#tryna get more involved in social issues like this

[minthysugamon]

Barell of a Gun (Hitman! Jimin x Reader)

(Warnings: This one is pretty dark. Please don't read if you feel uncomfortable at the mentions of Paid Murder,Gambling,Uncomfortable Situations and Kidnapping. This doesn't depict Jimin's real personality. It's only a work of fiction. Please don't associate Jimin with this after you read it,he isn't like that in real life. IT IS ONLY A WORK OF FICTION BASED ON A JAMES BOND-AGENT 47 TYPE OF CONDUCTING LINE)

Word count: 2045

As soon as night has fallen,he started to get ready. Pen,check. Knives,check. 9mm,check. Everything was going perfectly. Park Jimin never paid attention to the victim. At least,he never let his emotions rule over the goal he had in front of him. And that goal was the 1,000,000$ he will get after he eliminated the person in the portfolio. It's a well paid price,and until he does the job without being noticed,it's worth it. He never accorded time to his emotions. It's a rational job,find the person,eliminate them,get paid. Nothing really hard. He prefers to say eliminate because killing would make his targets look like victims,whilst most of them are just rotten people.

"Agent 91,welcome. Please type in the password to unlock." His computer displayed the following words. He typed it in once. Doesn't work. The fourth time,same thing happened. "Fuck. Not again. I don't have time for this shit right now." Jimin was starting to get agitated. The fifth time,he just scanned his retina,hoping it would work. And it did. Thankfully. Because if it hadn't,the whole fuck-up would've cost him a lot of money and primarily his life,probably.

While sitting in the car,you had some Depeche Mode song your brother was blasting earlier in his room,stuck on repeat in your head. It was called Barrel of a Gun or something,the guitar riff was kinda cool so it stuck to your neurones. The ride to the casino was accompanied by an awkward silence,your date for the night has chosen some pompous place to dine at and now wanted to go gamble some money away. He was the son of some rich politician at your school,of course he would do something like that. "Did you like the meal?" The guy placed a hand on your knee,not as if you had asked,but for the moment you didn't do anything. "Yes,i liked it,even thought the wine was a little bit dry for my taste." He simply smirked and rolled up the partition in the back of the Limousine before his hand has made its way higher up on your thigh. "Well..if it can comfort you,i know that something won't be as dry as the wine tonight." Breaking point. You took his hand into yours and simply smiled. "Jacques,listen. I appreciate your gestures and all,but please,please,pretty please,don't ever fucking touch me again without me consenting to it." You heard a pop coming from the bone of his hand,not realising you were literally almost breaking it so you had let it go.

Jimin had stepped into the grand hall of the Casino of Monte Carlo,getting the casual verifications done. He stood at the roulette table,and since he had some time to kill,he didn't mind gambling away some thousands. The main point was to blend in,not to be outstanding. "Mesdames,Messieurs,Faites-vos jeux." He had forgotten how wonderful the french language sounds...as wonderful as a cat choking on some plastic wrap. His bet was put on the number 3,his lucky number. Not that he was superstitious,but it always brought him chance,so...why not this time? "Les Jeux sont faits." As soon as the roulette started spinning,he looked around himself and finally saw his target. But it wasn't planned that he will have company.

Sitting besides Jacques while he was playing a hand,needless to say,it was more than just boring. You never wanted to go home as much as you did now. Plus,the high-heels were killing your feet,it was a plus reason for you to just get up and leave. But you didn't. Simply because he was already kind enough to take you on a date,so,you had nothing more to do than just sit beside him and observe. Jacques wasn't good at Poker,even if he liked to think the opposite,and his loss was already over 100,000€. If he were a simple man,he would already be indebted,but it wasn't the case. The game only started to be interesting when another man sat down at the table and joined the party.

"May i?" Jimin asked with a small smile on his lips. He knew his target was beside him,it will be easier to calculate his every moves. But he didn't realise it will be harder since you were in the frame too. As soon as the game started,he saw that the guy wasn't good at playing,only bluffing,so,he took this to his advantage and told himself he will use the "I'm just tryna help you bro" card later. Jimin's eyes were mostly on you though,and he didn't calculate his emotions,but he would've been lying if he said you weren't beautiful.

You were looking at the cards in Jacques's hands. Seeing the 3 others on the table,he was already fucked,but of course,he had to bluff. "50,bet" echoed from the man beside you and everyone folded. Except one. The new player at the table. "Oh...i see you play with big amounts...let me make it more interesting then. Calling 1600." The black haired man's proposition made you jump a little bit. It wasn't only 1600€,but 1,600,000. "So..? What do you think? Reasonable proposition,no? Or...are you scared of losing?" The guy smirked and your partner stood up. "I'm going for a smoke. Pause the game." "Man,it isn't such a bad proposition,but okay...let's say 1,400,000 to save your honor." He followed Jacques to the balcony. Which was a pretty bad idea knowing how he can get when he's angry,you knew how out of hand the situation could get,he was the same at Uni. Anger Issues was his middle name.

Jimin was only trying to provoke the poor guy. Poor...let's not say that. He was the kid of an asshole that got rich by scamming poor people. Let alone,the father was a politician. The only way for Jimin to attain his final target was to hurt him. Not that he had to,but it was more effective this way. "Stop fucking following me. I have enough of your gimmicks. I saw how you were looking at him. You're on a date with me,not him." The hitman simply laughed. "Oh..you thought your little girlfriend came after you? Believe me,she has better things to do. Now,if you excuse me..." Gun cocked. Silencer already on. And fire. The bullet went straight through the younger one's head,in between the eyes. "Bull's eye. Good." As the body of the guy has fallen,Jimin started to wipe his silencer and put the pistol away. Too bad the girl was at the balcony as he did it.

"What the fuck have you done? WHO THE FU-" You screamed at him,but the scream hadn't live to its full potential as the guy from the table had silenced you with a hit to your head. You woke up five hours later,tied to a chair,in a living room in some old ass apartment,still propably in southern France. "Rise and shine babygirl,you're safe now. My name is...you have no buisness knowing it,but call me 91. Or Jay. Whatever suits you." As you looked around you,you saw nothing you could recognise. Only the feeling of the rag on your mouth was prominent,with the bounds around your wrists and legs. "I guess i should take off the gag...but can i trust you to not scream?" You nodded,already planning to get away somehow. As Jay took off the gag you inhaled and tried to scream but he had his hand in front of your mouth. "I should've killed you when i had the chance. I didn't need any kind of witnesses. But here i am,trying to plan out something so you don't talk. Now. Stop screaming or i'll send a bullet flying through your brain. Also..what's your name again?" He knew it of course...but wanted to hear it as he took off his hand of your mouth and looked at you. "Wasn't that your initial plan? And my name is (Y/n)." The sass in your words left him surprised enough to smile and unload his gun. "Wow,getting sassy i see. I like it." "Why did you kill him? Was it because he was involved in some shady buisness?" You talked way more than you should have. And Jimin liked that. More information means more time...which means a better approach towards the target. "What do i look like? A social justice warrior? Honey,i get paid for shit like this. But now,my only problem is you. What should i do with you? You weren't in the frame. And now you are here,bound to a chair...don't get me wrong,i like the view,but you shouldn't have wandered away from that goddamn table yesterday." You simply lowered your head and looked at his hands. He was fidgeting. Unable to decide what he should do. "You should probably kill me then. I mean,if i am too much to handle,and since you know i'll be talking as soon as i get out of here,you should just choke me to death...quick and effective." He smiled and took your chin with two fingers so you were looking into his eyes. "Let me think about it. But i already know i won't kill you...in the end,you're truly innocent so..there would be no fun in that." "So...you're pretty much a social justice warrior then" He let your chin go and stood up to walk around the apartment.

Jimin knew killing you would've made too much mess,plus,cleaning the whole appartment after it would have taken too much time. Plus...he kinda started to like you. You were the type of girl he could settle with. So he went with plan B...or more like,he wanted to go with plan b which was about to let you go and threaten you to not talk. But as soon as he heard footsteps coming towards the apartment,Jimin changed his mind and chose Plan C. "You'll be coming with me. We have to get away. I already lost more than 3 hours with you getting in my way."

You were quickly untied and he secured a gun around your thigh. "You know how to use one? Just in case,to be safe." Why on earth would he give you a gun? "I could kill you right now if i wanted." "Yeah,i know,but you don't want to. That's the positive point. Now open the window and get out." God knows why you obeyed him,but it was almost automatic. Did you like the rush of the situation? Maybe yes. Maybe it was simply because you were scared...maybe it was because you kind of liked the way the whole situation turned out. He was following you as soon as he cleared the area,and unlocked his car. "Get in. I'll be here soon. No more than 2 minutes." "Huh? Where the fuck are you going?" "Getting my shit and then i'll be here." And with that,he was already on his way.

No more than two minutes after,he was back with his suitcase and the briefcase containing some papers,his pc and most importantly,the money. "Buckle the belt. We'll be on the road for 10 to 15 hours..." "Where are we going?" He simply smiled and turned the engine on. "Let that be a surprise..." "So...you're pretty much kidnapping me,right?"

He chuckled and looked into the rear-view mirror. "It's better than the barrel of a gun against your head at least. And...you'll see,it won't be as bad as you think."

Was this really the life you were about to live? Probably. Was it safe? Probably not,but did you have any other choice? No. But...little did you know,it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

(Y'all,i'm sorry if it is bad...i really wanted something different but in the end idk...it doesn't seem good to me...i let you all be the judge)

[punkcryptids]

ramble

this is the one form of social media i can vent on and be confident no one is gonna find it, it won’t start drama and i can just go the fuck off

i have this ex friend right? really mf toxic, i cut her off last year n shit is all good, right?

anyways, last week i found out she has been consistently posting abt me on her tik tok, just indirects, since aT LEAST may, probably longer. and i told her the fuck off, made my own shit behind “obsessed” by mariah carrey, after some comments back n forth, the whole incident is said n done, she blocks me. ok cool

here i am, finding out the bitch is *still* making indirects. its a lil less obvious, so of course there’s the possibility it’s not me but knowing the situation im p sure it is-- the caption was like “if you side w someone because they’re crying but dont care about what they did, i hate you” or something like that. and im just at my wits end dude,, (a tiny bit of context; our friend group completely left her when i did, n all of them commented on my video + people who were kinda in our friend group but not completely if that makes sense-- one of the kinda in the group ppl commented on her video n she responded “wtf did i ever do to you” so thats why i think the caption has to do w me)

it doesnt make me as anxious as it used to but it makes me angry dude. n the indirects were really fuckin wild. im not tryna explain the situation too much because it was a whole year of verbal/mental abuse that i somewhat tuned out because *trauma*, but she was making wholeass posts abt my relationship. thats what is was, each n every time. 

makes sense bc it was the whole fucking issue when we were friends, but they were straight lies. shit abt how he cheated on me and-- she KNOWS its not true. SHE KNOWS, the whole issue is she was overly involved in my relationship because we were both her best friends.  

the whole reason this incident happened in the first place was because two days before i made my thing calling her out, she posted ANOTHER indirect. idk how many of yall are on tiktok, but it was the trend “introduce yourself as why you and your ex bsf dont talk” and gUeSs wHaT iT SaID?? “i dont like when my friends get cheated on”. its amazing the mental gymnastics she has to go through to feel correct in the situation. AMAZING. making up whole ass events that didnt happen (when we had our lil confrontation she cited him cheating on me when WE WERENT TOGETHER dnkjfheifjoewi) 

god this probably reads so weirdly because its a random insight to a situation without full context + it jumps all over. im sorry about that i just physically cannot dude. im a legal adult next year, class of 2021 babey and it fucking blows my mind theres still this middle school drama bs going on. and i cant do shit, because all she will do is block me when i call her out on her bs and then continue to post abt it. when it first happened it made me feel happy and relieved that i stood up for myself for once but then finding out shes doing the same shit shes just a fucking coward.

ig whats sending me more is the one comment she left on my video was “bell would you like to say this to my face” n then BLOCKED ME N CONTINUED TO SHIT TALK I-

i know i need to work on letting it not bother me-- she will talk her shit, she will spew her lies, and at least all of the people who were there for the situation know shes wrong-- n thats all that matters. but anxiety is a bitch sometimes. plus i guess it just hurts, she was such a gaslighting, manipulative person n it fucking hurts to see her lie and turn that shit on me. esp because my mind is littered with mental instability that i will start to bELIEVE IT HDhnfiujfo. it makes me mad that i have to deal with the trauma she gave me n she gets to sit there making tik toks lying about what happened to strangers online to validate her. what bothers me even more is it wasnt even about our relationship really. it was just about MY relationship with my boyfriend which feels so fucking weird. especially bc half of her tiktoks are directed at calling me a bad person (+saying how much better she is than me lmao) n missing my bf (who she calls her “brother” even though she gaslit him and manipulated him all the same djifhbdi) and the other half is like she misses me ??? considering the latest indirect (before she blocked me) was abt why we arent friends anymore

i cannot stress enough how fucking done i am. it stresses me out because i cut her out of my life so i wouldnt have to deal w it and i feel like i cant escape her and i hate it i want to move out of this fuckign town so i never have to have the possibility of running into her 

but if i do run into her you bet your ass im calling her pussy ass out >:) 

also shoutout my therapist who will get the run down (probably a summary of this post) of this situation tomorrow hehe 

[navigatethestream]

Black trans safety means we move like mycorrhizae and struggle on the ground or underground to get resources around so we can meet our material needs. This is how we can lessen the likelihood that our struggling communities even have to interact with either the police or bigots in the first place. It means we think of in terms of political education, jail support, bailouts, and advocacy so we can raise our awareness of and stand with our incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black trans siblings who often get overlooked. Black trans safety means we also consider and strategize around what it means to arm or train both ourselves and one another for self defense. It means developing safe houses and escape routes and creating liberated spaces for ourselves. When we say defense, we mean creating independent medicine, food, education, arms, and mental health infrastructure to sustain and nurture and protect ourselves, by us, for us. When we say Defense as street queer anarkata defenders, we are talking about all the ways we can show up for ourselves, knowing that as Black trans and Black queer folk, the State is after us, and hate-filled people in our communities are just as eager to do their work for them. All of these components and features of a movement are entirely necessary for, not just sustaining our people, but allowing our freedom fighters some avenues to slip through the cracks of surveillance and repression much more easily. Together, that allows for a more comprehensive challenge to take root against the colonizer. This is how Anarkatas roll. Meanwhile, many (not all) of the demonstrations centering cis/het men's perspectives have erupted without a groundedness or even a push toward these kinds of necessary intra-community infrastructures. They are moments of opposition without a revolutionary proposition, especially the peaceful ones. These ones, often being led by politricksters and boujie class traitors tryna push their brand or their platform, coopt the riots' focus and take it off lasting and wide-ranging Black liberation. The narrative trying to discredit riots is a way to make people begin linking the solution for their financial needs or rage towards foolish bids for recognition from Massa. This is why the media keeps tryna pin all the rebellions on ‘outside agitators’ and a whitewashed understanding of anarchy or anti-fascism. It is to take attention off legit and independent sources of Black rebellion and the wider solutions they call for, all to shift everything back to just firing/jailing cops and the need to keep a nuclear family in tact — as if these are structural solutions. But that narrative is not gonna work with QmmuniTy, not when we remember that our movement explodes from a riot against the police that was started and led by Black trans women like Marsha P Johnson, sex workers, and revolutionaries involved in working class, civil rights, and anti-war movements. Respectability politics has no sway over Black trans and gender variant history. Cis/het people know this, which is why those among them who want to hold onto the colonizer’s sensibilities continue to blame the ‘police brutality’ issue, not on its true role as a facet of apartheid and imperialism, but on a supposed ‘unholiness’ about Black TLBGIA+ community members. And, they are literally attacking the QmmuniTy right now instead of tryna sustain the rebellion against Massa. They’d rather punch down as a desperate bid for some economic crumbs from a Eurochristian/binary/nuclear family social arrangement that whiteness never even allows them to fully occupy. We are truly all we got, unless some cis/het people are willing to join us in challenging Massa’s house, rather than trying to use its tools for a fake version of dismantlement that is really just an attempt at integration.

