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miss-ali-lawliet · 3 years

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Hello

For the ask game:

3. what do you think about Light? 10, 24 and 25, please.

Thank you for the asks and honestly great questions!! I have a feeling this most is going to be a bit long, so hopefully I can get my thoughts and everything out in a way that’s easy to keep up with!

Also spoiler warning for those who haven’t finished the series!

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3. What do you think about Light?

I honestly have SO many mixed feelings about him, like it’s hard to just be like ‘oh i hate him’ or ‘oh I love him’ because it just isn’t that simple for me personally, which that itself is a great sign of a character since you have to think about that sort of thing with them. Right off the bat though, I’d like to say that I think Light as a character is phenomenal. He takes the character-type of what many would consider as the ‘perfect guy’ for the main character but twists it in a way that makes the reader/viewer question the protagonist their supposed to be rooting for.

I also think of Manga!Light and Anime!Light as different people to an extent, as in the manga you watch a seemingly ‘normal’ guy who has issues with the world deal with the sudden power that was thrown on him. I talked about it before in my last ask post, but the scene after Light killed his first person after testing out is a great way to express how he feels, and is one of the few times we really see Light show THAT much emotion. He shows regret and guilt, thinking himself as a murderer and you can tell how it affected him. Anime!Light you don’t get that, and instead he seemed to just take on the task of being Kira and god of the new world without much else thought. I definitely prefer M!Light in comparison to A!Light to say the least, so I’m going to focus a bit more on the M!Light side of things.

I personally found myself wanting to have hope for Light, even though I knew that he wasn’t going to get better but instead worse over time, and honestly it’s probably better story wise to keep him as the ‘bad guy’ who stays bad instead of trying to pull a redemption arc out of no where or something. I have a feeling I’m beginning to ramble, so I’m going to try to wrap this up.

I have a love-hate relationship with Light, because even though I don’t agree with his actions and the tactics he uses to get the ‘perfect world’ he wants, and I do find his thinking flawed and find him very arrogant the more power/ego Kira gains over the world as the story goes on. Yet I find him as a character in general just fascinating. I was definitely more on L’s side of things and found myself enjoying a majority of the scenes where people simple put Light in his place and treat him like a dude with a god complex rather than what he wants/expects. There’s just a lot of thoughts I have about him, but yeah it’s just a love-hate sort of thing for me when it comes to Light.

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10. Do you ship any characters?

I usually find myself being a bit of a multishipper when it comes to most fandoms, it just depends on the source material and the characters obviously. I definitely can enjoy a lot of the ships when it comes to the fandom, but even if I don’t like a pairing I do my best to remain pretty respectful about it.

One thing to note is that I can’t really find myself shipping L with anyone in the series to be honest, like I can find myself enjoying his relationship dynamics of characters but with my own interpretations and DR stuff, It’s hard to view him with someone else romantically.

Some ships I like/don’t mind though (especially when it comes to au stuff as most of these in canon probably wouldn’t work out lol): Matt x Mello, Mikalight, Rem x Misa ig? (more like the concept is sweet i think even though in canon Misa treats her pretty badly and Rem said she doesn’t think of her that way), uhhh. My brain is pulling a blank right now but these are the main ones that come to mind.

Some platonic pairings I enjoy (as there are a lot more of these for me): Matt + Mello, Mello + Near, Matsuda + Misa, Honestly all the task force have really interesting dynamics with one another, L + Watari (obviously in a father/parent way, I just like seeing their interactions), Ryuk + Light, Ryuk + Misa, L + Matsuda’s relationship is honestly pretty funny to me and honestly L’s dynamics with the task force is also interesting as well.

I think that’s it when it comes to shipping stuff atm

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24. Any headcanons you’d like to share?

Oh! I feel like I have a couple but at the moment my mind is pulling a blank for some reason. Some head canons that do come to mind though deal with my Death Note DRs in some way but they can also be interpreted with the actual series itself, so hopefully this is good enough! Usually I do better with a certain prompt of some sort though for future references though!

I’ve seen a post a bit ago about Matt and Mello being roommates of some sort at Wammy House and they find themselves in that roommate mentality still when they do room together, and honestly I agree so much with that.

When Mello leave the Wammy House I see him not contacting Matt or anyone from Wammy House as he turns his focus on his side of the Kira Case, even if apart of him misses them and what he grew up around. Yet he pushes through because he’s stubborn and wants to do whatever he can on his own with the Mafia without involving someone like Matt, probably for his safety. After the explosion though when he has no one on his side, I think that’s when he realizes there’s only one other person he can truly trust and rely on and that’s when he contacts Matt to help him on the case.

Not really a headcanon as the author himself mentioned that the rivalry between Mello and Near was one-sided and that Near actually liked Mello, I do see both boys sometimes wondering what it would have been like if they didn’t have that rivalry and became friends instead. I honestly see Mello thinking that more towards the end of the case and after the explosion, but at that point he’s probably thinking it’s too late to even pursue a friendship like that with him.

I like to think that at Wammy House, Matt didn’t really understand Mello’s rivalry with Near and at times questioned him about it at first but he was pretty supportive

He didn’t have anything against Near though and was pretty indifferent on the whole thing personally, but if it made Mello happy and helped him achieve a goal he had no reason to deny.

Matt in general in general is someone that gives the vibes of not caring about much, but if you’re close to him he is literally SO loyal?? Like if someone close to him has an issue, even if he might make a comment or remark, he is always there to back them up.

I like to think that over time Light actually enjoys Ryuk’s presence, kind of like a sense of some sort of comfort that he isn’t alone of some sort? Like at first he might have been annoyed and still gets annoyed whenever he acts annoying and distracts him from work, but also I think he doesn’t like hate his company. Probably would rather be around him than Misa unfortunately </3

I think that L and Chief Yagami had a pretty good friendship, or perhaps not friendship but i’m not sure what to call it atm. Like I think L respected him a lot and Soichiro was the same towards him, and I think at times if they decided not to talk about the Kira case it’s usually pretty good for the most part.

It’s not really a headcanon but Matsuda trying his best to get some positive attention for things he does in the case is funny and kinda sweet. Most of the time L probably ignores his antics and doesn’t really feed into it, but there’s like one or two times where he actually does

It’s probably very small, probably something along the lines of “Good job.” or something but Matsuda feels so happy that he even acknowledged him like that and didn’t call him stupid for once. Definitely was a good boost in his mood

I find the thought of Light and Ryuk playing video games early on when he first gets the notebook charming in an almost funny way. Like Light probably either was talked into it by the shinigami or was like ‘screw it, I have nothing else to do atm’ and Ryuk is just happy he can actually do something and not just watch him working

Light is definitely competitive in games though, like he’ll probably try to act like it wouldn’t matter but like most things with him, but it did lmao

I find the thought of the wammy kids doing things to mess with/annoy Roger so entertaining. Like I feel bad for him, but if I were asked to assist in the pranks or antics I probably would just for his reaction alone

Think that’s all for random misc head canons for now, if you want something more specific just send a request!

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25. Ramble on about whatever you’d like

Thank you for this one! I usually feel a little guilty whenever I ramble on about things in general, but the fact that some people are interested in my thoughts on things is so sweet!

At the moment though I’m honestly not too sure what to ramble about as there’s a lot on my mind and it’s hard to pick one thing and honestly it can be a bit hard to go through all my thoughts at times.

But! One thing I will always stand behind that ya’ll have probably seen countless of times so far is that the Wammy Boys deserved better and I will always say it if necessary tbh. Speaking of wammy house though, that comes to mind is that I wish I could learn more about it at times, yet I also enjoy the mystery of it in a way. It’s something I’d be so down to learn more about, but if not I’d be pretty okay with that outcome. Plus just leaves things for fans to interpret in their own ways if they want, and that’s something I definitely enjoy when it comes to the fandom is how they take something vague and turn it into so much more.

Also speaking of the fandom I’m surprised yet so thankful/grateful for is that the death note fandom is still going on here. It was such a relief seeing that I wasn’t alone in my hyperfixions and thoughts, and seeing all the talent in the art, writing, etc, is just amazing and something I look forward to a lot in all honesty. I’m also just so thankful for the people that take time out of their day to look at my blog in general. You like, reblog, or follow me? I literally want to be your best friend and if I wasn’t so nervous about starting conversations with ya’ll I definitely would have messaged a couple of ya’ll a while ago. Until then I hope you just read this and see me on your blogs and hope my reactions and comments is enough until I get less nervous lmao.

One last thing before i close the blog off is that I love L with my full heart and I adore Matt and Mello so very much. My favorite lads <3

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Alright that should be it for this post! If you stuck around, thank you!

Some future posts to expect: Matt, Mello, + a f!reader based on the dream I talked about before, some L angst, and possibly something with Light :)

Anyways have a great day/night and here’s a reminder to stay hydrated and eat something if you haven’t already <3

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autolovecraft · 4 years

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Being without superstition, he did not care to imagine.

It may have been just fear, and it may have been fear mixed with a queer belated sort of remorse for bygone crudities. He was a scoundrel, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin, but you got what you deserved. As he remounted the splitting coffins he felt his weight very poignantly; especially when, upon reaching the topmost one, he heard that aggravated crackle which bespeaks the wholesale rending of wood. As he planned, he could not but wish that the units of his contemplated staircase had been more securely made. Birch, though dreading the bother of removal and interment, began his task of transference one disagreeable April morning, but ceased before noon because of a heavy rain that seemed to irritate his horse, after having laid but one mortal tenant to its permanent rest. In either case it would have been appropriate; for the hole was on exactly the right level to use as soon as its size might permit.

The tower at length finished, and his body responding with that maddening slowness from which one suffers when chased by the phantoms of nightmare. It was generally stated that the affliction and shock were results of an unlucky slip whereby Birch had locked himself for nine hours in the receiving tomb of Peck Valley; and was a very calloused and primitive specimen even as such specimens go. He was curiously unelated over his impending escape, and almost dreaded the exertion, for his form had the indolent stoutness of early middle age.

He was a scoundrel, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin, but you knew what a little man old Fenner was. The afflicted man was fully conscious, but would say nothing of any consequence; merely muttering such things as Oh, my ankles!

Birch had felt no compunction in assigning the carelessly made coffin which he now pushed out of the enlarged transom; but he could do better with four. When Dr. Davis left Birch that night he had taken a lantern and gone to the old receiving tomb. Perhaps he screamed. The wounds—for both ankles were frightfully lacerated about the Achilles' tendons—seemed to puzzle the old physician greatly, and finally almost to frighten him.

He had, indeed, made that coffin for Matthew Fenner; but had cast it aside at last as too awkward and flimsy, in a fit of curious sentimentality aroused by recalling how kindly and generous the little old man had been to him during his bankruptcy five years before. Better still, though, he would utilize only two boxes of the base to support the superstructure, leaving one free to be piled on top in case the actual feat of escape required an even greater altitude.

The moon was shining on the scattered brick fragments and marred facade, and the source of a task whose performance deserved every possible stimulus. Most distinctly Birch was lax, insensitive, and was concerned only in getting the right coffin for the right grave. I'd hate to have it aimed at me!

Davis left Birch that night he had taken a lantern and gone to the old receiving tomb.

Why did you do it, Birch?

The tower at length finished, and his aching arms rested by a pause during which he sat on the bottom box to gather strength for the final wriggle and leap to the ground outside. The air had begun to be exceedingly unwholesome; but to this detail he paid no attention as he toiled, half by feeling, at the heavy and corroded metal of the latch. Better still, though, he would utilize only two boxes of the base to support the superstructure, leaving one free to be piled on top in case the actual feat of escape required an even greater altitude. Then he fled back to the lodge and broke all the rules of his calling by rousing and shaking his patient, and hurling at him a year ago last August … He was the devil incarnate, Birch, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin!

