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unbeatableaffiliatemarketing · 6 days

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The 9-Step Video Blueprint that Sells Like Nothing Under the Sun – Part 2

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The 9-Step Video Blueprint that Sells Like Nothing Under the Sun – Part 2

This is part 2 of our “The 9-Step Video Blueprint that Sells Like Nothing Under the Sun” article.

The 5th Step is to lead with an interesting anecdote or story. You’ve made your huge promise with a hook and you have actually targeted it to the precise individual you want to engage. Now, prior to you revealing your wonderful info, it’s time to recount a memorable situation.

For example, if you’re promoting a program on how to raise thoughtful and resourceful kids, you can make those traits come alive with your video. Your story could be how terrified you were that you were likely to raise really messed up kids of your own. You can use quotes you found from online forums and chat rooms as well as Amazon customer reviews to help you come up with an impactful story for your targeted customers.

Your anecdote may be something like “I researched and battled and looked for the solutions however everybody simply told me, ‘Hey, do the best you can’. It was a difficult situation due to the fact that I couldn’t seem to get my kid to understand he was driving me completely insane. Yet, after that, I found something that clicked and that’s when my kid’s attitude did a complete 180. Now, I get remarks practically daily on what a confident and terrific parent I’ve evolved into being. Currently, my children pay attention to me and our relationship is out of this world. I intend to share what I have uncovered with you because I know it’ll assist you, as well.”

The 6th step is one of the easiest. This is where you reveal your awesome guarantee that, if they don’t like your suggestions, you will give them a full, money back guarantee, no questions asked. So, you want to tell them that those secrets revealed in the video are just the seeds for a beautiful plant. That plant is fully revealed in the program you’re advertising or offering, or the free report you’re distributing.

See how simple that is? If you’re thinking, “Hey, this is a lot of work,” then let me quash that right now. The whole sausage making process can be done in a couple of hours if you know your market. What you’ll end up with is an outstanding video clip that transforms and motivates your traffic to subscribe, download, or purchase. But, keep charging. We still have more to cover.

Well, we’ve made it to the 7th step. I call this step the “mini reveal”. You want to give them a taste of what your product solves without giving away too much of “the meat”. You have to walk a fine line of giving enough to keep them interested without giving away so much they don’t feel motivated to sign up, download, or purchase.

This part of the process takes some practice. You will be disclosing some information but not too much. You want to get them interested and fired up to know even more but not revealing so much they click away thinking they have all they need to know. You’re developing an appetite in them that can’t be satisfied until they engage your “call to action” and obtain whatever product or service you’re promoting.

Here is what I mean. Your gigantic promise is 4 household spices that significantly increase the burning of fat.

In this scenario, you could reveal the spices; however, you inform them the spices have to be mixed in a special way and at a particular time of day to be really efficient.

Consider if you’re advertising a physical item and your promise is to positively affect their softball performance. You tell them they can promptly do this by simply wearing a special batting glove. Obviously, the next move is to offer to sell them the batting glove so they can begin to reap its benefits.8

The 8th step is one of the most important. We need to show proof that you can deliver the goods. The very best method to use proof is to weave it throughout your presentation whenever possible. “Janice Jones of South Carolina has been a regular softball player for 13 years and was certain this device could not improve her softball performance. Yet ever since the day she placed the Wonder Batting Glove on her hand, her batting average has improved by 39 points. She swears she’ll never play softball without it.” “John Johnson reports he never believed in our product until he utilized just the technique on page 117 to get a date with 3 beautiful ladies in one night.”

The 9th step is finally where the rubber hits the road. Here is where you layout your “call to action” – “Click the link to download your product”, “Enter your name and email to see the full story”, etc. You want to be direct and clear in your “call to action”. But, don’t get too aggressive or you might scare them away from your products.

This “call to action” is such a simple step; yet, I see folks forgetting it all the time. It’s almost a waste of your time creating an enticing video only to forget the call to action. If possible, you want to directly link your “call to action” to the product or service you are promoting. For example, “To realize the same improvement in your batting average as Jim attained, click the ‘Buy’ button below and get your own personalized batting glove.

That’s the process in a nutshell. This is the recipe to make an effective video that converts like nothing under the sun. Naturally, you can include your very own special take on the video, whether it’s your peculiar nature, your character, or whatever it is that makes your videos memorable.

If you stick to this manuscript and follow all of its steps you will be sure to make some money, or get some sign-ups, or attain whatever goal you set for yourself.

#marketing video #Marketing video blueprint #Video Creation #video ideas

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linahopeeeee · 2 years

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The one that I want

Summary- Jimin has never been a fan of western music, his best friend, Hoseok however, loved all things involving western music, he loved hip hop music, pop music, hell he even had some country songs downloaded on his phone. When Hoseok introduces Jimin to an American girl group one of the members catches his eye, and Jimin realizes he'll do whatever it takes to get the one that he wants.

Jimin has never been a fan of western music, for one he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Sure he spoke a little English from the times he’s visited the US with his parents, but anything past basic conversations to navigate himself through the states just wasn’t for him. His best friend, Hoseok however loved all things involving western music, he loved hip hop music, pop music, hell he even had some country songs downloaded on his phone

“here you have to listen to this song, it’s a new American girl group I discovered last week. I’m obsessed with them.” Hoseok tells his friend as soon as he walks into their favorite coffee shop.

An airpod is being placed into his ear before he can even properly sit into his chair, and Hoseok's phone is being pushed into his face. He presses play and on the screen, four girls appear. They’re all very attractive, Jimin notices before his eyes zero in on one girl in particular.

You

As they listen to the song Jimin’s eyes can’t seem to leave you, he watches as you dance and sing, smiling brightly and it somehow manages to pull at the string of his heart.

“so what do you think?” Hoseok asks as soon as the video ends, placing his phone down on the table and taking his airpod back, turning to face his friend trying to gauge his reaction.

“it was okay, but um who was the one with the white dress on towards the end?” Jimin questioned, trying to make it sound like he didn’t really care

“Because she was kind of cute” he finishes, taking a sip of his coffee, hoping his friend doesn’t see the way his cheeks turn a light pink color

“Oh, that was Paulina, she’s the second-youngest,” he says, happy that his friend is finally taking an interest in one of the many groups he’s tried to get him to listen to.

“Paulina” he mumbles quietly to himself, liking the way your name slid off of his tongue.

Hoseok spent the next two hours showing him more of your videos and telling him all the things he learned about your group so far.

He didn’t pay attention to anything that didn’t involve you. He didn’t care that your band member once fractured her ankle falling off of the stage a few years ago, he didn’t care that the youngest member of your group, and Hoseok’s favorite, birthday was coming up in two days.

He only cared to find out things about you, so after he finally made up some lame excuse about how his mom wanted him to stop at the store before dinner he went home and decided to find out even more things about you.

He just wanted to know everything about you, from your favorite color to your favorite food, things you like, and things you dislike.

After finding out your favorite color was pink, Jimin went out and dyed his hair pink. He began eating all of your favorite foods and even tried to master cooking them for when the two of you met and you fell in love with him.

After finding out all of your likes he began to turn himself into your dream guy, anything that you disliked he made sure he didn’t do.

Over the next few days Jimin dedicated most of his time to you, watching all your music videos and interviews, learning some of your choreography, he even ordered some of your merch online. The merch was for his eyes only, he would wear it when he was in the comfort of his home.

He even made a fan page dedicated to you, he’d post pictures and videos of you, updates about you, and he'd even post random quotes that he heard you say.

Jimin tried to keep himself from reading the comments underneath your videos because he knows how mean people can be and he didn’t want to see anyone saying mean comments about you.

He didn’t mean to click on the comment section that day, his hand must’ve tapped on it by accident, and as he went to close out of it is when he saw it. all of the mean and hurtful comments people made about you and your group, but he only really cared about the ones directed towards you.

With each rude comment he reads he feels his anger growing

‘y/n is so ugly, I don’t even see how she made it to the final round.

‘honestly, out of everyone who auditioned how’d she make the cut? She literally can't sing and her dancing is subpar at best'

‘lmaooo subpar is being far too nice, her dancing skills are the same as a rat with no feet’

With each comment he read he would reply to it, bashing the person for saying hateful things towards the love of his life.

After replying to all the mean comments, he could find he checked his phone and saw that you posted a picture on Instagram

It was a picture of you and one of your band members, you were both in swimming suits holding an ice cream cone, hair wet indicating that you had been swimming, both of you smiling at the camera.

He studied the photo for a while, liking the way your smile made your eyes shine brightly, before saving the photo to his phone and cropping your band member out.

The weeks passed quickly and Jimin’s love for you only seems to grow, he’s been taking up English lessons so that he can understand you without having to always read the subtitles.

His birthday is tomorrow and when his mom started asking him what he would like only one thing came to mind, anything that had something to do with you, he didn’t care if it was a shirt, a poster, hell it could even be something that you’ve worn before. As long as it had something to do with you he would be satisfied.

The start of his birthday came and went. His parents made his favorite breakfast to start off his day.

Them along with Hoseok they all went to see the new Avengers movie, before going to a nice dinner.

It was only when his parents gave him his presents that this birthday became the best day of his life.

His first present was Hoseok’s, he ended up getting him your group's newest album, plus a hoodie with your face on it.

Then your parents gave him his first present, it was a new game for his Xbox.

The next present almost brought tears to his eyes.

It was an envelope, inside was a pair of meet and greet tickets for your group. Jimin was speechless, he didn’t even know your group was going to be some to Korea, let alone his hometown

“Oh my god, this is the greatest present I’ve ever gotten.” He says happily “I didn’t even know they were coming to Korea” he finishes and his parents share a confused look

“Korea? They’re not coming here honey we’re going to America” his mom tells him and his jaw drops. They were going to the US?

“Oh my god, you’re so lucky. I wanna go to the US and meet them too” Hoseok pouts

“Hobi he does have 2 meet and greet tickets. We talking to your parents and they said it was okay if you came with us, that is if you want to” Jimin’s mom tells him and within seconds he’s across the table, pulling both of my parents into a giant hug.

“oh my god this is the best day ever, I love you guys so much,” he tells his parents as he returns to his seat next to him, the four of them finishing their dinner before heading home, where Jimin watches your Instagram live. Leaving comments hoping that you’ll respond to him

The next two weeks all pass by in a blur, the only upsides in Jimin’s life are you, you’ve gone live exactly 4 times in the last two weeks and he’s watched every one of them.

In the second one, you actually responded to his question when he asked what type of flowers you like

‘paulina what are your favorite type of flowers’ you read out loud as you scrolled through the comments on your life

‘probably cyclamens, they’re so beautiful’ you finish before moving on to another question

Jimin quickly wrote that down in his book filled with facts about you and made a mental note to buy some to give to you during the meet and greet.

Jimin has always hated going to the airport, there were always so many people there, and someone always seems to bump into him without apologizing. But today he doesn’t seem to mind the crowd, maybe that’s because on Friday he gets to meet the love of his life

He’s dreamed about that day that he would see you in person, not through his phone or laptop screen. He dreamt of the way your hand would feel in his, the way your smell would take over him. He hopes he’ll get to hug you too, he just knows you’ll fit together as if you were made for each other

Its night time when they land in Los Angeles, and they decide to head straight to their hotel. He and Hoseok are sharing a room, with his parents right next door. As soon as they enter the room Jimin rushes to take a shower so that he could quickly get to sleep. The meet and greet is tomorrow and the last thing he wants is to look tired when he sees you.

