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spookypalace · 4 years ago

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something borrowed - chapter two

After one drink too many at her 30th-birthday celebration, Jo unexpectedly falls into bed with her longtime crush and best friend, Alex – who happens to be engaged to her best friend, Izzie. Ramifications of the liaison threaten to destroy the women’s lifelong friendship, while Jackson, Jo’s confidant, harbors a potentially explosive secret of his own.

—

Or the one where everyone is a little messy but you still root for them anyway.

(ao3 link)

ok ok so i'm not entirely happy with this chapter, partly because i used a bit of backstory from the book but i kinda preffered how they did it in the movie so i included that also lol - so there is a bit of both :/ i've been sitting on the chapter for a bit but couldn't think of any way i'd want to change it up so i thought i'd just post and get it over with.

also this is a flashback and within this flashback, there is a flashback. it's the big chunk in italics, but if anyone thinks the way i have formatted this chapter is confusing then please let me know so i can change it and make it ... make more sense i guess.

anyway, thanks for reading and please let me what you think!!

May 2004

It’s to no one’s surprise that the only person left in the campus library at ten p.m. on the last Friday of their final year of law school, it’s Jo. It’s where she spent most of her evenings for the past couple of weeks, studying and stressing—attempting to cram in as much last-minute knowledge she could before their final exam on the following Wednesday.

Brunette hair tied back, save for the few small wisps fluttering over her eyes she’d blowing up at every so often. His oversized grey sweatshirt hangs loosely off her arms as she turns page after page of some old law journal, her right-hand scribbling down messy notes at her unusually fast pace.

The library was dull lit, save for the security guards lamp who sits grunting in the back corner, and the numerous lamps that lit the large mahogany table she currently sat at—books splayed across the surface, ones she hadn’t touched for hours but kept out just in case. Jo chooses not to think about how long it’ll take her to clear this up before she must leave.

A yawn escapes her lips, causing her to lift her left wrist and check the time, she’d already been here for six hours and unless the security guard was kicking her out—she wasn’t leaving. Jo had come way too far and worked way too hard to fall at the last hurdle, the last exam.

Maybe if she hadn’t spent the first half of her senior year with Izzie and Jackson and Alex so much, albeit separately, she wouldn’t feel the need to study as much as she had in the past few weeks. Jo had found herself falling behind, distracted by parties and flooding apartments and some crappy law drama Jackson had forced her to watch every Thursday night. But now, after weeks—she felt like she was getting back on track, just in time as well.

Jo’s eyes scan the page in front of her, she reads it over and over, but the words just don’t seem to settle in. With a deep groan, she throws the pen across the table and flops her head into her hands, rubbing circles against her temple.

“You look like you could do with a drink.” Alex’s familiar deep voice sneaks up behind her, causing Jo to jump in her seat—spine becoming rigid as a loud gasp escapes her lips. The sound causes the security guard to stand from his seat, glaring over at the pair. “Sorry,” Alex calls over to the guy, raising his hands in defence before letting out a laugh as he settles down on the chair next to a still heavy-breathing Jo.

“You scared me!” She exclaims through gritted teeth, trying to keep her voice quiet but still let Alex know she wasn’t all that happy about his surprise arrival. He places a comforting hand on her back and rubs softly, up and down up and down. It surprises her just how much the action did relax her, the feeling of stress no longer coursing through her body. “What are you doing here?” Jo finally asks now her breathing has returned to normal, turning in her seat slightly to look up at Alex.

Alex is about to reply with something snarky about her rigorous studying schedule but then he notices; the grey sweatshirt that engulfs her small frame, the one with their college logo fraying over the chest. He’d recognise it anywhere, with the raggedy hemline against the wrists and the small patch of white paint he’d stained it with when he helped his mom paint the shed in her backyard. It was his sweatshirt. Jo was wearing his sweatshirt. And he couldn’t explain the warm fuzzy feeling he felt after just one look at her at her snuggled inside of it. She looked so cosy—perfect, even. He wondered if he’d ever see anyone look just as good as she looked in this moment.

But, then again, she was constantly surprising him.

Ever since she first sat down next to him in their freshman year; her eyes big, lips pursed and rambling about something or another to herself. Alex had thought she was crazy; the way she ranted under her breath as if there really was someone else up in her head conversing back to her. But then, once she spotted him staring, her ranting turned to babbling as she tried to explain herself. And in an instant, he no longer thought she was crazy, he thought she was cute and funny, OK, and maybe a little crazy—but that was part of her charm.

They had been friends ever since, really good friends.

Just friends.

“Is this mine?” He plasters on his crooked smirk, hiding the warm feeling he felt after noticing, as he uses his thumb and forefinger to pinch at the material and pull her a little closer.

She leans into him with a giggle, her dainty shoulder bumping against his broad, “stooop.” She drags, trying to fight the curl of her lips as he continues to tease her with pokes to her stomach. She’s attempting to get back into the reading she momentarily gave up on, picking up a pen which was closer to her than the one she angrily threw earlier. But he doesn’t relent, forcing her to swivel on her seat and look him dead in his amused brown eyes. “I forgot to bring clothes when I crashed at your place last night,” she informs with a shove to his arm, “I would have headed back to my apartment but my landlord called, the plumber was over there—finally fixing the damn pipes.”

Jo swears she sees Alex’s shoulders deflate at her words, and she can’t pinpoint exactly why he would be disappointed about finally getting her out of his hair. Despite the fact that Alex’s apartment was tiny, practically the size of the car she lived in back in high school, the place never felt cramped when it was just the two of them. There were times that they were probably a little too close for comfort, heat rising into the small area, but even if Alex minded her showing up with a single duffel bag and an apologetic smile—he never complained, not once.

Alex laughs lightly, “it’s cool, it looks better on you anyway.”

“Shut up.” Jo scoffs, deflecting the compliment. Something Alex noticed Jo did a lot, if not every single time someone attempts to say something nice to her. “So,” she pushes the conversation along, “you don’t have to worry about me showing up anymore.”

He shrugs, “I like the company.” Jo tilts her head to the side, eyes scanning his face—trying to find something, anything, that would give her a sign as to what that meant. What it meant coming from him. A sign. Something. “Oh!” He exclaims, shooting an apologetic glance over to the security guard, before his hands reach down the bag pack he discarded onto the floor upon his arrival, “I got you something.” He tells her with a smile and a glimmer in his eyes, hands fishing into the bag.

“For me?” Jo’s eyes widen in excitement as she grins widely. A giggle escapes her lips when he produces two bottle of beers and a bottle opener, popping the caps off when he sees the small excitement in her face. He loved that about, Jo. She appreciated the simple stuff—the stuff he appreciated, they enjoyed together. “You shouldn’t have,” Jo murmurs with a smile, hitting her bottle against Alex’s once he’s passed hers over, keeping the bottle below the table—out of the guards’ sight.

“I have a proposition for you.” He states, swigging the beer.

Jo’s eyebrows raise inquisitively, “mmhmm, what’s that?” Brown eyes widening as Alex leans in closer towards her, placing a bookmark on the open page of her book before slamming the thing shut. “Alex—”

“Let’s get out of here.” It’s not really a question, more like a polite order. “You need a break.”

With a huff, Jo rakes her eyes over the mess of open books, sighing at the sight before her. Jo shakes her head, turning back to Alex, “you should be studying, too. We have five days until we take the biggest test of our lives, Alex. Our entire future is counting—”

“Stop.” Alex groans, grabbing the small woman by her shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eyes. His crooked smirk never fades from his lips, doesn’t even falter. “You need a break.” He repeats, his voice almost stern.

Knowing that this wasn’t an argument she was about to win, Jo sets down the beer and picks up the misplaced pens, chucking them into the blue pencil case she’s been carrying around since he met her. Alex’s smirk turns into a proud grin as he watches her pack up her things, closing book after book.

He stands up, helping her gather her things and piles up books so he can take them back to their rightful place for her. It takes him three trips but when she murmurs a quiet thank you, raising a soft hand to stroke down his arm, he really doesn’t mind.

Once they’re done, her bag is filled and his hands are clutching at two cold beers whilst they walk out of the library, Jo bidding a sweet farewell to the unimpressed security guard, a thought crosses his mind. “You know,” he begins, watching as Jo’s brows raise in his direction and her hand comes to snatch back the cool beer, “once this is finally over, I’m taking you out for dinner.”

Jo grins, “a fancy bistro or a penthouse bar looking over New York’s skyline?” The glimmer in her eyes as they continue to walk in the direction of his apartment without even a spoken word regarding the matter, tells him she’s teasing.

“Private jet to Milan, actually.”

“How about …” Jo chuckles, bumping shoulders with Alex, tucking her small frame against his larger, “we eat fried chicken in the car like we were raised to do.”

“Sounds perfect.” He wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer as they round the corner onto the street of his apartment.

The next time they see one another, out of the classroom, she’s worming her way through the crowded bar they had agreed to meet at. Jo’s eyes are scanning across the people as her once cool skin heats up, in search of him. Fingers fumble to unbutton her thick coat within the mass of people, not wanting to accidentally elbow someone in the back—she sees him.

Alex is there, with a wide grin on his face and a bottle of his usual beer in hand. He’s laughing along to something one of there classmates have said before his eyes land on her, and if possible, his smile widens and sparkling white teeth blind her. He pauses his conversation, moving towards her and grabbing her by the hand to pull her through the crowd at a faster pace. He was glad to finally see her.

“Congratulations!” Jo exclaims to Alex and the rest of their classmates once they reach their corner of the bar, all of them cheer and offer her their own congratulations at the sight of her. She smiles up at Alex, before her hands finally move back to the one button she was yet to undo, snapping the coat open she shrugs it off her shoulders and places it across her forearm.

Alex is turned towards the bar, requesting another beer for Jo as she does so but when he turns back—his mouth goes dry. He’d never seen Jo dressed like that. The figure hugging little black dress hugged her curves perfectly, lifting and contouring her cleavage. He thought, though he kept it to himself, she looked absolutely perfect. But before he could be subject to both Jo’s and their classmates lame jokes about his drooling, he shakes his head—ignoring the feelings that rushed over him at just the sight of her. Pleased for the moment of distraction as he exchanges his cash for a beer and hands it over to the petite brunette, full lips offering him a tight smile in thanks.

Yes, he’d always thought Jo was pretty. Beautiful, even. When she was dressed in a sweatshirt or just a cardigan, even a simple t-shirt—she always managed to look utterly perfect. At least, to him she did. He’d heard her wining about bad skin and greasy hair, but he’d never seen the faults that she could see.

As they’re standing there, celebrating the end of an era, Jo begins to reminisce on how they got here …

She thinks about how she had met Alex during their first year of law school at NYU. Unlike most law students, who come straight from college when they can think of nothing better to do with their stellar undergrad transcripts, Alex Karev was older, with real-life experience. He had worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, which blew away Jo’s nine-to-five summer internships and office jobs filing and answering phones. He was confident, relaxed, and so gorgeous that it was hard not to stare at him. Sure enough, they were barely into their first week of class when the buzz over Alex began, women speculating about his status, noting either that his left ring finger was unadorned or, alternatively, worrying that he was too well dressed and handsome to be straight. But Jo dismissed Alex straightaway, because she thought that he thought she was crazy, convincing herself that his outward perfection was boring. Which was a fortunate stance because she also knew that he was out of her league. (She hated that expression and the presumption that people choose friends based so heavily upon looks, but it is hard to deny the principle when you look around—partners generally share the same level of attractiveness, and when they do not, it is noteworthy.) Besides, she wasn’t borrowing thirty thousand dollars a year so that she could find a boyfriend.

As a matter of fact, she probably would have gone three years without talking to him, but they randomly ended up next to each other in a significantly small seating-chart class taught by the sardonic Professor Zisman. Although many professors at NYU used the Socratic method, only Zisman used it as a tool to humiliate and torture students. Alex and Jo bonded in their hatred of the mean-spirited professor. Jo feared Zisman to an irrational extreme, whereas Alex’s reaction had more to do with disgust. “What an asshole,” he would growl after class, often after Zisman had reduced a fellow classmate to tears. “I just want to wipe that smirk off the jerks face.” Gradually, their grumbling turned into longer talks over coffee in the student lounge or during walks around Washington Square Park. They began to study together in the hour before class, preparing for the inevitable—the day Zisman would call on them. Jo dreaded her turn, knowing that it would be a bloody massacre, but secretly couldn’t wait for Alex to be called on. Zisman preyed on the weak and flustered, and Alex was neither. Jo was sure that he wouldn’t go down without a fight. She remembers it well.

Zisman stood behind his podium, examining his seating chart, a schematic with their faces cut from the first-year look book, practically salivating as he picked his prey. He peered over his small, round glasses (the kind that should be called spectacles) in the pair’s general direction, and said, “Mr. Karev.”

He pronounced Alex’s name wrong, making it sound more similar to “carve.” “It’s Ka-rev,’” Alex said, unflinching.  Jo inhaled sharply; nobody corrected Zisman. Alex was really going to get it now.

“Well, pardon me, Mr. Ka-rev,” Zisman said, with an insincere little bow. “Palsgraf versus Long Island Railroad Company.”

Alex sat calmly with his book closed while the rest of the class nervously flipped to the case, we had been assigned to read the night before.

The case involved a railroad accident. While rushing to board a train, a railroad employee knocked a package of dynamite out of a passenger’s hand, causing injury to another passenger, Mrs. Palsgraf. Justice Cardozo, writing for the majority, held that Mrs. Palsgraf was not a “foreseeable plaintiff” and, as such, could not recover from the railroad company. Perhaps the railroad employees should have foreseen harm to the package holder, the Court explained, but not harm to Mrs. Palsgraf. “Should the plaintiff have been allowed recovery?” Zisman asked Alex.

Alex said nothing. For a brief second Jo panicked that he had frozen, like others before him. Say no, she thought, sending him fierce brain waves. Go with the majority holding. But when she looked at his expression, and the way his arms were folded across his chest, Jo could tell that he was only taking his time, in marked contrast to the way most first-year students blurted out quick, nervous, untenable answers as if reaction time could compensate for understanding. “In my opinion?” Alex asked.

“I am addressing you, Mr. Karev. So, yes, I am asking for your opinion.” The teacher groaned, rolling his eyes. “I would have to say yes, the plaintiff should have been allowed recovery. I agree with Justice Andrew’s dissent.”

“Ohhhh, really?” Zisman’s voice was high and nasal. “Yes. Really.” Jo was surprised by his answer, as he had told her just before class that he didn’t realize crack cocaine had been around in 1928, but Justice Andrews surely must have been smoking it when he wrote his dissent. She was even more surprised by Alex’s brazen “really” tagged onto the end of his answer, as though to taunt Zisman. Zisman’s scrawny chest swelled visibly. “So you think that the guard should have foreseen that the innocuous package measuring fifteen inches in length, covered with a newspaper, contained explosives and would cause injury to the plaintiff?” “It was certainly a possibility.” “Should he have foreseen that the package could cause injury to anybody in the world?” Zisman asked, with mounting sarcasm. “I didn’t say ‘anybody in the world.’ I said, ‘the plaintiff.’ Mrs. Palsgraf, in my opinion, was in the danger zone.” Zisman approached our row with ramrod posture and tossed his Wall Street Journal onto Alex’s closed textbook. “Care to return my newspaper?” “I’d prefer not to,” Alex stated, unflinching. The shock in the room was palpable. The rest of the class would have simply played along and returned the paper, mere props in Zisman’s questioning. “You’d prefer not to?” Zisman cocked his head. “That’s correct. There could be dynamite wrapped inside it.” Half of the class gasped; the other half snickered. Clearly, Zisman had some tactic up his sleeve, some way of turning the facts around on Alex. But Alex wasn’t falling for it. Zisman was visibly frustrated. “Well, let’s suppose you did choose to return it to me, and it did contain a stick of dynamite and it did cause injury to your person. Then what, Mr. Thaler?”

“Then I would sue you, and likely I would win.”

“And would that recovery be consistent with Judge Cardozo’s rationale in the majority holding?”

“No. It would not.” “Oh, really? And why not?” “Because I’d sue you for an intentional tort, and Cardozo was talking about negligence, was he not?” Alex raised his voice to match Zisman’s. Jo thinks she stopped breathing as Zisman pressed his palms together and brought them neatly against his chest as though he were praying. “I ask the questions in this classroom. If that’s all right with you, Mr. Thaler?” Alex shrugged as if to say, have it your way, makes no difference to me.

“Well, let’s suppose that I accidentally dropped my paper onto your desk, and you returned it and were injured. Would Mr. Cardozo allow you full recovery?” “Sure.” And at the end of the hour, Zisman actually said, “Very good, Mr. Thaler.” It was a first.

The pair had left class feeling jubilant. Alex had prevailed for all of them. The story spread throughout the first-year class, earning him more points with the girls, who had long since determined that he was totally available.

Jo had found herself telling Izzie the story as well. Izzie had moved to New York at about the same time Jo did, only under vastly different circumstances. Jo was there to become a lawyer; she came without a job, or a plan, or much money. Jo let her sleep on a futon in my dorm room until she found some roommates—three American Airlines flight attendants looking to squeeze a fourth body into their heavily partitioned studio. She borrowed money from her parents to make the rent while she looked for a job, finally settling on a bartending position at the Monkey Bar. For the first time in their friendship, Jo was happy with her life in comparison to hers. Well, she was still poorer, but at least she had a plan. Izzie’s prospects didn’t seem great with only a 2.9 GPA from Indiana University. “You’re so lucky,” Izzie would whine as Jo tried to study. Really, after years of living in her car, growing up parentless, really? Luck is buying a lottery ticket along with your Yoo-hoo and striking it rich. Nothing about Jo’s life is lucky—it’s all about hard work, it is all an uphill struggle. But of course, she never said that. Just told her that things would soon turn around for her. And sure enough, they did. About two weeks later a man waltzed into the Monkey Bar, ordered a whiskey sour, and began to chat Izzie up. By the time he finished his drink, he had promised her a job at one of Manhattan’s top PR firms. He told her to come in for an interview, but that he would (wink, wink) make sure that she got the job. Izzie took his business card, had Jo revise her résumé, went in for the interview, and got an offer on the spot. Her starting salary was seventy thousand dollars. Plus, an expense account. Practically what Jo would make if she did well enough in school to get a job with a New York firm. So while Jo sweated it out and racked up debt, Izzie began her glamorous PR career. She planned parties, promoted the season’s latest fashion trends, got plenty of free everything, and dated a string of beautiful men. Within seven months, she left the flight attendants in the dust and moved in with her co-worker Reed, a snobbish, well-connected girl from Greenwich. Izzie tried to include Jo in her fast-track life, although she seldom had time to go to her events or her parties or her blind-date setups with guys she swore were “total-hotties” but that Jo knew were simply Izzie’s castoffs. Which brings her back to Alex. Jo raved about him to Izzie and Reed, told them how unbelievable he was—smart, handsome, funny. In retrospect she’s not sure why she did it. In part because it was true. But perhaps she was a little jealous of their glamorous life and wanted to juice her own up a bit. Alex was the best thing in her arsenal. “So why don’t you like him?” Izzie would ask. “He’s not my type,” she’d say. “We’re just friends.” Which was the truth. Sure, there were moments when Jo felt a flicker of interest or a quickening of her pulse as she sat near Alex. Especially once they became friends and ended up spending almost all their time with one another. Jo was only glad that by the time Jo was spending nights at Alex’s place she had dropped it. Jo had tried to remain vigilant as not to fall for him, always reminding herself that guys like Alex only date girls like Izzie.

But then came the way Alex’s hand would softly find the small of her back as they were walking, and the way his hooded gaze would meet hers after a few drinks at the bar, and then his muscular arms would wrap around her after a study breakthrough and all of the work she had put in to not falling for him … evaporated. She was completely and utterly hopeless.

Izzie was the first to notice the change in Jo’s feelings. As they were lying on the blonde’s couch and she had absentmindedly mentioned him to Jo, and the brunette sat up straighter and a blush painted her cheeks and she began to stutter out her words … Izzie screamed gleefully, teasing Jo to begin with but ultimately telling her best friend to go for it. But that had been a while ago now, and although Izzie mentioned Jo’s feelings for Alex in passing on occasion, it was mostly pushed to the back of their minds. Izzie was still very much aware, though. She proved that much when she teased Jo with a wink and a smirk at every mention of the older man’s name.

And despite Jo’s closeness with both Alex and Izzie—it wouldn’t be until tonight, now law school was over, that the pair would finally meet. About one hour had passed since Jo had shown up and she and Alex had found a free booth in the back of the bar to slip into, most of their classmates already moving on to the next bar whilst a few stayed behind but hung out on the stools nearer to the entrance.

