the middle of a busy street, sleeping as usual and just barely avoiding getting trampled. Remy rescued it, and Komala let him catch it.

Slaking

Remy found Slaking in the wild, just a Slakoth. Remy had the absolute worst time wrangling the Pokémon when it evolved into Vigoroth, and he will tell you that the day it evolved into Slaking was the happiest day of his life.

Slowbro

Another wild encounter, Slowbro and Snorlax became very close very quickly, when Slowbro was just a Slowpoke. They can often be seen napping together, and occasionally Remy will join them.

Musharna

Musharna was gifted to Remy as a Munna when Kukui’s friend from a different region visited. Remy fell in love with Munna and Kukui helped him locate a moon stone to evolve it into Musharna.

Emile Picani

Emile is Patton’s cousin, and also his best friend! Also raised in Kalos, he moved to Galar when he turned 18, much to Patton’s chagrin. He was also one of the main reasons Patton himself decided to move to Galar. Emile is a therapist, and is also close with Logan and Virgil. He’s also Logan’s therapist! He prides himself in being a normal-type trainer.

Ditto

Ditto was the first Pokémon Emile found. It was a wild encounter, and it terrified Emile at first because it had shapeshifted into Gengar. Once he realized what it was though, Emile was fascinated, and decided to catch it. It became his partner and helps Emile in his therapy sessions too!

Stoutland

Emile found Stoutland when it was just a little Lillipup. It was hurt, and Emile rushed it to the Pokémon Center. After waiting anxiously to see if it was alright, Nurse Joy gave him a Pokeball to use to catch it once it was fully recovered. Stoutland is one of the gentlest Pokemon Emile has ever seen, and he cares for each of the other Pokémon on Emile’s team, almost like a Dad friend.

Blissey

Blissey was gifted to Emile as an egg. He vigorously cared for it, and was elated when it hatched into Happiny. He made sure to form a close friendship with the Pokémon, wanting nothing more than for it to evolve fully, which it eventually did.

Poryon 2

Emile’s Porygon was an odd gift, given to him by a stranger he had a Pokémon battle with who was intrigued by Emile’s strength and bond with his Pokémon. Emile never saw the man again, but he loves his Porygon and went to the ends of the earth to get it to evolve into Porygon 2.

Smeargle

Another wild encounter, Smeargle was the last Pokemon Emile caught one Kalos before he moved- in fact, he caught Smeargle on his 18th birthday! Smeargle is incredibly loyal to Emile, and doesn’t particularly like other trainers. He gets incredibly competitive during battles.

Dubwool

The day he moved to Galar, Emile immediately knew he desperately wanted a Wooloo. They were cute, they were fluffy, and they were incredibly strong once evolved. He caught one within his first week in Galar, and it evolved within the first year.

And that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed each of these stories and explanations! I dunno if I’ll ever write this AU, but if anyone else decides to I’d be elated, just please tag me! Also, this would be a great LAMP AU, in my opinion, but if nothing else I really want it to at least be an analogical AU. If ya wanna do something different from there then be my guest!

[letterboxd]

How I Letterboxd #6: Sean Boelman.

Talking 2020 movie trends, the year’s best documentaries, and Elijah Wood’s death-stare with peach emoji lobbyist Sean Boelman.

“Honestly, there’s not much I like to do other than watch movies or go to theme parks, and one of those things wasn’t an option for months.”

In a year like no other for the movie business, it’s still possible to see hundreds of new films if you have the right connections. For professional critics, the downside of missing the in-person festival buzz and tent-pole previews is somewhat offset by the upside of being able to pace out your screenings in the comfort of your own home.

Wondering who might possibly hold the title of “the Letterboxd member who has watched the most new releases so far this year”, we poked around in the server room and found Sean Boelman, who has logged well over 400 films from 2020 in his diary. So far this year, Sean (20) has covered the Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Florida and Fantasia Film Festivals; he also reviews films via screeners sent through from PR firms. Sean hails from Orlando, Florida, and is the founder of movie review platform disappointment media, which he created to promote a wider range of voices in film criticism.

Park So-dam and peach in ‘Parasite’ (2019), directed by Bong Joon-ho.

How long ago did you join Letterboxd? I joined Letterboxd back in 2015. I attended a film class that summer and the teaching assistant had an account and encouraged all of us to create our own. I’ve been using the app religiously ever since.

You’re our youngest ‘How I Letterboxd’ participant to date. How would you describe your experience on Letterboxd as a teenager? When I was in high school, I was one of the earliest adopters of the app, so I told all of my friends about it and suggested that they use it too. By the time I got to college, it was already in the mainstream within the film community, so I was just the guy with the most extensive account. I love how Letterboxd is a community for film fans to talk about films we love, and with the exception of a few trolls every once in a while, it’s really conducive to good discussions.

Which features have you found the most useful? I’m definitely an obsessive logger. The diary feature is without a doubt my favorite part of the app. I started logging in June 2015 and have logged every feature-length film (and some shorts) I’ve watched since. I made the decision not to retroactively mark everything I’ve seen in my life as watched, because that would be too monumental a task. I also find Letterboxd particularly useful during a festival. It’s interesting to see the buzz about what movies people do and don’t like so that I can adjust my schedule accordingly.

And what’s a feature you wish Letterboxd had? I really loved when you guys changed the stars to flames for Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It would be awesome if you started doing that more regularly for releases that get a sizeable following. Like, give Parasite peaches.

Ivana Baquero and Doug Jones in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006), directed by Guillermo del Toro.

What film kicked off your passion for cinema, and specifically, which films or community of film fans motivated you to watch as many films as you can find for the current year? I’ve loved cinema for as long as I can remember, but the film that I credit with really birthing my love for film as art is Pan’s Labyrinth. When I saw that in theaters at the—probably too young—age of six, I felt like [Guillermo] del Toro transported me into Ofelia’s world, and I then realized what magical capabilities the medium of film has.

As for why I’m motivated to watch so many new releases, I have a bit of an issue with saying no, haha. As a film critic, I’m inundated with requests to review movies, from major studio releases to B-movies most people have never heard of. I’ve done my fair share of adding titles to TMDb. I end up reviewing anywhere from ten to twenty new releases a week, depending on the season.

You’re a film critic, but you only post short summaries on Letterboxd instead of your full reviews. Why share only brief thoughts? Much of this boils down to the fact that when I watch something, it’s still under embargo for full reviews, so I can only log it in my Letterboxd diary and leave a little blurb. I also find that there isn’t as much room for humor in my full reviews, so I like using this platform to get my jokes out.

So, as of writing, you’ve ranked 457 films from 2020. What percentage of your total films seen are from these new ‘Roaring Twenties’? Out of the films I’ve logged on Letterboxd, it seems like about ten percent are listed on Letterboxd as movies from 2020. The actual percentage would be quite a bit lower than that, though, since my Letterboxd doesn’t include anything I watched prior to June 2015.

Before Covid-19 shutdowns, how many of these films did you have the opportunity to see in theaters? Which were your most memorable theatrical experiences of the year? In 2020, I was able to see 29 films in theaters, either paid or in a theatrical press screening, before they shut down. I’ve also gotten to see some since the shutdown in drive-ins or from the Florida Film Festival holding socially distanced, in-person screenings. But I definitely went through a bit of theater withdrawal. I missed the smell of popcorn dearly.

For my favorite theatrical experiences in 2020, seeing The Invisible Man on opening night with a packed crowd was definitely a hoot. I was sad at first to have missed the press screening, but like most great horror movies, it was awesome to see it with an audience and hear them gasp in surprise in the action sequences. Another one was getting to see Weathering with You in 4DX. Normally you wouldn’t think of that as a big, spectacle-driven 4DX movie, but it was super-immersive in all of the Sunshine Girl scenes.

And I have some awesome memories from SXSW 2019. At the world premiere of Us, I was pushed into Elisabeth Moss. I once got a death stare from Elijah Wood who seemed to think I was going to approach him. Don’t get me wrong, I love his work—but I wasn’t going to because of etiquette. I watched Long Shot with one of the world’s leading geneticists and then got to see Boyz II Men perform live. And I laughed hysterically when Robert Patrick said in a Q&A that even he didn’t understand the movie he was in. It’s a fun time. I definitely encourage any cinephiles to attend an in-person festival when things get back to normal.

You have more than seventy films in your 2020 list with five or four and a half stars. Would you describe yourself as a generous rater? I was definitely a lot more generous when I started my Letterboxd than I am now. I’m sure if I rewatched some of those films I logged in 2015 and 2016, they’d get a lower rating today. But I really don’t mind it. I don’t see my purpose as a critic as to tear apart the filmmaker’s art—I want to appreciate it. Maybe I’m a little liberal with my five-star rating, but what can I say? Gosh, I love movies. And for me, a five-star rating doesn’t mean perfect, it means great. I don’t think there’s such thing as a perfect film. A five-star [rating] from me means that it connected with me in an extraordinary way. I reserve the ‘like’ for films that set themselves apart from the rest of the five stars by some virtue. If I give it a five and a like, now that’s something you should definitely not miss.

Tunde Adebimpe in ‘She Dies Tomorrow’ (2020), directed by Amy Seimetz.

Your best film of 2020 so far is Amy Seimetz’s She Dies Tomorrow—it’s also your number three of all time. What resonated so strongly with you about the film? Are you surprised about its divisive reaction? I absolutely adore She Dies Tomorrow. I’ve really admired Amy Seimetz’s work as an actress for a long time, and her work behind the camera on this blew me away. I haven’t seen Sun Don’t Shine yet, but it’s on the top of my list. It connected with me because it really captured some of the anxieties I’ve been going through recently. She obviously didn’t set out to make the definitive Covid film, but that’s what it ended up being. And of course, how could you not love that film’s extraordinary use of color. It looks magnificent. But I’m not at all surprised at how divisive it is. It has a very segmented and unorthodox narrative, and not everyone is a fan of that type of structure. I understand why it hasn’t worked as well for some people.

What are the other most overlooked films of 2020 so far? In terms of overlooked 2020 films, I think the big one is the Russell Simmons exposé On the Record. I think that Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s The Hunting Ground is one of the most harrowing documentaries I have ever seen in my life, and On the Record combines a lot of that relevance while also offering a really compelling look at the life of a powerful woman in the music industry. It’s great, and only about one thousand members have logged it on Letterboxd. Watch it on HBO Max!

There are a lot of great movies released in 2020 that are widely available and [fewer than] 5,000 people having logged them on Letterboxd. A White, White Day is a great little revenge thriller from Iceland. But what makes it stand out from the genre is that it’s a lot more understated and character-driven than most. It has similar vibes to You Were Never Really Here, but perhaps even quieter. Maria von Hausswolff’s cinematography is absolutely breathtaking, and Ingvar Sigurðsson gives one of my favorite performances of the year. It’s just a gorgeous film.

Hlynur Pálmason’s Icelandic revenge thriller ‘A White, White Day��(2019).

The Painted Bird is a bit harder to recommend because it is by no means fun, but it’s one of those that you have to watch once and will never want to see again. I described it as “auteur shock cinema”. It’s a three-hour-long Holocaust drama that’s bleak and filled with torture, but it’s powerful, heartbreaking and harrowing. It also features great performances all around, especially from child actor Peta Kotlár.

I think Michael Winterbottom is one of the best directors working right now and I’ve always loved what he did with the Coogan-Brydon combo in his The Trip series, and this year’s entry, The Trip to Greece, is probably the best one yet. Over the course of the decade the series has spanned, Coogan and Brydon have changed a lot, and this series—in which they play themselves—has adapted to reflect that. This one’s a lot more heartfelt, but still features plenty of great impressions and tantalizing food shots. This really is one of my favorite film series of all time, so you should check all four out! Some other overlooked films I can think of are Jasper Mall, Aviva and Sword of God.

Which 2020 films would you say are the most overrated? Any absolute must-avoids? This is going to be a really hot take, but there was a trifecta of homebound horror flicks that came out in July—Relic, The Rental and Amulet—and I didn’t care for any of them. I think all the directors are talented and show a lot of potential, especially Natalie Erika James, but I wasn’t a fan of any of the films. As for ones to avoid, I try not to call out bad movies unless there’s a reason to [do so], and there are only two of those this year: Coffee & Kareem and Elvis from Outer Space. Coffee & Kareem is just offensive, and Elvis from Outer Space tries to be so-bad-it’s-funny and falls flat.

Jahi Di’Allo Winston in ‘Charm City Kings’ (2020), directed by Ángel Manuel Soto.

What films that you’ve been fortunate to preview via screeners or film festivals are you certain will be a big deal once they’re available on general release? Ugh, there are some I wish I could talk about but I’m still under embargo! So I’ll have to talk mostly about festival ones. Alice Gu’s The Donut King is wonderful. It was supposed to debut at SXSW, but obviously that got cancelled. On one hand, it is a food doc about donuts—who doesn’t love donuts?—but it’s also a moving story about the immigrant experience. It scored distribution from Greenwich and should be released soon. Charm City Kings is great, and HBO Max picked that up to be released sometime this year. That’s a really awesome coming-of-age movie with a story by Barry Jenkins. And I saw a work-in-progress cut of this indie called Millennium Bugs made by an up-and-comer named Alejandro Montoya Marín. He was part of the Robert Rodriguez show Rebel Without a Crew. It’s a great little movie about Y2K and the Latinx experience that will be debuting online at Dances with Films and is looking for a distributor after that.

Fill in the blank: “2020 is a great year for ____ in film”. What patterns have you noticed? I really think that 2020 is a great year for documentaries. We thought 2018 was a great year with Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Free Solo, RBG and Three Identical Strangers, among others, but this year is shaping up to be even better. Boys State, The Donut King, On the Record, Rebuilding Paradise, Dark City Beneath the Beat, A Secret Love and Disclosure are all excellent, and that’s just scratching the surface.

I think what makes these documentaries stand out is their ability to make the viewer feel connected to their story. I love documentaries that take a story you might not have otherwise heard of and tell it in a way that feels intensely personal. By taking these stories like the problems inherent in American democracy, the immigrant experience, the California wildfires, the #MeToo movement, and issues with trans representation on screen and telling them in a way that people can relate to them even if they can’t personally identify with their subjects, these documentary filmmakers are making the world a more compassionate place.

What films are you most looking forward to that are scheduled to release in 2020? Any awards season predictions you feel strongly about? In terms of mainstream releases, I’m most excited for No Time to Die, unless it gets pushed to 2021 like some have rumored. I’m a huge Cary Joji Fukunaga fan, so I’m excited to see what he does with the franchise. For indies, I’m really looking forward to seeing Promising Young Woman, The Green Knight, Save Yourselves!, Nomadland and Another Round.

For awards seasons predictions, there are a few I’m pretty confident about based on what I’ve seen. Boys State is an early frontrunner for Best Documentary. I think Eliza Hittman will get some love for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Dev Patel is a pretty good bet for a Best Actor nod for The Personal History of David Copperfield, even though the movie itself probably won’t get much more love. And there’s an upcoming Netflix movie that has a screenplay nomination in the bag, and maybe a couple other categories too, but shhhh, I’m under embargo on that one so I can’t say more.

Dev Patel in ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ (2019), directed by Armando Iannucci.

You keep thorough distributor rankings as well as year and franchise lists—how would you sum up the way each of these recently formed companies inspires you? Obviously A24 and NEON have amassed a pretty big cult following, and for good reason. There’s a particular identity their films have, despite the differences in genre, and I enjoy ranking them because of that. For the streamers, their films are a little more diverse, but I use my lists as a way for people to discover some of my favorite films they can watch at the click of a button. And for Blumhouse, it’s just because I absolutely adore the work Jason Blum does in supporting filmmakers’ voices. I’m usually pretty cool-headed around celebrities because interacting with high-profile people is a part of our job as critics, but I admittedly froze when I met him at SXSW since I’m such a big fan of his. I’ve always said that once I score an interview with him, I can “retire” as a critic, haha.

