#publisher ad network

[headerbidding]

Optimizing Ad Monetization: A Deep Dive into the Best Ad Servers for Publishers

In the digital age, publishers are continually seeking ways to optimize ad monetization strategies to maximize revenue while ensuring a seamless user experience. A critical component of this optimization process is selecting the right ad server. Ad servers act as the backbone of digital advertising operations, facilitating the delivery, management, and tracking of ads on publishers' websites or mobile apps. With numerous ad servers available in the market, it's essential for publishers to conduct a comprehensive analysis to identify the best solution for their specific needs. In this article, we'll delve into the world of ad servers, exploring key features, benefits, and considerations to help publishers make informed decisions and optimize their ad monetization efforts.

Understanding Ad Servers: Ad servers are sophisticated technology platforms designed to streamline the process of serving advertisements to targeted audiences. These platforms enable publishers to manage their ad inventory effectively, including ad placement, targeting, scheduling, and performance tracking. By leveraging the capabilities of ad servers, publishers can optimize revenue generation by delivering relevant ads to the right audience at the right time.

Key Features to Consider: When evaluating ad servers, publishers should prioritize the following key features to ensure they choose the best solution for their ad monetization needs:

Ad Format Support: Look for ad servers that support a wide range of ad formats, including display ads, video ads, native ads, and more. The ability to accommodate various ad formats ensures flexibility and maximizes revenue opportunities across different platforms and devices.

Targeting Capabilities: Advanced targeting options such as demographic targeting, contextual targeting, and behavioral targeting enable publishers to deliver highly relevant ads to specific audience segments, increasing engagement and click-through rates.

Ad Management Tools: A robust ad server should offer intuitive ad management tools for easy creation, scheduling, and optimization of ad campaigns. Automation features streamline workflows and improve efficiency, allowing publishers to focus on maximizing revenue.

Performance Tracking and Reporting: Comprehensive analytics and reporting tools provide valuable insights into ad performance, including key metrics such as impressions, click-through rates, and revenue earned. Real-time reporting capabilities enable publishers to monitor campaign performance and make data-driven decisions to optimize revenue.

Integration with Ad Networks: Ad servers that seamlessly integrate with ad networks and demand-side platforms (DSPs) provide access to a broader pool of advertisers, increasing competition for ad inventory and driving up ad prices.

Best Ad Servers for Publishers: While numerous ad servers are available, several stand out as leaders in the industry, offering advanced features and capabilities to help publishers optimize ad monetization efforts:

Google Ad Manager (formerly DoubleClick for Publishers): Google's ad serving platform offers a comprehensive suite of features, including ad serving, ad exchange, and ad management tools. With advanced targeting options and real-time reporting, Google Ad Manager is a popular choice among publishers of all sizes.

OpenX: OpenX is an independent ad exchange and ad server platform that provides publishers with advanced targeting capabilities, real-time bidding, and programmatic advertising solutions. With a focus on transparency and control, OpenX helps publishers maximize revenue through optimized ad monetization strategies.

AppNexus (Now part of Xandr): AppNexus is a digital advertising platform that offers publishers access to premium demand sources, advanced targeting options, and real-time analytics. With a global exchange and robust optimization tools, AppNexus empowers publishers to maximize revenue through programmatic advertising.

Rubicon Project: Rubicon Project is a leading advertising technology company that provides publishers with ad serving, header bidding, and yield optimization solutions. With a focus on transparency and collaboration, Rubicon Project helps publishers maximize revenue by connecting them with premium demand sources.

AdSense: Google's AdSense is a popular monetization solution for publishers, enabling them to display targeted ads on their websites and mobile apps. AdSense integrates seamlessly with Google Ad Manager, providing access to a vast network of advertisers and maximizing revenue potential.

Conclusion: Optimizing ad monetization is essential for publishers looking to maximize revenue and achieve long-term success in the digital advertising ecosystem. By selecting the best ad server for their needs and leveraging advanced features and capabilities, publishers can effectively monetize their digital properties while providing a seamless user experience. Whether it's Google Ad Manager, OpenX, AppNexus, Rubicon Project, or AdSense, publishers have a wealth of options to choose from to optimize their ad monetization efforts and drive revenue growth.

#Best Ad server for publishers #best publishers ad server #Ad servers for publishers #Best ad networks for small publishers #List of ad servers for publishers #Best ad servers for publishers

[adgeekcorner]

Say Goodbye To Ad Anxiety: Exploring The Future Of Ad Networks For Advertisers

For advertising professionals, the term "ad network" often gathers some mixture of emotions: relief at the vast reach provided, frustration at unclear targeting, and apprehension about rising costs. An ad network is essentially a platform that connects advertisers with publishers, facilitating the buying and selling of ad space. These networks play a crucial role in the online advertising ecosystem, acting as intermediaries that match advertisers looking to advertise their products or services with publishers ready to display those ads on their websites. 

In this article, we will learn more about ad networks for publishers and how they boost their revenue from this;

Why Ad Networks Are Important and what are the current top ad networks? 

Advertising networks play a crucial role in the digital advertising ecosystem, offering vital benefits for publishers. Here's why they're essential :

Reach a Wider Audience: Ad networks connect publishers to a vast pool of advertisers, expanding their reach beyond their direct audience. It allows them to tap into targeted demographics and interests, maximizing the potential for ad views and clicks.

Simplify Ad Management: Instead of managing individual ad deals, publishers can seamlessly manage all ad placements through one platform provided by the network. It saves time and resources, allowing them to focus on creating quality content.

Optimize Monetization: Networks offer sophisticated tools and analytics to analyze ad performance and optimize ad placements for maximum revenue. They also handle various ad formats and bidding strategies, ensuring publishers get the best possible price for their ad space.

Reduce Risk: Partnering with a reputable ad network reduces the risk of dealing with unreliable advertisers or facing fraudulent activity. Networks typically have established vetting processes and fraud detection systems in place.

Here are some examples of top ad networks for advertisers;

Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Amazon Advertising, Microsoft Advertising,Twitter Ads. 

What are the key factors contributing to ad anxiety for advertisers in the current advertising landscape?

Several factors in today's dynamic ad landscape are fueling anxiety for advertisers:

Metrics Mania: The abundance of ad metrics can be overwhelming, creating confusion and doubt about campaign effectiveness. Advertisers fear misinterpreting data, leading to wasted budgets and missed opportunities.

Platform Proliferation: Navigating the ever-changing sea of ad platforms and formats is daunting. The fear of missing out on the "next big thing" or choosing the wrong platform paralyzes some advertisers, hindering campaign execution.

Privacy Paradox: Balancing user privacy with effective targeting is a tightrope walk. Advertisers worry about losing reach due to stricter regulations, impacting campaign performance and return on investment.

Attribution Ambiguity: Attributing conversions across online and offline touchpoints is complex. The fear of crediting the wrong channel for success leads to inefficient budget allocation and hinders optimization efforts.

Creative Conundrum: Standing out in a cluttered ad space is a constant challenge. Advertisers fear producing ineffective creatives that fail to resonate with audiences, wasting resources and damaging brand image.

Role of Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in Mitigating Ad Anxiety

Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are playing an increasingly crucial role in addressing the challenges advertisers face. These technologies empower advertisers with valuable insights into consumer behavior, enabling more targeted and personalized ad campaigns. By analyzing vast amounts of data, advertisers can identify trends, optimize ad creatives, and refine targeting strategies.

AI algorithms can also assist in the prevention of ad fraud by detecting irregular patterns and anomalies in real time. This proactive approach enhances the overall security of ad campaigns, assuring advertisers that their budgets are not being wasted on fraudulent activities.

Tips for Ad Publishers to Boost Revenue from Advertising Networks

Ad publishers play a pivotal role in the success of ad campaigns. To maximize revenue from advertising networks, publishers should focus on optimizing ad placements, ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience. Implementing responsive design and mobile-friendly ad formats can enhance user engagement and boost click-through rates.

Additionally, publishers should leverage data analytics to understand their audience better. By identifying the preferences and behaviors of their visitors, publishers can attract more relevant ads and increase the likelihood of user interaction. Regularly updating and refreshing ad creatives also keep the content dynamic and appealing, preventing ad fatigue among the audience.

You can also watch: 

Conclusion

As the future of ad networks evolves, advertisers can look forward to a more secure and effective advertising landscape. With advancements in programmatic advertising, blockchain technology, and the integration of data analytics and AI, the industry is poised to address the challenges contributing to ad anxiety. Ad networks for publishers alike stand to benefit from these developments, ushering in a new era of transparency, efficiency, and confidence in the world of digital advertising. 

#Ad networks #ad networks for publishers #ad publishers #advertising network #ad networks for advertisers #top ad networks #ad spy tools #Youtube

[bestwayadvertisement]

Ad networks for publishers: Top 04 Feature Looking For

In this Infographic, we will get to know ad networks for publishers. An ad network is the platform that determines the sales of ad inventory between publishers and advertisers….

#Social Media #Ad Networks #Ad Networks For Publishers #Publishing Ads #Social Media Marketing

[adultads25]

Best Adult Ad Networks for Advertisers & Publishers (2024)

In the dynamic realm of online advertising, adult ad networks play a crucial role in connecting advertisers with their target audience and providing publishers with monetization opportunities. As we navigate the landscape of 2024, it becomes essential to identify the best adult ad networks that cater to both advertisers and publishers. 

Understanding Adult Ad Networks

Adult ad networks, at their core, serve as intermediaries between advertisers looking to promote adult content and publishers seeking to monetize their websites. These networks offer various ad formats, targeting options, and analytics to optimize campaigns.

Criteria for Selecting the Best Adult Ad Networks

Choosing the right adult ad network involves considering factors like target audience demographics, available ad formats, customization options, payout rates, and payment methods. This ensures that advertisers and publishers find a platform that aligns with their goals.

Overview of 7Search PPC

7Search PPC stands out as a prominent player in the adult ad network arena. With unique features and advantages tailored for advertisers and publishers, it has become a preferred choice in the industry. From precise targeting to flexible budgeting, 7Search PPC offers a comprehensive advertising solution.

Benefits of Using Adult Ad Networks

Utilizing adult ad networks provides numerous advantages, such as increased reach, targeted advertising for better conversions, and monetization opportunities for publishers. These networks create a win-win situation for both parties involved in the advertising ecosystem.

Top Adult Ads Publisher Platforms

For publishers seeking to monetize their websites through adult advertising, several platforms stand out. This section reviews popular options, comparing features and benefits to help publishers make informed decisions.

Adult Ads and Site Monetization

Effectively monetizing adult ads on websites requires strategic placement and optimization. Publishers can maximize revenue by understanding user behavior and incorporating ads seamlessly into their site's design.