“You know,” Alex quirks up an eyebrow at Jo, “you’re gonna’ have to finally relax now you have to stop worrying about schoolwork.” He remarks with a teasing smile.

Jo giggles, “now I just need to worry about finding a job.”

“Well, at least take a night off.” Alex rolls his eyes, letting out a laugh of his own. “I want us to have fun, tequila shots and vodka sodas on me. What do you say?”

Jo pretends to mull it over for a second, although she knows that Alex is very certain that she’ll say yes. “OK.” Jo states, leaning in closer to Alex, her breath dancing across his neck as she whispers, “but you need to make sure I end up back at my place tonight.”

Alex’s gaze finds hers and he nods, “I’m on Jo duty, got it.” She raises a hand between them offering him a handshake, and his eyes cut from her to her dainty hand, he clutches it before giving her a firm shake. He found himself quite enjoying the feel of her soft small fingers in his, and when she pulls it out of his grasp—he misses her touch. “I don’t mind keeping my eyes on you,” he flirts but it’s lost on Jo, whose completely convinced he only tried to make her blush and tease her, as she scoffs and playfully hits his arm as he slides out of the booth.

Jo is only sat alone for a moment of two before she hears the shrill screech of Izzie’s voice, “I’m hereee!” The blonde runs up to the booth, shimmying into the seat and flopping her purse down onto the table with an exclaimed huff before flipping her long blonde hair behind her shoulders. Her eyes are scanning the rest of the bar, barely paying attention to the friend she had come here specifically to celebrate with, before muttering, “oh god, of course you’re the one sat alone in the dark corner—”

Jo cuts her off, sighing before she begins to explain she wasn’t alone, “actually—”

“I need to get drunk.” Izzie interrupts with a deep sigh before venturing off into a mini rant, “I’ve had such an awful day, running around after my boss and urgh—this client asked me to run and get him coffee, plus, I’m almost certain that the stress is the reason my hair is falling so flat on my head right now.” Izzie huffs in one single breath, fiddling with one strand of perfectly curled golden hair. “Oh crap,” her eyes widen, “how was your test thingy?”

Jo raises her eyebrows for a millisecond but chooses to ignore the comment—as if passing the bar was just another test. Like their high school math SAT which Izzie almost didn’t even bother to attend. Instead of complaining, she smiles and nods, “it went great, I’m confident—”

“Fuck!” Izzie’s voice cuts her off again.

At that moment Alex sauntered over to the booth with a tray full of drinks for him and Jo, which she now suspected she’ll be sharing with Izzie. As soon as he joins them, his eyes flick to the blonde and as if on instinct, Jo introduced him to Izzie, and she turned on the charm, giggling and playing with her hair and nodding emphatically whenever he said anything. Alex was pleasant to her but didn’t seem overly interested and, at one point, as she was dropping Goldman names—do you know this guy or that guy?—Alex actually appeared to be suppressing a yawn.

Seemingly, this went unnoticed by Izzie—although she seemed mildly miffed with Jo when the brunette was responding to her instead of Alex. But she thought she was saving her friends from an awkward interaction.

“Do you want another drink?” Alex turns his attention to Jo, noticing her almost empty glass. She wonders if this is just an excuse to get away or if he wanted another himself, she couldn’t tell how far along he was through the dark coloured beer bottle.

“So, when you gonna’ grow a pair and ask Jo out on a real date?” “I am sick of hearing about study sessions and nights out and blah blah blah …”

“Iz—” Jo begins, stopping herself as her mouth begins to go dry with embarrassment. “I mean, he—you don’t have to … we don’t—we are just friends.” She stutters over her words, feeling a fresh deep red blush crawl up her chest and her neck and then her cheeks under both Alex and Izzie’s stares. Izzie’s eyebrow is quirked up, lips curled into a tight smirk, watching Jo’s flustered state. Whilst Alex looks more taken aback; his lips are parted, a small frown on his face and he almost looks as if he’s about to begin protesting before Izzie begins to giggle.

Both of their eyes snap in her direction as she continues laughing before, at a flip of a switch, the blondes face turns serious. There’s a slight glimmer in her eyes as she asks, “well, then when are you going to ask me on a date?”

Alex’s eyebrows almost shoot to his hair line, clearly surprised by Izzie’s forwardness. His eyes leave Jo’s and he’s uncomfortably chuckling at Izzie, his fingers fumbling with the paper that wrapped around his still cool beer.

Jo’s throat turns dry; her heart dropping and her once joyful demeanour has turned sour. It sounded selfish, but they were supposed to be out celebrating her. Her and Alex. But Izzie didn’t know Alex, she only came here for Jo. And Izzie knew, even if Jo tried to deny it, Izzie knew very well that Jo had feelings for Alex. She’d told her that much—every time Jo went into denial; Izzie would state again and again that she knows Jo better than herself and she knows Jo has a huge thing for Alex.

So, why was she sat here, on Jo’s night, basically asking Alex on a date?

“You can take me to this penthouse bar I’ve seen,” she tells him, confidently, lifting up her glass and seductively placing her straw between her lips with a coy smile, “overlooking the skyline, very classy.”

Jo lets out a breathy laugh, before excusing herself, feeling as if she won’t be able to hide her disdain any longer, “I need to use the bathroom.” She tells them both, shimmying out of the booth as Alex gets up to make way for her to leave. His brown eyes watch her retreating form, unable to tear themselves away.

As Jo takes a breather in the ladies’ room, she wonders if she could even be hurt with Izzie at all. Like she said, she had denied having feelings for Alex over and over. And it’s not like she stated a claim on him, he wasn’t hers. Yes, he was her closest friend in college and other than Jackson, he was easily her biggest confidant. They bonded over shared hatred for teachers and classes, and similar upbringings. She had always felt like they shared something, since that first-class years ago. He wasn’t hers—and it was selfish of her to decide in her own mind that he couldn’t be Izzie’s either.

It wasn’t her place. When she worms her way back to the booth, she’s almost stopped in her tracks as she hears the sound of Alex’s gruff voice next to Izzie’s loud and obnoxious laughter. But with a deep breath, Jo powers ahead and moves to stand directly in front of the booth. “I’m going to head home,” she tells them, offering her best fake smile, “I’m pretty tired—big day an’ all.”

“I’ll walk you home!” Alex offers, almost jumping from his seat to catch her wrist in his hands. Neither of them noticing Izzie’s burning gaze on the friendly interaction.

“No, no—it’s fine.” Jo places her free hand on top of Alex’s, gently telling him to let go. “I’ll catch a cab.” She lies. Knowing she’ll end up walking back to her place, needing the fresh air and the time to think.

He’s concerned as he presses, “are you sure?”

Offering Izzie a tight-lipped smile and Alex a shake of her head, brushing his concern off, “certain.” With that, the pair both nod—Izzie more eager than Alex to be left alone, the blonde shoots Jo a wink as a way of saying thank you but Jo chooses not to acknowledge it, she knows Izzie won’t remember come morning.

As she steps out into the cool air, a wave of emotion sets on her and if there wasn’t so many people lingering on the street lined full of bars, she thinks fresh tears would fall down her face. But then she’d be the pathetic one who was crying over some boy who wasn’t even her boyfriend. Or was she crying over the betrayal of her friend. Was it even a betrayal?

“Jo!” The familiar sound of Alex’s voice shouts from behind her, stopping in her tracks and silently thanking herself for choosing not to cry, “are you ok?” He asks sincerely as she spins on her heel, turning to face him and plaster on that well-rehearsed fake grin.

In that moment, she thinks pretending that she has no idea what he was insinuating, “ … with?”

“Well,” he lifts a thumb to gesture back to the bar, “with this?”

She can’t believe her faux smile can grow any bigger, but it does, “yes—of course! Yeh, Izzie’s great,” Jo begins to nod profusely, “you never know where it might lead, right?”

“Erm,” Alex begins, eyes glistening against the streetlights before he lets out an un-convinced huff, “yeah.”

“Cool, so, good night.”

“Good night.”

#jolex #jo wilson #alex karev

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valkerymillenia · 4 years ago

Text

Umbrella Academy

season 2, episode 5

As usual I'm going to put all my reactions and live-blogging in this one post to avoid spamming.

1962, Cape Canaveral

So Pogo is from Congo?

Wait, is that Grace? is Grace some sort of biologist or scientist?

Is Pogo supposed to be one of the chimps for the space program?

I love this song. Oh look, there's Reggie!

Oh, that nod between Reggie and Grace... What are they up to?

Yep, definitely the space program.

Little astronaut Pogo... Wait, what's happening?

Who's the shady guy in the sunglasses behind Reggie?

Aww, poor Pogo...

SO THAT'S WHERE THE SERUM USED ON LUTHER CAME FROM! I figured but it's still interesting to see the origin.

Oh, there's the ancient Greek! Did Reggie read to the kids like this too? I doubt it but one can hope.

So Reggie and Grace basically treated Pogo like their child... And Reggie was actually a decent parent... ? Dude, you couldn't do that for your actual kids?!

Wait, does this make Pogo the seven's big brother? 😆

And there's the Magnificent 12. Oh, Pogo's drawing is so cute.

Five really is onto Lila... and he's right!

Diego onto Lila as well!

Hungover Klaus 😅 and Ben asking what we all want to know but it comes from a place of love and concern. Still sassy though.

Why won't Klaus just tell Allison that he is talking to Ben? Also, cowboy? Is that a comic reference? Or just a Texas reference?

Oh, I love Ben and Klaus banter. XD

Klaus does have a point, Allison.

*Allison throws the flask away* Ben: "attagirl!" Allison: "i have a blender and some much better booze" *cue Ben sulking*

"I love you so much!" Awwww, Klaus-Allison bonding! ❤️❤️❤️ this show is really giving me everything I want, huh?

Sissy and Vanya in bed together 👀😏 that's hot.

So she brought her coffee and then took the coffee away? XD

Is Vanya offering to take Sissy to the future? 👀

Oh no, Carl!

They have a point, Five. Everything starts taking apart at soon as you arrive. Repeatedly. I actually pointed this out yesterday.

You're burning the eggs, Luther.

"That boy stinks" poor Luther 🤣

Where exactly was Luther going? Chicago? Detroit?

Wait, is that the academy pre-academy? Wait, so it's not in Texas??? Then what about Argyle? What the hell? I'm so confused now. 😵

Luther, you need a bath.

Reggie in a party xD that must be an odd sight for Luther.

"The world's never going to end in such a cliché. Believe me. I know how endings feel" -what does it mean???? Does it mean he knows how the world ends? Or does it mean politically as a member of the 12? Is it a double entendre? Foreshadowing? Does he have some sort of prescient power?

Still want to know who the shady guy in the shades is.

"No, you're not" "no, you're not" "no, i didn't" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

"I have a deep dislike of children" -yeah, we been knew. 😒😒😒

"your grotesque simian proportions"??? Those are entirely your fault, Reginald! 😠

"But...i took a bus" - oh, honey... Luther, you adorable, naive, sweet, innocent, awkward little dork... Let me hug you, i don't care if you stink! 😢

Man, Reginald is still such an asshole. (I'm glad for that though, I was afraid this season would try to play the 'he wasn't really so bad, just misunderstood' card and that would piss me off, you can show him actually caring for the children but no excusing goddamn child abusers in this house!)

"At least he didn't shank my ass" "no, bro, he shanked your heart" -awww, dudebro affection. Diego does have a sensitive side!

I didn't realize i needed Luther-Diego bonding this badly but i do. I really, really, really do.

"It's time to get the umbrella academy back together." "hell yeah, family meeting." -since when is Diego so happy to get the family together? 😆

But hell yeah, let's get the family back together!!!

"you two still a thing? Do we need to talk?" (Diego's face though 🤣) "no, she's married." "Whoa, dude. That's rough."

Diego is the new Zuko, it all lines up!

"I can handle it" he nervous chuckles while stress eating in a stolen robe, after ruining his own life and getting in trouble with the mob and getting high.

"can you get Vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?" - ouch 🤣

I'm loving the boys bonding.

Yikes, Sissy looks so uncomfortable with Carl...

"Harlan doesn't care" -oh, he does, he reeeeally does, you just can't read the signs, you clueless dumbass.

Oh, the powers... Oh, Harlan initiating touch with Vanya! Boy is more perceptive than they think.

Why does Sissy look so scared?

Sissy's reactions to Carl have been suspicious from the start. She's given a lot of red flags (the anxiety, the body language, the hoarding money in secret, the reluctance to speak up, the desperation to keep Vanya near her at all times, etc) and I've wondered if he's been abusive but he seems more pathetic than purposely malicious, he even showed vulnerability and admited to loving her and fearing that she doesn't feel the same, so I was starting to think Sissy's fear and paranoia had more to do with a fear of Carl leaving her (and thus taking away the only income and leaving her and Harlan with nothing).

However, I'm rethinking things and I'm starting to suspect abuse again (at least psychological, if not physical)... I think the only reason we don't see it yet is because Vanya is there and Carl won't act out on front of a witness.

I could totally be wrong though, I could be seeing signs that aren't there because of my own issues. We'll see.

Is... Is Handler actually a good mother?

Nevermind, she's gaslighting.

But she cares enough to give first aid and admit she lied so... Definitely a better parent than Reginald at least. I actually want her to be a decent parent, I'm tired of the narrative where villains all have to be abusive parents, villains can love too and that makes the story so much more complex and dramatic when people finally have to choose sides.

Felt, Diego's knife... what is she up to?

Sandpaper, steel wool, round metal parts, skewers, spray lubricant, and something cylindrical with the name of a plumbing service? Is she making pneumatic canisters? The ones the Commission uses to send messages?

Also, what's with Commission training and using plumber stuff? Five also used a plumbing company's van in season 1.

Elliot really likes Jell-O, huh? Very 50s housewife of him.

"how are feeling?" "Pretty shitty, to be honest" "Where would you say you are on a scale from one to ending all life on this planet?" 🤣🤣🤣 They are never going to let her live this down, are they?

I need more Vanya-Diego bonding. ❤️

Diego accepted Vanya's apology???😲 AWWWWWWWW 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Diego about to ask girl advice from his sister? So cute, why did they interrupt, I wanted to see that! 🥰

I miss Diego's nervous stutter though.

"you don't speak French" -doesn't he? If Allison can read seven languages, logically so can all the others, right? And Klaus is constantly using French and German, how are you telling me he doesn't know French? 😆

"did we all get sexier?" -pretty much and you're not done yet.

Aww, awkward Vanya-Allison hug... Let them bond! 💖💖💖

Klaus and Diego hugging!!! And Diego calling him out on being drunk like the overprotective brother he is 💖💖💖

Klaus hugging the girls! 💖💖💖

So much love. So much growth since all the bitterness from season 1. I NEED MORE OF THIS, DAMN IT!

Who knew it took Vanya snapping and killing everyone for this family to finally bond?

OH COME ON, KLAUS! Just tell them poor Ben is there, that's so mean.

Ah! Allison and Diego with pure sibling banter. 💖

What is with the Handler family and red shoes?

Handler's style changed a bit, went from retro femme fatale on s1 to matronly debutante in s2... Interesting.

Don't hurt the kitty, you bitch! 😡

The Swedes have become crazy cat people. I'm starting to love these weirdos.

Is that their mama?

Pneumatic tube! CALLED IT!

Ah, I see. That's why she wanted Diego's knife. The Swedes are getting set up.

"oh my God, again?" ... "all of you knew? Why am I always the last one to find out about the end of the-- oh, my God. My cult is gonna be so pissed. Five, I told them we had until 2019!" -that's why you're the last one, Klaus, your priorities.

"is it Vanya?" "Klaus!" "What? It's usually Vanya." - one time. you end the world ONE TIME and nobody ever let's you live it down.

"find dad" "kill dad" -well, Diego learned from Five *shrugs*

"has anyone here done anything to screw up the timeline?" -literally everyone except you, Vanya.

( well, unless saving Harlan with your magic lights messed up the timeline...)

Yup, here they go calling each other out. Hilarious 🤣🤣🤣

"THANK you" - I love Ben 💙

Diego, you idiot, saving Kennedy is what wrecks everything! Stop being stubborn.

Aww, traumatized Five... Please just listen to him, he just wants to save you all because he loves you 😢

Five deserves more love from the family. PLEASE.

Wow, Luther is reeeeally bitter about daddy, huh? What is Lila doing?

"I've missed you all... So much" BEN! 😭😭😭😭😭

Ok, now I'm crying.

Klaus, let your brother talk to the rest of the damn family, he misses them! 😭😭😭😭

Yay, more Luther-Diego bonding!

"since the last time I destroyed the world by overestimating my own importance" -I'm so glad he owns up to this, it's very important but he needs to get over his self-hate and gain some confidence again.

Diego, stop acting like you don't have daddy issues, you are riddled with them.

Diego's hero complex again... Which comes from the daddy issues. Luther is right.

"you are so goddamn big that sometimes I forget what a sensitive bastard you are." 🤣🤣🤣 He's absolutely right!

Brotherly bonding ftw!

Oh, they got daddy's attention!

AHAHAH! Allison bitching and rambling while doing Klaus's hair, Vanya miming shooting the bottles ("pew pew" 🤣). I'm sorry but this whole scene is adorable as fuck.

Girl's day!

"wouldn't it be weird if Five grew up all hot?" 🤣🤣🤣 Klaus asking the real important questions here!

Vanya confused by the Luther/Allison crush 🤣 "aren't we all related?"' -yes, honey, that's why it's weird.

"if you have to use the word 'technically' you're already in trouble" -THANK YOU, KLAUS!

Klaus's ENTIRE speech about their love lives is the most perfect thing EVER 🤣🤣🤣👌👌👌💯💯💯

Really alarmed Vanya finding out she dated a serial killer: "what?!" / Allison, whispering casually: "Later." 🤣

"the healthiest long-term relationship in this family was when Five was banging that mannequin." 😂😂😂😂😂 The best part is- HE'S NOT WRONG

Vanya's weirded out face is priceless 👌👌👌

"the only thing the umbrella academy knows about love is how to screw it up" "cheers!" 💯👏👏👏

These babies really need a hug. Let me hug them!

"how do you guys deal with this?" -look at them Vanya, they day drink.

"well, I get reeeeally high, Allison... Allison... Lies to herself. And you supress all your emotions deep, deep down until you... Blow shit up." -Klaus really is serving up all the wisdom in this little outing, isn't he? Maybe being a cult leader actually did him some good? Or maybe it's just that his family is FINALLY listening to him.

"yeah, I'd really like to not do that anymore" 😂 -ah! Is Vanya graduating out of the awkward dork sibling category and into the sassy queen one?

Omg, the drunk decisions...

"I just hate group backups, that's why I stopped dating twins" 😆😆😆😆

"this family is amazing" - DAMN RIGHT, VANYA! ❤️🧡💛💚💚💙💜

Awww, the HUG! The DANCING! MY BABIES! Fav scene, fav scene!

I want to adopt this family so bad.

And here's the Swedes being set up...

There goes baby Swede! I kinda feel bad for them.

Uh oh, now they want revenge of poor Diego.

Gotta hand it to Handler, she played this one very well. Parallels Five tricking Hazel and Cha-Cha into fighting each other in season 1. Very cool.

BAD GUY! I like this version better than the original, great song and fits Lila perfectly.

Holy shit!!!!!!!!! We all knew Five had moves but THESE MOVES!!!!!! 😲

How did Lila do that? Is it with Handler's time stopping thing? I always wondered how she did that too.

Holy shiiiiiiiiit. This whole fight was FANTASTIC! 😲

Oh Vanya... 😢

Oh Sissy... 😩

Sissy has been so desperate to keep Vanya tied to her but the moment Vanya asks her to make the slightest sacrifice for their relationship Sissy balks and pulls away... Not a balanced relationship at all.

I understand Sissy's fear, it's not selfishness, it's literal fear of change, but it's still sad and it's going to wreck them.

Oh, so this is where the swedish cover of "Hello" comes in... Very fitting.

Viking funeral, huh?

Ok, I never thought I'd have feels for the Swedes but I do. 😢

Luther eating AGAIN. But hey, he and Diego didn't the whole day together! Why can't we see that too? I need more brother time between these two.

Oh Klaus, is so uncomfortable but he can't stand disappointing the cultists, can he?

Still shocks me how all those people just invaded his house while he was away and thought that was perfectly acceptable and cool, it shows they really don't respect him as a person, he's just an object to make them feel better and give them purpose... It's terrifying and really sad when you think about it.