You’re of Guatemalan descent. Which films do you best relate with your Latino heritage? Of course, Pan’s Labyrinth is a big deal for me given the fact that it was a formative film in my life. [Alejandro] Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain is one of my favorite Latino classics. El Mariachi is great because Robert Rodriguez is the epitome of Latino DIY filmmaking and has always been such an inspiring figure. I got to interview him last year for Alita: Battle Angel, and it was an awesome experience. And in terms of more recent films, I think the Netflix doc Mucho Mucho Amor really captures the importance of community amongst Latinos.

What films are highest on your list of shame? I will say that I’ve seen more classics than I have logged on Letterboxd, but there are still a few embarrassing gaps on my list. I love the work I’ve seen from Akira Kurosawa, Brian De Palma, Agnès Varda and Chantal Akerman, and I really want to finish up their filmographies. Probably the most shameful omission I have is the fact that I’ve never seen a film by Ingmar Bergman. I’ve been lightening my workload for my site a bit, so I’m hoping to catch up on some of those soon.

Who are three Letterboxd members you recommend we follow? My friend Camden Ferrell who co-founded disappointment media with me. He’s also very passionate about film and does a lot of reviews for the site. Another one of our contributors is Sarah, who came on to the team during Sundance this year. She’s great and basically started the Portrait of a Lady on Fire fandom. I also want to give a shout-out to Jon Berk who was actually the critic to challenge me to start a blog back in 2016 when he was doing the Doug Loves Movies challenge, and now I’ve gotten to where I significantly outpace him, haha.

Sean’s site accepts story pitches from, and offers constructive feedback to, aspiring writers from under-represented and minority groups. Email Sean to find out more. Check out these 2020 rankings from Letterboxd members who have watched more than 100 releases this year: Orlan Harris, Austin Burke, Jerome, Joey Magidson, Kevin Yang, Jack, Jordan Raup, Matt Neglia, Weather Boy, Julian D, Johann Rucker, Mikey Brzezinkski, Ewan Graf, Denis Eremeev, Aaron King.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, December 2019

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the October report, although some may be older than that.

I am also missing a lot here, but pared it down somewhat to make more readable. The lead up to the holiday shopping season was a lot crazier than I expected 🙃

Given the time of year, please do not expect another report until January. However, I will do brief posts of important news/blog posts in the interim as needed.

There are going to be big changes to this report coming in 2020. Have any suggestions or feedback?  Leave a comment below, email me through my website, or send me a message on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

You are going to need to add Etsy’s tax ID to customs forms on New Zealand orders as of Dec. 1. Etsy’s ID is: 122-669-18.

FTC issues huge fines for selling fake likes & followers on social media, and for posting fake reviews online. “The [likes and followers] case could pave the way for further legal action on the same grounds, using the Devumi case as precedent. Indeed, shortly after the initial finding by the NY Attorney General, Facebook announced that it was moving ahead with legal action against several providers which it had found to be dealing in fake social media engagement.”

Everyone should read this article, if only to learn what not to do: Using “priming” to convert more buyers/users is a crucial marketing tactic.”Priming works by using associations made in our subconscious, and are almost always unnoticeable to the subject.” Example: “During a study, researchers approached customers in an electronics store, who’d entered to buy a new laptop.Half of the customers were asked what their memory needs were, and the other half were asked what their processor needs were...The group who were asked about memory, bought computers with higher memory and the group who were asked about processor speed, bought computers with much higher processor speeds.”

Etsy removed the word “Bugs” from the Bugs forum, & admits they will only will be monitoring it from 9-5 Etsy time (ET) Monday to Friday. They won’t be replying, but expect “hundreds of sellers” to do that job for them, unpaid. If you have an issue, you will now need to email through the Contact page, use the new 24 hour live chat, or phone them. [Note the parts they aren’t mentioning - Support is taking over a week to reply to emails right now, live chat will only be able to help with the simplest of questions (e.g., how do I change my email address?) & it is possible to spend over an hour on hold when you phone. You could spend quite a bit of money on long distance fees, especially if you are in a country that doesn’t have its own phone number, all for something you used to be able to get for free in the forum, sometimes on the same day. This is Etsy’s definition of “major improvements”.]

Check out this proposed US legislation, which wants large internet companies [yes, Etsy fits their definition] to reveal their algorithms & offer visitors a version with no “filter bubble.” You might not like Etsy search now, but I can guarantee it would become impossible if they removed all of the algorithm factors. [This editorial is a bit over the top, but does cover some of the key questions.]

ETSY NEWS

Items have been disappearing from a small number of Etsy searches since July, & Etsy still won’t tell us what is going on. If you discover you are affected, please let me know.

There have been a few threads on Etsy sending threatening emails about shops being below Etsy’s customer service expectations, often for just a few bad feedbacks or cases, which has shocked many long time sellers (even though they have been sending them for years; it appears they have decreased the number of “problems” you need to have to get an email.) Without announcing anything, Etsy released a page of “seller service level standards” that can help explain what they are looking for, namely cases & 1-2 star reviews, as well as the exact formula they use. I started a discussion thread here, & in case Etsy deletes comments in the thread, here is the dashboard showing your score. (Some people cannot make that link work; Etsy says only shops that received a warning can see it.) My blog post is here.

I summarized the 3rd quarter report here, and Etsy summarized it here. The stock market is not happy with management at the moment, with Morgan Stanley this past week stating that they expected Etsy’s 4th quarter to be worse than originally predicted, due to state sales tax laws and Etsy’s reduction in its Google Shopping ad buying. Note Etsy removed the “priority placement” for US free shipping about a week after the 3rd Q report, without any announcement, probably due to the blowback about it reducing first page conversions. (They didn’t announce anything; it just disappeared.)

Cyber Week traffic on Etsy was more than double what they saw on the average summer day.

They did a Q & A thread on the new stats, which wasn’t particularly useful. They admitted they intentionally removed the keyword & other data prior to November 2017 because “older data periods are less comparable to current stats”. [I believe that is code for “we’re too cheap to pay for the storage; investors need their payouts.”] They did finally add YOY comparisons back in a few weeks ago.

Etsy has again changed a few category & attribute options, including more baby stuff.

They did a holiday gift shopping promotion where people could call Etsy & get suggestions for gifts on Nov. 5. All gifts shipped free, so non-free shipping shops were not included. “It could also be a case study for personalization efforts to come from the long-running handmade marketplace.”

You’ve probably already noticed that Convos are now called Messages, but here is the announcement with the details just in case.

Etsy ran an Etsy search critique thread on November 13; the thread wasn't particularly useful, as almost all the staff who do the critiques aren’t experts in search. Basically, they say to use all of your tags, avoid repeating words in tags & titles, have 3-4 short phrases in your title, use commas in your titles (”Buyer research shows that using commas instead of dashes helps titles appear more clean and readable”), offer free shipping, and use all of your photos. The big takeaway for me was - they think we all have unlimited photography budgets, models, and time to do different modelled photos for every listing (including at the beach! LOL), photos of each of our different pieces in progress, photos of us working, & photos of each type of packaging. Needless to say, none of those things are bad if you have gobs of time or the money to pay someone to do all of that. But if you are like me and are a one-person business, live in a small condo, don’t have the strength to take photos all day, don’t have an abundance of people to model when I am taking photos (i.e., people I know have real jobs & aren’t around when I work on photos), and don’t have anyone to take photos of me making things, then this is pretty laughable. I wouldn't even consider doing all of this for my 5 best selling listings, never mind all 430+. YMMV. [The repeated mentions of process photos makes me worry they will be requiring those for everyone at some point …but I am sure I am just being paranoid.] One notable error was telling someone to use “color” (the US spelling) instead of “colour” (the proper English spelling) because the shop’s language settings were US English - Etsy currently treats these both the same, so there is no issue at the moment. Are they trying to give us a hint about something?

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Introducing BERT: Google’s new technology to help organic search process natural language better. This isn’t likely a change you can optimize for, but it should help searchers get more relevant results for complicated queries. “Here is an example of Google showing a more relevant featured snippet for the query “Parking on a hill with no curb”. In the past, a query like this would confuse Google’s systems. Google said, “We placed too much importance on the word “curb” and ignored the word “no”, not understanding how critical that word was to appropriately responding to this query. So we’d return results for parking on a hill with a curb.” Moz’s Whiteborad Friday covered the basics. [warning - some bits are advanced. Just skip those if you need to.] A study said BERT still isn’t very good at understanding “not” and other negatives. The NY Times may be one of the sites that is affected.

If you were disappointed when keyword research tool Keywords Everywhere became a paid tool, a new alternative has been released. Note that Keyword Surfer is still in beta. I’m going to try it for a bit and write up a short report if I think it is worth using. (The traffic estimates are way off, as in almost 10 times too low, for the sites I have info on.)  If you try it, let me know what you think!

While we are on the topic, here’s 13 keyword research errors you don’t want to make. Short takeaways - not every high volume keyword phrase will work for your specific product, don't ignore long tail, and make sure you look at the search results for any keyword before you decide to use it.

Here’s another keyword and topic research tool that compiles questions people search along with a relationship tree so you can see how ideas are connected.

More common SEO problems with ecommerce sites.

If you code your own website, check out the new Google instructions on writing your organic search snippets. Note this is supposedly only about display & not about ranking.

Improve your Instagram traffic with 8 SEO tips for your profile and posts.

Which is better for SEO - Squarespace or WordPress? The results are likely skewed by the fact that “platforms like Wix and Squarespace tend to attract less SEO-savvy people than WordPress.” They agree with what I have been saying for a while: if you know what you're doing, Squarespace sites can rank just fine.

Excellent tips on how good SEO also helps you comply with US disability access laws.

The latest on Google updates - there was apparently one around November 7. This one may have hit affiliate websites more than other types.

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article claiming Google manipulated search results to favour its interests & those of its advertisers, including eBay. [The original article is behind a paywall; the link is in that news coverage.] However, many in the SEO community - most of whom are not usually reluctant to criticize Google when they are behaving poorly - feel the article is way off base, & demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge of how Google works. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land & Search Engine Roundtable even did interviews with t WSJ staff for the article, and was amazed at how much they got wrong. “Even a basic understanding of the difference between organic listings (the free search results) and the paid listings (the ads in the search results) eluded them…[Glenn] Gabe told us that not only were his conversations with the paper off-the-record but also that he was misquoted”

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Here’s something I don’t see discussed much: using templates (& other consistent branding) in your social media, blog and website posts.

Content hubs are a very useful way to increase your search engine traffic for a core topic while providing a landing page for social media, ads etc.

Good primer here for beginning social media marketing for your business. You’ll need to do more research depending on your target market and what platform/s you choose, but it is definitely a good overview of getting started.

If you think influencer marketing is right for your business, here are 10 places you can find influencers to work with.

Your email subject lines can change the open rates; here are 19 tips to make them more clickable.

Instagram started testing hiding “likes” on posts in the US as of November 11th, & then announced plans to try it out globally. A study on previous tests showed that there may be some effect on influencer engagement.

Facebook has introduced its own payment system, currently in the US only, for limited situations only at the moment.

Reddit is an often overlooked social media platform to use for business but the traffic is strong, so check out these tips on asking it work for your business. [infographic]

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Pay for online ads (outside of Etsy) but don’t know what negative keywords are? Here’s how to use them with Google.

Hubspot continues their massive rush of “ultimate guides” with everything you wanted to know about Amazon ads.

Facebook now allows you to have different text in the same ads, which can be adjusted for different groups of users.

Amazon is predicted to continue cutting into Google’s online ad dominance through 2021; Google currently has 73% of money spent on online ads in the US.

If you are interested in long term brand building in your advertising, you might be interested in this article, where Adidas admits it was ignoring brand ads & pushing instant returns for too long.

Just in time for the holidays, Google Merchant Center rolled out a bunch of upgrades.

Buying TV ad time is losing popularity; it will be less than 25% of all advertising spend in just a few years, while digital spending is now over 50%.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Facebook changed how they count page impressions.

Everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Oh, and also everything you want to know about the Google Search Console. Which one do you like best? [If you have your own website or freestanding blog and are not using the Console, you probably should be reading both of those. Seriously, just set the darn thing up, then learn how to use it later.]

Also, the Console now features a speed report, and has changed how they send you messages.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Trend alert: many struggling or failed retailers sell clothing. “This sector is saturated with supply and is arguably over-stored.” … “For younger shoppers, as they choose which apparel brands do get their attention, sustainability and other cultural issues are often at the forefront.”

US sellers can now get discounted UPS rates through Shippo.

A bug is keeping suspended Amazon sellers from being reinstated.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Don’t use these common customer service lines. ...“there are studies that support the use of positive language in customer service. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do for a customer, focus on what you can do. No one likes to be told no.”

Another article on the psychology of colour; beware that some of this is a bit simplistic, as there are always exceptions.

Holiday shopping will push further into December this year, with half starting around Cyber Monday (Dec. 2). 62% of “high spenders” (over $2100 spent on the holidays) will shop on their smart phones. 25% of respondents to this survey said they already started shopping in September. It turns out most people want gift cards, among other stats. Nearly half of US shoppers are more likely to shop with companies that are socially responsible. Mobile shopping is expected to beat desktop shopping for the first time this season. And yes, most Americans expect to add to their credit card debt before January, men more than women.

US retail sales fell 0.3% in September; online sales fell the same amount.  

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)

Trend alert - apparently Generation Z is not big on makeup, and it is affecting large companies’ profits.

Google’s co-founders hand the parent company Alphabet over to the current CEO. They still work for Google and will focus most of their time there.

Google Webmaster spokesperson John Mueller tackles the controversial question - is a hot dog a sandwich? [humour]

[pathetic-at-the-disco]

What Really Happened in Myrtle Beach...

It was late June in 2006. Panic! at the Disco were on their first headlining tour, which was quickly becoming even more of a success than anyone had expected. Brent Wilson was finally out of the band and had been replaced with the actually talented Jon Walker, and everything was going great.

Except for Ryan Ross, who recently broke up with Jac Vanek and was still feeling lonely and sad about how it all turned out. In true Ryan fashion, he tried to throw himself back into the game and rebound with someone he was “justfriends” with. (It’s unclear who, but there’s no more reason to believe it was Brendon than Jon, Spencer, Greta from the Hush Sound, one of the backup dancers, a fan, or literally anyone else on the planet.)

The band had a show in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (their third Florida show in as many nights) on June 23, 2006. And... things apparently got a little wild that evening after the concert.

After midnight, one of the backup dancers named Dream posted this on her Livejournal:

Sat, June 24th, 2006

It’s our last night in Florida and let me tell you… this finally turned into a crazy rock tour… lots of shenanigans happened tonight… but I’ll save this story for the memoirs! Every night I stand on stage and tell the crowd that Brendon is a virgin… let’s just put it this way… it ain’t true!!!! 

This information is unsurprising, since Brendon was already partying heavily after shows during this tour. This was to the exasperation of his other bandmates, who did not drink or otherwise involve themselves in the party scene. It’s likely that Ryan, Spencer, and Jon weren’t even privy to what inspired Dream’s post in the first place.

Ryan Ross, for example, was spending his evening with someone. And that night, Ryan, known as i_amclandestine on Livejournal, also wrote a post:

Sat, June 24th, 2006

I’m the ghost in the bed.you can touch because i can’t rest. and the lights are always off so I can mold you in the dark.i can shape and pretend.”i just want to have a good time, just like everybody else, but i don’t want to fall apart”

The quoted part is a reference to the lyrics of “Good Time” by Counting Crows, a morose song about wanting to be closer to a romantic partner.

Clearly, whoever Ryan was with that night was making him more upset than anything. He was trying to lose himself in someone, hoping to forget his problems, and realizing that it wasn’t working.

The tour went on, though. Everyone piled back onto the bus and drove to their next gig, which was scheduled for that night at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (pictured below).

The show went off without a hitch, and everyone was in a fantastic mood. The band even signed some autographs and let the fans take pictures of them after the concert (note the House of Blues sign and the building’s distinctive facade in several of the photographs).