Best Practices for Advertisers in Adult Ad Networks

Advertisers aiming for success in the adult ad network industry should focus on creating compelling content, refining targeting strategies, and optimizing their campaigns. This section provides valuable tips for advertisers looking to make an impact.

Trends in Adult Advertising for 2024

The ever-evolving landscape of adult advertising witnesses emerging technologies and formats. Staying updated on these trends is crucial for advertisers and publishers seeking to stay ahead in the competitive market.

Challenges in the Adult Ad Network Industry

Despite the opportunities, the adult ad network industry comes with its share of challenges, including legal and compliance issues and navigating content restrictions. Advertisers and publishers must be aware of these challenges to operate successfully.

Success Stories in Adult Advertising

Case studies showcasing successful adult advertising campaigns offer valuable insights and lessons for industry practitioners. Learning from these success stories can inspire and guide advertisers and publishers.

Tips for Beginners in Adult Ad Networks

For those entering the adult advertising space, a set of guidelines can be instrumental. This section provides essential tips and highlights common pitfalls to help beginners navigate the industry effectively.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the world of adult ad networks is diverse and dynamic, offering opportunities and challenges for advertisers and publishers alike. By understanding the criteria for selecting the best networks, exploring platforms like 7Search PPC, and embracing best practices, stakeholders can navigate this unique adult industry successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are adult ad networks legal?

Ans:- Yes, but they come with specific legal and compliance requirements that advertisers and publishers must adhere to.

What makes 7Search PPC unique for adult advertising?

Ans:- 7Search PPC offers precise targeting, flexible budgeting, and a range of features tailored for the adult advertising industry.

How can publishers optimize adult ads on their websites?

Ans:- Publishers can optimize adult ads by strategically placing them based on user behavior and seamlessly integrating them into their site's design.

What are the emerging trends in adult advertising for 2024?

Ans:- Emerging trends include new technologies and formats that advertisers and publishers should stay updated on for a competitive edge.

What challenges do advertisers and publishers face in the adult ad network industry?

Ans:- Challenges include legal and compliance issues and content restrictions that must be navigated to ensure success.

#adult ads publisher #adult ad #best adult ads #adult site ads #adult advertising network

[financead]

Top 7 Proven Strategies To Monetize Your Website For Success

Welcome, readers! Ready to transform your website into a money-making wonder? This blog is your key! Monetizing websites has soared in the digital age. Owners are seeking ways to earn. Whether you're exploring effective monetization or aiming to level up your current strategy, discover ten surefire methods in this ultimate guide to monetize website with ads. Let's unlock financial success together!

Ok readers, it is time to start our journey towards online prosperity; let's go -

Table Of Contents

Website Monetization: Profit Playbook

Significance Of Website Monetization

10 Proven Strategies: Monetize Like A Pro

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Conclusion

Website Monetization: Profit Playbook

Monetizing your website is akin to reaping rewards for your dedication. Running a website seamlessly demands meticulous content creation and upkeep. Quality content is pivotal, luring in an audience and boosting traffic. This surge in traffic becomes a magnet for advertisers, generating revenue through clicks, views, and actions on ads. It also opens avenues for diverse monetization approaches like affiliate marketing, subscriptions, or product sponsorships. Discover the best ad networks for publishers to optimize your earnings.

Significance Of Website Monetization

Website monetization provides financial stability to businesses and individuals by turning their online venture into a reliable income source.

Let's see its following significance when you effectively monetize your website traffic -

•Provides Passion A Great Value - Many publishers are creating content and running a website because they are interested in it and doing it as their passion. Monetization provides great value for their effort and opens the door to earning in different ways.

•Motivates For Higher-Quality Content - Monetization helps motivate website owners to create more engaging content to generate more income from their websites. As we discussed above, quality content is the key to holding and increasing traffic on your page and also encouraging them to make a revisit to get more informative content. It can be stated that "The higher the traffic, the higher the chance of earning income."

•Reinvestment - If you want to monetize your website for a long time and build your online presence, then a timely investment is essential to make more development on the website. Monetization helps website owners reinvest in their websites to provide the best experience to their audience.

•Professional Development - As a website owner, it is essential to build up powerful links not only for the growth of the income but also for professional development. Monetization helps website owners meet new people for the particular task which is also a part of creating a link. The link also helps the website owners in their future monetization plans. In short, monetization conveys the silent message to website owners: "Think Big, Do Big, and Earn Big."

7 Proven Strategies: Monetize Like A Pro

Publishers, here we come to the section that not only provides the ways to monetize your website but also puts a full stop to your question of how to monetize your website with ads. Excited? Then why wait? Let's jump into the pool of the following ten proven strategies -

Diverse Ad Revenue - One of the top ways to monetize your website is by leveraging ad formats and partnering with leading website monetization platforms like 7Search PPC. This allows effortless income generation. How? Just allocate space for ads; 7Search PPC ensures high-paying, relevant ads only from authentic advertisers. This strategy is among the best ad networks for app monetization.

It plays the role of the assistant for the publishers, managing all the monetization processes and letting the publishers concentrate on creating engaging content for the website.

Are you worried about the payments? No, you don't need to worry because 7Search PPC will keep a record of every payment you earn or every payment you withdraw. It also provides a hassle-free payout to the publishers; you can withdraw money from various sources, including PayPal, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, and many more.

Affiliate Marketing - Let's take a step toward the next monetization strategy, and its name is affiliate marketing. It is the strategy that helps you to earn a commission for every successful purchase through your website. It is considered the best website monetization strategy because you don't need to go anywhere; if your website has good traffic, companies will approach you and urge you to put ads for their product and services on your website page.

Fee For Exclusive Content - If you are doing hard work as a publisher in providing exclusive content to the audience, then it is fair to charge a fee for doing this. You can divide a content part into two categories: Free and Premium. Free content will help you increase the number of the traffic to your website, and the premium content will help you enhance the revenue to the next level.

Sponsored Content - Another powerful way to monetize your website is through sponsored content, a key strategy within ad networks for publishers. By collaborating with established brands and startups, you create compelling content promoting their products or services. This sponsored content drives traffic to their platforms, earning you substantial revenue for each engaging piece. Keep in mind, when crafting promotional content for these partnerships...

must maintain the balance between the audience value and the promotion of the products and services. 

E-commerce Integration - Selling the products and services directly from the website also comes under the website monetization strategy. You can utilize your website as an online store where the audience can directly visit and make a purchase from your website. You must research the customer's demand and ask yourself whether you can easily fulfill their demand from your website or not.

The following points will help you make money by using e-commerce integration. 

Explore the trustworthy suppliers for your website that can provide you with the products on time.

Organize a product into a category, including filter options.

Use attractive descriptions and high-catching visuals for the product that you are going to offer to the audience. 

Utilize the dropshipping services, which will help you to directly sell the product directly to the customer without keeping it in your store. 

Paid Webinars - Hosting paid webinars is also an effective strategy to monetize your website. You can invite experts on your website to talk about the trend and provide informative things to the audience. Remember, you can only invite the experts that align with your website content and monetize objectives.

Suppose you are running a pharmacy website; you can ask healthcare professionals to come virtually and guide your audience about relevant topics such as medicines, diseases, etc. You can approach the audience through social media or email marketing and ask them to pay if they want to attend the seminar. Many audiences will pay a fee to get the specialized knowledge and attend the webinar. 

Remember to provide the certificate of participation and healthcare material to the attendees, which will help to encourage them to participate again in future seminars. 

Study Material - After the pandemic, students shifted their interest towards online education. According to the report of SKYQUEST, in 2021, the market size of global online education was valued at $31.20 billion, and it will touch the mark of $175.52 billion by 2030. The reason behind showing this data is that you can understand that there is a lot of scope to sell online courses.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I sell products and services on my website?

Yes, my friend! You can sell the products and services directly to the customer through your website by creating an online store. 

Why is SEO essential in the monetization journey? 

SEO helps website owners enhance the visibility of their website in the SERPs, which leads to more visitors and enhances potential earnings. 

How can social media platforms be used for monetization purposes?

Social media platforms are the perfect way to drive traffic to the website, which creates a chance of more conversions and increased revenue. 

Conclusion

So, readers, it is time to wrap up this informative blog. In this blog, you successfully learn the ten proven strategies that will help you write a success story for your monetization journey. The provided strategies are not just about generating bucks; they are your ticket to online victory. You can now start implementing these mind-blowing monetization strategies and watch your online website reach new heights. 

#monetize website with ads #top 10 ad networks for publishers #best ad networks for app monetization #top ad networks for publishers #best ad networks for small publishers #ad network for publishers #best ad networks for publishers

[djaxadserverblog]

The Evolution of Ad Exchanges and Their Impact on the Digital Advertising Industry - dJAX Adserver

Ad exchanges have had a significant impact on the digital advertising industry since their inception in the mid-2000s. Here's a brief overview of their evolution and their impact on the industry:

Early Days of Ad Exchange:

The early days of ad exchanges date back to the mid-2000s when the digital advertising industry was still in its infancy. During this time, publishers had a lot of unsold ad space on their websites, also known as remnant inventory. Advertisers, on the other hand, were looking for ways to reach their target audience with greater precision and efficiency.

Ad exchanges were initially created as a solution to this problem. They allowed publishers to offer up their remnant inventory for auction to advertisers in real-time. Advertisers could then bid on individual ad impressions, rather than buying entire ad placements upfront.

Early ad exchanges were relatively simple and lacked the sophistication of today's programmatic advertising platforms. They focused primarily on display advertising and lacked the targeting options that are available today. However, they did represent a significant shift in the digital advertising industry, introducing a new way of buying and selling advertising space that was more efficient and cost-effective.

As ad exchanges continued to evolve, they became more sophisticated, incorporating real-time bidding (RTB) technology, which enabled advertisers to bid on individual ad impressions in real-time. This allowed for greater targeting and efficiency, which further improved the effectiveness of digital advertising campaigns.

Today, ad exchanges are a critical component of programmatic advertising, which automates the buying and selling of digital advertising space. While they have evolved significantly since their early days, they remain an essential tool for publishers and advertisers looking to maximize their revenue and reach their desired audience more effectively.

Impact of Ad Exchange in Digital Advertising Industry

Ad exchanges have had a significant impact on the digital advertising industry since their inception. Here are some of the ways in which ad exchanges have impacted the industry:

Efficiency: Ad exchanges have made it easier for advertisers and publishers to buy and sell digital advertising space. By automating the buying and selling process, ad exchanges have reduced the time and resources needed to execute ad campaigns.

Precision targeting: Ad exchanges have enabled advertisers to target their desired audience with greater precision. This is possible through the use of data and analytics, which enable advertisers to target users based on their demographics, interests, and behavior.

