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where-theres-smoak-2 · 5 years ago

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Riverdale 4x18 Review, Analysis and Theories

I’ve finally watched the episode and I’ve got alot of thoughts about it. To be honest it went pretty much the way I thought it would, mostly. We’ve been given some more information and a whole lot more questions. There were four plotlines in the episode, two main ones and two sideplots, so I figured we could go through each one and unpack them to see what clues we’ve been left this time. So if you want to read an analysis of the episode and get my opinions and theories then read on below the tag. As always these are just my own opinions you are welcome to disagree also there are spoilers obviously.

Jughead, Charles and the Video Tapes.

So the first plotline I want to talk about is the one where Jughead and Charles are invesitgating the tapes. The episode starts out with Jughead showing Betty, Alice and Charles the newest videotape that he found at the end of the last episode. A couple of sidenotes here which aren’t all that relevant but I figured I’d mention anyway. I love how protective everyone was of Jelly Bean. Even Charles who stood up to block the her view of the tv. But also where was FP? I feel like this is something he should be included in so it was a bit odd that he was missing from the scene. They could have at least mentioned him like said he was investigating it from the station or something. Anyway getting back to it. Jughead asks Betty if she wants to help him look into the tape but Betty says she doesn’t want to get pulled into another mystery. This is when Charles decides to suggest that Jughead and he could investigate it together. I loved that Charles called Jug little brother. I just thought it was really sweet. Also I would like to see more of the Jones/Cooper/Smith family interactions. Whilst we’ve gotten a decent amount of Charles/Betty and Charles/Jughead sibling bonding moments we haven’t gotten as many with Charles and his parents and other than this brief one I don’t think we’ve had any with Jelly Bean and Charles so I wouldn’t object to seeing those relationships developed a little more. Also I would like to point out that while it was really nice that Charles is always offering for Betty and Jughead to help him out with the investigation, I can’t help but think that Charles has an ulterior motive for this. I mentioned in my theory post about Charles and the video tapes (which you can read here if you want) that I think Charles sees Betty and Jughead as loose cannons. When they first meet Charles he says something like ‘I hear you two are quite the detective duo.’ Or something along those lines. I actually think Charles keeps asking for their help so that he can keep an eye on what they’re doing and make sure they don’t do anything to mess up the FBI’s own investigation into the tapes. I mean think about it, if Charles gets them working with him then he knows where they are and what they are doing, so he knows they aren’t gallivanting around town getting themselves into all kinds of mischief, classic big brother move.

Through Charles we learn that there are two drop off boxes where people can turn in the tapes they recieve. One at the Sheriff station and one at the FBI office. They are both monitored with cctv cameras but there are hours upon hours of footage so Jughead and Charles decide to make some popcorn and go through all the footage in the hopes they can find some clue as to who left the murder video tape. Also can I just say that this episode made me remember why I love Jughead there were just so many little moments that were, well I don’t know how else to describe them other than they were very Jughead. Like I don’t know what was funnier that Jughead’s response to facing hours of footage seraching for a potential killer is ‘do you have popcorn?’ or the fact that yes the FBI does have popcorn. Maybe its just me but I just got a chuckle out of that. Anyway while going through the footage Jughead does spot someone he knows and decides to follow the lead alone. Of course we learn that Ethel is the person he sees leaving a tape behind. But before we get into that I want to talk about something else I noticed. When Jug is leaving the camera pans down to show us Charles’ laptop with the cctv footage. Now they had to have done this for a reason there had to have been something in that segment of cctv that is important to the plot. The footage is very grainy and sped up but we see a woman enter the building. She walks down the hall, appears to stop briefly to talk to whoever is at the desk at the end of the hall, This person seems to gesture around the corner. The woman disappears around the corner and then a few moments later reappears, walks back towards the camera and leaves. I managed to grab a couple of screenshots of this footage.

If you’ve read my last theory post where I talk about theories around both Charles and the Voyeur (the one I linked above) then you will know I have a theory that Donna is the one behind the tapes and also the one who is wearing the Betty mask. Now I know the image is really grainy but to me this looks like a female with long dark hair who is wearing a jacket and trousers very similar in style to what Donna wears. Her build also seems very similar to Donna’s aswell. I mean...