Transphobia is a Respectability Politic: Thoughts on Black Community Defense by K.D Wilson 

[ramblingshit]

Fright Night - 2011 - 2/5

we start , very, very high. its ominous to begin, the dreamworks opening dark and spooky and slow. scrawled font glides across dark stormy clouds and we're over a small square, isolated suburb. a house is on sale. that's the Charmed font.

oh my god what is that david tennant what the fuck was not expecting that.okay so this is a modern Fright Night.  and david tennant sis peter vincent. okay what a jump scare just happened the dog is scared, and this girl is dead and he's covered in blood and holy shit its the senator. wow the bed was bloody where his dad was scrambling for the gun hidden beneath the mattress that the boy finds. oh his dads body is sliding away and what the fuck is that im scared what the hell holy shit. ohh cool title card. nice symmetry in the birds eye. just a happy, normal small neighbourhood, everyone is diverse and happy and the kids are playing outside. holy shit its that dead guy poor ol mate.oh its hereditary mum.  they got a chill equal relationship just chatting like friends more than parent adn child. and the mum's intelligent and assertive and smart and a real estate agent. this is very very different from the original fright night. is it really the same movie? is it oh its the girl from 28 weeks later nice she's hot and eyy pumped up kicks is playing damn. I'm pretty sure they're both like 25 and playing as  oh holy shit its like zac efron's brother. trumping all over stereotype. what the hell its the weird super bad creepy guy comedian dude 'Brewster' it's the weird cackling kid. they've got relationship issues they're both geeks but brewster got hot and with the hot girl and rose through the 'social ranks' and they had to stop being friends. weird kid is threatening to show all his new friends embarrassing stuff from the past. oh my fucking god oh my god colin farrell. holy shit. oh my god. and damn she is Amy I'm forgetting everything cause its so different. he's charming and fucking hot and buff with like a paled face.being all charming and neighbourly. wife beater and silver necklace and damn the way he bit that apple. what are they doing here crawling through the doggy door who's adam. outta nowhere weird kid tells him jerry's a vampire, like a 'by the way' situation where are they going why does he have a cross and stake? they just added a stock door opening noise. they're telling the realisations of hm being a vampire without actually showing any of it and the weirdo kid is the one interested and telling brewster that jerrys a vampire like what first he's not even met him he hasn't been involved or around him at all and now he's adamantly trying to argue that he is a vampire?? in the original brewster was obsessed and found out quick to the start all by himself and half the trouble was trying to convince everyone else too. now one of his friends is trying to convince him?? what?? and they're mentioning Twilight and weird kid is saying how he's not broody or whatever like show us what his personality is like why are you saying this it's like this long ass dialogue chunk in the middle of a completely irrelevant situation, all about Jerry. fucking weird man what the fuck. we've seen the guy once. he's got evidence? why are they in this house? why is this happening? this was the Charley show - his journey from fear to sorting Jerry out and his tension with the guy the weird kid was basically comedic effect now he's premature exposition guy? and he's the one who thought of peter vincent cause it showed him watching him all the time but now its the weird kid convincing him and now they're having relationship problems and brewster fkn pushed him damn son use your words wow he's a fucking asshole like die dude the fuck. oh damn what the fuck the bully just grabbed him off his bike fr riding down his street like its his turf what the hell there's like four streets in this suburb and now they're fighting who wrote this why bother calling it fright night its a whole nother (fkn messy shit) story he's literally chasing him over the fence like he wants to kill him damn this isn't bullying  fuck. what is this movie? oooooh jerry is hottttt i love me a murdererous manly man. weird kid is in big trouble. oh my god. oh my god did they get him to play fake grindelwald because of his role in this. damn he's turning weird kid and the cross falls dramatically from his hand. ohh he's a fuckin dick to his friend and now he's feelin all guilty and worried and reminiscing about the time he wasn't an asshole to his friend. wow we're not even half an hour in and half the original movie is gone and replaced by whatever high school drama movie this is.he walked into weird kid's room and didn't turn the light on? yeah alright. what the fuck. why is peter vincent fkn that 'sexy' emo magician man who was popular -Chris Angel Mindfreak. he found a laptop with evidence that jerry's a vampire videos on it. and here's Jerry and what's happening ahaha he's not gonna invite him in and its physically uncomfortable standing at the door he's literally stuck at the door and it's really really obvious.  damn that was cool though passing the beer through the doorway and the communication in their eyes and now he's perving on his mum is this acting intentional? like he looked really unsure what to do with himself was that in character or?? he's looking around all paranoid he's perving on all the girls he's threatening him really obviously i can't tell if i like it more than the smooth suave chilling conversation that was driving charley mad at the start of the other one. jerry telling him to 'manage' the women in his life cause its his job to keep them safe. now they're doing the distracted disinterested in Amy play and she's the one coming onto him strong  and what are we gonna see this. this is literally worse acting than the screaming kid in the first one it's like halfhearted. now the movie's settling in for like a spookier, much darker version of the  nah nevermind its like a padded retelling. there's no billy in this one, just Jerry - who's gonna cover him during the day? original was a squad effort movie - bunch of kids and an old man going up against a vampire. not anymore its just this obviously mid 20s guy sneaking around in a dark house to quiet, eerie music. wait he's in Jerry's house? oh cause Jerry drove off. ooh Jerry's got awesome creepy office with spooky drawings on the walls why is this place so dark goddamn turn on the lightswitch. he's got costumes for hunting damn that's cool. and here he returns uh oh run charley run. try escape the vampire now that you're in his lair. a secret door to like a jail block in the wall? what he's letting himself be close in? what is he doing how did Jerry whip this up?jumpscare lol lame it's Doris. you telling me he's gonna lockpick the lock okay he's never done it before but okay. god he's hot. the swooning blond in the arms of a vampire. it's like hella horrific oh my god she just shushed Charley where he hid in the other room. drinks from her all orgasmic and tosses her back in the room. damn he looks good with a bloodstained mouth lickinn his lips and shit. good luck picking with a bobby pin you're hilarious holy fuck she's tiny, like a limp ragdoll. ew why is he watching skanky girls on TV. tryna tell me he's watching the TV so loud that he can't hear they panting and crying. yeah he can he's outta the chair - there's no reflection and he's like crying damn this is tense. such a nice house. strutting around, drinking beer, vaguely amused at everything. he just caught an apple. it's like he knows something amusing no one else does.  but does he actually kno-- oh my god yeah he does that's awesome. oh holy fucking shit holy shit holy fucking shit she was a vampire she fucking exploded in the sunlight. his jumper s covered in her ash that's messed, Jerry stood inside listening and laughing to himself as he bit into the apple. now he's out here being the one looking up peter vincent - that entire start was completely pointless they should've cut out all of the weird kid stuff. now he's snubbing his girlfriend too this is how it should have all begun here comes david tennant. what the hell he's pulling a secret swipe identity thing to try get in to see vincent and vincent is a gross slimeball of a david tennant why are all these men slimy he's pretending to be a reporter she's walking around in a bra, vincent is an expert on vampires and the lot - not just using what he learned from doing his show and now she's using 'little girl' as a derogatory term for vincent. okay not the most attractive bod and i hate tattoos tbh at this point its true. god this whole thing is so edgy and wow okay here we go his hair is so much betterokay damn holy shit. it was the hair the hair was fucking me up okay holy damn all his facial hair is fake. and thank god his eyebrow piercing - wait nevermind all that 'expert' stuff was bulll? or is he mucking around? okay no its bull he isn't an expert. i can't believe how much hair affects someone. oh and his tattoo are right as well. damn he sounds schizo and vincent is fkn cold and that is some bad cgi and trying to be so dramatic its just a filter over the shot. oh and here's  zac efrons brother and eternal grunge guy.  ohh he's got creepy long nails and oh damn eating them and there's the blood oh fuck why is that hot im so disturbed. he's shaving stakes and its mum who confronts him and he's awwkard about it and now they've referenced 'Dark Shadows' as well as Twilight. these highschoolers are so serious and mature tryna talk to each other and here's Jerry at the door.this is a game to him but she's sticking up for her son and Jerry thinks its awesome or is it just oh damn he's coming back with a shovel and a power saw?? what's he doing??? where's he going oh my god what's he doing the girls are slowly realising that he might be right what is he digging up.flinging huge chunks of earth around. oh uh oh oh FUCK  THAT:s  GAS HOLY SHIT are you serious Jerry no holy daaaaaaamn he's blowing up their house I love it ahahaha 'dont need an invitation if there's no house' that is hilarious oh my god as if they're going to get out with what really he's gonna  oh wait he''s gonna take the dirt bike what the fuck he just threw the bike at them what is happening is this Michael bay. and now he's ramming them fuck he really wants them dead damn oh ahahah they have a tank of a car driving getting hit by a bike, smashing through a vampire and his big ass car. is he-- he's under the car that's amazing yeah okay like they survived that too oh he just lifted up the car oh what the fuck he looks like that shark guy from batman oh no why does he look like that who made him look like a shark he's eating that guy blood squirting, he's very animalistic like twitchy and shit too  black eyes eats a guy, morphs into something evil blood stained mouth cars all fucked up and he turns around 'hey' he greeted jovially, the girls run away - the mum just leaves her son to face off a vampire? yeah, okay. - and he calls 'catch you later!' damn some of this is gold and other bits are trash but so far they're evening each other out. he's oh damn he grabbed the cross and it lit on fire and he's got charley and was gonna stake him but mum popped up and shanked him through the shoulder with one of her real estate signs that's so lame, but he's screeching and flinging himself around making growling noises and now mum's fainted and hit her head and jerry's twitching out with a oh okay he hit him with his car again. jerry's all kinds of fucked but he heals up fine soon enough. vincent isn't charming; there's too much sex and money and cynical and assholey and its grotesque compared to the teenageriness of the original. and now mum's out for the count at the hospital lol  what's happening. he's shitting on the idea to call the police that's hilarious he wouldn't stop calling them in the first. i dunno i keep comparing them because these are the bits i 100% liked better in the other one. now he's talking about weird kid who disappeared ages ago. he's a loser - she likes him cause he's different; she's the popular girl who didn't want an ass bully to date. vincent's a drunk on top of everything. but he does know his stuff about vampires. there's different species different breeds - Jerry's a tribal snacker who keeps his victims alive for days and oh damn its weird kid he's a black eyed vampire and he's mad Jerry got him Vincents in his panic room the bra girl is dead weird kids arms off and now Jerry's coming and weird kid's twitching out and he looks like a wolf shark and they're being vulgar again he's hunting them down this is a serious relationship drama issue. if they're strong enough to like bend metal how did grabbing him hard around the neck not immediately crush it. they're fighting - like what; charley just took a deep clawing across the chest they're blocking and slashing and every ones smashing stuff and he just got weird kid at the neck and uh oh she's in trouble but she's got a gun but he's barely flinching oh what. how did she know that was holy water the cup was up too high for her to see there was even any water in it. dude they're strong when its plot convenient - how do these guys know how to fight with weapons he's just so chill with that slash across the chest. ahaha what the fuck she's like urging him to kill him aha he stabbed him all drama and she's in survivor mode like fuck outta the way everyone oh good he's pretty again. i'm disappointed no jerry/amy stuff though tbh she's spicy, he thinks this is a great time. he's just hunting them and its nightclub time are they gonna do the jerry amy thing no he grabbed her by the throat oh damn oh okay no that was pretty hot he's got a slash on his chest and the bouncers just grabbing it and he doesn't react fuck sake 0 that was pretty cool if not exactly what i wanted - he properly vampired her: blood on his lips he kissed her and it drugged her enough to take her neck in the middle of the club. and now a vampire killed vincent's parents and that's why he's a drunk but how'd he become a magician what's that got to do with anything. damn highschooler dropping moral truthbombs that immediately make adults change their mind immediately and wanna help him. how does that car still drive. this is so gay like he is overreacting he's dressed to go to war - i forgot he burned their house down he's got a fucking crossbow and he's dressed in like military shit and he's swinging the crossbow around like he's in the military, did they tell him to take this serious or like he shoulda been an awkward stumbling kid oh what the damn they'res a secret like basement damn he just broke a hip how is all of this under his house didn't just move in???he switched on the first light in the whole movie and it barely lit anything up so lame. so extra oh damn that tiddy damn nice just dodged an arrow oh fo real really is he the vampire who killed vincent's parents are you serious that's so lame. and now Amy's  what the fuck why is there like an entire institution beneath this house what is this. oh its the tribe?? they live in the dirt whoop her eyes are black but vincent's got a dramatic black leather jacket and a stake gun that just fucked up and he's just gonna stake her straight up they barely gave her time for her scary wide face he just stabbed her and ran and now she's eating her own blood and whoop vincent's being eatenoh really how did he know there was sunlight up there aren't we in the base meant isn't this place made of cement. damn he's hot with his shirt open. he just hissed at the beam of sunlight. even his fingernail burns oh that's cool he's in teh shadow and charleys in the sun beams as he taunts him about Amy and vincent's turning ahaha  and they're gonna wait til the sun goes down and in the meantime he's gonna like fuck amy in front of charley ahaha nice drinking bloods like sex. oh yeah okay what he's gonna what he's expecting to go up in flames what the fuck he'd oh no okay what the fuck as if. as the fuck if. first of all, charley is human and a crazed vampire is not and are you joking me that charley could survive being thrown around plus he's fucking on fire that should have destroyed him by now fucking burned to a crisp oh im so disappointed and okay yea being a vampire was just dark spirits? and now everyones free to die of their wounds aha jesus. his clothes would have seared into his skin, his goggles would have melted but no, completely unscathed. so lame. oh that was such a slow awkward dialogue. weird like one liner jokes throughout are we in vegas? oh nice they're fucking i really don't care i don't wanna see these 25 year olds why do we care what happens now Jerry's dead. jesus that was bad. please im so upset. oh well sometimes 1980s camp horror is better than cheap rushed or at least badly edited modern ones. disappointing man.