In the semi-gloom he trusted mostly to touch to select the right one, and indeed came upon it almost by accident, since it tumbled into his hands as if through some odd volition after he had unwittingly placed it beside another on the third layer.

The wounds—for both ankles were frightfully lacerated about the Achilles' tendons—seemed to puzzle the old physician greatly, and finally almost to frighten him. He confided in me because I was his doctor, and because he probably felt the need of confiding in someone else after Davis died. That he was not perfectly sober, he subsequently admitted; though he had not then taken to the wholesale drinking by which he later tried to forget certain things.

And so the prisoner toiled in the twilight, heaving the unresponsive remnants of mortality with little ceremony as his miniature Tower of Babel rose course by course. You kicked hard, for Asaph's coffin was on the floor. His thinking processes, once so phlegmatic and logical, had become ineffaceably scarred; and it was pitiful to note his response to certain chance allusions such as Friday, Tomb, Coffin, and words of less obvious concatenation. His head was broken in, and everything was tumbled about. That he was not perfectly sober, he subsequently admitted; though he had not then taken to the wholesale drinking by which he later tried to forget certain things. When he perceived that the latch was hopelessly unyielding, at least in a city; and even Peck Valley would have shuddered a bit had it known the easy ethics of its mortuary artist in such debatable matters as the ownership of costly laying-out apparel invisible beneath the casket's lid, and the emerging moon must have witnessed a horrible sight as he dragged his bleeding ankles toward the cemetery lodge; his fingers clawing the black mold in brainless haste, and his hands shook as he dressed the mangled members; binding them as if he wished to get the wounds out of sight as quickly as possible. In this twilight too, he began to realize the truth and to shout loudly as if his horse outside could do more than neigh an unsympathetic reply. It must have been midnight at least when Birch decided he could get through the transom, and in the crawl which followed his jarring thud on the damp ground. Birch had locked himself for nine hours in the receiving tomb of Peck Valley; and was a very calloused and primitive specimen even as such specimens go. He was a scoundrel, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin, but you got what you deserved. Only the coffins themselves remained as potential stepping-stones, and as he considered these he speculated on the best mode of transporting them. At any rate he kicked and squirmed frantically and automatically whilst his consciousness was almost eclipsed in a half-swoon. Horrible pains, as of savage wounds, shot through his calves; and in his mind was a vortex of fright mixed with an unquenchable materialism that suggested splinters, loose nails, or some other attribute of a breaking wooden box.

To him Birch had felt no compunction in assigning the carelessly made coffin which he now pushed out of the way in his quest for the Fenner casket. He worked largely by feeling now, since newly gathered clouds hid the moon; and though progress was still slow, he felt heartened at the extent of his encroachments on the top and bottom of the aperture, he sought to drain from the weakened undertaker every least detail of his horrible experience.

Most distinctly Birch was lax, insensitive, and was concerned only in getting the right coffin for the right grave. His day's work was sadly interrupted, and unless chance presently brought some rambler hither, he might have to remain all night or longer.

It is doubtful whether he was touched at all by the horror and exquisite weirdness of his position, but the other was worse—those ankles cut neatly off to fit Matt Fenner's cast-aside coffin! In this funereal twilight he rattled the rusty handles, pushed at the iron panels, and wondered why the massive portal had grown so suddenly recalcitrant. Maddened by the sound, or by the stench which billowed forth even to the open air, the waiting horse gave a scream that was too frantic for a neigh, and plunged madly off through the night, the wagon rattling crazily behind it.

The skull turned my stomach, but the bald fact of imprisonment so far from the daily paths of men was enough to exasperate him thoroughly. His thinking processes, once so phlegmatic and logical, had become ineffaceably scarred; and it was pitiful to note his response to certain chance allusions such as Friday, Tomb, Coffin, and words of less obvious concatenation. The undertaker grew doubly lethargic in the bitter weather, and seemed to outdo even himself in carelessness. Neither did his old physician Dr. Davis, who died years ago. It is doubtful whether he was touched at all by the horror and exquisite weirdness of his position, but the bald fact of imprisonment so far from the daily paths of men was enough to exasperate him thoroughly. Tired and perspiring despite many rests, he descended to the floor and sat a while on the bottom step of his grim device, Birch cautiously ascended with his tools and stood abreast of the narrow transom. It was just as he had recognized old Matt's coffin that the door slammed to in the wind, leaving him in a dusk even deeper than before. There was nothing like a ladder in the tomb, and the emerging moon must have witnessed a horrible sight as he dragged his bleeding ankles toward the cemetery lodge; his fingers clawing the black mold in brainless haste, and his body responding with that maddening slowness from which one suffers when chased by the phantoms of nightmare. The narrow transom admitted only the feeblest of rays, and the degree of dignity to be maintained in posing and adapting the unseen members of lifeless tenants to containers not always calculated with sublimest accuracy. And so the prisoner toiled in the twilight, heaving the unresponsive remnants of mortality with little ceremony as his miniature Tower of Babel rose course by course.

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orkomedix-blog · 5 years

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5 Tough Wedding and Money Questions, Answered!

In the event that there's one thing individuals don't love to discuss, it's cash. Cash is a standout amongst the most famously awkward subjects of discussion, yet when you're arranging a wedding it's a point you should propose so as to get anything booked or paid for.

Since cash is associated with each wedding choice you make—regardless of whether you should book in spring or fall, what sort of dress shop you should visit, what number of bridesmaids you have—it's essential to be on indistinguishable page from your future mate and any individual who is helping you with the wedding spending plan. To enable you to settle on certain choices and have those cumbersome cash discussions, we chose to answer probably the hardest wedding inquiries concerning cash there are.

1. Who pays for the wedding if my folks are separated?

Customarily, the lady of the hour's folks paid for the whole of the service and the gathering, with the husband to be's family contributing to pay for the practice supper. Today, the cutting edge couple pays for a ton of the service and gathering themselves, and it's normal to see the two arrangements of guardians contributing similarly.

In the event that your folks are separated, matters of cash can be boundlessly progressively confounded. The response to this inquiry is that, in all honesty, it depends. The best activity is assess your specific circumstance. Would one parent paying for the wedding upset the other parent? Are the two guardians ready to similarly contribute? Be blunt and defined limits with your folks front and center in the event that one or even them two are putting forth to contribute.

2. By what means would it be a good idea for us to isolate the wedding spending plan if our folks need to help?

A lady of the hour and man of the hour presenting with their family including guardians who helped spread the expense of the wedding.

In the event that you are sufficiently fortunate to get your folks' assistance with the wedding spending plan, the best activity is to take a seat with them and ask precisely the amount they can contribute. While this may seem like an awkward discussion, you need to realize precisely the amount you'll have in your general spending plan with the goal that you can design better.

Having a careful number from your folks (in addition to the sum you two will contribute) will enable you to decide the amount to dispense towards the scene, cooking, liquor, solicitations, and so on. This likewise gives you more authority over what administrations and settings you book. Your folks could item to having a wedding at a specific spot or give you undesirable assessments about a cook in the event that you are requesting that they help you with the wedding spending piece by piece.

3. My future life partner and I don't have any guardians helping us with the wedding spending plan. What's the most ideal approach to anticipate costs?

On the off chance that you are paying for the wedding yourselves, you'll have to choose how huge of a wedding you'll have and how you will need to pay for it. Check out how a lot of cash you both have in investment funds and how a lot of cash you could possibly spare after the majority of your budgetary obligations every month. What you need to maintain a strategic distance from is bringing about a great deal of charge card obligation—something that could unleash devastation on your future budgetary lives when you're hitched.

The normal expense of a wedding is about $25,000 and rising. There are a lot of approaches to imaginatively cut expenses, yet tossing a wedding for 100+ individuals is going to cost a pretty penny. The most ideal approach to get ready for these expenses is to consider them practically. This implies in the event that you don't have all that much set aside, you'll have to get ready for to what extent it'll take you to spare the cash required to pay for the wedding you need or consider tossing a littler wedding.

4. My in-laws have a long list of attendees, however my folks are paying for everything. What would it be advisable for us to do?

A gathering of wedding visitors toasting with champagne.

You and your life partner to-be decide the last list if people to attend—period. Have a top at the top of the priority list for the list if people to attend (this can either be commanded by the wedding scene you picked or by a number that sounds agreeable to the both of you). On the off chance that your in-laws need to welcome additional visitors, you'll should be firm and told them that there is essentially no stay with the plans you've effectively made. On the off chance that these visitors must be welcomed, at that point inquire as to whether your in-laws would add to the general expense.

5. How would we approach our folks for help with the wedding spending plan on the off chance that they haven't offered a money related commitment yet?

The most ideal approach is to not expect that they have a mystery wedding store put something aside for you. Inquire as to whether they are capable and willing to contribute over supper one night—and set yourself up for the appropriate response. A few families don't have the way to help with the cost of a wedding, and that is splendidly OK. You may need to straighten out what your concept of a reasonable wedding looks like or invest some energy saving money on your own all through your commitment with the goal that you can arrive in the end.

A gathering of individuals at a wedding gathering with sparklers lit against a night sky.

Have you constantly longed for having a major wedding, yet at the same time need the air to be cozy? There's nothing more terrible than going to a tremendous wedding where you don't get the opportunity to talk with the lady and man of the hour; don't give your friends and family a chance to wind up simply one more face in the group at your wedding!

The normal number of visitors welcome to weddings is 136. This is an entirely sensible sum, yet what happens when that number crawls more like 200? That is many individuals to welcome and communicate with by and by over a four-hour supper gathering. All in all, what would it be advisable for you to do?

It's difficult to wipe out individuals you care about from your enormous day be that as it may, fortunately, you don't need to. Indeed, you can at present make that close inclination you've constantly needed without dropping a solitary individual from the occasion. Remember the accompanying tips to guarantee both your wedding service and gathering are welcoming, warm, and individual.

A showcase of individual photographs at a wedding gathering.

The manner in which you adorn will incredibly affect your wedding's general climate. While almost certainly, you've discovered various embellishment thoughts on the web (Pinterest is both a blessing and a revile!), it's totally basic that you pick components that fit your style as a team. One of the most straightforward approaches to make your wedding close is to fuse however many individual contacts as could be allowed. Staying true to yourselves is the best game-plan—on the off chance that you need Death Stars and X-Wing Starfighter models dangling from the roof or a TARDIS-molded cake, at that point pull out all the stops!

(On a progressively specialized note, abstain from incorporating mirrors in your designs. Mirrors make the fantasy of extra space. To keep your wedding comfortable, let these well enough alone for your embellishment plans.)

Settle on a Cozier Venue

One of the least demanding approaches to guarantee your enormous wedding is personal is to pick a comfortable scene. This may appear to be outlandish as you're intending to welcome countless. Keeping everybody close, be that as it may, will make the environment you're chasing. Your visitors will be compelled to blend with each other. You'll additionally have the capacity to effectively find individuals for a fast visit or embrace. An extensive assembly hall or open domain, then again, advances remove and will result in a great deal of void space.

In the event that conceivable, discover a setting that is little, yet has different rooms or spaces. You and your visitors can move between the distinctive zones to collaborate with others, get nourishment, and move. Your loved ones may likewise appreciate the capacity to investigate a bit.

Set the Mood with Lighting

An exquisite table at a wedding gathering with candles and twinkle lights in a tree.

Enrichments aren't the main thing that will set the tone of your wedding; your lighting can assume an immense job in setting up a cozy environment for your function and gathering. Keeping your lights diminish will make a delicate sparkle in the room. Candles are additionally very compelling. In the event that your scene permits the utilization of candles, fuse however many as could be expected under the circumstances.

Darkening the lights is particularly compelling in the event that you pick the correct shading plan. Matte, dull hues ingest light great and will make a milder stylish. On the off chance that you firmly favor lighters hues, ivory (rather than white) is likely the best decision.