Increased transparency: Ad exchanges have brought greater transparency to the digital advertising industry. Through real-time bidding and programmatic advertising, advertisers and publishers have greater visibility into where their ads are being placed and how much they are paying for them.

Monetization: Ad exchanges have enabled publishers to monetize their inventory more effectively. By offering their ad space up for auction, publishers can ensure that they are maximizing their revenue potential.

Innovation: Ad exchanges have driven innovation in the digital advertising industry. The continued evolution of ad exchanges has led to new technologies and techniques that enable advertisers and publishers to reach their desired audience more effectively.

Ad exchanges have had a positive impact on the digital advertising industry by making it more efficient, transparent, and effective. While there are ongoing concerns around ad fraud and brand safety, the continued growth and evolution of ad exchanges is likely to drive even greater innovation and impact in the years to come.

Get in touch with us to know how we can help you make the most of your app or website inventory.

#adexchange #ad network #adtech #adserver #technology #software #publisher #advertising #advertisers #adnetwork

[cubera]

Ad Networks That Publishers Must Follow – CUBERA

Advertising is one of the essential steps that are required to make a business successful. The evolution of the advertising techniques expanded its horizons over the course of time. Advertisement through publishers is one such technique. In 2023, businesses want to target their advertisements and place them in strategic locations. Read more.

Visit - https://cubera.co/ad-networks-that-publishers-must-follow-cubera/ 

#ad networks #ad networks for publishers #top ad networks for publishers

[myamanizedthings]

Here is the list of 11 Ad Networks For Small Publishers. If you want to monetize your blog with google adsense than join this adsense alternatives.

#Here is the list of 11 Ad Networks For Small Publishers. If you want to monetize your blog with google adsense than join this adsense altern

[safination]

Partners in Death…and Life

Part 2: Radio Will be Dead if He Doesn’t Explain Himself

| Part 1: Radio's Not Dead |Part 3: Not Everything You Hear From The Radio Should be Trusted| Masterlist | ao3 Parings: Alastor x wife!reader Tags: fem!reader, established relationship, hopefully not but just in case ooc!alastor (I'm still trying my best to keep him as canon as possible) Reader is in hell for a reason. Hello, I’m back :D This was supposed to be published yesterday, but I got busy. Anyway, thank you for all the likes so far. It motivated me to really finish this chapter. Also once again, I have everything planned out, it really is just a matter of writing it down. *Updated 28/02/2024 Just added some stuff that I thought made sense*

Flick…

Flick…

Flick…

Lights flicker above you with a slight buzz. You drape an arm over your eyes when the gleam of the bulb blind you.

The hardwood floors chill your skin, but it’s the sensation of casual loose clothing on your back that warrants your exhale in peace. Just a second. You just need a moment on these hard and chilling floors to ground you… just… one … single … moment to…

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

A stray feather pricks into your arm. The vane tickles, but the barb digs your skin. You’ve called this body ‘yours’ far longer than your human one, yet the feathers that grow on your skin still astound you. You twirl it around your fingers, and wave it in the air like a wand—it’s a proper animalistic feather.

Your nose scrunches into a hard scowl, and you jump up, stomping into the kitchen toward that untouched coffee mug on your counter. Grabbing it, you splash the contents down the sink, letting it flush down the drain.

The sponge is rough against your hands as you scrub and you scrub and you scrub and you scrub and you scrub and you scrub a̵̯͒n̴̤͝d̶̫͌ ̶͚̇y̶̤̎o̷͔̓u̶̢͐ ̸̓͜s̵̪͗c̸͎͂r̷̀ͅṳ̴̎b̸͖̀ ầ̷̩̯͍̙̳̍͗͘ń̵̰̞̰̕d̴͇̻̮̫̝̓̎̈́ ̶̡̬̬̮̺͗͒́̌͑y̴̙̘̻͇̿̉̐͆ǫ̷͉̟̍̅̑̏ŭ̸̖͓ͅ ̴̛̝͇̭̥̌́́̂s̸̠̑̽̏́c̷̥̺̃̾̊r̶̲̯̈́̈̄͆͊u̵̼̝͕̼̇̍̈́͘b̶͍͖͖̐̾͝.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

You rinse the mug, slamming the cupboard door shut when you drop it next to your own clean one. Fingers run through your feather-hair…hair-feather, or your ‘whatever that grows on your scalp’. Some questions you’ve stopped asking.

An audible grumble… well, uhhhhh…. grumbles from where your stomach is placed in this body, and you munch on your lips to keep the inhumane screech from erupting into the kitchen and breaking all kinds of glassware and little knickknacks that Alastor filled your home with.

(These days, the old trinkets collect dust on your shelves. There haven’t been any new ones in years.)

Chopping Hell’s equivalent of carrots calms you. (It’s honestly the use of some type of razor-sharp object that calms you. You’d prefer a different razor-sharp object, but a sharp knife is a sharp knife, no matter the size.) You chop until there’s enough food to make a proper and decent meal that your stomach will accept.

You crash on the couch, dinner secured on a plate, and flip the television switch. Light flashes into the room when you do.

Ad about some impish business—Not interested.

‘Yeah, I fucked your sister, So what?’ — Boring.

Cooking Venison with Vox— Lame.

Settling on the lifestyle network, you munch on your food. Some poor slimy creature flashes across the screen, and it's her home that will be remodeled because of…something. You’re not sure what that something was. You don’t care enough to find out.

The sounds from the television swap with the silence of your living-room as you take each bite. It’s one of the sadder habits you’ve picked up since purchasing this noisy picture box.

Your eyes wander to that half-filled coat rack, while your ears listen in on the show and that woman did not just say that pink would go with brown. Only your singular coat drapes on the hinge, when this particular design was made to hold two.

A commercial plays for some-thing called the Hazbin Hotel.

Your eyes are stitched to the screen until the final note of the song plays, and a different advertisement takes its spot. You take a sip of your drink.  Just ą̷̖̯͈͂ ̷̡̧͚̤̩͎̙͇̞͓̟͈̤̝͉͉͉̘̉͐̓́̆́̇̍̐̿̈̄͜͜͜͝͝s̶̨̢̛̥̣̻̱̰̬̩̹̥̞̟̳̝͔͓͙̗̗͕̟͇̆̉̿į̴̡̢̠͇̱̤͔̙͎͕͛̑̓̒̀̔͆̓͂̃̚͘͘͠ṗ̶̡̢̨̳͙̦̮͍͓̻͎̲̪̲͕͛̔̐́̐̈́̒̒̉̎͛̆̈́̈́̉̔̑̃̕ͅ.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

You blink, and you find your keys locking your front door.  Already, your legs are trekking down the garden stones. A flower snarls at you as the gate locks with a click.

Another blink.

 Huh…you’re on the bus.

The sign says it’s headed into the city. Living on the outskirts has always been beneficial for you. Not today, though. Today, the one-hour commute makes your feathers bristle.

You read the barely eligible address scribbled on the note, and pat your hair, smoothing the flared feathers sticking out. It seems…

Hmmmmm.

It seems you did not think this through. H-how…How are you going to get to the hotel?

Tagatha calls you a fossil for using one of those flippy telephones. You considered purchasing those fancy telephones with the lights and screens, and loud robotic voices telling you where to turn left, but learning to use a flip-phone brought enough stress for two lifetimes. You’ll happily stay a fossil.

Turns out, you don’t even need the address.

The Hazbin Hotel sticks out. It’s a humongous building with its name written across what you call the sky in blinding neon lights. Your vision zooms in, and you see that the hotel rests on a giant hill at the other edge of the city. Three large neon-lit arrows point to a crudely attached radio tower. Below it, a wooden ship hangs to the side. Circus light bulbs flicker with electricity.

The Hazbin Hotel is an eyesore – it’s exactly what Alastor prefers.

You reach the dinged-up metal gate on the bottom of the hill and reset your hand on the rusted latch. Trekking through the city took a lot, and you were already here. So, why are your legs frozen to the cement? Why does your heartbeat thump in your ears?

“Excuuussseeeee me.”

A snake towers over you. It’s your first time seeing such a slithery specimen as large as him. His hat rests on his hold, and it blinks at you. His hair … or was that skin … puffs out with two red sets of red eyes.

“Can I help you?” you say, warily. Sinners are in hell for a reason.

“Yessssh,” he says, his tongue slithering out. His flaps stick out, all four eyes staring right into your own. “I’d like to be a guessst at this hotel!”

You glance at the eye-sore that’s called a hotel. “I don’t work here.”

His flaps droop. The snake takes a deep breath, and slides the gate open, slithering in with determination in his … er… snake body.

You follow in silence.

The snake matches your pace. “Will you be a guest at this establishment as well?” he asks you. “Or were you given the same sssssuper secret mission?” Just like before, his tongue slithers out—what a funny little odd man.

Bangs grab your attention. When you focus your vision, you see an inky shadow servant striking a nail into broken wood. “Not at all,” you say slowly. “I’m just here to visit someone.”

His flaps open, and three pairs of eyes and a hat meet yours. “I am the great Sir Pentious!” he says with a proud hand on his puffed-up chest. “Inventor. Architect of destruction. Villain extraordinaire!”

You give him your name “….Doctor.”

“It is only the coward who attacks a battler of health.” His flaps droop as he sinks into himself. “You cannot be my rival, I’m afraid.”

“I guess that makes you brave,” you say, humming. The decorations for the hotel are rather dull. Drawn on the middle of the hill, a giant pentagram is etched on the ground. The flowers dwindle on the cliff edge, and do little to combat the grayness surrounding you. “What a shame to hear—I rather love good rivalries.”

The eyes on Sir Pentious’ hat brighten at the same time his own do as well. “Ssssso do I!”

One of the inky shadow servants waves at you.

You wave back.

Light streams from the glass doors. You blink a few times, adjusting to the sudden change of brightness. Circus-themed stained glass decorate the front entrance. One of the less tacky – but still tacky – designs of this hotel.

Sir Pentious taps the glass with the tips of his finger, clinking with each tap, and his eyes water in excitement. His nose crinkles when he takes a deep breath. You weren’t aware he even owned a nose. Sir Pentious fiddles with the flap of his hat, and bangs on the door.

Your smile strains after a minute of banging.

A young lady with long, white hair creaks the door open. You recognize her from the commercial.

Sir Pentious’ flap open and close with each word as he says, “Why, hello, my dear –”

A punch to the face is his reply.

“Oh dear!” you screech. Sir Pentious drops to the ground, and you kneel next to him, a steady hand on his slimy shoulders. “Have you no manners?”

This insolent girl points her spear and stomps a foot on Sir Pentious. She snarls, and her glare hardens.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Sir Pentious’ tongue slithers out as he holds a peace-sign. “I come in peacccccceeeee”

“What are you doing here?” Her spear inches closer.