And shortly after this, the members of Panic! at the Disco and the Hush Sound, in addition to their dancers and crew members, were feeling so good that they decided to walk a mile to the beach and go swimming in the ocean, followed by more shenanigans.

This experience was immortalized in an interview with Greta from the Hush Sound:

Q: Tell us about your craziest touring experience. 

A: On the 2006 Panic Tour, we played the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach [JUNE 24TH]. After the show, most of the bands and crew walked a mile to the beach and, having not brought our swimsuits, decided to swim in underwear or totally nude. Bob and I opted to skinny dip and, at one point, he was trying to get back to the shore but the waves were crashing over him and he was gasping for breath. I yelled to him, 'Bob, are you going to live? As much as I want to help you, we are both naked so I can't.' (Would have been far too awkward). Thankfully, he survived in one glorious piece.

This sequence of events was also referenced in another Livejournal post from Dream:

Sun, June 25, 2006

Last night we played in Myrtle Beach, NC… I’ve always wanted to go to Myrtle Beach so it was fun to finally get there and to do it in such a special way. The girls we meet at the show were amazing. They were so spirited and friendly. They were fun.

After the show Greta and I, she’s the lead singer and from the The Hush Sound (the band we’re on tour with and in love with…!) well we decided we wanted to go for a midnight skinny dip in the ocean after the show and in the end more then 20 of us made the mile hike to the beach, stripped down and dove in! it was magical under the stars and moody clouds above. After about an hour splashing and riding the waves we all broke into the pool and hot tub of the condo up the beach to wash the salt away and laugh at our genius of managing to sneak so many crazies into this spa without being caught… just as the security arrived and we all scattered like geese! It was a fun night.

At around 4:30 in the morning, Ryan also made a Livejournal post (his last, in fact). It’s notorious in the fandom and everyone has read it, but here it is again:

Sun, June 25, 2006

The moon bred new Atlantic life tonight.the salt burned you right out of my eyes.and secrets we’re not proud of were taken with the tide. We were all newborns with blurred vision and no sense of direction.

Today I saw cancer, cigarettes and shortness of breath.

this is why I walk to the ocean.swim with jellyfish.I may never get this chance again.

this is why if you want to kiss you should kiss.

If you want to cry you should cry, and

if you want to live you should live.

You don’t have to love me. You already did. At least enough to keep me smiling from South Carolina to Virginia.it’s for lovers (orjustfriends)

This is why I do it.

Clearly, Ryan was feeling better than he had the previous night. Whatever happened in Myrtle Beach was enough to make his outlook on life a little more optimistic, at least for a night.

It is imperative to point out again that there’s no reason to assume it was about Brendon (who also had an active Livejournal account at this time and didn’t post at all about Myrtle Beach or Florida. If it was about him and was apparently so special and romantic, don’t you think he would have said something?). We don’t know who Ryan wrote this about, but that doesn’t make his poem any less meaningful or beautiful.

Basically, the lesson to be learned here is that even though it theoretically could have been about Brendon or Jon or Dream or a fan or whomever (as none of these can be proven or disproven), at the end of the day it’s foolish to attach it to a specific person without proof. The world will probably never know who Ryan’s rebound was, and that’s fine!

Assuming that it automatically points to Ryden is confirmation bias, which is not actually a valid reason for believing something. (I know, shocking.) You may as well say that Ryan was definitely having an intense affair with Spencer. Or Brent. There’s as much evidence.

Thank you to @future4angelz for requesting this post! It’s a bit tricky to specifically disprove the Ryden conspiracies because so much is unknown here, but I hope I did well enough at convincing people not to read too much into things. (Also, most people think Dream’s post from the 24th is about Myrtle Beach, even though she says they’re in Florida. Use your critical thinking skills, everyone!) :)

~Mod C

P.S. We don’t ship Ryden. Just thought I’d clear that up one more time for the people in the back, haha.

[toddbeeson]

Guides/Ghosts/Spirits/Angels

I am going to remind you why I started these blogs to begin with...to point out that as a child I would point to lights and say “See.”  “See” was my first word.  This is directly such a story.

As a child my mother came to my room each night to pray with me and my brother, Brett.  Brett and I shared the same bedroom. We slept in twin beds. While my Pops was a traveling salesman and quite often away all week, my mom would prepare us for bedtime, turn out the lights, kneel down in the space between our beds and we would say the Lord’s Prayer.  If there was a special prayer request, she would include that as well.

Looking back at it now, it is a beautiful memory.  My heart is warmed at having shared time with my mother and brother in such an intimate, loving way.  Mom helped usher in the direct connection to God/Life/Spirit.

Also at that time, I would see shadowy figures standing around my bed. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

They were different colors...and most easy to see when the lights were off. They almost looked like cartoon characters except for the fact that they appeared life size.  I couldn’t make out any facial characteristics.  They were just more of a shadow/shade thing that you could see through.  There actually was a real comfort in having them around during that time.  I never felt scared.  I do not remember how old I was when I stopped seeing them…maybe i was 5 or 6?...or probably shortly after I remember telling my mom that I saw such things as she was sure I wasn’t seeing anything.  She tells me now that she doesn’t remember this stuff at all.  i do-- I can close my eyes to this day and still remember what that bedroom and the shadowy figures looked like.

October 2002

After a traumatic weekend in Austin, TX that involved the closing of a relationship, the memory of the shadowy figures re-entered my mind.  I told a couple trusted friends about it.  They believed me and had heard similar stories, in fact.  My friend, Gigi, went on about how her child/son recalls details from his previous life...saying things and words that a child couldn’t possibly know.

I thought I was alone in sharing the expression that I had seen spirits.  I thought only “crazy” people see them!  But, I shared my memory anyway.  I had a feeling I needed to step into this truth and share it. (Btw- also in 2002 when I was staying at my ex-gf’s grandmother’s home in Galveston, I took pictures around her Historically protected home and although I didn’t realize it at the time that I was snapping pix, I did indeed capture a picture of a ghost-- you make out the details of an older woman! I have to find that picture!!)

After returning to LA a couple days later, I was asked to watch a 4th grade class for a half-hour while the homeroom teacher tended to another need.  She asked me to read a story, but could not find the book that she had wanted me to read.  So instead she had me read a story called,  “The Uninvited Guests.”  I was amazed as I read aloud to the class to find out that this “fictional” story was about a family that had moved to a house where ghosts lived.  The parents could not see the ghosts- only the children could see them!!!!!!

I told my truth and I felt validated.  My spirit was heard!   The timing of reading that story was perfect!!

Present Time

In keeping my interest of such stories and the wonderment of what happens to our spirit after we pass, I have read some books-- Brian Weiss’s “Many Lives Many Masters” -- which by the way I had actually attended his workshop in Austin, Texas that same weekend I was experiencing my break up and shared my shadow story with friends, Gigi and Josh...and most recently this past year my Pops gifted me books “Reality Unveiled” by Ziad Masri and “Journey of Souls-Case Studies of Life Between Lives” by Michael Newton. 

A week ago Saturday night, I felt exhausted and just wanted to sit back and watch some fun and silly movie before I faded to sleep...and had planned to watch Wayne’s World 2 as the movie just happened to illuminate itself from others -  I couldn’t even recall anything about the movie, so it would probably feel like the firs time watching it.  But before I watched it, I had a little ding hit me-- I felt inspired to read from Michael Newton’s book...so I picked it up off my nightstand and went thru the table of contents...leading me to wish to read the chapter on “Guides.”  

After I read a little bit and felt the gift of inspiration, I was now finally comfortable enough to allow myself to sit back and enjoy being entertained= I finally then felt it was now time to start watching Wayne’s World 2...and to my amazement and wonder, the movie pretty much started out with Wayne having a dream that he has a Native American Guide who connected him to Jim Morrison and on a mission...leading him to go on a faith-filled lark-- ultimately connecting to someone who had been guided by the same Native American Guide. Whoah!

It definitely now seems on this quiet Saturday night of relaxation and rest that I had again been led by a Guide to experience such a connection.  

I also had a flood of memories of those magical times I had been led in the past-- in previously posted stories.  To name a few:  I recalled having a dream in 2006 after a 13 year old girl I used to teach had died due to drowning while having an epileptic seizure while bathing alone-- in my dream she visited me in my bed to say she was fine.  I recalled my time being led to the Eden Prairie mall to run into a girl I used to date.  I recalled being connected with my ex-gf Lynn when she had lost her phone, but somehow happened to walk into the same place at the same time in a way that could never happen on a daily basis. Around 2007 I recall teaching my student, Charlie, the James Bond theme on guitar and being in such a flow I said now expect that your’e going to have a connection with James Bond-- and wallah-- I went downstairs to talk to Charlie’s mom...and she had a friend over who told a ghost story (out of the blue)-- one of which he mentioned he had visited an Irish castle that has a ghost-and he even added that he was there with the guy who played Q in James Bond movies(again w/ no knowledge of my having taught that song during my lesson)-- and many more stories= All feel Divinely guided.  

Last Monday (a couple days later) I woke up to the horrific news that a couple of old high school classmates (technically one was my year and the other was a year younger) had passed away unexpectedly.  Shocking and So so so sad.

It led me to picking up my Reality Unveiled and Journey of Souls books of my night stand at the same time...but I had to pick just one to read, obviously...and I settled on Reality Unveiled-- and just opening a random page.  I had a bit of trepidation to read that one at that moment, actually...as I heard my mind argue to just keep with the Journey of Souls per its magic last time.

But...as it turned out, I was correct...as the random page I opened to actually wrote specifically from the Journey of Souls book!  

It mentioned how when people die their spirits linger for a time on earth before going to a heaven place (no matter what their religion or beliefs, btw)..and that spirits are different shades of colors depending upon their vibrational frequency/energy.  Wow.  Dr. James Newton has scientific proof of such stuff having taped interviews with thousands of patients describing their in-between-time before re-incarnation.  

In a world where it seems that information/media/religion are being used for exploitation and selfish gain via misinformation, we can rarely trust what we see in front of us-- its even more clear that we need to carve quiet time-- to go inside/connect with our spirit and our guides...trust our heart and our truth...and know that without a doubt I have been shown so many ways that we are not alone in this life.  Ever.  We are always in the company of guides...and they help us in ways we might not even know.  

Its time to trust and remember this magic...more than ever.  

Thank you for reading this...I hope this helps you find peace, comfort, inspiration and trust in this world.

i wish you peace and magic.

Love, Todd  

Warmth by The Lift. 

[allenmendezsr]

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hft2-build-2wice-the-muscle-2/

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

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    I’ll bet your muscle growth is much slower than it should be. Why? Because you’ve been following training programs designed by guys that have a much easier time building muscle than you do.

You can change your sets, reps and exercises all you want but it’s probably not going to help much. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing for the last few months, or even years.  

So what’s the solution? You must do two things. First, stimulate the stubborn muscle group the way it’s designed to work. Second, trigger muscle growth more frequently without adding more time to your workouts or training schedule.

The only way to build muscle faster is with brief pulses of high frequency training. It took me 13 years to figure out exactly how to do it…

Look, you don’t need to make more trips to the gym or buy an expensive piece of esoteric equipment. The tricks for triggering growth don’t depend on either of those factors.

But simply working a muscle more frequently isn’t going to make it bigger. If that were true, all marathon runners would have massive glutes and calves.

You must learn exactly how to stimulate the largest muscle fibers with a specific set of guidelines.

As a professional trainer, it’s my job to get results faster than my clients expect. If I don’t, they’ll find another trainer. So I’ve been constantly researching and experimenting new approaches to speed up muscle growth.

By necessity, I’ve had to figure out the unknown ways to stimulate muscle gains because the people that hire me have already tried all the typical stuff. I’m sure you have, too. And I’m not surprised that none of it worked.

It didn’t work because those training programs weren’t designed for true hardgainers.

So how should you train to build muscle twice as fast?

I started experimenting with more frequent training with my clients in 2001, and in 2012 I released the original High Frequency Training (HFT) program.

Thanks to the massive amount of feedback I had received from people who tried that program, along with my endless experimentation with clients, I’ve come up with a new system that blows away the original.

What’s different about HFT2 compared to the original? Everything – and that’s no exaggeration.

Over the last two years I was relentless to find at least one unique trick to build muscle faster than I expected.

I found three of them.

But each one needs to be modified depending on the muscle you’re trying to build. And with full-body training, the variables have to shift in a specifc way.

All of those elements – and a whole lot more – are included in the all-new, 131-page HFT2 training manual.

The HFT2 manual covers everything you need to know about building muscle – fast. It includes two 12-week full-body programs: one to be used with Targeted Training plans and another that incorporates three unique training methods to quickly add lean muscle to all major body parts.

No stone is left unturned as I cover everything from the latest research to real-world data for HFT2. You’ll learn how to build muscle across your entire body or just target it where you need the most growth.

All the programs are laid out in a simple format with links to videos for each exercise so you’re sure to do each move with perfect form.

  Each of the workouts consist of sets and exercises that you’ve probably never seen before. That’s why the all-new instructional videos are included to guide you. My clients and I are right there with you to ensure that you’re getting the most growth-inducing work out of every exercise.

Here’s a sample tutorial video from HFT2:

The videos are in high-definition format that can be quickly played on any mobile device. And they’re compatible with a Mac and PC. I took great lengths to make the instructional videos in this program top-notch.

Unlike the original HFT, the new HFT2 contains training logs for every program. Whether you’re targeting a specific muscle such as the biceps or glutes, or following one of the 12-week full-body programs, you’ll have printable workout logs to keep track of all your progress.

The combination of the training system, instructional videos and workout logs result in my most effective muscle-building program to date. I can assure you that the workouts and strategies are unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to finally experience the muscle growth you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to leave the normal way behind and shock your body to a higher level of development than you ever imagined!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

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I’m confident this new system will be lean muscle faster than ever before. It’s time to get the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Focused,

Chad Waterbury M.S.

  Got a question? If so, it’s probably covered in the following section:

Q: Can females do this program?

A: The physiological laws of muscle growth don’t change with gender. Therefore, this system is ideal for males and females. The difference, however, is the way females will probably use this system. For example, many females will want to add shape to their glutes, not their biceps. So females can pick and choose the right plans for them.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No. All of the workouts require nothing more than your body weight and basic weights such as kettlebells, dumbells or a barbell. Rings are also part of this program, but they’re not required since alternative exercises are outlined.

Q: Will this program take a lot of time each week?

A: Absolutely not. There are four full-body workouts per week that each take around 45 minutes. And the targeted HFT2 plans for each major muscle group only take minutes a day and require little to no equipment.

Q: Will these books get shipped to me?

A: No, HFT2 is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. The Adobe Acrobat PDF files are instantly downloaded to your computer and there are video links to the exercises in each workout. So you can take the HFT2 program with you on any mobile device.

Q: Can I view the HFT2 system and videos on an iPad?