"sit your ass down." -you go, Allison! Tell him everything!

This episode gave me SO MANY FEELINGS! It might read like (extremely good) fanfiction but it's exactly what we all needed and it might be my favorite episode so far.

#tua #tua s2 #tua s2 spoilers #I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS FOR THIS EPISODE!!!

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onetwothreeopalau · 5 years ago

Text

Together Meal

Steven stuck his tongue out in concentration, gripping the purple crayon tightly in his fist. The colour was a little too dark for a perfect depiction but it didn’t matter. What he was doing was of upmost importance. He didn’t have time to buy new crayons. The task he had taken upon himself to complete was of upmost importance! It was almost life or death! It was-

“Er, what are we doing again?” Asked Opal, and Steven let out a sigh before grinning.

“I’m drawing an official Crystal gems picture, see?” He thrusted the page towards her, where he had already drawn a picture of Garnet looking out to the distance mysteriously (she wasn’t posing, Steven had just seen her and decided to draw her.) and he had started Opal. He had barely drawn an outline and yet he’d already had to explain what he was doing three times over.

“You see, I was going to take a photo but then I thought, 'where’s the passion? The creativity? The love?’ And also I dropped my phone in the ocean, so I thought a drawing would be just as good!”

Opal nodded, trying her best to understand Steven’s rambling, but not quite succeeding. Steven took the piece of paper back and resumed working. “Hey Opal?” said Steven suddenly, as if a thought had just occurred to him, “How do you stay on your toes like that at all times?” He stood up and attempted to copy her by standing on his tippy toes, but he felt himself stumble. Before he could steady himself, two of Opal’s arms reached towards him and stabilised him.

“Balance.” She said simply, getting back into her pose.

Steven waited for her to elaborate, but she said nothing more. Steven nodded and pretended that his question was answered and went back to his drawing. He didn’t have a cream coloured crayon for her hair, so he had to settle for just drawing the shape of it with his black one, but overall his picture was pretty good. Probably one of the best he’d ever drawn.

“I’m all done!” He grinned and went to the fridge and decided on the area to place his artwork. He reached as high up as he could so it would be visible to anyone entering the house and put a magnet in the shape of a cookie cat (RIP) over it to secure it. Maybe he should’ve drawn himself too, but it was too late now. The picture was already on the fridge, and an author wouldn’t exactly edit their book after it was published.

“Nice picture.” said Garnet who had somehow managed to sneak up behind him. “Opal and I are going on a mission, but I have something to give you before we leave.”

Steven waited for whatever that was, and she leaned down and wrapped her arms around Steven’s shoulders and Steven smiled, hugging her back. “We’ll see you soon.” she said. Garnet and Opal walked over to the warp pad, and in a flash of light, they were gone.

Steven waved goodbye, even though he knew the two gems couldn’t see him, and then he went up to his bedroom. He tried to amuse himself with his video games, but he couldn’t help but fantasise about what it would be like when he could go on missions too. It would be awesome! He would kick butt, and Garnet and Opal would be like “wow Steven, you’re so amazing, we’re so proud!” And he’d be like “aw thanks guys,” and it would be amazing and exciting.

He couldn’t wait.

He played ‘Awesome Plumber Siblings’ for a bit but then he decided to do something nice for the gems and make them a meal for when they arrived back. They could all eat it together, like a Together Meal! He ran down to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time and rummaged through the cupboards to find food and he pulled out anything he could find, eventually settling on a large pile of pancakes. He originally kept it classic, with just maple syrup, but it didn’t feel special enough for the gems so he added mini marshmallows and more syrup, although this time it was chocolate flavoured. It was almost perfect but it still felt somehow.. incomplete. He looked at it for a few moments, trying to decide what needed to be done. And then he had an idea! For the final step, just to make it perfect, he took a dark red cherry and placed it on top of the stack. It was a true work of art.

Now all he needed to do was wait for Garnet and Opal to arrive back. Garnet said they’d be back soon, so there was no way they would be long.

An hour later, Steven was starting to get bored. He lay on the couch looking intently at the warp pad. He wanted to be there the second they arrived back. Finally, after what seemed like years, the warp pad lit up. He jumped off the couch and went to greet them, but instead of saying hello like they normally would, they both went straight for the temple door.

Garnet’s stones lit up first and Steven just watched her go in, holding something large and noisy in her hands, but quickly regaining his wits, he grabbed the Together Meal he’d made and followed Opal into her room. He called out her, but she didn’t seem to notice. Steven was used to Opal being distracted and so he continued to follow her into her room. The place was cool and the air felt slightly damp.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realised that all around him were steep rocks, caves and waterfalls. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to everything, but Opal practically danced around as if she didn’t even have to look to avoid tripping over some of the lower, jutting rocks. She eventually stopped at the highest waterfall Steven could see and jumped to the top before sitting cross-legged, her eyes closed, looking peaceful.

Steven felt guilty for trying to bother her and went to leave, but he quickly realised that he had no idea how to get out. He had no way of finding the door and even if he could find it, he didn’t know how to open it.

“Opal?” He called, but she didn’t hear him. “Opal!” He made his voice as loud as possible and she looked down, her calm face turning shocked the second she saw him.

She jumped down into the water below the waterfall, barely making a splash and began to look over him, checking every area of his body. Steven giggled. She was tickling. “Are you okay?”

Steven tried to smile, feeling bad for worrying her. “I made us all a Together Meal!” he said, lifting the plate. “I wanted you Garnet and me to have it together. As a family!”

Steven didn’t notice the split second grimace on her face. “It looks lovely. But Garnet is busy, and um- so am I.” To his relief, but also disappointment she began to steer him in the direction of the door.

“Are you sure?” He said pleadingly, and Opal looked conflicted for a second, before her face turned devious. It wasn’t an expression Steven saw on Opal often, but when he did, he knew he was in for a fun time.

She took his hand and began to lead them in a different direction, pausing occasionally as if having second thoughts, but they eventually arrived at a rockpool, filled with calm silvery water. She stuck her head in and made a motion for Steven to follow suit.

He stuck his head into the water and looked down. Quickly he realised he could see Garnet and in his shock he tumbled further into the water. Opal tried to stop him, but she was too slow, and Steven fell into Garnet’s room, still holding the Together Meal. Opal sighed. She thought for a second about going back to her waterfall and forgetting about it and dealing with the fallout later. Steven would alright with Garnet, she tried to reason.

It was tempting, but she couldn’t and with a sigh she followed Steven through the water.

The room was a lot hotter than hers, but luckily it wasn’t unbearable like it could get. She picked Steven up, so he couldn’t touch anything dangerous and sat him on her shoulder. Garnet turned to the source of the noise and she grinned sheepishly.

“Steven. Opal.” Garnet casually bubbled whatever she’d been holding but didn’t send it away. She looked at the ground by Opal’s feet, and Steven followed her gaze to see his beloved Together Meal splattered in the ground, sad and soggy looking.

“Our Together Meal!” He wailed. Opal just shrugged lightly, but Garnet looked sympathetic.

“You spent a long time on that Steven.” she said, voicing exactly what he was about to say before he could even open his mouth. “I’m sorry it was destroyed. I’ll help you two,”with that she gave a look to a sheepish Opal somehow managing to perfectly convey her disopointment even without her eyes being visable. “Out of my room. Then, you can make another one for us to share tonight.”

Steven grinned, but weirdly Opal didn’t look too happy. Maybe she was mourning the old one like him. “Okay!” He said anyway, and Garnet took him to the door.

Back in the house, he took a deep breath of the cool fresh air. Opal’s room wasn’t too bad, but the air in Garnet’s room really was hot and it was starting to get suffocating.

“Opal! Do you wanna help me remake the Together Meal?” Steven asked her hopefully.

“Sure."

Steven smiled. He missed the first edition of the Together Meal,in all of its wonderful foody glory, but he'd made it because he wanted to do something nice for the gems and this one would be even better, because now he got to spend time with his favourite gems in the world.

Notes:

So this is a lot less magical than what happened in the show and the reason for that is mostly because this was actually the first chapter I’d written and so I had a much weaker grasp on what I wanted to do with the characters and plot for this. It’s also why this is slightly shorter.

I’m having quite a low energy day™️ so my editing for this mostly consisted of getting rid of grammatical mistakes and any glaringly bad sentences than adding things to make it better or more interesting like my normal editing tactic is.

Sorry if I’m sounding too negative, don’t worry, not every authors note will just be me whining non stop (hopefully 😓) Have a nice day!!

Oopsie im a little (nearly 2 weeks) late in posting on Tumblr oops

#opal au #steven universe #pearl #amethyst #garnet #pearlmethyst #fanfiction

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todancealongthelightofday · 5 years ago

Text

Well.

It's official. I’m off facebook. I had to. I can't continue to hurt myself obsessing over what you're doing and what people are saying about me. I can't be worried about every post I make and who may get upset or how much of my personal life I accidentally reveal. I'm struggling with myself to not give into the temptation of being petty. I want to show every single one of those girls you added this week all of the screenshots I have of you being the absolute worst. I want to tell your family that you never “went so hard” on me because I was “pulling some shit”. that never happened and you know it. You sit alone, bored, with a dry phone and so you decide to “miss me” and apologize and make all these promises that things will be different. The same promises that ive heard 1000 times already. Nothing was ever different. Just last night, when you accused me of so many things, you yourself were lying to me. Your snap count keeps going up, yet you yell at me that you're not talking to anyone and you'll delete snapchat. Why would it matter if you deleted it anyway? you just redownload it when I'm not around, just like you always have. Thats the thing. The trust is gone. You've used it up. You've taken every bit of trust I have and shattered it. I can't even go to my hometown anymore because I don't know who I can trust. Who you've poisoned. I know you're not telling anyone what really happened. I assume you're spinning a narrative along the lines of “she couldn't handle me being gone all the time and she was being a bitch so we broke up” instead of “I was unfaithful the entire relationship because I have a sex addiction, but I stopped wanting sex with her a long time ago. I also stopped loving her the way she craved to be loved. I stopped kissing her. I stopped calling her beautiful. I stopped enjoying her company on the couch for a lazy movie day. I stopped appreciating her as she held down the fort while I went away for work and flirted and partied and ignored her. While I was gone, she was at work or at home. She was paying bills and calling plumbers and yard workers, and getting estimates on fence work and painters and floor replacements. She was cooking and cleaning and caring for our dogs. She was allowing others to stay in the house because they fell on hard times. She was rehabbing baby animals and getting broken glass doors replaced. She was doing everything she could to bring light and happiness to everyone (and every animal) she could. And she was doing it all while being neglected. Doing it all for me while I was going out and disrespecting her and our commitment.” I know thats not what you're telling them, but thats the story id really like people to know. I want them to know that I cried myself to sleep every night that I would call you before bed, after not talking to you all day, and you “had nothing to say. I just worked all day. I'm tired. goodnight”. I would cry on the bathroom floor when you would come home after 3 months and never kiss me or hug me. just walk past me and ask “who's coming over tonight? lets cook!”. I would spend hours steaming floors and dusting fans and washing blankets and shampooing carpets and then I would shower and dress up and do my makeup and wear my best outfit down to the panties, and you would just come home, have people over, get sloppy drunk, and pass out, leaving me to host until everyone left, clean the mess that 10 drunk people and a bbq is bound to leave, then crawl into bed at 4 AM. Then I would get up at 6:30 to start the morning routine. Dogs out. Feed cats. Let dogs in and feed them. Feed the fish and the tortoise. Let the dogs out again. Switch the laundry, unload the dishwasher. You would just lay in bed all day. If you got up, it was probably 2 or 3 in the afternoon and you'd sit on the couch and watch tv while I did your laundry and whatever other things needed to be done that day. I would beg you to come with me for Tyson’s vet appointment, and of course you'd say no. I’d tell you my family was having a crawfish boil and you'd say you were too tired or “dont feel like being around people”. But thats not true, was it. You just didn't want to be around those people. You were always ready to go to bars and drink and ignore me. thats the people you like. the ones that don't know you and that assume you're single because you haven't touched me or kissed me or danced with me once all night. But oh... if Claire wants to dance or if a guy starts talking to Leah, you're on that shit. Cant let YOUR eye candy get taken by some guy at a bar. Yet I was forced to break a mans nose. I was forced to defend myself, because when he disrespected me, you where nowhere to be found. Probably watching some girl, too distracted to know that a man was trying to hurt me. But doing worry. I dealt with it. Im stronger than you think. I made it through all that. I made it through so many nights of hating myself and questioning what I did wrong and why I wasn't good enough. What I could do to be good enough for you. I didn't leave when you invited Linzy to sleep in your bed and stoped coming visit because she would be bored alone if you left. I didn't leave when your snapchat was all women that you would snap all day long and never save anything so I could never see it. I didn't leave when you fixated on the idea of Sadie showing her tits in new Orleans while I stood right in front of you. I also didn't leave when, that same night, you “jokingly” grabbed at her chest and when we went home, your phone “accidentally got left in the bathroom standing up in a strange place and took pictures of her in the shower”. I didn't leave. I stayed and I believed you because for a day or two after an incident you would love me again. you would kiss me and hug me and have sex with me. Then as soon as I believed you, it would stop and you'd go back to your fuck boy shit. You'd go back to “being so tired” that you couldn't call me before bed but you had time to talk to Claire and invite her to your hotel room. You couldn't be bothered to give me the attention I had been begging for, but you could find time to snapchat my sister and “dare her to flash you as a joke”. Or what about the time you “accidentally” sent her a snap of your dick in the shower?! I am so angry and so hurt. Honestly I don't even remember what the point of this post was. Its gone from having a purpose to the words jus falling out of my heart and into my keyboard. I know I made the right choice. I saw something earlier that said “Sometimes you have to break your heart to find your peace” and honestly that is what im doing. Im so hurt and so scared and I feel small and lost, but after typing all these things, I remember why I left you. I know these negative feelings will pass and my life will get back on track and ill be happy and I know that one day I will find a man that knows how to love. A man that knows how broken I am and the trauma that iv gone through and he just supports me and loves me the way I've always wanted. So im deleting facebook so that I am no longer hurt by all the lies you're spreading and all the women you're fucking. Im choosing to fix me. I am choosing to stand myself up and climb out of this rubble and keep moving forward. Im choosing to start putting myself back together so that when that man finds me, im ready to let him hold me. Also, sorry to anyone that gets stuck reading this. It is word vomit on a page and I apologize for my shit writing and rambling. I just kinda let myself type whatever came out. This is my life. this is me. Well. its at least the tip of the iceberg of the hot mess that is me.

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darkcloud-kcalifornia · 5 years ago

Text

I… OK, this is supposed to be a Mario post, but can I just start off by expressing utter bafflement how when I went onto Netflix the first thing I saw was an advertisement for their new series, Green Eggs and Ham. How in the world do you make a 13-episode series based on Green Eggs and Ham?! This… this must be what going insane feels like.

NO, I’M NOT GOING TO DO A REVIEW OF IT!

This is supposed to be a Mario post. Let’s do the Mario.

The live segment is simply titled “Lost Dog”. Today’s celebrity cameo Pam Matteson has lost her little puppy Ike. She is hamming up how hysterical she is over this so the Mario Bros. agree to help look. Apparently they have a periscope in their basement apartment. And Ike loved black olive and Canadian Kitten pizza. I now officially want this mutt dead! But Luigi manages to summon him via dog calls. And a bunch of other dogs at the same time.

The cartoon of the evening is “Two Plumbers and a Baby”. The heroes head to the Kingdom of Youth, where the Fountain of Youth is being abused by King Googoo Gaga Koopa. I’m, uh, guessing on the spelling there. Some old guys arrive in a beat-up vehicle to use the fountain because… they’re old and don’t like it. Fair enough. But over by the fountain is… Koopa. Koopa wearing a diaper, bib, and bonnet. Who turns up the power on the Fountain to turn the old guys into babies he can then enslave. I… that’s… OK, let’s break this down. Yes, child slavery is a horrible, horrible thing. But why would Koopa regress his victims to actual toddler status, making them too small and weak to actually get any decent use out of them? And for that matter why is he wearing a diaper if he’s still a full-grown adult? I mean, I get there’s going with a theme for your villainy, but you don’t need to dress like a baby to enslave them. You could do an evil teacher or babysitter outfit. Maybe spending that much time around the Fountain of Youth turned to high levels has had an effect on Koopa’s mind? Or maybe Koopa’s just into that? I mean, I’m not about to kink-shame here, but it seems a bit odd that they’d just put an ABDL fetish out in the open in a children’s cartoon. Especially one in 1989. Well, enough rambling, back to the episode. Princess Toadstool trips as the heroes flee Koopa’s troops and lands in the Fountain herself, so now unlike Koopa she’s actually gonna need a diaper. They manage to escape, and spend much of the rest of the episode finding out that 1) Toadstool was one of those kids that goes running off the second you take your eyes off her, 2) She was one of those kids with no sense of danger whatsoever, and 3) They are not prepared for parenting at all. Anyway, they arrive back at Koopa’s… um… playpen? to find he’s disabled the controls, but manage to come up with a plumbing solution after tossing Koopa into the drink and making him a baby too. Mario somehow makes the water in the Fountain flow up in defiance of gravity (and no it’s not just plumbing; the water is moving through air to reenter those pipes) to make it a Fountain of Age and restore everybody to normal. Though for some reason he doesn’t fix the Fountain afterward to allow the people who traveled there to actually use the thing the way they’d intended.

This one was… weird. I mean, the live segment was just some boring nothing cameo. But while I’m fine with having a Fountain of Youth mishap episode, Koopa’s actual plan makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, as I went on about above. It does make me kinda wish we could get a game where you could play as Baby Peach though. I mean, we got Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in one of the Mario RPGs, so why not? Though really, I’d like it more if they’d release a Mario & Luigi RPG where you play as Peach and Toadsworth instead more. Come on, change up the formula and have some fun with it!

Moral of the Day:

Before changing your regressed friend back to normal, make sure they don’t need different kind of change first. It may make for an embarrassing memory when they grow up again, but it’s better than turning back to normal when you’ve still got a load in your pants.

#tv talk #episode reactions #super mario bros super show #super mario bros #smbss ep 10

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all-hail-the-witcher · 6 years ago

Note

“It hurt me being away from you” for your favorite ship bc I can’t think of one 😬

alright so this is totally inspired by 1. Julian blackthorns ramblings about love, as seen in the above quote and the rest of the quote that I decided to use in this 2. An episode of signed sealed delivered and 3. a movie I watched last night on Netflix called the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, which was really good, it had strong women and a brief mention of gay people but it was post ww2 and had some war flashbacks so don’t watch if you don’t like that stuff

also this is not modern era but it’s also not canon era, idk, it takes place in a time period that’s not now but when type writers still existed and people traveled using wagons. so it could be 1899, who knows

race and friends live in a small town in maine where they are all farmers. Albert is an author. They are together

___________

ship: ralbert

genre: very soft angst

word count: 4771 wowe

warnings: long distance relationships and the flu

editing: ah no

___________

Albert Dasilva gazed out the window of the fifth avenue apartment he was staying in. He had a wonderful view of Central Park. It was November, and he could see the people below him on the street walking briskly in their jackets and scarves as street vendors called out to them. It was beautiful, it really was. But it wasn’t home.

He turned away from the window and back to his desk. Normally he would type his letters on his typewriter, but Race had once told him he preferred handwritten ones because it gave him a piece of him to hold onto while he was away.

My dearest Antonio, he wrote, the nib of his pen gliding smoothly across the creamy paper. I miss you. I wish you could be here with me in the city. It’s absolutely beautiful at night. The street lamps come on and the lights from the stores and the apartment buildings light up the night sky. It is beautiful and glistening and magical. Almost like the stars back home. Except, nothing can compare to those. But for now, I shall have to make do with the stars of New York City.

The publishing company here is decent. I was matched with a man named David Jacobs who is to be my agent. He is very nice. The company loves my work, but insists that I write at least one novel while I’m here. I have a few ideas so far, but none of them seem quite right.

I have also met another author of the same publishing company named Katherine Plumber. She and I have gotten on quite well. Tomorrow she’s taking me through Central Park to “gather inspiration” as she calls it.

How are you? I hope you don’t miss me too terribly. I’ll be home soon. Six months is barely any time at all, especially when each day I live here brings me closer to you. Don’t forget to feed the animals. And don’t forget to eat. I told Jack to check in on you every now and then to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. So, please don’t kill him.

I love you and I miss you.

Yours always,

Albert Dasilva

Albert folded the note carefully and placed it into an envelope. He addressed it and sealed it with a kiss before climbing into bed. He would mail it tomorrow.