[pbscore]

I know it’s probably too early in the day to complain but I feel like I’ve been seein’ too much of this lately and it’s annoyin’ me. I understand full well why people get frustrated and sassy about certain social issues. As an Afro Latino queer trans person, TRUST ME, I get it.

But this new ‘trend’ of being a condescending, almost bordering on ableist, piece of ‘woke’ trash needs to stop. And I’m not talking about just being a smartass to someone who was trying to be a smartass towards you. I’m talkin about the ‘woke’ people who think it’s totally ok to insult their own people’s cognitive or physical disabilities when they’re called out on their condescending behavior.

Like, for example, if you’re tryna get people to understand your point of view on going vegan or being more environmentally friendly, there’s NO REASON for y’all to act all uppity about it when explainin your case. I don’t care about what other people’s reactions to you have been (negative or not), cuz it’s MY first time seeing YOUR take on it. Meaning, that if it’s my first time really trying to get integrated into the movement, and all I’m met with is snarky middle-class (sometimes, white) condescension that borderlines on ableist language and tendencies that don’t consider mental and physical barriers that make it HARDER for certain people to upkeep with these issues, then why would I even want to get involved in those movements?

Yeah, I can do it on my own without much interaction with those kind of people, but the reality is that it’s much harder to make a movement happen when, y’know? YOU DON’T HAVE A COMMUNITY A.K.A. PEOPLE TO MAKE THE MOVEMENT MOVE FORWARD, WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT.

Look, all I’m sayin’ is try not to ostracize people too much from social issues and movements that literally NEED the power of the PEOPLE. If y’all can’t or don’t know how to work with the public or anyone who isn’t like you or your close friends, then you shouldn’t be the one to cast judgement and put yourself on a high horse just cuz people didn’t see your one rant online that you made regarding an important issue.

To me, it’s clear that a lot of y’all don’t know and/or don’t care about how y’all treat the general public but you stay ready to crucify anyone who’s just maybe getting into leftist circles and insulting their intelligence based on super classist and ableist notions. A lot of y’all immediately cast off anyone who asks too many questions or who criticize the way you talk to/treat people and it really shows how rough some y’all’s social skills are.

I may not be the brightest tool in the shed sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn how to do better and set a good example for others through compassion and understanding.

[thatfuzzyfamiliarspace]

There’s so much going on in my head.

The social stuff. It’s a side of me I don’t want to lose or shut off. He won’t understand. But it’s how I get myself to be more confident, more comfortable. That side of me is the real me. It’s unfiltered, unmasked. And when people engage positively with that it feels amazing to know the real me gets that positive feedback. I find it fun, I find it healthy to explore that part of me. Maybe the way I review it doesn’t come across as great. Because if I showed myself and it got a negative backlash it would crush me. And I would probably alter myself because of that. But If im happy to do that then I don’t see the issue. And that hasn’t ever happened. Idk. I really want to keep my social side as for me it’s really important. I feel like I need those spaces to express myself.

Then there’s this weekend. Why can’t he let me go if he doesn’t want to go. All his reasons for himself are valid. But I don’t get why he can be okay with boomtown, 2 hours away, 4 days camping, around someone he would kill on sight… but not a gig that’s just during the day, with someone he likes. I would compromise. I wouldn’t take drugs or drink, I’d wear what would make him happy. He can pick me up. I’ll keep in contact. I’ll even leave early if he wants. I just wanna go see my friend and have a fun time.

It’s so hard because it’s just rehashing old stuff. I never got to see kieran and go out with him. He’s finally so happy I can do these things. And when I said I couldn’t I can tell the mehness behind his message. He wants me to go badly. And so do I !! I wanna not have those same limitations I’ve had before even if it’s for different reasons.

I want Jordan to have control. But it still has to be within acceptable boundaries. For the both of us. I don’t wanna make him uncomfortable, but I also don’t wanna miss out and give up too much.

He has done so much for me. I do see it. I don’t wanna make it feel like I’m pushing it. I’m just tryna find a way to navigate things so we both get what we want. There has to be a way. He always thinks of the worst outcomes. I get why. But it’ll stop me and US doing so much. Like I’d rather Jordan be involved and come with, but I don’t wanna make him risk shit anymore than he already has. I wanna be respectful. But I don’t wanna let my friend down either. I’ve done that far too much. I can’t do it again. There has to be something we can come to terms on. There has to be.

I hate how I split. ESP when I’m this emotional. Because he’ll say things and the rose tinted glasses come flying off. And it scares me. I hate how my head gets in those moments. I hate the intrusive thoughts. All the guilty feelings. God I wish I was better. Why can’t I just blindly listen to him ? Thing is as much as he wants that, he also doesn’t. He wants me to be my own person. It just sometimes clashes with how he wants me to be. So how the hell do I mesh the two ?

I wanna be good. I wanna listen. I wanna do as I’m told. I just want him to also let me have the things that are important to me. To him, a fest isn’t a big deal, “can go anytime”. But he’s so so wrong. Those experiences are some of the best in my life. I cant replace that. As much as I could go next year, I don’t wanna miss out this time round either. I want as many of these good times and memories I can get. For me that’s the point in life is to fucking enjoy it !!! And doing those things are my peak enjoyment. I don’t want that taken away from me. I want to share it with him. It’s not fair because the actions of other people ruin it. It bugs me because he says it’s his morals and stuff. But the amount of stuff he has opinions on that goes against MY morals and I let that slide ? I turn my cheek to so much, but he can’t do the same ? It upsets me. It’s silly but in my head, if you’re that obsessed with me then you’ll at a minimum compromise. Which tbf he has done for so many things. I don’t wanna seem ungrateful or selfish. I just get worried. My head tells me that I’ll end up changing into someone that isn’t me. If I cave and just roll over, and tbh that’s not even my head telling me that, those are his words. I’m fighting to not just be moulded into whoever he wants me to be. I wanna be me, but better tweaked to him. Maybe we both have different ideas and pictures of what that is.. god now I am spiralling. As soon as I get in my head about little aspects of our relationship I freak out. Because it’s still so early. I shouldn’t be having these thoughts and feelings this early on. I want things to just flow easier, I don’t want all the anx. I get my own shit but when it’s to do with us it’s just scares me. Idk how to even process what I’m feeling. Idk how to put it into proper words. Fuck sake man.

I’m sitting here just picturing myself going violently erratic. All the things I wanna do but I know I can’t. He says I should tell him. But it’s just coz I’m emotional rn. He’ll say this isn’t worth this level of shit. Like last night I got upset and cried. He said it wasn’t worth the tears. That gets at me because it’s a big fucking deal for me to cry, and esp cry infront of him. I’m going off on stupid tangents now. Fuck it. I just gotta hope I come off soon coz I can’t stand behind this bloody unbalanced.

[a-splash-of-stucky]

my thoughts on: I, Tonya

So ya girl finally got the chance to watch I, Tonya and ooooh damn, I’ve got some things to say about it. Spoilers and general ramblings under the cut. 

So first and foremost, I’m gonna be straight with y’all and say that my opinions on I, Tonya are probably biased, because Seb is in it. Bear this in mind, as it’s a point I’ll return to later on. Also, I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to acting technique and etc, so like…I don’t really know what I’m talking about here.

I’m gonna say this first, because it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the ramble: the music had me living y’all. It wasn’t really my usual ‘taste’, but it was well-suited to the film, in my opinion. Also, I liked the structure of the film, the way they shot it as if it were multiple interviews. I’ve never seen that done before and to me, it was novel and well executed.

Every single member of this cast was OUTSTANDING. Yes, I’m probably biased, as I’ve been rooting for this film ever since TIFF, but nonetheless, I had high expectations for this movie and they were EXCEEDED™. Before I talk about the main cast, let me kick things off with a short spiel about—

McKenna. She made me tear up. She has a rather minor part in all this, but the few minutes she has on screen are BRILLIANT. Truly, honestly, impactful. The part when she cried as her dad was leaving? Lord help me, I wanted to give that little girl a hug. I feel that this is a significant moment in the movie, because…I get the sense that Tonya’s been abandoned. She’s alone. And no child should ever have to feel that way.

Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan)

Now. Sebastian. Y’all know that he’s 80% of the reason why I wanted to see this movie so bad. Warning: this part basically consists of me gushing over him. No, not in that way. If you’re not interested in reading about that, skip ahead, y’all.

Seb was funny and cute and an asshole, all at the same time. I kinda loved the moustache (le gasp). Also: HIS VOICE. It was…fucking hell, the accent and the way he speaks (when he’s not shouting) was so cute, I think my heart stopped a couple of times. And you know how Seb’s really good at being kinda bashful and dorky in interviews? Well, that comes across here, too. He pulls off that side of his character really well.

He was also really good at being a controlling, selfish maniac. Seb’s rage reminded me of a lion. Also, he says ‘fuck’ a lot, and for whatever reason, I have a thing for hearing him swear, so that part of me was satisfied.

Seb looked good. I, like most people, wasn’t a fan of the ‘stache when I first saw pics of it. But…it grew on me, over the course of the movie. Seb makes it work. There’s something about it that I kinda like. I was also impressed by the extent to which he transformed himself physically for this role. Like, there was no Beef™ in sight.

I will admit, my first thought when I saw Seb playing young Jeff was: damn he’s cute.

I think this is important, because I, as an audience member, could empathise with Tonya - like I can see how she could have fallen for Jeff. As the viewer, you (or at least, I) experience the same emotions that she does. But then again, that’s just my personal experience and could be due to the fact that I already have a deep-rooted love for Seb in general.

Now, I’m not gonna deny it - his character was a fucked-up asshole. But, if we separate Seb and Jeff for a moment, I think that Seb portrayed Jeff in a conscientious manner. Obviously, I don’t know Jeff personally, but you’d have to be blind to not notice the little mannerisms that Seb throws in. He’s so damn good at conveying emotions through body language and through nothing but his expression alone. I know that Seb will forever be known for his role as Bucky, but I think this film (and some of his other works, I’m sure), truly capture his capabilities as an actor.

Also - did we get a flash of the booty? For like, 0.3 seconds? I mean, I ain’t complaining about it, if we did — but the situation in which we got the booty flash wasn’t the nicest, I agree.

Having gushed about Seb - let’s now move onto the star of the show.

Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie)

Margot was PHENOMENAL™

‘nuff said.

Seriously. How did she not get any nominations from this? She was robbed. Cheated, I tell you — just like the character she was playing, funnily enough.

She made me cry, which is saying a lot because I don’t usually cry when watching movies. Now, I will admit: Tonya isn’t the most likeable person. Like, she isn’t the kind of person that I would necessarily want as a friend — but that’s kinda the point of the film, I think. To show you that she never quite fit in, that she was always kinda going on her own, isolated from people her age. It was hard on her.

That being said, there are qualities about Tonya that I loved. Her stubbornness, her fierceness of character, her ‘I take no bullshit’ attitude. Was she rough around the edges, untactful and crass at times? Yes. I do think that’s a product of her upbringing, however.

Margot played her beautifully. You see her grow up in the film, really see it. Tonya is a complicated character to play — she’s vulnerable and strong, weak and empowered, and the fact that Margot was able to tread the balance between the two amazes me.

At the end, when Tonya was told that she could no longer skate? My cheeks were wet, man. Margot should have been nominated on the basis of that alone.

Her character’s entire life revolved around skating. All the sacrifices she had to make to live her dream! When she said that not being able to skate would be “like a life sentence”? Augh, my heart broke. I wholeheartedly agree with her. Whether she was responsible, or had part in, the assault or not, I do believe that that was a harsh verdict.

LaVona (Allison Janney)

Imma quickly talk about Allison, before I delve back into Seb and Margot.

I hated LaVona. Like, I disliked Jeff and Tonya at times, but I truly Hated™ LaVona. I think that’s the point, though. She was, to me, the true villain in all this (no matter what she says about making ‘sacrifices’ for her daughter). Do I think that she was a villain born out of a particular context? Definitely. She’s unstable, but that instability and questionable parenting method is, I believe, a symptom of some underlying issue.

Is she a monster?

Meh. I honestly can’t tell you.

Allison was fabulous. She won an award and she deserved it. She deserves a million awards. Like I said, I hated LaVona, but I would not feel this strongly opinionated about this particular character if Allison hadn’t played her so well.

A short spiel on the Jeff/Tonya chemistry

So: Seb and Margot, Jeff and Tonya.

I can’t even imagine the amount of trust that was involved in filming those domestic violence scenes. Like, they were intense. There was no fucking around with the fighting, man — like, the hits and punches looked authentic. Though they were portraying a dysfunctional couple, I think that as a pair, Seb and Margot really worked well together.

That scene where Tonya was making her costume and Jeff was telling her his Wizard of Oz story? I loved that scene. The little neck kisses melted my heart. I loved that scene because it was them being playful and happy — and it really serves a purpose. Because both of them fell in love with a version of the other person. But the thing with love is that — you have to take it all. You want the good? You gotta take some of the bad. Sometimes, it gets to a point where you wonder if the good really is worth all this bad.

You wonder why she came back to him. Tonya, I mean. She came back to him after the divorce because her career meant that much to her. She was willing to risk her life so that she could skate. She came back for love — not her love for Jeff, obviously, but for her career. The sacrifices she made were unreal. I don’t necessarily agree with her decision, but I am impressed by the fact that she had the balls to go through with it.

My point is: their relationship was not simple. There is no good guy, there is no bad guy. Partly, I think this is because each person has their version of the truth. But also, I think this is a relationship where both individuals fluctuate between good and bad, on a ‘continuum’ of sorts. I…felt for them. I truly wanted them to be happy.

fuck, I’m rambling. Let’s wrap it up with a few more bits and bobs.

Some profound thoughts:

The story is still unsolved, at the end of it (or maybe…I was just too spaced out to truly understand it???). You’re still not exactly sure who was behind the incident. You don’t know who knew what info, because the facts keep changing. Everyone’s tryna sell someone else out and pin the blame on another person and I’m just like ??? But, I will say that I didn’t know anything about the Harding/Kerrigan incident, but having watched this movie — I am very intrigued.

I also find it interesting that they didn’t include Nancy’s views on her supposed friendship with Tonya. There could’ve been any number of reasons why this wasn’t done, but I think that that would’ve added another element to the story.

As I left the cinema, my thoughts turned to a lecture I had recently. My lecturer (I love him, btw, great guy), said something that I thought was pretty funny, at the time. Now, in hindsight, and especially after watching this movie, I do believe that his statement is SO FUCKING TRUE.