#bts #park jimin #Jung HoSeok #kim taehyung #min yoongi #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #jeon jungkook #eventual smut #yandere #obsessive

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1ddotdhq · 3 years

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💿Sun 13 Dec ‘20💙

Happy Birthday, Fine Line! Have a Louis show! (Seriously, why can’t I get cool shows for my birthday like that??). So today’s been a busy week, huh?

It is, of course, Fine Line’s anniversary, and the celebration kicked off last night, with a twitter emoji (it's Harrrry! Doing the FL pose so so tiny!) and the DYKWYA website changing. It’s pink and black and blue and white, and now tells us that we’re “loyal” and “marvelous” and “memorable” and “powerful” and “rare” and “real” and “staying six feet apart” (or 70 other lovely options). So either HSHQ got their thesaurus out, or they tuned into Louis’ show last night, because that’s EXACTLY how I would describe it. Anyways, the day started with a Harry sighting! Well, a video from last week that is, of him doing a MakeaWish FaceTime in a blue snapback. And then there was a Harry Lambert interview, where he directly addressed the discourse around Harry’s fashion choices, saying, “Harry will never wear something that he doesn’t want to wear...I always say, 'I‘m not doing my job if I’m making someone wear things' because I just think if someone gets comfortable in what they’re wearing, then it doesn’t matter if I think it looks good.” He went on to say, “There’s never an element of me forcing him to wear anything”. So - TAKE THAT, transphobes! We all recognize that saying “the mean gay man is making Harry look gay/genderqueer” is, uh, a REALLY bad take, right? Anyways, hopefully that’s the end of it, but we all know it won’t be. He also told us that Harry chose the (fake) pearls, asking “can I just wear these every day?” and they were only replaced with real ones after that strand broke, that he tried to get H out of the Vans for the Golden vid but he said nah, and about the Golden and WS videos “I kind of saw it as the same man just in a different place in the world” which, well- yeah? But the implication that that man was not Harry is interesting. Aside from that, we got some more terrible merch from HSHQ (including a shirt that is a glove with legs stuck on it, wtf), a few celebratory tweets from HSHQ, The Forum, Jeff Azoff (there's a theme here lol) etc, AND! A post from Harry himself: “I couldn’t be more grateful for you all continually finding new ways to change my life. Thank you for listening, and for everything else. I love you always, but especially today. H”. What? That’s his name, isn’t it?

But, of course, H wasn’t the only one celebrating online today! Louis came back and answered some of our questions about the show. The first is that he sold over - are you ready for this? - OVER 160,000 tickets for the show, making it the biggest online show of 2020 by a solo male artist, and the third largest overall of the year. Even the Sun had to admit how “exceptional” that is, describing the show as "the equivalent of eight nights at London’s O2 Arena." Doing the math, this means he raised over $3.1 million from ticket sales alone! HOLY SHIT! Hearing that, Louis came on twitter to say (in reply to a quote by his PR company lmao), “This is truly incredible. No major label, no radio, yet here we are. The feeling of support I get from you all every time I do something is unbelievable. Forever Thankful! And they never see us coming!”. Of course, this incited another round of label discourse, wondering if this means he is still an unsigned artist. Does this simply mean the livestream wasn't put on by a label, yes, does Louis absolutely know about the discourse and is he being deliberate, I would also say unmistakeably yes. Which is not to say we know ELSE it might mean -- is he signed to an indie? Still label shopping and waving how much more they need him than vice versa in the hopefuls' faces? Signed but the contract doesn't start until there's a record in play (which when you negotiate your own contract and establish artistic freedom, as we can be very sure was Louis' priority, is what labels DO - they don’t manage every aspect of an artists career)? Signed by a major label, but shading the FUCK out of Syco about radio play for Walls? What we DO know is that it wasn't a label that put the livestream on, and damn if that doesn’t make it 1000% more badass. “Memorable”, “powerful”, and “rare” indeed! He’s still early in the process of LT2, as he told us yesterday, so we might have to wait a little longer to figure out what’s happening business-wise, but he made sure to tell everyone that his fans were an integral part of his processing the most inspiring way possible: “the power and the magic comes from the people you guys,” I COULD CRY that's MY inspirational leader THANK YOU. He goes on to say “don't undermine your role in all this... together with your support we're unstoppable!” He also called us “fucking relentless” (god knows that's true) as Walls hit the charts AGAIN, and talked about how the money raised will go a long way. “WE did that!!”

And with that, let’s talk a little bit more about last night’s (“bold”, “extraordinary”) show! ‘‘Copy’ is making its rounds on the internet, but YouTube continues to take down recordings of the show, which SUCKS, because everyone should be able to see it! Maybe in a few days when some time has passed, they’ll let it go up without an issue, or maybe they'll answer our pleas (come through one more time Louis!) and put out a DVD (and live album too how about, YES? Yes.), til then there are the downloads going around tumblr! Good thing we got Louis' seal of approval or just imagine the discourse. The ‘H’ shirt Louis was wearing last night is a Reebok shirt, which was being distributed in a few different places, such one where you could get a discount if you used the code ‘HL40’ and another where it was $28, lol. Was it the loudest Louis shirt ever- I mean I would say an unqualified NO but many are voting YES and are reeling so that's really fun! Welcome to the gang guys. Not likely to win any awards for being loud with such incredible competition but still very good SBBing-- Louis was wearing a stuffed bear t shirt in rehearsal pics. When you know you know, I guess! ;) The band is also soaking in the praises (as they should!) and have been re-posting fans’ stories on Instagram all day (as did LTHQ) - cheers, boys!

Today’s Liam and Roman alarm was ALL us (well, not allll us, Roman did explain that the alarms would feature fans every Sunday, but then he handed the mic over). “Waking up to Liam and Roman is the best thing EVER! I don’t know why it gives me so much serotonin,” said one fan. I do! It’s because Liam is a real, live puppy dog and he’s so genuinely sweet to his fans. Love him lots, but I love him even MORE when he’s ON the advent alarm!

#harry styles #louis tomlinson #liam payne #wow what a day!#anyways I love these guys lots and lots and it was a gorgeous show!#and also fine line is a gorgeous album ive been streaming it today #anyways!#song of the day!#Wake Up by Julie and the Phantoms cast #let me tell you a secret: my fourth most listened to genre on my spotify wrapped #was showtunes #so what does that say about me??

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twilightsagasworld · 4 years

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Jasper Hale x (gen z) Reader One-shot

Requested by @writingwieny

“Up, down, left, left , up-” “What on earth are you doing (y/n)?” I stopped in my tracks. Edward stood in my doorway, a puzzled look on his face. I shrugged, pointing to the smartphone that was on a shelf, “I’m trying to work on this dance for TikTok, it’s really complicated and-” I stopped seeing that Edward was still confused, “TikTok?” he shoved his hands into his jean pockets, walking further into the room, I nodded, “Yeah! It’s this new app that allows creators to post short videos of whatever they want” Edward nods, “and the popular thing right now are dances, so-” he cut me off, “So you’re trying to get in on it, right?” I nod with a smile, Edward pursed his lips seemingly satisfied and excused himself, I stared after him, “Edweirdo” I grinned at my nickname for him before I closed my door and started my routine again.

Or I tried to.

Not a moment later the door burst open again and in walked Alice, Jasper, Renesmee and Bella. “Did Edward snitch?” I put my hands on my hips, one eyebrow arched, Alice clasped her hands together, a radiant smile on her face, she wiggled her eyebrows at me, “Duh, of course he did silly! Why else would we be here” Renesmee grinned beside Bella, and Jasper just came over and gave me a soft kiss on my cheek making me return it happily. Bella cleared her throat, eyes darting to my phone, “So, uhm...” “Do you guys want to join me?” I might as well put the offer on the table, Renesmee and Alice reacted simultaneously, “Yeah!”, I grinned, “Awesome, Bella?” Bella’s eyes went wide and she threw her hands up, “No thanks (y/n), dancing isn’t my thing”, Alice sighed, “Bella is good at a lot of things, but dancing is dangerous” Bella bit her lip, “Thanks Alice” , sarcasm was heavily noted. I shot a look at Jasper, asking if he was interested, Jasper kindly declined, “I’ll supervise”, I knew better than to force Jasper into something so I ruffled his hair, making him nip my arm lightly, I laughed, “Alright Jas, whatever you say”.

I held out my phone, “Let’s get started grandma’s”, I motioned for them to stand on either side of me, the phone was back against the shelf, and a video started to play, “Okay, we just have to follow the girl’’s moves, easy-peasy”, Alice and Renesmee nodded, Bella made herself comfortable next to Jasper on the couch in the corner as we began.

A lot of starting over happened and jokes were made. Renesmee kept forgetting to move her hips and Alice didn’t really mess up, but I couldn’t help but bust out laughing each time I saw Bella’s and Jasper’s faces, Bella was focused on the video while subtly trying to copy the moves and Jasper, well, Jasper just had a permanent smile etched onto his face, while his feet tapped to the rythm of the music softly. It was sweet in a way.

But, we finally perfected the dance, and I posted it to TikTok. Alice and Renesmee were talking about downloading the app too and I encouraged it enthusiastically. I gave a thumbs up,“You guys will totally pass the vibe check!”, I received confused looks from everyone in the room and I sighed exasperated, “You mean to tell me, you guys” I gestured with a hand to everyone, “Don’t know what a vibe check is?”, Bella let out a “Nope”, popping the ‘P’. I stared at them in disbelief, before snapping my fingers in a zig-zag motion, “Looks like I’m going to have to give you a gen-Z rundown”. I started listing popular phrases and words and explained what they meant. By the end of it everyone was well educated on the ‘Gen-z vocabulary’.

Renesmee and Alice thought it would be a great idea to gather the whole family in the living room to discuss what they had learned and Jasper and I followed behind, hand in hand down the stairs, taking our time, I leaned in towards Jasper and whispered softly that I kind of regretted telling them about everything and Jasper huffed out a quiet chuckle, “Too late now darlin’”, I groaned, “I suppose..Honestly, this is not a vibe”, we met the others in the living room and found a spot to sit, Emmett greeted Jasper with a fist pump as Alice and Renesmee started their speech. Carlisle and Esme nodded accordingly. I just rested my head on Jasper’s shoulder as he made small circles on my palm with his thumb. I planted a kiss to his shoulder which made him turn his head down to me with a toothy grin. I drowned out Alice and Renesmee’s voices and closed my gold coloured eyes. I made a mental note to plot against Edward for snitching on me. I peaked at him and caught his smirk, I glared at him, stupid shiny volvo owner, Edward glanced my way and I just stuck out my tongue.

Carlisle’s voice drew my attention, “So, (y/n), I have a question, if you don’t mind”, I shook my head, “Yes?”, Carlisle nodded, “Well, what does ‘gen-z’ mean? I haven’t heard it before”, I sat up slowly, still holding Jasper’s hand as I explained, “Well, gen-z is short for generation-z, so take me for example, I was born in 2000, making me a gen-z, and every 10 or so years there’s a category for people born in those years, like, if someone was born between 1989 and 1999 they’re called Millennial’s, understand?” I hope I explained it well enough, but Carlisle seemed to get it, “Very well then, I think the family will be using you as a dictionary for a while” there was a chorus of agreement, “I don’t mind, I’ll teach you all about the hottest trends and celebrities!” Emmett let out a loud “Whoop!” and rubbed his hands together, “Master (y/n) in da house!” I laughed at Emmett’s antics.