A: Yes, you’ll just need the free Adobe Reader app. Just open the HFT2 zip folder on your computer and then send the PDFs to your iPad. It’s as simple as that!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

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[chorusfm]

Noah Gundersen’s Restless Heart

In 2014, Noah Gundersen released his first full-length album. The record in question, Ledges, was a masterclass in contemporary folk music, loaded with confessional lyrics, acoustic guitars, and fiddles. By all accounts, Gundersen seemed like a traditionalist. In 2015, Gundersen quickly followed Ledges up with his sophomore LP, the spiritually fraught Carry the Ghost. It was still a folk album, but Noah was fleshing things out, adding fractious electric guitar and other elements of full band instrumentation into the mix. It was clearly the work of a young songwriter who was yearning to grow. Between the fall of 2015 and the early winter of 2016, Gundersen did two tours in support of Carry the Ghost. The first was a full-band endeavor, presenting the songs on Ghost as they were meant to be heard. The second was a solo tour, where Gundersen played songs from both Ledges and Carry the Ghost on acoustic guitar, solo electric guitar, and piano. It was a stark, intimate presentation, and it showed off what made Gundersen so special: his vulnerable, fragile voice; his songs that could work well no matter how much he built them up or stripped them down; and his honest, forthright lyrics. But something was wrong. Gundersen was having a crisis of faith—not the same crisis of religious faith he wrote about on Carry the Ghost, but a crisis of faith in his own art. When I saw Gundersen on the solo tour for Ghost, he was pointedly reserved. He bantered with the audience occasionally, but during the songs, his eyes were cast toward the floor or closed entirely. And at the end of the show, when a condescending moderator led a Q&A session and suggested that Gundersen was “so young” and “couldn’t have possibly experienced what he sang about in his songs,” Noah seemed at a loss for how to answer—at least politely. When the Q&A ended, Gundersen headed quickly for the stage door. “Instead of my life up to that point flashing before my eyes, it was my future,” Gundersen says of that tour in the press materials for his new album, titled White Noise and out September 22. “A future of playing songs I didn’t believe in and pouring my soul out into a vehicle I no longer recognized or loved.” For those who have been following Gundersen for a little while, that statement may or may not be shocking. Gundersen, I’ve gathered, is the kind of artist who turns against his old work as he continues to grow and change. When I spoke to him in the lead-up to the release of Carry the Ghost, Noah explained the evolution in his sound by distancing himself from Ledges. “My taste and my aesthetic has changed since the writing of those songs,” he said. “I wanted to make something that was different, something that I would enjoy listening to.” While Carry the Ghost may have been something Noah would have enjoyed listening to then, though, it probably isn’t anymore. Just like he grew out of the Ledges material, Gundersen now views the Ghost songs with a similar level of detachment—like they were written by someone else instead of from his own pen. “I wish I knew why it happens,” Gundersen said, speaking of his consistent artistic restlessness. “It’s kind of a pain in the ass. I just think I’m perpetually dissatisfied, which can be really frustrating. But it also drives my creativity and my desire to do better and to make things that are better than what I’ve made in the past.” On Carry the Ghost, that desire drove Gundersen to take the contemporary folk sound of his debut and flesh it out. On White Noise, it drives him to take that sound and crash it off a cliff. Where Ghost felt like a natural evolution from its predecessor, White Noise feels every bit as restless as Gundersen seems in conversation. There are three songs that may have fit on previous records. The rest find Noah casting about and exploring new frontiers. He’s helped in his exploration by Nate Yaccino, the friend who Gundersen brought in to produce the record. (Noah self-produced both Ledges and Ghost.) “[Nate] pushed me sonically in a lot of ways that I wouldn’t have necessarily gone on my own,” Gundersen said. “I think having someone to push back against and have a dialogue with, someone who is creatively enhancing the experience, I think that’s really important. This record definitely wouldn’t be what it is without his contributions.” On first listen, some fans—particularly the ones who have been with Noah since the bare bones EPs he made as a teenager—will probably find some of those contributions jarring. Noah’s vocals get pitch-shifted, multi-tracked, and buried in reverb in the middle of “After All,” the 90s rock flavored opener. Laser-blast sound effects and other ambient noises canter around in the background of “Cocaine, Sex, and Alcohol (From a Basement in Los Angeles).” And “New Religion” builds from an organ-drenched piano ballad into a full-on psychedelic, Beatles-inspired bridge. Still, it’s fairly clear that Yaccino isn’t pulling Gundersen anywhere that he wasn’t ready to go on his own. That’s partially because Gundersen is far from the traditional singer/songwriter that he presented himself as on Ledges, but it’s also because he didn’t completely know where he wanted to go when he started making White Noise. “The early formation of the ideas for this record were kind of all over the place,” Gundersen said. “When I started writing it, there was a phase where it was going to be like a Nine Inch Nails record. I was listening to a ton of Nine Inch Nails. Then there was a moment where it was going to be more like a Nick Cave record. And then it was Radiohead’s OK Computer. And Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years was actually a really influential record for us, too. “So there were a lot of moments along the way where it was going to be something more specific. And then it kind of just morphed into an amalgamation of a lot of the different phases of obsession that I had.” White Noise sounds as scattered as Gundersen’s words imply. Lead single “The Sound” is a surging rocker with shades of Noah’s side band, Young in the City. Ditto for the cheekily titled “Number One Hit of the Summer.” The synth-heavy “Heavy Metals” recalls the 1980s ambient rock style of The 1975. “Bad Desire” is a bluesy pop song that wouldn’t have been out of place on John Mayer’s Battle Studies. “Sweet Talker” has shades of Coldplay’s X&Y and U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. And “Bad Actors” and “Cocaine, Sex, and Alcohol,” likely to be the record’s most polarizing moments, see Noah wearing his Radiohead influence proudly on his sleeve. The themes of the record are no less expansive. In his Facebook post announcing the album, Noah wrote that it was about fear, anxiety, desire, despair, hope, and joy. It’s also about alienation and division, caused by the simultaneous connection and isolation allowed by social media and by the hateful political landscape inspired by our current presidential administration. The statements here aren’t as clear as they were on Carry the Ghost. There, Noah was exorcising years of personal demons about how religion so rarely practices what it preaches. Here, he’s threading a more universal needle—a fact that pushed him to write more toward a feeling or vibe than a literal narrative. “I didn’t want it to be some kind of confessional on-the-nose angst thing,” he said. “I didn’t want to get up and literally say ‘Social media is destroying humanity’ and ‘Trump sucks’ and all this stuff. That feels so cliché and banal when you hear it laid out literally.” At the same time, though, Gundersen also didn’t want to hide his “confessional on-the-nose angst” behind irony or cynicism, in the way that recent records from the likes of Father John Misty and Arcade Fire have done it. He didn’t want to be afraid of his own earnestness—even if being sincere is rarely what moves the needle in music these days. “I’m not an ironist,” he said. “That’s never really been my style. Something that’s been a part of my music for a long time is trying to express human feelings in a simple way, but an intimate way. And I think [this album] is another side of human feeling. It’s something we’re all going through right now. Experiencing the world changing, feeling this sense of fear and anxiety and not really knowing what to do with it. I can only communicate that through the lens that I’ve experienced it, but it does feel like a kind of universal thing that’s been going on. So I think trying to express that, at least through my own lens, is my own little contribution.” White Noise doesn’t feature a single overt political statement, nor does it include any immediately obvious references to social media or subtweet culture. Still, Gundersen is a deft enough songwriter that you can feel those topics in his songs. “The Sound” resonates as a pointed jab at entitled internet goons who refuse to acknowledge their own ignorance. “How many times will you shit on what you’re given?” the song asks; “How many times ‘til you shut up and listen?” “Fear and Loathing,” meanwhile, was written before Trump got elected—Noah was playing the song on his acoustic tour in early 2016—but might be the perfect anthem for the feeling of dread that seems to have blanketed the entire nation this year. “Nothing changes much/The quarterbacks are drunk/The prom queen just gave up/In Fear and Loathing.” In a lot of ways, White Noise is a record about cutting ties with the past. “There’s nothing left for us here now,” Gundersen sings on “Fear and Loathing.” It’s a fitting lyric for one of the few songs on the album that sounds like his old style of music. Even as Noah turns away from folk music, he has to give it at least one more aching send-off. But Gundersen is smart enough to know that, no matter how much he experiments, his purest emotional fireworks still come when it’s just him and an acoustic guitar. That’s why the three songs that sound the most like Ledges and Carry the Ghost—“Fear and Loathing,” “Dry Year,” and “Send the Rain (To Everyone)”—serve as homecomings of sort at the end of the first and second halves of the record. Both “Fear and Loathing and “Send the Rain” build from slow, acoustic starts to big, full-band catharses. “Fear and Loathing” handles the build-up itself, painting the picture of a small town that’s falling apart—breaking its citizens down with it. “Dry Year” and “Send the Rain,” meanwhile, function almost like two parts of a whole. The former is the record’s sparest and most desolate moment, painting a portrait of a world ready to burn. “Some days the world feels like a building on fire/But everyone’s ignoring the smoke/You would vote for a comedian/If he could comfort you with a joke,” Gundersen sings on the record’s closest thing to an overt political lyric. The ���dry year,” it turns out, is a metaphorical drought—the result of a world sapped of its values, its empathy, and the genuine human connection that used to keep it spinning. But Noah’s words aren’t judgmental or hateful. Instead, he hopes that someday, things will change. We’ll stop burning ourselves with political wars and stupid insecurities and let the rain save our ravaged world. Even if none of us live to see that day, Noah reckons we can be a part of the solution. When the audible sound of rainfall cuts through the end of “Dry Year,” he sings “Now the sky is giving up her child/To the dead grass of the back lawn/I hope she takes the water in my body when I’m gone.” And as the album’s final song barrels toward its epic climax, it’s to Noah’s repeated cries of “Send the rain, send my love/To everyone,” shouted over the noise of crashing guitars and pounding drums. The message, I think, is simple: in a world on fire, maybe we can all be somebody else’s rain. --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/features/noah-gundersens-restless-heart/

[charlesjening]

Remarks of FASB Member R. Harold Schroeder, ThinkBIG 2019 Conference, Orlando, FL

Opening Remarks of FASB Member Hal Schroeder (as prepared for delivery) ThinkBig 2019 Conference  “Roadmap to the Future:  Fact vs Fiction (on CECL and Other FASB Standards)” Orlando, Florida September 26, 2019

Back in the spring—as the school year was ending—I showed my daughter a picture of what appeared to be an old, very thick textbook.  Knowing the last thing she wanted was another textbook, I jokingly told her we were going to buy it.  She then asked two logical questions:  Why? and How much? 

I won’t get the tone of her questions quite right, so I’ll just say there was a lot of eye rolling.  Now, in my defense:  She had no facts, she didn’t know the book’s history.  Without any historical context, without opening the book to see its contents, she couldn’t appreciate the importance of this book. 

What she saw was the tattered, brown-paper cover; blank, except for three handwritten letters.  So, she was shocked to learn what it would likely fetch at auction.  

The book was Luca Pacioli’s

Summa de Arithmetica

.  In the press release

1

announcing the auction, Christie’s noted its broad-ranging contents: “from double-entry bookkeeping to probability theory and computing, the mathematical principles of the most vital features of contemporary finance are all present.”   In other words, this 525-year-old tome is the “first practical how-to book on succeeding in business.”

During a multi-city tour, Christie’s invited the FASB to experience the book firsthand.  As the curator opened the cover to read passages and to highlight various illustrations, I developed a deeper understanding of what was inside the book, why it was important, and how it was constructed.  No wonder this book has stood the test of time.

I tell this story because it’s a great example of the idiom:  You can’t judge a book by its cover.  The same can be said for the FASB’s projects I’ll talk about today.  And, for our stakeholders—particularly preparers and auditors—it’s imperative that you get past the cover of each new standard in order to distinguish fact from fiction; what’s changed and why. 

Hence, the title of my presentation

Roadmap to the Future:  Fact versus Fiction

.  So, today I’ll provide some facts about what we’ve been doing since issuing CECL in 2016.  And, I’ll try to separate fact from fiction by laying out what we hear.   

*****************

Before going any further, I must first remind you of the standard disclosure:  Official positions of the FASB are reached only after extensive due process and deliberations.  In other words, what I am about to say are my views and only my views.

The standard disclosure I just read appropriately puts an emphasis on the FASB’s “process” for setting accounting standards.  And, that’s where I’ll start.

About the FASB

Last year alone, Board members and staff spoke at 156 events nationwide and hosted 575 liaison, advisory group, and project outreach meetings.

2 The People

At one such meeting a few years ago, a group of community bankers came to visit us in Norwalk, CT.  A CEO—from a small town near to where I grew up—told us he’d been at a Rotary Club lunch the day before.  He said someone at his table was surprised to learn he was going to meet real people at the FASB.  I asked him to please reassure the folks back home, we are real people!  So, to provide some perspective on the FASB process, it helps to first understand the people; both the Board members and staff.

Speaking for myself, the comments I make today—as well as my votes at the Board table—are informed by four decades of experiences:  as an auditor and advisor to a wide range of financial services companies—from the largest global entities to the smallest community banks in south Louisiana; as a CFO; as both an individual and institutional investor; as a manager and owner of private businesses; and, now, as a member of the FASB in my second and final term. (Yes, we have term limits.) 

Combine my experiences with those of my fellow Board members and staff, and you begin to see a wide array of experiences and multiple perspectives.  This diversity of views is by design.  Think of it this way:  If any two Board members always agree, one of them is redundant.  Now, add to the mix the boots-on-the-ground experiences and perspectives of our advisory groups and stakeholders like yourselves—that participate in our outreach meetings—and it’s clear that the process of setting accounting standards is not done in a vacuum or an ivory tower.

The Process

The Board and staff often talk about the standard-setting process, up to the point of issuing a new standard.  We don’t talk as much about the equally important post-issuance phase.  Once a major new standard is issued, we spend the time—often years before its effective date—educating stakeholders and monitoring company implementation efforts. 

One reason we do this is to re-confirm that a new standard’s wording is understandable, operable, and auditable.  Another is, we want to ensure it will stand the test of time.  

During numerous education and monitoring sessions—based solely on the questions and comments of the participants—it becomes readily apparent who’s gone past the cover and is deep into implementing a new standard.  And, equally apparent, who hasn’t broken the book’s binding.

With the latter group, we often find ourselves reiterating and relitigating a range of questions.  Personally, I enjoy the debates.  However, most of their questions have already been asked and answered in the due-process documents and final standards issued in accordance with the FASB’s Rules of Procedure.

3   Addressing What & How

As much as I enjoy the debates, I’ll simply highlight a few points about what’s required and how to do it. 

Regarding the “what” of CECL specifically—in the past year the staff has received very few questions, many of which could be quickly answered by referring directly to the guidance.  Considering that our technical inquiry service is free and accessible online,

4

the limited number of questions is at odds with the view—some have voiced—that there are many unanswered questions and, therefore, CECL should be delayed.

For other more-involved questions, we’ve made targeted improvements to enhance understandability and operability.  Answers to those questions can be found at our CECL implementation portal.

5

Regarding “how,” we’re committed to looking for ways to ease transition efforts.  For example, in January, we published a Staff Q&A about using WARM

6

(weighted-average remaining maturity), which is an estimation method already familiar to many smaller financial institutions.  It was followed in July by another that addresses developing estimates

7

by responding to 16 frequently asked questions about:

using historical loss information,

developing reasonable and supportable forecasts, and

applying the reversion to historical loss information. 

Both Q&As are part of the Board's continuing commitment to educate stakeholders.

They cover common questions we’ve heard during the last three years at various post-issuance educational sessions—the same questions covered in numerous PowerPoint presentations we’ve delivered.  So, the Staff Q&As are a more formalized version of what we’ve been saying.

In addition to those Q&As, the staff are hosting several implementation workshops around the country.  Again, please check our CECL implementation portal for dates and locations.

Assessing Costs & Benefits

And, despite some very public comments to the contrary, a thorough cost-benefit assessment of CECL was conducted—as is done on all standards in accordance with our Rules of Procedure.  We explain why we came to our decisions in the “Background Information and Basis for Conclusions” section of the standard.  A summary

8

of the assessment is also provided on our CECL implementation portal.

Disciplined Process

In my now over eight years on the Board, I’ve come to appreciate the high-quality standards that result from its disciplined process.  CECL may not be perfect, but it’s a vast improvement over the status quo.  And, we’re doing everything we can to support your success.

So, I have a request:  When you hear someone say the FASB didn’t follow its due process, please ask if they’ve gotten past the cover, past the headlines in media reports.  Have they read the standard, in particular, the basis for conclusions? 

Like any classic book, standards such as CECL should be read multiple times.  The same is true for the Staff Q&As.  With each subsequent reading, new insights are gained, leading to greater benefits and a more cost-effective implementation.

Final thought on process:  disagreeing with a Board position is fine.  I certainly have, in fact, about 10% of the time—just read any one of my dissents.  But I’m troubled by those that make public statements, unsupported by the public record documenting the process.

Calls to “Stop and Study” During the Past Year

Despite years of discussions and debates, there continue to be efforts to relitigate CECL.  As you may have heard or read, reconsideration of CECL was the focus of a roundtable meeting this time last year.  It was hosted by three congressmen to facilitate a discussion of a “regional bank proposal.” 