Who says your wedding should last just a solitary day? No place is it composed that you should constrain yourselves thusly. Making your association into an end of the week occasion is perfect when you have an expansive list if people to attend, as you'll all have essentially more opportunity to cooperate. This is especially perfect for goal weddings on the grounds that your visitors will acknowledge additional opportunity to see the adjacent sights.

On the off chance that you like the possibility of a multiday wedding, ensure you incorporate a few unique exercises for your visitors. Consider setting up an appreciated mixed drink party on Friday evening so everybody inspires an opportunity to blend. You may likewise need to plan some fun exercises, a gathering early lunch, a gathering supper, or potentially a goodbye party.

Moving isn't the main fun action to fuse into your wedding. Truth be told, giving a wide variety of diversion choices for your visitors can influence your occasion to appear to be substantially more personal. Discover subject related exercises that your loved ones can appreciate all through the night. A couple of extraordinary alternatives incorporate dark jack tables, corn gap, fire pits, s'mores stations, photograph stalls, grass recreations, table games, or a scrounger chase.

In case you're worn out on fussing over who to cut from your list of attendees, stop at this moment. Huge weddings are amazing. All things considered, how often will you and your life partner have the chance to bring the majority of your dearest loved ones together in one spot? Don't sacrif

#candid #candid wedding photography #best candid wedding photography

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itsnewstome · 7 years

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Mrs. Jacobs... I Can Explain...

@newsiestober day 29: Les!

This one went in a bit of a different direction than I intended, but we’ll all d e a l.

Uhm. So this was highkey based off of this post from @the-donnynova-band

@jaywasablindpirate thanks for the title bab <3

Rating: Gen

Summary: Les employs Jack to help him dye his hair on the down low, and David realizes that he is dating a child.

In which Les’ hair is pink, David’s entire being is suffering, Mrs. Jacobs’ knocks Connor’s mom dead and Jack certainly does not drink coffee.

read it on ao3

There was something up with Les. Maybe it wasn’t anything major, there were no glaring signs, really; it was in the way he wore the beanie Sarah gave to him for his last birthday (something he never cared for before) and the way how whenever he would come out of the shower, he would have a towel tightly around his hair, something Davey never really noticed before.

It took Davey a while to notice it. Which he really couldn’t be blamed for, because he really only came home on the weekends, now. Things like college and living in-dorm will do that to a person.

David thought he was just being weird until Jack began to point it out.

Jack would do things like duck in the room as David and his brother were FaceTiming, which was a normal ordeal, except that he would complement Les on his hat, or mention the possibility of hat-hair, with a tone that suggested some kind of secretive inside joke. David could just see Jack tapping the side of his nose, winking suspiciously.

And, suspicious is what it was! Especially since any inside jokes involving Jack Kelly usually more often than not ended up with people getting in trouble. He, of course, spoke from experience.

David didn't say anything about it, though. He kept it all to himself, which was probably a bad thing, because then it all came together, giving him all sorts of ideas about what Les was hiding. Things like premature hair loss and early receding hairlines plagued David’s thoughts, making him fear for his younger brother.

Not wanting to approach a rather… delicate matter like that over the phone or through text, David decided to let it rest until the weekend, where he could question Les properly.

The weekend came quicker than David expected it to, really. Early Saturday morning had David (and Jack by extension) throwing a few weekend bags together before travelling upstate to the little suburb where the Jacobs family lived.

David’s mother was going out for the day with a group of her friends. David remembered something being said about a movie and a bottle of wine, but that was the extent of the details he was given.

Sarah was usually the one to watch Les in occasions like that, since Les could happily hang out in her apartment for the afternoon. They would make dinner and watch some sort of Netflix show. But, since she was caught up in her girlfriend, that weekend marking their one-year anniversary, David's mother decided that it was much better to call the favor out of David instead.

And so, coming into his mother's house that Saturday afternoon, Jack trailing behind him, David thought he was prepared for anything.

Les came down the stairs two at a time, the same maroon beanie snug over his head, calling out names excitedly. Of course, none of them were David’s.

Predictably, Les crashed into Jack and hugged him tight around the middle.

“What’re you tryna do, knock me down?” Jack laughed, ruffling the hat on his head, shiting it, but not enough to dislodge it.

“And if I am?” Les said in a huff. He pulled back grinning. “I could take you down in less than a second!”

Jack laughed. “I’d like to see you try.” He knocked the side of his fist affectionately against Les’ temple.

“Oh, come on. What am I, chopped liver?” David asked after he slipped his shoes off near the matt.

Les crinkled his nose in disgust at the thought. “That’d be a pretty nasty thing to be, Davey,” he said. He hugged his brother in a much less aggressive manner.

“I guess it would,” David admitted.

Les rattled on to Jack about some kind of new computer game he had gotten, while David looked around the living room, listening for sounds of their mother. “Where’s Mom?” he asked when Les stopped to catch his breath.

David’s little brother grinned at him. “Getting ready for her hot date,” Les said, giggling.

“‘Hot date,’” Jack echoed, his eyebrows slowly rising.

“Yeah. Say, what do you mean by that? I thought it was just her night out with Connor’s Mom.” David frowned in thought, especially at the way Les’ face screwed up in such a way David knew he said something he shouldn’t have. Or, rather, he said something he wasn’t sure if he was cleared to share or not.

Les puffed his cheeks out, looking closely at his brother. “I thought you knew about it.”

David paused, trying to think back. “She just said she was going out, she didn’t say anything about a date.”

Les patted his arm sympathetically. “It must hurt to be so out of the loop.” His tone was wistful, as was his sigh.

“Oh, get out of here,” David said, pushing his shoulder.

“Fine, but I’m taking Jack with me!” Les declared. His hand was already clasped around Jack’s wrist and was trying his best to drag Jack away and up the stairs.

“Good luck,” David said, laughing. He kissed Jack shortly on the mouth, and it had Les faking a gag and pulling harder on Jack’s wrist. Jack was dragged up the stairs in the matter of seconds. He looked over his shoulders at David, a silly grin slapped across his face.

David himself went farther into the house, taking a corner and going down a short hall until he came to the master bedroom. He knocked heavily on the doorframe.

“Come in,” his mother called. “I’m just finishing my hair.”

He came to stand in the doorway of the en suite.

His mother caught his eyes in the mirror and smiled brightly at him. She had an aerosol can of hairspray in her hand, and David could see little particles gently falling around her.

“So a hot date, huh?” he said, smiling suggestively.

She looked at him, lifting an eyebrow before she puffed her cheeks out in a very comical way, considering how immaculate she currently looked. Les took after her in the ffunniest of ways. “Les call it that?” David nodded, trying to stifle a laugh. She made a small frustrated sound. She puffed her cheeks out again, looking herself in the eyes in the mirror.

“You’re going to ruin your base,” David said, still biting at the inside of his cheeks to reign in a smile.

She deflated instantly, swapping exasperation for a smile. “Good point,” she said, resigned. She put her hairspray down onto the counter with a little noise. “It isn’t so much of a hot date as a… a trial run. Seeing how it plays out.”

He leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles in front of him. “I’m sure it’ll go well,” he assured her, pointing out “she already loves you.”

“Let’s hope she can still see that when I accidentally smear alfredo sauce all over my face.”

David looked at her with a level gaze. “You never smear things over your face,” he pointed out helpfully.

She hummed, looking like she wanted to fidget again. “Well, Les has warned me so many times of it, I’m sure it’s very much a possibility, now.”

David laughed aloud that time.

The next ten minutes were spent with idle chatter with his mother, whilst trying to sneakily sooth her nerves, because if it was obvious, she would just get nervous again. Jack popped in just as she was gathering up her handbag. He gave her a big smile, told her that she’ll do fine.

Well, his real words landed somewhere around “Damn, Mrs. Jacobs. You look fantastic. Connor’s mom ain’t gonna know what hit her!” but that’s neither here nor there.

Nevertheless, soon Mrs. Jacobs was out the door and the boys were left to themselves. Les was wearing his ridiculous slouch beanie and acting as suspicious as ever, but David let it slide, berating himself for being so suspicious of his brother.

Surely David was just being… oddly paranoid.

It was a late dinner; one of pasta and homemade spaghetti sauce. They took turns playing their favorite songs with the bluetooth speaker that sat in the cupboard that housed all of the plates, dancing and fooling around as they went. Almost everything went extremely well, which was certainly a win in David’s book.

Almost everything.

Almost.

There was a slight hiccup when David went upstairs to rid himself of his chest binder. With the realization that he had worn it for a bit more than his eight and some hours, he had excused himself upstairs, telling Jack to watch the pot on the stove. He was trying to break the habit of wearing it longer than he was strictly supposed to - a nasty habit that was trying to form. He changed out of the binder and pulled a sweater (one of Jack’s. It used to be a solid white, but it was now stained with a million different paint flecks) over his tee, as the thicker fabric concealed more.

He came back downstairs to find half the pot of unfinished, still reducing sauce splashed over the floor while Les and Jack desperately tried to mop it up with various kitchen rags and paper towels.

David was horrified. The kitchen was a mess, there was tomato and little green bits and chunks of onion stuck to the knees of the boys’ jeans, and even after they had cleaned it all up, the floor was still slightly slick afterwards.

It had turned out well, though, so David didn’t worry too much about it. He still made Les mop up the floor, so the sweet smell of their cooking was somewhat tainted with the odor of Clorox cleaning spray.

The sauce continued reducing, giving them about a quarter of the original pot. But it was enough for them all, if a little stretched.

All in all, everything went very well.

David was just waiting for the other foot to drop.

And eventually, it did. It stomped through the delicate, wafer-like balance of the evening. Like a toddler’s greedy hands snapping a cracker in half in their carelessness, David’s sanity all but snapped at the completely asinine actions of his idiotic boyfriend and conniving little brother.

David shifted from his position on the couch, tucking a throw pillow up under his cheek as his eyes struggled to focus on Sabrina playing on the television. In all honesty, he could barely see the television past Jack’s shoulder, as his boyfriend sat on the floor in front of the couch, leaning back against the bottom cushions. Les was wrapped up in a blankets nestled happily in a recliner off to the side.

It was nearly midnight, and on-screen David was only just getting around to sitting on a pair of champagne flutes. David didn’t think he was going to last the full movie. Jack was fully invested in the film, his eyes all but sparkling as he shoved popcorn in his mouth. Les was less interested, checking his phone frequently.

David only lasted until Sabrina slapped Linus in the garden (Jack cheered, pumping a fist in the air, obviously getting deeply invested in the movie), and then tapped Jack’s shoulder to grab his attention.

Jack turned half way around to look at his boyfriend, eyebrows raised in question.

“I’m going to go to bed,” he said, voice quiet.

Jack hummed, kissing David. “You want me to turn this off?”

David shook his head. “No, you can watch the rest of it. Just gonna head upstairs.” He leaned in and kissed him.

“I love you,” Jack murmured against David’s mouth.

David smiled sleepily. “I love you, too,” he replied. “Get Les in bed after this movie’s over, okay?” Jack nodded. “He’ll try to con you into staying up later; stay strong, alright?”

Jack laughed. “Alright, Dave. I got it.”

“Good.” Another heavy kiss, Jack’s fingers combing softly through his hair. He made a little sleepy sound. “Okay. Bed. You’re missing your movie.” Slowly, David forced his sleep-addled limbs into pulling himself up from the couch and eventually up the stairs. He flopped down onto his bed. He could barely remember falling asleep.

The next morning began, and David found it all very routine. His phone alarm woke him up a quarter after seven, and Jack sleepily batted at him while he shut the annoying thing off.

David was left to take in the morning streaming in through the parted curtains, Jack curled around him. Well. More under him, if David was being honest. His right leg was burrowed up under David’s side, with David half lying on him. They had shifted in their sleep, so Jack was bent at an awkward angle against the headboard, his arms thrown over David, while David himself was a little farther down the bed, with his feet hanging off the end of the mattress, hanging in midair.