He said: Objectivity is in the eye of the beholder.

And that’s basically what this movie is trying to get at. “There’s no such thing as truth.”

Everyone has their own version of the events that happened, and everyone is influenced by their own unconscious bias. Out histories, our social context, our economic situations — so many things influence how we perceive the world. That doesn’t mean that our perception or interpretation is wrong, however. Each one of us is probably right, to some degree, but the important thing is that “true facts” should never be taken at face value.

I think that that’s a message that is really central to the entire film.

Remember what I said at the start? My opinions on this film are heavily influenced by the fact that I love Seb, and I’ve been hyped up by the positive reviews I’ve seen floating around the internet. You’ll notice that there’s barely any negativity in this piece, which in itself says something. Don’t take my “facts” at face value. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt.

So should you watch it?

Like I said, this film extensively features (kinda graphic) scenes of domestic violence. I, as someone who has been fortunate enough to never experience any of that sort of thin, found the movie uncomfortable, but watchable. I also don’t have any triggers or mental health issues, so that’s something to bear in mind.

If the domestic violence has been something that’s been putting you off, I say…it’s worth your time. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed myself, as I feel that’s inappropriate, given the context of the film, but I think that it was a couple of hours well spent. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

[daylflay]

The Fashion Show

The Runway

As I’ve progressed through Twitter’s cold, violent, and virtual theater of war amidst the rhetorical conflict that is 2020, which is not (figuratively) dissimilar to the frozen and bloody tundra of Russia circa 1941-1944, what I’ve realized is that this struggle is one of aesthetics rather than principle. Individuals with considerable online followings aren’t concerned with much beyond the consolidation of their brands, and that means walking a certain walk. In Feminist sexualities, race and the internet: an investigation of suicidegirls.com, Shoshana Magnet “argues that the capitalist market serves to depoliticize queer activist movements and assimilate their members – drawing ‘social movements focused on winning rights’ into ‘market-based tactics and objectives”. The individuals I’m following, some of whom are queer and most of whom are “activists” of some sort, are selling something, and they strut that something while walking the virtual runway.  

The Models

Rick Wilson is the only white person I’m tracking, and his Twitter feed is unsurprisingly devoid of anything related to people of color; he really doesn’t even try to broach issues related to minority communities, which isn’t shocking for a former GOP strategist (he clearly hasn’t shed ALL of their values). The only people-of-color related visibility on his Twitter are the occasional photos/gifs he posts in a comedic context, seemingly as a way to address the whiteness of his online presence. Wilson comes off as the anti-Trump/GOP persona for white people that still aren’t particularly comfortable with people of color. In a selfie Wilson tweeted out on February 17th, he’s featured in a large, idyllic looking backyard enjoying his morning coffee (or so I assume that’s what it is) and flanked by two dogs running around in the background; the text accompanying the photo reads, “morning. I have had two days off the road from the book tour and I’m starting to feel human again”. I believe Wilson’s aforementioned tweet symbolizes his brand perfectly: He’s the embodiment of classic Americana, but with a neo-conservative twist (he’s staunchly anti-Trump, as his most recent book’s title, Running Against The Devil: A Plot To Save America From Trump – And Democrats From Themselves, suggests) that serves to draw (some) conservatives, centrists, and (some) liberals into his following.

Mehdi Hasan, as a liberal journalist, man of Indian descent, and a self-professed Muslim, is very active in addressing and criticizing the oppression of various minority groups on Twitter; most of his recent tweets target some issue pertaining to minorities, such as this one condemning Mike Bloomberg for unethically surveilling/targeting Muslims in New York: [2/27/20] “Finally, finally!, Bloomberg gets asked about his spying on Muslims in New York and his answer is... to double down and defend it as the right thing to do. (He also brazenly lies about what it involved.)” Having said all of that, Mehdi is not very conservative/traditional regarding his religion, at least not in terms of sartorial choices, in fact he dresses very white, but that’s most likely due to the (probably negative) attention such a cultural performance could engender for someone with as large a following as himself. In New Media, Old Racisms: Twitter, Miss America, and Cultural Logics of Race, J. David Cisneros & Thomas K. Nakayama address the prevalent issue of racism online (specifically on Twitter) and connect the issue to Nina Davuluri, who is a woman of Indian descent (like Hasan) and the 2014 winner of the Miss America title; here’s a tweet they point out directed at Davuluri: “How the fuck does a foreigner win miss America? She is a Arab!#idiots...congratulations Al-Qaeda. Our Miss America is one of you”. This is likely the kind of attention Hasan is trying to avoid by presenting himself and his brand the way he does. In a selfie Hasan uploaded on 2/10/20, he’s wearing a suit in front of a Starbucks with fellow, blue-checkmarked-Twitter-user (not to mention, white man) Andy Lassner; this is about as safe and culturally innocuous as one can play it on Twitter.  

Patti Harrison, as a trans woman of color and the dual-minority category that places her in, puts less focus on ethnic minorities like herself (I could only find a single instance of Asian advocacy on her Twitter from months ago, but the person she was advocating for was also trans), but more of a focus on trans-related issues (maybe because that garners more attention on Twitter?). I’m not entirely sure what counts as Vietnamese sartorial chic, but she doesn’t represent it, instead vying for outfits that looks as if they came out of Carrie Bradshaw’s (of Sex and the City fame) closet, as evidenced by a selfie she tweeted out on 1/24/20. In general, she doesn’t seem to put a huge spotlight on neither trans nor Asian matters on Twitter, and I believe it’s because she represents the 2 aforementioned cultural minorities and as such she would engender double the amount of potential negativity; she’s not dissimilar to Mehdi Hasan in this case with his Indian and Muslim identity. It comes off as rather tragic to me that one would have to choose between which minority identity one performs.  

In Tweets, Tweeps, and Signifyin’: Communication and Cultural Performance on “Black Twitter”, Sarah Florini talks about a concept known as “signifyin’”: “Black users often perform their identities through displays of cultural competence and knowledge. The linguistic practice of ‘signifyin’,’ which deploys figurative language, indirectness, doubleness, and wordplay as a means of conveying multiple layers of meaning, serves as a powerful resource for the performance of Black cultural identity on Twitter... Signifyin’ is often...derived from Black Vernacular English and phonetic spellings that convey specific pronunciations. Often, this is a relatively minor modification like ‘wit’ (with), ‘tryna’ (trying to), or ‘you’ instead of ‘your.’”  In other words, signifyin’ abbreviates online language to more accurately portray offline language/pronunciation, which subsequently consolidates Black culture online. The two Black women who I follow don’t engage in signifyin’ very much on Twitter, but for different reasons: Kashana Cauley does well with bringing issues regarding people of color to the forefront of her Twitter, but she is very careful with diction, probably due to her occupation as a writer (which causes me to ponder that particular industry and its whiteness). There are minor instances of Cauley signifyin’, though, such as in this tweet from February 16th: “Kinda wild how the most far-left, extremist, militant position you can take on health care is that people should have it”; the “kinda” was a very minor example of her signifyin’, but it’s something, and besides that she also performs Black culture via her publicly displayed hairstyle (the image in question is her current profile pic), which she wears in its natural fashion. Cauley ultimately is willing to perform Black culture on Twitter much more-so than the other Black woman on Twitter that I’ve been paying attention to.

Candace Owens (the aforementioned other Black woman that I’m following) has no problem invoking Blacks on Twitter, and in fact makes many Black-centric arguments, but framed through a conservative (and thus white, due to the demographics of the conservative ideology) lens. Owens makes it a point to deliberately style her tweets without the use of signifyin’, i.e., she tweets like a white person because she’s appealing to her conservative brand; the pinned tweet on her account exemplifies this as well as demonstrating her intent on selling more copies of her book (not unlike fellow conservative Rick Wilson): [8/6/19] “LET’S GO AMERICA!...After 2 years of fighting and challenging the status quo— I finally wrote it. The book Democrats don’t want Minorities to read. BLACKOUT: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape From The Democrat Plantation. Available for pre-order on Amazon today!” In addition, many of Owens’ tweeted selfies are of her dressed like a white woman (with always-straightened hair, in contrast to Kashana Cauley’s display of her natural hairstyle) while appearing on (the veritably conservative) Fox News; she seemed to take particular pride in a pic of her with President Donald J. Trump (Fox News’ favorite person) tweeted out on January 21st. Owens’ brand is as translucent as the skin-color of the majority of her followers.

Vladimir Lenin, when he was walking the political runway, once said: “Politics begin where the masses are, not where there are thousands, but where there are millions, that is where serious politics begin.” Lenin was a man of strong principles, and he was memorialized by his country via the former name of one its most well-known cities (formerly Leningrad, currently St. Petersburg). Leningrad during the second world war was the site of a 2+ year siege (9/8/1941-1/8/1944), but Russia persevered and were critical to fighting off the threat of Nazi Germany; the Russian people who fought and died during said siege were, ostensibly, like Lenin, men and women of principle. These individuals I’m tracking on Twitter, with their potential access to people numbering in the millions, are capable of engaging in the “serious politics” Lenin referred to, but are they people of principle? If they can be bought and seduced by capitalism and its associated power, an ideology despised by Lenin, and are fearful of repercussion from those with views antithetical to their principles, then I’d argue that they do not share the aforementioned strength of principle, and considering the theoretical power they possess, that should worry us all.  

[pressednpeeled]

5 ways rap has influenced your life.

     “She's dead! She's gone forever, and YOU killed her!” cried out an angry old hip-hop head at a young man cruising by bumping new music labeled “mumble rap.” In This colorful age of constant change, there is no room for ignorance and discrimination of art, it is all after all, art. Leaning on being a sport today, rap and hip hop communities have divided  themselves by confusing themselves with an old school new school divide. Old school considering “good hip hop and rap” to only be music done by the pioneers, new school being more attached to a feel or vibe of the musical context. While many rap veterans did drop the first wave of  influence, nothing will ever go unchanged, especially social expression outlets.That being said we have to understand that the older fans relate so loyally to older music, because it paints memories of a very alive, important time in their lives.

     In this listicle I will cover the significance of raps influence on American culture.  I will go over some history of hip-hop, and its political influence that has influenced the nation culture deeply. We will touch on rap not only being a genre, but a verb as well. We will cover it's subcultures and the competitive side of the art that has kept this genres heart beating.

     The corporate world catalyzed the culture into economical prevalence, in turn officially commercialized rap. With rap on the rise due somewhat to corporate influence, the topics began to degrade and became financially arrogant. The newest artists were getting views based on flashy appearances and being antagonistically controversial, not for honed skills.  Like a blessing in disguise, this allowed bad examples to be displayed and criticized, suddenly,we were able to truly appreciate skilled Artists again. One could understand how the older generations opinions became  judgmental, then stagnant as they fell into the generational cycle and fulfilled their destiny. We must also consider that older listeners are generally less familiar with technological advances and therefore decline to discover newer rhyme that isn't negatively publicized.

     When Nas label the genre “dead” in 2006 many older fans were confused: they simply couldn't accept the fact that culture (and along with culture, music) does not stay the same forever; it outgrows us; it outruns us. Furthermore sub genres that confuse older crowds are what make up a lot of prevalent music today. That being said, rap has had some awful productions in recent years, experimenting with new technology, motivations, styles and of course corporate influence. The record labels saw financial opportunities and began taking over artistic moves and filtering genuine content as if they designed the artists. As time goes on new artists emerge that remind us what great hip hop or rap are.

     Here are 5 reasons Hip-Hop is alive, well, and actually doing better than ever before.

Rap is a verb.                                                                                                           performance, a sport, an activity a past time, rap has been considered all of these things at some point or another. It was a way to express or deliver a message to others that conveys energy intelligence, and creativity. Writer Doran Rosenberg talks about how hip hops basics evolved culturally and organically. People rapped for the love of expression, to explore uncharted artistic depths, and to paint a beautiful portrait with words. Then unfortunately Rap was exploited by corporations seeking financial success over artistic quality. This is the main reason the genre has struggled lyrically over the last few years with the addition of some psycho social implications that began to shift the reason artists began making music in the first place. While people began wanting to do it for the glory, riches and fame,  the love for the craft and unique self expression became unpopular sadly.

           .https://www.elitedaily.com/music/music-news/critics-are-crying-the-                 decline-of-rap-is-hip-hop-really-dead.

     2. Rap is a part of america's political history and a beacon for social issues

     Rap is not only is an artistic venue, but also serves as a political beacon for inner city  communities to express things going on that the rest of the world, doesn't see. On theodysseyonline.com Bailey Marshal speaks on the old rap coming back threw new, rappers like Kendrick Lamar, who proved rap is merely a reflection of society and a true form of art.

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-hip-hop-isnt-dead

      Lamar is one of the few rappers in a very very long time to use the power of politics threw his works. Comparable to N.W.A. in the way they reflected on police brutality and social problems when racial injustice in Ghetto communities began to catch attention during the 1980′s. Most of the country had no idea these issues were happening until  N.W.A made The problems public in 1988 with the song “Fuck The Police,” loud, offensive and boisterous but these Hero were actually doing a great job of exposing police racial profiling African and Hispanics Americans in the inner cities. It wasn't until the 1991 police beating of Rodney King that was broadcaster that these issues had gained more attention, later. Hip Hop gave us a voice that we could raise when the racial discrimination was a bigger problem, setting the beginning mark of a revolutionary time in history for many Americans. Americans cultural involvement in rap is deep rooted within freedom of speech and the reform of racial and social injustice. So why how could it die when it has nurtured the american society in so many social ways.

3. Rap will live on because of the social side of it.

      Rappers have not always been the best role models, and beginning in 2000 the confusion of rap started with the transition of the era that affected the sport almost totally. Overly Explicit shock material or irrelevant topics began arising to only receive attention as quickly as possible. While some music did seem outrageous we still must understand that some artist were only attempting to convey intense strong feelings into words, not worried about making the listeners uncomfortable or offended, like Eminem. Many rappers around this time also fueled career off rivalry like Soldier boy, and 50 cent, taking shots at any already successful artist simply to stir up fan bases of the known artist to create controversy about them,  generating free advertisement for them. These rappers seemed desperate for financial success and fame even though some did already have tasteful artistry to them. Angered by the perpetuated success of some of these braggadocios bonafide clowns, slowly, but surely the minds that Tupac Shakur spoke of, began to spark up, into the world. These heroes began checking new foo foo artist, reminding us of the important values of this poetic craft.

     Kendrick Lamar single handedly reignite the passion for hip hop with a message to rappers of today to get up and realize the loss of control within the industry as an artists. Kendrick re raised the bar in the song “Control”. He compares himself to the greats and calls out all the top players in today's hip hop industry and even a few friends on the song with him!. Stating that we must not forget that hip hop is a sport and everyone should know, right now,  hes the king of it.