“Vaggies,” another voice calls out. A blonde with a red pantsuit and a bowtie pokes her head, eyes in a squint. O-oh! You know this lady from the commercial. The Princess of Hell … Cady … Char …Charlie Morningstar! “What’s the problem?” Charlie’s eyes widen when she spots you and Sir Pentious, an honest smile drawn on her face. “Oh, hello again! And hello to you as well!”

“Can you please tell this insolent girl to get her food off this gentleman,” you spit, tilting your nose into the air. Your feathers sharpen when you bristle. “And your weapon away from my face.”

Vaggie takes her foot off Sir Pentious. She holds the spear close, but it’s away from your face.

Sir Pentious straightens into a stand, and the group prattles on.

No one bothers to help you. A huff escapes, and you brush the dirt off your skirt. Absolutely no manners. Insolent and ill-mannered.  Would Alastor stay in such a place?

You’ve never laid an eye on someone as unique as this Vaggie. Her hair patterns are similar to wings. It’s almost unheard of to see such a prominent ‘x’. Her flared eyelashes resemble a bird. It strikes you silly. Almost everyone in hell resembles a human body with animal characteristics hidden somewhere. This insolent girl doesn’t appear to have any of that – only miniscule feathers made to appear native to Hell.

“Absolutely!” Charlie exclaims to who you think is Angel Dust. (The porn-star, not the drug. Obviously.) Sir Pentious nods with the sweetest smile on his face. There’s a squeak every time he bobs his head. That hat of his looks nervous.  “This place is about second chances and who deserves one more than this…slithery…slippery…special little man.” Charlie takes a peek at you. “Oh, and this feathery…sheddy… and round-eyed woman.”

You do not shed.

You smile at Charlie, and give her your name, “…and I expect it to be used.”

Angel Dust whips to Vaggie. “Aren’t you supposed to protect this place?” he says and turns to you. “How are we even sure we can trust this lady – no offense, toots.”

“None taken,” you say, dryly.

Charlie’s eyes water when she turns to Vaggie, who easily relents with a sigh.

You’re thrust through the apple and circus-themed doors, squinting at the chandelier. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the design—it reminds you of those old rolled films. Charlie leads you and Sir Pentious further down the hall, all but pushing you in. Vaggie and Angel Dust lag a few steps behind.

Charlie waves her arms to go into an enthusiastic point. “So…this is our bar,” she says. Husk drops his drink, a scowl on his face, “and the bartender. This is the curtain, and this is the new wall after Sir Pentious broke the last one. And this is—”

Vaggie calms her down.

The bar clashes with the red wallpaper of the hotel. It’s almost as if someone just dropped it there, and etched it to the very wall. The wood is firm underneath your touch and feels exactly like what wood should feel.

You turn towards the bar and take your seat. Husk focuses on his drink. “Hello,” you say with a gentle voice that should not be mistaken for kindness. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”

Husk chokes and splatter out his drink, but you only smile at him. He coughs and his ears droop low. “Uh…yes,” he starts. “Good to see you as well.”

“There’s no need to be nervous.”

“I’m not.”

 “Good.”

You run your finger across the skeleton wrapped around the bar post. A memory tickles your brain. This is one of the many specimens you owned. It took one whole month to strip the muscle off its tight hold on the bones, and another month just to clean, bleach, and wire together. The heads above the bar sign were a gift to you, and the skeletons were your gift back.

The neural spine pokes your finger as you tap each one. “I see you’ve set up shop here.”

Husk scowls, taking another swig of his drink. “Not much of a choice.”

“And tell me,” you start, “how long have you been here?”

Husk doesn’t answer you.

Charlie calls your name, and waves you over. “Over here,” she says pointing to where Niffty plays with some kind of one-eyes cat, “we have our maid—Niffty!”

Niffty hops on Sir Pentious. “The bad boy is back!” she exclaims, pulling him closer, eyes wide and shaking. A bead of sweat drops from Sir Pentious’ hat. “Never leave me again.”

“We’re about 80% sure she’s harmless….” Charlie prattles on.

“Hello, Niffty.” You smile at her.

She jumps off Sir Pentious, landing with a small ‘humph’, and strides to you with her pointy short legs. She calls out your name.

You squat, meeting her eye. “It’s great to see you again—Is Alastor forcing you here?”

Her eyes shine with an innocent type of glee. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She claps her hands. “I get to chase all the bugs here.” Nifftly leans closer to you, giggling. “Can I be strapped to your table again? I love it when you slice me open.”

 “Maybe next ti—”

Charlie grabs your arm, hauling you forward. “Oh! Uh, Alastor! Our gracious facility manager! You've met our newest guest Sir Pentious…hehe…,” she tells him. Charlie keeps pulling you, only stopping when you stand before a grand staircase. “These two will be our special wonderful guests!”

Alastor does little to show you what he feels, there’s just that same empty grin.

He bought a new coat, you note. This new one has white streaks on the new collar and less stripes. Guess some things were more important than others.

You slip out of Charlie’s tight grasp. “I think you’re mistaken, my dear,” you say. “I’m not a guest— just a visitor.”

You hold your husband’s gaze and greet him.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

“It’s good to see you,” you say, a smile drawn on your lips. “How are you doing on this wonderful morning?”

Alastor turns to you, drops an item into his grocery basket, and blinks. “I am amazing!” he says. He grabs your hand with his gloved ones and shakes it. His hands are warmer than you expect them to be. “Alastor. Pleasure to be meeting you. Quite the pleasure.”

You chuckle at him. “Yes, I’m aware of who you are.”

“Oh, how lovely!” He waves his fingers. “ are you on of my many fans?” His smile strains, and there, you see it, on the corner of his cheek. His nose flares and his smile takes the appearance of a snarl. Maybe it was the other way around.

“A bit,” you admit, adjusting your hold on the basket. “How are your stitches, Sir?”

His eyes widen—brown eyes, you note. “The good doctor!”

“I think you mean the good nurse.”

“Oh yes, yes,” he hums and inches the basket away from your gaze. “I’ve been taking my medicine, and replacing my dressing every three days, just like you said.”

“Good—that’s great to hear. No more accidents?”

“None!” He laughs. “And if one does happen, I’ll be sure to present you with an injury that is only hours old.”

A giggle slips through your lips. “That’s even better to hear,” you say. You clear your throat, tightening the hold on your basket. “I’d hate to take even more of your time. I’ll let you go on with your day.”

A firm grip on the basket handles keeps your feet planted on the glossy floor of the general store. “Not so fast, my dear. I think you still owe me,” he says. Your teeth bare into what you hope is a polite smile. “You promised to show me your marvelous embroidery the next time we meet! You’re not the type of lady to go back on your word now, are you?

“You sure do know how to put such ladies into a tight spot.”

Alastor laughs, breathy and light. “I assure you; I don’t mean to. I tend to get very excited about art

“Well, with you holding my integrity hostage, and the addition of such lovely enthusiasm, I find myself having trouble refusing.” You reach into your purse and pull out a clean handkerchief. “Sadly, I wasn’t expecting the general storm to be an art gallery, so this will have to do.”

And there it is again, that same breathy and light laughter. “They really do have everything in here

Alastor takes your handkerchief with steady enthusiasm, studying each stitch carefully. It’s one of your simpler designs—tiny flower bouquets scattered across the fabric. Your eyes are drawn to the contents of his basket: rope, strong acids, latex gloves, rolls of plastic wrap, and other such interesting items.

“You have such beautiful handiwork.”

“You can keep it if you wish,” you tell him. “I have thousands back home, and I’m always weak to such flattering compliments— a real boost to my ego.”

“Splendid!” Alastor slips the handkerchief into his coat. “I love receiving gifts from fans.”

You smile at him to hide your frown. You are not some fan-girl. “Of course.”

Alastor is following you.

The conversation ended several beats of silence ago, but he trails behind your every step. You skip the aisle where they sell produce, stop to grab some eggs, ask the butcher for 50g of chicken liver, and smile back when he smiles back. You sigh and lead Alastor to the end of the general store, and into an aisle.

You snatch a glass bottle of chemicals off the shelf—they really do have everything here. “Going for a hunt soon?” you ask, and read the label.

His smile brightens as he says, “Why yes! There was this wonderful prey that I spotted the other day, and I’m just dying to have his head hanging on my wall.”

You offer him the bottle. “You have a lovely coat. It would be a shame for it to be ruined by stains,” you say. “This always does the trick when dealing with the redder parts of my job.”

He takes the bottle from you.

“Take this as well,” you say and reach into your basket. “It’s the last bottle of 12% hydrogen peroxide in this store, but you need it more than I do. A ratio of fifty-fifty of this and a bit of hair developer in a bucket of water should brighten up your bones. Just let it soak for a day. Oh…and just in case, those two chemicals are safe to mix. You should avoid doing so, but an accident wouldn’t hurt you.”

Alastor offers his basket, and you drop the bottle along with the other hazardous substances. “You sound certain.”

“That is because I am.”

Fate has granted you a humorous shopping companion, and you decide to stop fighting it. Alastor follows you to the bread aisle.

You point to the top shelf. “Can you…?”

He drops the bread into your basket, and stares at you with what you think is curious tenacity.

“My father works as a butcher,” you say, sighing. “He prides himself on catching the venison he sells. We don’t believe in wasting a precious body, so we use it until there is nothing left to give. He came back from his own hunt and wanted to add another antler to his display

Alastor hums. “Won’t you need these then?”

“There’s still a bit leftover sitting in his workshop. I just came to get an extra bottle.”

Alastor continues to follow.  “Do you often aid your father in his work?”

“Not as frequent as when I was a teen, but I still aid him when I have the time to do so,” you say. “It’s how I got to be so normal around a knife —the sharp ones are the best, they cut right through the skin, and with enough force, the bones as well. I keep a little collection of bones at home.”

“Such interesting hobbies you have.”

You pick up two coffee bags and hum. “Thank you.”

His bowtie is crooked. You point to inform him and reach out to straighten it. Alastor jerks away and spins to reach into the shelf behind you. “I rather detest owing favors, and you have done me two,” he says, offering you an entirely different brand of coffee beans. “I suggest you try this one. It’s flavors are far richer.”

You offer your basket and Alastor drops it right in.

You eye his basket once more. “Will that be all you’re purchasing?”

He nods, smiling at you.

You smile back.

Well, isn’t this just lovely? Well-dressed gentlemen really are your favorite.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Charlie whips her head, mouth wide as she stares at you and then at Alastor. Angel Dust has an arm on his hips, his brows furrowed and mouth quirked to the side an awkward but rather cute frown. Sir Pentious’ hat squints at you with what you assume is confusion—you can’t really tell. Sir Pentious’s tongue sticks out of his bewildered and crooked frown. “Oh! How nice,” Charlie says after a beat. “So, you two know each other?”