I just hoped I wasn’t going to regret anything too much. But knowing Emmett, I’ll probably regret it within the week. At least I had Jasper to keep me from ripping Emmett’s head off.

I was not wrong. Within a week Emmett had blurted out every Tiktok Quote imaginable. One such case was when I was at the kitchen counter editing a recent TikTok of mine. Emmett snuck up from behind me and very, very loudly yelled, “SLEEP LIKE NO ONE’S WATCHING!”, I almost crushed my phone. I glared at him, “Emmett, what the hell dude?!” I held a hand over my chest, “If I had a heartbeat I’d have had a heart attack you nunce” I punched his gut but it obviously did nothing. Emmett laughed. When I registered what he yelled I gave him a look, “And that doesn’t even make sense, what’d you use that TikTok quote for?”, Emmett shrugged, “Heck, I don’t know, but I saw it on a video Alice was watching” “Oh my- Emmett, you can’t just randomly blurt out Tiktok quotes, it has to have- Oh hey Rosalie” I waved as she walked into the kitchen, probably to come see where her husband was, “Hi, (y/n)” Emmett gave her a big kiss and when they broke away Rosalie smiled, but Emmett had to ruin the moment, “This was the moment where everyone knew that she was that bitch, and will always be that bitch”. Rosalie clearly didn’t understand so I jumped in, “He means to say that you’re the best and will always be the best, it’s a-” “TikTok thing, yeah I know, Renesmee and Alice keep watching those weird videos on their phones, I geuss my monkey man here joined them” she smirked up at Emmett, “You know me babe” I shook my head, they’re a strange couple, but it’s nice. Which got me thinking, “Hey, where’s Jasper? I haven’’t seen him since this morning” I missed my mate’s company, there isn’t a moment that goes by that I don’t want him near me. I think Rosalie wanted to answer but Carlisle and Esme joined us, “Jasper is hunting with Edward, they decided to go a bit further into the mountains for mountain lions” I thanked Carlisle, “Fire” I replied, but the present Cullen’s gave me concerned looks, Carlisle and Esme glanced at each other, I cuaght on and groaned, “It means cool, okay, thanks, it’s a TikTok- oh whatever” I excused myself and went to wait on the balcony for Jasper, “I need my unproblematic man!”. Bella probably rolled her eyes when she heard that, it’s one of the things she’s good at, rolling them eyes.

When Jasper and Edward returned I immediately tackled Jasper to the forest floor, his arms held me close, “Hey you, yeah you, I love you” I said muffled into his chest, Jasper chuckled sweetly, “Darlin’ I’ll love you for a thousand years...Also, did you succeed in not ripping Emmett’s head off?” Jasper helped me up and wrapped an arm around my waist as we went back inside, I smile goofily up at him, like a child who was busy being praised, “Yup, it was hard, but I only punched him!” Jasper planted a kiss on my head and I knew he could feel all my love and affections.

“Yo, (y/n)! Don’t grow up, it’s a trap!”

Jasper looked down at me but I just shrugged, “Hey, that’s your brother”, Jasper cringed, “He’s adopted”

#jasper hale x reader #Jaspercullen #jasper hale #twilight x reader #twilight #twilight requests #oneshot #twilight fanfiction

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femmehepbvrn · 3 years

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Tagged by @sarcasmisalifechoice (lord knows how long ago i know it’s been a minute but i am here so let’s party) thank you <3

Music

MUSIC

fav genre? Electronic

fav artist? Florence and the Machine? or the 1975

fav song? This changes every few weeks let’s be real BUT it’s probably something by Cher

most listened song recently? Paint the Town by LOONA

song currently stuck in your head? edamame by bbno$

5 fav lyrics? Look i’m going to be honest i don’t remember. i used to have meticulously planned playlists with my favourite lyrics but rn I honestly don’t listen to music with deep lyrics because I don’t like to much anymore. So the stuff i’m putting up is like, off the top of my head

I couldn't utter my love when it counted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now And I couldn't whisper when you needed it shouted Ah, but I'm singing like a bird 'bout it now - Hozier, Shrike

If you're looking for a place to decay, Then there will always be a place in my town called revelry. - Neck Deep, Can’t Kick Up The Roots

It's so cold out here in your wilderness, I want you to be my keeper But not if you are so reckless - Adele, Water under the bridge

The sweetest submission, Drinking it in, The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns - FlFATM, Bedroom Hymns

You're so conceited, I said "I love you", What does it matter if I lie to you? - the 1975, The Sound

BOOKS

fav book genre? I guess contemporary i’ve been going to town at the library with the libarian recs (also gay)

fav writer? F. Scott Fitzgerald

fav book? Tied between any book I read in high school bc i had some damn good english teachers, so let’s say The Great Gatsby, and The Seven HUsbands of Evelyn Hugo (bc that book really did eviscerate me)

fav book series? Series? Strangers in Paradise collection

comfort book? my greek myth onmibus

perfect book to read on a rainy day? When the Moon was Ours

fav characters? Lizzy Bennet, Evelyn Hugo, Jordan Baker

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart?

i genuinely don’t remember and it’s not worth it to try because i’d just be pulling some quotes from my favs from google. I’m more a music lyrics person

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? tv is the sitcom (But nothing post 2000 i would say), movies is comedy but again, like old hollywood comedy

fav movie? The Women (out of loyalty) also City Lights

comfort movie? Mamma Mia or Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

movie you watch every year? Holiday Movies lol, but also Carol (2015)

fav tv show? Frasier unironically

comfort tv show? Frasier, Mary Tyler Moore, Golden Girls, The Nanny etc.

most rewatched tv show? Drag Race bc it’s on netflix and netflix is my background noise

ultimate otp? idk Mary and Rhoda? I go through phases

5 fav characters?

Sophia Petrillo (The Golden Girls)

Sugar Kane (Some Like It Hot)

Howl Pendragon (Howl’s Moving Castle)

Hildy Johnson (His Girl Friday)

Niles Crane (Frasier)

Party! wish they split movies and tv they’re v different also wow i’m just remembering i watched like, so many fx shows. OH WELL. tagging @marilyn-monroes-jeans @grusinskayas @lets-go-to-lauderdale (hi mel) @yeeuurhnghghh @only-one-road @lesbianjonimitchell and anyone else who would like to do it also no pressure to do it! thank you for reading, thank you @sarcasmisalifechoice for tagging me, thank you all for being here

#tag game #what's my tag for that? i think that's it #thank you!! this was fun!! sorry for formatting

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hoedameron · 3 years

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i’ve been absolutely SLACKING on talking about my gifsets so i will discuss them here <3 this gif was made a week ago to test out new settings and to color this was ATROCIOUS because the scene has a yellow filter (to probably make the scene be set “in the past” because of where sam and cas are at) so....everyone big round of applause for ME because i think i did a solid mf job here <3 kissing a mirror after i hit post.

anyways! i’ve already talked about my bucky vs. lucky cat gifset, right? anyways, so the next gifset i made was actually a set i didn’t release because, again, i’m trying out new settings and they weren’t working the way i wanted them to until i figured it out MUCH later (even after the gif above). it was a zemo gifset where we first get introduced to him in tfatws where he’s in his jail cell. i wanted to drop it but i just did NOT like how it turned out so....that set is in the vault :(

the next set i made was the zemo dance (extended cut) !! that was very fun to make. when i saw that mcu direct said that marvel dropped the #zemocut i was like HOLD UP!! and i couldn’t stop laughing at it ajskdsjakldsa there was so much pure joy there....then i saw that the only footage they had that wasn’t in a square format was the hour long extended cut....and that took CENTURIES to download just 25 seconds of the video. before i knew it, as i was making the set, somebody already put out their own gifset and it raked in a lot of notes so i was super insecure to keep going. i was unsure of how to color it, i still didn’t have the sharpening settings that i wanted on lock...gosh, making that set was so damn messy and anxiety-inducing because i was just all over the place :/ y’all know i’m a zemogirl so i wanted this to be made with love and well-crafted so of course i was extra harsh on myself. anyways, like i said before, i still didn’t get my settings all down so there was a lot of old methods i had to resort to that i hadn’t resorted to since 2013....I WENT OLD SCHOOL ON THIS SET. the scenes were easy to make into sections and i didn’t gif EVERY single move that he made because some were like a second short and i was like...i can’t really make this into a solid gif. anyways! i actually used a coloring that i used to make my discord pfp when we only had the original dance move so i really liked how that coloring came out and thought it could easily transfer to the other gifs. it needed a little tweaking on some of the “lighter” scenes where there is a bunch of lights all about his face but overall i really like the coloring and i am glad to y’all did as well!! <3

when i came to making the caption, i was SO stumped because i wanted to be funny but at the same time, i remember when i tried to be funny on a caption and i got thesis papers of tags on the gifset...so i didn’t want a repeat of that. i was asking the asteroids for their opinions on what i should make it and GOSH, the way i laughed so mf hard at what they replied asjdkasjkdlsak what a bummer that i ended up captioning it pretty generically because their messages were gold xx hours after i posted the set, i took a bath and realized that i could’ve used the quote daniel bruhl said about how he improvised the dance and i was like....MISSED OPPORTUNITY :(( but i do like the caption and i do like my own tags that i put on there like MWAHHH my mind :3c

the other gifset is the chilling john walker scene. wyatt did not have to snap the way that he did but thank you, sir <33 i had the idea to do make everything black and white and only the red stand out while i was in the bathroom?? SO funny like all my ideas come from silly little places. anyways, so i hopped on and grabbed the scene then the rest is just easy. it’s a psd that i use that i sadly do not remember who made it :// but their legacy lives on wherever their new blog name is! anyways, my photoshop actually....stopped when i tried to make the second gif and i was like NAURRR because i didn’t remember exactly where i cut the second part from....messy xx but i had to restart my entire computer then make it all over again. still, i actually did have my sharpen atn settings down to a T so what you have is what the sharpen atn does without me messing with it. the zemo one is me trying to work with the atn and reverse engineering that shit. i actually don’t like the speed that the john walker set is at because i think it’s a bit slow but i know that a lot of gifsets on here are actually taking a slower approach? which, that’s great! but it’s simply not for me miss. speedy gonzalez and all. anyways, easy gifset where i left that sharpen atn do it’s thing and let the psd do it’s thing (with minor adjustments). overall, i really do like the coloring in this!! super mf sexy.

and that is IT! what a busy little bee i’ve been. i’ve also made some other gifs on the side for myself and for friends so even if i’m not actually posting that much, i am still trying to work on my skills on being a better content creator. one big thing that i mastered is the sharpen atn and though i feel like it takes some time to do, it really is worth it in the end. still debating whether to make gifs at a .04 speed o a .05 speed because sometimes gifs do far better with a faster speed than a slower one. all my gifs are set at a .05 and not sure if i should venture off into creating more....faster speeds that result in something a bit more “crisper” as some will say.

mwahh!! i love y’all for letting me ramble here!!