“I heard the barbershops be in great debates all the time, 'Bout who's the best MC: Kendrick, Jigga, and Nas, Eminem, André 3000; the rest of y'all new n*ggas just new n*ggas, don't get involved! And I ain't rockin' no more designer shit! White T’s and Nike Cortez, this red Corvettes anonymous,I'm usually homeboys with the same n*ggas I’m rhymin' with, But this is hip-hop, and them n*ggas  should know what time it is, And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake,Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller, I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n*ggas! Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n*ggas They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n*ggas.

What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high!”

       This is important to understand because the craft is still so sought after now by more people than ever. we could never dismiss it because we have grown to love it as a nation just like we love our controversy and sports.

4. Rap is poetry

      Teachers refer to Shakespeare in school to understand language. As time passes we find more monumental lyricist like 2pac. Pacs impact on the world went as far as schools quoting and studying his works to teach,  like we have before with Shakespeare. Colleges around the world offers entire courses on Tupac Shakur's work today. In this article by Micah Mattix, he talks about how rap is not generally considered poetry because it's grammatically incorrect and it “has to have music behind it”. He goes on to say that rap is less serious than poetry and is more profane. All these things said are entirely false and are refuted in the comments by multiple people defending the poetic craft. Comparing other artist like Beck and Bob Dylan to poetry, writing it out in sonnet form to show that it reflections of poetry. Consider the following words from Beck:

Walking to the other side

With the Devil trying to take my mind

And my soul’s just a silhouette

On the ashes of a cigarette

Illusions never fake their lives

Trick cards fool the eyes

Carry zeros over till they add up

Bury tears in the chapters you shut

Sometimes the jail can’t chain the cell

And the rain’s too plain to tell

All alone by a barren well

Scarecrow’s only scaring himself

Consider the following words from Bob Dylan:

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes

I bargained for salvation an’ they gave me a lethal dose

I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/prufrock/is-rap-poetry/

     5. Rap could never expire because its saved on file

       Hip-hop has been influencing pop culture for years. As lingo becomes more socially accepted, the crossover appeal is inevitable for rap to get the recognition it deserves.

       In 2000 Lil’ Wayne coined the word “bling bling” to the oxford dictionary, forever validating his permanent mark on the rap game. Then the next year Beyonce added the word “bootylicious” to the dictionary. Although Snoop Dogg was the originator of the word in 1992, destiny's child took the term to the top with the release of their song that still is one of their highest selling hits to date. Unless someone can destroy every single copy of the dictionary physical and digital then maybe they can put an end to this rap thing but unless that happens hip hop will be right here just like revolutions in history textbooks are. https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2016/05/hip-hop-words-in-oxford-english-dictionary/

      Rap is an art form and when is put on display its subject to judgment and an interpretation from the side that is appreciative and the side that isn't. Our parents aren't totally wrong about new bad music, but they need to understand hip hop and rap will never die, for it has only began forming major sub genres like rock formed punk, and jazz formed acid. More and more people are becoming involved in the rap culture every day. The culture involves itself within our society more and more everyday . Weather it be politics or social issues, rap ingrains itself into us organically and electronically. The concept is comparable to saying that singing is dying, or comedy is dying, it just doesn't make any sense at all. Hip hop and rap will remain strong in our societies all over the world, continuing to cycle through history as it has since it  began.  Because rap culture is socially tied to us it creates our history, our texts and our lives. it is a self sufficient competitive art and therefore will forever evolve with new topics,  problems, and people. Music is simply a reflection of the high energy human existence.  regardless of its spelling, and bold topics, hip hop and rap will remain abrasive to political foul play, acting as a beacon for untapped issues that the genres people will never let it slide by unnoticed.So to all those embittered old hip hop heads that idolized artist they grew up, please understand that you don't understand, change in inevitable and if it wasn't, everything would be the same. Variety is the spice of life my friend, until you understand that, please go find a cave to cry in, But remember,  “I ain’t mad atcha”-Tupac Shakure. 

[spooky-yuuko]

I have this really shitty problem where I invalidate myself because I think others are going to invalidate me or paint me as dramatic but like I can feel however I want to feel and shouldn't worry how I look So like I've been hung up on my ex for years now and ever since I met him I've only been intimate with one person one time. And it was very uncomfortable and so I've spent the last two years kind of alone and on my own and single. It's been nearly impossible for me to find someone I'm sexually attracted to. Like my ex really manipulated my mind into thinking he's the only one I should be attracted to. But anyways, I've talked to and gone on dates with plenty of great guys and girls and like they're attractive and wonderful and kind and all that but the SEXUAL attraction isn't there. And that really upsets me cus like I'm a very sexual person. ((Some of this may have to do with early sexual trauma from my teenage years but it's never been an issue until my abusive ex brainwashing me)) and like I want to have sex. I have crazy urges and like I'm not tryna toot my own horn or anything but I'm open to doing pretty much anything. So it's not like I'm uncomfortable with the idea of sex, I just haven't found anyone I'm comfortable with seeing me naked and being inside of me. Which leads me to the invalidating: I've been friends with this one guy for like 5 years. And he's always been flaky and ghosted me but mostly because he's old fashion/doesn't really use social media and he doesn't have a phone atm. But him and I were finally communicating and after going back and forth for a while we made plans and I went to hangout with him and a couple of his friends at a fire. I brought my best friend and it was a super fun night, which is not what either of us expecting. I expected it to be awkward and uncomfortable but I was more comfortable than I've been in a very long time. Be knew I was feeling him, and after a bottle of liquid courage he put his arm around me. Usually I'd cringe at male interaction like that but I melted right into him and that whole night was talking and laughing and hugging and eventually kissing. And sweet drunken words. He even asked my friend all these things about me and if he had a chance. Usually the answer is no but that night it was yes. And he's only been with a couple girls, he's very shy, so he was really nervous but told me he's really only dated controlling girls (which is true) and girls that have cheated on him. (I know all this cus I've known him forever). He looked at me and said I'm the most normal girl he's ever met. And he kept asking me for permission to leave my side and go interact with friends or get wood, etc. which really showed me that he has been emotionally abused before cus like you don't have to ask for permission to do normal things???? I trust you???? I was so happy. And I left. And he texted me from his friends phone goodnight and how much he enjoyed me being there and wanted to see me again and blah blah. He even threw a couple "babes" in there and I totally wasn't grossed out by it. And now it's been 5 days and I haven't heard a word. Nothing. Which is unusual. There wasn't anything more than a few kisses involved so it's not like he was using me for sex. And he's not the ungentlemanly type. Idk. The first person I could see myself being sexually intimate with totally flaked out of nowhere. I get it. It happens. And I'm totally obsessing over it. But I can't stop thinking about it. And I just want to see him again. He was even cool with the fact that I'm moving in 3 weeks. Idk. Just sucks.

[gilmoregirlsbigbrother]

EPISODE #1

As the cast get settled into the Dragonfly Inn, tensions arise between a few guests. Personalities don’t always mesh and alliances are formed quickly in the first few days of the game. Let’s check in on the houseguests as we begin our journey on Gilmore Girlssssss Bigggggg Brother!

Andrew

Lov it is lit rally 6 hours ahead of est in italy and like my dummy dum dum ass was like oooooo lets play this fuckin game that starts in the middle of my italy trip?? so i love that for my brain. i saw the post, saw clash and dan got the twist thingy, talked to some people for a little bit, and then went the fuck to bed

Isaac

This cast fucking blows.

Randy

5 of the cast are women, 16 are bitches ding ding is it bad that i dont see myself not making it late game like i thought i had an uphill battle but these bitches accepted me so easily so this is gonna be easy

Chelsea

Hi everyone! I'm gonna try to stay on top of my shit but no promises. There are a lot of people that I don't know at all in this game, but so far Randy, Clash, Nick, and Dani have been the people to message me. Dani and I played Guyana together and did well, so it's nice to have her as someone to talk to this early on.

I don't really see any obstacles yet, it's all a matter of how i bring my game to the table and who i learn does it better. This is my second BB game so I have a little bit of learning to do since the gameplay is a bit different than Survivor.

I love the idea of going to Friday night dinner. Not only do i love dinner and Friday nights, but i think it's completely fair and chill. Your decisions may or may not help you and that's what I like. I enjoy seeing how advantages work for different people and how people make weaker ones work in their favor.

I joined this game last minute when I wasn't planning on playing for a while, so I'm still trying to get mentally prepared for the conversations and challenges ahead. I hope that doesn't put a target on my back.

Nick

https://youtu.be/KKrQn3xNd1A

( a little while later) 

Still no reply from Karen but according to Randy, Karen has a premade that she plans on sticking with all game. Randy also told me he wants me to win hoh but I don’t know if I really want it.

(a little while after that)

Karen messaged me which is a yay! I’m hoping he was just busy and didn’t see my message but who knows... can’t wait to play this first hoh and get last in it probably!

Andrew

at this point with the people left who can still win hoh.....i think theres a chance that dani or madison could put me up just bc idk them and im having very boring, fake conversation with them lmao. i love being a meninist! anyway-- i think id be fine with everyone else? i hope. so likeee fuck this hoh ig. i dont need it. if i somehow get it, ill just put up the people that ive talked to the least? also im lowkey worried JG would put me up just bc we arent talking a lot. i should talk to him more huh.. anyway i would hope im good w everyone else. nick - who i was worried about - even told me im good with him if he wins hoh and i told him same. so wow oh wow ive made my first deal of the game

Head of Household commences and Clash is the Head of Household after a water balloon fight. Alliances begin to form as a obvious friendship of Karen, Isaac, Ricky and Andrew is spotted by another emerging friendship of Nick, Madison and Randy. But, is everything as it seems? 

Liana

Hi first confessional here. I've been struggling with playing 2 games at the same time it's hard to keep up. Now i get some quiet time to catch up this lovely morning. This cast is fun and varied. I was excited to see some people I've played with in the past (Drew, Karen, Isaac, Andrew, Dan, and Ricky) and meet some new people. I'm finding it hard to message people because I hate the awkward small talk in the beginning but I don't want to get targeted. While I know those people from the past, they're also obstacles because I know, according to timestamps, Karen and Isaac targeted me in the HOH and they're probs definitely working together. I'm hoping I can stay under the radar for now and let large groups go after each other until I get a chance to build more relationships.

Madison

Let's review

In the past 24 hours I have: -implied f2 with Dan -implied f2 with Nick -f2 with Clash -Alliance with Nick and Randy -implied alliance with Bobby and Nick -alliance with Randy Adrian JG Clash

Nick

Clash winning HOH is acceptable! I think he trusts and likes me and he wanted me to win hoh when I was still in which shows something. On top of that we both had the same sorta idea to put Isaac and Karen up which I’m just here like “bye bye bitches” and these inactive players will hopefully learn how to speak some English.

Dan

Clash winning hoh is like a damn Hawaiian vacation for me. I don’t have to worry about being nominated, I still don’t have to talk to these crackheads, and I can maybe get noms how I want them. I love being pretty

Ricky

My first night in the Dragonfly Inn was riddled with terrible associative experiences in my real life, .org life, and romantic life. So....not great.

Adrian

im here and im ready to dominate

Drew

Right now i don't have a game, Andrew and I keep talking about maybe deciding to start playing but then everyone else who's like old school PI type people that we could tap (Ricky, Isaac, Karen) keep sucking massive ass

so the plan is to be just barely known enough to survive and then we'll reassess in like three rounds when i start wanting to win challenges

aka when the cast gets normal sized

Andrew

i mean im gonna work with isaac and ricky for sure i think bc we're a power trio and can fuck shit up when we put each of our single brain cells together. i like also wanna work with karen and/or drew and/or sammy bc they all me friends. i usually dont trust karen or drew for too long in games but like this is bb and not survivor and i play these 2 games v differently so we'll see what happens. madison and nick were really giving me nothing to work with night one even tho i wanted to have more indpeth convo with them. dan and jg i wanna try working with. clash..... we're gonna manipulate xoxo

clash has been involved with a lot of drama in this community and to be real i still dunno how i feel about him cuz like,,,,,ive only hosted him? and hes kinda immature but like also ig i can work close with him in an actual game and get better bearings on who he is.. maybe he can be a good ally? maybe i can just manipulate the fuck out of him and get him to say he loves me after knowing me for 6 days?

(a little while later)

me to dani: yeah it’s hard being in everyone’s pms haha Also me: rapid fire texting every single houseguest all the way from the homeland

(a little while later)

I'm tryna talk to everyone just so I'm not nominated because for whatever reason I have a bad track record of getting nommed week one? I only wanna win veto comps if I'm actually on the block. HOH rn is dumb and I'm just gonna do the bare minimum to keep myself from being nominated lol

(a little LATER after that)

okay so im gonna make a list from 1 being who i wanna mcshoot to 11 being no pls i dont wanna pull the trigger piglet

1. Madison ew smelly 2. Dani kinda smelly dont trust it 3. JG i like dunno where i stand w him 4. Clash i think he trusts me but that would be crackhead hour 5. Randy same with Clash but less hormonal(?) 6. Liana dont think she'd put me up.. 7. Karen same with Liana but im better fwiends w her uwu 8. Nick we made a deal so like? stick to it?? 9. Adrian a cool man that I wanna get closer to 10. Isaac we tryna power trio w him and Ricky 11. Ricky I think he'd have a better chance at beating Isucc

1 is take em out chief and 11 is sweet bb boi owo

(jesus take the wheel the cameraman gets super tired but Andrew keeps speaking)

Dear diary, clash won hoh today, and I hope he doesn’t put me up. If he does, then I’ll just bully him by constantly posting the screenshots of him confessing his love to Madison kimrey in the house chat. Till next time! Andrew <3

also yikes I guess dani assumes I’m the one who took her out in the challenge but like there were 8(?) of us left and lit rally lov we’ve talked for like 5 minutes so I could not give less of a shit lol

I could use Dani’s passive aggression to fuel a nuclear power plant

After the nomination ceremony where Isaac and Liana are nominated, tensions brew between Bobby and Isaac (which makes Isaac concoct a lie to make Bobby feel bad for being mean). The houseguests start to form alliances on late night calls, notably Madison’s two alliances Weiner Hard and The Chipettes. 

Nick

VL Cast Assessment/Opinions:

Adrian - We don’t exactly talk often but I feel quite safe with him... he gives me laying low type player vibes and I’m gonna let him do his thing! Overall like him a lot and there’s potential with him as an ally in the game.

Andrew - He’s quite chill! He and I talk a lot and I personally really like him and his attitude. I think he doesn’t scream threat but late game he may be the main social player and threat to win. I consider him a worthy ally

Bobby- I LOVE BOBBY! He’s overall really fun and has a great personality. We are definitely close in this game! The one issue is he makes it very clear he hates Ricky and that could put a target on him and possibly me if they think we are close. He’s someone who I will 100% have their back in the game

Chelsea - She’s sweet... nice personality and doesn’t seem to have any enemies. I think she’s a super nice person and there’s really nothing negative to say about them at the moment besides I wish we connected more sooner.