A few months later, a modified version of that proposal was formally submitted to the FASB.  Again, following established process, the FASB staff held dozens of meetings that included financial and nonfinancial entities, as well as other stakeholders. 

The views heard in those meetings were very consistent with stakeholder comments at a public roundtable we hosted in January—splitting the provision, with a portion flowing through net income and the remainder in OCI, was not operational.  This was not a surprise.  Banks—large and small—had provided the same feedback in 2013, when the Board had explored the same idea and its many variants.

We also heard from investors that, if the provision is split, they would need additional disclosures.  However, those re-proposing a split did not support expanded disclosures.  After hearing all sides, and consistent with its 2013 decision, in April the Board again voted to not move forward with any requirement to split the provision.

On the Regulatory and Legislative Fronts

In October 2018, a trade associations' letter

9

was sent to the chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council

10

(or FSOC).  Voicing concerns about CECL, the letter recommended that FSOC “seek a delay in implementation until such a study can be completed.”

As a refresher, FSOC is an interagency body consisting of ten voting members—those being the principles of the federal agencies that regulate the U.S. financial services industry—and five non-voting members—those representing various state authorities.

11

  And, it’s chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury.

At FSOC’s December 2018 meeting, there was a discussion of CECL.  In reading the publicly available minutes

12

you see mention of the “extensive work undertaken by the FASB, including publicly issuing proposals in 2010, 2011, and 2013, prior to adoption of CECL in 2016.”  The discussion was led by the Comptroller of the Currency, who stated that “the OCC believes CECL is an improvement over the incurred-loss accounting model.”

With no reduction in regulatory capital imminent, the “stop-and-study” movement is now seeking a “legislative fix” with bills proposed in both the House

13

and the Senate.

14

  However, it’s worth noting that in separate actions, study-only directives have been attached to both House

15

and Senate

16

appropriations bills.  The requests are directed toward others including the SEC and the U.S. Treasury, but not to the FASB.  The Senate action specifically directs the Treasury, in consultation with the federal bank regulators, to “conduct a study on the need, if any, for changes to regulatory capital requirements necessitated by CECL, and to submit the study to the Committee within 270 days of the date of enactment of this act.”  Note that this study will assess the need for a change to regulatory capital; not to CECL.

My views?  Those in the audience that know me won’t be surprised.  I do have views on the matter.  But as a reminder, these are my views and should not be interpreted as the Board’s views.

Calls for Quantitative Impact Study

“Stop-and-study” efforts call on the FASB to perform an economic or quantitative impact study on CECL.  (Going retro, I’ve heard it called “delay-and-pray,” mimicking the approach used by some to deal with problem loans in past banking crises.)  Those advocating stop-and-study allege dire consequences from CECL’s so-called procyclical effects on lending.  However, independent studies

17

already conducted do not support such concerns.

Consider data contained in a recent study

18

published as a working paper in the Federal Reserve’s

Finance and Economics Discussion Series

(or FEDS).  The study, and I quote, “shows that a disproportionate share of the associated provision expenses occurs prior to the recession under CECL, rather than during it.” 

The study quantifies CECL’s earlier provisioning, estimating that “roughly 62% of the trough to peak increase in allowances occurs prior to the recession [compared to] only 11%” under the incurred loss model.

Now, combine that finding with other independent studies showing banks that provision earlier are better positioned to lend in an economic downturn.

Quoting from one such study:  “Consistent with the pro-cyclical provisioning hypothesis we observe a greater reduction in lending during recessions by banks that delay expected loss recognition more compared with banks that delay less.”

19

  That conclusion was based on 24,788 bank quarters of data, stretching over a 16-year period (1993 to 2009) that included 2 U.S. recessions.  Another study,

20

based on 3,091 bank-year observations, across 27 countries over 11 years (1995 to 2006), yielded complementary results.

Yet, I expect critics will point to the FEDS working paper to show that CECL reserves would go up during a recession and would be higher than under the incurred model.  I agree with the observation.  CECL allowances would likely increase during a recession and peak at a higher point.

In fact, using the same data, I calculate

21

CECL-based allowances would have increased an estimated 29% from the beginning of the recession and peaked in the fifth quarter.  However, those same critics are unlikely to mention that under the incurred model, allowances actually increased 264% during the last recession—8 times that expected under CECL—and, didn’t peak until the ninth quarter—taking almost twice as long to recognize losses.  

Bottom line:  As independent studies show, banks that are better reserved heading into a recession are better positioned to lend during a recession.  And, it is the banks that reserve later, and take longer to work through existing losses, that cut lending during a recession.

Therefore, I believe concerns about CECL’s impact on lending are misplaced.

Studies—Yes, Stop—No

My comments today should not be interpreted to mean I’m anti-study.  In fact, just the opposite.  I believe well-designed, well-executed independent studies—a few of which I’ve cited—are an invaluable tool to standard setting.  And I believe there should be more in the future, using real data as it becomes available.

What I’m opposed to is stopping CECL’s implementation.  Here are a few reasons why.

No Change to Cash Flows

A key point to remember, under CECL:  a good loan will still be a good loan; a bad loan will still be a bad one.  This is because CECL doesn’t—in fact, it can’t—change the ultimate cash flows or a borrower’s ability to repay.  And CECL doesn’t even change when to charge off a loan.  It changes only the timing of when loss provisions are recognized in net income and, in turn, reserves built on the balance sheet.

Greater Transparency

Even absent CECL, investors are and will be making their own estimates of expected losses.  Speaking with firsthand knowledge, investors began ignoring GAAP allowances—effectively making their own, much-higher loss estimates—18 months before the beginning of the last recession.  This is in stark contrast with the fact that GAAP-based allowances didn’t hit bottom—a multi-decade bottom—until just 12 months before the recession began.

What CECL does is provide greater transparency into changing credit risk.  Instead of having to rely solely on their own estimates, investors and other users will be able to start their analyses with managements’ more-informed estimates.

If there’s any doubt in my view:  In the last few months, I’ve been talking with investors.  What some have shared is that they’re already beginning to again ignore GAAP provisions and allowances and, to again, make their own loss estimates.  As Mark Twain is often credited with saying: “History never repeats itself, but it rhymes.”

So, how do we reconcile the clear need for better alignment between accounting and changes in risk, with calls to stop a standard that provides much-needed transparency?   I can’t.

On a Personal Note

. . .

In my former job as a portfolio manager, I’d have been okay with keeping opaque accounting.  Frankly speaking, our investors earned better returns because we were estimating expected losses.  It gave us a competitive advantage.

But as a member of the FASB, I’m

not

okay with the status quo.  No competitive advantage is worth keeping accounting that:

In “good times” masks warning signs of rising credit risk, and 

In “bad times” is ignored.

Effective Dates for Private and Smaller Public Companies

At this point, you may be asking:  If he’s so pro-CECL, why does he support delaying its effective date?  As a reminder, the Board is tentatively scheduled to vote on this matter at its October 16

th

meeting.  So, you should know before the yearend holidays whether and who will get a delay in applying CECL.

I support a delay because some of you in this room made a compelling case—and our research confirmed—that implementation challenges are often magnified for private companies, smaller public companies, and not-for-profit organizations.  Access to resources, education, and technology varies considerably among organizations of different sizes.  

We did not want those hurdles to block the path toward a successful implementation for anyone.

We also observed that when it comes to applying standards, private and smaller public companies can learn a lot from the experiences of larger public entities.  More time between effective dates means more time to learn.

It’s also worth noting a practical implication—roughly 90% of financial services companies (by number) would get extra time to adopt the standard.  However, I don’t believe investors will be significantly affected, because the 10% that won’t get extra time represent 90-ish% of the industry assets.

But I wouldn’t be surprised to see some entities that could take more time, elect to early adopt—which I expect will be permitted.

Not All Smaller Institutions Agree 

I say this because, minutes before an August vote, a community bank CEO called me to express his strong disagreement.  He said his bank didn’t need the additional time.

It was not the first time the two of us had debated various aspects of CECL.  We’ve had numerous discussions; the same as with other bankers.  So, at a high level I shared with him what I’d heard.  It was a good rehearsal for what I was going to say at the Board table in just a few minutes:  When implementing major standards, such as CECL, it’s more cost effective to take an integrated, wholistic approach that coordinates accounting changes with other changes needed to run a successful business—what I refer to as a “business approach”—which contrasts with treating accounting changes as simply a “compliance exercise”—incurring costs with minimal to no benefits for running a business.

I believe providing an opportunity to take a business approach is the strongest, most compelling argument for extra time.

Benefits to Taking a Business Approach

In fact, as we monitor progress among larger lending institutions—those preparing to implement CECL next year—we’ve observed the benefits.  In private meetings—including a few where we’ve had to sign non-disclosure agreements—we’ve been told that the effort to adopt CECL has resulted in widespread improvement of data quality, internal controls, estimation processes, and internal coordination and communication.

A few bankers have gone even further, saying that they expect additional improvements will be achieved over time.  Think of it as a virtuous—some say vicious—circle.  More and better data leads to improved estimation processes.  Those processes benefit from technology advances, such as faster processing speeds and more memory.  Advances in technology facilitate the use of more and better data that improves estimation processes . . . and the cycle continues.

As a banker told me, “Improvements were needed; CECL simply accelerated the timing.”

One Cautionary Note  

Now that the Board has voted to provide the 90% with extra time, I believe there’ll be an even greater expectation for high-quality implementation efforts.

Don’t look at it as an extra year off.  Treat it as an opportunity to improve your data quality, estimation processes, and internal controls.  Start now.  If you’ve yet to break the book’s binding, do it today.

Reference Rate Reform

Now, on to another issue—one that likely affects everyone in this room:  reference rate reform.  This is a global issue driven by market forces, not the FASB.

What Is Reference Rate Reform?

The London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, is expected to be phased out in 2021.  Globally, there’s an estimated $350 trillion of financial instruments—over half of which is in the U.S.—that reference LIBOR

22

including, for example, adjustable-rate mortgages.

Efforts are under way (1) to identify risk-free alternative rates to replace IBORs and (2) to develop transition plans that support reference rate reform.  Those industry-led efforts are focused on tying benchmark rates to observable, arm’s-length transactions.

In July, the SEC issued a public statement

23

noting that the transition away from LIBOR could have “a significant impact on the financial markets and may present a material risk for certain market participants.”

Addressing Accounting Obstacles

Reference rate reform has been a major priority for the FASB.  We’re proactively addressing accounting obstacles that could hinder smooth transition.

Simplifying Accounting Evaluations. 

And earlier this month, we issued a proposal that would make it easier to transition contracts and other arrangements to a new reference rate.

First, we proposed to simplify the accounting evaluation of a contract modification.  For a contract that meets certain criteria, the change in its reference rate would be accounted for as a continuation of that contract, instead of the creation of a new contract.

We also proposed to simplify the assessment of hedge effectiveness—and to allow hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform to continue.

Optional and Temporary. 

Application of this relief would be optional.  We think it will minimize the disruption of reference rate reform on financial reporting and provide users with more useful information.

Companies and other organizations that elect to apply the guidance would do so prospectively—in other words, the new guidance could be elected for contract modifications and hedge evaluations that occur after we issue the final standard.

The guidance would be temporary, expiring on January 1, 2023.  To my knowledge, if finalized, this would be the first time we’ve ever issued an accounting standard with a “sunset provision.”

Looking Ahead

The comment period on this proposal is open until October 7th.  I encourage you to review it and get your comments to us as soon as possible.  As always, your insights will help us develop a better standard.  

**************

Closing Remarks

Before concluding, I want to thank you for your engagement in our process.

We may not always agree on outcomes.  But we will always engage in the conversation.  And we will work with you to help ensure a successful transition to our standards.

And now, I’m ready to take your questions.  

  10

As stated on the FSOC website, “The Financial Stability Oversight Council has a clear statutory mandate that creates for the first time collective accountability for identifying risks and responding to emerging threats to financial stability. It is a collaborative body chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury that brings together the expertise of the federal financial regulators, an independent insurance expert appointed by the President, and state regulators.”  

https://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/about/Pages/default.aspx  

14

S.1564 - Continued Encouragement for Consumer Lending Act,

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1564 15

116TH Congress, 1st Session, House Report 116–122, “The Committee directs the SEC, in consultation with the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and NCUA, to conduct a study of the potential impact of the CECL accounting standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and provide the study to the Committee, and to the Financial Services Committee, within 180 days of the enactment of this Act. The study shall address the impact of the CECL standard on credit availability, costs to consumers, and overall stability of the banking sector, and assess whether the FASB employed sound economic analysis and modeling.”  

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/116th-congress/house-report/122/1?overview=closed

  17

Refers to comprehensive studies conducted by researchers not associated with individual banks or trade associations.  

18

Loudis, Bert, and Ben Ranish (2019).  CECL and the Credit Cycle," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-061. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,

https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2019.061

.  

19

Beatty, Anne, and Scott Liao. 2011. “Do Delays in Expected Loss Recognition Affect Banks’ Willingness to Lend?”

Journal of Accounting and Economics

52: 1-20.  

20

Bushman, Robert M., and Christopher D. Williams. 2012. “Accounting Discretion, Loan Loss Provisioning, and Discipline of Banks’ Risk-Taking,”

Journal of Accounting and Economics

54: 1-18.  

  Printable PDF

  republished from FASB - Latest News

[lotsofdogs]

Postpartum Q&A: Part One

I’m not sure what it is but whenever I sit down to write about anything related to this postpartum time period, it seems to take me forever to assemble my very-jumbled thoughts and get a blog post together. Maybe that is because that is kind of how life feels to me during this time — very jumbled but very beautiful. It’s exhausting and incredible. It’s challenging and emotional and wonderful and I’m still very much learning how to navigate life as a mom of two.

After I shared my first postpartum blog post, I asked you guys to let me know of any questions you wanted me to address in an upcoming blog post. I put the request out on Instagram Stories as well and received so many awesome questions. I ended up compiling them into a list that was very, very long! I didn’t anticipate breaking this Q&A-style post up into two posts but since I’ve been working on answering your questions for a while now, I figured that might be the smart thing to do otherwise I may never actually get this blog post up!

So many of the questions I received were similar so hopefully those of you who submitted a question will find the answer to your question in today’s post or the followup post. I’m doing my best to keep this Q&A as organized as possible and sorted your questions into the following categories:

Emotional and Physical Recovery

All About Ryder

Breastfeeding

The Two-Kid Transition

I will also be sharing a post dedicated solely to our newborn baby “must haves” since that was, by far, the most common request/question I received.

For today’s post, I’ll be addressing my emotional and physical recovery and all questions related specifically to Ryder!

Also, as you read this post and the future posts about my postpartum journey, please keep in mind that I am simply doing my best to share things from my perspective surrounding my personal experiences. Everyone is so different when it comes to pregnancy and postpartum life, just like our babies are all so different. Some things I say might not appeal or apply to you and that’s tooootally okay!

Emotional and Physical Recovery

Did you experience any baby blues or postpartum anxiety or depression? 

I did not experience any postpartum baby blues or depression after the birth of Chase or Ryder but it’s not something I think anyone should ever feel ashamed of experiencing. I also wouldn’t say I’ve experienced postpartum anxiety but after Chase was born, I feel like I absolutely became a more anxious and worried person in general and this has carried on with Ryder. With both of my boys, I’ve found myself worrying about their health and safety and their future in more intense ways than I ever thought I would before I had children.

Did you encapsulate your placenta again this time around?

Yes I did! For those of you who may be new to the blog, you may read all about placenta encapsulation and why I chose to do it in this post: Placenta Encapsulation: Why I Did It, How I Did It and Would I Do It Again?

Was your recovery different or more difficult this time around? How did having an active toddler impact your recovery? 