#also b4 y'all think sumn this gif is switzerland and has nothing to do with what happened in the past 24 hours #gif making can be soooooooooooooo time consuming like parker almost convinced me to actually pay for photoshop since my cr@cked one #is SOOO damn slow and is super laggy like HELLO does anybody have a ps6 cr@cked download i have the 2017 one :(

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putschki1969 · 4 years

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Hello 😄.. I want to ask if there a video where Wakana cried during Alleluia performance, I guess it was from their 2014 live tour. I heard a lot about it but never found the video. Another question, do you know which Kalafina Club eps, Wakana said "Watashi no Kareshi, Keiko san"? Sorry for too many questions and thanks for your help and also a very amazing blog 😄

Re: Alleluia video

Sorry! I have to disappoint you!!There’s no official video release of 「Kalafina LIVE TOUR 2014」. Some bootlegs were floating around back in the day but I never bothered to save them since they were pretty low quality (you couldn’t really see anything since it was dark and the fan was recording a screen and not the girls themselves). In the Alleluia video you could barely make out their silhouettes so I have no idea why it got so hyped (I regularly get questions about it). You wouldn’t have known anything was going on unless someone had told you…

(Credit to いも@imoji3 on twitter)

@Followers: Do any of you have the video? I am pretty sure some of you must have downloaded it when it was on Youtube.

Re: Kalafina Club episode

I am at a loss…I don’t remember that at all. It wasn’t in any of the episodes I translated (#kalafinaclub). And it also wasn’t in any of the super early episodes that got translated by Waiglo. I am afraid that I have never listened to all episodes, Kalafina Club is one of the few areas of Kalafina that I have neglected in the past few years. Mainly because I didn’t understand a single word of Japanese back in the day and now it would just be too time-consuming to catch up on everything (my listening comprehension isn’t the greatest so it takes quite some effort to listen to an episode - it’s not something I can do casually on the side).

I tried to do some research but the only thing I came up with were a couple of tweets referencing Wakana’s statement. But no one mentioned which episode it was from. I guess it must have been from one of the episodes before November 2014 because that’s when the first tweet in relation to that quote was posted (I listened to the episode from Nov 25 2014 but there’s no mention of Keita, they do briefly discuss boyfriends though. The other one is from 2018 so that won’t help us with anything. Btw, according to both those tweets Wakana actually didn’t say Keiko-san, she came up with a male version of Keiko’s name => “Keita-san”.

@leviheichou23 actually discovered another tweet from Feb 2013. Thank you for letting me know! For some reason in this tweet it seems like Wakana said “Keiko” after all. I have no idea what’s true anymore. HERE’s the WMA for the episode from that day (Feb 19 2013), I am currently not able to listen to it but feel free to check it out.

Edit: Turns out that WAS the right episode. SO YAY, you got your answer. She says Keiko-san first and then she corrects herself and says Keita-san XD Fast forward to 12:58. A listener talks about how prices for veggies are super high these days and then she asks if they have any recommended recipes for veggies. Wakana starts rambling about veggie prices until Keiko reminds her, “what about the recipe, Wa-chin, do you have one?” Then she is explaining what she would cook with certain cheap veggies if she managed to get her hands on some. In the midst of her little talk she is interrupted by Keiko who says that she will add all the good stuff like meat and kinoko mushrooms while Wakana is busy preparing the veggies. This leads Wakana to say that Keiko is like her boyfriend who helps her cook [I guess she is referring to the fact that usually it’s the guys who always request a lot of meat and other substantial ingredients while the women are happy just eating veggies - at least those are the common preconceptions]

#kalafina #reply #Anonymous #I am useless T_T #kalafina club #kalafina live tour 2014

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mfackenthal · 5 years

Text

The MFackenthal Show and @maxattack-powell!

banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat

Hello all! Welcome back to the MFackenthal Show! I am so glad that you are here today. If you’re new to the show, I encourage you to go here to find past episodes. There are only a few.

The MFackenthal Show has officially been green lit for more episodes! We used to only be able to afford to run the show every once in a while, but the people have spoken - they want to see the show more often! The funding came through and we hope to give the people what they want! Do you want to be on the show? Do you have someone that you want to see on the show? If so - reblog or comment or send a message to let MFackenthal know! We’ll see what we can do! We have this show and two others lined up for you!

I could not be more excited to bring you this next guest. She has been with the fandom for quite a while. She was one of the first people I started communicating with on a regular basis. She has talked me up, supported me from the beginning and though she hasn’t written much lately - when she does drop a chapter - it’s long and it’s worth it! Please welcome to the stage @maxattack-powell!!!!! (Insert Cheering here!)

(Megs greets Max with a hug - which means that Megs essentially runs and leaps into Max’s arms. Max is fairly tall and Megs is barely 5′3″)

Megs: Max, I am so happy that you are here! Can you believe that you’re here today?

Max: Haha, yes - I can. But I am honored to be here.

Megs: Max, sit with me. For those in the audience who may not know you, tell us about when and why you joined the fandom.

Max: Yanno, I always made my best guess at this before, but I knew you were going to ask me this - so I looked it up. Did you know that now there’s this Official Tumblr blog called @memories, and it knows down to the minute when someone joined? Let me go check it… *digs through the blogs posts* Okay, it was apparently 07/31/2017 at 1:17:15 PM, which means it must have been on the weekend because of the time of day haha.

As for why ... hmm, well… I found the Choices app one day, when it only had like… three series I think! Anyone else remember that time?

Megs: I do! Because I was playing Hollywood University I think I downloaded choices the day the app came out.

Max: Awh! Well, I fell in love with The Freshman Series. Mostly because of Chris Powell and Zack Zilberg, and a long time ago I was in another fandom that had tons of fan fiction/art… so I googled “Choices Chris Powell” and any other combination I could think of looking for possible fanfiction. The fandom was almost non existent at the time. There was actually one person, who has long since left the fandom due to fandom dramas - we all know the kinds I’m talking about - but a few others had started posting their works as well… and I got hooked. Eventually I felt the bug to write how I felt TF should play out as well, and here I am *looks back at the “joined tumblr timestamp”* uhh… 20ish months ago! Haha!!

Megs: LOL, when you put it that way it doesn’t sound like that long ago ... lets call a spade a spade - that was almost 2 years ago! That’s amazing! You have to have seen so much in this fandom! What is it that keeps you around?

Max: There are so many awesome people in this fandom, in this world we’ve all created for our pixelated loves lol. Soooo many creative minds to follow and enjoy. The content people share, original or repost… it’s great.

... Unfortunately it is also a double edge sword ... the drama, the jealousy, the rumors, the hate, etc. I’ve sadly seen far too much and it comes in so many forms… it’s unnecessary.

Megs: I couldn’t agree more! If you could tell the fandom one thing - what would it be?

Max: It would be that we’re all here because we want to have a good time. No one came here to get ridiculed, to be scrutinized or chastised for their opinions, their likes or dislikes. Real life has enough of that going on. We are all individuals - if you want to be treated nicely, fairly, etc. you must also do the same to others. There is no reason someone must agree with you or anyone else. Live and let live. Embrace our differences as it makes us who we are. Most of the issues I see stem from a simple difference in opinion. That is ridiculous. Everyone’s entitled to their own thoughts. We must build each other up, not tear one another down. No one here owes anyone anything, now go have some fun.

(The room stands up in applause!)

Megs: You should definitely stand up and take a bow, Max!

(Max does just as Megs suggests - but she also makes Megs stand up and do the same. Laughing, they both sit back down.)

Awh, Max ... okay, let’s get back to you. We know that you’d fight anyone for the position of The Chris Powell Appreciation/Fan Club. And for those who don’t know, Max has been retelling the full The Freshman series, interweaving dialogue and plot from PB but also adding much of her own content. MC and Chris get a backstory. Chris gets best friends from back home. What is your favorite piece that you have written?

Max: Oh geez hahaha. Um… can I just say The Freshman Chronicles as a whole? I’ve written for different fandoms, and I have original WIPs but I’ll stick to the Choices fandom for this answer. I’ve put a lot of time into TFC. Tons of additional story work, research on characters and their backgrounds, PBs and my own OCs. You should see my file folder setup haha. It’s crazy… I have so many docs, pictures and gifs. Most organized by location (Hartfeld, Boston, New Haven, Cherryfield, etc.), then by character… and on some I get more detailed and split them by emotion and situation.

Megs: By what again?

Max: Emotion and Situation ... Yeah. I warned you it was crazy! *laughs* TFC was the reason I joined tumblr really. Instead of staying a Nonny and only reading others posted works. I wanted to comment, like and reblog what I enjoyed, while I also worked on my own contribution to the fandom. I had a vision for Chris and MC that had more than the game could give, and I wanted to see if i was still any good at writing since it had been years and years… it’s funny to see how different my current posts are from my first over a year ago. Makes me want to go update a few because they could use a little help *awkward laugh*

Megs: I’m sure we can all relate to that! Hmmm ... I’m starting to get a feel for this, I think, but what is your writing process?

Max: Lots of planning, mostly in my head. When I feel like I have a decent concept I might type out some notes or work it into my outline (another crazy thing I have going for TFC because it’s so big haha). But usually, once I hatch out a basic plan on where I’m going… I just start typing. Keeping the general plot and main points I want to hit in mind, I simply start typing… keeping it as organic as possible. It usually works out well.

Megs: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Max: First, and most importantly… do it because you enjoy it. Don’t do it for likes, reblogs, popularity, etc. If you’re having a good time dreaming things up and typing them out, that’s what’s important. The rest is just an extra bonus. Also, don’t give up. It’s easy to become discouraged, frustrated, distracted and more… but remember - your creative cells can’t be running all the time. They need to rest just like your body. Take breaks… go read, play games, hang out with friends/family, watch a movie… whatever. Just do something to help you relax, to reset and you’ll very probably find inspiration and/or motivation to continue. Remember, this is for fun. *wink and finger guns*

Megs: So what do you do for fun?

Max: I actually have a few things I do regularly. A big one is making costumes/props for conventions, small productions, etc. I also train and show horses. I do the same with my dogs, but more for competitions and not really any shows. I’ve always drawn, sculpted, painted since I was old enough to hold things with my hands… and about a year ago I started learning how to do it digitally as well. I run (not at all for fun haha) and play hockey (totally for fun), follow comics and watch anime. I've restored houses, cars and old furniture. I like to read as much as I can - that’s an important one. I also play video games. Something I’ve done since I was young… I've even competed, and won, a few gaming tournaments.

Megs: You don’t know how to be bored do you?

Max: LOL, Megs. Yeah, um, so there’s a “few” *makes air quotes* of my never ending list of interests haha. Gives me a lot to talk about with people, eh?

Megs: Not that I can understand how you’d have time for this ... but what do you do to help pay for your many activities?

Max: Oh like, my job? Well that can be a simple answer… like “I work in software” but the more interesting way to say it is I use my MBA, experience in business, the financial industry and technology to improve and stabilize my customers environment through technological solutions that fit their specific needs. *presses lips together* I solve problems by designing solutions. Bored yet? Hahaha.

Megs: No! That sounds wonderful! Who doesn’t want their stuff to be designed better? Any chance you could start working for tumblr? Some of us have a few complaints ... tags ... mobile losing our work ...

Max: I’m not sure they could pay me enough to help them with all of their problems! But, tumblr, feel free to send me an offer!

Megs: Seriously - send her a 6 figure offer!

Max: Okay, Megs, well now I have a question for you.

Megs: Uhhhh, Max, that’s not exactly how this is supposed to go.

Max: Yeah, don’t care. Your fans need to know ... Hoooow do you find the time to read and review so much?! And I know that’s just in this fandom. I know you read books and you may read for other fandoms!? Seriously, it’s awesome. We need to clock your page flipping speed haha.

Megs: *blushes* Oh my gosh, you have to stop! Here’s the key to how I do it ... I wake up at 5:30am and read for about 30 minutes. Then I workout and start my day. I read in line at the grocery stores. I read on my breaks at work.