I’m just saying the woman in the cctv, the woman in the betty mask and Donna all look real similar to me. As for why Charles didn’t recognise her, well as we can see the image isn’t the best, it was sped up and he could have been distracted by Jug saying he saw someone he knew. We don’t see where he is looking so for all we know he might have been watching Jug leave and not at the computer screen, point is he could have just missed it. Also another thing worth noting is that right before the footage is shown Charles asks ‘do you recognise someone?’ Obviously he is directing the question at Jughead but it could also be the writers way of asking us the same question, do we the viewer recognise someone in this footage.

So Jughead goes off and talks to Ethel about the tapes and she says she was just dropping off the tapes that had been left on her doorstep, that they contained the same as all the others, static footage of her home. She gets upset when Jughead tells her that one of the tapes was different and asks if she knows anything about it. One thing I will say is her line ‘I’m just trying to make it out of Riverdale in one piece.’ really resonated. Like it really makes you think how much crap these kids have gone through with all the murders and cults. It is almost like its more of an achievement for them to reach adulthood than normal because so many of them could have been killed by one of the many serial killers that have rampaged through the town. Also I feel like a lot of the kids in Riverdale see college as being a way to escape from Riverdale.

After talking to Ethel Jughead comes up with the idea that maybe the Voyeur is a film maker, so he and Charles hit the video store. I do love the store owners line when Charles asks if any of his customers were acting suspicious and he replies ‘they all act suspicious.’ I do think the writers might be having a little laugh with us here because its very true for Riverdale as a whole, like every character on this show acts shady as hell most of the time. The store owner gives them their records and they discover that Ethel has rented the horror movie Friday the 13th sixteen times. Charles then tells Jughead that he considers Ethel to be a prime suspect as she has a predilection for horror movies, was seen dropping off a tape and as per Jughead’s admission an obsession with him. But Jughead clearly doesn’t want to upset the progress Ethel seems to have made and points out that he doesn’t think she would have the equipment for it and tells Charles to drop it. When he’s next at school Jughead goes to the office to get info on the AV club, the members of which would have access to the equipment needed to make the video tapes. He not only learns that Ethel is the president of the club but that Charles had already been there asking questions and had already left with Ethel. Jug goes back to the FBI office to find out what happened from Charles and finds out that Ethel had somehow got ahold of the sex tape of him and Betty from Stonewall prep. Now I have seen some comments saying that they think Charles going after Ethel alone was really shady and that it could mean he has something to do with the video tapes. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have something to do with the tapes, its could be a possibilty, but out of all the shady behaviour we’ve seen from Charles in my opinion this wasn’t shady at all. I think because we see everything from Jughead’s point of view its easy to forget that its not a case of Jughead is leading an investigation and Charles is helping out but the other way around. Charles is the lead on the investigation into the tapes, he’s the FBI agent. So if he thinks someone is a suspect he’s not just going to drop that lead just because some teenage kid said he should, even if that kid is his brother. Also can I say that this is such a Jones/Cooper thing to do, they get told not to do something and then the next scene you find out they did the exact thing they were told not to. We see it with Betty and Jughead all the time so it was kinda funny to see the same thing happen to Jughead in a role reversal. It was a good thing he didn’t drop it too as if Charles hadn’t gone and searched Ethel’s home they probably wouldn’t have found out about the Scarlet Room.

So speaking of the Scarlet Room it shows that there is an even darker side to Riverdale if that was even possible, this is a definitely x rated room in the back of the store where they have home made videos. The store owner says sometimes people sell the videos and sometimes they trade them. But these tapes consist of some sex tapes, rougher ones and weirder ones but also more sinister than that snuff films which Jug finds. I was able to catch some of the titles which could be clues as to which other murders might be re-enacted next. The one of Jason Blossom is called a Maple Murder which is pretty self explanatory. There is one called Black Hood Unmasked which I think could be Mr Svensons death. The Blackhood Diaries is another self-explanatory one. There’s another called Carrie the... I can’t make out the rest of the title but that one is clearly Midge’s death. Then there’s one called Pop’s After Hours which I reckon is from the Halloween episode where Veronica kills that serial killer in self defense. The curious thing about Jason Blossom’s murder being there though is that as far as we know there are only three copies of that footage. Betty has one on her laptop and Cheryl has the other on a USB. The third from what I remember was given to the police, I can’t remember what happened to it after that but I think the Blossoms asked for it to be destroyed? Sorry if I’m wrong about that. So if only those copies existed then how did one end up in the store. Well I do have one theory for that. We know that Betty gave Chic one of her old laptops, now I’m going to assume she wouldn’t have been careless enough to leave that footage on the laptop if it was ever on that one but you never know, we also know that Chic was in the house alot when Betty wasn’t there and he liked to sneak into her room. It’s possible that Chic found the video and took a copy to the store to get some extra cash. But the Scarlet room as a whole is a very creepy idea, that people including Students like Ethel are going in there and renting footage of people being brutally murdered, I mean no wonder there are so many serial killers in Riverdale cause that’s just messed up. On a side note I thought it was absolutley hilarious when the store owner came in and told Jughead that only over 18′s were allowed back there. Like dude you are being invesitgated by the FBI and they’ve just found your highly illegal collection of homemade sex and snuff films and you think telling them that only 18 and overs are allowed in this section is going to save you. So anyway the FBI confiscates all the videos so lets just say the FBI have now got a ridiculous amount of video tapes at that office what between these ones and the ones collected from the town residents. But I do feel like the Scarlet Room tapes are going to be important to the plotline in some way like they’ll find some kind of clue in them.