•••

It had been about a month since Albert had departed for New York when the first letter had arrived.

As always, Race stopped in the post office just before making the trek home from town. He had just stepped inside and was rubbing his hands together to warm them - Maine winters were harsh - when Finch called out to him from behind the counter.

“Ah, Racer!” He called. “I’ve got a letter for you!”

Race ran over to the counter, he could hardly believe it. “Really? Is it from New York?” His heart began to pound. Could he finally be hearing from Albert?

“Yes, it’s from Albert,” Finch said, winking at him as he handed him the letter.

Race checked the return address. It was from New York, and it was written in Albert’s unmistakable elegant handwriting. Hungrily, he tore off the envelope.

His eyes ran back and forth along the letter three times, soaking in Albert’s much awaited words, a smile forming on his lips. After all of the words were ingrained in his memory he looked up at Finch.

“Do you have-”

“Yes,” Finch cut him off, handing him a sheet of rough paper and a pen.

Race smiled back at Finch before hunching over the counter to write his letter.

Dear Albert, he scribbled awkwardly in barely legible writing. I am very happy to hear from you. New York sounds wonderful, I hope that you might take me to see it one day. Especially the “stars.” I am also very glad that you like the publishing company and your agent. I hope to meet him and Katherine one day and thank them for looking out for you in that big city. For you book, might I suggest: “how to survive in New York City” or “I miss my boyfriend very much and wish I was home with him.”

Jack has stopped by on several occasions - pretty much every other day, actually. Didn’t you tell him I can take care of myself? And yes, I have remembered to feed the animals. Although, they seem to like you better because most of them, especially your horse, have been quite, oh what’s that big fancy word that you use all the time? Ah yes, temperamental. And I have been taking care of myself as well, there’s no need to worry about me. Jack has insisted that I eat dinner with him on Fridays and all the rest of our friends have taken to stopping by the house several times a week to check on me. I don’t really know why, I am quite capable of surviving without you.

Albie, everyone here is incredibly proud of you, especially me. I can still hardly believe that you were picked up by a publishing company, especially a New York one. We all knew you were a great writer, but this is fantastic. I am so proud of you for going and making a name for yourself. Try some of those roasted chestnuts you get at the street carts for me, okay? Merry Christmas, Albie. (Well I suppose it’ll be much after Christmas by the time you get this, but Merry Christmas all the same)

Come home safe to me.

All the love and then some,

Antonio Higgins

“Here, Finch,” Race said, handing the envelope over to him. “Can you mail this for me?”

“Right away, Racer,” Finch said. “So, how is Albert?”

Races face lit up. “He’s good. He got set up with an agent at the publishing company and he made a friend with another author. He says he misses us, though.”

“Well, I’m glad he’s having a good time,” Finch said, offering Race a smile. “You get home safe now, it looks like snow and we don’t need you trapped in a storm and frozen to death before Albert comes home.”

“Will do,” Race said, giving a mock salute. As he opened the door he coughed into his sleeve. Hm, must have swallowed some dust, he thought before making the long trek back to his and Albert’s farm.

•••

It was mid January when Albert walked into his apartment building with Katherine, the two of them laughing hysterically.

“Mr. Dasilva, pardon me, but there’s a letter for you,” the concierge apologized, handing Albert an envelope.

“Thank you, sir,” Albert said, turning it over to read the return address. Maine. A smile stretched across his lips. Race. Hastily, he ripped open the envelope.

“Who’s it from?” Katherine asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Race,” he said, pulling out the letter and squinting at his boyfriend’s terrible handwriting.

“Oh yes,” Katherine smiled. “The one you won’t shut up about.”

Albert elbowed her in the ribs. “Oh shut up, I’m not that bad,” he mumbled, his eyes scanning Races words as they made their way upstairs to his apartment. He let out a laugh. “He wants me to call my novel ‘how to survive in New York City’.”

“Seems fitting,” Katherine said, as Albert paused to unlock his door. “What else did he say?”

“Everyone at home is very proud of me,” he read a few more lines. “And Merry Belated Christmas, and that he misses me.”

“Well, at least you have someone to go back home to,” Katherine said. “My father kicked me out for wanting to pursue writing.”

Albert looked up from the letter. “Katherine, that’s terrible.” Then his face lit up with an idea. “Why don’t you come home with me? I’m sure my friends would love to meet you. Race does, anyway. We’re a fairly large group, I’m sure you’ll find your place.”

“Well, Katherine said from her place on the couch, a small smile forming on her lips, “as long as I’m not inconveniencing anyone, I would love to go home with you.”

“Fantastic,” Albert smiled. “I’ll tell Race.”

My dearest Antonio, he wrote quickly. It’s wonderful to hear from you. Thank you for the Christmas wishes. Katherine and I spent Christmas here at my apartment drinking hot chocolate and writing. It was fun, but I’m sure you all had a better time at Jack’s place. I’m sure I want to know what kind of mischief you all got up to. And yes, I have eaten some street cart chestnuts. They’re surprisingly pretty good. As for your book title recommendations, they are good, but I have decided to call it “The Art Of Missing Someone”. I think you can guess who it’s about.

Have you gotten any snow this season? We have here, but not nearly as much as back home. Still, it was fun to watch the kids play in Central Park, reminded me of you.

Katherine took me up to the top of the Empire State Building a few nights ago. It was beautiful. I have never been so high up nor known that buildings could be that beautiful. Nothing beats our mountain view, of course.

Oh, speaking of Katherine, she’s told me that her father kicked her out years ago, so I offered that she come back with me to Maine in May. I think you all will love her and I’m fairly certain there’s a house still for sale in town if she wants to stay.

I know that Jack can be incessant sometimes, but I asked him to look after you for a reason, so please don’t annoy him. I look forward to seeing you again in the coming months. I’ll be home before you know it. Tell the fellows hello for me.

I love you and I miss you.

Yours always,

Albert Dasilva.

Albert put the letter in an envelope, addressed it, and set it on his desk. He’d mail it in a few hours after Katherine left.

•••

It was the end of February when Race got sick. Jack had brought him to his house and had him sleeping in a bed he had set up near the stove to keep him warm. Usually when Jack went out he would get one of the others to come by and sit with Race in case something happened. However, no one was around today and Jack was expecting a package so he left Race on his bed with strict instructions not to move unless the house was burning down and said he would be back in a few hours.

Jack had already been out for a few hours and Race was beginning to get worried. He could just see out the kitchen window without moving and he was fairly certain it had started to snow again. But, all Race did was snuggle deeper into his blanket. Jack had told him not to move and for once he was abiding what he was told.

It wasn’t like he had the strength to go out and look for Jack anyway. At present, he could only walk about three feet before collapsing. And, despite Jack's best efforts, he had lost weight. Jack was convinced he had the flu, as did most of their friends. They all said he would be fine in a few weeks but Race wasn’t too sure. Maybe he would get better faster if Albert were here.

Just then, the door blew open with a blast of cold air. Race pulled the blanket over his head so he wouldn’t freeze. There were noises that sounded like jack taking off his boots and coat.

“Racer?” He called out.

“Mmphhh,” Race groaned from under the blanket.

Jack laughed, sitting down on the side of his bed, and pulling the covers off his face. “How are you feeling, buddy?”

“Bad,” Race mumbled before bursting into a fit of coughing.

Jack frowned, pulling Race up into a seated position and rubbing his back.

After the coughing had subsided, he pulled away from Jack with tears in his eyes. “I miss Albie,” he whispered, pressing his face into Jacks shoulder. It wasn’t the same. Jack smelled different and his presence didn’t offer the same comfort as Albert’s.

“I know you do,” Jack said comfortingly. “Which is why I think you’ll be quite pleased to know that there was something for you at the post office.” He smiled, drawing a slightly battered envelope out of his breast pocket.

Race eagerly snatched the envelope and ripped it open with his shaking hands. After a few seconds he was staring at the familiar loopy handwriting, a sense of comfort washing over him.

After reading the letter several times he looked up at Jack. “Do you have any paper?” He asked hopefully, feeling better for the first time all week.

“Yeah, let’s just get you over to the table, okay?” Jack moved to help Race up, but he waved him off.

“I can do it,” he insisted as he pushed himself up. It took longer than necessary, but Race did manage to get over to the table and sit down without Jacks help. Maybe the prospect of communicating with Albert had given him an extra burst of strength. Hastily, he grabbed the paper and pen that Jack presented him with and began to write, trying extra hard to make his shaking hands write legibly.

Albie, he began. I miss you so so so much. It’s really hard to be here without you. But, I’m glad you’re having fun in the city. I’m excited that Katherine wants to come home with you, I think she will very much enjoy our friends, maybe we can hook her up with Jack as a thank you for him taking care of me.

We have gotten lots of snow. In fact, it’s snowing right now. I can’t really enjoy it though because I’m sick. Don’t worry about me, though. I’m fine. I’m staying with Jack for a few weeks until I get better and all the fellows have taken turns sitting with me while he goes out. They all say it’s the flu and that I’ll be fine in a few weeks. But I’m fine. I’ve just been sleeping a lot. Being sick also makes me miss you more. I can’t wait for you to come home. We’re halfway there.

I love the title of your book by the way. But make sure it’s not too sad, you don’t want your readers to cry while they’re reading it. I’m sure it’s going to be amazing, everything that you write is.

Try not to worry about me too much, okay? I’ll be fine, I promise.

All the love and then some,

Tony

“Here Jack,” he said, handing the finished letter to him. “Can you mail this tomorrow?”

“Of course, Racer,” Jack said, tucking the letter into his pocket. “I’m going to make some dinner, is that okay?”

“Yeah, I’m actually kind of hungry.” The last few days Race had just pushed his food around on his plate without really eating and he knew that Jack was worried about his lack of food intake, but he blamed it on the fact that he was sick.

As Jack began to start dinner, Race sat at the table and daydreamed about Albert.

•••

The next time Albert received a letter from Race it was mid March. Spring had sprung in the city and the trees in Central Park were budding.

Albert had picked up his mail and at first was elated to find a letter from Maine, but when he got to his apartment and took a closer look at the letter he noticed that it was not addressed in Races slanted and hard to read handwriting.

He ripped open the envelope, a pit forming in his stomach. Had something happened to Race? Inside the envelope there were two pieces of paper, one written in handwriting that wasn’t Races and one that was. He decided to read the one not written by Race first, hoping that it would calm his nerves.

Hey Albert, it’s Jack, the letter read. I didn’t read what Race wrote to you, I’m not about to invade your privacy and read your secret scandalous romance letters, so I don’t know if he mentioned this or to what extent, but Race is really sick.

Albert looked up from the letter. Race was sick? Was he going to be okay? Albert mentally slapped himself for not being there for him before going back to the letter.

We think he has the flu, the letter continued. I’m keeping him at my place until he’s better. He’s not in danger of dying or anything, so don’t worry about that. But we’re all in agreement that half the problem is the fact that he misses you. We’re all trying our best, we really are, but there’s only so much we can do. So maybe be a little more sappy than usual in your next letter? I don’t know. But we’re all taking good care of him, don’t worry.

Jack

Albert threw Jacks letter aside and quickly read Races. Sure enough, his handwriting was shaky and more messy than usual. And he sounded sad. Hastily, Albert pulled out a piece of stationary and began to write.

My dearest Antonio, he scrawled. I am so sorry you’re not feeling well. I wish I could be there with you right now, I really do. It hurts me to think about you, sick and suffering, so many miles away. Just make sure you’re eating food and drinking water and sleeping enough. As soon as I get back, I promise I’ll lay in bed with you all day and we can cuddle. How does that sound?

My book is almost done, I just have to revise a few more chapters and then give it to Davey for publishing. It’ll be for sale sometime in the fall. I am very excited. Don’t worry, I didn’t make it too sad. And I have a copy of the manuscript that I’m going to bring home so you can read it. I can’t wait to see what you think.

I am realizing that this is probably going to be my last letter to you as it won’t get to you until sometime in early April and I leave to come home on May 14th. There is, however, enough time for you to send me one more if you would like. It should reach me before I leave and I would like an update about your health before I leave the city.

Get lots of rest for me. Also there’s a few shirts of mine that I left at the house in the bottom left drawer in our bedroom if you would like to wear them. I do not mind. Maybe if you put one on it’ll be almost like having me there. I’ll be home before you know it.

I love you and I miss you

Yours always,

Albert Dasilva

Albert quickly addressed an envelope, pressed a stamp onto it, and ran downstairs to the concierge. He needed to post it as quickly as possible.

•••

It was now mid April. One more month until Albert was scheduled to come home. Race had since mostly recovered from his bought of sickness, but Jack had only allowed him to return home a week and a half ago, and only because he was driving him crazy.

Since returning home, Race had returned to his daily trips to the post office to check for letters from Albert. All of his friends disapproved, but we’re at least slightly relieved that he was taking Albert’s horse into town instead of walking. Race didn’t tell them that this was because he couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes, let alone three miles, without getting winded, but he supposed that they knew that. They had all treated him as if he were made of glass ever since he had gotten sick. Race knew he was definitely skinnier now than he had been when Albert was still here, and so what if he got winded easily? He was fine.

He tied up Albert’s horse and pushed open the door to the post office. “Heya Finch,” he said, offering his friend a smile. “Anything from New York?”

Finch gave Race a disapproving look. “Racer, you gotta stop coming out here every day. We don’t need you collapsing on a back road somewhere.”

Race rolled his eyes. “Finch, I’m fine. Have been for weeks. Now, is there anything for me?”

Finch wordlessly handed him a creamy envelope, which Race tore open in record speed. He read the words on the page gratefully, a sense of calm and comfort washing over him, almost as if Albert were there himself.

After reading the letter through twice he looked up at Finch to ask for paper and a pen, but saw he had already placed some on the counter. Race smiled and set to work.

Dear Albert, he wrote. There’s no need to sound so worried about me, I told you I’m fine. I’m not even sick anymore. Jack let me go home last week. Of course, he still comes over and checks on me everyday and brings me food. But I’m much better now. I’ve been riding your horse into town everyday and I’m also getting plenty of sleep.

I’m so excited to read your book! It sounds wonderful! I can’t believe my own boyfriend is going to be a published author! When you get home I’m throwing a party in celebration. You’re going to famous! And we can all say we knew you when you were just little Albert Dasilva, farm boy extraordinaire.

Only one more month until you’re home, I can’t believe it. The last five months seem both very short and very long at the same time. I can’t wait to hold you again. I’ve missed you terribly. It’s going to be such a relief to have you home. I may take you up on borrowing those shirts, by the way.

Have a safe trip home

All the love and then some,

Antonio Higgins.

Race scribbled the address on the envelope and handed it off to Finch. Then he hopped on Albert’s horse and galloped home with a renewed sense of energy. Plus, he had a shirt of Albert’s waiting for him at home.

•••

Two days before Albert was to leave the city, the letter from Race arrived. The concierge actually delivered it to his room when it got there, since Albert had been checking three times a day for a week to see if it had arrived.

“Thank you, sir,” Albert said, accepting the letter.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Dasilva,” the concierge said, tipping his hat. “That must be one great girl you’ve got back home.”

Albert gave him a smile as he shut the door. “Yeah, something like that.” Then he flooped on the bed, ripping open the envelope, which he was relieved to see was in Races handwriting, not Jacks.

After reading the letter through three times, Albert tucked it into the pocket of his pants. He was still worried about Race, he had a feeling that he wasn’t as fine as he let on. But, he would be seeing him next week. That was a crazy thought. After six months in the city, he would finally be going home. Home to Race, and their little farm, and all their friends, and home cooked meals and mountain air. He could hardly wait.

•••

It was the night of May 23rd. Race had gotten home a few hours before from a long day of sitting in town waiting patiently for Albert’s arrival. He didn’t precisely know when that would be, but he did know it took about a week to get from New York to Maine and it had been just over a week.

Finch has sent him back home around 8, telling him to eat something and get some sleep. Race did go home, but he had yet to do either of those things. He just sat in one of Albert’s old shirts curled up in the old wing chair and listened to the sounds of the night. Albert could be home any minute and he wanted to be awake for it.

He was beginning to doze off when he heard the rattling of wagon wheels outside. He jumped up and ran to the door. Could it be?

Hesitantly, he opened the door and squealed with delight when he saw Albert’s familiar red hair gleaming in the moonlight. He was out the door in a flash, feet pounding on the gravel, moving faster than he had in months. “Albert!” He called.

Albert paused from unloading his luggage, dropped his suitcase on the ground and ran toward Race. They collided halfway between the house and the wagon in a bone crushing embrace.

“Oh Antonio,” Albert whispered into Races hair, holding him as if he let go he would disappear. “It’s so good to see you again.”

Race pulled away slightly from Albert’s tight embrace. “Oh shut up and kiss me.”

“If you insist,” Albert smirked, which earned an eye roll from Race before crashing his lips hungrily into his boyfriend’s.

Race kissed Albert with all the hope, passion and desire of someone that had been without their other half for six months. Time stood still as his mouth connected with Albert’s. His hands reached around Albert’s neck and one of them knotted in his hair. Oh how he missed this. It was almost as if being with Albert made him a whole person again, instead of the shell of a person he had been while he was gone.

After Albert disconnected his lips from Races, Race leaned his head on Albert’s shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent of the outdoors. “I missed you,” he whispered, a few tears escaping his eyes.

“I missed you too,” Albert murmured, planting a kiss in Races hair. His hands ran up and down Races back.

They stood, bodies pressed together, in the dark for several long minutes. The only sounds around them were the crickets chirping.

After awhile, Albert pulled back. “Help me grab my stuff and we can go inside, okay?”

Race nodded slightly, acutely aware of the fact that he was far less strong than when Albert had last seen him. The combination of flu and missing his other half had really taken a toll on him. But, he was wearing one of Albert’s big shirts, so maybe he wouldn’t notice.

No such luck. As soon as they were in the kitchen, Albert turned on one of the lamp lights and turned to look at his boyfriend, a look of surprise plastered on his face. “Race, baby, what happened to you?” He asked, moving closer and engulfing him in a hug.

“What do you mean?” Race said into Albert’s shirt sleeve. He didn’t know what Albert was talking about. He didn’t see a too skinny, overly tired, underfed, frail boy in too big clothes when he looked in the mirror, which is what Albert saw, he just say himself.

“You look terrible,” Albert said softly, stroking Races hair. “How long were you sick for?”

“I don’t know, only a couple of weeks,” Race mumbled. “I mostly just missed you. That’s why everyone thinks I never really recovered, at least, that’s what I’ve heard them say.”

Albert pulled Race closer to him. “See, this is what I was worried about,” he said, pressing his lips into Races hair. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. He had done this, he was the reason why Race was so unhealthy looking.

“It hurt me, being away from you,” Race gasped, pulling away and turning his big, tearfilled blue eyes up to look at Albert. “It feels like there’s a hook dug in under my ribs and there’s something pulling at the other end. Like I’m tethered to you no matter the distance.”

Albert gave him a soft smile before picking Race up and carrying him into their room. “And I’m supposed to be the poetic one.”

He set race down on the bed and pulled off his shoes before putting on some pajamas. The two of them crawled under the covers, Race tucked safely into Albert’s chest.

Albert stayed awake until Race had fallen asleep. He pressed a kiss to his forehead before wrapping his arms around him tightly. “I’m never leaving you again,” he whispered before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

______________

awwww theyre so cute

thanks fizz for the limited help and brief idea

I’m actually kinda proud of this, one of my favorites by far sorry it took so long to get out

feedback is always appreciated hmu via ask to be on the tag list

tag list

@fairly-awkward-trashcan

@well-the-kids-do-too

@racetrackcook

@bouncyscreamingnewsboys

@ughwaitwhat

@aw-jus-let-em-try

@ben-cook-can-cook

@the-woild-is-my-what-now

@elmer-s-s0cks

@voice-foundshoe-lost

@galaxy-trees13

@stopthe-presses

@ridin-in-style

@pinecovewoods

@imjusttheoutgoingsidekick

@i-got-no-clue-what-im-doing

@bencookisagod

@be-more-chill-evan-hansen

@hellasoulless

@stellar-alpaca

@smolcanadiangirl

@saxoph-ella

@disney-princess-sized

#saphie scribbles #ralbert #racetrack higgins #albert dasilva #aww #my bois #this was so fun to write #it took forever though #oops #sorry about that #newsies #newsies fic

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sirfrogsworth · 7 years ago

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adriengriffon replied to your photo “Sometimes the hypocrisy that spews from r/the_donald and Trump...”