Max: Oh my gosh - you’re such a nerd and I love that! Okay, nerd, what is your favorite thing to do, besides reading all the things of course?

Megs: This show, of course! And, of course, getting people to do silly things on this show with me. For instance - with as athletic as you are, I hear you can’t jump?

Max: Megs, shhhhh. You told me you weren’t going to bring that up.

Megs: I did no such thing! (Meg says while laughing) I said I might not bring it up.

Max: Uh huh.

(Kris Kross’s “Jump” starts playing in the studio)

Megs: Come on - show me what you’ve got!

(Megs starts “singing” along and jumping along with the song. Max stays seated. Megs finally pulls Max up into a standing position. Max plays along and “jumps” next to Megs - getting no air at all.)

Oh, come on Max - put some real strength in to it. Jump! Jump! Jump!

(Max jumps and gets the smallest amount of air time.)

Max: *laughing* Megs - I’m tall! I don’t need to jump to reach things!

Megs: *laughing* That must be nice. I got good at this type of jumping because I had to learn to jump up and gently grab things from the grocery so I didn’t knock everything down.

*continuing to jump around the audience - getting everyone to join her* And that’s all for the show today today, folks! Thank you for watching!! Have a great night!

#The Mfackenthal Show #With @maxattack-powell #Official show number 3 #But the 4th interview #Ellen has nothing on me #Oh who are we kidding #I wish I were half as cool as Ellen #She gets paid to do this #I do this for free #But I love it!

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robinallender · 4 years

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Albums of 2019/the decade

(‘Martin Brennan’ appearing on This Time with Alan Partridge, my favourite TV programme of 2019.)

It’s impossible to make an album of the year list because I haven’t listened to every album that was released this year. And to make an album of the decade list…? Well, that’s even impossibler.

I suppose I could try to do what James Acaster did in his book Perfect Sound Whatever, but instead of listening to every album from 2016 I could attempt to listen to every album from the entire decade. A Sisyphean task – and by the time I’d listened to all of those albums, it would probably be around 2030. And by that point, providing the world is still functioning by then, I’d have another decade of albums to catch up on. I could draw a comparison to Tristram Shandy here but I won’t.

(Plume is my favourite novel of the year.)

(‘DNA.’ is the most thrilling three minutes of music this decade.)

The excellent thing about Acaster’s book is that it glories in the fact that beneath all the hype and buzz of big releases, and away from algorithmic playlists and ubiquitous albums of the year, there is a universe of incredibly diverse and exciting music being made all the time. Acaster rightly celebrates bandcamp, which has become something like the anti-Spotify over the last ten years. Thanks to bandcamp, it feels like there has never been a better time to listen to experimental music. Obscurity no longer exists – there is no longer any music which is difficult to hear.

I’ve become enamoured with Jim O’Rourke’s Steamroom page, where he regularly releases albums of ambient/noise music. if you’re expecting the Bacharach-esque chamber-pop of his Drag City albums then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. There’s a fantastic interview with him here where he describes his creative process (I’m a particular fan of Number 44).

It feels like the prevalence and dominance of the internet has brought with it a certain kind of musical freedom. There’s a kind of the-music-industry-has-collapsed-so-does-anything-really-matter-anymore attitude which I love! Dean Blunt’s Black Metal (2014) feels like an album that couldn’t have been made at any other time. An ‘anything goes’ album of hip-hop/indie/experimental/weirdness that breaks so many production rules (samples of badly compressed MP3s, levels clipping all over the place) but sounds all the better for it.

Of course the problem with everything being available at the click of a button is that you get overwhelmed with choice. I think this decade I got something like cultural fatigue. I'm pretty sure Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington’s endlessly meta online show On Cinema should be my favourite thing ever, but I can’t be bothered to watch all one hundred hours of it. And you can’t dip into it because the joke is that it only really works if you watch all one hundred hours of it. Being told to stick with things because they’ll get better in the fifth series…? Can I not just watch Masterchef and have a lie down?

(I played the Olympia in Paris with Yann Tiersen in 2014!)

The other problem with making ‘best of’ lists is: do you choose albums because you love them or because of their cultural importance? Clearly the best album of the decade culturally was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly – an actual soundtrack to a civil rights movement, an album of astonishing power and viscerality. It’s a dense, difficult album full of brilliant songs. But you’re not always going to be in the mood to listen to it. You’re not always going to be in the mood to be challenged, or to be saddened that an album like that needed to be made!

Or should your album of the decade be the album you listened to the most? This would probably make sense since Spotify has taken over our listening habits and now insists on sending us our most played songs of the year, a cruel reflection of our exposed ids (for a Velvet Underground fan, I really listen to a lot of Bastille). Well, if we went by what Spotify suggested, one of the most successful artists of the decade would be ‘ambient rain noise’.

I believe that the truth is between. Some albums on my list I have listened to almost constantly, others I have only listened to once or twice, but they blew my head clean off when I did (Yeezus for example).

(My most played album of the decade was Benoît Pioulard’s Stanza I-III, released in three parts throughout 2015-6, probably because I listen to it most evenings to help me fall asleep. Beautiful melodic ambient drones, drenched in reverb and tape hiss. Er… just a bit!)

(I got to the finals of So You Think You’re Funny in 2017!)

While putting together this list, I thought I’d go back to the albums of the 00s list I wrote in 2009. Deerhoof aside, I kind of got snow blindness from reading it! Significantly, I didn’t even notice at the time that my list was made up almost entirely of white artists. Well, I do listen to a lot of morose indie, a genre not famed for its diversity. But this decade I feel that I have expanded my listening habits, and this should be reflected in my list. I hope it doesn’t look like when Rolling Stone do their best albums of all time and put What’s Going On in the top ten as a kind of afterthought (not even Marvin Gaye’s best album).

Who gives a hoot what I think, this is just a blogpost, it’s not like I’m writing for a major newspaper (although I do need a job if anyone’s reading this), but I think that, even on this platform, this is a really important albeit difficult thing to consider. If this decade is to be remembered for anything it’s that we all have a responsibility to promote diversity in our every action; the 2010s were a decade when the personal became political. It was the decade when it became prudent and necessary to notice things like the fact that I posted a list of my favourite albums and they were all made by white artists, even if it’s on a blogpost that no one reads.

It’s not just racist language and behaviour that must be challenged, we must also challenge the social subliminality and structuralism of racism. So yes, a best of the decade list with only white artists, that is part of the problem! Yes, maybe those were my favourite albums of the 00s, but to use a term that has become increasingly prominent this decade, we need to think of the optics.

Aren’t you overthinking this? Tying yourself in knots to sound woke? Well, voice in my head, you sound like a bit of a twat, as does anyone who uses the word ‘woke’ pejoratively.

Can’t you just list your favourite albums? Yes. But my point is: no conversation about culture takes place in a vacuum. Take Mark Kozelek, who topped my list last decade. Would I feel comfortable having him in my list this decade because of his appalling treatment of the excellent journalist Laura Snapes? Not that this would be an issue this decade because of the startling decline in Kozelek’s music. Who could have predicted that Kozelek would go from singing about love and grief with such incredible poignancy to mumble-rapping about buying furniture? (I have written at length about Mark Kozelek before.)

Anyway, I think the terrible state of the world has really affected my listening habits. Basically, life is horrible so I got into ambient music. Turning off the news and drifting off into a hypnogogic daze. What a luxury!

(From the opening sequence of Midsommar, my favourite film of the year. The murals were created by conceptual designer Ragnar Persson and art director Nille Svensson.)

This is the decade when I no longer collected music – as I switched from downloading from iTunes and buying CDs to streaming it felt like I went from active to passive. It was a decade where music became part of the background – Spotify playlists were engineered to be as bland and un-skippable as possible. So it’s been refreshing to see artists challenge this monotony: Michael Kiwanuka’s dense, conceptual KIWANUKA from this year, and Beyonce’s thrilling video albums.

(Do you ever listen to something like Otis Redding singing ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ and almost find it hard to believe that that really happened? That it was ever possible for someone so talented and charismatic to ever walk the earth? I got a similar feeling when I watched Homecoming. How lucky we are to have an artist like Beyoncé!)

(I played Green Man Festival in 2012 with Yann and, because Van Morrison wanted to go on first so he could get away early in his helicopter, we played after him on the main stage. So I can sort of say that Van Morrison supported me.)

(How dreadful to lose Mark Hollis and Scott Walker – and Neil Innes – this year. Whenever I have ten minutes to spare, if I’m waiting for a bus or something, I like to listen to ‘After the Flood’. Ten minutes of transcendence!)

(My favourite tweet of the decade.)

(A personal highlight of the decade for me was filling in at a gig at the 9.30 Club in Washington DC by playing ‘Lady in Red’ when Yann broke a violin string.)

Some specific musical highlights of the decade:

‘Sscending’, an extremely blissed out track by Acronym w/Korridor.

How good was ‘Video Games’? I mean really.

The production on this Nicki Minaj song is utterly fantastic.

I love the lyrically virtuosic Villagers song ‘Earthly Pleasure’.

‘Work’.

Anyway, I’m going to end this by quoting from one of my favourite songs of the decade, and like some dreadful character from a 00s pre-mumblecore indie romcom, it’s by The Shins.

Love’s such a delicate thing that we do With nothing to prove Which I never knew

Albums of 2019

Orange – Caroline Shaw/Attacca Quartet The Sacrificial Code – Kali Malone Xièxie – Celer Homecoming: The Live Album – Beyoncé Occam Ocean II – Éliane Radigue Requiem for Recycled Earth – James Ferraro Nonlin – Steve Hauschildt Tracing Back the Radiance – Jefre Cantu-Ledesma Cuz I Love You – Lizzo Chastity Belt – Chastity Belt House of Sugar – Alex G (Sandy) Tip of the Sphere – Cass McCombs Designer – Aldous Harding Psychodrama – Dave Titanic Rising – Weyes Blood Compliments Please – Self Esteem KIWANUKA – Michael Kiwanuka When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish Nothing Great About Britain – slowthai New Miami Sound EP – Twain MAGDELENE – FKA twigs Normal Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey STONECHILD – Jesca Hoop This Is How You Smile – Helado Negro I Was Real – 75 Dollar Bill PROTO – Holly Herndon uknowhatimsayin¿ – Danny Brown Fear Inoculum – Tool The Reeling – Brìghde Chaimbeul U.F.O.F. – Big Thief

(U.F.O.F. is my album of the year. It sounds like alchemy, music where trauma has been channelled into something beautiful.)

(I supported John Robins at the Apollo in October this year. Cool!)