The episode ends with Jughead getting a call from Cheryl who says she just got a tape. When he and Betty go over there they find out its the same kind of thing as the one Jughead found. Two people in masks re-enacting Jason Blossom’s murder. There is something I want to cover quickly before we analyse the tape itself but there does seem to be some confusion over whether these tapes are actually real or just acting. I mean Jughead calls the tape he got a faux snuff film and talks about how whoever filmed it went through the trouble of hiring actors. It also does seem like the person wearing Jason’s mask in the newest video is acting along. If they aren’t real it would also explain why there haven’t been any bodies showing up or missing people reported. Yet I get the feeling that these are real, I mean they look very real to me, particualrly the one with Jason. As to why it looks like the one wearing the Jason mask is acting well they either could be under duress told this is the script play along or else, or it could be that they didn’t know what was actually going to happen, maybe they thought that the gun was fake or that the other person wasn’t going to actually pull the trigger which is why they seem so relaxed and calm right before they are shot. I don’t know though maybe it is all fake? What do you think?

But the discovery of this lastest tape raises some more questions. Once again we have two masked individuals which begs the question who are the people behind the masks? One thing we do know is that its not the same people as the first video. The attacker in the first video was definitely a woman and was much shorter than the attacker in the latest one. Also the murder victims in both are also definitely different people, the one in the first video who was dressed as Jughead was much more muscular than the one in the Jason mask who had a much slimer build. This could also maybe be evidence that its possible these really are murders going on. I mean if the first guy really was killed then obviously he can’t be in the second video. To be honest I don’t have any idea who could behind the Jason mask, at all.

Ok but who do I think is behind the Cliff mask. Well here I do have a theory and it ties in another of the plotlines from this episode. The tickle ring one. I don’t think its a coincidence that its in this episode that Terry, the one who approached Kevin and who films them, suddenly turned violent. I mean up until now he’s come across as a decent guy by Riverdale standards. Now he’s threatening to break peoples fingers and issuing threats. Also it is worth noting that when Jughead says maybe the voyeur is a film maker the very next scene is the one where Terry comes out the room and pays Kevin, Fangs and Reggie. The writers are being very obvious with the message here I mean its like Jughead: Maybe its a film maker? Riverdale: Look its a film maker! I mean they couldn’t be more obvious if they put a neon sign above Terry’s head that said guilty. So is there anymore evidence to suggest Terry is the one in the Cliff mask? Well I grabbed some more screenshots.

So we have that same old problem of the qualtiy of the images in these tapes that are being left aren’t great, it does take me back to the good old days of vcr oh the nostalgia but I’m going off track. Despite the bad quality we can still get some clues from the image. Now it is a little differcult because of the lighting in the video tape is bad but take a look at the top two images in the grid above. As it was with my Donna behind the Betty mask theory its the hair that I think is the biggest clue here. There isn’t really anyone else we’ve seen in the show that has this style of hair where its longer on top and fades at the sides. I mean I don’t know about you guys but I do think the hair of the guy in the Cliff mask is very similar to Terry’s. Now obviously we can’t just convict a man based on his hair style. If we look at the two bottom images. I know it is hard to see the video tape image all that well but I have watched it over and over on slow motion and they do seem to be similar in build and height. The other problem we have comparing the two images is that while its useful that we’ve got a shot of Terry standing next to someone seated like the people in the tape, the sofa that Fangs is sitting on is much lower than the chair the masked Jason is sitting on, plus you have to take the height of the individuals themselves into consideration. But taking all that into consideration lets look at a bigger image...