“Partners,” you say

“Friends,” Alastor says

Your smile strains as you say, “To be called a friend by the Radio Demon is quite the honor.” Alastor wipes his monocle with a proud puff.

Angel Dust whistles, leaning on the railing with the first set of arms crossed, and the second propped on his hip. “Didn’t think Freak would be the type to have friends.”

“Neither did I!” You say with a loud laugh. “Well, that’s what I am – a f̵̼̎r̴͔̃i̶̦̍e̶͕͠ṋ̸̀d̶͚̋.” You smoothen your puffed-up feathers. “Apologies.”

More introductions are done. Charlie insists on giving Sir Pentious his first lesson on apology. It goes about as well as you think.

Charlie winces a bit “….Ooooookay,” she says and inhales to plaster a huge smile. “Why don’t we… uh… take a look at the kitchen!”

Angel Dust takes one look at Charlie’s enthusiasm, winces, and says he’s getting a drink.

Charlie’s death grip on Sir Pentious stays firm as you trudge to the kitchen. She stalls at every painting to explain its history, and introduces every crack on the wall, showing it off with an enthusiastic glee. Even the water-stained wallpaper gets its own special moment during the tour. (Where is that ill-mannered girl when you need her?)

You lag a few steps behind. “Alastor…”, you say as a greeting.

Alastor matches your pace, using his microphone as a cane. With the very tip of his fingers, he plucks a stray feather off your hair with a coy smile that reaches from ear to ear. “I’m sure you’ve been wondering how I’ve been fairing these last few years,” he says, spinning that microphone of his and waving his hand like some kind of street performer.

“Has it really been that long?”

“Yes, I know I’ve been absent for some time,” he starts. “It’s nothing serious; I assure you. It’s nothing I cannot handle as well.”

 “My goodness, and here I thought you were occupied at work.” Your teeth flash when you smile. “But in any case, it’s quite… kind… of you to soothe what little worry this friend might have for you.” Alastor and his microphone laugh at you, but you hum with satisfaction when his eyes narrow into a glare.

Charlie and Sir Pentious wave their hands, calling you from across the hall, and you hasten your steps.

The kitchen intimidates you. So many large and metallic machines. You’re sure it would be a living hell should you ever need to operate such an unorthodox set of appliances.

Copper-red tables fill the space, and similar colored cabinets stick to the wall. Such peculiar stoves they have in this establishment. There seems to be no space for the gas tank, nor a gas burner, just some flat glass with weird markings. You prefer the appliances stashed at your home.

“This…,” Charlie starts, winding her arms to a point, “…is the kitchen!”

Sir Pentious’ flaps extend, his arms rocking with excitement. “Such lovely metallic inventions.” He slithers to counter with a dip that appears to mimic some kind of skin. There’s some type of yellow liquid. “This bubbly torture deviccceeee is my favorite.”

“Uhhhhhh…I love that you love the kitchen appliance,” she says with an honestly gentle smile. “But that’s actually an oil fryer.” Charlie crosses her arm into a big ‘x’. “But no torturing is done here, no siree.”

“What a peculiar shape for an oil fryer to be,” you say, taking a look. Alastor glances over your shoulder to take a peek as well. “And there’s so much metal around—did you run out of paint, perhaps?”

Charlie frowns, her shoulder dropping low. “I’d love to add different colors to the machine, but Vaggie says it would take up too much money and time.”

Her frown lasts a second before she’s smiling again.

 “Oh oh oh! You should take a look around. See if there’s anything you might want to add.” Charlie drags you towards one of the cabinets at the back. “We each have a shelf dedicated to our own snacks, but I always love to leave cookies on the communal snack pantry.”

Charlie prattles on, introducing each section of the cabinet. You watch Alastor warily when he shows his teeth. He wiggles his fingers across the air, reaching towards the shelf where Charlie just mentioned Vaggie storing her personal snacks. You slam the cabinet door before he reaches them.

Soft static fills the kitchen air.

“Go on,” Charlie urges. “Take a look around – I know some species of Sinners have specific dietary needs.” She props a hand on her chin. “Like Angel! He can’t seem to be able to have any milk—I wonder why? But he just keeps drinking it anyway for some reason.”

Does the Princess of Hell not know what Lactose Intolerance is? Maybe because she’s never lived as a human. It’s quite humorous, you suppose. A hell-born trying to guide a human, with little to no insight about humanity. Could this be the reason why she’s so naively optimistic?

Sir Pentious’ smile widens, and so does his flap. “You’re… giving…me permission to poke around?”

“Er…yes?”

You open a random cabinet door, and huh…

On the shelf, towards the back, you have the same set of spices in your own kitchen. One of the bottles here has its label stained and fraying at the edges. Another bottle is nearing empty, and the corner of the cap has been chipped off. There was a time, when your own set of spices was stained with oil, and its label frayed because of the constant picking to the edges.

Yesterday, you threw out a set of unopened bottles of spices, its seal still clinging to the caps and brimming with unused flavor, and replaced it with the same set of sealed spices. It’s a waste of your money to keep throwing out something that you never use, but…but…you find it in your grocery basket every single time.

Alastor closes the cabinet with a gentle click.

Your smile fades, and he holds your gaze.

“You are shedding all over my kitchen floors.” Alastor presents you with a bundle of your feathers bunched up on his palm. His grin mocks you.

You turn away, heading where Charlie and Sir Pentious converse. You do not shed.

Alastor pops out of your shadow, towering over you as he inches closer. “Long day?” he says with a hum, that smile still on his face. “You don’t usually start molting until the mid-summer.”

“Oh yes,” you say with a hum, that frown still on your face. “This day has been quite long. How very generous of you to check up on this friend of yours.”

He holds the feathers he’s collected, examining them with a careful eye. “With this rate, you’ll be able to gift a whole pillow.”

Your frown deepens. “Lovely,” you murmur. “I’ll make sure to do so.”

Alastor twirls his microphone and lands it with a soft thunk. He studies you for a second. “Rosie’s last husband got eaten by a shark,” he says. “Not even a loan shark—just a proper dead shark. She swore vengeance on the creature for taking a bite before she had a chance to.”

“What?” you say, and you can’t help but chuckle. “Is that what happened to him? She would be so vague about it when I ask.”

Alastor draws a line along his face, mimicking a smile with his fingers. “Much better, indeed.”

Charlie insists on showing the view from the top of the Hotel. Her arms cross around your own as she chatters about everyone and everything. It’s refreshing to meet a soul as honest as hers.

The elevator ride is painfully slow. The music strains your ears, and this battered metal death box jerks with every floor.

Sir Pentious and his hat scowl at the ‘absolutely inferior ssssmmelting of this handle, Charlie’ and ‘this piss poor wiring. The endsss are not aligned to the proper sssssafety guidelineeeesss’ or something.

Charlie listens in on every word, nodding to indicate that she hears each and everyone. It makes you smile. Alastor picks at your stray feathers with the tip of his fingers, preening the areas you have difficulty reaching.

Moments too late, the elevator doors open with that heavenly ding.

“The view up here is helltastically a-mazing!” Charlie informs the group. “Alastor, you often hide up here or inside the radio tower. It’s really good, right?”

Alastor switches his hold on the microphone, swinging to catch it. “Quite helltastic indeed!” he says. “ I get to see the whole city underneath my very feet.”

Sir Pentious nods. “I, too, would love to sssseee the city underneath me!”

Alastor swings a door open, gesturing for the group to enter like a gentleman.  Charlie whispers an audible ‘awww’ at the sight and saunters right in. Sir Pentious follows along, slithering behind her.

He shuts the door when you take a step forward, separating you from Charlie and Sir Pentious.

There’s still that never ending smile on his lips as Alastor strides to the other end of the hallway, playing with his microphone. You follow behind in silence. Alastor opens a different door, and this time, you step through.

Alastor closes the door, leaving you and him together, alone, on this flimsy balcony. He beams at you, taking a step forward—

You slap him.

Radio static glitches from his microphone. There, on the corner of his cheek, you see the strain in his smile. His eyes harden into a glare, his nostrils flare, and his smile takes on the appearance of a snarl.

The air around you starts to gray with static. Symbols carve themselves into the space.

You slap him again, staring down at him.

“Is that all you came to do?” Alastor says to you with a low snarl, but the symbols dissolve and his antlers shrink.

You turn towards the view, propping a hand on your chin. “Such harsh words for a friend,” you say with a sarcastic smile. “It’s a wonder why you don’t have more with such a dazzling personality. At any rate, it’ll be impossible to find yourself a wife.”

His eyes twitch, and Alastor strikes the ground with his microphone. “Well, consider it an honor,” he says, inching closer, mimicking your smile. “Not many can say such words to me, much less be able to strike my flesh

“Maybe they should—someone certainly has to.”

Alastor still has a smile—he always has a smile. You watch as his eyes morph into radio dials, and the absolute audacity of that man to look at you like that.

Your feathers sharpen and crack at the sight. “D̷̝̈́o̷̞͊n̷̟̂'̷̗̏ť̵͔ ̴̱̀f̷̳̓u̴͍̓c̷̛͕ḳ̵͝ ̴̲̽w̸̞̑í̵̞t̴̼̐ḥ̷͝ ̵̫͌m̸̻̔e̸̡͘!— you never have, so don’t start. Don’t test me—not today, my deerest,” you say, hissing at him. 

“What is it that you want, exactly?” he says, glancing down at you. “Unless you are a child, I expect you to use your words.”

“You know I’m not just some friend — you do not allow yourself to make such connections. We’re partners,” you tell him, and you don’t know why you remind him when he should already know. Was it in fear that he forgot? “But you left without as much as a word.”

“Was it that I left? Or was it that I left you?” Alastor says with casualty as if to show you such dismissal, and oh…yes, your husband can be a cruel man, indeed. Time and sweet smiles made you forget.

You rub your hands on your face, taking one deep breath. “I want what I deserve—an explanation,” you say. “That’s all I need as your wife.”

It’s his silence that makes you turn away. 

“I see…” Your face falls. “Perhaps, it was a mistake to seek you out. A fool’s errand.”

You study the sinners below. The whole city really can be seen from underneath your very feet. (You ignore the trembling of your fists. You’re a doctor, for fucks sake. Your hands don’t tremble…at least, they never have before.) 

Hesitant, but gentle touches pick at your feathers. Alastor preens you with warm hands. “You are not a fool, my love,” he says. “I would not be yours if such were the case.”

You harden your heart for you cannot let this man see the cracks. “This is not what I wish to hear,” you say, voice steady.