As far as I know, "cuck" was coined by the racist right, referring to a type of porn in which a black man has sex with a white woman, usually while her white husband watches. Implications of using it as an insult are racist at best.

It’s short for cuckold. The term has evolved over the years. In the beginning it just meant the husband of an adulteress. It did become a porn fetish at some point and they often used the trope of black men’s sexual prowess. So there is a racial component in the history, but in modern usage it is mostly a metaphor describing alpha and beta men.

Trump supporters are obsessed with the alpha/beta distinction. A social philosophy called “The Red Pill” emerged from this obsession. The red pill community tries to teach men how to become the alpha in any situation. You can check out their glossary of terms and get a quick sense of what they’re all about. Unfortunately you may hurt your eyes from rolling them too much.

To Trump supporters the president is the ultimate alpha male. They often call him GEOTUS. God Emperor of the United States. (Which doesn’t sound fascist at all.) He is the gold standard of alphas. The conventionally attractive wife, the porn star side chick, the exorbitant wealth, and the dickish “tell it like it is” attitude.

Any man they consider to be a beta is referred to as a cuck. All of their insults seem to revolve around male inferiority. If you don’t resemble this perceived hyper-masculine stereotype, you are to be shunned and shamed. You are a snowflake. Fragile and easily offended. A soy boy. Based on the erroneous myth that too much soy greatly increases estrogen. Estrogen is that lady hormone, after all. (Which all men have and need.) If you are effeminate, in their eyes, you are weak.

The irony is... these men are not alpha males at all. They aren’t betas either. They are pseudo-alphas. They deny any qualities they consider weak and put up a masculine facade when presenting themselves to the world. Usually the only ones they fool are themselves. They try so hard to act tough, but when they are confronted with real consequences for their actions... their facade quickly crumbles.

Check out this cool macho guy on his boat. Striking a manly pose.

His name is Timothy Dluhos. He is was a badass firefighter. He likes Hitler and thinks minorities are lame and stuff. His “most prized artifact” is a gold Nazi-era pin with a German U-boat and a swastika.

Let’s look at his super edgy tweets.

"I'm going to give up racial insults for Lent.”

"Jesus that didn't last too long. F--ken chinks can't drive."

Nice burn, Timothy! You’ve really earned those bitchin’ Oakley specs. And thanks for censoring “fucken” for any kids that may be reading.

I bet he is super respectful to women though. A true gentleman.

“I’m really a dirty pervert. I see a girl with tight pants on and my eyes immediately focus on her crotch to look for camel toe.”

Classy.

WAIT! What’s that? Reporters from the New York Post confronted Tim about his racist ramblings on twitter?

I bet he told them to screw off. He can say what he wants! He’s a man, man! Free speech! You cucks need to listen to alternative viewpoints!

Oh no.

Apparently he started sobbing.

That’s a shame.

It happens though. I’m sure he gained his composure and stayed true to his intolerant convictions.

“My stepfather’s Jewish,” he wept. “I don’t hate anybody.”

Well, as long as you have a Jewish relative, that makes it all okay.

"There has got to be a lot worse out there than me," he insisted.

"My life is ruined. Oh, my God," Dluhos wailed. "I'm so sorry."

Yikes.

That’s a lot of crying for an alpha. Maybe he just ate too much soy.

There aren’t any more pictures of him crying, are there? That would be mean if I posted another one. I really shouldn’t.

Wait, I forgot. He’s a nazi.

Bonus plumber’s crack. Nice.

#adriengriffon #racism #slur #trump #cuck #sexism

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julystorms · 7 years ago

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Regarding the post you reblogged about life after high school getting better, do you have any tips for that? How to get into a good college even if your high school grades were just average? What degree did you take- and then what job did you end up getting? Was that hard? It's completely fine if you don't want to answer- thank you thank you for your help if u do, and blessings from a very stressed out high school student

For people whose grades are kind of average/not great, I honestly suggest community college. It’s not just the grade thing, but like...cost-wise it lets you try college classes on for size for a much more affordable price than most four-year universities.

There’s this pressure to go to college at X age and then to like...live “the college life” and lemme just tell you that...from most people I know who did it? It wasn’t great. Or even good. It just...was. It’s definitely not worth paying 4x the money for. The media kind of hypes it up to an extreme degree but for the love of God don’t buy into college as an experience. It’s education.

Community college not only lets you try college for cheaper but it can help you figure out what you want to do for cheaper--and it can help you figure out if college is even for you for a price that won’t make you weep. They tend to have a pretty wide variety of classes and you can try something in an applicable field to see if it suits you/if you’d like to continue.

Don’t rule out trade schools, either. Or apprenticeships. Electricians, Heating/AC people, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters: they can make good money because everyone went to university and nobody went to trade school to get certifications. If any of those things are Potentially Interesting, look up some youtube videos/look for blogs on the subject. Seriously. If I could do it over again I’d have taken advantage of a background around remodeling/building and I would have done like my grandfather and been a master carpenter. Lost opportunities my guy.

Anyway, I started getting an English Education degree, then switched it to Creative Writing and finally to Literature and then with like a year left of school I dropped out: $44,000 in debt. Now I work in the billing department of a construction/concrete company doing a mix of billing and intercompany inventory work--something completely unrelated to the degree I was getting. I mostly use my degree knowledge to talk big about anime. Yikes.

Anyway working has always been easier for me than school. I like getting a paycheck. College was hard but mostly because of the commute (an hour each way every day), plus there was a lot of awful financial pressure on my entire family. (When gas was over $4/gallon I was Suffering.)

I enjoyed my college classes most of the time. My initial goal was to get a PhD in English Literature and teach college classes. It wasn’t even really a pipe dream, either: I somehow wormed my way into the good graces of all of the people in charge of the English department and was told I ought to consider pursuing a master’s or PhD.

But in the end I quit to move to another state to be with my now-husband, so I don’t regret it (and honestly feel it was the best choice for me, though it wasn’t easy moving 10hrs away from my family to a place where I knew nobody).

Like, long story short: college isn’t for everyone. Higher education isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t even really for me, though if I’d have stayed in Ohio I’d probably be working on that PhD still. Like, I went to college at 26 because I was crippled and couldn’t get a job because I didn’t have a degree. If I hadn’t gotten hurt in the first place, I’d have never gone.

The best thing college did for me was teach me that I wasn’t stupid. I always felt like maybe I was. I’m kind of a know-it-all and I’ve always been one, but in my family we had the Creative People (one brother and I) and the Smart People (youngest brother and sister). The youngest two graduated valedictorian and got full-tuition scholarships to universities. My other brother and I did manual labor and then when we both went to school we ended up in the liberal and fine arts (instead of getting degrees in Math and Science like the other two). Hell, my sister’s in optometry school right now. I always worried I’d go to college and it’d be too hard for me. But...it wasn’t? It was so different from high school. I didn’t feel like I belonged there (I was older than most grad students and was mistaken more than once for the professor of a class lmfao) but once I got into my lit classes, man... God, it felt good to have professors tell me that they wanted to hear from me because I “always have something good to add” and shit. What the fuck?

Anyway as it turns out, college helped me find my talent of literary bullshit ramblings and it flung off this bitterness I had on my shoulders that just wouldn’t go away that made me think I was bad at doing anything that wasn’t monotonous physical labor. I don’t think college is for everybody, but I do think it’s worth trying out. My dad went back to college after his factory packed up and moved to Mexico and like, he graduated with an associate’s degree at 60. He thought he was stupid, too, and he struggled with some things, but he was in there getting straight As...!

So check into community college and see about what kinds of programs they offer. If you hate it: you can bail with very little loss. If you love it, you can get a lot of gen-ed credits in and move onto/transfer to a 4-year school. You can also try working part-time and taking a couple of classes at a community college to see how you feel about it (if you enjoy working and aren’t very confident in how much you’ll like college).

Take a deep breath, anon!! You’ll get there!

#since i was an adult student my experiences were pretty different tbh #like i didn't have to write a letter or anything #and my SAT/ACT scores didn't matter anymore/were rendered irrelevant #they did look at my high school transcript but eh #if you have any more questions feel free to ping me off of anon #and i'll do my best to help u out #college musings #cute anons #replies to friends

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psychedelictrashpanda · 5 years ago

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stuck in the middle with me

In addition to always feeling trapped, I also get to feel like I’m always stuck at a crossroads I can’t ever make progress in deciding which direction to take. With myself of course, is it fair to the other person for me to be dating in such a poor mental state? Wearing loneliness like an old familiar jacket, it just stinks sometimes, really need to wash out that old perspective and embrace solitary living -- I used to be so good at it!

Right now I could start up this t-shirt thing. Get a screen printing set up and actually follow through on the whole idea I started years ago but abandon because heat-press tshirts were low quality trash I didn’t want to deal with. In addition to or instead of, I can also go the mushroom route. Practice growing all sorts to sell to chefs and such, maybe in the future land an opportunity to grow cubes as a legal profession.

Both of those are entirely possible and would help me immensely. But it implies two things: a definite move away from the company, which is gonna be another obligatory rift to deal with, and staying in Oklahoma, which at least would please the family and balance out that rift? Assuming I explain the other option is getting the fuck out.

I’m still considering the vandwelling idea I’m always building on that I’ve recently categorized as a dream because it seems simultaneously so easy and close to reality but far away and something I’ll never have the courage to go through with. It’s been in my head, well really since I was a child, but in planning mode for years now before it became a trendy scene. Now Joseph gets to leave for months at a time fulfilling the dream I had and it’s all fine and okay for him because he’s volunteering when he does it I guess.

I have to pretend I’m typing so my coworker, who is my old friend from childhood that I should be more happy to talk with since I don’t see and work with often, will stop talking to me and leave me alone. Should I feel guilty? After seeing so much Larry David, to be honest, heh, I’m starting to feel less bad about the things I want. Oh you know what that reminds me -- this thing with benzos I’m going through relates. Because I’m either riddled with anxiety and apologetic and let people walk all over me and am self deprecating and blahblah a lot of the usual depression type symptoms I suppose, or I take a medicinal dose of a benzo and I don’t take any shit from anyone. I think it depends on the benzo tbh and I’m about to try a new grey market one anyway so maybe that will work in just the right medicinal way that I need it to. Only some make me sort of cranky, and valium seems to be one I guess, but it’s also because at too low a dose it doesn’t seem to do me much good so I have to get to just enough of a dose to feel sleepy from which is also enough to get edgy from. But also, I always neglect the entourage effect, and I think it applies to EVERYTHING in life. Case in point, if I weren’t already depressed and in a bad place in my life, I wouldn’t get the negative symptoms from the medicines I need as much. (side note: no really I identify a lot with Larry David, and in some twisted way that helps me)

Oh okay yeah vandwelling. I really don’t like the term. Mostly because it evokes a hipster sort of image. And I will be that hipster considering I’m going to get a good start and I suppose by the bare fact it’s by choice and not necessity? Fuck that, this is that “worrying about what other people think” bullshit I’m needing to get over. I’m so sick of it. I’m so tired of worrying about my image and what people think of me. I think so low of me because if I were looking at me through their eyes I would think low of me, curse of the gaze of the other maybe if I knew what that philosophical concept meant specifically... Keep going off track. That’s why I like Zizek so much, totally identify with his ramblings that go off in weird directions and have weird analogies and whathaveyou. I’m feeling prettay prettay prettay Larry Zizek today. Or maybe I should be Slavoj David right now with his name first because I’m feeling more pessimistic ala Zizek than go-get-the-world ala L.D. God. This rambling. I want to do the vandwelling.... let me start ANOTHER paragraph on that...

I have this Ford F150. I’m super happy I have a newish vehicle now that I don’t have to worry about but it is unfortunate it’s a V8. Probably making a bigger deal about that than I should. Being a minimalist and really just living out of a vehicle should offset the carbon footprint of that big motor, which will make itself useful I’m more than sure. I’m probably more concerned of the gas cost really, but I have to figure out avenues for income to begin with while on the road. Being a journeyman plumber and having other construction experience, it shouldn’t be hard to find side jobs if I bring my toolbags with me. Before I even hit the road though, if I can make it happen, there’s a lot I need to do: Get a camper top. Learn some new skills to carry with me on the road; I can teach myself the skid-steer for sure, maybe even a backhoe which would be nice. Also learn digital skills for online jobs; brush up on doing some graphics like posters or maybe finally the video editing. I have a ton of outdoor camping/hiking/such equipment from always planning on doing those things but never following through so I’m good on that front. Get prescriptions to the meds I need so I don’t have to carry benz and stims on the road. Make sure I’m completely legal but stocked up on stuff like kratom or cbd and such. TONS of Soylent, powder and liquid, or try huel for powder. Maybe some cheap foodstuffs too, cans and/or ramen, etc. Got plenty of reading and writing material. Need to get those last few things on amazon to complete the vandwelling electronic necessities and things of that nature.

eh I dunno maybe I’ma save this draft but I’m posting tonight whether I finish it or not. enough of this saving a draft for days, I should be writing more everyday anyway. ugh I forgot I’m coming in at four tomorrow. and forgot to mention I think it’s official I’m fucking done with this place cause I just can’t work with family. it’s so goddamn frustrating cause no matter what I look like an asshole. it makes me fe-- ugh this is a whole other post. I gotta work too early tomorrow for how much I’ve put into this so far.

#tshirts #vandwelling #benzo #high #grass #poptarts

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cruisador-blog · 7 years ago

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Hummmmmm

Ok, so I said I was only going to write about three times with the boys. I am going to keep that promise. I think I added another time, but I was brief. I always wondered how our time together ended up lasting for 21 years. I might add, in 2012 the boys fell off of my radar. What happened I don't know. It was a year after I spent Christmas with them. The same year, I broke up with my boyfriend of 11 or maybe 12 years. In a way it was a rebirth. In a way I believe somehow that both of those events happened for a reason.

After a lot of thought on all of this, I had some thoughts. Looking back, it appears that I chose boyfriends that were non-committal. I also seemed to choose men that were also unavailable. I'm talking about men that traveled a lot or had jobs that kept them away.

I am pretty confident that if I had not met the boys at the beach in 1992, I would never had seen them again. A few weeks after Charleston I got a phone call from them. A few months later I got a Christmas card and sometime in April they called and asked me to come down to the beach in May. I asked for the dates but really didn't think I would go. I was seeing someone and while it was never said that we were exclusive, it felt like it. About a week after their call, I was walking across the street and rushed to the sidewalk to beat a car that was coming toward me. All of the sudden I remembered running across the street with the boys in Charleston. Then I started thinking about being with them that night. I had hidden a couple of pages of notes about that night in an old lamp of my grandmothers. Within a couple of days I had gotten the notes out and read them. By the time I had finished reading everything I was thinking I was going to meet them for a night at the beach. I called them about a week out and told them I was coming down on Friday and I would take off work early. They said I should bring Peggy Sue. So I ended up bringing the wig. The craziest part of that night was I wore the wig to a Bar/restaurant and they came in later. We roll played that they picked me up. It ended up being a really wild evening at the room. It was a pretty wild morning also.

I ended up meeting them again in Charleston and again in a town called Georgetown, that was south of Myrtle Beach. They had heard of public oyster grounds and wanted to give it a try. We had all gone to the docks to rent a john boat when they were told the season was over the week before. I figured we were there toward the end of May. Instead of getting a John boat they opted for the less expensive canoe and we paddled ( they paddled ) through the marshes. We started going up this small little creek that was in the marshes and when we hit the ended of the creek I let them have their way with me in the canoe. I had been in the center of the canoe the entire time and ended up getting on all fours ever the center seat. It was stuff like that which really made me anticipate our visits.

So while I'm done writing about the boys, I'll tell you of a pretty good story that happened after everything fell apart. It was 2000 or 2001 and I had gone to a Christmas party. I was single again and went just to get out, not searching for a man. During the night I kept hearing this really loud guy that was very annoying. He would be around several people and then he would laugh loudly, then everyone would laugh with him. Eventually it got to the point that I left the party, mainly because of him. The next morning instead of making coffee, I decided to go to the restaurant that was within walking distance to my house and get some coffee. I had a ton of errands to run all over town. I grabbed a small table to get my game plan for the day when all of the sudden the loud guy from the party is at my table saying, "What's up Doc?". Then he laughs and sits down. I tried to be cordial for a moment but then got up and said I was in a hurry.

I had a few different places to go and one of them was the hardware store as I had a leaking toilet. I had never fixed a leaking toilet but I was determined not to pay a plumber to come out. I was walking around trying to find the toilet repair isle when all of the sudden I hear in a loud voice, "What are you doing following me?" Then laughs loudly and starts talking to me. Well I needed help and I told him my problem and he walks me over and shows me what I need and told me how to fix it. He offered to help me with it, but I declined.

An hour or so later, I am at the grocery store to buy the premade cookie dough for a Christmas party for my department at school. I'll be damn if he wasn't their again in the grocery store. By this time I figured he was harmless and when I told him I had to make cookies he was appalled that I was going to take that to the party. He said that he had been in school to be a pastry chef and he was almost there when he walked past the metal arts building. The following semester he was in welding and metal working classes. He said that he could help me make the cookies and help me with the toilet repair. I needed help so I said OK.

Long story short, the boy could bake. We had some wine, then I think it was "Rudy" that came on the TV and we both said we loved the movie. Before long we were on the sofa watching the movie quoting every line and laughing. I don't know what happened, I hadn't had that much wine. We started making out and then we were on the floor having sex. I never, ever in my life, just met someone and had sex with them. He left shortly after. I didn't even know his last name, nor he mine. A few days later there is a letter in my mailbox from him. He went into a lot of detail about his life and that he was surprised about what had happened. When I read the letter the only thing I could think of was that song, "Tears of a clown". It made sense all of the sudden on why he was always laughing. It was a very traumatic life. No, you don't get it, it was a very traumatic life. He left his number and I called. I had a date with him, then two, then twenty. He was much different than any guy I had dated. Long hair, no real formal education. Worked with his hands. We were always on the verge of separation. I was a little embarrassed of him around my faculty friends. He had a hard time reading long or unusual words and I'm sure my friends wondered what I was doing with him. I wondered also. We did fun stuff together. He had horses and a motorcycle. The good thing about him is that he lived 30 minutes away from the school. I lived across the street from the school. The big bonus is that he went out of town in the summer to festivals for about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. That gave me the perfect opportunity to continue my playtime with the boys. After about 11 years, it finally fell apart. We had never lived together, We had Friday through Sunday and Wednesday night. I had Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to myself. It was great. Once again, you can see how somehow I attract these guys that are distant. Both physically and emotionally. We had been broke up for about three months. My daughter was home from college and one morning she said that she ran into my ex. She asked if he had gotten married. It turned out to be true. It was hard to deal with after a little over 11 years with someone and then they are all of the sudden married after 3 months. I know I just started rambling and didn't stop. However, that reminded me of another good story that is somewhat humorous. I'm going to start another post for this one.