Clash - CLASH IS AMAZING! We knew each other way before this and we already had the bond but we never worked together... hopefully this time it will be different and we can work with each other long term!

Dan - I love him but the house thinks otherwise... people see him as a kind of a crazy over the top player based on past games... but in my opinion it’s better to have those types of people on your side rather than against you in these types of games...  sadly he might be a common target in this game.

Dani - Dani is so kind and I love her so much! We talk all the time  and the only issue I have with her is that she’s after Madison who I also like and trust. Their feud might ruin my game long term!

Drew - I like drew but I feel like he automatically thinks I’m with him because we know each other... we haven’t talked a ton but when we do I enjoy the talks a lot as he’s genuinely a good and funny guy!

JG - Same a Clash where I knew him before this and I trust him but we never played together! I think everyone likes him and he is someone who I gotta trust or I’ll fall out of the loop.

Karen - Rocky start but we actually talked a bit and connected a bit. I’m hoping for more but as of now I don’t trust Karen that much.

Liana - Chips wife omg I love you. they are nominated right now and I’m worried people will evict her because if she “puts the baby down” as some say, she may be really threatening long term in the game.

Madison - Hate this bitch... obviously joking but she can be trouble long term if I don’t keep an eye out for her... she’s going to create and be in drama and I gotta be ready to deal with the aftermath. Trust and love her but she can ruin everything for me in one day if she wasn’t in the right head space

Randy - This bitch is so funny! I want to work so bad with randy and I think it may actually happen! He is someone I hope I can count on long term in the game!

Sammy - We are slowly making connections and he reaches out to me very often so I’m happy to see someone is reaching out to make a bond with me rather the other way around! I’m excited for what’s to come!

Isaac - He might as well not talk to anyone at all because he’s basically inactive... he didn’t even speak to the hoh when they made nominations then got mad when they went up... it’s annoying that you think you deserve to stay over Liana who’s putting work in.

Ricky - I like him! He talks with me which is nice and I’m just overall looking forward to more conversations because I find him funny and interesting!

Andrew

I wasn’t nominated which was lit and clash said I’m one of his closest allies.. dunno if that’s true or not but I’ll run with it for now. Liana being nominated im neutral about but isaac could be an issue bc I’m supposed to be working with him. But sometimes he’ll go inactive in games? And idk why. I guess his aunts in the hospital which is a yikes but also he shouldn’t be surprised if he’s on the block. Also calling clash an incel and Bobby a dick in the chat is a look but also Bobby kinda WAS being a dick so like understandable. PS - who has the social tact now miss isaac? ... ily

Madison

Idk if I could trust Nick fully because he's already backstabbed Randiddy and my keeping things from both him and Bobby is just easier for me. I'm gonna keep my mouth shut this time and not cause too many fights but I also wanna fight most of these people. The noms are also sexy as hell and I hope Liana goes because she has a child to take care of and she should go back to that

Randy

https://youtu.be/QZC4skhewkg

The veto commences, and Sammy reigns victorious in the Word Ladder challenge. Isaac and Liana remain final nominees. But will rumors of the “premade” on a house call seal Isaac’s fate?

Ricky

literally not one single person has spoken to me today except sammy and he said hello and nothing else so i’m not doing shit until i am told anything

Randy

Andrew

so i think isaac is dying and people are coming to me like "i know hes ur fwiend uwu" and im like well im obviously not gonna be a dumb dumb bubblegum lookin ass bitch and rock any vote when im tryna play this UTR friendly to everyone game. my game rn is based purely on conformity and being a wallflower. so if isaac has to get sent down the river then bring me a boat bitch

Madison

i can't wait to evict all these boring ass people

[jessicakehoe]

Read Chapter 1 of Ian Williams’s Exclusive Short Story “I Want It All. I Want It Now.”

We wanted our Summer issue to be special, as it’s on newsstands for three months. What we came up with is two pieces of culture in one: There’s a short story, a dark take on contemporary romance written by Canadian poet and novelist Ian Williams, and then there’s the regular Summer issue, featuring Kacey Musgraves on the faux cover. Below you’ll find the first chapter of the fictional story, “I Want It All. I Want It Now.” If you pick up our Summer issue, on newsstands May 26, you’ll find it intertwined with stories on travel, trends and all the other content you’ve come to expect from FASHION.

–Noreen Flanagan, Editor-in-Chief

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRUNK ARCHIVE

Vancouver

Another woman

I looked at my phone for—no joke—15 seconds to respond to a notification. (My father. Could I work that afternoon?) And when I looked up, my boyfriend was checking out a blond in the checkout line ahead of us. He was trying to be discreet, absent-mindedly picking the inside corner of his nose and nibbling both of his lips, willing the woman to turn around so he could see her face.

I tapped my phone against the magazine rack and waited. I picked up a pack of Trident, glanced at the nutritional label, put it back. Unbelievable. Hudson was grinding up on her in his fantasy. From the back, the woman was either Dolly Parton or Nicki Minaj. Blond. She wore high-waisted mom jeans, a white crop top, hoop earrings the size of her bracelets and probably too much makeup. She was probably Botoxed between the brows, probably had too much filler in her lips and probably her face was coated in downy fuzz.

So you got a contract for a shoot in—Whistler? Hudson came out of his trance.

Mexico, I said.

Mexico. Even better, he said. You can swing up to L.A. and meet me.

I’ll be working.

He mouthed “working” and made air quotes.

You’ll be “networking,” I said. Same finger quotes. You swing down and meet me. I’m always the one following you around.

I’ll see. His eyes shifted to Dolly Minaj tapping her debit card.

Do you know her or something?

My mom had this poster tacked up in her workspace at Citytv. She was one of the first female producers there. Now my dad keeps it in the waiting room.

Yorkie

I lifted the dog from the examination table into a plastic bag. It was an old honey-coloured Yorkie with long bangs—a faded beauty queen. I took it down to the freezer.

We had one more procedure for the day; then my father would get in his car and drive to Whistler. He had a condo there and an Australian girlfriend who thought I should be teaching public school and nursing a baby at 25. Neither my father nor the girlfriend understood terms like contract labour, freelance, precariat.

I made room in the freezer for the Yorkie. As a child, I remember my father teaching me the difference between a carcass and a corpse. To me, it was all death, a staple black dress. But to him, death was more elaborate, like a damask pattern. The worst part of death was not knowing you were dead, he thought. Not pain, not leaving people behind, but the blindness of the dead regarding their condition. I closed the freezer door and returned upstairs.

Up next, we had a Pomeranian with an intestinal blockage. I held the dog’s head; my father injected it and cut its stomach open. Then we took turns feeling along the intestines for the obstruction. It was a good note to end the day on.

Sometimes he injected them and they didn’t wake up.

I learned early on not to be squeamish. My father doesn’t pay me. This is not my life. It’s not even my job.

Dye

How blond we talking? Ella asked.

I was sitting on the lip of her bathtub while she sectioned my hair into six parts. I had bought two boxes from L’Oréal Preference: my regular light brown shade, “Shade 36 Havane,” and my dream shade, “Medium Rose Blonde 823.”

I wanted to be so blond that I’d turn the festival into a testostefest of bug-eyed guys tryna get with me. Hudson would block hotties with his shoulder and say, You got a problem, bro? They’d scuffle. Maybe rip their white tees. Blood. Yeah, a bloody nose or two. I’d drag Hudson off the guy, then clutch his bicep as we walked away. From the back, my blond hair would be dishevelled but fabulous.

You gotta work on your feminism, girl. Ella put on gloves. What’s it gonna be?

You don’t think it’ll look like a wig on me? With my eyebrows and everything? I’ve got all these gigs late in the summer. I can’t show up looking like a bleached fern.

I like you dark. Ella shrugged.

But—

Odile, make a decision!

I considered the models on both boxes. The blond was radiant, but the brunette was sultry. In the end, I slapped the light brown box into her hand. Safe.

Ella didn’t look surprised. I almost changed my mind, but she ripped open the box and I knew I couldn’t return it. I leaned forward, partly so she could start with the roots at the back, partly to hide my face.

Ella and I were a year into an M.B.A. program, half online, half in the classroom. On the first day of Risk Management, I introduced myself as Odile, a model. The female professor said, There’s math in this course. The male students looked up from their phones and calculated their chances. All the female students dismissed me as a ditz, except for Ella. On break, she characterized the professor as the kind of white feminist who is a puppet of patriarchal oppression in all its forms, including capitalism. Ella had a background in social justice and intersectional politics.

You do realize you’re basically a white feminist, I said. She stroked her hair hand over hand, like a Kardashian.

I totally realize my complicity in the problem, she said, full of vocal fry. Then, seriously, she added: I’m in this M.B.A. to grow a dick and then cut it off. I should have introduced myself as Ella, I used to be a stripper.

Ella applied dye to the middle section of my hair, then to the front.

I told her that I caught Hudson looking at a woman in a grocery store.

She said, The same way you got him is the same way you’re gonna lose him.

I did not break them up.

You kinda did, she said. Karma’s not just the name of an escort.

I met Hudson in Risk Management. He told me later that his philosophy was always to approach the hottest girl in a room first. Go big. And there was no question who was the hottest in that room of cuttlefish. His words. He was with another woman at the time. But he ended that relationship (like a month after we hooked up, Ella would add here), and we’ve been together for seven months. We went public. Like Ella, he was only getting an M.B.A. as part of a master plan; his was for him and his band to be a brand. He was in the program to talk the talk, to learn the reptilian language he could use in L.A. to get his band signed. His ultimate non-sexual fantasy involved rolling across America in a tour bus and calling me from pay phones in dusty rectangular states. Some women like men with plans. I like men with dreams. Or fantasies. Even better if they included me.

Ella removed her gloves.

While we were waiting for the colour to set, I flicked my hand through her closet for something to borrow. Ella was taller than me so I couldn’t wear her pants, but everything else was fair game. I’d call my style “bohemian”—mismatched layers and oversized accessories—like a human gallery wall. Actually, I passed most of the spring semester layering Ella’s clothes on mine or Hudson’s. Sometimes his clothes ended up in her closet. Sometimes her clothes ended up in his. She slept in my bed some nights. I slept in hers other nights—maybe tonight.

Photography via Trunk Archive

Flight Centre

When I saw my hair, I reacted like women in makeover reveals. I wasn’t blond, but I was my best self. My mother used to watch Oprah. Call me crazy, but a good dye job always makes my boobs look bigger. I had to fan my eyes to keep back the tears. Ella tried to get me to spend the night, but I messaged Hudson.

Texts after midnight always got an enthusiastic reception.

Hudson met me on the street as I was parallel parking. Even though he was a few feet away, I could feel him all over me like a cloud of blackflies.

He fluffed my hair with both of his hands and pressed me against the side of the car. A lump in his sweatpants. I was wearing Ella’s sequined shift dress; slipping off my shoulders, it was like wearing moonlight on a lake. Hudson kissed my neck, kisses like bubbles everywhere. I had stepped into a glass of Champagne. I turned my head into the glare of the Flight Centre’s lights.

He remembered his trips based on what he ate. I remembered mine by what I bought: a Michael Kors bag in L.A., a Dior macramé dress in Paris, Gucci slippers in Ireland, a Van Cleef & Arpels pendant in Chile.

Then I went inside and surfed him like in the Beyoncé song.

Insomnia

I fell asleep while Hudson was making himself an avocado sandwich. I woke up a few hours later, and he was fingerpicking his electric Gibson. The next time I woke up, he was mixing music with his laptop on top of his keyboard. Then he was flipping through the FASHION magazines I had left on his amp, maybe reading the marginalia I wrote while I was reading them.

It’s like he wanted to sleep but couldn’t. I got up and went to him on the couch.

What’s bothering you? I asked.

He shook his head. He was bouncing his leg.

Photography by Robert Reader

I was used to his insomnia, but tonight his energy was more skittish. Maybe he’d had a late cappuccino. I put my hand down his pants to tire him out. He put his nose in my hair. When he tensed and exhaled, I lay down on top of him so he couldn’t move, so our heartbeats and breathing would synchronize and he’d fall asleep. (He believed in that cosmic energy stuff.)

But when I peeked, I saw that his headphones were on and his eyes were open.

At dawn, he walked me to my car.

What you got going on today? I asked.

He shrugged. I just need to get some sleep.

I nodded. I’ll leave you to that then.

I bought an Americano at the place nearby, but when I got back to my car, I saw him unlocking his bicycle.

He swooped a leg over the frame and pedalled hard the other way.

Odile’s story isn’t over yet. Where was Hudson headed and will his relationship with Odile survive mounting tensions when things don’t go as planned during a weekend getaway? See how it all pans out in Chapter Two and follow @the.real.odile on Instagram for real-time updates.

The post Read Chapter 1 of Ian Williams’s Exclusive Short Story “I Want It All. I Want It Now.” appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Read Chapter 1 of Ian Williams’s Exclusive Short Story “I Want It All. I Want It Now.” published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[depressionismywife]

I’m Only Human ~ RITTZ

I love this song so much, it sends a powerful message, sorry coz it’s a long read

I'm only human

It's hard to count all of my mistakes I've made

I'm only human

Don't have the power to save the day, I can't

I'm only human

Nobody's perfect, I've been ashamed of things I've done

I need improvement, I need to work it

So many things for change to come

I'm only human

We all breathe the same air, share the same living space

Breath the same from the day that we came up out our mom's womb

Character traits from our parents, we behave how we've been taught to

Identify by a country, and a state, and a race, and a faith we belong to

From our face, what we're labeled and named we respond to

All too innocent until we get imprinted from the images we witness

And eventually resemble what we gone through

Some people say the shape of your fate is beyond you

Other say that fate is what you make it

I try to do right 'cause they glue you up to state when they see you make a wrong move

But I ain't superhuman, I don't got a cape or a costume

Homie on the dog food, thought he got clean

Talkin' to him, all he doin' is nodding out sleep

Who am I to judge him? Hard for me to drink and not fiend

Scared they gon' find my dead body on the box-spring

Know a lot of cool chicks, some with daddy issues

Hard to tell how many men have been up in her mouth piece

Men fuck a ton of women, they a certified pimp

When the shoe was on the other foot, they holler out freak

Like she isn't wife material

Both got venereal diseases, burnin' while they piss

Friends in long-term relationships, lying to each other

Never told them about the dirt they went and did

Kids acting out, searching for a dad

Young adults feel at fault to their parents 'cause they want a college grad

I can background check you, do research about your past

But I never know that person in the flesh 'cause

[Hook]

I'm only human

It's hard to count all of my mistakes I've made

I'm only human

Don't have the power to save the day, I can't

I'm only human

Nobody's perfect, I've been ashamed of things I've done

I need improvement, I need to work it

So many things for change to come

I'm only human

Like the girl on Instagram tryna show her body off to get more likes

Had a dude who got in trouble 'cause his girl saw him hit the heart sign

Waking up, embarrassed, my manager pissed at me 'cause I was drunk on live

Last night on my phone doing blow like it's cool when I know it ruins lives

Several times it almost ruined mine, what a waste

Wanna lie like I'm doin' fine, but I ain't

Wanna quit before it's too late, pump the brakes

Insecure, I wanna lose weight, but I can't 'cause I drink socially

The only way that I can function

Dissing people in the public based off an assumption

When I should have called and had a one-on-one discussion

Disgusted, I'm cussing out someone I trusted

Guilty and the glove fit

Stuck in a rut, hit ignore the minute that my friends called

Last Christmas I was dissed, feeling pissed and I went off

Fuck I wish I didn't involve my in-laws

Fist's all swollen, giant hole inside a thin wall in my living room

And ever since it's been a pitfall

Really need my family, I don't never call them ask them how they kids are, tell them I miss y'all

Can't ignore the insults, thought I had a thick skin, you could just unfollow me, don't gotta leave the ten cents

Caught up in this business and I don't really fit in

Call on my prescription to calm me down like Prince did

I don't got a spotter when I bench press all the pressure on my chest

Lost another friendship hopin' they forgive me, I forgive them

This wasn't my intention

I'm only human

It's hard to count all of my mistakes I've made

I'm only human

Don't have the power to save the day, I can't

I'm only human

Nobody's perfect, I've been ashamed of things I've done

I need improvement, I need to work it

So many things for change to come

I'm only human

[webanalytics]

Timely and Relevant Is The Only Message That Matters

During the 2014 Grammy Awards, musician Pharrell Williams was seen wearing an unusual hat:

Image Source

Sure, he may have gotten some funny looks, but it didn’t seem like a big deal.