Alastor does not answer you.

“Will you just stay silent every time?”

“Yes.”

Finally, you meet his gaze. You hold it as much as he holds yours. “ There is not a thing in this world that you do not do without reason,” you say slowly. “However,  I’m not sure if your silence is because you cannot or if it’s because you will not explain yourself to me. Which is it?”

There is nothing on his face that you can read, just a small steady smile that tells you nothing. “I will not.”

“I know you, my deerest, and I know that you’ve never once led me astray.” Your grip on the railing tightens painfully. This day has been long. “Then all I need is your word that you will return to me with that smile of yours when you’ve accomplished what you need to do.”

Alastor smiles at you, twirling his microphone. “We can even shake on it.”

You shake your head. “This is not a deal,” you say. “This is your wife demanding that you do so.”

“Then it shall be done,” Alastor says, inching close enough for his warmth to spread.  He turns to you and pokes his cheeks to indicate a smile. "You look much more radiant with one."

You bare your teeth at him, giving a dry smile. “Much better?”

“Indeed.”

You study the sinners below once more, but this time your hands stay steady next to Alastor’s own. Well, Charlie was correct, the view is helltastic. The entertainment district blinds you, but only for a second. And when you sharpen your vision, you can faintly make out acid clouds forming on the outskirts of the city. You should have grabbed an umbrella on your way out.

“I heard you on the radio today,” you say.

He glances at you, his smile widening ever so slightly with smugness. “And you came all this way for me?”

“Well, that is what good friends do for each other.”

Alastor points his nose to the air with a huff.

“I only jest, my deerest,” you say, chuckling at him. “ I came all the way here to see if I’ve been widowed a second time, or just dumped like a common rag.”

“Is that so?”Alastor hums with dissatisfaction. “I’m sure you mentioned something about not noticing such a long disappearance.”

You hold his gaze, inching your hand to cup his cheek. You stop inches above his skin, and your palm hovers enough for Alastor to feel the warmness you hold on your hands. “Don’t pout, my deer,” you tell him, softly, oh so very soft as you caress the air. “Of course, I noticed your absence.” 

You clap your hands together with the brightest and most innocent smile you can muster.

“But if I told you that, my deerest,” you start, “I feared that big head of yours would implode if I fed your ego.”

Alastor laughs, and his real voice bleeds in as he does. “That humor of yours has been my most wonderful companion all these years.”

You smile with satisfaction. “My, my, you make such fine compliments.”

His smile relaxes. “I do, indeed!”

“Just as you say that my humor makes a fine companion,” you say as you laugh, bright and heavy, “that smile of yours has been mine.”

A knock breaks the moment.

The door swings open, slow and hesitant. Charlie pokes her head, and her hair droops to the sideways. Behind her, Sir Pentious waves at you. You wave back.

“Oooooooohhhh….yikes,” Charlie says, shrinking deeper into the door. “Am I interrupting? I could just go an—”

“Not at all my dear,” you say. “Come right in. You have such a lovely view, and things like this are better when shared.”

Charlie swings the door wider, sauntering right in, and grabs your hand, squeezing it. “You could live here as well!” she says. Behind her, Sir Pentious nods with the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen. “We accept everyone.”

You flicker your gaze to Alastor. “I already have a home,” you find yourself saying. “And this place is far too close to the city. So much honking and blasting aren’t good for my ears.”

Charlie pouts, but she doesn’t press you.

The view is better when shared. Charlie points at every detail and explains everything you see. The sky darkens to a red, and too soon, it’s time to leave.

There’s a warm, but firm, hand resting on your back when you walk out the door, down the hall, and into the elevator. Alastor keeps his hands steady, even when you reach the common room.

Vaggie is the first to greet your group—well, it’s more appropriate to say she greets Charlie, and you just happen to be there. There’s a bag by her feet. “I was able to find the costumes you need for the exercise,” she says. “Even the giant lollipop is here.��

Charlie squeals. “Thank you thank you thank you!” Her excited gaze filters to you. “I have this wonderful game in mind, and then we could fo a bit of some of that good ol’ roleplay.” Angel Dust quirks a smile from the couch. “You should totally sta—”

“I’m afraid not,” Alastor says, drumming his fingers on his microphone. “I think it’s time for our visitor to head home. She’s had quite a long day.”

“Oh, of course. No worries!” Charlie says, giving you a bright smile—a real genuine and honest smile. “Feel free to come by anytime. The Hazbin Hotel’s doors will always be open should you change your mind.”

Vaggie scratches her face. “Before you go, I want to apologize for this afternoon,” she says. “It wasn’t right of me to be so hostile—I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, my dear. I understand,” you say quickly, ignoring the static behind you. “You were protecting something you cared about. I find great value in those who do.”

Vaggie smiles, and maybe she’s not too bad after all. “Thank you.”

From the couch, Angel Dust props his legs and waves at you. “And you’re welcome to open these doors any day.”

Alastor leads you to the door. You wave back at Niffty and Sir Pentious, whose eyes water as he frowns. Alastor’s hand stays firm as you trudge down the hill, past the rusted gate, into the city, and to the correct bust stop.

“You sure know how to find the most interesting groups of people, my deer,” you say. “Charlie and that hotel of hers are wonderful.”

Alastor adjusts his monocle. “Well, you know me. I see potential, and I follow it wherever it leads.”

“Should I be worried?” you say, chuckling. “The last time you saw potential, it ended with us married.”

“Not at all, my love.”

“You should continue to stay at the hotel,” you find yourself saying. “There’s just something about it—I think you’ll pick up quite a lot from your time there.”

His bowtie is crooked. You point to inform him, and reach out to straighten it. Alastor inches closer. The fabric is smooth underneath your touch. There’s stray lint on the shoulder of his coat, and you brush that away. You grab the lapes and adjust its fit, smoothing the fabric beneath your fingers.

“Much better?” he asks.

“Indeed,” you say, softly.

“I will see you soon,” he says, and you hear the unspoken promise and question hidden beneath his words.

“Good.”

Alastor tilts your chin with the tips of fingers. (And oh…oh. His gloves are off, and his hands are warmer than ever) He presses his lips on your cheek.

That blasted bus arrives too soon. You step inside, but turn to your husband and say, “Next time, when you disappear for several years, I expect to be informed and not just left with a vague note,” you say with a huff. “And when you return, I also expect to be the first to be informed.”

“Of course.”

“See to it that you keep your word.”

The bus door closes, and you take your seat. You smile to yourself and lean back on the crusty bus fabric. Patting your pocket, you take out a single gold band, slipping it on your finger.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

That habit of recklessness in moments of excitement was something your father hoped you’d grow out of. Thinking things through never really was one of your many strengths when such an exhilarating opportunity presents itself.

You scold yourself for not double-checking for gloves. Measure twice, cut one, and all that. But no matter, you’ll push through as always, clawing and digging to unearth the treasure left behind.

Your scalpel fits into your palms. Throughout this Earth, no… not just Earth, but Heaven and Hell as well, nothing will ever be as perfect.

You sigh, breathy and exhilarated, and begin.

‘First, do no harm’

But this…this does not harm a single living being.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

If you guys know who Olivia and Stolar are, that's what I imagine when I think about the reader's hair. Also, maybe some of you noticed, but I'm very relaxed when it comes to formatting my writing. Its why I use quite a lot of ellipses and em dashes and utilize italics and spaces. But the one thing I was very strict about was not to use the word, "miss". So there are no "You miss..." and "I miss..." But the words are there and spoken beneath actions and thoughts, hidden and unspoken, but known. My inbox is always open because I'd like to know what your favorite unspoken "I miss you" is/are. I have my own favorite ones as well.

#alastor x reader #Alastor x wife!reader #hazbin hotel x you #alastor x you #alastor the radio demon #alastor hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #Hazbin x reader #Hazbin Hotel imagines #Hazbin imagines #Hazbin Hotel x reader #alastor #alastor x wife reader

[comicaurora]

As someone who might be interested to make their own webcomic one day: Why did you decide to put Aurora on its own dedicated website instead of a platform like Webtoon or Tapas?

Don't get me wrong, the site looks great but it gotta be a lot of work to maintain, right?

It was a couple week's worth of work to set up and polish, and I've had to do very minor adjustments every couple months. In return I don't need to deal with ads, I don't need to conform my story or layout to any sort of site standard, I haven't been locked into any publishing arrangements and I can customize the site however I want. For me, that's an easy trade.

When the channel started getting big several years back, we started getting approached by multichannel networks asking to absorb us in exchange for guaranteed clicks. We decided very early on that we weren't going to do that, in large part because even the multichannel networks that weren't scams were at all times one executive decision away from exploding and taking all their subsidiaries down with them. We saw it happen to Machinima, and recent years have seen even more cases where one boss's boss's boss who doesn't know what they're doing absolutely wrecks everyone's arrangement - like how Unity spontaneously destroyed everyone's trust in them by trying to retroactively charge game devs for user downloads of their game, or how the Escapist fired the one guy who was holding their channel together, or when CollegeHumor got corporate-mandatedly forced into pivoting to Facebook video and then everyone got fired when that turned out to be a terrible idea, or even the whole Channel Awesome thing. Big conglomerates of small indie creators tend to catastrophically explode on the regular, scattering those creators to the winds and potentially destroying the archive of their work.

We've even seen social media platforms thought of as solid staples of the online landscape start withering away because one idiot buys them out and starts chewing on cables. People whose entire professional networking presence is on Twitter have had a really rough year.

From my perspective, centralizing the world's webcomics into two or three baskets is a really good way to lose all of them at once. Also I put all this work into never having to deal with a boss, and it would be weird to go out of my way to change that.

#asks #behind the curtain

[mindblowingscience]

Overdose prevention centers, where individuals can consume illicit drugs under the observation of trained staff, are not associated with significant increases in crime, a new study finds. When the researchers compared syringe service programs in New York City with two programs that were recently sanctioned by city officials to offer supervised drug consumption, they found no significant increases in crimes recorded by the police or calls for emergency service in the surrounding neighborhoods. The findings, which are published in JAMA Network Open, come as plans to open overdose prevention centers proceed in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, and not long after lawmakers in Philadelphia passed a preemptive measure to ban these types of centers, says coauthor Brandon del Pozo, an assistant professor (research) at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School and School of Public Health. “What this data shows is that if a neighborhood benefits from an established syringe service program, then adding the service of supervised drug consumption is not likely to increase reported crime, disorder complaints, or related calls to 311 and 911,” del Pozo says.

Continue Reading.

#Health #Sociology #Overdose Prevention #Crime #USA

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This is your brain on fraud apologetics

In 1998, two Stanford students published a paper in Computer Networks entitled “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” in which they wrote, “Advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers.”

https://research.google/pubs/pub334/

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

The co-authors were Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin, and the “large-scale hypertextual web search-engine” they were describing was their new project, which they called “Google.” They were 100% correct — prescient, even!