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topicprinter · 7 years ago

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Hello r/Entrepreneur!My name is Gart and I am a professional contract/freelance branding, illustration and interface designer. I have worked in this field for almost 12 years. For the past 5 years, I've worked extensively with the Reddit community in places like r/forhire and r/designjobs making a living wage. The tally is getting close to 200 different logos, illustrations, editorial pieces, mobile apps - you name it. Each job either slightly or incredibly different than the last, but all involving me designing something for a client. I've had the immense pleasure of working alongside some of the coolest people through Reddit and communities like this one and have made some lifelong business partners. Subsequently, I've also been pulled into awesome startups and businesses I would have never thought to be a part of, doing things that go beyond the scope of just graphic design. Working through this medium has sharpened my tools and made me a better designer, but has also taught me a ton about doing good business.If there is one thing I've come to learn about most businesses or startups seen on Reddit, it's that not everyone knows about the marketing/branding/media/etc side of starting a business. And more likely, they don't know about branding design or the design industry at all (which is totally fair.) And because this community is where I get work and the relationship is 100% symbiotic, I wanted to make a post about some of the key things I've found and try to offer some info or tips that will be useful for starting or experienced entrepreneurs alike looking for branding or a professional to design something for them. If you have a new business or startup and need design work done, the following will hopefully help you out:Your Brand is Your ProductYou've probably heard this little chestnut a lot. It's corny, absolutely, but mostly true. You could have the best blender on the market, but if the packaging is bad and the overall look of everything related to your product is off, people won't want to buy it and stores won't want it on their shelves. That's pretty obvious advice, but it's understandable if you haven't put much thought into branding. Sometimes you're so focused on the blender that you forget it has to go in a box and make people buy it. It's 100% okay to not know about this aspect of your business, but the better you understand and approach it, the better results you'll have by far.So remember to value this aspect of your business and know that it's pretty darn important. The great part is that there are a lot of super talented people online and on Reddit that you can hire to handle these important materials.Do Your Homework This is the most important section of the list. I can't tell you how many times I've seen entrepreneurs and people with startups make super lazy posts in the working subreddits that put off designers. "I need a logo for an apparel company." "How much are logos?" Asking bad questions like this can be avoided by educating yourself about design and how to find the best designer for you.To a designer, all projects are different and will require a lot of information before they can make an educated quote. A logo or branding item for a major product that's intended to be sold nationally on shelves in major stores will have more worth to the company, therefore costing more than a logo for small development team working remotely in Ontario. A designer will need to know who you are, what the product is, where it's sold, how much it's sold, where will it be advertised, etc before they can quote you. In order for me to give a quote, I try as hard as I can to get on the phone with my potential client and learn all this information from the horse's mouth. It also gives the designer a chance to answer any questions you may have and inform you of their process and how you'll fit into it. When you're making a post looking for a designer, posting these types of details will be a tremendous help. You'll be much more likely to get higher quality designers to bite and reach out if they feel comfortable enough with the information you've given.Everything is online, so if you've got a tea company, looking in the right places using those keywords will net you some great examples of branding for tea. Google image search is an invaluable tool for this, but may yield some lower quality results. For better examples, use sites like www.behance.net, www.dribbble.com or www.logomoose.com. These communities are made of actual experienced working professional designers where they can post their work. In cases like dribbble, a user must be invited by another user, meaning that the level of quality is self-regulated by the community and standards are super high. 99% of the best designers you will find here on Reddit are also members of these communities and use them as an alternate means to post their work.Research pricing. I'm sure you've heard of fiverr or other super super cheap places to get crowd sourced design materials, but stay away from them as a means of getting your design done. These places are unethical and severely undervalue both the professional design industry and the businesses that get materials from them. Most importantly, because people are selling logos for $5, you can be absolutely certain that the designs are being stolen from other designs they've seen, or templates you can download for free from easy to find places online. I've had my designs stolen by these guys on multiple accounts. They're not professional, experienced, skilled or able to actually communicate and work with you in the correct process to deliver the best materials. I see a lot of uninformed pitches on Reddit saying they'll pay $50 for a logo. Branding does not cost $50 unless you're commissioning your grandson. Branding costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands and thousands. It all depends on what the product/company is, usage of materials and so on. There is no fixed price for logos and if you see someone advertising "I do logos for $200", they're inexperienced and have undercut themselves because they're too scared of having a potential client pass them up. This stuff costs money not only because of it's worth to your company, but because when you hire a solid designer, they've got Malcom Gladwell hours behind the pencil/computer,know what they're doing, and have the skills and equipment to deliver. Really, the best thing to do is hop on Google and do some pricing research and when you find a designer you like, get on the phone with them and have an open discussion about budget. It's not a fun topic for anyone, but it's something you should research and talk to a professional about.Communication is Key This one is easy. Once you've found someone that you like and think would be a great candidate to design for you, get in touch with them. On my contact page of my website, I have "Be as detailed with your needs as possible. Who is your demographic? What is your company? Who are you? How much of the product are you looking to sell? How will the materials be used? What colors do you like? Etc. Give examples of things that inspire you or things that you are visually intrigued by. The more I know about the project, the better I can assist you in realizing your goal and garner the most positive response from your intended market." Providing information like this upfront on a post or in a response email is a major plus. It gives the designer the information they need and shows them that you're a responsible and involved person to work with. Remember, it goes both ways.Once you've started working with the designer, your job will be to give feedback and work with them to get to the final result. You'll be shown proof sheets with multiple concepts and variations with text variations on top of that. You'll get lots of options and then it's just a matter of whittling it down. An important thing to also note is not to be 100% tied to any concepts or ideas you may have for the materials. You don't hire a professional to act purely as your hand and do exactly what you have in mind. You hire them for their better knowledge and ability when it comes to brand design. Sometimes what sounds good to you on paper won't actually be as effective for your business in practice. If a client of mine is pushing for a concept that I am 100% certain won't be best for the company and demographic, I will put my foot down and do my best to explain how something else will work better and show them an example of that to get them to see. You wouldn't stand over a plumber and tell them everything to do, and the same goes with working with designers. You're paying them to do their job and that's to give you what's best for the pocketbook of the company, not necessarily the personal biased feelings of what the client likes. That's not to say at all that the ideas and input from you are moot, but rather to have an open mind and be open in your communication. Ask and listen. My best work has always come when the client and I have a healthy back and forth and put enough pressure on the coal until it becomes diamond.I realize that's a lot of text and maybe a little rambling, but I hope there's something in there that will help someone. I would love to field any questions anyone has, as I haven't covered everything. This community is awesome and I'd love to help anyone I can. I've worked with so many different types of companies and startups and learned so much over the past decade, that it would be my pleasure to offer help in this subject.Thank you guys for being hard working and inspiring. Take care and talk soon!Michael "Gart" Gartsman | www.gartsman.net

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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dimpled-doll · 7 years ago

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All the acting asks??

HERE COMES THE RAMBLES:

Dream role & why?: Probably Katherine Plumber from Newsies, at least at the moment. I have a whole list of dream roles but Katherine definitely tops it. She’s such an amazing character as she’s this woman fighting for a place in a man’s world which makes her both incredibly strong and hard-willed, as well as vulnerable and desperate as she strives to be successful and follow her dreams. And she’s also such a badass?? She takes crap from no one and is just so quick witted, she could sass me to my grave and I’d thank her.

Dream role that you’ll probably never play & why?: Probably Michael Mell from Be More Chill or Jesse Tuck from Tuck Everlasting, which is very annoying because I’m a female and they are not (more often than not I'm too old, too white or too female to play a role which makes me sad but that's okay I know I can't play every role)

Favorite role you’ve played?: So far, definitely Heather McNamara in Heathers. People are probably getting so tired of me talking about it, but she’s just such an amazing character who goes through so much character development and ahh I’m so happy to have gotten to play her.

Favorite show you’ve been in?: If I mention Heathers again someone is gonna throw something at me, so my other favorite is probably the show I’m in now. Into the Woods is a really fun and interesting show that’s been presenting some unique challenges as an actress that I’m enjoying tackling at the moment. Plus I love fairy tales so it’s lots of fun to get to bring them to life and live through them.

Favorite costume you’ve gotten to wear?: I got to wear a beautiful green medieval-style dress when I did The Wizard of Oz a few years ago, though it was paired which a horrendous green wig and painful green heels. (But the Heathers blazer outfit can’t be matched and will forever hold a piece of my heart)

Favorite line or lyric you’ve had?: “I want a squirrel, and what I want, I get!” -Willy Wonka

“If I say the wrong thing, or I wear the wrong outfit, they’ll throw me right over the side!”- Heathers

First show you were ever in?: I was in a lot of church “musicals” when I was young, but the first ever MUSICAL I was in was The Wizard of Oz. (which I then did again a few years later as the same ensemble role, so if I ever have to hear “The Merry Old Land of Oz” again I will probably smash my head against a wall)

Do you have a type cast?: Definitely young, and apparently mean/sassy (?) in some way/shape/or form.

Favorite show & why?: I have so many favorites it’s so hard to choose! Two of my favorites are probably Les Miserables and Newsies though. I guess I just love the idea of young people banding together to fight an oppressive power? Seriously though, I am such trash for so many musicals that it would take me too long to list.

Biggest on-stage fail?: I haven’t done anything too drastic, but I had to get lifted during a dance number recently and the guy picked me up bridal style and my dress flew up and the whole audience got a nice look at my underwear (it was an ending pose too so I couldn’t really fix it quickly). Another great story that didn’t really involve me but was in the show I was in. At the end of Act 1 of Heathers in Our Love is God, JD was about to shoot Kurt when, all the sudden, “Take On Me” by A-Ha blares through the theatre (as it was cued up to play during intermission along with various other 80′s songs) and everyone backstage lost it. The actors on stage had to play it off though, so JD starts dancing subtly while Kurt watches in horror, Veronica is trying to disguise her laughter as tears, and Ram’s body is suspiciously convulsing in a way that is definitely not laughter because he’s dead)

A role you weren’t right for (if any)?: I don’t think any large ones so far because I haven’t had that many, but I played a nun in The Sound of Music once which most people would probably say is pretty unfitting for my sinful ass.

Have you ever been a part of tech or a different production aspect of a show rather than acting in it?: I’ve assistant directed for a few children shows at my church, but other than that I’ve only really done small bits and pieces when someone needs help, but I’m really hoping to learn more and engage myself in different parts of theatre soon because I find everything that goes into a production fascinating and just as important as the acting in a show.

Pre-show rituals?: It depends on the show because a lot of different companies develop traditions and rituals for before a performance, but for me personally I just like to take a couple minutes to myself to breathe, drink some water or tea, say some quick prayers for myself and everyone in/involved with the show because it helps calm me, and just try to relax and go over my line/lyrics/choreography and just anything I need to remember and just tell myself that it’s okay to mess up sometimes as long as you’re doing your best and to just try to give everyone the best show that I can.

Vocal class (ex. tenor, alto, mezzo, etc.)?: Mezzo-Soprano, maybe Soprano 2 on a very good day.

Dancer or mover?: MOVER

Favorite script-marking method (ex. page markers, highlight, underline, circling, etc.)?: I usually always use page markers (color-coated and marked with the song or scene if possible) so I can easily find a scene, and I like to highlight if it’s a copied script or one I’m allowed to mark permanent marks in, but if not I just underline and then make character notes on the sides.

Favorite tongue twister?: A Big Black Bug Bit a Big Black Bear (Bubblegum was one of my favorites growing up though).

Favorite warmup?: Lip trills and humming are amazing on the go and when you need a soft introduction/haven’t warmed up yet, and Never Never Never Never No (idk if anyone else knows it but it’s one from my vocal instructor) is always good in the type of young, sometimes bratty roles I play to get my mixed belt going.

Favorite part of being in a show?: I love the community it creates, every time I’m in a show I get to create and be a part of a little family and it’s a wonderful feeling. Performing just also gives me such a rush because I love creating and telling a story to people and evoking emotions in an audience and making people think and feel things, theatre can have such an impact and awake so many emotions in people and it’s so thrilling and exciting to get to be a part of that.

Least favorite part of being in a show?: A lot of times, especially in less professional theatre, there is a lot of drama that is caused that is hard to escape which can get super frustrating when you’re just trying to have a good time and put on a great show. It’s also really difficult when you have other things going on at the same time as when you’re in a show because, for me at least, I tend to focus most of my energy into a show, but then my outside work and obligations pile up and things can get really tiring and stressful.

Worst audition story?: There are so many. I’ve shaken and cried when I was younger though the whole thing, I’ve messed up lyrics, messed up accents, chosen terrible songs, I’ve literally had people on the production team tell me how bad my song choices were or say “I hate that song and I hate the musical it’s from” and I also completely chickened out at an audition once and had a panic attack in the bathroom and had to have my mom come pick me up.

Funny show story?: I probably have plenty but I can’t think of any off of the top of my head right now, but I literally have a full post of funny quotes (+more in the comments of said post) on my blog already from Heathers with things ranging from a full minute long Yea Boi to “You call capital letters thick?”

Tips/advice you have for anyone just starting in theatre/are thinking about trying out theatre (if any)?: If you’re passionate about it, don’t give up. You’re not gonna start out perfect, and most likely you’re never going to be 100% perfect, but you have to push yourself and keep trying no matter what. If you work hard and believe in yourself (as sappy as that sounds) it get you so much farther. You’re not gonna get every role, and not everyone is going to love you, but even when it seems like it’s hopeless and that you’ll never get a role or get cast and you’re doubting yourself and your talent, you have to keep pushing through and persevering. If you are passionate and determined enough, it pays off. It takes time, but never give up on your dreams, and never give up on yourself.

Why do you do theatre?: I kind of answered a bit above, but a huge part of it is because theatre has had such a big impact on my life and helped me through some pretty rough times and I want to share and help others as well. There are so many shows that have such powerful and important messages that deserve to be shared and heard and I love being the voice delivering them. It’s so exciting to get to build a world and a story and just take an audience on a journey. I’ve always loved becoming a completely different person and experiencing and developing a whole different world and view on life, it’s so exciting for me when I get to create a character’s history, psyche, and world. Most importantly though, theatre unites people. It’s a group of people experiencing the same thing through different eyes and different experiences, but still receiving the same ultimate messages. Theatre can make you laugh, theatre can make you cry. Theatre scares, theatre excites, theatre relates. Theatre brings awareness to issues from mental health to racial equality. There are characters for everyone- from a teenage boy with social anxiety to a high heel loving drag queen. I have seen theatre touch so many people’s lives and bring them hope when hope was gone, and I’m so blessed to be a part of that power and magic.

Wow that was very sappy and very rambly….. whoops?

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lawrenceseitz22 · 8 years ago

Text

Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 127

youtube

Click on the video above to watch Episode 127 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://ift.tt/1NZu6N2.

Announcement

Adam: All right. We are live. Welcome everybody, this is Hump Day Hangouts, episode 127. We have got everybody here, so let’s do a quick hello. I’m going to start, as I see everybody, and start with you Bradley. How’s it going?

Bradley: Good, man. How are you?

Adam: Not bad on this 12th of April, since I forgot to mention the date, it is going quite well.

Bradley: I’m glad to be here. I see we got some decent questions, already. We got just a few announcements, after introductions, ad we’ll get right on it.

Adam: Cool. All right. Chris, how’s it going, man?

Chris: Doing excellent.

Adam: Good deal. Hernan?

Hernan: Hey, everyone. I’m not feeling that good, but I’m happy to be, so I’m feeling slightly better since I’m on the Hump Day Hangout.

Adam: I feel bad I’m laughing, and I was just, oh, God, I’m on video. Anyway, sorry, Hernan, really. [crosstalk 00:00:51].

Bradley: [inaudible 00:00:53].

Adam: Yeah. Anyways, Marco, how’s it going?

Marco: Good, man. We’re in the middle of the rainy season in Costa Rica and it hasn’t rained in a week.

Adam: Outstanding. We’ll get into this with a few announcements, everybody. Then, we’ll dive into it. Like, Bradley said, we got a bunch of questions. If you’re new to Semantic Mastery, if you’re just seeing us, or this is one of your first Hump Day Hangouts, please check out Syndication Academy, I’ll pop the link on the page, you’ll see it in a minute. Then, also SERP Space, you can create your free account over there for done for you services, so please go check that out after the webinar. Let’s see. Real quick, we’ve got a replay going up, right, Bradley? Did you want to tell everyone about that?

Bradley: Yeah. We did the Rocket Video Ranker webinar with Bill Cousins and [inaudible 00:01:42] just the other day, I guess, it was Monday. This weeks a blur to me. It was a really good webinar. He’s got a really awesome app that they created like an instant authority injector, it’s like instant channel authority, that’s what it’s called. It’s really cool. I’ve been playing with it for about a little over a week, now, and I’ve set up multiple campaigns. I was kind of extending the case studies from the Live Rank Sniper case studies that I did as a bonus for this, as well as I added on some new case studies, as well, because it’s working really well.

What’s cool about it is you can actually upload a bunch of videos, and then set them to a brand new YouTube channel and without syndication network, or anything else, and then it’s just unique on how it activates, or makes all the videos public, and apparently that injects authority into the channel, and it makes the videos rank like crazy. I don’t understand how it works, or why, I mean, I understand how it works, but I don’t understand why it works so well, but it works really well. I’ve been using it a lot for the bonus, that webinar replay, we’ve got a link for that, the bonuses that we’ve thrown in were the case studies that I did, which are multiple case studies.

That training is being added to the bonus membership site, but all the other unannounced bonuses that are part of that membership site as well. Guys, check it out it was a rather short webinar, like an hour and 15 minutes, or something like that, but just go check it out and see even if you don’t end up purchasing the product, the technique is really, really cool and it works really well. It’s worth sitting through the webinar just to pick up that, if nothing else. Okay?

Adam: Awesome. Cool. We got that link, I think I just put it on, so go check it out after this, it’s really cool. Marco, word on the street is that there might be a webinar, or something with you involved, I’m not sure. What’s going on, there?

Marco: Not only, me, but I’m getting, Hernan, has just been volunteered to come on and help me out, because really the last two seem kind of disjointed, I mean, people, I don’t know why, but somehow they didn’t get the message. Right? Some people said it’s fabulous, a lot of people said, yeah, I got it and I went, and I started looking, so they did actually what this is for. It’s fr you to think, go research, and then do. Right? It’s not for me to do it for you. If you want me to do it for you, you’re welcome to pay me my $750.00 an hour for consultation, if not, then you go do it, which is what I’ve had to do for the last what, 14, 15 years. Right?

Nobody showed me, or told me, or took me under their wing and said this is how you do it, guy. I had to go and read and put it all together. Anyway, the webinar is training, think, apply, make money, lather, rinse, repeat, the Semantic Mastery way. Right? Just a quick going over what we’ll be doing? I will be revisiting entity creation, validation, and verification, iframes, java script, training the bot, and JSON-LD, JSON, plus LD, plus content, which is our two pronged approach to how we just slam everything, and then, I will be going over whose way is the best way. It’s not what you think.

Bradley: Okay. Far enough. Next.

Marco: Your muted Adam.

Adam: Yeah. I’m doing a horrible job of pressing a button, today. Since, Hernan got voluntold into this, Hernan, I think is going to have something special, too, maybe at that webinar. Right?

Hernan: Yeah. Definitely. We are getting close to launch the Battle Plan and that’s part of the Semantic Mastery way, because actually in that Battle Plan it’s the step by step on how to pretty much [inaudible 00:05:50] a niche, even if it’s for aged sites, for new sites, for local sites, for YouTube videos, we have everything in there, so it was, you know we were having a lot of questions about, I love you guys, and I love your content. You have a shit ton of content, but I need a step by step, blueprint, if you will, so that’s exactly why we decided to put together on that Battle Plan, and that’s going to be presented alongside Marco’s genius rambling on Monday, on the webinar. Yeah.

Adam: Awesome. If you’re there you’re definitely going to get something special, so I’ll just leave it at that, and [crosstalk 00:06:31].

Bradley: It only took us three years to create the Battle Plan. We’ve been talking about it for three years.

Adam: Now, we got it.

Bradley: [crosstalk 00:06:39]. I’m anxious to have that out, too, because it’s just something that we just never did, and we finally actually, Hernan, really put it together, so hats off to you, Hernan. Thanks for doing that.

Adam: Yeah. Definitely. I’ve got my Nike shoe phones on. Thank you, Wayne. I’m going to real quick drop a link in, I suggest you guys check it out, it’s free. First three chapters of a book from the CEO of ClickFunnels, and you can check that out, obviously you got to give me your email, but you can go check that out. It’s about building movements, building business, a real business. Things like that. Just check it out, I’m not going to go into details if that sounds interesting to you by all means, go check it out and I believe the full book is either out this week or next week, so do yourself a favor, if you don’t like it, you invested an email address, if you do like it, you’re going to get some good info out of it.

Bradley: Wayne’s still picking on you.

Adam: He is. If I had more time I would turn this into talking about my headphones, but-

Bradley: It’s awesome, though.

Adam: Let’s get into it.

Bradley: Nobody is safe from the wrath of Wayne. All right. I think I’m going to grab the screen, now, guys. Are we ready?

Adam: Yes.

Bradley: All right. Otherwise, I’m just going to sit here and read the chat box. You guys can hear me?

Adam: Got you.

Marco: There we go.

Bradley: Okay. All right. Cool. By the way, just to comment on Adam’s mention of the expert secrets book, yeah, guys, if you’re not already familiar with Russell Brunson, and the whole ClickFunnels movement, and everything, you should become familiar, and this is an excellent opportunity to do so, with that book, because it’s really been a transformative application that we use for our business, ClickFunnels has been, and it’s a great company, they’ve got a lot of vision, and stuff, and so we fully support them as well, because it’s been such a blessing to have in our own business, so it’s a good opportunity to check out what they’ve got going on, and learn some, from a really great marketer of our time. Definitely check it out. All right.

[inaudible 00:08:51] is up,

Should The Blog Post With Embedded Youtube Videos Have Different Content In Order To Not Be A Duplicate?

he says, “Hey guys. I’m syndicating content from both the brand website and YouTube channels. The brand is a website, and YouTube. How much would be the minimum to change the blog post from just plain embedding the YouTube videos? Would it be enough to add X amount of words extra, next to the video, like transcribing or just posting the same content in a blog format, or should the blog post have different content in order to not be a duplicate? Thanks.” You know, you can do a transcription, that fine, that’s what I do with a lot of my client sites.