Deciding that he was ready to get up, David carefully extracted himself from Jack and rolled off the bed; his knees hit the floor with a hard thump. He didn’t get far beyond that, as David ended up flattening himself down on the tacky rug Sarah once bought for him and looked at his ceiling as he tried to get his brain up and working.

"Babe," Jack groaned from above him. A hand flopped over the side of the mattress, lazily grabbing for David. "Come back." His hands were splattered and stained pink. David wasn't sure how the color came to be, but he honestly just never questioned it anymore. It came with dating an artist, he supposed. Jack's body was always streaked with color, whether it be a blot of blue oil paint on the bridge of his nose, green behind his ear, or an odd sweep of yellow up his ribs (David still had no idea how he had managed that one), the color was a fixture on Jack's body and that would never change.

David sat up, groaning at his sleep-stiffened back as he went. He leaned over and placed a little kiss to Jack's knuckles before he hauled himself up on unsteady legs to stand.

"Dave," Jack tried again. He looked up at David from the quilts and pillows with a pout on his mouth, eyes going for the doe eyed look. "Come 'eeeeree." He reached his arm up, hand flexing.

"Can't. If I do, I'm never gonna get up." David did get back on his bed, kneeling precariously on the edge while he leaned over to take Jack's face in his hands and kiss him softly. He blanched a bit at their combined morning breath, and was soon pulling away.

"Thing is-," David paused to listen to his boyfriend. He didn't suspect Jack surging up and hooking his arms up under David's so he could take him back down to the lower part of the mattress. "-that's the fucking point of coming back to bed. Not getting back up."

David groaned, struggling in Jack's grip.

"Oh, come on. I've - I've gotta go - Hey, quit that. - I have to go make coffee, Jack, oh my God." He pushed at Jack's face to divert the man from his self-given mission to press tickling kisses all across his face.

"Or you could not. Who's even going to drink coffee? Hm?" Jack challenged, rising up to lean on his elbows, looking down at David.

"Mom will. I might." He rested his hands on Jack's arms, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

"Dave, you don't drink coffee unless the deadlines are so serious, you might actually end up dead. Hey!" Jack yelped in surprise when David took hold of Jack's shoulders and rolled them over so that David was on top. Jack’s grabbing hands were useless against David, as he had already rolled off of him and the bed, and was out the door like a shot.

The ritual of coffee making and setting up for breakfast was routine. Pancake batter was mixed up before Jack even decided to make an appearance.

Jack's hair stuck out at odd ends right off the top of his head, and his eyes were still groggy, but it didn't deter him from marching straight up to David and kissing him against the counter. He had brushed his teeth before he came down, a fact David very much appreciated(even if it made him conscious of the fact that his breath was still as stale as could be).

"I'll get you next time," he said, like a two bit villain. David snorted with laughter as Jack took the bowl of pancake batter from David's hands and a spatula from the drawer next to the stove. He shifted everything to one arm so he could flick the stove range on with his free hand, and adjust the griddle on the burner.

David stepped back, letting the man be as David himself worked towards getting a pair of glasses from the cabinet and filling them with orange juice.

This was a certain unspoken agreement they had come upon in the early days of their relationship. They had learned that David was excellent at preparing the ingredients and mixing things up, but was utterly horrible at cooking them. He didn't know how, but everything he attempted to cook turned out either under or overcooked. It never failed.

It was in just the opposite way that Jack could do anything from bake amazing cupcakes, to fry pancakes into a golden brown perfection - he just couldn't ever mix anything. His recipes were bland at best.

David insisted that he simply didn't read the recipes right, but Jack argued the same thing to David.

And so they came to a stalemate.

And an agreement.

David mixed, Jack cooked. It worked for them and they ate well.

Sooner than later, David’s mother made her appearance in her silk robe and curly hair fastened in a low pony tail.

She practically sneaked up on them as they squabble over the possibility of characterized pancakes(“You cannot do that, Jack.” “Just fucking watch me, Dave. Y’all got a squeeze-y condiment bottle?”). They took turns grilling her over her date (“It went well, okay? We might be going out again.) just before Les joined them too a beanie snuggly down to his eyebrows.

David looked warily at his brother as they all sat down for breakfast.

“Les, what’s up with all the hats?” he asked finally. He sat down next to his brother with a little sighed and took a sip of his orange juice.

Les simply shrugged. “I dunno. Marcus made me one month before last in class, and I just decided that I really liked them. Started wearing Sarah’s again.” The answer was easy, practiced.

...but David didn’t quite miss the conspiratorial look Jack shot to Les.

“Huh.”

He wasn’t quite convinced.

Les stabbed his fork into his short stack, ducking his head. And that was when he saw it. The pink stain was behind his ear, spreading, and following down his hairline until it went under the collar of his shirt. David caught Jack’s eyes and suddenly… everything pieced together.

Jack seemed to realize that David figured them out and blanched, paling under the realization that they’d been caught.

David couldn’t believe it. “No,” he mouthed, disbelief spread thick over his face, “you didn’t.”

Jack ducked his head and suddenly made himself very busy with a cup of coffee - a tell, if David’s ever seen one. Jack did not drink coffee.

David pulled himself out of his chair and crossed the floor to stand very close to his boyfriend.

“Did you dye Les’ hair?” he hisses from between his teeth, quietly so that his mother wouldn’t hear. Jack didn’t answer. “Jack?”

“I plead the fifth,” he croaked. He jerked his spoon through his cup, stirring in way too much milk for his coffee.

“Jack.” David reached out and grabbed Jack’s free hand, brushing his thumb lightly across the pink splattered skin. “Babe.”

Jack made a low groaning sound, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. “David.”

“Jackie.”

Jack whined, looking torn. “Babe.”

David wilted. “You did, didn’t you.”

Jack vibrated for about three seconds before he jumped back away from his coffee, and David’s fingers, to vault across the room.

“Scram kid! We’ve been discovered!”

Les was a half a heartbeat behind him, and they were out the door in four seconds flat.

“What in the world?” David’s mother gasped.

David melted once again. “Mom, before you see, I apologize for my awful, awful boyfriend.” And with that, David gave chase after the. He made it halfway up the stairs when he heard the clatter in his bedroom. He opened the door to see the window thrown open and Jack’s shoes gone from beside the closet door.

David looked out the window and saw Jack hanging off the lip of the garage roof, just before the man dropped down.

Les!” David shouted to the boy still on the roof.

Les turned back to him, eyes fearfully wide. “Tell Mom I love her!” he yelled. He hopped down into Jack’s waiting arms.

David watched, utterly defeated as the two of them got into David’s Jeep and drove away.

Downstairs, he sat back down at the table, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

His mother slid him a cup of tea and he took it gratefully.

“Want to tell me what happened?” she offered.

David sighed. “I am dating a twelve year old, and we are never having kids,” he announced. He let his head thump the table top, trying not to let how his mother laughed hit him too hard. She didn’t understand.

His phone made a little noise and David dragged it out of his pocket. The message was a Snap from Les; a selfie of both boys in a cafe not too many streets away. They were grinning madly and Les’s nose was all scrunched up.

The beanie was nowhere in sight, and Les’ neon pink hair was proudly on display.

David wordlessly passed the phone to his mother.

She giggled madly, and that was the end of that.

If there was one thing David learned that day, it was to never again bring Jack along when he was supposed to watch Les again.

When Les and Jack made it back to the house an hour and some later, Jack looked properly sheepish. Les didn’t even have the grace to look small. He was all bright grins and loud, proud attitudes.

Their mother was tickled with the color, picking at the strands of his hair and asking when the pink blotches on his skin were going to fade.

“We’ve yet to figure that out,” Jack answered sheepishly.

“When did you have time to bleach his hair?” David asked. “You can’t exactly do all that in one night.” He’d seen Spot dye her hair. That took quite a while for all the natural color to lift from her hair.

“I bleached it a week ago,” Les confessed.

Their mother frowned. “Why didn’t I notice?” she asked. “You’d think I’d catch that.”

David’s eyes filled with understanding. “He wore the beanie to get everyone used to the fact we haven’t seen his hair in two months,” he said, a little awed. “This took a lot of planning. How long were you two planning this, huh?” He prodded Jack’s ribs with an elbow.

Jack threw up his hands. “The little sucker came to me two weeks ago with a proposition I couldn’t refuse! What was I supposed to do?”

“What did you offer him?” David asked Les, narrowing his eyes at him.

Les lifted his chin proudly. “I saved up a slice of my allowance and bought him those fancy lollipops he likes.”

David looked at Jack, and he could do little more than throw his hands up again. “It’s the good stuff! How’s I supposed to refuse?”

“Oh my God. I am dating a child. An honest-to-God child.”

#newsies #newsies musical #Les Jacobs #Davey Jacobs #Jack Kelly #trans davey jacobs #mentions of trans spot conlon #Cause I'm w e a k #ollie writes things #newsiestober #newsietober #I really like this one lol #The Hair Dye Drabbles

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cinephiled-com · 4 years

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New Post has been published on Cinephiled

New Post has been published on http://www.cinephiled.com/circus-books-rachel-mason-chronicles-parents-surprising-business-selling-gay-porn/

In ‘Circus of Books,’ Rachel Mason Chronicles Her Parents’ Surprising Business — Selling Gay Porn

Rachel Mason’s moving documentary tells the story of the iconic bookstore and gay porn shop that served as the epicenter for LGBTQ life in Los Angeles for decades. Unbeknownst to many in the community it served, the store was cultivated and cared for by Mason’s parents, Karen and Barry, a straight conservative Jewish couple. Circus of Books is an intimate portrait of the Masons and their accidental journey to become one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States, all the while downplaying the family business to their friends, synagogue, and even their own children. While they approached their store primarily as a way to support their family, Circus of Books also provided a much-needed non-judgmental gathering place for L.A.’s LGBTQ community. When the AIDS epidemic hit with a vengeance, Karen and Barry provided aid and comfort to countless people who were suffering, even as the mens’ own families rejected them.

Rachel Mason, director of Circus Of Books

An accomplished artist in her own right, Rachel Mason’s portrait of this lost world (her parents finally retired last year and the bookstore closed for good) is a poignant and entertaining document of an institution that was vital to its community. Mason also wrote and performs the end credit song, “Give You Everything.” The film is now available for screening on Netflix. I so enjoyed talking to Rachel Mason from her shelter-in-place.

Danny Miller: Rachel, it’s great to talk with you, I so enjoyed this beautiful film!

Rachel Mason: Thank you so much, I appreciate that!

I was happy to hear that you had already done the festival circuit with the film and that you got to screen it with appreciative audiences. I so feel for filmmakers who are having their films come out during this miserable pandemic.

Yes, we should have a moment of silence for all the films that are not getting what I got, it’s so sad. We were going to have a theatrical release, but I’m thrilled that people can now see the film on Netflix. I loved our time at all of the festivals, but the gay festivals in particular were such a joy. There was such a communal spirit at those screenings, with everyone getting all the references and laughing and crying at all the right moments!

I imagine this would be such a fun film to see with a big crowd.

For sure. When I saw the film with gay audiences, that’s when felt like I had actually done something for my community. I really feel for all the filmmakers and audiences who aren’t getting that right now, I hope we can figure out new ways to get that community spirit.

The upside, I guess, if you can call it that, is that you’ve got a captive audience yearning for new content.

That’s true. And while I think the film is for everyone, I think one of the best things about it is that it’s bringing people together in the queer community to remind us all of this historical past that is slipping away so quickly — especially the younger generation. I think many young people don’t have a clue about what the older generation went through. I want them and future generations to know what happened and what the role of erotic content was for our community in those years before the Internet.

I had the chance to interview Scotty Bowers when Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood came out. He reminded me how few options there were before the Internet for gay people. It seems like places like your parents’ store were such a vitally important resource for the community. I’m glad that stories like his and the one you’re telling here are recorded for posterity.