On Wednesday night, a friend came over to watch some TV with us. We ordered out. We got scammed. We searched for a great local Thai place we like called Kiin and clicked a sponsored link for a Wix site called “Kiinthaila.com.” We should have clicked the third link down (kiinthaiburbank.com).

We got scammed. The Wix site was a lookalike for Kiin Thai, which marked up their prices by 15% and relayed the order to our local, mom-and-pop, one-branch restaurant. The restaurant knew it, too — they called us and told us they were canceling the order, and said we could still come get our food, but we’d have to call Amex to reverse the charge.

As it turned out, the scammers double-billed us for our order. I called Amex, who advised us to call back in a couple days when the charge posted to cancel it — in other words, they were treating it as a regular customer dispute, and not a systemic, widespread fraud (there’s no way this scammer is just doing this for one restaurant).

In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor hassle, but boy, it’s haunting to watch the quarter-century old prophecy of Brin and Page coming true. Search Google for carpenters, plumbers, gas-stations, locksmiths, concert tickets, entry visas, jobs at the US Post Office or (not making this up) tech support for Google products, and the top result will be a paid ad for a scam. Sometimes it’s several of the top ads.

This kind of “intermediation” business is actually revered in business-schools. As Douglas Rushkoff has written, the modern business wisdom reveres “going meta” — not doing anything useful, but rather, creating a chokepoint between people who do useful things and people who want to pay for those things, and squatting there, collecting rent:

https://rushkoff.medium.com/going-meta-d42c6a09225e

It’s the ultimate passive income/rise and grind side-hustle: It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover a whole festering nest of creeps on Tiktok talking about how they pay Mechanical Turks to produce these lookalike sites at scale.

This mindset is so pervasive that people running companies with billions in revenue and massive hoards of venture capital run exactly the same scam. During lockdown, companies like Doordash, Grubhub and Uber Eats stood up predatory lookalike websites for local restaurants, without their consent, and played monster-in-the-middle, tricking diners into ordering through them:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/19/we-are-beautiful/#man-in-the-middle

These delivery app companies were playing a classic enshittification game: first they directed surpluses to customers to lock them in (heavily discounting food), then they directed surplus to restaurants (preferential search results, free delivery, low commissions) — then, having locked in both consumers and producers, they harvested the surplus for themselves.

Today, delivery apps charge massive premiums to both eaters and restaurants, load up every order with junk fees, and clone the most successful restaurants out of ghost kitchens — shipping containers in parking lots crammed with low-waged workers cranking out orders for 15 different fake “virtual restaurants”:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/01/autophagic-buckeyes/#subsidized-autophagia

Delivery apps speedran the enshittification cycle, but Google took a slower path to get there. The company has locked in billions of users (e.g. by paying billions to be the default search on Safari and Firefox and using legal bullying to block third party Android device-makers from pre-installing browsers other than Chrome). For years, it’s been leveraging our lock-in to prey on small businesses, getting them to set up Google Business Profiles.

These profiles are supposed to help Google distinguish between real sellers and scammers. But Kiin Thai has a Google Business Profile, and searching for “kiin thai burbank” brings up a “Knowledge Panel” with the correct website address — on a page that is headed with a link to a scam website for the same business. Google, in other words, has everything it needs to flag lookalike sites and confirm them with their registered owners. It would cost Google money to do this — engineer-time to build and maintain the system, content moderator time to manually check flagged listings, and lost ad-revenue from scammers — but letting the scams flourish makes Google money, at the expense of Google users and Google business customers.

Now, Google has an answer for this: they tell merchants who are being impersonated by ad-buying scammers that all they need to do is outbid them for the top ad-spot. This is a common approach — Amazon has a $31b/year “ad business” that’s mostly its own platform sellers bidding against each other to show you fake results for your query. The first five screens of Amazon search results are 50% ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/#relentless-payola

This is “going meta,” so naturally, Meta is doing it too: Facebook and Instagram have announced a $12/month “verification” badge that will let you report impersonation and tweak the algorithm to make it more likely that the posts you make are shown to the people who explicitly asked to see them:

https://www.vox.com/recode/2023/2/21/23609375/meta-verified-twitter-blue-checkmark-badge-instagram-facebook

The corollary of this, of course, is that if you don’t pay, they won’t police your impersonators, and they won’t show your posts to the people who asked to see them. This is pure enshittification — the surplus from users and business customers is harvested for the benefit of the platform owners:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

The idea that merchants should master the platforms as a means of keeping us safe from their impersonators is a hollow joke. For one thing, the rules change all the time, as the platforms endlessly twiddle the knobs that determine what gets shown to whom:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

And they refuse to tell anyone what the rules are, because if they told you what the rules were, you’d be able to bypass them. Content moderation is the only infosec domain where “security through obscurity” doesn’t get laughed out of the room:

https://doctorow.medium.com/como-is-infosec-307f87004563

Worse: the one thing the platforms do hunt down and exterminate with extreme prejudice is anything that users or business-customers use to twiddle back — add-ons and plugins and jailbreaks that override their poor choices with better ones:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378541/the-og-app-instagram-clone-pulled-from-app-store

As I was submitting complaints about the fake Kiin scam-site (and Amex’s handling of my fraud call) to the FTC, the California Attorney General, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and Wix, I wrote a little Twitter thread about what a gross scam this is:

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1628948906657878016

The thread got more than two million reads and got picked up by Hacker News and other sites. While most of the responses evinced solidarity and frustration and recounted similar incidents in other domains, a significant plurality of the replies were scam apologetics — messages from people who wanted to explain why this wasn’t a problem after all.

The most common of these was victim-blaming: “you should have used an adblocker” or “never click the sponsored link.” Of course, I do use an ad-blocker — but this order was placed with a mobile browser, after an absentminded query into the Google search-box permanently placed on the home screen, which opens results in Chrome (where I don’t have an ad-blocker, so I can see material behind an ad-blocker-blocker), not Firefox (which does have an ad-blocker).

Now, I also have a PiHole on my home LAN, which blocks most ads even in a default browser — but earlier this day, I’d been on a public wifi network that was erroneously blocking a website (the always excellent superpunch.net) so I’d turned my wifi off, which meant the connection came over my phone’s 5G connection, bypassing the PiHole:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/28/shut-yer-pi-hole/

“Don’t click a sponsored link” — well, the irony here is that if you habitually use a browser with an ad-blocker, and you backstop it with a PiHole, you never see sponsored links, so it’s easy to miss the tiny “Sponsored” notification beside the search result. That goes double if you’re relaxing with a dinner guest on the sofa and ordering dinner while chatting.

There’s a name for this kind of security failure: the Swiss Cheese Model. We all have multiple defenses (in my case: foreknowledge of Google’s ad-scam problem, an ad-blocker in my browser, LAN-wide ad sinkholing). We also have multiple vulnerabilities (in my case: forgetting I was on 5G, being distracted by conversation, using a mobile device with a permanent insecure search bar on the homescreen, and being so accustomed to ad-blocked results that I got out of the habit of checking whether a result was an ad).

If you think you aren’t vulnerable to scams, you’re wrong — and your confidence in your invulnerability actually increases your risk. This isn’t the first time I’ve been scammed, and it won’t be the last — and every time, it’s been a Swiss Cheese failure, where all the holes in all my defenses lined up for a brief instant and left me vulnerable:

https://locusmag.com/2010/05/cory-doctorow-persistence-pays-parasites/

Other apologetics: “just call the restaurant rather than using its website.” Look, I know the people who say this don’t think I have a time-machine I can use to travel back to the 1980s and retrieve a Yellow Pages, but it’s hard not to snark at them, just the same. Scammers don’t just set up fake websites for your local businesses — they staff them with fake call-centers, too. The same search that takes you to a fake website will also take you to a fake phone number.

Finally, there’s “What do you expect Google to do? They can’t possibly detect this kind of scam.” But they can. Indeed, they are better situated to discover these scams than anyone else, because they have their business profiles, with verified contact information for the merchants being impersonated. When they get an ad that seems to be for the same business but to a different website, they could interrupt the ad process to confirm it with their verified contact info.

Instead, they choose to avoid the expense, and pocket the ad revenue. If a company promises to “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” I think we have the right to demand these kinds of basic countermeasures:

https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/our-approach/

The same goes for Amex: when a merchant is scamming customers, they shouldn’t treat complaints as “chargebacks” — they should treat them as reports of a crime in progress. Amex has the bird’s eye view of their transaction flow and when a customer reports a scam, they can backtrack it to see if the same scammer is doing this with other merchants — but the credit card companies make money by not chasing down fraud:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosalindadams/mastercard-visa-fraud

Wix also has platform-scale analytics that they could use to detect and interdict this kind of fraud — when a scammer creates a hundred lookalike websites for restaurants and uses Wix’s merchant services to process payments for them, that could trigger human review — but it didn’t.

Where do all of these apologetics come from? Why are people so eager to leap to the defense of scammers and their adtech and fintech enablers? Why is there such an impulse to victim-blame?

I think it’s fear: in their hearts, people — especially techies — know that they, too, are vulnerable to these ripoffs, but they don’t want to admit it. They want to convince themselves that the person who got scammed made an easily avoidable mistake, and that they themselves will never make a similar mistake.

This is doubly true for readerships on tech-heavy forums like Twitter or (especially) Hacker News. These readers know just how many vulnerabilities there are — how many holes are in their Swiss cheese — and they are also overexposed to rise-and-grind/passive income rhetoric.

This produces a powerful cognitive dissonance: “If all the ‘entrepreneurs’ I worship are just laying traps for the unwary, and if I am sometimes unwary, then I’m cheering on the authors of my future enduring misery.” The only way to resolve this dissonance — short of re-evaluating your view of platform capitalism or questioning your own immunity to scams — is to blame the victim.

The median Hacker News reader has to somehow resolve the tension between “just install an adblocker” and “Chrome’s extension sandbox is a dumpster fire and it’s basically impossible to know whether any add-on you install can steal every keystroke and all your other data”:

https://mattfrisbie.substack.com/p/spy-chrome-extension

In my Twitter thread, I called this “the worst of all possible timelines.” Everything we do is mediated by gigantic, surveillant monopolists that spy on us comprehensively from asshole to appetite — but none of them, not a 20th century payment giant nor a 21st century search giant — can bestir itself to use that data to keep us safe from scams.