That is, until a certain fast food chain seized the opportunity to craft a clever tweet:

Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs

— Arby's (@Arbys) January 27, 2014

This was a spectacular feat on several levels. Many brands had been unsuccessfully trying to capitalize on the Grammys, but Arby’s nailed it.

It was also a great use of Arby’s social media persona. The restaurant even gained a funny response from Pharrell himself:

Y'all tryna start a roast beef? "@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs”

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 27, 2014

Those two Tweets gave Arby’s a colossal amount of publicity, gaining tens of thousands of retweets in a couple of days.

And they did it all with just eight words and a related hashtag.

Why did it work so well?

This smart marketing move had two important characteristics. It was timely, and it was relevant.

The most successful marketing is timely and relevant, and as I’m about to explain, that’s all that matters.

It doesn’t matter if you have millions of social media followers. It doesn’t matter if tons of influencers are promoting your product.

If your marketing isn’t timely and relevant, it won’t succeed.

It’s getting tougher and tougher to do marketing right. People are pickier about what they consume, and they’ll ignore anything that rubs them the wrong way.

If you throw salesy terms at your customers and pressure them to buy, you’re not going to get a lot of conversions.

But if you can build a connection with your customers, they just might turn into lifetime brand advocates.

You need to reach your customers where they are. That’s why timely, relevant messages are crucial for your brand.

What exactly does timely and relevant mean?

First, let’s define these terms.

“Timely” and “relevant” aren’t just buzzwords. They have real implications for your business, and as it turns out, they’re fairly complex.

Let’s tackle timeliness.

Many marketing campaigns are timely but not relevant. Often, these campaigns fail.

Make no mistake––timeliness is crucial. But you can still fail if you send a message at the perfect time.

Consider the Race Together campaign that Starbucks put out in 2015.

The campaign definitely came at the right time. The coffee giant launched it in response to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, which had just happened the previous year.

The cases were still in the news, and Starbucks decided to create a dialogue about race. It should have been a match made in heaven, but it wasn’t.

Image Source

The campaign flopped quite badly.

The initiative itself was inherently flawed. It didn’t matter that it came at the right time because it just wasn’t the right marketing approach.

The race issue is definitely of intense importance, but the way it was approached was solidly off.

So timeliness is definitely important, but your marketing can’t be just timely. It also has to be relevant.

To be relevant, you have to think about your audience’s current needs, wants, and opinions.

You can’t base your ideas of relevancy off of old trends or data. You have to stay up to date and figure out what your customers want and like right now.

You have to think about what your customers want, where you can reach them, and how you can benefit them.

Image Source

If your audience isn’t interested in what you have to offer, they’re not going to listen to you.

If your audience isn’t hanging out in the same places you’re marketing, they’re not going to hear you.

If your audience doesn’t derive any value from your marketing, they’re not going to pay attention to you.

Last but not least, if you want to be relevant, your marketing has to fall in line with your audience’s values.

If you launch an initiative that your customers fundamentally disagree with, you won’t see much success. The same thing will happen if your marketing is insensitive or poorly done.

To sum it all up, relevancy means catering to your customers in as many ways as you can.

When you combine timeliness with relevancy, you get a one-two punch that almost never fails to convert.

The danger of the wrong message

To understand why timely and relevant matters so much, let’s consider some marketing efforts that failed miserably.

One of the biggest marketing fails in recent years has to be Pepsi’s controversial ad that was called “tone-deaf” by almost every media outlet in the world, from the New York Times to USA Today.

The 2017 ad involved TV personality Kendall Jenner taking part in protests and eventually offering a can of Pepsi to police.

Pepsi said the ad was meant to “project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding,” but it fell flat because the ad painted an unrealistic portrait of protests and the interactions between police and protesters.

Like Starbucks’s Race Together campaign, Pepsi put this out at the right time, in the wake of police protests that seemed to divide America, and the company’s intentions were positive.

However, the ad wasn’t relevant. It was far too staged and the situation far too impossible to relate to viewers.

To put it bluntly, the public thought the ad was a ton of crap and spoke out against it. (Pepsi removed the video from their channel, but the re-uploaded version received over 150,000 dislikes!)

The flak that Pepsi received for the ad was more than negative publicity. Pepsi learned the hard way that the wrong message at the right time won’t work, and that was a wake-up call for businesses around the world.

You don’t have to be Pepsi or Starbucks to send the wrong message and alienate your audiences––it can happen to a business of any size.

SaleCycle found that out when its content strategy failed.

The B2B company wanted to produce more content and provide more value to its readers. So far, so good.

SaleCycle started publishing 2-3 pieces of content per week, and their overall content output soared.

However, they focused more on quantity and less on quality.

Even though they had 100 blog posts, just 10 of those posts made up half of their total blog traffic.

Image Source

The reason? They were publishing lots of content that their audience wasn’t interested in.

While it may have been timely, it wasn’t relevant whatsoever.

These examples prove that you need both timely and relevant marketing. You can’t just have one or the other.

Being timely but not relevant (or vice versa) is an awkward imbalance. It makes it seem like you’re kind of paying attention to your audience, but not really.

Both the Pepsi ad and SaleCycle’s content strategy were timely, but they weren’t relevant. In both cases, customers felt distanced from the business.

Ultimately, it’s your customers who decide whether or not your message is timely and relevant. That’s why you have to prioritize them.

You have to know your customers

Being both timely and relevant requires you to listen to your customers, get to know them better, and produce content that they want to see.

That sounds simple enough, but how does it play out in real life?

Basically, you have to continually track certain elements of your audience and use customer feedback to improve.

Okay, that still sounds simple. But trust me––there’s a lot to it.

Many businesses think that they can just glance at online reviews or social media posts to create timely, relevant messages.

But here’s the thing – customers want you to know them super well.

But the customer-business relationship is a two-way street. If you’re not doing your part, why should your customers?

So put in the extra effort to build personas, get to know what your audience wants, and cater to them.

Make “timely and relevant” your motto

I hope you’re convinced that timely and relevant are truly the only message that matters.

That doesn’t mean you’re done.

Understanding is only the first step. You have to implement it.

As corny as it sounds, being timely and relevant has to be something you are and not just something you do. (I told you it sounded corny.)

You might tell yourself that you’re being timely and relevant, but if your customers still aren’t happy, then you’re not doing so well.

Pepsi is a perfect example. When it created the disastrous TV ad, it wasn’t trying to deliver irrelevant content to their customers, but they misunderstood the kind of content their customers would connect with.

There’s no doubt that Pepsi thought it was delivering a message that was both timely and relevant.

Just like you probably think you’re delivering the right messages to your customers.

For all I know, you are. But the point is that you can’t ever assume you’re doing the right thing and turn a blind eye to your customers.

If you want to create the most timely and relevant messages, that concept has to be a focus throughout your company.

Everyone on your team should be thinking “timely and relevant.”

Think of Amazon’s mission statement. It’s easy to remember and permeates every level of the company.

Our vision is to be Earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Every Amazon employee knows that this is the goal. In the same way, your entire team should live and breathe “timely and relevant.”

That concept has to guide everything you do.

Your social media team should be thinking “timely and relevant.” Your product manager should be thinking it. Everyone from the interns to the CEO should be thinking it.

If everyone isn’t on the same page, then one person’s efforts could get completely lost in translation.

Conclusion

You care about your customers, right?

Obviously that’s a rhetorical question because you do care about your customers.

But be brutally honest with yourself: When you put out your content, run your shiny new marketing campaign, or release a new product, does that attention to your customers still come across?

The Pepsi and Starbucks fiascos proved that intentions don’t always translate into actions. What begins as a good-natured marketing plan may end up taking a nosedive.

As much as it might hurt to admit, you might be ignoring your customers.

And you might be sending your customers the entirely wrong message, which is directly caused by ignoring your customers.

At the heart of the matter, being timely and relevant is all about taking care of your audience.

If you listen to what your customers have to say and understand what they want, you’ll almost never send the wrong message.

You’ll understand your audience’s wants, needs, interests, and dislikes.

You’ll be able to see what kind of content is both timely and relevant.

To make it even easier on yourself, you can take advantage of Kissmetrics Campaigns.

  Campaigns was developed with the goal of delivering the right message at the right time. You’re able to send emails based on your users’ behaviors. Essentially, Campaigns is a behavior-based email engine. You find a segment of your audience that needs a nudge, and you create and send your emails in Campaigns.

The engine runs on the fuel of behavioral analytics and segments. Behavior-based emails mean that your emails are much more likely to be timely and relevant to your users.

And instead of relying on basic metrics like opens and clicks, Campaigns digs deep and looks at behavioral analytics.

Is your marketing and content timely and relevant? Have you had issues delivering the right message for your customers?

About the Author: Daniel Threlfall is an Internet entrepreneur and content marketing strategist. As a writer and marketing strategist, Daniel has helped brands including Merck, Fiji Water, Little Tikes, and MGA Entertainment. Daniel is co-founding Your Success Rocket, a resource for Internet entrepreneurs. He and his wife Keren have four children, and occasionally enjoy adventures in remote corners of the globe (kids included). You can follow Daniel on Twitter or see pictures of his adventures on Instagram.

from Search Results for “analytics” – The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/2xBseXl #Digital #Analytics #Website

[samiam03x]

Timely and Relevant Is The Only Message That Matters

During the 2014 Grammy Awards, musician Pharrell Williams was seen wearing an unusual hat:

Image Source

Sure, he may have gotten some funny looks, but it didn’t seem like a big deal.

That is, until a certain fast food chain seized the opportunity to craft a clever tweet:

Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs

— Arby's (@Arbys) January 27, 2014

This was a spectacular feat on several levels. Many brands had been unsuccessfully trying to capitalize on the Grammys, but Arby’s nailed it.

It was also a great use of Arby’s social media persona. The restaurant even gained a funny response from Pharrell himself:

Y'all tryna start a roast beef? "@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs”

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 27, 2014

Those two Tweets gave Arby’s a colossal amount of publicity, gaining tens of thousands of retweets in a couple of days.

And they did it all with just eight words and a related hashtag.

Why did it work so well?

This smart marketing move had two important characteristics. It was timely, and it was relevant.

The most successful marketing is timely and relevant, and as I’m about to explain, that’s all that matters.

It doesn’t matter if you have millions of social media followers. It doesn’t matter if tons of influencers are promoting your product.

If your marketing isn’t timely and relevant, it won’t succeed.

It’s getting tougher and tougher to do marketing right. People are pickier about what they consume, and they’ll ignore anything that rubs them the wrong way.

If you throw salesy terms at your customers and pressure them to buy, you’re not going to get a lot of conversions.

But if you can build a connection with your customers, they just might turn into lifetime brand advocates.

You need to reach your customers where they are. That’s why timely, relevant messages are crucial for your brand.

What exactly does timely and relevant mean?

First, let’s define these terms.

“Timely” and “relevant” aren’t just buzzwords. They have real implications for your business, and as it turns out, they’re fairly complex.

Let’s tackle timeliness.

Many marketing campaigns are timely but not relevant. Often, these campaigns fail.

Make no mistake––timeliness is crucial. But you can still fail if you send a message at the perfect time.

Consider the Race Together campaign that Starbucks put out in 2015.

The campaign definitely came at the right time. The coffee giant launched it in response to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, which had just happened the previous year.

The cases were still in the news, and Starbucks decided to create a dialogue about race. It should have been a match made in heaven, but it wasn’t.

Image Source

The campaign flopped quite badly.

The initiative itself was inherently flawed. It didn’t matter that it came at the right time because it just wasn’t the right marketing approach.

The race issue is definitely of intense importance, but the way it was approached was solidly off.

So timeliness is definitely important, but your marketing can’t be just timely. It also has to be relevant.

To be relevant, you have to think about your audience’s current needs, wants, and opinions.

You can’t base your ideas of relevancy off of old trends or data. You have to stay up to date and figure out what your customers want and like right now.

You have to think about what your customers want, where you can reach them, and how you can benefit them.

Image Source

If your audience isn’t interested in what you have to offer, they’re not going to listen to you.

If your audience isn’t hanging out in the same places you’re marketing, they’re not going to hear you.

If your audience doesn’t derive any value from your marketing, they’re not going to pay attention to you.

Last but not least, if you want to be relevant, your marketing has to fall in line with your audience’s values.

If you launch an initiative that your customers fundamentally disagree with, you won’t see much success. The same thing will happen if your marketing is insensitive or poorly done.

To sum it all up, relevancy means catering to your customers in as many ways as you can.

When you combine timeliness with relevancy, you get a one-two punch that almost never fails to convert.

The danger of the wrong message

To understand why timely and relevant matters so much, let’s consider some marketing efforts that failed miserably.

One of the biggest marketing fails in recent years has to be Pepsi’s controversial ad that was called “tone-deaf” by almost every media outlet in the world, from the New York Times to USA Today.

The 2017 ad involved TV personality Kendall Jenner taking part in protests and eventually offering a can of Pepsi to police.

Pepsi said the ad was meant to “project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding,” but it fell flat because the ad painted an unrealistic portrait of protests and the interactions between police and protesters.