I completely agree. There’s so much that is disappearing because the older generation is not around. The people who survived the AIDS epidemic are like cherished members of our community. We need to get all these stories down. I hope Circus of Books gives people a sense that they really need to look for these stories before they disappear.

Without this film, the story of your parents and their role in this community would never have been known. Needless to say, I totally fell in love with your parents. In so many ways they reminded me so much of my own Jewish parents. It’s fascinating when you talk in the film about how you and your brothers didn’t quite realize what they were doing and it was only your friends who finally clued you in.

It was really interesting because my parents were so not cool. I had lots of cool friend friends with really cool parents, but my parents were not those people. They were kind of boring. They were straight. My mom was super religious which annoyed the crap out of me and all I wanted to do was rebel against them. And then here come my rebel friends who I find out are going to my family’s store and saying how cool it is. It was such a shock to me. In the end, it was exciting to realize that I had this access to one of the coolest places in the city in terms of how all my friends in the gay underground saw it. I think I appreciated the store so much more from the time I was a teenager on, and it was kind of like God’s will that I made this film because nobody else could have gotten the access. I mean, my mom would certainly not have ever let anyone but me follow her around with a camera, that was the last thing she wanted.

It’s kind of a miracle that the film happened at all considering your mother’s reluctance to be a part of it, and yet I think that tension is also part of why it’s such a compelling film. Would you say that you finally won your mother over in terms of her being happy about being part of the documentary?

Well, I did manage to trot her out at a few of the festival screenings and have her stand there while she got standing ovations. My mom is very much a reluctant hero. First off, she hoped no one would ever see this film and now that people are seeing it, she has had to reckon with the fact that she is looked on as a hero by lots of people and yet she doesn’t feel any sense of heroism because up until the day the store closed, she says she was just doing her job — filing paperwork, sending out invoices, making sure her staff got paid — all the things you do to run a small business and none of it was particularly glamorous or interesting. So, when you finally come up for air after 40 years and people start thanking you for doing this work, there’s a sort of shell shock. Plus, my mother has an innate talent to find fault in almost anything. After she got a five-minute standing ovation at Frameline, she was perplexed that it went on for so long. I was like, “Mom, the one thing you can’t criticize is a standing ovation, there is just nothing bad about that!” (Laughs.)

I’m glad she showed up for those events despite her discomfort. In terms of the heroic element, yes, they were providing this amazing service for an oppressed community without judgment, but as soon as the AIDS crisis hit, that’s when I would start calling your parents real heroes. What they did to help people in that world during that awful time was so touching.

It’s true. That was really important even if they didn’t see it as anything extraordinary. When we look at the history of the Holocaust, there are these people who are called Righteous Gentiles who helped the people who were being persecuted, like the ones who hid Anne Frank and so many others. Those people are often very reluctant to accept any acknowledgement because they simply did what they felt was right. Like, what would you do if your best friend’s daughter was going to get killed? I mean, you would probably think about hiding her in your attic, too, right? It’s a simple thing but it reminds us all that there’s something called humanity here. And the lack of humanity that the gay population saw during the AIDS crisis was just utterly shocking. We look back at that time now, and we’re like, “Wow, really?” Parents didn’t show up for their own dying children and yet they called themselves Christians.

Did you realize what was going on at that time and what your parents were doing to help these people?

I didn’t understand the depth of that pain. My perspective on it as a kid was that I would see these beautiful, funny, amazing gay men who worked at the store who were great people and hilarious. And then, my mom would say, “Oh, well, he’s not here anymore because he died.” This happened again and again but I had this child’s perspective on it that I almost didn’t think twice about until I got older and knew many people who lost so many of their friends. And then when I interviewed my parents for the film and heard these stories, I was just heartbroken. A mother would call my mom and want to know what her son was like. And my mother would think, “Fuck you, lady, he was dying and you refused to fly out here from Idaho to see him when he needed you so badly.” No amount of anti-gay feelings should override parental love to that extent. I wish I could say those sentiments have disappeared today but we know they’re still out there. We’re all aware that there is a powerful Christian right in this country. I was just reading about that hospital in New York that was set up on in Central Park to help with the pandemic but before anyone could work there or be treated they had to sign something saying they agreed with the group’s anti-gay policies.

Horrible.

I do think that’s where heroism comes in. My mom never ran out onto a battlefield to rescue people while bullets were flying, but she helped people who were being treated so cruelly by their own families and our culture. Sometimes it’s the least likely people who decide to stand up and do something right.

I love that analogy to the Righteous Gentiles during the Holocaust. Have your parents ever been honored by any LGBTQ groups?

Oh, God, no. First of all, they weren’t known. My parents were very, very private people, especially my mother. And very behind the scenes. Also because their work was related to the sex industry —

With its own biases and prejudices, forget about the gay part.

Exactly. So they just had their heads down and hoped no one would ever ask them about what they do. My mom would always try to just get past that question very quickly if anyone asked. “We have a bookstore.” That’s why this film is so shocking to their system.

I admit that when I was watching this film, a lot of my tears came from the scene with your brother when he talks about what it was like for him to come out. That was so moving already, but then seeing your reaction as he’s telling his story was even more so.

Those were very real tears for me. When I heard him talk about the day he came out, and how he had gotten a one-way plane ticket because he didn’t know if he’d be accepted by my parents, I was just so horrified, I never knew he had gone through any of that. I had such a different experience growing up. I love my parents, but I was kind of done with them putting any pressures on me. I was always a rebel, my friends were all gay or from the counterculture — I took a girl to prom and no one even said anything about it. And the truth is I was too caught up in my own selfish teenaged world to notice my little brother and his struggles. And then interviewing him at 37 and hearing him talk about 18-year-old Josh being that closeted and afraid, I just had these extreme feelings of shame. I realized I was out there waving my freak flag while poor little Josh was just trying so hard to be that perfect little kid. I think his is the more common story, most people are not artists and weirdos thumbing their nose at society like I was at a young age. I think that’s what gave me a free pass — I never even bothered to come out to them. Josh carried so much pressure to be the perfect child.

That scene is such a touchstone for the film. Do you think the level of secrecy around your parents’ business had repercussions on your family dynamic?

What’s interesting is that despite her work, my mom had all the classic Jewish family values, like wanting us to marry Jewish, have kids, go to college. My mom had all these hardcore expectations for us to get straight As, and nothing was ever good enough. And later I would think, “Why do we have to do all this?” Was it related to the fact that they ran a gay porn shop? She’s never really let go of those expectations to this day, it’s kind of maddening.

I can relate to those Jewish family values that are often bathed in neuroses.

Yeah, like there’s always this element of fear and survival mixed in — like you could get killed at any moment. You might think that you are part of the culture here but just wait until they start attacking Jews, we’ll be the first to be shoved into the ovens. I think that was also part of their fear of being open about what they were doing with the store.

I love all the interviews in the film. It’s amazing to see people like Larry Flynt and gay porn star Jeff Stryker, but what moved me the most is hearing from the old employees. What amazing characters. It’s so great to get their oral histories down from this lost world.

Totally. My dad talks about how important the employees were to people in the community. Like people would know that Gerald was there from four to six so they would go in then. Gerald had his own customers, and then earlier in the day Ben had his own group of customers, it was almost like fan clubs grew around all the different people who worked there. They knew their customers so well and what kinds of things they liked so they would give them a customized experience, like a niche within the niche.

Your mother gets a lot of attention because she’s such a compelling character, but I was so moved by your father as well.

My dad is a guy who just loves life and he’s thrilled at the attention he’s gotten because of the film, the opposite of my mom who is panic-stricken about it. They’re an interesting pair because he is the most happy-go-lucky person I’ve ever known.

I just wish we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic because I would love to see your parents at the screenings with big crowds.

Oh, on that front my mother couldn’t be happier about the pandemic and that she doesn’t have to do anything related to the film. Before the quarantine started, she joked about heading to Antarctica for a month after the film came out and living in an igloo!

youtube

Circus of Books is now available to watch on Netflix.

#Circus of Books #Rachel Mason #Interviews #What's Hot

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missizzy · 5 years

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Fic: Habeas for Superheroes, Part 8 (Daredevil/Avengers)

As soon as they’d had their blindfolds removed and been left sitting somewhere in Central Park, Foggy pulled out her phone and opened up her messages. As she’d pretty much expected, there were five from Karen.

The first two she read out loud to all three of her companions: “First message: They’re filing charges against Scott Lang’s girlfriend and her father just for inventing technology? Surely even the Accords can’t be used to call someone guilty by association. Second message: Another announcement from Ross tomorrow.” That wasn’t as expected, but hardly surprising. “Then two more messages asking where we are, and oh shit, now she’s worrying we’ve been arrested, too. I’m going to tell her we’re all fine.”

“You’re not telling her we went to meet with them,” said Marci. “I don’t care if you trust her to keep it off the record, I don’t.”

“Wasn’t going to do something like that,” sighed Foggy, texting only We’re all right. “Though I suppose we’ll have to let the government at least know we’ve been in contact with them. There’s no other way to get those deals.”

“Jennifer and I have been contact with Mr. Barton and Mr. Lang,” Matt corrected. “At the very least, we should try to avoid volunteering further details that aren’t relevant and probably still privileged. They certainly can’t demand them from either of us about the other, Foggy. None of us have any appointments we missed, right?”

Marci shrugged. “Our colleagues might have noticed Foggy and I haven’t been around. But I don’t think they’ll ask any questions.”

On Foggy’s phone, the responding message popped up from Karen: Let me guess. I’m not allowed to ask.

Nope, sorry, Foggy responded, with a cheeky smiling emoji right after. Not that she would buy the story they were going to sell. Nor would anyone else, really, but so long as there wasn’t proof contradicting it, they might get away with it.

“We’ve got from lunchtime to lunchtime again,” said Jennifer, as she looked at her own phone. “I think you and I should have one by ourselves, Matt, talk shop.”

“That is a good idea,” said Marci, and she stood up and look at Foggy. “How about you, Foggy? Want to delay dealing with our colleagues?”

Foggy would’ve been, except she did want to sit Cheryl down and tell her everything in person; she’d promised herself she’d do that for things like this. So she said, “Not this time. I’m just going to grab a sandwich from the corner and face my PA.”

The four of them ended staying in each other’s company back to Hell’s Kitchen, and Foggy and Marci only parted when the latter turned to head for another one of her favorite cafés. On hearing Cheryl hadn’t had lunch yet, Foggy texted her that she was bringing two sandwiches in. She made sure to get Cheryl her favorite corned beef.

Cheryl ate it very slowly as Foggy told her the whole story. When she finished with it, she said, “Well, from what I’ve heard of Sam Wilson, he wouldn’t be willing to stay in hiding with powerful people doing nothing for long. And that’s going to complicate the case, isn’t it, when he and Wanda inevitably get identified? Even if they believe you when you say you didn’t know their plans. Which they probably won’t, and now they’ll definitely come to question all of us.”

“We insist everything is privileged,” Foggy reminded, “because hey, it is. Even if they get their hands on any search warrants, there’ll be nothing for them to find.” At least once Matt’s costume and weapons were put somewhere else again. Maybe they could just stay there for a month or so. She wouldn’t mind.

Cheryl shook her head. “If they get to come into my home...and no, there’s nothing there in theory, but you’re a fool if you think my family and I are safe because of that.”

“I’m not a fool,” said Foggy. “But we don’t have to assume they’ll go that far; you’re not going to be their priority by a long shot.”

“They’d better not, then,” was all Cheryl said to that, and there was a new note of coldness in her voice. To some extent, at least, Foggy didn’t blame her, even if maybe she could’ve realized this sort of thing was likely to happen.

All in all, she was way more cheered than she ought to be when Karen’s number popped up on her phone, even though she was pretty sure already she wasn’t going to like the news.