Next Thu (Mar 2) I'll be in Brussels for Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy, along with a who's-who of European and US trustbusters. It's livestreamed, and both in-person and virtual attendance are free:

https://www.brusselsconference.com/registration

On Fri (Mar 3), I'll be in Graz for the Elevate Festival:

https://elevate.at/diskurs/programm/event/e23doctorow/

[Image ID: A modified version of Hieronymus Bosch's painting 'The Conjurer,' which depicts a scam artist playing a shell-game for a group of gawking rubes. The image has been modified so that the scam artist's table has a Google logo and the pea he is triumphantly holding aloft bears the 'Sponsored' wordmark that appears alongside Google search results.]

#pluralistic #victim blaming #fraud #going meta #douglas rushkoff #ad-tech #local search #wix #amex #thai food #business #rent-seeking #entrepreneurship #passive income #chokepoint capitalism #platform lawyers

[dailyadventureprompts]

Alright, guess it’s time to address the apocalyptic legal elephant in the room:

For those who might not know, WotC plans were leaked to “update” the OGL in what is basically a scorched earth policy with regards to 3rd party material/creators in the hopes of cutting out the competition and forcing people to use their new products. 

As someone who lived through the 4th edition/pathfinder schism, the situation is laughably similar:  D&D is flourishing more than it ever has (thanks primarily to the OGL) but the execs at Hasbro want more of the money spent on the hobby to wind up in their pockets. Oblivious to the fact that the opensource nature of the game is what draws people to it,  they task the design team with creating a proprietary virtual tabletop through which they can sell d&d content without having to worry about books or pdfs being pirated. This rightfully outrages the fandom and burns every scrap of good will they had towards WotC, resulting in a dead edition that’s maligned years afterword as folks hop to the newer, easier game system. 

The thing that’s different this time is that the d&d playerbase has grown exponentially since the days of the first OGL, with 5th edition being the easiest version of the game to run/pick up and so many resources online, there’s almost no barrier to entry besides finding a stable/accommodating group.   Hell, with the explosive popularity of liveplay series you don’t even need to be actively playing in order to be in the fandom.  All of these people are networked together in a fandom hivemind spread across twitter/reddit/youtube and WotC just made an enemy of every single one of them with its shameless and destructive cashgrab.  No streamer or 3rd party publisher wants to give Hasbro 25% of their revenue, to say nothing of having their project “cancelled” if WotC sees it as a threat to any of their current projects ( see the huge number of spelljammer materials published after the company dropped the ball). 

It took about two years after the announcement of 4th edition for Paizo to come out with pathfinder, and I have no doubt the OGL leak kickstarted every major 3rd party publisher brainstorming some legally distinct version of the 5e ruleset. In the coming months I expect to see a number of these surrogate systems floating around the internet in much the same way that the onednd playtest content, but spurred on with the added “fuck you Hasbro” energy. After that, it’s only a matter of time till one of the big streamers picks up one of these systems and popularizes it, not wanting to pay the 25%tithe to WotC. Personally my money’s on Critical Role: they were one of the major factors in popularizing 5th edition and they’ve got the fandom pull to legitimize any claimant to the throne. 

To step away from playing oracle for a bit, I’d like to finish up this post by dunking on WotC:  

*ahem*

HOW FUCKING DUMB TO YOU HAVE TO BE TO TURN YOUR ENTIRE CUSTOMER BASE AGAINST YOU IN ONE NIGHT? This is some new coke/Reynolds pamphlet/invading Russia in winter levels of shooting yourself in the foot. Wizards was on shaky ground to begin with given that they’re coming off a series of notably disappointing products AND trying to launch a new edition/virtual tabletop/battlepass system, but to follow that up with a retroactive rules change that lets them outright steal from or shut down creators? It’s laughable.  Maybe, MAYBE they could have made this work if they were knocking it out of the park with new releases every year and cultivating a base of diehard WotC loyalists, but the fact of the matter is that aside from the brand name, the hobby has largely passed them by. Everything that Wizards does, from player options to settings to monsters to rules modules, someone else does better because they’re willing to take risks and put in the effort. Aside from the elegant simplicity of 5e’s base system, I can count maybe two pieces of actual game design (piety from Theros, ship combat from Saltmash) that I consider usable at my table, which is SAYING SOMETHING considering we’re nearing the end of the game’s ten year golden age. 

I know we’ll weather this storm, we always have, and regardless of what happens I still know my friends and I will enjoy gathering around the table and slinging dice even though we might not be playing “dungeons and dragons” in a couple years time.  I’ll keep my eye on the horizon, and let you know where I find safe harbour.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #dm advice #dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #one d&d #dapper digresses #ogl #ogl 1.1 #hasbro #critical role #open d&d #opend&d

[adultads25]

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The adult industry faces its share of challenges, including restrictions and regulations. This section addresses common hurdles and provides strategies for navigating challenges while maintaining a successful online presence.

The Future of Adult Website Marketing

As technology and societal norms evolve, so does the landscape of adult website marketing. This section explores emerging trends and technologies in the adult industry, offering insights into how businesses can prepare for the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, maximizing ROI for adult site traffic requires a comprehensive and strategic approach. By understanding the dynamics of the industry, harnessing the power of platforms like 7search PPC, and staying attuned to emerging trends, businesses can create effective marketing strategies that resonate with their target audience.

#adult website traffic #adult marketing #adult traffic networks #adult website marketing #adult ads publisher

[reasonsforhope]

"The search has intensified for alternative energy-saving technologies for heating and cooling that don’t run on fossil fuels.

Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, Chinese scientists have developed a cheap energy-efficient, cost-effective coating on houses.

They say the new material could keep buildings cool in the summer or warm in the winter without using additional energy.

“Many desert creatures have specialized adaptations to allow them to survive in harsh environments with large daily temperature shifts,” said Dr. Fuqiang Wang, author on the paper describing the invention and researcher at the Harbin Institute of Technology. “For example, the Namaqua chameleon of southwestern Africa alters its color to regulate its body temperature as conditions change.”

Pictured: A Namaqua Chameleon

...Many systems, such as cooling paints or colored steel tiles, are only designed to keep buildings either cool or warm, and can’t switch between modes.

Inspired by the Namaqua chameleon, Dr. Wang and his colleagues wanted to create a color-shifting coating that adapts as outside temperatures fluctuate...

When heated to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the surface began to change from dark to light grey. Once it reached 86F, the light-colored film reflected up to 93% of solar radiation.

“Even when heated above 175 degrees Fahrenheit for an entire day, the material showed no signs of damage,” reported Dr. Wang.

The team then tested it alongside three conventional coatings—regular white paint, a passive radiative cooling paint, and blue steel tiles in outdoor tests on doghouse-sized buildings throughout all four seasons...

In summer, the new coating was significantly cooler than the white paint and steel tiles, according to the findings published in the journal Nano Letters.

“During spring and fall, the new coating was the only system that could adapt to the widely fluctuating temperature changes, switching from heating to cooling throughout the day,” Dr. Wang added.

The researchers say that the color-changing system could save a “considerable” amount of energy for regions that experience multiple seasons, while still being inexpensive and easy to manufacture."

-via Good News Network, September 21, 2023

#chameleon #extreme heat #climate adaptation #architecture #green architecture #saving energy #climate crisis #global warming #sustainability #solarpunk #good news #hope #biomimicry #air conditioning

[djaxadserverblog]

How Adtech Will Change the Future of Shopping - dJAX

Adtech is also known as advertising technology that rapidly changing the way we shop online. As technology continues to advance, Advertisers can reach their consumers more effectively. Here are some of the potential ways that Adtech is likely to change the future of shopping

Personalized ads

Personalized ads help advertisers by allowing them to deliver targeted messages to specific audiences. By gathering data on a consumer's behavior, preferences, and interests, geo, household incomes etc., advertisers or marketers can create personalized ads that are more relevant and engaging to their audience. A consumer is more likely to pay attention to and engage with personalised advertisments, because it is catered with their interests and preferences. This may leads to high click-through rates, conversion rates, and high brand engagements and awarenress. Personalized ads have high convertion rate when compared to traditional advertising because of more targted and relevant to audiences. This means that advertisers will be able to spend their advertising budget more efficiently and achieve a higher return on investment (ROI).

Advertisers can also gain more valuable insights from campaigns includes collecting data on consumer behaviour, interests, and preferences. This can make advertisers to make wise descion on their their marketing strategy and developing products and services that better meet their customers' needs. Consumers are more likely to engage with brands that they believe understand their needs and preferences, so personalised ads can help to build brand loyalty. This can lead to retention of customer and improves brand loyalty

Augmented Reality:

Retailers can showcase products to customers with AR technology. Augmented reality allow customers to visualize their products before purchasing them. This is more useful for those who do businesses in clothing industry, furniture industry, shoe sellers, where customers want to see how their products fit their needs. Augmented reality is already making shopping more interactive and immersive in the future. AR is a technology that superimposes digital images/objects on the real world, creating a hybrid environment with which users can interact.

Advertisers can use augmented reality to create personalised shopping experiences by customising product recommendations and marketing messages based on person's preferences and behaviour. AR can be used to enhance the in-store shopping experience, providing additional information and context for the products. For example, an AR app could provide detailed product information when a user points their smartphone at a product.

Virtual showrooms can be created using AR technology which allows customers to explore and interact with products in a virtual space. This will be extremely useful for large furniture items that are difficult to display in a physical store.

Voice-activated shopping:

With Adtech, The rise of smart home assistants like alexa, siri, google home etc., making it possible for consumers to shop using voice commands. This leads to be a game-changer for the future of shopping, making it more convenient and accessible for consumers.

Influencer marketing:

Adtech is making it trouble free for brands to partner with social media influencers to promote their products/services. This type of marketing can be particularly effective with younger generations who are more likely to trust recommendations from social media celebrities. By partnering with social media influencers, advertisers or marketers can increase brand awareness and reach a wider audience with smart budget. Influencers have large followings on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, facebook and their followers often trust their recommendations and opinions. Influencers are often seen as more authentic and trustable than traditional media advertising. This can help to build trust and credibility with consumers, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Interactive ads:

Advertisers or Marketers can create interactive ads with adtech which allows consumers to engage with the brand in new ways. For example, a shoe brand could create an ad with the help of advertisers that allows consumers to try on different kind of shoes using augmented reality. Users are more likely to remember an ad which they have interacted with than a traditional ad. This can help to improve brand recall and increase the effectiveness of the advertising campaign

Adtech is more likely to revolutionize the way we shop today. It will become more personalised, convenient, and engaging for consumers/users in the future. However in future privacy and data protection will be a biggest threat that need to be addressed.

Want to keep up-to-date with the latest developments and trends in the ad tech industry? Follow our dJAX adserver technology blog for regular updates, insights, and analysis.

#adtech #ad network #advertisers #publishers #technology #software #publisher #adexchange #adserver #advertising #publishing