Like Starbucks’s Race Together campaign, Pepsi put this out at the right time, in the wake of police protests that seemed to divide America, and the company’s intentions were positive.

However, the ad wasn’t relevant. It was far too staged and the situation far too impossible to relate to viewers.

To put it bluntly, the public thought the ad was a ton of crap and spoke out against it. (Pepsi removed the video from their channel, but the re-uploaded version received over 150,000 dislikes!)

The flak that Pepsi received for the ad was more than negative publicity. Pepsi learned the hard way that the wrong message at the right time won’t work, and that was a wake-up call for businesses around the world.

You don’t have to be Pepsi or Starbucks to send the wrong message and alienate your audiences––it can happen to a business of any size.

SaleCycle found that out when its content strategy failed.

The B2B company wanted to produce more content and provide more value to its readers. So far, so good.

SaleCycle started publishing 2-3 pieces of content per week, and their overall content output soared.

However, they focused more on quantity and less on quality.

Even though they had 100 blog posts, just 10 of those posts made up half of their total blog traffic.

Image Source

The reason? They were publishing lots of content that their audience wasn’t interested in.

While it may have been timely, it wasn’t relevant whatsoever.

These examples prove that you need both timely and relevant marketing. You can’t just have one or the other.

Being timely but not relevant (or vice versa) is an awkward imbalance. It makes it seem like you’re kind of paying attention to your audience, but not really.

Both the Pepsi ad and SaleCycle’s content strategy were timely, but they weren’t relevant. In both cases, customers felt distanced from the business.

Ultimately, it’s your customers who decide whether or not your message is timely and relevant. That’s why you have to prioritize them.

You have to know your customers

Being both timely and relevant requires you to listen to your customers, get to know them better, and produce content that they want to see.

That sounds simple enough, but how does it play out in real life?

Basically, you have to continually track certain elements of your audience and use customer feedback to improve.

Okay, that still sounds simple. But trust me––there’s a lot to it.

Many businesses think that they can just glance at online reviews or social media posts to create timely, relevant messages.

But here’s the thing – customers want you to know them super well.

But the customer-business relationship is a two-way street. If you’re not doing your part, why should your customers?

So put in the extra effort to build personas, get to know what your audience wants, and cater to them.

Make “timely and relevant” your motto

I hope you’re convinced that timely and relevant are truly the only message that matters.

That doesn’t mean you’re done.

Understanding is only the first step. You have to implement it.

As corny as it sounds, being timely and relevant has to be something you are and not just something you do. (I told you it sounded corny.)

You might tell yourself that you’re being timely and relevant, but if your customers still aren’t happy, then you’re not doing so well.

Pepsi is a perfect example. When it created the disastrous TV ad, it wasn’t trying to deliver irrelevant content to their customers, but they misunderstood the kind of content their customers would connect with.

There’s no doubt that Pepsi thought it was delivering a message that was both timely and relevant.

Just like you probably think you’re delivering the right messages to your customers.

For all I know, you are. But the point is that you can’t ever assume you’re doing the right thing and turn a blind eye to your customers.

If you want to create the most timely and relevant messages, that concept has to be a focus throughout your company.

Everyone on your team should be thinking “timely and relevant.”

Think of Amazon’s mission statement. It’s easy to remember and permeates every level of the company.

Our vision is to be Earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Every Amazon employee knows that this is the goal. In the same way, your entire team should live and breathe “timely and relevant.”

That concept has to guide everything you do.

Your social media team should be thinking “timely and relevant.” Your product manager should be thinking it. Everyone from the interns to the CEO should be thinking it.

If everyone isn’t on the same page, then one person’s efforts could get completely lost in translation.

Conclusion

You care about your customers, right?

Obviously that’s a rhetorical question because you do care about your customers.

But be brutally honest with yourself: When you put out your content, run your shiny new marketing campaign, or release a new product, does that attention to your customers still come across?

The Pepsi and Starbucks fiascos proved that intentions don’t always translate into actions. What begins as a good-natured marketing plan may end up taking a nosedive.

As much as it might hurt to admit, you might be ignoring your customers.

And you might be sending your customers the entirely wrong message, which is directly caused by ignoring your customers.

At the heart of the matter, being timely and relevant is all about taking care of your audience.

If you listen to what your customers have to say and understand what they want, you’ll almost never send the wrong message.

You’ll understand your audience’s wants, needs, interests, and dislikes.

You’ll be able to see what kind of content is both timely and relevant.

To make it even easier on yourself, you can take advantage of Kissmetrics Campaigns.

  Campaigns was developed with the goal of delivering the right message at the right time. You’re able to send emails based on your users’ behaviors. Essentially, Campaigns is a behavior-based email engine. You find a segment of your audience that needs a nudge, and you create and send your emails in Campaigns.

The engine runs on the fuel of behavioral analytics and segments. Behavior-based emails mean that your emails are much more likely to be timely and relevant to your users.

And instead of relying on basic metrics like opens and clicks, Campaigns digs deep and looks at behavioral analytics.

Is your marketing and content timely and relevant? Have you had issues delivering the right message for your customers?

About the Author: Daniel Threlfall is an Internet entrepreneur and content marketing strategist. As a writer and marketing strategist, Daniel has helped brands including Merck, Fiji Water, Little Tikes, and MGA Entertainment. Daniel is co-founding Your Success Rocket, a resource for Internet entrepreneurs. He and his wife Keren have four children, and occasionally enjoy adventures in remote corners of the globe (kids included). You can follow Daniel on Twitter or see pictures of his adventures on Instagram.

http://ift.tt/2yg8ZHv from MarketingRSS http://ift.tt/2xAP5Ta via Youtube

[marie85marketing]

Timely and Relevant Is The Only Message That Matters

During the 2014 Grammy Awards, musician Pharrell Williams was seen wearing an unusual hat:

Image Source

Sure, he may have gotten some funny looks, but it didn’t seem like a big deal.

That is, until a certain fast food chain seized the opportunity to craft a clever tweet:

Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs

— Arby's (@Arbys) January 27, 2014

This was a spectacular feat on several levels. Many brands had been unsuccessfully trying to capitalize on the Grammys, but Arby’s nailed it.

It was also a great use of Arby’s social media persona. The restaurant even gained a funny response from Pharrell himself:

Y'all tryna start a roast beef? "@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs”

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 27, 2014

Those two Tweets gave Arby’s a colossal amount of publicity, gaining tens of thousands of retweets in a couple of days.

And they did it all with just eight words and a related hashtag.

Why did it work so well?

This smart marketing move had two important characteristics. It was timely, and it was relevant.

The most successful marketing is timely and relevant, and as I’m about to explain, that’s all that matters.

It doesn’t matter if you have millions of social media followers. It doesn’t matter if tons of influencers are promoting your product.

If your marketing isn’t timely and relevant, it won’t succeed.

It’s getting tougher and tougher to do marketing right. People are pickier about what they consume, and they’ll ignore anything that rubs them the wrong way.

If you throw salesy terms at your customers and pressure them to buy, you’re not going to get a lot of conversions.

But if you can build a connection with your customers, they just might turn into lifetime brand advocates.

You need to reach your customers where they are. That’s why timely, relevant messages are crucial for your brand.

What exactly does timely and relevant mean?

First, let’s define these terms.

“Timely” and “relevant” aren’t just buzzwords. They have real implications for your business, and as it turns out, they’re fairly complex.

Let’s tackle timeliness.

Many marketing campaigns are timely but not relevant. Often, these campaigns fail.

Make no mistake––timeliness is crucial. But you can still fail if you send a message at the perfect time.

Consider the Race Together campaign that Starbucks put out in 2015.

The campaign definitely came at the right time. The coffee giant launched it in response to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, which had just happened the previous year.

The cases were still in the news, and Starbucks decided to create a dialogue about race. It should have been a match made in heaven, but it wasn’t.

Image Source

The campaign flopped quite badly.

The initiative itself was inherently flawed. It didn’t matter that it came at the right time because it just wasn’t the right marketing approach.

The race issue is definitely of intense importance, but the way it was approached was solidly off.

So timeliness is definitely important, but your marketing can’t be just timely. It also has to be relevant.

To be relevant, you have to think about your audience’s current needs, wants, and opinions.

You can’t base your ideas of relevancy off of old trends or data. You have to stay up to date and figure out what your customers want and like right now.

You have to think about what your customers want, where you can reach them, and how you can benefit them.

Image Source

If your audience isn’t interested in what you have to offer, they’re not going to listen to you.

If your audience isn’t hanging out in the same places you’re marketing, they’re not going to hear you.

If your audience doesn’t derive any value from your marketing, they’re not going to pay attention to you.

Last but not least, if you want to be relevant, your marketing has to fall in line with your audience’s values.

If you launch an initiative that your customers fundamentally disagree with, you won’t see much success. The same thing will happen if your marketing is insensitive or poorly done.

To sum it all up, relevancy means catering to your customers in as many ways as you can.

When you combine timeliness with relevancy, you get a one-two punch that almost never fails to convert.

The danger of the wrong message

To understand why timely and relevant matters so much, let’s consider some marketing efforts that failed miserably.

One of the biggest marketing fails in recent years has to be Pepsi’s controversial ad that was called “tone-deaf” by almost every media outlet in the world, from the New York Times to USA Today.

The 2017 ad involved TV personality Kendall Jenner taking part in protests and eventually offering a can of Pepsi to police.

Pepsi said the ad was meant to “project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding,” but it fell flat because the ad painted an unrealistic portrait of protests and the interactions between police and protesters.

Like Starbucks’s Race Together campaign, Pepsi put this out at the right time, in the wake of police protests that seemed to divide America, and the company’s intentions were positive.

However, the ad wasn’t relevant. It was far too staged and the situation far too impossible to relate to viewers.

To put it bluntly, the public thought the ad was a ton of crap and spoke out against it. (Pepsi removed the video from their channel, but the re-uploaded version received over 150,000 dislikes!)

The flak that Pepsi received for the ad was more than negative publicity. Pepsi learned the hard way that the wrong message at the right time won’t work, and that was a wake-up call for businesses around the world.

You don’t have to be Pepsi or Starbucks to send the wrong message and alienate your audiences––it can happen to a business of any size.

SaleCycle found that out when its content strategy failed.

The B2B company wanted to produce more content and provide more value to its readers. So far, so good.

SaleCycle started publishing 2-3 pieces of content per week, and their overall content output soared.

However, they focused more on quantity and less on quality.

Even though they had 100 blog posts, just 10 of those posts made up half of their total blog traffic.

Image Source

The reason? They were publishing lots of content that their audience wasn’t interested in.

While it may have been timely, it wasn’t relevant whatsoever.

These examples prove that you need both timely and relevant marketing. You can’t just have one or the other.

Being timely but not relevant (or vice versa) is an awkward imbalance. It makes it seem like you’re kind of paying attention to your audience, but not really.

Both the Pepsi ad and SaleCycle’s content strategy were timely, but they weren’t relevant. In both cases, customers felt distanced from the business.

Ultimately, it’s your customers who decide whether or not your message is timely and relevant. That’s why you have to prioritize them.

You have to know your customers

Being both timely and relevant requires you to listen to your customers, get to know them better, and produce content that they want to see.

That sounds simple enough, but how does it play out in real life?

Basically, you have to continually track certain elements of your audience and use customer feedback to improve.

Okay, that still sounds simple. But trust me––there’s a lot to it.

Many businesses think that they can just glance at online reviews or social media posts to create timely, relevant messages.

But here’s the thing – customers want you to know them super well.

But the customer-business relationship is a two-way street. If you’re not doing your part, why should your customers?

So put in the extra effort to build personas, get to know what your audience wants, and cater to them.

Make “timely and relevant” your motto

I hope you’re convinced that timely and relevant are truly the only message that matters.

That doesn’t mean you’re done.

Understanding is only the first step. You have to implement it.

As corny as it sounds, being timely and relevant has to be something you are and not just something you do. (I told you it sounded corny.)

You might tell yourself that you’re being timely and relevant, but if your customers still aren’t happy, then you’re not doing so well.

Pepsi is a perfect example. When it created the disastrous TV ad, it wasn’t trying to deliver irrelevant content to their customers, but they misunderstood the kind of content their customers would connect with.

There’s no doubt that Pepsi thought it was delivering a message that was both timely and relevant.

Just like you probably think you’re delivering the right messages to your customers.

For all I know, you are. But the point is that you can’t ever assume you’re doing the right thing and turn a blind eye to your customers.

If you want to create the most timely and relevant messages, that concept has to be a focus throughout your company.

Everyone on your team should be thinking “timely and relevant.”

Think of Amazon’s mission statement. It’s easy to remember and permeates every level of the company.

Our vision is to be Earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Every Amazon employee knows that this is the goal. In the same way, your entire team should live and breathe “timely and relevant.”

That concept has to guide everything you do.

Your social media team should be thinking “timely and relevant.” Your product manager should be thinking it. Everyone from the interns to the CEO should be thinking it.

If everyone isn’t on the same page, then one person’s efforts could get completely lost in translation.

Conclusion

You care about your customers, right?

Obviously that’s a rhetorical question because you do care about your customers.

But be brutally honest with yourself: When you put out your content, run your shiny new marketing campaign, or release a new product, does that attention to your customers still come across?

The Pepsi and Starbucks fiascos proved that intentions don’t always translate into actions. What begins as a good-natured marketing plan may end up taking a nosedive.

As much as it might hurt to admit, you might be ignoring your customers.

And you might be sending your customers the entirely wrong message, which is directly caused by ignoring your customers.

At the heart of the matter, being timely and relevant is all about taking care of your audience.

If you listen to what your customers have to say and understand what they want, you’ll almost never send the wrong message.

You’ll understand your audience’s wants, needs, interests, and dislikes.

You’ll be able to see what kind of content is both timely and relevant.

To make it even easier on yourself, you can take advantage of Kissmetrics Campaigns.

  Campaigns was developed with the goal of delivering the right message at the right time. You’re able to send emails based on your users’ behaviors. Essentially, Campaigns is a behavior-based email engine. You find a segment of your audience that needs a nudge, and you create and send your emails in Campaigns.

The engine runs on the fuel of behavioral analytics and segments. Behavior-based emails mean that your emails are much more likely to be timely and relevant to your users.

And instead of relying on basic metrics like opens and clicks, Campaigns digs deep and looks at behavioral analytics.

Is your marketing and content timely and relevant? Have you had issues delivering the right message for your customers?

About the Author: Daniel Threlfall is an Internet entrepreneur and content marketing strategist. As a writer and marketing strategist, Daniel has helped brands including Merck, Fiji Water, Little Tikes, and MGA Entertainment. Daniel is co-founding Your Success Rocket, a resource for Internet entrepreneurs. He and his wife Keren have four children, and occasionally enjoy adventures in remote corners of the globe (kids included). You can follow Daniel on Twitter or see pictures of his adventures on Instagram.