As I said the difficulty we have is that Fangs is sitting on a much lower surface than the masked Jason. But lets have a bit of fun and do some estimations. Lets say the blue line on the picture on the right is the approximate height the seat of the chair masked Jason is sitting on. The black line is the length of Fang’s torso from his seat to his head. The green line is the height at which the top of his head would be if he was sitting on a higher surface. Now I know this is very much an estimation and not all that accurate its more just to give us an idea. But I think Fangs and the masked Jason seem to be of similar height so when we compare the two images we can see that the height difference between masked Cliff and a seated individual is roughly the same height difference as Terry when standing next to a seated individual. Also something else that could suggest Terry might be involved is that he would be able to get the actors who are playing the victims. He already has a client pool he could pull from. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to think that he might approach one of his tickle boys and say do you want to get a little extra cash? I’m working on another project if you’re interested.

What if it isn’t Terry though. Who else could it be? Well the other person we are shown acting suspect in this episode is Mr Honey is shown to be someone who visits the Scarlet Room and it seems he does this regularly. I did think there was something about the way the masked Cliff moved that reminded me of Mr Honey but in my opinion I don’t think the hair style or height of the indivdual fits with Mr Honey as well as Terry. Also we know the person in the mask is imitating Cliff and so is mimicing the way Cliff would move which I think just happens to be similar to Mr Honey. However I don’t think that necessarily means Mr Honey is innocent and I’m going to cover my theory on that in a bit. The other person I thought it could potentially be is Bret. As I said in my theory about the Stonies having something to do with the tapes, we don’t know when these tapes were filmed or even where they were filmed. It could be that this was filmed before Bret was arrested. However while I think height wise it could be Bret the hair style is completely different from Bret’s who has much longer hair.

Now going back to my previous theory post where I said I was pretty certain that it would turn out to be Donna behind the tapes, you could say that this newest tape derails that theory as there is no link between Cheryl and Donna. So why would she bother making a re-enactment of Cheryl’s twin brother’s murder? Donna might have had a motive with the previous video depicting Betty and Jughead its no secret she hates them both. But on the contrary I actually would argue that the appearance of this tape further confirms my theory. While it’s true there is no link between Donna and Cheryl there is a link between Donna and the Jason Blossom murder. When Jughead wrote his first draft for the Baxter Brother novel, the one that originally won him the contract it was based on Jason’s murder, it was called The Boy in the River. Later they tell Jughead that they don’t think its good enough after all and he starts writing one based on the Black Hood instead. But he finds his original draft based on Jason in a envelope saying ready for publish. He discovers that it has been rewritten but that it is the same story. Dupont later tells him that all of his classmates had a go at rewriting it, this includes Donna. This means that Donna became real familiar with Jason’s story. The premise of my original theory was that I believed that Donna was upset that she wasn’t able to commit the perfect murder. Especially as she was so close, I mean Jughead says himself that it would have been perfect if it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t actually die. I think Donna then decided to have another go at the perfect murder. A do over so to speak. Like I said we don’t know when that first copy cat murder video was filmed. If it was quite a while ago then its possible that Donna believed she had got away with it and so she looked at other imperfect murders that she could make perfect. I mean if you think about it like Jughead’s attempted murder Jason’s murder was very nearly perfect. Cliff so very nearly got away with it, from killing Jason after he was already reported missing by Cheryl, to having FP clean up and then take the wrap for it. The only reason he didn’t get away with it was because of one tiny detail, the fact that the footage of the actual murder was out there and the USB was found. If my theory is right then I think Donna is only going to continue looking for murders to redo. I think she’s going to become addicted to it and we’ll start to see more and more of these copycat murders. Also I had a thought about why if these are real murders there aren’t any bodies. We’ve been told on a couple of occasions that you can dissolve a body with Lye. As Donna says to Betty ‘No body, No crime.’ It’s possible she’s been dissolving the bodies with lye so there isn’t anything to find. Also if she is picking the victims right then there won’t be any missing person reports espicially if she is choosing people from out of town and then releasing the videos in Riverdale. The authorities might not be making the connection.