I feel very fortunate to have experienced a pretty easy recovery from a physical standpoint and feel like my recovery after Ryder’s birth was easier than my physical recovery after I had Chase. I had two stitches after a fairly fast labor and was honestly shocked at how quickly I was able to walk around with very little pain or discomfort. A few other random things I noticed from a physical standpoint in the first few weeks postpartum included a very weak core (I did a lot of rolling onto my side to sit/stand up), intense night sweats, headaches and seriously ravenous hunger.

As far as how having an active toddler impacted my recovery, there’s no denying that Chase made it a LOT harder to simply rest when Ryder was sleeping since I still wanted to give Chase attention and make his transition into being a big brother as seamless as possible. After Chase was born, I basically hibernated for months until I was ready to leave the comfort of our home for an extended period of time. This time around that simply wasn’t the case mainly because keeping Chase at home all day sounded terrible (hopefully those with active toddlers feel me on this one!) and I also felt WAY more confident when it came to handling a newborn away from home.

When I thought about juggling two kids in the beginning, I was more than a little intimidated — How will I do nap time? What happens if I need to nurse when Chase is feeling extra needy? — and I feel fortunate that I was able to figure a lot of these things out during the time that my mom stayed with us after Ryder was born. My mom’s help was seriously the biggest gift to me since she stepped in and really helped most with Chase during her stay. With Ryan back at work right after we brought Ryder home from the hospital, help with Chase was exactly what I wanted and needed most so I could do my best to focus on Ryder as we established breastfeeding and tried to get him adjusted to life outside the womb. Also, from an emotional standpoint, sometimes the early days with a newborn can be rather lonely without a ton of adult interaction, so her company was wonderful for me, too.

Now, 11 weeks into life with two kids, there’s truly NO downtime during the day which, if I’m being totally honest, can feel really overwhelming. There’s no sugarcoating it and I always feel behind on work (and on life!) but we’re figuring things out day by day. Sometimes I look back on the day and realize the only thing I really accomplished was being a mom to my two boys and, honestly, that’s enough. I’m trying to remind myself that this phase of life is so short and so fleeting. I’m doing my best to embrace the chaos because I know that one day soon I’ll miss this wonderful insanity. Being a mom to my two boys, even on the hard, overwhelming and crazy days, is truly my favorite thing in the entire world.

I would love to hear your thoughts/experiences with family staying to help. My mom has generously offered to stay with us for 3 months after our baby is born, but I’m worried that it will be too long, and I will crave family time, but I also don’t know what to expect since it is our first baby! I’m really close with my mom and we don’t have other family in the area, so I know this is a huge gift, I am just nervous to commit to it without really understanding our needs once baby comes.

This is such a good question and so much of my answer depends on your relationship with your mom and her ability to really and truly help. We also do not have family in the area and after Chase and Ryder were both born, my mom came to stay with us for a couple of weeks and it was so, so incredible. To say I am grateful we had her stay with us after our babies were born would be a serious understatement and it’s something I know Ryan would echo as well.

My mom seemed to innately know what we needed and, for the most part, that wasn’t simply holding our baby. Help mostly came in the form of throwing in a load of laundry, preparing a quick meal, encouraging me to shower and take an hour to myself to work on this blog, etc. After Ryder was born, her help looked a lot more like entertaining Chase while I cared for Ryder which was HUGE. I think many new moms are terrible about asking for help (myself absolutely included!) but so many mothers encouraged me to accept help during the postpartum time frame and I am so glad I did.

I say this in one breath but I can absolutely see how having someone stay with you for an extended period of time could add stress to an already stressful time. I think that’s when understanding your relationship with your mom is so important and possibly even discussing what “help” really looks like or means to both of you ahead of time might be beneficial. It can feel uncomfortable to ask for exactly what you need even from your own mother but the ability to do this is so important since everyone’s postpartum needs are different and may even vary from day-to-day. During your mom’s stay, I would just say to be as open and communicative as possible.

Another thing to consider is how you’ll feel about having someone around all the time. I personally really like and value my alone time and my mom is the same way. She’s also pretty independent and during her visits she would still attend Jazzercise classes almost every day and get out and about which I think also helped since it never felt like we were on top of each other for weeks on end. I also kept communication very open with Ryan during this time so we were always on the same page regarding the duration of my mom’s visit.

Has your pelvic floor recovery been different this time around? Better or worse?

When I was pregnant, I was terrified about the state of my pelvic floor during the postpartum period after Ryder was born. I feel like my pelvic floor muscles were incredibly weak during my pregnancy with Ryder and I figured they would be horrific after another delivery. This is not something I experienced during my pregnancy with Chase but I think the fact that I would honestly pee myself when I’d cough or sneeze during my pregnancy with Ryder can be attributed to weakened pelvic floor muscles that I had after my first pregnancy that never fully recovered.

I’m not sure why or how this is possible but I feel so much better with regard to pelvic floor recovery this time around. That’s not to say things are perfect or back to normal, but I don’t feel like I’m leaking all the time which is such a relief. I am also trying to be smart about my recovery and avoid exercises that stress pelvic floor muscles so I will not be able to speak to whether or not I will be able to do things like tuck jumps without peeing for quite a while!

I’ve also spoken with a physical therapist who basically said that peeing yourself all the time after having a baby, while very common, isn’t something you should have to live with so I am absolutely still considering seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist as I continue to recover.

Did you notice anything different from the way you felt from an emotional standpoint during your pregnancy and postpartum period with baby number one versus baby number two? 

Yes! Honestly, I felt completely different during both pregnancies and even the way I felt after delivering Ryder was different. During my pregnancy with Chase I was incredibly excited but I also experienced a feeling I can only describe as disbelief. I remember feeling like the experience was almost surreal and I had a hard time really picturing our baby or my new role as a mother.

Losing two babies in between my first pregnancy and my fourth pregnancy with Ryder undoubtedly shaped the way I felt during my most recent pregnancy. I was incredibly scared and anxious and almost wanted to distance myself from the pregnancy in the beginning because I was terrified of another missed miscarriage and deeply worried that we would lose another baby. I felt like I was holding my breath for months. I wish I could say I loved my prenatal appointments but I was truly so anxious during every ultrasound and just prayed hard for the day I hoped and prayed would come when I would get to hold our baby in my arms.

On a more positive note, I remember that toward the end of my pregnancy with Ryder, I felt this overwhelming sense of understanding just how much my life was about to change in the most amazing way. I saw my capacity to love and care for a child explode after Chase was born and knowing I was on the brink of holding another baby I was about to fall more and more in love with every day was really incredible. It also seemed to make pregnancy feel more “real” in a sense.

During the postpartum period in the weeks after we brought both Chase and Ryder home, I feel like my emotions were rather similar. I was definitely more emotional and a lot more sensitive than usual after Chase was born and felt the same way after Ryder’s birth. One piece of advice a friend gave to me before Chase was born helped me a lot during both postpartum periods and that was to simply ask yourself if you are tired when you feel overwhelmed, weepy, angry, frustrated, etc. So often my heightened emotions were (and are) intensified by just feeling really, really tired.

Have you noticed any difference in your body image after baby number two versus baby number one? 

I was honestly pretty surprised about how relaxed I felt about my postpartum body after I delivered Chase. I thought I’d be much more focused on losing the weight I gained during pregnancy than I was and it took me a solid nine months to return to my pre-pregnancy weight. (This is not to say I lost the baby weight without any thought or effort but it took me around six months to really feel an itch to put more thought into losing the last 10 pounds or so.) It just wasn’t a priority or a focus for me and now, with two kids in the mix, I’m seeing a similar pattern surface. I undoubtedly feel softer after this pregnancy and notice more cellulite and a squishier belly than I did after my first pregnancy but I’m trying hard to give myself grace.

Stepping away from Instagram (aka the land of perfectly put-together moms and rock-hard abs at 8 weeks postpartum) and reminding myself that everyone’s bodies and postpartum journeys are different is KEY because sometimes I’ll find myself feeling really down when I try to wear my pre-pregnancy clothes and look like a disaster. I’m not going to lie and pretend to be over here absolutely loving every inch of my postpartum body — you better believe I have moments where I cannot help but zero in on my love handles flowing over the sides of my shorts or tops clinging to my midsection in ways they didn’t before — but I have SO MUCH respect for what my body just went through and am so grateful for every last dimple on my butt cheeks right now because I know that they are all part of the big picture that helped me bring the most amazing little life into this world.

One thing that REALLY helps me with my body image right now is prioritizing my workouts. (Notice I did not say “prioritizing weight loss” because these are two VERY different things to me.) Making it to Burn Boot Camp or to the gym several times a week makes me feel strong. It gives me a mental break from motherhood and provides me with more energy throughout the day. Surrounding myself with women who are encouraging and uplifting, especially during this postpartum season, is so pivotal for me from a mental health perspective, too. Sweating, lifting weights and doing something physical and beneficial for my health makes a big, big difference for me and reminds me that being healthy matters much more than the pair of jeans I can’t quite squeeze into just yet.

What are some of your favorite self-care things to do during the postpartum period? 

I actually had three people ask me about self care and it made me think I should probably be thinking more about it! Umm is it silly to say reading? Giving myself permission to unplug at the end of the night and not work or do anything other than curl up in bed with a book feels amazing and is, without a doubt, my favorite form of self care right now.

All About Ryder

Is Ryder on more or less of a schedule than Chase was as a newborn since you have two kids to worry about this time?

Ryder is on WAAAY less of a schedule than Chase was right now. I was reading all the books about sleep strategies and schedules with Chase at this point and I haven’t done a single thing with Ryder. I think he’s still pretty young to have a legitimate schedule (I believe Chase was around four months when he started having more predictable nap times) so I’m not doing anything other than going with the flow with Ryder at this point.

Ryder is great about napping on the go in my baby carrier or his car seat (he HATES his car seat when he’s awake but when he’s sleepy he will happily snooze away in that thing) but I have NO idea what we’ll do once a predictable nap schedule surfaces. I definitely think quality sleep is important and prioritize sleep with my kids so I’m sure I’ll adopt much more of a schedule when Ryder’s naps become more predictable and he’s less apt to snooze on the go.

Who do you think Ryder looks like? 

Chase! People said Ryder looked like Chase from the beginning and I didn’t see it at first but once Ryder turned 3 weeks old, I began seeing his big brother in him all the time. It’s crazy and so, so cool! I’ve also never really thought Chase or Ryder look like me or Ryan but many, many people say they do which I love. I do think Ryder looks a lot like I did as a baby though — we both had fluffy mohawks and similar facial features.

Where is Ryder sleeping? How long do you think Ryder will sleep in your room?

Ryder is currently sleeping in a bassinet next to our bed. We have the Chicco LullaGo Portable Bassinet that my friends at Chicco sent our way and it’s great! The bassinet is easy to assemble and simple to break down. We took it with us to Atlanta and loved it for baby travel sleep, too!

As far as how long Ryder will sleep in our room, I’m not sure. We’ll see how things go but I’m thinking we’ll likely keep him in our room for a couple more months and transition him into the crib in his nursery sometime between four and six months old.

What were some of the other names you considered for Ryder? 

As you know, Ryder didn’t have a name for nearly 48 hours! We honestly drove to the hospital without a solid name for a boy or a girl in our minds. Once Ryder was born, we waffled back and forth on a bunch of names but our top two boy names were Ryder and Cade.

My biggest hangup regarding Ryder’s name was the fact that Ryder and Chase are two names on a popular kid’s television show (Paw Patrol) but eventually I just had to let that go because we loved the name and its meaning (“warrior”) so much. At least Paw Patrol is a cute show and the Ryder and Chase characters are buddies! (I’m also seriously banking on the fact that Paw Patrol won’t be around forever.) For those who remember and have asked, YES, Ryder is the name I alluded to in this pregnancy post!

Now that Ryder is here, I’d love to know more about your thoughts on waiting to find out your baby’s sex. Would you do it again? 

I LOVED IT. And that’s a huge understatement! I truly never ever thought I would wait to find out our baby’s sex but it was the best! It was honestly the hardest not finding out up until the 18-week anatomy scan but once we got past that, it was awesome and so fun! Going into labor and still not knowing whether we were about to have a daughter or a son was incredible and kind of crazy. When you finally meet your baby it’s just the best surprise ever!

As far as whether or not we’d do it again, I absolutely would! Ryan, on the other hand, might kill me because he wanted to know the baby’s sex all along with this last pregnancy but I think I could talk him into waiting again should we have more children.

How do you feel about having two boys? 

I LOVE having two boys. Toward the end of my pregnancy, I began to really believe I would be having a second boy. (Maybe Chase’s steadfast assurance that the baby in Mom’s belly was a boy began to rub off on me?) When Ryder arrived, there was no piece of me that was even the slightest bit disappointed that we had another boy and I feel like I had that “I knew it” feeling when he was born. I was absolutely overcome with emotion when Ryder was born and sobbed because he was here and he was perfect.

One thing that has surprised me as a mom of two boys is just how many people have already asked us if we are going to “try for a girl.” If we decide to try for another child we will be trying for another child. I swear to you guys there is zero part of me that feels like I’m missing something by not having a girl. I love my boys and think being a mother to boys is the absolute best.. and that is coming from someone who initially thought she wanted a girl during her first pregnancy.

How is Sadie doing with Ryder? 

Aw Sadie! She is doing well!! Sadie admittedly had a rough adjustment when we brought Chase home from the hospital mainly because she was used to high-pitched voices being used only for her and the floor time that once signaled “go time” for doggie play suddenly often meant baby playtime, too. Plus, Sadie has never understood the concept of personal space and would legitimately sit her butt down on Chase’s belly when he was on the floor without realizing that certain things she could do with me or Ryan weren’t okay to do to a baby.

With Ryder, Sadie didn’t seem nearly as phased and has really rolled with the punches muuuch better. This isn’t to say she’s completely enamored with her two brothers (we still joke that Sadie’s favorite time of day is when the boys go to sleep) but she’s a little champ and doesn’t seem nearly as confused this time around. We really do still try to make it a point to give her lots of attention and cuddles which she soaks right up. She also loves sitting right up against me during my nursing sessions with Ryder which I think is the sweetest!

[Read More ...] https://www.pbfingers.com/postpartum-qa-part-one/

[johnwcastor]

Thoughts on (the current state of) the UFC

This past week, the departure of top-ranked Middleweight fighter Gegard Mousasi shocked many MMA fans and writers alike. With 5 wins in a row, and in 6 of his last 7 overall, it seemed absurd that an elite 31-year-old who was a win or two away from a title shot would be let go to join up with Bellator, the UFC’s main competitor. 

Some news outlets, such as MMAJunkie, questioned how, exactly, the UFC values its fighters. To me, a bigger question arises about the UFC as a whole, and that is: How do they plan on growing successfully while treating their own fighters as powerless and immaterial? 

Since the $4 billion purchase of the company by WME-IMG group (July, 2016), there has been a noticeable shift in the way the company has run, most specifically in its poor treatment of high caliber fighters. For the first time in the company’s history, fighters and the media are aware that the UFC does not run the MMA game and there’s a lot of red flags to indicate the the top dog in the game might actually be trending downward. Treatment of Champions Since the purchase of the UFC, three champions have remained: Demetrius Johnson (Men’s Flyweight), Joanna Jędrzejczyk (Women Strawweight) and Stipe Miocic (Men’s Heavyweight). Miocic and Jędrzejczyk have been admired by fans and the UFC alike. Demetrius Johnson, however, is a completely differently story than these two, and while he exemplifies the current “fighter treatment” problem, he is only one of a handful of key examples.  Since moving down to flyweight in 2012, all “Mighty Mouse” has done is dominate to a record-setting career. Since a draw with Ian McCall back in 2012, Johnson has remained undefeated in this division, handling others en route to twelve straight wins and a tie with Anderson Silva’s record of 10 straight title defenses. Following his submission victory over Wilson Reis (April 15, 2017), Demetrious Johnson was called the proud-for-pound best (P4P) and potentially the G.O.A.T. by Dana White. However, that perspective quickly shifted once Demetrius Johnson decided to speak up for himself against perceived mistreatment. 