Sure enough, Karen answered her cheerful, “What’s cooking, scary lady?” with a “Jennifer and her cousin’s entire contact history. Just landed anonymously sent in our mailbox. And now we’re getting word we’re not the only ones. She was telling the truth on the radio; there’s been nothing since that email in April of last year. But the fact that they got their hands on this information and spread it out so far…”

“An act of intimidation.” Foggy’s blood ran cold. Though surely if they’d had anything on her and Matt and Daredevil and his recent temporary teammates, that would’ve been first to come out. More likely, of course, this had just been something they’d known to look for already, and they would be hoping to find dirt on her and Matt and Marci after a little more searching. Starting, maybe by looking into her and Matt’s known connection to the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

“I’ve talked to Ellison about trying to find out who’s responsible. Normally he doesn’t object, but normally my targets at least live in New York City, and he’s hesitant this time.”

“He’s afraid it’s connected to the government,” said Foggy; that much was obvious. “Karen, I assume you realize how serious that would be.”

“Already told him, how much such a thing would need to be exposed, and he said that he didn’t disagree, but that we’d need to tread carefully and all that.” Her peeved tone said a lot. “So for now, all you guys can do is watch your backs.”

“I’ll pass the message on,” said Foggy. “Thanks for the heads up.”

She called Jennifer first, as the one who was going to be most affected by this latest development. “Mind if I email all three of you with my general history with Bruce? I’d rather you, at least, hear it all from me first.”

“Go ahead,” said Foggy. “Though be careful; you don’t know what they have on you and what they don’t. I mean, if you called Karen right now she’d probably send it to you.”

“She’d be a much more decent person than most of the media people I’ve met, then,” said Jennifer, whose main source of information about Karen had been Marci. “But all right, give me her number.”

That left Foggy feeling cross enough at Marci she just texted her before calling Matt. “You know,” he said, “Jessica Jones never paid me. Of course she never quite officially accepted me as her attorney either. Maybe we could get her to investigate this investigation into us. Or at least give us advice on making life harder for the investigator, since she knows how they do things.”

“We can pay her for either, don’t be cheap,” said Foggy. “I’m happy to.”

That Evening

Foggy wasn’t sure how she ended up being the one to go to Jessica Jones’ place all alone that evening. Matt might have made some comment at some point about visiting her “later,” a trip that would probably just be him dropping off the incriminating Daredevil stuff. But she did think it was for the better that the world not see Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones having anything to do with each other after that whole affair with Midland Circle.

Except when she got there, it was instead Malcolm Ducasse who unlocked and opened the door. “Jessica’s out right now,” he said, “and I don’t know how she’ll be when she comes back in. We were closed long enough we pretty much have to rebuild our clientele, so we haven’t gotten many jobs yet.”

“Well,” said Foggy, “Matt and I might just have one for you, and Marci and Jennifer might also help provide you with work, though we haven’t discussed this with them yet.”

“You want us to find out who’s been stalking Ms. Walters?” Malcolm grinned. “You realize they might not even be in the city? People can hack emails from anywhere.”

“You think you can’t handle that?” Foggy asked challengingly.

“Nice try. If they’re just hacking, we can track that, but if they live on the other side of the country, we are not going to fly across it to nail exactly who they are. Well, unless you can pay for business-class plane tickets.”

Foggy briefly considered how much money she was willing to sink into this. Then she said, “Even tracking down who they are vaguely could be a huge help. We could potentially lawyer our way at them from there.” Especially if they had the Avengers lend aid, which they might if this got big enough. She wondered how dishonest it was to not mention that, though she really couldn’t. “Besides, we’re pretty sure they’re looking for the kind of dirt on us that would require them to have someone in this city sooner or later. Or if you really think this is going to be too big for you, you could still give us advice.”

“Oh no,” Malcolm laughed, “that you’re never going to get from Jessica, and I’m still too new at this. Sorry.”

“So professional work alone it is, then,” said Foggy. “I’m afraid so far we don’t have much for you to go on…should we wait for Jessica?”

“She could be a while, maybe even hours. I can fill her in later. Besides, the one thing we do have is one she’ll realize herself: what your husband’s got for them to find. He is the Daredevil, isn’t he? I was thinking it even before I saw Jessica carry that box in here for him; I assume it had his stuff in it, because you knew your apartment was going to be searched. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be holding that in confidence simply as the professional thing to do.”

Foggy had pretty much expected that he’d figured that out; she’d seen enough at the Harlem precinct to be aware he was smarter than he seemed at first glance. Still, it was unsettling to say, “Yes, he is. Which is a problem when we’re pretty much known to be connected to him.”

“Give me all the details on that, then,” said Malcolm. “Any facts anyone knows besides the two of you and Ms. Page-I’m assuming she’s trustworthy-any stories that people generally believe, anyone you’re acquainted with who’s ever seemed overly interested in your relationship with him, especially recently-there’s a good chance you two are being investigated already. You might want to ask Ms. Page for anything else she’s seen or heard in her line of work.”

It was a strange feeling, talking about her husband’s greatest secrets and how she’d dealt with them to someone who was still pretty much a stranger. But Malcolm had a kind face and a kind voice, and the comments he made were sympathetic. He was exactly the kind of assistant the more prickly Jessica needed, she thought.

When she’d finished telling him everything she could think of, he said, “The expert opinion will be Jessica’s, of course, but I think there are at least of couple of misleading tricks we can pull. Best bet is to send them on a very long chase to prove a false theory. I…don’t suppose we could somehow enlist your friend Detective Mahoney in the effort?”

Foggy felt the temptation, but still shook her head. “Can’t risk it. Too much chance he’ll react the wrong way.” Though she’d always wondered if he suspected, especially since it would explain his never asking them very many questions about their masked friend. Which was why she added, “He really should’ve be involved at all, even unwittingly.”

“Just as well. I really didn’t want to involve the cops anyway, and I’m pretty sure Jessica will feel the same way about it. Besides, I figured one of the three of you would object to that.”

After a moment of thinking about that last sentence, Foggy found herself asking, “How much do you and Jessica know about us?”

He shook his head. “She hasn’t talked to me about that. But that much I knew just from keeping you and Ms. Page company in the precinct. And really, you didn’t think she wouldn’t go looking into those after that adventure we all shared, did you?”

“And do you have those written down anywhere anyone could find them?”

Malcolm held up his hands. “All we’ve got written is what I just put down now. She’s made a few comments about lawyers.” He sounded like he might agree with her there.

Foggy knew she should let it go. She’d just hired these people to do what they did, after all. But maybe it was the stress of the recent weeks, or maybe it was the awareness that the people who had taken them to their clients had to have been stalking them themselves for at least a few days, that caused her to instead march up to the desk and say, “Listen, Mr. Ducasse, I want to trust you, especially because my husband really seems to trust your boss, and he can actually tell when people aren’t being honest with him-which, by the way, is the only reason I don’t think he’s being an idiot there…”

“Ms. Nelson,” Malcolm’s tone changed completely. “Please remember we have not accepted you as our clients yet, and I don’t need any women like you talking to me like that.”

“Like me?” Foggy demanded indignantly.

“Yeah, you condescending…”

“Hello, Malcolm,” a voice interrupted him from the door. “Are you still here? Oh, I know you? You’re Jeri’s lapdog, the one that sent her husband to make sure I didn’t cause her any trouble.”

Foggy found herself seriously reconsidering whether she wanted these people’s help after all as she turned around. The sight of Jessica didn’t help. She was in her usual getup with her leather jacket, but her jeans were covered in stains that definitely weren’t alcohol, although they didn’t look like blood either. Her hair also looked like it had gotten hit by some liquid. She seemed to hold her liquor relatively well; she was pretty vertical and not stumbling, though maybe her steps weren’t exactly steady either. Her smirk was definitely a drunk one, but her eyes were way too dull, in a way that would make Foggy worry for her mental health under different circumstances.

“Really, Malcolm,” she said, “you’re not supposed to be intruding on my empty apartment late at night. Get out.”

“It’s not that late at night,” Malcolm said, and he was right, though he and Foggy had been at it for a while. “But fine, I’ll deal with you in the morning. Be nice to our new client, will you?”

“You didn’t sound like you were being!” Jessica retorted as he strolled out, which he ignored. She then walked up to her desk, and gazed at his upside-down notes. “You’re not getting a discount,” was her reaction.

“Wasn’t going to ask for one,” Foggy snapped. She had a vague idea that Jessica had gone through hell in her life, and she forced herself to breathe in and out, and say, “I can come back tomorrow. You look like you could use some water and then some sleep.”

“You really are nice, aren’t you?” She seems to be seriously contemplating Foggy, drunk as she obviously is. “Except Malcolm doesn’t talk like that to people if they’re nice.”

Foggy had gotten the same impression in Harlem, but obviously it hadn’t been quite right. “Well, tonight,” she said, “he seemed very offended by my failure to immediately trust a strange man who works for a private investigator where the police have folders on the both of them.”

Jessica’s expression darkened at that. “Maybe he had his reasons for that, ones a lawyer might or might not get, although I expected Murdock’s wife would. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have, since you do work for Jeri.”

Foggy actually couldn’t deny that she had a point with that second sentence. Still she found herself protesting, “He told me to take that job, you know.”

And that just made Jessica let out a drunken laugh, big enough of one that Foggy fear for a moment she was going to fall down, which was the main reason she didn’t just walk out. “How’d that go?” she managed. “Did he make a big speech about how you should divorce him for your own good-oh, no, wait, he’s really Catholic, isn’t he? But I’m sure he still told you that you’re better off without him. And of course you overrode him, and he probably thinks of himself as unforgivably weak over it.”

Given that Matt hadn’t spent all of that much time in the company of this woman, and for most of it they’d been pretty busy, it was a little unnerving that she’d figured all that out. It was practically a defensive move for Foggy to retort, “If he did, it’s none of your business.”

“I know.” She was still smiling wide. “But sometimes it’s hard to remember when I’m supposed to be off the job.” The smile faded, though, as she added, “But next time to you go making assumptions about a young black man with a police folder, maybe you should take a moment to consider why they made one on him in particular. Now good night.”

Jessica was right there, too, Foggy knew. Hell, she was probably going to get some words from Matt about it when she told him about all this. She would have to try to talk to Malcolm again, she thought, maybe even apologize. After they’d both slept on it.

The Next Day

When they heard the announcement was at one, the four lawyers ate lunch together in Marci’s office. Marci’s latest PA, an intern named José, ate with them, but Cheryl said she still had some of the files from Sasha’s case to deal with. Foggy was sure that was at least partly the truth, and Matt said nothing about her words.

It was a nice feeling of solidarity, of course, the four of them sitting together. But when they were getting limited in what they could discuss with each other, they seemed to have collectively decided to not talk about it at all, talking instead about the heat wave that was forecast for the next week, the novel Jennifer had recently read, and Marci’s continuing attempts to get tickets for Hamilton. (“Seriously, Foggy, how’d you pull that off?”)

At one they assembled in front of Marci’s laptop, and Ross at least didn’t keep them waiting; he was up at that podium at two minutes after. “I called this press conference today,” he said, “to refute some claims recently made against this government, as well as make a few announcements. It has been alleged that in detaining four superheroes who had flagrantly violated the Sovokia Accords, we violated various laws, and there has been an implication that we were planning to hold them there forever without trial-which would, at that time, have been a terrible human rights violation-if we had had any intention of doing it.

It would take a lot of gall for anyone to pretend that our initial confinement of the individuals in question was in violation of international law, when it was in fact exactly what the treaty we’d just ratified directed us to do. The Accords specifically require that countries responsible for superheroes restrain those who are violating them by whatever means and methods prove necessary. The whole world saw what Wanda Maximoff could do, and we don’t even know all of what Clint Barton and Scott Lang could do. The Raft was built in accordance with the special protocols now in place for those whom an ordinary prison wouldn’t hold.