For example, some of my clients, actually, you know, most of my clients are in the contracting industry, so they do home services, so like HVAC services, and plumbing, and things like that. Some of my clients, not all of them, because some of them just refuse to do it, but some of them have their technicians go, and I trained them to do this, but it’s very simple, for example, a plumbing company they send one of their plumbers out to a job, and once they get to the job and they access what it is, or they complete the job, do the repair work, or whatever it is they pull out their cell phone and they record a short video, saying, hey, this is John from Joe’s Plumbing, I’m out on location, in Fairfax County, Virginia. I got a call for a leaky facet, this was the problem that I found, this is what I did to fix it, if you have any problems similar to requiring facet repair, call Joe’s Plumbing at, and they give the call to action.

They send me those videos, and I upload, optimize them and upload them to YouTube and then create the blog posts out of those with the transcription. Essentially, I just send the link over to a transcription service, have them transcribe the video, which is generally about a minute to a minute and a half long. It costs me like a $1.50 or three bucks to get the thing transcribed, and when I get it back, I add that as the content, or my VA will do it, or one of my VA’s will do it, but they’ll create a blog post with the video embedded, and then the transcription underneath. That’s great, because that works really well. Now, there’s really not a way that you can automate that. I automate it through a virtual assistant. That’s my way automating it. I don’t know a way to do that using IFTTT, so if you want to add the additional content, that’s fine, transcription works, great. However, it would be a manual process. Right?

One of the reasons why our YouTube syndication applets, from IFTTT, those auto syndication applets don’t include the description, for example of the videos, and why we will always just put this video was, it can also be seen on YouTube here, and you put the YouTube link and maybe the channel link, or a playlist link, but that’s it. The reason why is because through the many, many networks that I have had and tested over the years, I was finding that when you import the description, and you can change the applet, by the way. But, we have the applet setup with ingredients that work the best, that produce, that don’t cause any problems for your blog sites. What I was having problems with, was at one point in time I had a really large, what I called a video broadcasting network, consider it like a PBN, but it was used specifically for just video syndication sites. Okay?

We would, I would, syndicate, and because the way I would set up those video broadcasting network sites, again, similar to PBN’s but they were self hosted WordPress sites on domains that I had picked up, like expired domains and stuff like that, and build out these syndication networks using the self hosting WordPress site as the trigger point. Right? I would have YouTube, actually, every time I would upload a video to a particular channel it would syndicate out automatically to all these WordPress sites. Then, the WordPress site would trigger the IFTTT network around it. Right? They were random, some of the would import video description, some would not. What happened was through one of Google’s de-indexing spree’s that it goes on from time to time, I got hit, my video broadcasting networks got hit, and all the sites that had been importing the descriptions got the indexed, all of the sites that did not import the descriptions, that only hd a YouTube video, so essentially the embed code, and a link to the video itself, and then a link back to the channel, and/or playlist. All of those survived. It was the same network, which was interesting.

It led me to obviously understand that Google does not like republishing or posting of the video descriptions, and I can understand why, because they can be a bit spammy. Right? We drop links and all kinds of stuff into the description, and so it comes out looking spammy, and so that’s why I stopped doing it and why all of the applets that we provide don’t pull in the description. The reason why I tell you that is because if you’re creating videos on the front end, and let’s say that you already have, let’s say it’s a recorded video, where you’ve already written a script for example, and now you get the video created or recorded, and then you go to add the video to YouTube, well, you already had the transcription at that point. Right? Or, you can record a video, or have a video produced, and get it transcribed, and when you upload it to YouTube you can add your transcription as the video description.

That’s the only way I would know how to automate it, is if you had the transcription before you upload it to YouTube. Does that make sense? Otherwise, if you upload the video first then have it transcribed, well when it uploads it’s going to automatically syndicate through your networks, so then you’d have to go in and manual edit your blog post on your money site or whatever. That wouldn’t include the transcription across all those other properties, either. Does that make sense? The only way for you to syndicate the video plus the description with a transcription, I should say, is if you were to have that prepared a head of time, before you upload the video, which would trigger the syndication to begin with. Okay? It’s fine guys if you want to include that and do that kind of stuff on the front end. I don’t recommend syndicating a video with, use the applets the way we have them, I mean, you can test, and you can play around with them, but just know the reason we set those applets up the way we did was there was a reason for it, and the reason that I just gave you. Okay?

As far as this, again, I would recommend that you would either just upload the video using the applets the way that they are, and then go back on the money site blog, and edit the post manually, and it’s something a VA could do where they could add the transcription. That way across all the syndication points its just the video embed and the links back. Right? That’s it, but then on the blog itself, which is a money site, yeah, that’s fine to put the transcription there. That’s how I would prefer to do it, as opposed to even transcribing a head of time, before syndicating, because then you end up having that, again, the additional text underneath the video, even though the transcription probably isn’t as spammy as a normal YouTube description. I still would, because I know of those types of syndication points getting shut down when the text is imported, as well. I just prefer to avoid that and make sure that it’s just the YouTube embed and a link back to the video and/or the playlist and/or channel. Okay? All right. Hopefully, that one was cleared up.

Should You Add 100-200 Properties Linked To Our Youtube Account To Get A Real Boost On Videos Syndicated Through IFTTT?

Alexander says, “I read somewhere that we should have a 100 to 200 properties linked to our YouTube account to get a real boost on video syndicated through IFTTT, I’m beginning on video SEO, now, and loving the speed, and just got a little bit confused about it.” Well, it depends, Alexander. My most powerful networks have over 200 properties, because generally for anything that I’m going to be like any industry or niche that I’m going to be serious about, I start off with a minimum of three two tier networks. That’s just because we have the infrastructure and the building team, and everything, it’s simple for me to just say, look, I need three full two tier networks, and a week later I’ve got them. You know?

If I’m going to be real serious about something, and remember guys a full two tier network is anywhere between 80 to 90 properties. Right? Even at 80, at the low end of it, we’re looking at 240 properties if you’ve got three full two tier networks. That is true in that my most powerful networks are generally in that range or so, but I know I have some syndication networks that are just tier one that have been powered up and have had consistent posting over time, and they’ve just gotten powerful because of that, because they are all themed really well, and they’ve got history.

It really just depends. I mean, if you’re starting off with newer networks that aren’t themed or don’t have a lot of life and history to them, if that makes sense, then what you want, you can add more networks, which will be more syndication points, or you can power them up with links and other various things that you can do to power up the networks. You can do one, or the other. If you’re starting off probably right off the bat you’re going to get faster results with more syndication points, but over the long run, it’s actually better in my opinion to power up existing networks because that helps the video ranks, whatever results the networks provide by syndicating to them, it helps to keep those results to stick better. Does that make sense? In other words, the more syndication points you add to a network, the faster the results typically are, but if it’s new then the results can slip rather quickly, as well. Meaning, you get initial really good results, but then they’ll start to drop.

Obviously, it’s going to depend on many, many other variables, guys, but I’m saying just on the way that my data has trended it shows that. That’s why if you have a powered up network, typically the results that the syndication provides will stick for longer. All right? Way back when we had the first version of Syndication Academy out I mentioned that, because I mentioned that for example you could stack multiple tier one networks, first tier networks to a YouTube channel and you’d get faster ranking results that way than using two tier networks, so what I’m saying is let’s say you had 10 single ring tier one networks that you wanted attached to one YouTube channel, right, that would be essentially what 200 properties, roughly 200 properties. That’s going to get you really fast results, but a lot of the times those results will start to slip somewhat quickly.

It would be better, instead of having 10 tier one networks, it would be better to say, let’s say you had three full two tier networks, which would be 12 networks, but the two tier networks tend to help the video rankings to stick longer. That’s been something that I’ve noticed for years. Again, with my own data if I can theme a network and power it up with links and then continue to publish to that it seems to get a lot stronger whether you have more and more syndication properties or not. At some point it’s like a level of diminishing returns. Right? Once you cross that point it’s really unnecessary to add additional syndication points. I think it’s better to power up what you already have. If that makes sense. Okay? Anyways, you can play around with that. Yeah. Obviously if you’re just starting off with new networks, more is better. More points are better. All right.

IFTTT Properties & NAP Citations For Local Sites

Next is, “Is those IFTTT properties a good place to add any IFTTT citations for local sites? Same thing with PR, NAP, and embeds.” I guess PR, must be press release. Yeah. Guys, anytime you can drop an NAP citation into a post or anything like that, as long as it’s not been like spammed into it, like if you have a good call to action at the end of a post and you want to drop the NAP that’s a good place to do it. Those all count as citations, guys. You can have a citation on a blogger site, and a Tumbler site. Yeah. If you want to drop an NAP into blog post that’s perfectly fine.

Same thing with press releases, guys. Most press release companies are going to have a section where you put your contact company details anyways, the NAP details, especially and even more and more PR sites now are actually allowing structured data for that so you can mark that up the NAP details with the local business markup, or it’s done on the backend, in other words, there just text fields, you enter in the company data and the PR company adds the structured data for where it’s published on their site. Now, the syndication points, the press cables that pick them up, most of those will strip that out, but it doesn’t matter you still end up with the NAP details, citation details, it’s just an unstructured citation at that point. It’s absolutely valuable to do that. Make sure you’re using a lot of brand anchors for that, though, you don’t want to use keywords and stuff. All right.

Next one. “Is it better to have,” and we’re going to skip probably, I don’t know, how many questions do we have? Because we got some people that posted a lot of questions in a row, guys, and we cannot do that. We need to split the questions up, so that it’s fair for everybody. I’m going to answer this one, if we have time, we’ll come back and answer is next one. “Is it better to have more accounts as tier one to the YouTube channel, or have one and a few tier one rings, and then add the bulk?” Yeah. I already answered that one, Alexander. Again, you’re going to get faster results with more tier one properties, but your results will stick longer if you use tier two.

I don’t go out to tier three, because there’s just too many, it’s too many steps chained together that if something goes wrong anywhere it breaks down the whole system, so I don’t do that. I don’t do tier three. I mean, I’ve done it, but I don’t do it, because it’s too many moving pieces, in other words. I like to go out to tier two and that’s the extent. If I want more and more, I just add more networks, more tier one’s and tier two’s. I don’t bring it out to tier three. I haven’t seen any benefit in doing that, and it’s just more work and more hassle. Okay. Like I said, if we have time, Alexander, we’ll come back.

Do You Focus On The Main City Or Do You Focus The Root Domain On Anything At All (Maybe States)?

Don’s up. Don Johnson. That’s awesome. He says, “I understand the concept of using city subdomains for local businesses, but then for the root domain, do you focus on the main city or do you just focus it on anything at all, maybe state?” Don, I always just use that as like the brand site. If there’s a corporate headquarters then that’s what I’ll target the site, the root domain for, will be like the corporate site, so it will, if there’s a corporate headquarters like a physical location, then I will reserve the root domain for that. If you are using, we can talk about structured data again, but if you’re using organizational markup and then you have separate locations, then, you would use the root domain for that. Then, all your separate locations would be listed on subdomains, if that makes sense. That’s typically how I do it.

If you don’t have a corporate headquarters, then you can use, in other words if you’ve got all of your locations already built out on subdomains then just use the root domain, at least this is the way I do it, I just use the root domain as literally like a brand website, and it’s more or less just a billboard, like an online flyer that says this is who we are this is what we do, and the pages on the site are the locations page, the about us page, and the contact us page. That’s it. That’s all that’s necessary. Unless, you’re going to be blogging from the root domain to the tier one branded network for all of the subdomain locations in which case you want to have a blog and you want to have categories to match each one of the locations, so that whenever you create a post and if you’re blogging from the root domain to do all your link building and content syndication from one website, and from one WordPress site as opposed to multiple subdomains. That’s how I do it, for the most part, guys.

We talk about this all the time, but when you have multiple locations, I always try to just build the single tier branded syndication network and then do all of my blogging from the root domain to cover all the subdomain locations, and then after a period of time, and syndicating multiple posts, and checking rankings, and that kind of stuff you’ll notice that some of the locations will respond well to that, but then some of the subdomain locations won’t, and the ones that need the additional push, you can always go out and create locations specific syndication networks for those subdomains that need the extra push, and then blog directly from those subdomains. Remember, try to get the best results with the minimum amount of work. One branded network is all that’s needed for multi location, your blog from the root domain, cover all of your subdomains from that same blog just make sure you match categories with locations. If that makes sense.

Marco: If I could just add something, one of the basic principles of our Syndication Academy and RYS Academy is to brand. We create a brand and we associate the brand, the keywords to the band, we don’t just chase keywords, we don’t just chase location plus keywords we actually teach you, or tell you, build your brand and then-

Bradley: Right.

Marco: Associate the keywords to it, that’s why what we do works so well. That’s what sets us apart from everybody else, because there’s hardly anyone online, right now, teaching you to do it like the big boys do it. Create your brand, associate the keywords to the brand, and then everything else just flows in. Whatever you do, after that, whether you’re blogging or doing a podcast, whatever it is that you’re doing, in your social media, whatever, it’s always pushing the brand and the keywords. The brand and the services. The brand and your product. It’s brand, brand, brand, and then the bot, once you hit it over the head enough, it’s smart enough, oh, okay, so I need to associate this brand with this set of keywords and that’s when the magic starts happening, when the bot, I call it training the bot, but when the bots been trained that way then all sorts of good stuff starts, it just starts to happen.

Bradley: Yeah. Totally agree. That’s part of what we talked about with the Crowd Search webinar is that association that is made by the algorithm, I mean RankBrain, guys, it learns. Right? It’s machine learning, but it’s learning nonetheless. Over time with those associations are made and stored, so it ends up adding weight to the site. How I was introduced into the concept was called site weight. All things being equal if you add two, let’s just say plumbing sites that had the same, you know, virtually, or comparably the same SEO and the same off page SEO. I know this is obviously hypothetical, because it’s damn near impossible for that to be the case.

If those two were the same, everything else was virtually the same, then the site that had more brand mentions and more navigational searches, which people like searching for the company name, the company name contact information, company name, location, that kind of stuff, that site will out rank the other one, every time, because it’s getting more weight by Google, in other words, it’s a more authoritative brand. The algorithm determines that through search history and a lot of the other things, the semantic relationships and all that stuff, and that’s in part why it works so well, so thank you Marco for bringing that up.

Don, yeah, this last thing is on the main domain, that’s what I’m talking about, anything you’re talking about smaller city pages that aren’t worth an entire subdomain. I get that. That’s fine. That’s absolutely fine to do that on the root domain. I would just have a locations page that also links out and use the organizational structure data markup. Then, you can, I cannot show you an example, I wish I could, but I do that for some of my sites that have multiple locations. You set a locations page, you mark everything up, you list all of your locations, everything is marked up correctly. It’s very, very powerful. Then, like I said, the root domain you just focus on, if you have a physical location for a corporate headquarters, you make the root specifically about that, but you can have all the other locations listed, like I said.

If you have smaller city pages and stuff that aren’t worthy of a subdomain, like you mentioned, that’s fine. You can put all those on the root domain, as well. What I would recommend with that though, that’s why I said, you don’t for a lot of times, and I don’t want to over complicate this, because I don’t know how experienced you are, Don, but a lot of times people will put local business structure data with JSON LD markup in the site header, which is fine, but in a case like this where you are going to have a locations page and potentially smaller city pages hosted on the root domain, you don’t want to do that. What you want to do is on the locations page use the structured data markup, and that’s fine. Guys, as per Google’s best practices when it comes to structured data, they say it doesn’t have to be on every page of the site. It only needs to be on a locations, about, or contact page. That’s it.

Google will read, as long as you don’t have bot blockers on there, Google will read it and will recognize and associate that business with that markup. If that makes sense. For something like that, you don’t want to put it in site wide, is what I’m saying. You want to add that code specifically to the locations page and then for each one of your smaller city pages I would inject structured data into each one of those individual pages for that specific location. If you don’t have, you say smaller city pages, they might not have physical locations, anyways. If that makes sense. All right.

We could go into a whole, maybe some day we’ll do a separate webinar just on structured data stuff, because I know we get questions about that all the time, too.

Do You Add A Link To Your Money Site Using A Keyword From The Text In The Curated Post?

James says, “If you curate content on a web two from another source, can you add a link to your money site using a keyword from the text in the curated post, as well as linking back to the source, of course?” James, I don’t do that. I don’t edit or modify the text that I’m curating at all. I don’t know what the legalities are of that, because I don’t know, I don’t do it. Does anybody else have a clear answer for that?

Marco: I would say that you’re changing, if you’re adding a direct quote right from that website and you change it, then it’s no longer.

Bradley: That’s right.

Marco: A direct quote. I mean, I know it’s not best practices when you’re writing something up, so I don’t see why you would want to do that anyway. I don’t know what it is that he’s looking to accomplish by doing that. I’m not sure. You don’t need to. You just do the proper citation and you move on. You don’t want to-

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: Give yourself extra work, because it works perfectly well.

Bradley: James, the only reason why I would see if you were curating content from another source on your own blog, for you to change the text and add a link is just so that you can link back to whatever, and drive visitors through that link to wherever you are trying to send them, or for SEO purposes, but the point is you’ve got your commentary section, that’s the content that you write, or that your team writes, or whatever, your writer, your curator, that’s what they write in between curating sections of the post. Right? That’s what’s called commentary. In those commentary sections you can create links to whatever you want.

You can use the anchor text links, whatever types of links, whatever types of anchor text you can send people wherever you want. I’d recommend not altering the curated content at all. Curate it exactly as it was written, where it was originally published and then cite the source where it was published and then add your link into the commentary section. There’s really no reason that I know of without knowing more about your specific situation, James. There’s no reason for you to edit the curated content. I recommend that you don’t do that, because again, I don’t know what the legalities are, but I wouldn’t want to alter it in any way. Okay?

How To Syndicate Content To A Jimdo Website?

Ivan says, “Hey, guys. I asked a couple weeks ago on number 126, is it worth the effort to treat tier one blog components as money sites? I took the time to build a website on Jimdo.com, and I saw some back links inside my search console. How can we post to it automatically if it’s not inside IFTTT?” Ivan, that’s a good question. You’d have to look for potentially maybe another application that would connect with Jimdo, IFTTT does not. I don’t know if Zapier does. There’s also another similar service called Delvr.it, D-E-L-V-R dot I-T, I think it is.

Those are all services similar to IFTTT. You might want to check and see if Jimdo connects with any of those. I don’t know if it does or not, but if it doesn’t then you cannot. I mean, there might be a plugin that will post to Jimdo, as well from a WordPress site, but I don’t know that. I don’t know of any off the top of my head, but that doesn’t matter, I mean, you can still use Jimdo, you just won’t be able to use it as part of your syndication network, but you can still use it as a tier one link. It just won’t be an automated thing, unless you can find an app that does it. Okay.

Marco: I think there’s a plugin that does that. I cannot remember what the name of it is, off the top of my head.

Bradley: Does Snap do it?

Hernan: Yeah. Maybe, Snap does it.

Bradley: [crosstalk 00:35:09] plugin.

Hernan: Yeah.

Marco: There’s a bunch of them out there. I mean, they’ve come up with a bunch of others that could possibly do it. There’s one called Hyper Social Buffer, I think it is. I’m not sure whether it does it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know, which networks this post to, guys, but next scripts, Social Networks Auto-Poster, I know that’s one that a lot of people use for stuff. I mean, that’s all you got to do, Ivan, is just go digging around see what you can find. There might be a plugin on another app that will do it. If IFTTT doesn’t do it, you got to look for another solution. If you cannot find one that will work, then, again, you can still use Jimdo as a tier one property, it just won’t be an auto syndication point. Okay.

Do You Have Any Kind Of Index Or Searchable Database Of The Time Stamps With Topic For All Of The Past Hump Day Hangouts?

All right. Columbia’s got several in a row. We’ll try to run through a couple of them. “Do you have any kind of index or searchable database so that time stamps with topic for all the past Hump Day Hangouts, there is so much great info here it would be great to have.” The only thing that you can do, Columbia, and we add time stamps, which helps quite a bit, but the only thing you can do is just use the search function in the YouTube channel. If we go over here, we’ll go to [crosstalk 00:36:23]-

Adam: We do have them in a playlist, though, so you can at least go into the playlist.