Albums of the decade (which I might keep amending Life of Pablo style)

Sleep Like It’s Winter, Steamroom 44 & Simple Songs – Jim O’Rourke Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death – James Blackshaw Magma – Gojira (superb metal album) The Dream My Bones Dream – Eiko Ishibashi The Suburbs – Arcade Fire EARS – Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith Spark of Life – Marcin Wasilewski Trio & Joakim Milder Toumani & Sidiki – Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté (please listen to ‘Lampedusa’) Closing – Victoria Hume (got me through a very difficult time) For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) – Huerco S. The Uncle Sold – Ed Dowie Witness – Katy Perry (really underrated!) Blonde – Frank Ocean Smoke Ring For My Halo – Kurt Vile Transparent Water – Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita The Curious Hand – Seamus Fogarty Reflection – Brian Eno Looping State of Mind – The Field Tomorrow’s Harvest – Boards of Canada Be the Cowboy – Mitski Volumes 1-4 – Kosmische Läufer Stateless – Dirty Beaches Bridge Music – Eerie Gaits Veteran – JPEGMAFIA V2.0 – GoGo Penguin Lemonade – Beyoncé Oh Holy Molar – Felix Get Your Hopes Down – Landslide Purist (I played on this album but I don’t care, it’s really good!) Beach Music – Alex G (Sandy) Phantom Brickworks – Bibio Chaleaur Humaine – Christine and the Queens Only Myocardial Infarction Can Break Your Heart – Matt Elliott Dust Lane – Yann Tiersen Black Metal – Dean Blunt The Harrow & The Harvest – Gillian Welch Yeezus – Kanye West Ruins – Grouper Kill All Children – Prison UK (sad music from the future) Age Of – Oneohtrix Point Never (more sad music from the future) Nothing Important – Richard Dawson Hidden & Field of Reeds – These New Puritans To Pimp a Butterfly & DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar Devil is Fine – Zeal & Ardor Divers – Joanna Newsom Stanza I-III & Hymnal – Benoît Pioulard alterum – Julie Fowlis Unfold – The Necks DAYTONA – Pusha T Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves Olivia Chaney EP – Olivia Chaney Wit’s End, Big Wheel and Others & Mangy Love – Cass McCombs

(My favourite album of the decade is, unsurprisingly if you know me, Wit’s End by Cass McCombs, released in 2011. A perfect album of eight perfect songs. I still listen to it at least once a week and I don’t think it will ever lose its magic.)

#albums of the year 2019 #albums of the decade

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homerenovationvancouver-blog · 5 years

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The Kitchen Renovation Doesn't Have to Be As Painful As You Might Think

You've reached your own personal tipping point: the toaster won't work when the coffeemaker's on, you're down to one working burner on your stove, only one person can be in the kitchen at a time so your family eats in shifts, and finally the microwave blew on the morning of your big presentation at work, and you decided, "Enough is enough. We need a new, functional kitchen!"

You're not alone. Usually everyone has a particular tipping point; that one last thing that sends them into the renovation pool. You try to hold on for as long as you can because you're dreading the noise, the dust, the inconvenience and the disruption to your daily life. When your space becomes unusable, it's time to do something. But you can't just jump into a renovation, particularly one as costly, time consuming and inconvenient as a kitchen renovation, you need a well thought out plan of attack if you're going to pull it off in the quickest amount of time with the least amount of inconvenience and expense.

Start by developing a Design Plan: A renovation will only be as successful as the research and planning that's put into it. Like any business proposal you develop for work, you need to have a clear goal of what you want to achieve with the renovation. Do you yearn for updated electrical wiring, maximizing storage space, adding an eating area, appliances that work?

You can start by popping into kitchen renovation stores to look at the latest available features in kitchen design. Speak to the staff, tell them you're at the beginning of your journey and see if they have any ideas for you.

Cut out photos of kitchens you love from magazines and put them in a folder. Identify why you like the kitchens you've chosen - is it the space? The lighting? The colour? The style of cabinetry or countertops? It is even helpful to give your designer images of things you definitely do not like. That way they won't propose those very things in your dream kitchen. When you determine what you really want, it will help your kitchen designer draw up the plans that suit you.

If you have a friend who's recently renovated her kitchen, take pictures and identify what you like about it as well and stick it in the folder with your other pictures.

Toronto architect Jacqueline Rhee says that when she sits down with potential clients and they say to her, "Design us something gorgeous," she has to explain that they aren't giving her enough information. She says, "What their idea of 'gorgeous' is and what I might have in mind could very well be two different things. Maybe they want French Country, but I have an idea that they might prefer a sleek contemporary kitchen." The more direction clients can give their designer about their likes, dislikes and what their goals for the space are, the better the design can live up to their expectations.

Budget: The good news regarding a kitchen renovation is that it tends to be a good investment. The Appraisal Institute of Canada estimates that a kitchen renovation will return 75-100% of your investment if you were to turn around and sell your home. However, the sky is never the limit, even for Donald Trump. Just as you would plan your company's annual marketing budget, you need to develop a budget for your kitchen renovation. A general rule of thumb for how much to spend on a kitchen renovation is up to 10-15% of the value of your home. But don't feel like you have to spend that much; if you can do more with less, do it. For example, if your cabinets are in the right location and sturdy but just tired and outdated, consider refacing them. Refacing comes in at about 50-75% of the cost of new custom cabinetry.

Hiring a Kitchen Company and/or Contractor: Most people hire a contractor or kitchen designer through word of mouth. If you've been to a friend's recently renovated house and you like what you see, start asking questions: Who did the work? Did you work well together? Was he on time and on budget? Is the end result what you expected? Was he well-organized or did you scramble to get finishes at the last minute? Were there any major problems during construction, and if so, how did he handle them? If you liked the answers your friend gave you - assuming your friend isn't shell-shocked from the direct grilling she's just received - get his card. Now, find at least two other contractors and/or kitchen companies so you can compare quotes.

Meeting with the Designer and Contractor: If, while you're meeting with a designer or contractor, your gut tells you that no matter how great the work is you couldn't stand being in the same room with him for more than a minute, cross him off your list of candidates. You may have to meet with this person every day. If your personalities don't mix, you'll never be able to solve problems together. Likely, however, if you're getting that vibe, the contractor or designer is too; it's best to part ways before a relationship has begun.

If, on the other hand, your first meeting is fantastic and you're bowled over with his enthusiasm and ideas and you get along as if you'd known each other your entire lives, you still need to do your research. Ask him how many jobs he can handle at once and how many he has going currently and make sure he is bonded and insured.

Further necessary research - the internet is your new best friend: Researching kitchen companies and contractors has become a whole lot easier with the age of the internet. Now there are websites which are specifically focused on capturing word-of-mouth reviews from consumers online. If the companies you're interested in using don't have any reviews, you may want to look at other companies that do and compare their services. Also check out the company's website. If they don't have one, you have to wonder how professional they are.

Another tip you can try is entering the company's name in search engines like Google and Yahoo!. You may find some feedback people have posted on them on various forums. You can also post a question asking if anyone has ever used this company. Finally, check the references he or she gives you as well, talk to a few of his past clients and go see the work he or she did for them.

Once you've chosen your designer, contractor and/or kitchen company, get ready: Ask yourself if you can live through the renovation by setting up a second kitchen in the garage or basement. Do you have toddlers who would be better off away from the construction site? Make arrangements to be out of the house for a specific amount of time and make sure that you and your project team have discussed the most reasonable move-out and move-in dates.

Did you have to factor furniture storage into your budget or can it be wrapped and stored on site? Again, your contractor will tell you which is the best option depending on the size of the job and your storage space availability on site.

During the renovation: Assumptions: One of the breakdowns in communication between homeowner and contractor is in assumptions made by one party or the other. For instance, one woman had purchased bathroom sinks and fixtures for a brand new home. The contractor saw that the powder room fixture would be outfitted with separate taps and a faucet and so drilled three holes in all the sinks because he assumed that all the fixtures were the same. Unfortunately, they weren't and the homeowner had to replace the other fixtures to match the holes.

But incorrect assumptions can just as easily be made by the homeowner. A homeowner handed a water filter kit to the contractor and asked him to install it. The homeowner had read on the box that the water filter was good for the whole house and could be fitted on the main water supply. When she returned at the end of the day, the contractor had installed it under the kitchen sink. She'd never told him where it was to go, she had just assumed that he knew it was meant for the entire house.

Problem solving: In any renovation, no matter how minor, there always seem to be unforeseen problems. It's not as surprising as you might think. What happens behind the walls stays behind them until they're ripped apart. Up until then, you might not know that the insulation used was actually newspaper, or that the plumbing went through the wall that needs to be demolished. How your contractor and you handle these problems depends on how proactive your contractor is.

During Sue and Leon's main floor renovation, the designer had called for the laundry room backsplash to consist of stainless steel tiles; beautiful, but at a cost of approximately $5,000. Sue balked. The contractor suggested instead a row of the tiles, two feet high, just behind the washer and dryer at a cost of $500. Sue was grateful that contractor made her aware of the costs and had an alternative suggestion for her.

The end result -- your dream space: Living through the dust, noise and strangers in your house for weeks to months on end can be tiring. Even though you get along well with the crew and your contractor, you can find your temper becoming short, particularly if there are delays during the project leading to prolonged construction. Recognize that delays are often unavoidable and that one day, you will be back in your home, the workers will be gone and your new beautiful kitchen will be all yours.

On-line Resources: This Old House: This website is a DIYer's dream. There are videos and tips on probably every aspect of renovating a kitchen. Kitchens.com: A wealth of information on everything you ever wanted to know about kitchens, including information on "greening your kitchen." Better Homes and Gardens has an extensive section on renovating your kitchen including an "inspiration gallery" to give you some ideas. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: CMHC has an excellent website for any renovation or home purchase. The kitchen renovation area has downloadable charts you can use for reference guides as you go about your renovation planning. Appraisal Institute www.homerenovationvancouver.ca of Canada: The Renova section of this website allows you to input the cost of your renovation and it will calculate how much of a return you would receive if you sold your home.

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biscuitreviews · 5 years

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Biscuit’s Favorite Games

When it comes to a great game, there are a few factors at play. “Is the gameplay good? Is the story great? What cool memories do you have associated with the game? Did the game leave an everlasting impression?” All of these I feel are what help create a favorite game for a person.

Now normally people would countdown to their number one game and although I do have a number one game. There are many other games I enjoy as well and have left impressions on me that I carry with me to this day.

With that I’m not going to do a “traditional” countdown, but rather give my favorites before going to my all-time favorite (which for some of you shouldn’t be a surprise because I’ve gone on record with it a few times already). With that, let’s go over some of my personal favorite games.

Halo: Reach

I love the Halo series. I love the setting, I love the idea of you being a badass super soldier, and I love the soundtrack. I have more memories with the Halo series playing online with my friends and Halo: Reach for me has the best memories.

We would often get large groups going into big team matches and when we couldn’t get a large group we would go into the small team games and have tons of fun with either matchmaking or custom matches. There are many times we would stay up until 5 or 6 a.m playing Reach. Reach also spawned off quite a few inside memes with my friends, memes that we still quote to this day. With Microsoft’s recent announcement of Halo: Reach being re-released on PC, we’re looking forward to remembering the good times as we exchange teabags with a new generation of Spartans.

But aside from multiplayer, Reach also had in my opinion the best campaign. It was emotional, it had some amazing epic set pieces, it was challenging, and most importantly Noble 6 was your Spartan model from multiplayer which gave a more personal attachment to the story.

Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal

I was on the ground floor of the Pokemon Hype in the 90s. When the follow-up to the amazing Blue/Red/Yellow came out, many of use were ready to embark on a new Pokemon adventure in a new region eager to catch the new Pokemon.

It made great improvements from the original game, adding additional Pokemon types, a story with Team Rocket trying to make a comeback, and the biggest surprise of them all, going back to Kanto and fighting the Kanto Pokemon Gym Leaders. This made the world of Pokemon feel much larger and connected. Ever since then, it’s been a highly requested feature to have a previous region in another version revisited or ot have a nice dense post game. Although, revisiting regions has yet to happen since Silver/Gold/Crystal, each Pokemon game has been released with a good sizeable post game adventure to embark on.

The remakes HeartGold and Soul Silver are just as fantastic.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening

There are games that we complete at 100%, then there are games we complete until there’s nothing left. Devil May Cry 3 was the first game that I ripped apart inside and out in terms of content. I completed every single difficulty as both Dante and Vergil, acquired every skill, every alternative costume, and every challenge.