The scenario goes that, following an injury to Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt, top contender T.J. Dillashaw was offered a Flyweight Title Fight against Johnson. Johnson, though, did not feel it fair that Dillashaw could drop a division and cut in line over Ray Borg, the top contender at Flyweight. By stating this, it apparently opened the door to wide-ranging attacks from Dana White. 

White quickly withdrew his support for Johnson as P4P best (instead, claiming that it was Conor McGregor) and went on to point out that he has the “lowest selling pay-per-view in the history of the UFC in the modern era.” He went on to point out that Johnson’s claims of being promoted incorrectly, being bullied into taking this fight, and being threatened that the entire division would be shut down, were all baseless nonsense. In other words, White, in a matter of less than two months, went from directly supporting and defending his record-setting champion to publicly insulting him, questioning his motives and insulting his popularity. 

The issue when White engages in this type is that it undermines a champion who has done nothing but win. When DJ complained that he was not being promoted correctly, the response was to point out that a season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a show whose ratings have (essentially) declined regularly and then to insult him outwardly. It might be this precise behavior that Johnson is speaking of when he mentions not being properly promoted by his own company. In fact, on July 12, Demetrius Johnson was awarded the 2017 ESPY for “Best Fighter,” beating out Conor McGregor and boxing champion Gennady Golovkin, and to this point, White, specifically, has not said a word to congratulate him for this honor (although the UFC’s official twitter did mention it). 

Unfortunately, the UFC’s treatment of “Mighty Mouse” is not the sole example of coarse treatment of one’s own champions. After Tyron Woodley complained of being discriminated against for being black, proclaiming he was the worst treated champion in the UFC, Dana White replied by calling him “a bit of a drama queen,” and insulting his attitude. 

Most recently, Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes has come under attack by White in what might be the most appalling of all his anti-champion barrages. Prior to the withdrawal in her UFC 213 matchup against  Valentina Shevchenko, both Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone had published articles proclaiming that this fight would usher in a “new era” for the women’s division long reigned over by Ronda Rousey. It was to be the first title match-up devoid of Rousey or her long-term rival Meisha Tate. Both of these women were destroyed by Nunes, and what White now had in his hands was a dominant women’s champ who, had she won that night (or even in the rescheduled matchup), could carry this division and win over both male and female fans with her aggressive, violence-as-beauty style. In short, she could easily become White’s next true superstar.

Instead, after initially being told by doctors that she was cleared to fight, Nunes still pulled out of the headlining fight (She would explain a day later that sinusitis was the cause of the pullout and that a CT scan revealed blockage requiring antibiotics). To White, this was beyond unacceptable. He went on to say that she “didn’t want to fight,”  that her pullout was “90% mental and maybe 10% mental,” and that she won’t headline a UFC ever again. In short, within hours of his champion pulling out of a title fight (the first pullout in her career, it’s worth noting), White was at it again: publicly ripping a fighter and demonstrating a clear company policy of degrading one’s own champions.  

Of importance to mention is that all three of these examples take place after the ownership shift to WME-IMG. Whether that has any influence on White’s behavior cannot be explicitly determined- but it says something about the character of a newly purchased company when its own president is willing to go on record to insult, question and attack his own champions. For a moment, consider any other sport where this happens...can’t think of any, right? If you did come up with an example, consider this: in the scenario you thought of (such as, perhaps, Phil Jackson with Carmelo Anthony), was it deemed as “appropriate” or as one sign of a dysfunctional organization? I rest my case regarding this topic.

Interim Acting Champions

Another issue that has seemingly become the norm under the new ownership is the willingness to let champions call their own shots and to hand out interim belts at every given turn. Consider this: On November 12, 2016, at UFC 205, Conor McGregor became the third man to ever win championships in two divisions and the first man to ever hold two belts simultaneously. EVER.This was huge news! It made for an incredible post-fight interview, was on sports stations worldwide, and led to amazingly unique photo ops which McGregor gladly took advantage of. 

Less than two weeks later, he was stripped of his Featherweight belt so that Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis could fight for an interim title and then compete against Jose Aldo, who also had an interim title after defeating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200. It’s important to mention that the original plan for Conor McGregor was to rematch Nate Diaz at UFC 200- meaning that the interim title would have been fought for on the same card that the current champion was fighting on. Except that he was satisfying a grudge match in another division. Got all that? 

In its entire history, there has been 13 interim titles handed out in the UFC. Five have been awarded since 2015. Until this time frame, none were given out except in the case of a prolonged injury to the current champion. However, dating to shortly before the WME-IMG purchase, handing out the interim title became the new obsession- with very little logic. As stated earlier, Aldo and Edgar, as well as Holloway and Pettis, were all fighting for interim belts while their champion fought up two weight classes simply because he wanted to. At Middleweight, Michael Bisping became champion, spoke out about how none of the top contenders deserved to fight him, fought Dan Henderson, and then sat and recuperated while awaiting Georges St. Pierre’s return. In his (technically injury related) absence, Robert Whittaker became interim champion. Meanwhile, if he could get a fight booked, Tony Ferguson would be fighting for an interim championship in the Lightweight Division. Why is this? Not due to injury, but due to the fact that Conor McGregor is scheduled to make his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather this August. This would bring the number to six interim titles since 2015- with the other 8 coming between 1997 and 2014. Doesn’t this seem imbalanced?

Additionally, in the Women’s Featherweight division, Germaine de Randamie won the belt by defeating Holly Holm only to have it stripped away without a single defense. While this may not seem related, on account of it not being an “interim” title, it goes to the confusing logic of the UFC Championship belts right now. With the arrival of Conor McGregor, it appears that there aren’t set rules for what a champion is supposed to do, how often they are supposed to fight, or why interim belts should come into existence. It’s part of this changing landscape in the UFC that does not seem to have a clear direction or plan for its own championship belts. 

Star Power- or lack thereof. 

In the past, the UFC has heard the, “What will do you do when [Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Georges St. Pierre, Brock Lesnar] leaves?” question and Dana White has always expressed confidence that there will be someone to rise up next and carry the baton. Historically, he has been absolutely on point. Arguably, the main reason for this being that most fighters had the end goal in mind of making it to the UFC. People like Rampage Jackson, Anderson Silva and Brock Lesnar all had followings and respect, but upon arriving to the UFC, it was a whole new ball game. Jackson went on to movies, Silva, to being considered the GOAT, and Lesnar- well, he was always a superstar, but adding UFC Champion to his resume turned him into a legend. In short, the UFC has never lacked “Star Power,” as, whether by chance or design, the best seemed to always end up here.

However, with the recent trend of top notch FA fighters leaving- starting with Benson Henderson and including Ryan Bader, Ryan Davis, Rory MacDonald, and the aforementioned Gegard Mousasi- it appears that UFC no longer is the only destination for top fighters. Add to this that some of the best ever, such as MMA Legend Fedor Emelianenko and the undefeated, most highly decorated Olympic and collegiate Wrester to transition to MMA, Ben Askren, never found it necessary to join “the best” and you’ve got a narrative that’s beginning to change. Rather than the UFC being the sole destination for people to prove their worth, the paths are now more open than ever before. Money and sponsorship options are, in many cases, better in other organizations, and those who want more of an open door for their career, such as for it to include boxing or wrestling, find that Bellator can offer this while UFC refuses. Combine this with the treatment of champions, as well as many other issues (sponsorship, lack of payment, mistreatment by the organization), and it appears that the UFC no longer owns the golden gates combat fighters all wish to walk through in their careers.

So if some top fighters are leaving the UFC, and others are finding the need to never sign in the first place, at least they can be content with their household name superstars, right? Well, let’s see (Quick note: When speaking of superstars, I mean the ones that “casual fans” would tune in to see. Die hard fans could argue that there is more talent than ever before in the UFC, and it’s hard to disagree - however, the names that carry top selling PPVs are what we’re calling superstars for the purpose of this section).

The biggest moneymakers in UFC history have been Brock Lesnar, Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Georges St. Pierre. Their names typically carried the best selling PPVs. As of this writing, literally none of these names are active in the UFC. McGregor is the currently LW champion, and rumor has it that he will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov in Russia, but after pulling in an estimated $100 million for boxing Floyd Mayweather, it seems hard to believe McGregor would ever come back to the UFC, leaving his newborn child at home, to make “only” $20 million a fight (which, itself, isn’t easily guaranteed). 

Jon Jones is returning quite soon (July 29 at UFC 214) and is an absolute star when things align. As we have seen, unfortunately, he is his own worst enemy, and there’s no guarantee what comes about after this fight. He could be back as a full fledged superstar, continuing to rise up the ranks to potential GOAT status, or he could fizzle out, like a misguided Mike Tyson. Time will tell. 

Other than that, Joanna Jędrzejczyk is beloved by fans, but she hasn’t even headlined a PPV by herself so there’s no guarantee the “casual fans” will tune in for her. Michael Bisping is a star, so I should include his name in here. However, most people seem to turn in to see him lose (Bisping v. Henderson 2) and if he falls to Robert Whittaker, it’s hard to predict if the latter has the superstar power. In fact, of all the champions, it’s hard to say any single one is a superstar. Miocic has the city of Cleveland behind him but isn’t really a superstar. Daniel Cormier is supremely talented as both a fighter and announcer, has beaten all the top competition along the way, and still isn’t respect by fans. In fact, he’s recently taken on the “heel” role voluntarily, seeming to accept his fate. We discussed Tyron Woodley and Amanda Nunes earlier, so it’s clear they aren’t industry carrying superstars. Max Holloway has all the tools to be a star- talent, humility, track record, youth- but he isn’t yet.

Perhaps just as important is that in the past few years, the UFC’s attempts to groom their own superstars- most specifically Sage Northcutt and Paige VanZant- turned out terribly so far. Both lost badly early on in their careers. While VanZant still has a following (due to her looks, youth and time on Dancing on the Stars) and both fighters have tremendous raw talent, they could go the way of Uriah Hall in that they are hyped up huge only to turn out to be above average fighters who never capture the casual fan’s attention. 

Another potential star, who might be only weeks away from selling huge PPVs, is Cristina “Cyborg” Justino. However, her path to a UFC championship fight has been unpredictable and controversial. She has failed two drug tests, the second of which she earned a post-failure exemption which, technically, freed her but led to the fans continuing to label her a cheater. On top of that, she has accused the UFC and Ronda Rousey of bullying, proclaimed that the UFC has a culture of bullying, and has been cited for battery after punching fellow women’s fighter Angela Magana on a UFC retreat in Las Vegas. In other words, while Cyborg has all the tools, and the name, to become UFC’s next superstar, it doesn’t promise to be a clear rise to the top with unending support. 

Thus, the obvious question becomes, “Who is the face of the UFC?” There has always been at least one superstar that casual and hardcore fans tuned in for. Right now, that is Conor McGregor, who may or may not return. After that, maybe it’s Jon Jones? Cyborg? Jędrzejczyk? Or, maybe, by cutting their ties with superstars who carry other markets, like Rory MacDonald with with the Canadian market, and putting down their own champions, the UFC has been subconsciously telling the casual fan that many of their fighters aren’t worth tuning into. What do they do, then, when the fans stop tuning in?

Taken Together

Taken together, what I mean to make clear is that, while the UFC itself may not be in danger of sudden failure, the cracks in the facade are beginning to grow. Current fighters of every level are vocal about their dissatisfaction with the UFC on a wide array of issues (pay scales, amount of fights, the Reebok deal, absentee champions, lack of a UNION) and some are feeling liberated by walking away once given the chance. Meanwhile, champions are being bullied and most of them aren’t selling PPV’s anyway. While the biggest name in UFC history- Conor McGregor- is (technically) active, he really stands on the boundary of becoming bigger than the UFC. If he decides to box Mayweather and call it quits, which no one could blame him for, the UFC falls down unlike ever before. All of a sudden, the fighters who you’ve been tearing down become far more important than they’d ever been when you were (virtually) the only game in down. 

Again, I am not trying to paint some bleak image of the future of MMA or even suggest that, two years from now, the UFC will be failing miserably. I suppose my main purpose is to point out that these are obvious red flags that prove things need to change in the UFC. We’re at a crossroads in the MMA game as the sport been mainstream for years and is as popular as ever. Not to mention it has the loudest and brashest spokesperson in its history with Conor McGregor. Fighters are the fight game and it’s time to acknowledge and treat them as such. In the end, the UFC has the opportunity to adjust its overall strategies and treatment of fighters and go back to being clearly the best game in town. It begins with Dana White but should spread throughout the company from the way that all the fighters are viewed- be they champions or those looking to create a name. 

As an avid fan, I truly hope to see this organization (as well as Bellator and others) do what’s right for it’s main product: the fighters. Be real about this, Dana- no one is chiming in to any PPVs for you. No one has tuned into “The Ultimate Fighter” for you. Everything you’ve earned from the purchase of the UFC, the first and second time, is thanks to the fighters who have left their blood, sweat, time, families and youth in the cage for the fans. Don’t lose focus of that. 

Martial Arts has always been about honor, and it’s time to give the respect back to those competing in the sport. I hope the plan for the future includes acknowledging and rebuilding upon this.

[allenmendezsr]

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hft2-build-2wice-the-muscle-2/

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

 Buy Now

    I’ll bet your muscle growth is much slower than it should be. Why? Because you’ve been following training programs designed by guys that have a much easier time building muscle than you do.

You can change your sets, reps and exercises all you want but it’s probably not going to help much. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing for the last few months, or even years.  

So what’s the solution? You must do two things. First, stimulate the stubborn muscle group the way it’s designed to work. Second, trigger muscle growth more frequently without adding more time to your workouts or training schedule.

The only way to build muscle faster is with brief pulses of high frequency training. It took me 13 years to figure out exactly how to do it…

Look, you don’t need to make more trips to the gym or buy an expensive piece of esoteric equipment. The tricks for triggering growth don’t depend on either of those factors.

But simply working a muscle more frequently isn’t going to make it bigger. If that were true, all marathon runners would have massive glutes and calves.

You must learn exactly how to stimulate the largest muscle fibers with a specific set of guidelines.

As a professional trainer, it’s my job to get results faster than my clients expect. If I don’t, they’ll find another trainer. So I’ve been constantly researching and experimenting new approaches to speed up muscle growth.

By necessity, I’ve had to figure out the unknown ways to stimulate muscle gains because the people that hire me have already tried all the typical stuff. I’m sure you have, too. And I’m not surprised that none of it worked.

It didn’t work because those training programs weren’t designed for true hardgainers.

So how should you train to build muscle twice as fast?

I started experimenting with more frequent training with my clients in 2001, and in 2012 I released the original High Frequency Training (HFT) program.

Thanks to the massive amount of feedback I had received from people who tried that program, along with my endless experimentation with clients, I’ve come up with a new system that blows away the original.

What’s different about HFT2 compared to the original? Everything – and that’s no exaggeration.

Over the last two years I was relentless to find at least one unique trick to build muscle faster than I expected.

I found three of them.

But each one needs to be modified depending on the muscle you’re trying to build. And with full-body training, the variables have to shift in a specifc way.

All of those elements – and a whole lot more – are included in the all-new, 131-page HFT2 training manual.

The HFT2 manual covers everything you need to know about building muscle – fast. It includes two 12-week full-body programs: one to be used with Targeted Training plans and another that incorporates three unique training methods to quickly add lean muscle to all major body parts.

No stone is left unturned as I cover everything from the latest research to real-world data for HFT2. You’ll learn how to build muscle across your entire body or just target it where you need the most growth.

All the programs are laid out in a simple format with links to videos for each exercise so you’re sure to do each move with perfect form.

  Each of the workouts consist of sets and exercises that you’ve probably never seen before. That’s why the all-new instructional videos are included to guide you. My clients and I are right there with you to ensure that you’re getting the most growth-inducing work out of every exercise.

Here’s a sample tutorial video from HFT2:

The videos are in high-definition format that can be quickly played on any mobile device. And they’re compatible with a Mac and PC. I took great lengths to make the instructional videos in this program top-notch.