So if I’m sticking with my its Donna theory how do I explain that it definitely wasn’t Donna in the latest video. I mean it was without a doubt a male right? Well we know that Donna works with a group. She’s the mastermind but she needs her disciples. I think she started this with the Stonies where they released the videos of peoples houses, most likely this started out as a prank. We know that the Stonies liked to pull some pretty crazy pranks like locking people in coffins overnight, we also know there seemed to be a little bit of a rivalry between Stonewall and Riverdale high schools. We also know that they were filming their fellow classmates, it wasn’t just Betty and Jughead and Moose. There were tons of illegally recorded tapes it seemed like quite the extensive operation. We also know that some of those tapes ended up in the Scarlet Room. But Donna’s got a problem now. Her disciples have either left the country are dead or are in jail. So she needs to find new ones. I think she’s formed a new group and I think this group consists of Terry and Mr Honey. I think Terry helps out by getting the victims. He’s got a wide pool of employee’s who do films for him, he could easily get people from out of town who would sit down in a chair and be tied up and think nothing of it just assuming its part of some weird kink, because I refuse to believe innocent tickle porn is that only kind of video that man shoots. I also think that he was the one in the Cliff mask. As for Mr Honey I’m not as sure on what his role could be. But we do know that Donna has worked with a teacher for nefarious reasons in the past so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that she could be doing it again. He could possibly be the delivery guy. Maybe he’s the one going around putting the tapes on doorsteps now. It would be much less suspicious for someone to see Mr Honey about Riverdale than Donna or Terry. He could also be dropping some off at the Scarlet Room. Speaking of I do think this could be where they all met/ connected. I mean as a film maker it wouldn’t be unusual for Terry to sell some videos to the store. We know Mr Honey visits the Scarlet Room. As for Donna while Jughead assumes the tape of him and Betty was put there by Bret, Donna had admitted to seeing the tape so its just as likely that it could have been her that put it there.

Maple Rum Snoosefest.

So I figured I’d cover Veronica’s and Cheryl’s Maple Rum storyline here as to be honest I don’t have alot to say about it. Unlike the tickle ring stroyline which could potentially have some relevance to the main plot, I just don’t see how this one fits in. To be honest I find the whole thing boring. I mean its just another plotline with Veronica being at war with her Father. Plus the whole Veronica thinks her dad has changed because he spared someone only for us to find out he had murdered someone. Like we get it Hiram is a horrible, manipulative git you don’t need to keep showing us that at this point. I suppose the purpose of it was also to show that Hiram’s illness is really starting to have an effect on him because he never would have been beat up like that before, its this idea that Hiram is finally starting to get weaker so we might be coming up to his downfall. Also I found the whole scene after the thugs break into the Maple Club and Cheryl is all like poor momsie and Veronica is all apologetic to Penelope absolutely hilarious. Like this woman is a murderer, you had her on trial a few episodes ago and then you locked her up and now have her in forced labour as punishment but all of a sudden we’re suppose to be concerned for her. We’re suppose to believe that these two girls are concerned for her? Really? Being brutally honest here I kinda feel the same way about Penelope as I do Hiram which is I just don’t care. I don’t care about the rum storyline, I don’t care that Hiram is ill and I don’t care if Penelope nearly gets beat up by thugs, I just don’t have any sympathy for either of those characters seeing as they’ve been painted as truly terrible people and parents so far so why is the show trying to get me to care about them now. Sorry but its just not going to happen.

Barchie

Ok so the other main plotline and the one I think its the one most people are talking about. Now let me start out by saying that I don’t think for one second that Barchie is over. In fact I think this is just the beginning. The episode in regards to Barchie pretty much went the way we all thought it was going to go with Archie being much more willing to persue something than Betty. So lets go through all their scenes and analyse every little moment of them because you know its fun.

We first see Barchie away from each other. Betty is refusing to get caught up in another mystery and while some of this might be because she’s got too much else on her mind with what happened with Archie, I do think some of it is that she is just tired of it all, she’s going to Yale in a few months and I think she wants to just leave all that murder stuff behind her and focus on her future outside of Riverdale. When we first see Archie we see him playing his guitar and it looks like he might already possibly be working on the song for Betty. While he is playing he flashes back to the kiss. He then walks over and looks at the form for the Naval Academy and then out the window towards Betty’s room. I do think this is suppose to show that Archie is torn. He’s torn about whether to go to the Navy and hes torn about what to do about his feelings for Betty. I also think the two are linked, he unsure of whether to join the Navy because of Betty. Also I think the writers have left another little clue for us in this scene. When Archie picks up the form underneath it are some dominoes. I do think this is symbolic of the situation they find themselves in now. That kiss was the first domino and they’ve knocked it over, now thanks to the domino effect all the others are going to come crashing down too, its only a matter of time.