And now, thanks to Steve Rogers, we actually would have justification to hold them there indefinitely. He committed an act of war upon the United States, and under the law of war, we now have the perfect right to hold him and his allies. However, we might not need to detain them on that. Later today, the Department of Justice will unveil indictments for him, Ms. Maximoff, Mr. Sam Wilson, Mr. Barton, Mr. Lang, and Ms. Natalia Romanova, whom, I am sorry to say, we now know to have allied herself with her rogue colleagues towards the end of their fight in Germany.”

That hadn’t been public knowledge; there was a loud murmur from Ross’ audience. Karen betrayed no reaction. Maybe she’d known from her own sources.

“We offer them all a fair trial,” Ross spoke over them, “and I don’t see how they can possibly demand any more than that, or any reason why they should not now do the honorable thing and turn themselves in.”

He’s done the smart maneuver, Foggy thought. She doubted instantly they’d ever get their hands on any evidence that they would have detained them indefinitely had they not been exposed, not if Ross was claiming otherwise like this. Officially, at least, he’d pulled the moral high ground out from under them. And the media and much of the public would side with him, even many of the ones with lingering doubts about his original intentions, or how fair any trials might actually be.

“I have also spent the last few days answering questions about Raft, some of which have been absurd. To state the obvious: we have never tortured anyone at the Raft.”

“Just like you never tortured anyone in Gitmo, right?” Karen murmured.

“We did nothing there that the special protocols did not require us to do, and they certainly don’t permit torture. The FBI did conduct interviews with the four prisoners, but they did so before they were even transferred to the Raft. As for why the Raft is built, it is absurd to claim it was done so to imprison any Avengers. We had very much hoped that those who presumed to call themselves our best heroes would acknowledge the law when the time finally came for them to.

But we’ve also hardly failed to notice that there are now, in our society, a good number of superpowered individuals, and we knew we would have to deal with those of them that commit crimes even before the Sokovia Accords officially required it. The Raft was built for that, and we will continue to use it as such for those who believe themselves to be so powerful they can break the law, as a reminder that noone is above it.”

“They’re doing it.” Matt’s voice is soft, but Foggy can still hear it shake with rage. When she glances over, she sees his fists wound around his cane, and also that he’s trembling. “They’re setting up a separate prison system for anyone with superpowers.”

Foggy and Karen exchanged an anxious glance. Neither of them could say this didn’t terrify them too.

“We began its construction during the negotiation of the Accords, and it was built to comply with them. However, the Department of State will soon be handing over control of it to the Department of Justice. In fact, many of the questions you no doubt have will already be more appropriate to direct to the Attorney General after the indictments are unveiled.”

“He’s not going to answer any of their questions,” sighed Marci. “But surely one of them’s going to ask if they’re really just going to send anyone they can classify as ‘super’ to the Raft without even considering whether a normal prison would hold them. I mean, it’s not like my client is different from any other man with his military training once you take his wings away.”

So they waited for that question, Foggy hearing Karen’s impatient huffs with all the questions Ross could now either defer or answer easily, before finally someone from WHiH asked it. “Not necessarily,” was Ross’ answer. “It may not be required in all cases.”

“Not good enough,” Karen muttered. It might not be; it might leave grounds for habeas still, especially in Sam Wilson’s case.

The press conference ended shortly after that. “I’ve got work to do,” Karen announced, even though Foggy had gotten the impression she wasn’t going to get to do any of the writing related to this whole saga; she was more likely just giving them a chance to talk freely, which she felt a rush of gratitude for.

Karen didn’t know, of course, that they couldn’t entirely, that when she was gone, Jennifer would say, “We need to talk, Murdock.” She supposed they could now claim that Barton and Lang had contacted them only now, and people would be less likely to believe she and Marci had also been involved, but Jennifer might or might not have to talk Matt into telling that lie.

“You can use my office if, you want,” she offered to them. She wanted to talk with Marci anyway. Now, when Matt would have his own conversation with Jennifer to concentrate on, would truly be an ideal time to do it.

#marvel cinematic universe #Daredevil #The Avengers #foggy nelson #matt murdock #matt x foggy #marci stahl #jennifer walters #malcolm ducasse #jessica jones

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packersandmoversinsurat-blog · 7 years

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Build a site like Ola

This technology driven era is quite susceptible to potential security threats from hackers and cyber criminals. The one particular sector which obviously stands at greater risk is the eCommerce business. With faster checkout systems plus easy buying and selling options facilitated online, people nowadays resort to a greater amount of online shopping and transactions, thus creating significant chances of security breaches and attacks. Listed below are some ways to protect your eCommerce site from cyber criminals so that neither you nor your valuable customers face any sort of data or financial loss. Read them and adopt them as part of your eCommerce site development strategy in order to keep your eCommerce business fully safe and away from becoming a cybercrime victim.

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

No doubt, there are a lot of open source platforms out there which make eCommerce website development and hosting easy. However, the risk involved in open source platform is that everyone has access to the strategic source code implementation. Hence it is highly advisable to resort to Object Oriented Programming based platforms for building your eCommerce site in order to eliminate any chances of leaks and loopholes.

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

Online shopping is primarily dependent on strong security measures, both for the eCommerce store and the customers who come to the store to shop for their desired products. PCI compliance provides for a better security option by enabling a secure checkout system. This helps protect the site from any potential sneak-in of cyber criminals into the payment details and transactions of the customers.

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

Most passwords employed by customers during the ‘Signup’ process are usually simple and quite easy to guess. Incorporation of better and stronger password often makes it difficult to crack. It is also considered that greater the length of the password and greater the complexity of characters used, lesser are the chances of security breaches into the system.

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

Encryption means those algorithmic procedures which manipulate the data for complex restructuring using specific public and private keys. This ensures that even if the hacker attacks the line of communication, he /she would not be able to successfully decipher the encrypted data. Thus, one can easily avoid any security breach, by implementing such highly effective encryption codes for every channel of communication between the customer and the business-end accordingly.

5. Discard Sensitive Data

There is absolutely no need of keeping any sensitive data like credit card information of the customers, their identification numbers if any, customer’s personal information, etc. in the database. This will keep off the cybercriminals from accessing your database. Moreover, even if they at all succeed in cracking up the database, they would not find any customer information relevant to their ‘ill-intentions’.

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

Implementation of a highly effective notification based system whenever the site detects any unauthorized or suspicious activity is crucial for the System Administrators to detect any threat or attack. Such notifications or suspicious activity alerts will help the administrators to immediately take anti-cyber attack steps. This will ultimately stop the particular cybercriminal from achieving his/her objective.

7. Implement Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing refers to ethical hacking schemes wherein a set of white hat hackers are deployed to detect any gaping security holes in the system. Incorporation of such professional hackers also ensures that there is a complete ‘proofreading’ of your eCommerce website security standards. This paves way for better security features of your eCommerce business on the whole.

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

Monitoring of your eCommerce website 24*7 helps in instant detection of any security breach. Constant monitoring also gives a better insight into the website performance levels, depending upon which the required corresponding statistics can be changed or modified for enhanced customer data security and customer satisfaction.

9. Keep ‘Updating’

It is essential that your eCommerce website stands totally compliant to the latest software updates released by the eCommerce platform. This will help you in improving the performance levels of your eCommerce site. Moreover, installing the updates is also a foolproof way of making your eCommerce site more safe and secure, away from the clutches of cyber criminals.

10. Provide Security Training

Employees, when empowered to deal with any security breach situations, can perform with the greatest efficiency to fight the situation to quite a great extent. Providing the necessary security training to the employees/staff of your eCommerce business guarantee that they will never fall prey to any fraud. Such a security training will also help the employees/staff to take emergency measures as soon as any hacking or attack is reported. This will give you time to rope in a Cyber Security Expert to clear the mess!

With the latest technological advancement, there has been some significant rise in cybercrime activities, especially on online businesses. Such things can be dealt with successfully only when one is equipped with the foundational knowledge about such crimes and how to avoid them. You should also be aware of the latest eCommerce software solutions provider so that you can select the best for building your eCommerce site. For this, you can visit the Best eCommerce Platform Software listing given on SoftwareSuggest. Thus, it is highly mandatory that every eCommerce business owner adopts the above-mentioned security measures so that they can safeguard their eCommerce business and thereby gain greater financial growth and success!!

PHP (Hypertext pre processor) is a server side scripting language. Dynamic websites are made rather easily using PHP. The best part about building your website using PHP is that it has a lot of frameworks suitable to each of the various categories

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

Well, it takes more than just a good idea to create a popular website. For success, the websites need a steady influx of traffic, and this can be accomplished with SEO. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) enables the search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing to search the website and rank it on the first page.

It has been found that more than 97% of the population chooses their desired website within the first page. The selection ranges from one to three, and this is the reason that these websites receive a maximum number of audience. The innate purpose of SEO is to rank a website among the top results. This is based on common search phrases that are relevant to the site.

Ecommerce websites or electronic commerce is websites in which buying and selling of services and products are operated over the Internet or other networks. Drawing on the technologies of electronic fund transfer, online transactions, electronic data interchange, Internet marketing, inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems, e-commerce websites also encompass email, mobile, and customer support.

The SEO of electronic commerce websites begin with the search for a particular niche. The importance of Keywords lies here. Since the website contains thousands of pages, it is important to target the exact words that would increase the visibility of the site. The enlisted points talk about methods about how to perform research, and how to implement them for better results.

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

First popularized by the search engines Infoseek and Alta Vista in 1995, keywords became popular to become one of the Meta elements in SEO. In 1997, the providers of search engines realized that information in the Meta-elements was unreliable and drew users towards spam sites. Stopping support for the meta-elements, in July 2002 Alta Vista withdrew its support. In September 2009, Matt Cutts of Google announced that keywords would not be taken into account anymore.

Searching keywords for websites are important. Popular phrases that are similar to the content of the site is best for the long run. They should not have too much of competition, and the entire SEO façade is built on this step. The trick that is involved here is including keywords that the audience would actually think for. The phrase should be unique, and if the e-commerce website sells something related to tires, Search Engine Optimization Specialist can use something like the “Michelin X Coach XZ,” which would probably have lesser competition.

Increased Search= Increased competition

If the keyword for which you are trying to rank has high monthly searches volume then most probably, it will have great keyword difficulty, and so it will be harder to rank. It is the reason that when searching for the relevant niche it is important to use tools that would give the total globalized monthly searches and competition present for the particular topic. Phrases or words that have low competition and higher global monthly searches are perfect for the website. The Google Adwords suggestion Keyword Tool will provide a list of all similar phrases. You can also use other tools like the Alexa Search.

Analytics and Yahoo! Answers would help in identifying the relevant phrases to the e-commerce website. Referring to competitor’s website and considering the requirements of the consumer, the keywords can be finalized.

Importance of Keyword Mapping

Ecommerce websites usually have multiple pages and different content in each of them. This is where Keyword Mapping comes into play. Crucial for on-site SEO, it is important to assign relevant meta words to each page so the website encompasses the phrases that are needed.

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

After the keywords have been decided, the next step is on-site SEO. With the hundreds of pages in the website, it is important to add the keyword in places wherein the search engines would look for. Mostly they are used in the following pages:

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Link Building: Link building can be defined as the accruing of links to build an online reputation. Keywords are needed to find the relevant sites and to bid for them, which would bring about ranking of the webpage.

Content Marketing: Target Keywords are used in content marketing. Content marketing incorporates the marketing strategies that include the sharing of content in the form of articles, blogs, press releases, social media, videos etc.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

If you can’t answer these questions, then you are not even halfway to targeting your customers. Even the best product or service out there cannot remedy that. But, if you use what we call “market segmentation” (or slicing and dicing that market), you can reach your customers in the most cost-effective way.

Without understanding and targeting a niche market, even the best products can fail—but no need to fret. By using market segmentation, you can reach your most profitable customers more cost-effectively.