Bradley: Yeah. If you go to view channel, so just go to YouTube.com look for Semantic Mastery, it will come right up, and then right here when you click on the channel you’ll see this little spyglass icon, you click on that, it says search channel, and that’s where you can type in your query and because we add timestamps the YouTube search function within our channel works fairly well. I know the YouTube search is kind of shitty overall in YouTube for the most part, but it works fairly well on our channel, because we actually add the timestamps to all of our videos. Okay. That’s the best thing we-

Marco: I think you can also do a playlist search. If you go to a playlist, to Hump Day Hangout playlists, I think you can search the playlist.

Bradley: It says search channel. I don’t know how to search playlists. Yeah. I don’t see a specific search for playlists. There might be a function, I just never seen it. Anyways. Yeah. Personally, I would just search the channel, but if there is this playlist search function, then try that, too, I suppose. Okay. All right.

What Is The Maximum Number Of Separate Tags That Are Safe To Use?

Next. “With regard to tag stuffing, how many separate tags would be the maximum? Be safe.” I don’t know, Columbia, honestly, I’ve never stuffed enough tags into a YouTube video. I’ve just never been real heavy on doing a whole bunch of tags, because I always try to keep my tags very focused around the singular keyword that I’m trying to rank for. Right? I don’t know. Does anybody else here know how many tags? Personally, like I said, I usually will keep it to about five to eight tags and they’re usually very focused around my primary keyword that I’m trying to rank for. Anybody else got an answer for that?

Marco: No.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I haven’t heard of any hard and fast rule. I would probably go by user experience and finding your niche, and keep it pretty simple.

Bradley: Yeah. I mean, all I do Columbia is, well there’s a few things that you can do. One is if you use the plugin TubeBuddy, TubeBuddy's a great plugin, which will show you the tags of similar videos, what their tags are and it will show you the popularity of that tag. In other words, how often those tags occur in similar videos, that kind of stuff, so that you can figure out which are the most weighted tags, or the most common tags so that you can match those. TubeBuddy is a great tool for that. It’s a Chrome plugin, or it’s a YouTube plugin, I guess. Anyways, it’s called TubeBuddy, check that out. It’s pretty cool. There’s some other tools that do similar stuff where they’ll like scrap tags.

Lisa Allen has one, it’s called, TubeViperX I’ve seen the icon over here, it’s called TubeViperX, so she’s got one. There’s another one called, Tuberank Jeet, or something like that. I don’t know. There’s a bunch of tools out there that you can find that are like tag scrappers, and some of the tools will show you the tags in order of priority, and that kind of stuff. You can use stuff like that, but typically, for me, personally whatever my primary keyword is I usually end up adding that tag as well as any local modifiers as individual tags like the city names, and then a couple slight variations of my primary keyword. The most closely related variations, and that’s it. My tag list for any given video is usually no more than eight tags. It’s anywhere between five to eight tags, tops, and that’s because I am always trying to hyper focus around one singular keyword for each video. Okay. That’s just the way that I’ve done it for years.

Marco: I have an idea for Columbia. All of our videos on YouTube, or on the playlist, they’re titled Hump Day Hangouts, Hump Day and then Hangouts, one word, [inaudible 00:40:37] and look for the keyword and that’ll search the Hump Day videos.

What Is The Effect Of Changing/Approving Tags After A Live Stream Video in YouTube?

Bradley: Cool. Awesome. Thanks. All right. “Is there any problem with changing and approving tags after you’ve live streamed a video channel?” No, Columbia, not at all. You can go in and edit those at any time. That’s not going to hurt anything. I’ve played around with like if a video doesn’t rank, is it ranking as well as I want, you can go in and kind of mess around with the tags a little bit, but give it a few days and see what happens, because a lot of times you won’t see changes. I’m not saying changing the tags is going to have any effect on your video, all I know is I’ve done that, and I’ve added tags or removed tags, or replaced tags, and I’ve seen movement. Just to let you know, it’s not going to effect anything. I mean, it could affect a video negatively, but you just have to play with it and see. If that was the case, you just switch it back to what it was before. All right. Look at that, that’s Napoleon Dynamite’s profile [inaudible 00:41:31], that’s awesome.

Ranking Using 301 Redirects

Joe T, says, “What’s the best way to rank using 301 redirects?” Well, there’s so many different answers for that. 301 redirects can be used for a million things. We use them for Switchbox SEO, mainly. Terry Kyle, coined that term, Switchbox SEO, so you can go to Terry Kyle’s blog and read about it. We were using 301 redirects anyways, but that kind of really opened up a whole lot of doors for us, as far as, things that we do with 301’s. We used to use 301’s for a lot of real nasty stuff, we still do, for a lot of real nasty stuff, but not in the same way that we used to. I like to use 301’s obviously for cloning the sites and building links to my domain as opposed to my clients domains. That way I keep some level of control, in case they don’t need me anymore.

We can use 301 redirects, what’s great about 301 redirects is if you do all your link building to a domain that you have full capability of removing redirects or redirecting somewhere else, then that’s why it’s called Switchbox SEO, because it’s like you can turn it on and off at any moment. If you’re doing something particularly nasty and it ends up causing some problems, you can just open that redirect. It’s just like opening a switch. Right? It cuts that negative link juice off from whatever the destination was, where the redirect was. There’s a lot of stuff that you can do with 301 redirects. Again, we could cover that for an hour, and that’s a little bit too broad of a question for here. You guys want to comment on that, at all?

Hernan: Yeah. If it’s cheap, since we are doing it with X, Y, Z, or dot links, or whatever you want to do, if it’s cheap, and if it can protect you, go ahead. Why not? Some people will, I usually like to do it with domains that I can own, and that I can control.

Bradley: Right.

Hernan: That’s why I’m saying dot, X, Y, Z dot link, you can do it with URL shorteners, but most of the time you cannot change the destinations and you do not control them. You know?

Bradley: Right.

Hernan: Some people will actually go ahead and make the mistake of doing [inaudible 00:43:51], which we do not recommend, if you’re doing nasty stuff, unless you are a part of RYS Academy of course where Marco will teach how to go through that flawlessly, but in any case, I would suggest that you go with X, Y, Z domain, dot link domain, cheap one dollar a year domain that you can reuse, that you can spam, and it doesn’t hurt you.

Bradley: Yeah. Okay. “I get emails promoting XRumer backlinks, can you rank today with XRumer links, and if so, how, without getting penalized?” No. I wouldn’t do it, Joe. It depends on if you’re spamming a web two property, for example, that’s one thing. If you’re spamming a citation, or a press release, again, that’s one thing, but I wouldn’t be trying, I would have XRumer backlinks pointed within three tiers of my, within two tiers for sure of my money site. It’s just spam. I mean, look, guys, and when I say XRumer links, I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t XRumer links mainly blog comments, and forum profiles, and stuff? Isn’t it like real spam stuff? I don’t use XRumer, that’s why I’m asking.

Marco: I haven’t used it in so long, that’s how it was. It was mainly comment spam.

Bradley: Yeah.

Hernan: Yeah. Comment spam. All the way. I mean, they still work, but as far as possible from your money site.

Bradley: Right.

Hernan: You know? We still use Spam Tools, but as far as possible from the money site. More over now that we feel now, Marco came with the news of saying, hey, guys, you know, Google is going two or three tiers deep, so if you can go for tier four, or tier five for XRumer that would be a good idea, actually.

Bradley: Yeah. You can use them for example, like YouTube videos, man, I know I’ve ranked YouTube videos using nothing but comments, before. It’s been a while, I haven’t attempted it in quite a some time, but I mean, YouTube videos like press releases, citations, things like that, that can withstand that kind of spam. Yeah. But, remember we always talk about treating your tier one properties as extensions of your brand, so in other words if you want to spam a citation, make sure that it’s a no follow link to your money site, for example.

Because you don’t want to spam something with a do follow link, a tier one property with a whole bunch of comment spam it can end up hurting your money site, the final destination. You don’t want to do that. If you got a press release, or something like that, that you’re just wanting to push up and spam it, most of those types of cites will withstand it, that kind of abuse, but again we recommend not spamming your tier one properties, for the most part, because you want to treat those as extensions of your brand. Tier two, fine, if you want to spam your tier two properties, do it.

Marco: If I can clarify. We’re not saying that spam doesn’t work, because we still use GSA. In fact, we use fiver GSA gigs and the links come back showing adult business, which means porn. Right? [inaudible 00:47:15]. They use porn links to drop our links in, and this still works like gangbusters, it still ranks, but you have to know what you’re doing. We throw a double spam filter in, so that the links come through squeaky clean. If you don’t know or don’t understand what I just said, don’t do it, because you’ll get in trouble.

Bradley: All right. Toby’s up, “Do you use aggregate rating? Have you ever seen the results in Google that have the star ratings on them, like the image below, image of a four out of five star rating on a website. Pretty badass. Right? Did you know that those are actually super easy to get, and Project Supremacy Plugin can do that for you in about 60 seconds.” Okay. I haven’t played with Project Supremacy Plugin in quite some time. We have it. I just haven’t messed with it. “Yes, the site above got its reviews and star rating generated with the plugin.” Okay. Let’s see. “How do you get those star ratings to show up? It’s actually through a very specific JSON-LD scheme attack, aggregate rating.” Yeah. That’s right. That’s been part of that plugin since it was launched. Right?

Yeah. I’m familiar with that. I’ve got a client site that we tried a million things with that we just cannot get the star ratings to show though, including Project Supremacy plugin, it hasn’t worked for that. I’ve banged my head against the wall for months with that site, and we still cannot get it to work. The particular schema tag is read by your site on Google star rating with amazing ease.” It sure sounds like a pitch, but anyways, I don’t see a link, so we’re going to move on. It’s a decent plugin guys, there’s no doubt. This really isn’t the place to-

Marco: Yeah.

Bradley: Promote the shit out of somebody else’s stuff.

Marco: Yeah. This is not the place for that, for somebody else’s and not only that since most of the people on Hump Day are beginners. They’re going to go and spam away with five star ratings, and get a schema spam penalty for fake five star ratings, fake reviews-

Bradley: Structured data spam.

Marco: Structured data spam.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: Absolutely. It’s a great way to get yourself in trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Bradley: That’s right. I know, because I’ve gotten those manual spam action notifications in search consoles that says, structured data spam. You can get them cleaned up and reversed, but why would you want to raise a red flag? I’m not saying, don’t use the stuff guys, just use it correctly. Use it right. For example, I’ve got a client that has an ungodly amount of real reviews from real customers, and we’re having a hard time getting it to show on his site, so that’s not structured data spam, but I have gotten that manual spam action through search console before and so have many others.

Marco: Just to finish this up. How many real people give everything five stars? I mean, real people give everything five stars and a review, just these fabulous reviews that just don’t look natural. You got to think of it that way, what looks natural?

Bradley: Yeah. We’re almost out of time. There’s the five minute warning. I’m going to roll through just a couple very quickly. Columbia’s got several here, again. Columbia, just for next time, I don’t remember seeing your name before, so I’m sure you didn’t know. Toby, thank you by the way for mentioning that, just split your questions up, so it allows other people to get their questions in as well. It’s only fair. All right?

Can You Have Multiple Verified Websites For Cards And End Screens?

Columbia says, “I wanted to have an end screen link from the YouTube video directly to my author, clients, books page on Amazon, however, Amazon, is not on the approved vendor list for YouTube. Is there a way to link directly out to the end screens, or do I have to go through another site, and then from that site send it to Amazon?”

What I recommend, Columbia, is set up a bridge page, which in other words, a page on one of your domains, that you can add as an associated website, and I saw your questions above these, so this will make sense in a minute, but if you add your own domain as an associated website, then you can use the end screens and cards to link directly to any page on that domain. Then, you can have the call to action on that page with the link that clicks over to the Amazon page. Does that make sense? You send people to a page that has maybe some more information about the product, the book, whatever, in your case it sounds like a book, and then from there you have a button or a link that links over to the actual Amazon product page. Does that make sense? It’s a two steep, because you cannot link directly to Amazon, because you don’t own that domain. Does that make sense? All right.

Next, Columbia says, “Can I have multiple verified websites for cards and end screens?” Yes, Columbia. Inside YouTube, excuse me, let me jump over here, real quick. That’s why I want to answer these questions, because I know these are questions that a lot of people ask about. Go to your dashboard, and then go to channel, and you want to go to advanced, and you’re going to scroll down, and right here where you see associated website, you add your domain in there and click add, or whatever the button says at that moment.

Then, what you have to do is make sure the domain is connected within the same Google account to Google search console. You have to verify and connect, well, connect and verify your website to Google search console within the same account as your YouTube channel. Okay. I mean, you can do it if you’re adding another account as a manager, you can do all that kind of stuff, but just because yours is new, I recommend using the same Google account for the search console verifying your website, there.

Once you verify it, you come back over here and you refresh the page, or it will say, or it will have a verified button, you click verify and it will turn green and say, success. Now, if you want to add another website, you can add as many websites as you want, at least as far as I know, I’ve never run out of, I’ve never been told that I cannot add another verified website. You just click remove, and you add the next site again. That does not remove it as an associated website. It’s still connected and can still be used, even though you clicked the remove button, it can still be used and now you just add another domain in here and click add and it will say verify, and it will prompt you to add the next domain to the search console. That’s it. You can have multiple domains, that are called associated websites. All right? That’s perfectly fine to do.

What Is The Difference Between Verified Associated Site And Linking To Sites In The Description?

All right. I’m almost done. I know we’ve got two minutes. “What is the difference on how it works for verified associated site verses linking in the site, and the description?” Well, because in the description of a YouTube video you can link to any link you want, you don’t have to own the website, you don’t have to verify, you don’t have to do any of that. You can link wherever you want within the description. As an associated website, that gives you the ability to link via end screens, and cards. It used be able to link through external annotations, but they’ve done away with external annotations. Right? Now, it’s end screens and cards. That’s how you do it. You link within the video to an associated website, which has to be verified in order to be an associated website. The video description, you can link to whatever you want. All right?

What Are Your 3 Favorite Video Rank Trackers And Why?

“Three favorite video rank trackers?” I’ve only got one. It’s proranktracker.com. That’s the one that I use for video rank tracking. That’s it. I don’t use three. I don’t have three favorites, because I only use one. I have for about a year and a half or two years, now. It’s proranktracker.com. It’s awesome for videos. All right? All right, guys, I’m sorry, but we’ve got to go. I’m going to answer this real quick, because I saw it, it says, “Hi, everyone and thank you for letting me be a part of this. I’m brand new to SEO, please bear with me, if my question sounds stupid.” No. There are no stupid questions, Ala. “I’m based in Denmark, in Europe, and my question is, can I use a home address to register my business for local SEO?” Yes. Absolutely, you can.

If it’s your business and you’re running it from your home, yeah, absolutely, that’s totally legit. Okay? I would not register other people’s businesses for lead gen to your home address. I would certainly not do that. I don’t know about how it is Denmark, but in the United States I set up virtual mailbox places, and not do that, but for your own business, yeah, use your own home address. It makes no difference. There’s no reason you shouldn’t. All right, guys. That’s it for Hump Day Hangouts. Sorry. Man, we got to most of them. Sorry, guys, just a couple of you didn’t get answered. If you want you can post your questions in one of our groups in Google Plus, or Facebook and we’ll try to get to them there, otherwise, we can answer them next week.

Adam: Sounds good. Remember if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, please check out the syndication Academy, syndication.academy and don’t forget to sign up for Marco’s webinar, we’ll put the links up there, again, so get signed up.

Bradley: Awesome. Yeah. Guys, don’t forget to check out that, Lori, says, “I really wish you would do a webby on markup.” We can, Lori, we probably will. I’ll talk to Marco about it, and Hernan, and we’ll get something scheduled for that. I think we should. All right, guys. Anyways, don’t forget to go check out the Rocket Video Ranker Pro webinar, it’s a really, really cool application. It works really well. I endorse it, so check it out, and we’ll see everybody next week. Thanks, guys.

Hernan: Sounds good.

Adam: Bye.

Marco: Bye, everyone.

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beyondvapepage · 8 years ago

Text

Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 127

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Click on the video above to watch Episode 127 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://ift.tt/1NZu6N2.

Announcement

Bradley: Good, man. How are you?

Adam: Not bad on this 12th of April, since I forgot to mention the date, it is going quite well.

Bradley: I’m glad to be here. I see we got some decent questions, already. We got just a few announcements, after introductions, ad we’ll get right on it.

Adam: Cool. All right. Chris, how’s it going, man?

Chris: Doing excellent.

Adam: Good deal. Hernan?

Hernan: Hey, everyone. I’m not feeling that good, but I’m happy to be, so I’m feeling slightly better since I’m on the Hump Day Hangout.

Adam: I feel bad I’m laughing, and I was just, oh, God, I’m on video. Anyway, sorry, Hernan, really. [crosstalk 00:00:51].

Bradley: [inaudible 00:00:53].

Adam: Yeah. Anyways, Marco, how’s it going?

Marco: Good, man. We’re in the middle of the rainy season in Costa Rica and it hasn’t rained in a week.

Bradley: Okay. Far enough. Next.

Marco: Your muted Adam.

Adam: Yeah. I’m doing a horrible job of pressing a button, today. Since, Hernan got voluntold into this, Hernan, I think is going to have something special, too, maybe at that webinar. Right?

Adam: Awesome. If you’re there you’re definitely going to get something special, so I’ll just leave it at that, and [crosstalk 00:06:31].

Bradley: It only took us three years to create the Battle Plan. We’ve been talking about it for three years.

Adam: Now, we got it.

Bradley: Wayne’s still picking on you.

Adam: He is. If I had more time I would turn this into talking about my headphones, but-

Bradley: It’s awesome, though.

Adam: Let’s get into it.

Bradley: Nobody is safe from the wrath of Wayne. All right. I think I’m going to grab the screen, now, guys. Are we ready?

Adam: Yes.

Bradley: All right. Otherwise, I’m just going to sit here and read the chat box. You guys can hear me?

Adam: Got you.

Marco: There we go.

[inaudible 00:08:51] is up,

Should The Blog Post With Embedded Youtube Videos Have Different Content In Order To Not Be A Duplicate?

Should You Add 100-200 Properties Linked To Our Youtube Account To Get A Real Boost On Videos Syndicated Through IFTTT?

IFTTT Properties & NAP Citations For Local Sites

Do You Focus On The Main City Or Do You Focus The Root Domain On Anything At All (Maybe States)?

Bradley: Right.

We could go into a whole, maybe some day we’ll do a separate webinar just on structured data stuff, because I know we get questions about that all the time, too.

Do You Add A Link To Your Money Site Using A Keyword From The Text In The Curated Post?

Marco: I would say that you’re changing, if you’re adding a direct quote right from that website and you change it, then it’s no longer.

Bradley: That’s right.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: Give yourself extra work, because it works perfectly well.

How To Syndicate Content To A Jimdo Website?

Marco: I think there’s a plugin that does that. I cannot remember what the name of it is, off the top of my head.

Bradley: Does Snap do it?

Hernan: Yeah. Maybe, Snap does it.

Bradley: [crosstalk 00:35:09] plugin.

Hernan: Yeah.

Do You Have Any Kind Of Index Or Searchable Database Of The Time Stamps With Topic For All Of The Past Hump Day Hangouts?

Adam: We do have them in a playlist, though, so you can at least go into the playlist.

Marco: I think you can also do a playlist search. If you go to a playlist, to Hump Day Hangout playlists, I think you can search the playlist.

What Is The Maximum Number Of Separate Tags That Are Safe To Use?

Marco: No.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I haven’t heard of any hard and fast rule. I would probably go by user experience and finding your niche, and keep it pretty simple.

What Is The Effect Of Changing/Approving Tags After A Live Stream Video in YouTube?

Ranking Using 301 Redirects

Bradley: Right.

Hernan: That’s why I’m saying dot, X, Y, Z dot link, you can do it with URL shorteners, but most of the time you cannot change the destinations and you do not control them. You know?

Bradley: Right.

Marco: I haven’t used it in so long, that’s how it was. It was mainly comment spam.

Bradley: Yeah.

Hernan: Yeah. Comment spam. All the way. I mean, they still work, but as far as possible from your money site.

Bradley: Right.

Marco: Yeah.

Bradley: Promote the shit out of somebody else’s stuff.

Bradley: Structured data spam.

Marco: Structured data spam.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: Absolutely. It’s a great way to get yourself in trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Can You Have Multiple Verified Websites For Cards And End Screens?

What Is The Difference Between Verified Associated Site And Linking To Sites In The Description?

What Are Your 3 Favorite Video Rank Trackers And Why?

Hernan: Sounds good.

Adam: Bye.

Marco: Bye, everyone.

Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 127 posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnZU8p

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