After Archie looks out his window we switch over to see Betty in her room reading her diary. This entry is talking about the day she first fell in love with Archie and we get a flashback to Mini Barchie waving at each other through their windows so know we’ve got another iconic window scene to add to our gif sets. It’s worth noting that while reading this entry she is smiling so we know she is thinking of the memory fondly. Howver when Alice comes in and they start talking about the future and getting teary eyed, Alice asks what Betty could have to cry about it Betty flashes back to the kiss and gets teary. It shows that while Betty might be looking back on the past fonly she has lot of guilt and uncertainty about the more recent kiss. She’s very confused about her feelings.

The next time we see them is the first Bunker scene. Here we see them laying on the bed together and they start out by telling the other where their significant other is at. Betty tells Archie that Jugead is with Charles and Archie replies that Veronica is with Cheryl. I think in this moment wher ethey are lying close together and its intimate and all these feelings for each other are welling up they bring up Jughead and Veronica to remind each other that there are two other people involved in this, who are going to be affected by this. It’s at this moment that Betty asks what they are doing there? She is trying to figure out her feelings and what all of it means, whether its real, she’s despesrately trying to find the answers. But Archie doesn’t have an answer for her as he as just as confused by situation as she is, there is one thing he is sure of though and that’s this feels nice. Betty then admits that yes it is but that they can’t do anything more than this. This is very telling because it tells us that not only is Betty thinking about doing more with Archie she clearly wants to. It almost like shes saying it as a caution to Archie and herself, she saying this is nice I like this but we have to be careful because it would be far to easy to get lost in each other and go further. I did think Archie’s response to this was kinda funny, he’s like we’re just hanging out. It is a typical Archie/ teenage boy response and again its very telling because it actually shows that one Archie is a little in denial here, there is obviously more going on here than them ‘just hanging out’. It also seems like Archie is trying to find a reason for them to keep doing it by painting it as being more innocent than it actually is. He trying to justify them being alone together by thinking well we’re not doing anything romantic or anything. But while it may seem fairly innocent, I mean they are just laying on a bed, on top of the covers, with their clothes on, the reality is they are both having romantic thoughts about each other and this moment is actually a very intimate moment on an emotional level. The might not be physically cheating but they are being emotionally unfaithful and deep down they both know it. I think this is why Betty says she loves Jughead at this moment. She needs to say it out loud because she’s getting overwhelmed by her feelings for Archie, she needs to remind herself of Jughead who she could really hurt. Archie’s reply is actually really interesting firstly because he pauses for quite a while before answering, his response doesn’t come automatically to him but also because all though he also says he loves Veronica he adds a but. Have you ever heard that saying that nothing a person says before the word but really counts? I think its from Game of thrones. I think that is relevant here Archie says he loves Veronica but this feels nice. So if we’re saying nothing before the word but counts then what Archie is really saying is this feels nice. He also adds a question to the end of it. This feels nice, right? Again this is important because it is telling us that Archie needs that confirmation from Betty. He needs to know she feels the same that he’s not in it alone. Although Betty doesn’t give a verbal response to this I do think we can safely say she does feel the same as we see her turn to look at him and they spend some time staring into each others eyes before taking each others hands. I think in this moment they needed to make some kind of physical contact with each other, their feelings are drowning them but they know that at any moment they could knock some more dominoes and cross the line. But handholding is safe right? I mean they’re just hanging out right?

The next time we see Archie he has gone to his Father’s grave. Like I said I do get this feeling that Archie is just really confused and at a loss. He talks about how he wonders what advice his father would give him. That it would probably something like follow your heart. Archie admits that he doesn’t know which way it is pointing and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He is at a crossroads right now. He’s got several paths in front of him that he could take and he doesn’t know which one is the right one, and even scarier than that he doesn’t know where any of them lead, what could be hidden round the bend? Does he stay with Veronica, something he is familiar with and a person he loves and has a lot of history with? Does he stay in Riverdale after high school and focus on the center and his dad’s business? Does he persue his feelings for Betty another person who he has alot of history with but who he now has new romantic feelings for? Does he join the Naval Academy and get an education? There are so many possibilties in front of him but so many unknowns too. Its no wonder why he’s really missing his dad right now as thats the person he would ordinarily talk this all out with.