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

You can imagine the process as filtering the market through a funnel that has a wide opening and narrow end. A large group goes in and only a few come out on the other end. Marketers analyze these few peoples’ shared traits to create a unique strategy to reach and influence them.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

Let’s say you are selling young women’s clothes online. You have specified that your customers are 18~25 year-old females living in a city and are interested in fashion. These are demographic, geographic and psychographic traits, respectively. Yet this information is not enough to help you sell.

Why? Customers’ buying decisions can vary widely. For instance, an 18-year-old college student will shop differently than a 25-year-old who works at a corporate company. You might also want to consider their purchasing power; i.e., a working woman would have more budget for shopping than a dorm-living college student.

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

When are they most likely to shop? Adjust your marketing budget based on time. For instance, if studies show online shoppers are most active around 8PM, you should probably pump out ads close to that hour.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Why did they abandon the shopping cart? Using site analytics, maybe you discovered that many customers drop off after seeing shipping costs. Use this information to rethink your operations strategy or improve your website design.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

Learning how to segment your customers and understanding them beyond obvious traits can significantly change your sales game. Thanks to robust e-commerce analytics nowadays, you can discover many useful insights.

The good thing about marketing is that it is a trial-and-error process. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. With every ineffective campaign you can learn something new. Just ask many questions and especially drill down on customer behaviors. Once you implement strategies based on actions, you can see an improvement in your sales.

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

makeupartistinmumbai-blog · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

mumbaipunetaxiservices-blog · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

clearperception-blog1 · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in ��link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

oldagehomeinmumbai-blog · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

autolovecraft · 3 years

Text

The thing must have happened at about three-thirty in the afternoon.

Never did he knock together flimsier and ungainlier caskets, or disregard more flagrantly the needs of the rusty lock on the tomb door which he slammed open and shut with such nonchalant abandon.

The skull turned my stomach, but the other was worse—those ankles cut neatly off to fit Matt Fenner's cast-aside coffin! Well enough to skimp on the thing some way, but you always did go too damned far!

It must have been midnight at least when Birch decided he could get through the transom. After a full two hours Dr. Davis left Birch that night he had taken a lantern and gone to the old receiving tomb. He cried aloud once, and a hammer and chisel selected, Birch returned over the coffins to the door.

He confided in me because I was his doctor, and because he probably felt the need of confiding in someone else after Davis died.

Better still, though, he would utilize only two boxes of the base to support the superstructure, leaving one free to be piled on top in case the actual feat of escape required an even greater altitude. He would not, he found, have to pile another on his platform to make the proper height; for the hole was on exactly the right level to use as soon as its size might permit. An eye for an eye! He was curiously unelated over his impending escape, and almost dreaded the exertion, for his form had the indolent stoutness of early middle age. The borders of the space were entirely of brick, and there seemed little doubt but that he could shortly chisel away enough to allow his body to pass. As his hammer blows began to fall, the horse outside whinnied in a tone which may have been encouraging and to others may have been encouraging and to others may have been just fear, and it may have been just fear, and it may have been fear mixed with a queer belated sort of remorse for bygone crudities. Birch seldom took the trouble to use—afforded no ascent to the space above the door. Most distinctly Birch was lax, insensitive, and was concerned only in getting the right coffin for the platform; for no sooner was his full bulk again upon it than the rotting lid gave way, jouncing him two feet down on a surface which even he did not get Asaph Sawyer's coffin by mistake, although it was very similar. The thing must have happened at about three-thirty in the afternoon. The thing must have happened at about three-thirty in the afternoon. He could not walk, it appeared, and the degree of dignity to be maintained in posing and adapting the unseen members of lifeless tenants to containers not always calculated with sublimest accuracy. As he remounted the splitting coffins he felt his weight very poignantly; especially when, upon reaching the topmost one, he heard that aggravated crackle which bespeaks the wholesale rending of wood. He was oddly anxious to know if Birch were sure—absolutely sure—of the identity of that top coffin of the pile; how he had distinguished it from the inferior duplicate coffin of vicious Asaph Sawyer. As he planned, he could not shake clear of the unknown grasp which held his feet in relentless captivity.

It was generally stated that the affliction and shock were results of an unlucky slip whereby Birch had locked himself for nine hours in the receiving tomb of Peck Valley; and was a very calloused and primitive specimen even as such specimens go.

Instinct guided him in his wriggle through the transom, and in the crawl which followed his jarring thud on the damp ground. The practices I heard attributed to him would be unbelievable today, at least in a city; and even Peck Valley would have shuddered a bit had it known the easy ethics of its mortuary artist in such debatable matters as the ownership of costly laying-out apparel invisible beneath the casket's lid, and the latch of the great door yielded readily to a touch from the outside. Birch had locked himself for nine hours in the receiving tomb of Peck Valley; and was a very calloused and primitive specimen even as such specimens go.

Horrible pains, as of savage wounds, shot through his calves; and in his mind was a vortex of fright mixed with an unquenchable materialism that suggested splinters, loose nails, or some other attribute of a breaking wooden box. Maddened by the sound, or by the stench which billowed forth even to the open air, the waiting horse gave a scream that was too frantic for a neigh, and plunged madly off through the night, the wagon rattling crazily behind it.

He had, it seems, planned in vain when choosing the stoutest coffin for the right grave. Neither did his old physician Dr. Davis, who died years ago. I've seen sights before, but there was one thing too much here.

The vault had been dug from a hillside, so that the narrow ventilation funnel in the top ran through several feet of earth, making this direction utterly useless to consider. That was Darius Peck, the nonagenarian, whose grave was also near by; but actually postponed the matter for three days, not getting to work till Good Friday, the 15th. The light was dim, but Birch's sight was good, and he planned to save the stoutly built casket of little Matthew Fenner for the top, in order that his feet might have as certain a surface as possible. His head was broken in, and everything was tumbled about. He worked largely by feeling now, since newly gathered clouds hid the moon; and though progress was still slow, he felt heartened at the extent of his encroachments on the top and bottom of the aperture. Birch still toiling. Then the doctor came with his medicine-case and asked crisp questions, and removed the patient's outer clothing, shoes, and socks. Finally he decided to lay a base of three parallel with the wall, to place upon this two layers of two each, and upon these a single box to serve as the platform. Birch, before 1881, had been the village undertaker of Peck Valley Cemetery, escaping only by crude and disastrous mechanical means; but while this much was undoubtedly true, there were other and blacker things which the man used to whisper to me in his drunken delirium toward the last. The wounds—for both ankles were frightfully lacerated about the Achilles' tendons—seemed to puzzle the old physician greatly, and finally almost to frighten him. There was nothing like a ladder in the tomb. Clutching the edges of the aperture, he sought to pull himself up, when he noticed a queer retardation in the form of an apparent drag on both his ankles. In time the hole grew so large that he ventured to try his body in it now and then, shifting about so that the narrow ventilation funnel in the top ran through several feet of earth, making this direction utterly useless to consider. It is doubtful whether he was touched at all by the horror and exquisite weirdness of his position, but the other was worse—those ankles cut neatly off to fit Matt Fenner's cast-aside coffin, but you always did go too damned far!

You know what a fiend he was for revenge—how he ruined old Raymond thirty years after their boundary suit, and how he had distinguished it from the inferior duplicate coffin of vicious Asaph Sawyer. An eye for an eye! Sawyer died of a malignant fever.

To him Birch had felt no compunction in assigning the carelessly made coffin which he now pushed out of the way in his quest for the Fenner casket. Whether he had imagination enough to wish they were empty, is strongly to be doubted.

He was a scoundrel, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin! In this twilight too, he began to realize the truth and to shout loudly as if his horse outside could do more than neigh an unsympathetic reply. He had not forgotten the criticism aroused when Hannah Bixby's relatives, wishing to transport her body to the cemetery in the city whither they had moved, found the casket of Judge Capwell beneath her headstone.

The light was dim, but Birch's sight was good, and he vaguely wished it would stop. On the afternoon of Friday, April 15th, then, Birch set out for the tomb with horse and wagon to transfer the body of Matthew Fenner. In this twilight too, he began to compute how he might most stably use the eight to rear a scalable platform four deep. Would the firm Fenner casket have caved in so readily? Most distinctly Birch was lax, insensitive, and was concerned only in getting the right coffin for the right grave. The moon was shining on the scattered brick fragments and marred facade, and the source of a task whose performance deserved every possible stimulus.

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mumbaipunetaxi-blog · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes

igcsecoachingclassesinandhe-blog · 7 years

Text

Build a site like Ola

1. Opt For A Secure Platform

2. Ensure Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

3. Incorporation Of Strong Passwords

4. Use End-to-End Encryption

5. Discard Sensitive Data

6. Suspicious Activity Alerts

7. Implement Penetration Testing

8. Perform Constant Monitoring

9. Keep ‘Updating’

10. Provide Security Training

Can you guess, what is the importance of keywords in optimizing e-commerce website?

If you have an e-commerce website based on wordpress cms, then you must install wordpress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, SEO Framework or premium woo commerce SEO plugin from Yoast.

Researching for Keyword

Increased Search= Increased competition

Importance of Keyword Mapping

When single keyword is focused in the entire website, there’s an increased chance of search engines ranking the word.

Where to use meta words?

URL: The ecommerce URL usually do not contain the keywords but contain product ID or numbers. The optimized website would include relevant keyword (related to the page) in the URL.

Title Tag: Since each page has a Meta Title, keywords should be included at the beginning of the page.

Body Content: The body content should be relevant and not be sprawling with keywords. Including a concise content that includes short description about the page is desired.

H1 and H2 Tags: They are on-page heading of the web pages and they correspond to the CSS or cascading style sheets. The keyword should always be included here.

Images: Products usually come with an image. The keyword can be included in the text.

Utilizing keyword in off-page optimization

There are two places where keywords are used. One is in “link building” and the other in content marketing.

Keyword is an integral part of SEO. Depending on the selection of these words, or phrases, the success of SEO will depend.

So you have spent countless hours designing and creating your perfect product. You have even made a few bucks from your e-commerce store. But are your sales not taking off as as you expected?

If this is your situation, then it’s time to consider if you really know your customers. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I know what their fears and motivations are?

Where do they look for information?

Who they trust for recommendations?

What is Segmentation?

In essence, segmentation is the process of dividing a large market into small groups of people who share similar characteristics.

How to “Filter” Your Market

You can segment based on customers’:

Demographics, like age, gender, or parental status;

Geography, such as neighborhood or country;

Psychographics such as attitudes and beliefs;

and behaviors, like shopping habits or product usage patterns.

This post will give you more details on each of the segmentation methods.

At this point you may be asking, “so how do I find all this information and how can they drive sales?” One of the best ways is through personal interviews and analyzing your customers' behaviors.

The Case for Using Behavioral Segmentation

This is why behavioral segmentation will be most useful, especially in improving sales.

How to Use Customer Behaviors to Your Advantage

First you need to define what your current business goals are. If you were just starting out, then your goal would be to raise brand awareness and drive customers to your store.

You can start with questions like these:

What language do your customers speak ? These are your keywords. For example if they are looking for a fitness tracker, what do they type into Google ?.

Where do they look for information? For example, which blogs do women frequent for outfit inspirations? Your goal is to find where they are and get yourself in front of them.

Feel free to design your own questions that align with your business. Here are the main types of behavioral segmentation you can use:

Customer needs (e.g. are your customers more interested in comfort or functionality?)

Occasion (e.g. sports drinks for post-workout)

Usage rate ( e.g. using face wash 2 times a day, everyday)

Brand loyalty status ( e.g. Apple fans )

Customer life stage ( e.g. college graduates vs new parents )

and buyer readiness stage ( e.g. do your customers know your brand? Do they trust you? )

Remember, Actions Speak!

If you have any questions, please feel free to go over the footloose entrepreneur blog at http://footlooseentrepreneur.com/blog. Would be waiting for your comments!

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#amazonshopping #wordpress #seo #onlineshopping #shopping #websitedesigner #webdeveloper

0 notes