I did it because I had a lot of fun with the game’s combat and it was also my first Devil May Cry game. How I got the game was interesting as well. A friend of mine had Devil May Cry 3 and a relative of theirs gifted them another copy of the game for their birthday unbeknownst to them that my friend had the game already. They asked if I wanted their extra copy and that’s how I got into the Devil May Cry series. One day Devil May Cry 5, one day.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The Metal Gear Solid series is one of my favorite game series of all-time. The first entry of the series for the PS1 taught me so many things. In fact, the original Metal Gear Solid also greatly influenced my playstyle, which is emphasis on stealth.

Metal Gear Solid 3 was a great game that challenges your stealth skills. Not only did you have no radar, but you had to be more aware of your surroundings. Not only could you encounter guards, but you could potentially encounter wildlife in the jungle that could and will also harm you. You would also have to eat to keep your stamina up, wear the proper camouflage for the environment for optimal stealth, and you would have to heal injuries through various methods. All of these considerations added a new challenge to the stealth game to where the systems served as an extra layer rather than an annoying chore to keep up with.

Mega Man X4

This game was actually my first exposure to the Mega Man X series. I was already familiar with the classic series and I was eager to play this particular game and learning what the deal with having the X in the title was. It was then I learned that you could play as two different characters, the ever familiar blue bomber, which my 8 year old thought, “Ok, that must be a new model of Mega Man.” However, Zero was what immediately caught my eye, a robot using a lightsaber (which I would later learn it was called Z Saber) as an attack, sign me up!

The gameplay was super fun and there are slight differences in the story depending on who you play as. Granted it’s clear that this entry was catered for Zero rather than X, it’s still a really fun game no matter which character you picked. Similar to its predecessors, the game has also aged really well graphically.

Skies of Arcadia

To me, this is the perfect summer adventure in gaming. You’re a Robin Hood-esque air pirate who comes across a woman from a thought to be lost civilization. This was a turn based RPG where you had use the correct element on your weapon to effectively fight in battles. Not only that but there was also ship battles where you can engage in fighting other Airships.

It’s also a game that I feel constantly gets forgotten by Sega whenever they do Dreamcast collection releases. Skies of Arcadia is great and is one of the few games that I will 100% buy whenever it finally gets the HD remaster that it deserves.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

As far as the Legend of Zelda series goes I love every entry. There are a couple that I don’t like as much, but they still have qualities about them that I find enjoyable. Although Link to the Past was the first Zelda game I played, Ocarina of Time was the first one I would ever own and complete to 100%. At the time of its release it was a open area for you to explore with tackling temples and finding secrets. It also had a neat time travel mechanic with the story having some areas that would have effects on the future.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One

This is a title that revived the the point and click adventure as well as popularize the episodic format. I got into this game during my Walking Dead craze and this game touched me in an unexpectedly emotional way. So much so I got teary eyed on the season finale and if a game manages to invoke such an emotional response within you, you know it did something right. I got attached to Lee and Clementine and the writing for the season was superb. Choices were respected and although there were many events that still happened no matter the choice, it was more reflected in the dialogue and for what Telltale was trying to accomplish, I thought it worked well.

Borderlands 2

Everyone that loves Borderlands 2, loves Handsome Jack and he’s an amazing video game villain. However, I do have a personal connection that cemented this as a favorite. This is a game that my wife and I would completely co-op with no handicap of any kind. What do I mean by a handicap. When it comes to playing co-op games on PC I am hopeless with a mouse and keyboard, where as my wife is completely running the show. Similar to consoles, my wife is hopeless with a controller and I’m taking point.

I used to not be much of a PC gamer. When I got a Windows 10 laptop my wife and I decided to get Borderlands 2 as Windows 10 allowed you to plug in a Xbox One controller without having to download any additional programs or anything. My wife was mouse and keyboard on her PC, and I was plugged in with a controller on my laptop and it changed everything. We no longer had to babysit one another, we could go into a camp of enemies and come out with barely a scratch on either of us. We even got to better understand one another’s playstyle and it complimented each other very well for an amazing co-op experience. Now I have evolved more into a PC gamer and have started playing so more co-op games with my wife.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

This is a game that I’ve been replaying and going back through since I played it in 2016. The detail of how character dialogue reacts to your decisions is just amazing. Also the way you go about fighting monsters is amazing as well. You have to study them, research them in your bestiary, drink the appropriate potions, apply the proper blade oil, use the propers signs and bombs in the fight. It gives you the sense that you are preparing for a fight.

CD Projekt Red used a branching story writing program called Articy Draft. It’s a program I myself actually use in my day job. I’m constantly going back to this game and studying it to try to imagine how the writers wrote certain decision points and how it branched out within Articy. Making different decisions and doing quests in a different order are just some of the things I do to further study this game in how they approach it in dialogue with Articy.

All Time Favorite - Final Fantasy X

As I mentioned in a few of my posts Final Fantasy X is my favorite game. I love everything about this game: the story, the setting, the characters, the combat system, the sphere grid progression system and the soundtrack. The way that Square had the player go through the world and learn more about it was genius and allowed for a deeper connection between Tidus and the player. There have been other games that have done this method of relaying plot information to the player, but to me Final Fantasy X was the one that got it right.

One day I will review this game, but I have no plans to review it for a good long time.

Those are my favorite games! I’d love to hear some of your favorites as well!

#Biscuit reviews #Biscuit's favorite games #favorite game #favorite video games #video games #gaming #Final Fantasy X #Witcher III #Borderlands 2 #skies of arcadia #Telltale's The Walking Dead #Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time #Megaman X4 #Devil May Cry 3 #Halo: Reach #Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal #Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

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dxmedstudent · 6 years

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A little bit about BSL...

Every once in a while I see posts by hearing UK studyblrs wishing to pick up BSL (British Sign Language) and not knowing where to start. There are usually a few links shared, but few posts seem to go into any depth about BSL as a language, or Deaf culture. So I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve learned, as a beginner in BSL, so anyone completely new to BSL but interested in learning gets a better idea of where to start. It must be noted that, as a hearing individual, my experience of Deaf culture has only scratched the surface and can’t even begin to do the topic justice; that’s precisely why I recommend both further reading and learning with an accredited centre run by the Deaf community. If there are any inaccuracies in my post, I’d be more than happy for anyone to add to my post or correct me. Why learn BSL?

The reasons why anyone chooses to learn a langauge can be unique to them. Many learn BSL because they have to; many speakers are Deaf, or have loved ones who are, and therefore become immersed in the community. Some learn BSL for work. Others learn it for other reasons. Although 9 million people experience hearing loss (19% of the population), most of them become hard of hearing later in life, and most of them do not learn how to sign. Only around 50,000 people use BSL as their preferred language according to the government, though BAD suggests the figure is higher, between 151,000 and 87,000.

For me, I felt that the Deaf community are under-served; they face poorer health outcomes in a wide range of conditions. I feel that provision for deaf people is often inadequate, and I’ve seen firsthand how frustrated my elderly patients can be when we struggle to communicate with them. I learned to communicate much better with them, but I felt that it would be nice to do more. Although I know that it’d take me a long time to become anywhere near fluent enough to be able to converse with my Deaf patients independently, I hope that the BSL I do learn can help me to make them feel more comfortable and included.

The background: Deaf Culture

A good starting point would be to do some reading on the Deaf community in the UK, and on the history of Deaf Culture and BSL as a whole. Here’s a good clip on Deafhood. Here’s a useful timeline. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of films about the Deaf community.

Like many minority languages, sign languages have faced more than their fair share of oppression and silencing. Although the hearing world interprets deafness as a disability, most Deaf people will tell you that Deafeness is their rich culture; they do not feel disabled in the world they create for themselves; only when the hearing community is unwilling or able to meet their needs. The reason for this is partly that it’s a very practical language; it relies a lot on how exactly you create the signs, and ‘sloppy’ signing is something that we can all fall into when we don’t know what we’re doing. You couldn’t get to being fluent in French just by talking to yourself, so it’s just like that. It’s also important because BSL is its own language, with its own construction; you don’t usually put the signs in the same order as they would go in English, and these kinds of things can be harder to get from books; whereas when communicating with people, it all starts to flow more naturally. It’s also important in the sense that when we learn BSL, we are learning about and participating in a culture; it’s not something we can learn in isolation from the Deaf people whose culture and life experience it is. It’s not just a language; the Deaf community has its own way of communicating, and it’s own history and social events; learning BSL from a book can help, but the best way to really understand the people you wish to communicate with is to ensure that you actually learn to speak with them, and not at them. It’s also worth noting that there are lots of regional signs and dialects; just because BSL has exam boards doesn’t mean the signs used are the same everywhere; for example, two of my instructors used different signs for ‘blood’; neither was wrong, they were just different.

Learing resources: why face to face teaching is better: It’s great that there are lots of resources online, which can certainly help build up your confidence with the basics and foster independent learning, but just like any language, the most useful way to learn is through a framework or qualification of some kind. So if someone’s interested in learning BSL, I do recommend face-to face lessons, or at least regular communication with Deaf people.

The best way to practice is with native users; this is why accredited BSL instructors; generally have to be Deaf, and lessons take place only in BSL. This sounds intimidating at first, but it makes the experience really immersive; you’ll be surprised how fast you pick things up. It’s also important because it provides work for native users who are fluent in BSL; deaf people can face more limited employment options because the hearing world can struggle to accommodate them, so supporting Deaf instructors can help the community as a whole. Self-directed learning: There are books and videos out there that can help guide you (videos thend to be more useful, because movement can be an important component of signs), and no matter how else you are learning, it never hurts to have more materials available. You’ll probably want to start with things like the signing alphabet, numbers, etc, which are most important, because in BSL if we’re not sure what a sign is, finger spelling it out is how we learn our vocabulary. There are dictionaries, which are amazing and can make life a lot easier, but just like learning any other language it helps to work alongside a framework of some sort; to start with building the vocabulary and constructions to deal with everyday topics until you can say interesting and useful things. Qualifications: If you want to pursue learning sign language further, and have an actual qualification in it, Signature and iBSL are the examination boards for BSL, and The qualifications for BSL are set by level; so there’s level 1, 2, 3, 4, with the complexity and level of fluency increasing the higher up you go. Signature’s website can help you find local learning centres and sign up to face to face courses. I also recommend this because local learning centres will also often host social events for BSL users and learners, and that can be a great way to practice the language and learn about the culture from the Deaf community. Some more (free and paying) useful sources:

British-sign.co.uk dictionary

Signworld do some basic ‘learn sign language’ videos

Deafworkmate has some really useful basic videos that can help with basics like sign order.

I love SignBSL’s dictionary of youtube clips for various words and it also comes as an app.

Signstation are part of the University of Bristol and have some really useful lessons.

British Deaf Association

British sign language dictionary with videos

BSL discussion forumBSL

SignBankSchool of Sign Language

UCL signbank.

Some Early Years material with basic signs

Signature (BSL exam board) have their own website with resources.

Deafbooks’ shop has a wide range of dictionaries and useful books and flashcards.

Deafbooks also have a free downloads page.

More useful resources for learning BSL.

DCAL list of BSL lexical norms.

Macmillan cancer support have some great videos explaining cancer in BSL; good for health-related vocabulary.

Signhealth charity.

Chemistry terms in BSL.

list of 10 useful sites for learning BSL for free.