And then we were back with Betty. Again she is reading her diary, this time its about the proposal. She describes this day as the happiest day of her life, which is just super adorable. She again flashbacks to Mini Barchie and the proposal and can I just say that red heart ring is so cute and I do think it might pop up at some point again, they did take special effort to give us a close up of it and I can’t help but wonder what happened to it. Did Archie still give it to Betty anyway as a kind of promise ring? Did he keep and its in a draw somewhere? Who knows but I do think itll eventually end up with Betty. Kevin interrupts Betty’s thoughts when he asks if she ok and when she answers yes she was just thinking, he asks if she was thinking about simpler times to which Betty agrees. The thing is if we look at it from Betty’s point of view it really was a simpler time. Back then she was certain about what she wanted. She wrote in her diary ‘I know I want to marry Archie but I know we’re too young.’ Little Betty knew exactly how she felt and exactly what she wanted. There was no boyfriend whose heart she could break, there was no best friend who she could utterly destroy with her betrayal. There was only her and Archie. Fast forward ten years and shes in a very different situation then what her younger self thought. As a child she believed this was the time when she and Archie would be getting engaged, when they were 18 and in high school. Now all those feelings she felt then are back but its far from a simple situation.

I don’t think its at all surprising that when we return to Archie he is working on a song. Archie has always tried to work his feelings out through songwriting and music. We can see him smiling throughout the entire process of wrinting this song. Now I was going to wait and talk about the meaning of the song later when going through the second bunker scene but I actually think we should cover it now. I mean if Archie has written a song for Betty then obviously we need to study every single line in great detail just because what else would we do with it? So lets first start with the title. According to the video I found on youtube its called ‘Carry the Torch’. Now if this is the official title then this is very intersting as the phase means to love something for a long period of time. Us Barchie shippers have been saying all along that Barchie never lost their feelings for each other and I do think this confirms that. The first line of the song is ‘There’s no warning when everything changes’, pretty obvious that Archie is talking about the sudden emergence of their feelings for each other here. I also think its interesting that for Archie everything has changed. Literally nothing is the same for him anymore, not his feelings for Veronica, not his plans for the future, his feelings for Betty, literally everything is up in the air.

‘You let down your guard and I saw something strange, I thought she’s not made for this world and neither am I.’ The part about her letting down her guard I think is in reference to how previously in season 1 after he broke her heart she became more guarded with Archie to the point where when he tried to talk about his feelings with her in the season 1 finale she shut him down. Now though she’s let that guard down, she’s kissed him and she’s met with him in the bunker, she admitted she was feeling something for him. As for the part about seeing something strange and thinking she’s not made for this world I again think this is a throw back to how he used to see her. I’ve said before that I always thought a huge part of the reason why Archie rejected Betty in season 1 is because of how he saw her as this perfect girl next door and so much more than he ever would be. I think he’s now realised thats not true. That she’s not the same person anymore and neither is he. The line about not being made for this world is a little more ambiguos to me but I think he means they aren’t made to fit into a box, they both a little different. I mean I think they have had similar paths, they both have struggled with a dark side that was brought into exisitence by the same man, the black hood. Archie’s anger at the black hood lead him down some pretty dark paths, Betty got the calls from the black hood that also took her down a dark path.They were both manipulated by someone they thought they could trust. Archie was manipulated by Hiram and Betty was manipulated by Chic. They have both lost their Fathers suddenly. I think Archie is trying to say that whereas before he saw them on different levels now he recognises that they are on the same, that they match. It could also mean that they aren’t meant for the world of Riverdale, this world that’s steeped in blood and violence, Archie has always seen their relationship as being something pure, that childhood innocence, maybe he’s saying that their love is being blocked because of this world where they can so easily be corrupted. How he feels for Betty is so pure that it doesn’t belong in this world of evil and corruption its on another level it doesn’t fit in with this world, its just too good if I’m making sense here.