Unlike the original HFT, the new HFT2 contains training logs for every program. Whether you’re targeting a specific muscle such as the biceps or glutes, or following one of the 12-week full-body programs, you’ll have printable workout logs to keep track of all your progress.

The combination of the training system, instructional videos and workout logs result in my most effective muscle-building program to date. I can assure you that the workouts and strategies are unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to finally experience the muscle growth you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to leave the normal way behind and shock your body to a higher level of development than you ever imagined!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

I’m confident this new system will be lean muscle faster than ever before. It’s time to get the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Focused,

Chad Waterbury M.S.

  Got a question? If so, it’s probably covered in the following section:

Q: Can females do this program?

A: The physiological laws of muscle growth don’t change with gender. Therefore, this system is ideal for males and females. The difference, however, is the way females will probably use this system. For example, many females will want to add shape to their glutes, not their biceps. So females can pick and choose the right plans for them.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No. All of the workouts require nothing more than your body weight and basic weights such as kettlebells, dumbells or a barbell. Rings are also part of this program, but they’re not required since alternative exercises are outlined.

Q: Will this program take a lot of time each week?

A: Absolutely not. There are four full-body workouts per week that each take around 45 minutes. And the targeted HFT2 plans for each major muscle group only take minutes a day and require little to no equipment.

Q: Will these books get shipped to me?

A: No, HFT2 is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. The Adobe Acrobat PDF files are instantly downloaded to your computer and there are video links to the exercises in each workout. So you can take the HFT2 program with you on any mobile device.

Q: Can I view the HFT2 system and videos on an iPad?

A: Yes, you’ll just need the free Adobe Reader app. Just open the HFT2 zip folder on your computer and then send the PDFs to your iPad. It’s as simple as that!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

 Clickbank is the retailer of this product. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. Clickbank’s role as a retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of this product or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of this product.

[allenmendezsr]

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hft2-build-2wice-the-muscle-2/

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

 Buy Now

    I’ll bet your muscle growth is much slower than it should be. Why? Because you’ve been following training programs designed by guys that have a much easier time building muscle than you do.

You can change your sets, reps and exercises all you want but it’s probably not going to help much. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing for the last few months, or even years.  

So what’s the solution? You must do two things. First, stimulate the stubborn muscle group the way it’s designed to work. Second, trigger muscle growth more frequently without adding more time to your workouts or training schedule.

The only way to build muscle faster is with brief pulses of high frequency training. It took me 13 years to figure out exactly how to do it…

Look, you don’t need to make more trips to the gym or buy an expensive piece of esoteric equipment. The tricks for triggering growth don’t depend on either of those factors.

But simply working a muscle more frequently isn’t going to make it bigger. If that were true, all marathon runners would have massive glutes and calves.

You must learn exactly how to stimulate the largest muscle fibers with a specific set of guidelines.

As a professional trainer, it’s my job to get results faster than my clients expect. If I don’t, they’ll find another trainer. So I’ve been constantly researching and experimenting new approaches to speed up muscle growth.

By necessity, I’ve had to figure out the unknown ways to stimulate muscle gains because the people that hire me have already tried all the typical stuff. I’m sure you have, too. And I’m not surprised that none of it worked.

It didn’t work because those training programs weren’t designed for true hardgainers.

So how should you train to build muscle twice as fast?

I started experimenting with more frequent training with my clients in 2001, and in 2012 I released the original High Frequency Training (HFT) program.

Thanks to the massive amount of feedback I had received from people who tried that program, along with my endless experimentation with clients, I’ve come up with a new system that blows away the original.

What’s different about HFT2 compared to the original? Everything – and that’s no exaggeration.

Over the last two years I was relentless to find at least one unique trick to build muscle faster than I expected.

I found three of them.

But each one needs to be modified depending on the muscle you’re trying to build. And with full-body training, the variables have to shift in a specifc way.

All of those elements – and a whole lot more – are included in the all-new, 131-page HFT2 training manual.

The HFT2 manual covers everything you need to know about building muscle – fast. It includes two 12-week full-body programs: one to be used with Targeted Training plans and another that incorporates three unique training methods to quickly add lean muscle to all major body parts.

No stone is left unturned as I cover everything from the latest research to real-world data for HFT2. You’ll learn how to build muscle across your entire body or just target it where you need the most growth.

All the programs are laid out in a simple format with links to videos for each exercise so you’re sure to do each move with perfect form.

  Each of the workouts consist of sets and exercises that you’ve probably never seen before. That’s why the all-new instructional videos are included to guide you. My clients and I are right there with you to ensure that you’re getting the most growth-inducing work out of every exercise.

Here’s a sample tutorial video from HFT2:

The videos are in high-definition format that can be quickly played on any mobile device. And they’re compatible with a Mac and PC. I took great lengths to make the instructional videos in this program top-notch.

Unlike the original HFT, the new HFT2 contains training logs for every program. Whether you’re targeting a specific muscle such as the biceps or glutes, or following one of the 12-week full-body programs, you’ll have printable workout logs to keep track of all your progress.

The combination of the training system, instructional videos and workout logs result in my most effective muscle-building program to date. I can assure you that the workouts and strategies are unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to finally experience the muscle growth you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to leave the normal way behind and shock your body to a higher level of development than you ever imagined!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

I’m confident this new system will be lean muscle faster than ever before. It’s time to get the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Focused,

Chad Waterbury M.S.

  Got a question? If so, it’s probably covered in the following section:

Q: Can females do this program?

A: The physiological laws of muscle growth don’t change with gender. Therefore, this system is ideal for males and females. The difference, however, is the way females will probably use this system. For example, many females will want to add shape to their glutes, not their biceps. So females can pick and choose the right plans for them.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No. All of the workouts require nothing more than your body weight and basic weights such as kettlebells, dumbells or a barbell. Rings are also part of this program, but they’re not required since alternative exercises are outlined.

Q: Will this program take a lot of time each week?

A: Absolutely not. There are four full-body workouts per week that each take around 45 minutes. And the targeted HFT2 plans for each major muscle group only take minutes a day and require little to no equipment.

Q: Will these books get shipped to me?

A: No, HFT2 is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. The Adobe Acrobat PDF files are instantly downloaded to your computer and there are video links to the exercises in each workout. So you can take the HFT2 program with you on any mobile device.

Q: Can I view the HFT2 system and videos on an iPad?

A: Yes, you’ll just need the free Adobe Reader app. Just open the HFT2 zip folder on your computer and then send the PDFs to your iPad. It’s as simple as that!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

 Clickbank is the retailer of this product. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. Clickbank’s role as a retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of this product or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of this product.

[allenmendezsr]

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hft2-build-2wice-the-muscle-2/

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

 Buy Now

    I’ll bet your muscle growth is much slower than it should be. Why? Because you’ve been following training programs designed by guys that have a much easier time building muscle than you do.

You can change your sets, reps and exercises all you want but it’s probably not going to help much. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing for the last few months, or even years.  

So what’s the solution? You must do two things. First, stimulate the stubborn muscle group the way it’s designed to work. Second, trigger muscle growth more frequently without adding more time to your workouts or training schedule.

The only way to build muscle faster is with brief pulses of high frequency training. It took me 13 years to figure out exactly how to do it…

Look, you don’t need to make more trips to the gym or buy an expensive piece of esoteric equipment. The tricks for triggering growth don’t depend on either of those factors.

But simply working a muscle more frequently isn’t going to make it bigger. If that were true, all marathon runners would have massive glutes and calves.

You must learn exactly how to stimulate the largest muscle fibers with a specific set of guidelines.

As a professional trainer, it’s my job to get results faster than my clients expect. If I don’t, they’ll find another trainer. So I’ve been constantly researching and experimenting new approaches to speed up muscle growth.

By necessity, I’ve had to figure out the unknown ways to stimulate muscle gains because the people that hire me have already tried all the typical stuff. I’m sure you have, too. And I’m not surprised that none of it worked.

It didn’t work because those training programs weren’t designed for true hardgainers.

So how should you train to build muscle twice as fast?

I started experimenting with more frequent training with my clients in 2001, and in 2012 I released the original High Frequency Training (HFT) program.

Thanks to the massive amount of feedback I had received from people who tried that program, along with my endless experimentation with clients, I’ve come up with a new system that blows away the original.

What’s different about HFT2 compared to the original? Everything – and that’s no exaggeration.

Over the last two years I was relentless to find at least one unique trick to build muscle faster than I expected.

I found three of them.

But each one needs to be modified depending on the muscle you’re trying to build. And with full-body training, the variables have to shift in a specifc way.

All of those elements – and a whole lot more – are included in the all-new, 131-page HFT2 training manual.

The HFT2 manual covers everything you need to know about building muscle – fast. It includes two 12-week full-body programs: one to be used with Targeted Training plans and another that incorporates three unique training methods to quickly add lean muscle to all major body parts.

No stone is left unturned as I cover everything from the latest research to real-world data for HFT2. You’ll learn how to build muscle across your entire body or just target it where you need the most growth.

All the programs are laid out in a simple format with links to videos for each exercise so you’re sure to do each move with perfect form.

  Each of the workouts consist of sets and exercises that you’ve probably never seen before. That’s why the all-new instructional videos are included to guide you. My clients and I are right there with you to ensure that you’re getting the most growth-inducing work out of every exercise.

Here’s a sample tutorial video from HFT2:

The videos are in high-definition format that can be quickly played on any mobile device. And they’re compatible with a Mac and PC. I took great lengths to make the instructional videos in this program top-notch.

Unlike the original HFT, the new HFT2 contains training logs for every program. Whether you’re targeting a specific muscle such as the biceps or glutes, or following one of the 12-week full-body programs, you’ll have printable workout logs to keep track of all your progress.

The combination of the training system, instructional videos and workout logs result in my most effective muscle-building program to date. I can assure you that the workouts and strategies are unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to finally experience the muscle growth you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to leave the normal way behind and shock your body to a higher level of development than you ever imagined!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

I’m confident this new system will be lean muscle faster than ever before. It’s time to get the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Focused,

Chad Waterbury M.S.

  Got a question? If so, it’s probably covered in the following section:

Q: Can females do this program?

A: The physiological laws of muscle growth don’t change with gender. Therefore, this system is ideal for males and females. The difference, however, is the way females will probably use this system. For example, many females will want to add shape to their glutes, not their biceps. So females can pick and choose the right plans for them.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No. All of the workouts require nothing more than your body weight and basic weights such as kettlebells, dumbells or a barbell. Rings are also part of this program, but they’re not required since alternative exercises are outlined.

Q: Will this program take a lot of time each week?

A: Absolutely not. There are four full-body workouts per week that each take around 45 minutes. And the targeted HFT2 plans for each major muscle group only take minutes a day and require little to no equipment.

Q: Will these books get shipped to me?

A: No, HFT2 is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. The Adobe Acrobat PDF files are instantly downloaded to your computer and there are video links to the exercises in each workout. So you can take the HFT2 program with you on any mobile device.

Q: Can I view the HFT2 system and videos on an iPad?

A: Yes, you’ll just need the free Adobe Reader app. Just open the HFT2 zip folder on your computer and then send the PDFs to your iPad. It’s as simple as that!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

 Clickbank is the retailer of this product. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. Clickbank’s role as a retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of this product or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of this product.

[allenmendezsr]

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hft2-build-2wice-the-muscle-2/

Hft2: Build 2wice The Muscle

 Buy Now

    I’ll bet your muscle growth is much slower than it should be. Why? Because you’ve been following training programs designed by guys that have a much easier time building muscle than you do.

You can change your sets, reps and exercises all you want but it’s probably not going to help much. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing for the last few months, or even years.  

So what’s the solution? You must do two things. First, stimulate the stubborn muscle group the way it’s designed to work. Second, trigger muscle growth more frequently without adding more time to your workouts or training schedule.

The only way to build muscle faster is with brief pulses of high frequency training. It took me 13 years to figure out exactly how to do it…

Look, you don’t need to make more trips to the gym or buy an expensive piece of esoteric equipment. The tricks for triggering growth don’t depend on either of those factors.

But simply working a muscle more frequently isn’t going to make it bigger. If that were true, all marathon runners would have massive glutes and calves.

You must learn exactly how to stimulate the largest muscle fibers with a specific set of guidelines.

As a professional trainer, it’s my job to get results faster than my clients expect. If I don’t, they’ll find another trainer. So I’ve been constantly researching and experimenting new approaches to speed up muscle growth.

By necessity, I’ve had to figure out the unknown ways to stimulate muscle gains because the people that hire me have already tried all the typical stuff. I’m sure you have, too. And I’m not surprised that none of it worked.

It didn’t work because those training programs weren’t designed for true hardgainers.

So how should you train to build muscle twice as fast?

I started experimenting with more frequent training with my clients in 2001, and in 2012 I released the original High Frequency Training (HFT) program.

Thanks to the massive amount of feedback I had received from people who tried that program, along with my endless experimentation with clients, I’ve come up with a new system that blows away the original.

What’s different about HFT2 compared to the original? Everything – and that’s no exaggeration.

Over the last two years I was relentless to find at least one unique trick to build muscle faster than I expected.

I found three of them.

But each one needs to be modified depending on the muscle you’re trying to build. And with full-body training, the variables have to shift in a specifc way.

All of those elements – and a whole lot more – are included in the all-new, 131-page HFT2 training manual.

The HFT2 manual covers everything you need to know about building muscle – fast. It includes two 12-week full-body programs: one to be used with Targeted Training plans and another that incorporates three unique training methods to quickly add lean muscle to all major body parts.

No stone is left unturned as I cover everything from the latest research to real-world data for HFT2. You’ll learn how to build muscle across your entire body or just target it where you need the most growth.

All the programs are laid out in a simple format with links to videos for each exercise so you’re sure to do each move with perfect form.

  Each of the workouts consist of sets and exercises that you’ve probably never seen before. That’s why the all-new instructional videos are included to guide you. My clients and I are right there with you to ensure that you’re getting the most growth-inducing work out of every exercise.

Here’s a sample tutorial video from HFT2:

The videos are in high-definition format that can be quickly played on any mobile device. And they’re compatible with a Mac and PC. I took great lengths to make the instructional videos in this program top-notch.

Unlike the original HFT, the new HFT2 contains training logs for every program. Whether you’re targeting a specific muscle such as the biceps or glutes, or following one of the 12-week full-body programs, you’ll have printable workout logs to keep track of all your progress.

The combination of the training system, instructional videos and workout logs result in my most effective muscle-building program to date. I can assure you that the workouts and strategies are unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to finally experience the muscle growth you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to leave the normal way behind and shock your body to a higher level of development than you ever imagined!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

I’m confident this new system will be lean muscle faster than ever before. It’s time to get the body you’ve always wanted.

Stay Focused,

Chad Waterbury M.S.

  Got a question? If so, it’s probably covered in the following section:

Q: Can females do this program?

A: The physiological laws of muscle growth don’t change with gender. Therefore, this system is ideal for males and females. The difference, however, is the way females will probably use this system. For example, many females will want to add shape to their glutes, not their biceps. So females can pick and choose the right plans for them.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No. All of the workouts require nothing more than your body weight and basic weights such as kettlebells, dumbells or a barbell. Rings are also part of this program, but they’re not required since alternative exercises are outlined.

Q: Will this program take a lot of time each week?

A: Absolutely not. There are four full-body workouts per week that each take around 45 minutes. And the targeted HFT2 plans for each major muscle group only take minutes a day and require little to no equipment.

Q: Will these books get shipped to me?

A: No, HFT2 is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. The Adobe Acrobat PDF files are instantly downloaded to your computer and there are video links to the exercises in each workout. So you can take the HFT2 program with you on any mobile device.

Q: Can I view the HFT2 system and videos on an iPad?

A: Yes, you’ll just need the free Adobe Reader app. Just open the HFT2 zip folder on your computer and then send the PDFs to your iPad. It’s as simple as that!

Get all 3 for only $79  Sale Today $59

BONUS: original HFT included with download! 

  60-day money back guarantee

 Clickbank is the retailer of this product. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. Clickbank’s role as a retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of this product or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of this product.