List of apps focused on BSL.

Finding courses: Hotcourses and Courses plus have a list of online and face to face courses that you can attend. Some of the online ones are heavily discounted, and might be useful if the affordability of face-to-face classes is a challenge (or a time issue). british-sign.co.uk also have their own online courses for a reasonable price. he quality of the courses listed on these websites might vary; I’m not sure whether they are all Signature accredited. But there are a wide variety of courses in many areas, so it’s worth taking a look. If anyone is interested, Oxford uni has a list of resources for various sign languages around the world.

I’d like to finish with a quote from Oliver Sacks: “I found it an astonishing and moving experience. I had never before seen an entire community of the deaf, nor had I quite realized (even though I knew this theoretically) that Sign might indeed be a complete language – a language equally suitable for making love or speeches, for flirtation or mathematics. I had to see philosophy and chemistry classes in Sign; I had to see the absolutely silent mathematics department at work; to see deaf bards, Sign poetry, on the campus and the range and depth of the Gallaudet theatre; I had to see the wonderful social scene in the student bar, with hands flying in all directions as a hundred separate conversations proceeded – I had to see all this for myself before I could be moved from my previous “medical” view of deafness (as a condition, a deficit, that had to be “treated”) to a “cultural” view of the deaf as forming a community with a complete language and culture of its own.”(Seeing Voices, Oliver Sacks, © 1989)

#bsl #deaf culture #learn bsl #langblr #studyblr #personal #my life #deaf

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royallyprincesslilly · 6 years

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Apps and Tools I Use

As a writer I use a lot of tools and apps some help me keep focused others actually end up serving as a distraction, some help me stay organized and some help the process of my writing.

So i decided why not talk about them. So here we go; the apps and tools I use as a writer.

1) OneNote

☆What is it?

-This Microsoft app is versatile. You can use it for notes, writing, planning, organizing things you see online by clipping it and sending to OneNote and so much more.

♡How I use it.

- I use this app for my planning. Everything fic or book focused I put in here. You can separate your ideas and projects with different notebooks then you can add pages and subpages to each. I writr out the format fornthe story bullets included and then use each page in the "notebook" to go into detail {dependong on the fic or story}. Its a gret little app for keeping things organized and keeping yourself on track.

2) Microsoft Word

☆What is it?

Microsoft Word is an application for writing. Its also versatile especially if you have the newer versions but it can also hinder creativity depending on the settings you've set {i.e dictonary, grammar styles, autocorrect}.

♡How I use it.

- I love word and do 98% of my writing in a Word doc and then copy and past into a Tumblr post. Yes there are some annoying things about it like the ones I've listed above and others but for me its always been a comfort thing.

3) PlotBoard

☆What is it?

-PlotBoard is an Apple App (unsure if its on Android as well), you use it like an idea board, you past pics, notes, whatever you like to keep them together.

♡How I use it.

-This is what I used to create the mood boards to my fics. It’s really easy to use and actually fun.

4)Pinterest

☆What is it?

-Pinterest is the bomb.com. It’s a creative app for apple, android, desktop, laptop, iPad whatever. You are able to discover information on the World Wide Web, mainly using images and on a smaller scale, GIFs and videos. It is incredibly versatile now that you can even shop from Pinterest.

♡How I use it.

-I LOVE Pinterest. Love, Love it. I have probably over a hundred boards ranging from recipes, to quotes, financial tips, clothing, even DIY project ideas, Travel destinations, just to name a few. I love to use Pinterest for character and story planning. I have a board called “Character Bank” this is where I put any faces I come across that appeal to me to be used for a story. I even use it to find outfits I insert via link for interactive fics or even descriptions. I will spend hours and hours getting dragged down the rabbit hole on Pinterest.

5) IMGBB

☆What is it?

This is a free computer image hosting and sharing service. You can upload pictures, and easily share them without giving away your log in or anything personal. You can also access it from mobile, as far as I know there is not an app.

☆How I use it?

-When I include in a fic “**Interactive Chapter**” this is the application I use to upload pics and then insert the link into Tumblr. It is very easy to use and saves you from pasting every single image into your fic.

6) Google

☆What is it?

-We all know what Google is. Google is amazing, ask it whatever the hell you want and watch it deliver (except for images of black couples and African American couples you will be disappointed). Also be careful your search topics I hear it’s monitored and anything suspicious will get your ass on the watch list. So don’t go crazy and ask for detailed instructions on how to make a bomb or what the chemical components of anthrax are.

♡How I use?

-I use Google for everything. My research starts with Google.

7) Dragon Dictation

☆What is it?

-Speech recognition software that allows you to dictate while it types for you. It is not free, price ranges from 99.99 to 149.99.

♡How I use it?

-I got this yeas ago never used it and remembered it when I hurt my finger and couldn’t type, I used this as an alternative. There is a slight lag with transfer to document. It’s fun to play around with.

8) Scrivener

☆What is it?

-Scrivener is a word-processing program and outliner designed for authors. Allows writers to organize notes, concepts, research and whole documents for easy access and reference. They offer a trial, but the full version is not free, the price ranges from $38.00 to $45.00

♡How I use it.

- I have not fully gotten the hang of Scrivener, I am still new to it. I more so use this to write/plan books than write fanfics. I’ll talk more about it after I’ve gotten a good working knowledge.

***Okay so this is the basic list, there are a few others but I don’t want to make this too long. I hope this list is helpful. Maybe I’ll add to this with the others or any new ones that come along because I am always using/downloading something.

#apps and tools i use #informational #writing resources

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jounetsulovers · 5 years

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So! the silence in between was a monster of a fic. Officially, it’s the longest fanfic I’ve ever written, clocking in around 12.6k words. I’ve learned a lot from this experience, but I wanted to share with you some of the notes I’ve collected about writing it. I love talking about writing! Spoiler alert: this is very long.

Amagi’s arc plays very differently in both the games and anime. The initial inspiration for having this fic be from Yukie’s POV is the fact that, in the games, she is actually present for Mahoro and Amagi’s big confrontation. They’re billed as a trio, but we get so little in the way of backstory or development for her friendship with them that I immediately started crying one night and spat out the first chapter.

I decided to work with the game verse following that fact, so especially with the last chapter, deviation from the anime is absolutely intentional. In the games, Megane finds the manual for Atlantis Wall, calls ahead to get it on reserve, and Amagi, already upset, charges ahead of the rest of the team to get there first and accidentally has a run-in with Mahoro and Yukie.

Yukie is actually the granddaughter of Mr. Magic Moves himself! That’s 100% true to the games.

Mahoro is probably the biggest deviation to the game timeline for this fic. I did write his dialogue with his anime counterpart in mind, mostly because I think between the two of them, the anime did a better job of capturing his hopelessness. Mahoro in the games acts a lot more like pre-heel face turn Tsurugi than anything else.

Amagi I tried to write somewhere between both his game and anime counterparts. I think his dialogue feels the most consistent between the two adaptions.

One thing you’ll probably notice is that Hikaru’s involvement is.... nonexistent. Again, this is something that’s different in the games. He does have relevance to the chapter, but he and Yukie don’t interact in any real capacity like in the anime.

Title comes from No Light, No Light by Florence and the Machine. Everyone will eventually have a fic named after this song in some form, so might as well try to be a hipster and choose a section that isn’t the obvious. Silence being a theme in the story, it felt relevant.

Originally I’d conceived this fic as having more chapters covering more specific chunks of Yukie’s life. But then I realized I could hit the high points in 4 because that’s Amagi’s jersey number!! So I did. That.

I now understand why so many video game anime adaptions say “FUCK GAME MECHANICS” because it was an absolute nightmare to try and figure out how I wanted to explain the manual shop. I think the fact that it feels deliberately old-fashioned in the games helps out somewhat. Considering how behind the times Yukie’s Grandfather is (a landline?! in 2018?! actually that’s fairly common I deal with enough business accounts at work to know) hopefully it doesn’t seem too weird that a move archive would exist in the digital age. You wouldn’t download a hissatsu

Every place ever but the subs I originally watched for Go spell it Genei, not Gen’ei, but dang it I’m going with what I know!!

Balance posts are a real thing. I literally didn’t know what they were called until now.

Mahoro is a defender in Resistance Japan. Amagi and Yukie are of course defenders by default in-game. It just felt right having that be his original position as a kid. I think he’d be great at it!

SO. A lot of things had to be fleshed out for the trio to break apart. It’s a sort of rift that could potentially be solved with a phone call or the fact that it’s 2018 by the end and probably have cell phones. I did have to do some extra lifting in order to make the drifting apart a little more convincing. A combination of moving, life events, and misunderstandings shown in the canon was what I landed with.

A lot... of emotions were felt writing out the scene in chapter two where Yukie’s grandfather falls. I have literally been in her shoes. It’s something you never quite get out of your head. The circumstances were different, but the core emotions I tried to channel into it are the same.

Fun fact: all of the side characters in Chapter 3 are actually real characters in the games!

This is Kadotsuka.

This is Kureno.

And this is Coach Yatsuhaka! Poor coach. I couldn’t find a way to slip his candle motif in.

Was a former Occult member purposefully chosen to call back to the fact that 10 years later they’re still probably getting flak for the cheating thing? From a former Raimon team member, no less? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Yes, the man in white was Senguuji. I saw the chance and took it.

A lot of Fifth Sector stuff ultimately got cut, which is sad but it just ended up not being relevant to the points in the fic I wanted to make. Ditto a lot of team interactions, as well as Gen’ei Lore. Ask me about my Gen’ei Lore

I still made a chart for all the team members of Gen’ei so I didn’t have to keep booting up my game or looking at the wiki.

#SeidouzanWasZeus. Stay shady, school.

Maboroshi Shot coming from Phantom Shoot (which is an old, ooooold shoot from way back in s1) is an important hc to me, because I find the idea of hissatsu ownership and evolution a fascinating thing to look at in the context of Inazuma. People remix and evolve moves all the time, and I have a few theories about certain shots becoming others in the period between the original series and Go.

Amagi is not a Watch User, nor is he a Pillar Man.

One thing that hit me in the middle of writing the last chapter is that Yukie.... as far as we can tell, at least.... never sees a good example of an Avatar, or a context where they’re not just an extension of Fifth Sector’s power. She probably doesn’t like them much at all.

Fun game fact: each stadium has their own mini route leading up to them. So that conversation actually does take place in a snowy path in game.

...Yes, Kurumada does make a comment about Yukie being an ex-girlfriend. It’s so tonally awkward that I had to include it because it’s the most middle school “read the ROOM” moment. It cracks me up.

Yearly reminder that there’s two Meganes.

SO. Two particular quirks of my writing style:

One is that I HATE describing hair color with a passion. I will do just about anything to avoid it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Two is that I hate writing dialogue verbatim, unless I’m quoting something extremely iconic. Pretty much 80% of the dialogue in the last chapter is inspired by either the game scene or the anime scene.

Yukie running after Mahoro also happens in-game! I just fleshed out the conversation following it, hehe.

One thing I just could not fully acknowledge without derailing the ending was the fact that Gen’ei’s match against Raimon canonically happens right after the first Go movie. Amagi has God Eden fresh in his head the entire time. Let that sink in. I’m not happy with the brief dancing around of it, either, but it felt wrong to not bring it up in some form.

AND...... THAT’S THAT. Thank you to everyone who joined me on this wild adventure!

#fic tag #meta tag #mystery kids #mystery trio #THIS IS LONG I'M SORRY

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