‘Cause you make me wanna be stronger than I am.’ Another fairly obvious one Archie wants to be good enough for Betty he wants to be worthy of her. She inspires him to better himself and again we this alot throughout their relationship. She supports his music and encourages him to persue it, we know that story of how she helped him get caught up as children so he wouldn’t have to repeat a grade, we also know that she helped him with his schoolwork when he got out of prison. She always believes in him and he always listens to her advice and lets her guide him. The next line is ‘Maybe I’m reaching, misplacing a feeling. There’s no way to know but to try.’ This line is really showing Archie’s confusion. But it also tells us alot about how Archie is thinking. He recognises that isn’t certain of his feelings that he just be mistaking nostalgia but he also says the only way they can know is to try. This is kinda what I’ve been saying myself. The only way Barchie are going to get closure is if they explore their relationship otherwise they are always going to wonder, they’ll always be a what if. It seems from these lyrics that Archie thinks this too that he wants to try and see what they could be.

Ok I do want to point something out real quick here. We know that Archie didn’t sit down and write this song all in one session. This song was written over a couple of days and as I said I do think Archie uses music to sort through his feelings. All of the lines above come from the first verse of two. Here’s the thing there is a huge change between the two verses. In the first it is very much about new, tentative and unsure feelings. However as you will see as we go through the second verse it is much more sure and certain. Archie has made up his mind about what he wants and its reflected in this second verse. “So give me tonight, I don’t know much but I knoww this feels right.’ Archie might be a bit clueless most of the time, he might make mistakes and he might not have all the answers but in all that uncertainty one thing he does know, beyond a shadow of doubt that what he feels for Betty is right. I mean if you compare the line ‘maybe I’m reaching mistaking a feeling’ with this line ‘but I know this feels right.’ This is such a huge turn around. Those lines couldn’t be more different. From the line give me tonight it does make me think that the first verse was written sometime after the first bunker visit but before he goes to see Betty and arranges to meet her at the bunker tomorrow evening. I think the second was written the next day when he knew that evening he was going to sing the song for Betty. In that time he had recgnised that his feeling were real and that they felt right.

‘So give me tonight, If you carry the torch, I’d follow the light, I’d follow the light.’ Here again Archie repeats give me tonight. I think he understands that Betty is unsure and so he’s asking her to hear him out, to keep an open mind to come to this conversation he wants to have. It seems to me like Archie very much wants to talk about how they are feeling and have that conversation that lets be honest they should have had the last time they kissed. When he says ‘if you carry the torch I’ll follow the ligh’t this is huge. He is literally saying that if she says that she has feelings for him, if she wants him too then he’s all in. He wants to be with her, its as plain as day in those lyrics. Like without a doubt if she had said she wanted to be with him he would break up with Veronica and be with Betty and does come across as what he wants.

One thing I will say real quick is that I do think Archie needs to break up with Veronica anyway. Irregardless of whether Betty is willing to be in a relationship with him or not if he is having feelings as strong as what he is portraying in this song that its not right for him to continue with Veronica. As much as it would suck for her and as much as I’d hate to see her hurting, I think Veronica is an amazing woman and person and deserves a heck of a lot better than to have someone settle for her.

When we go back to Betty the diary entry of the day is talking about how they used to listen to records together. Again I don’t think its a coincidence that right after we see Archie working on a song Betty flashes back to them listening to music, music has always been a predominant part of their relationship. Again child Betty describes it as the best day ever. Betty seems to be trying to work through her feelings by looking back at old memories everytime we see her shes got one of her diaries in her hand. What I do think is interesting is that while Archie seems to be looking forward, looking to their furture Betty has chosen to look backwards. I kinda get the sense that Betty is frightened of the future and so her tactic for dealing with that is to just not think about all the much. So she’s getting lost in the past. Archie then shows up and can I just say I love Archie he’s so adorable, like he literally spent the entire episode writing songs and trying to think of ways to hang out with Betty. When he says that he’s there to help her with the year book it is so obvious that he is looking for any excuse to be around her. Definitely had th esame vibe about it as ‘we’re just hanging out.’ Bless ya cotton socks Arch. Anyway Betty sees right through Archie and points out that he’s not there for the yearbook. This is when Archie confesses that he can’t stop thinking about her. She says that they can’t do this but then after looking at him for a moment continues with ‘not here’. Naturally Archie gets very excited at this little bit of hope and Betty admits she can’t stop thinking about him either. Now the next couple of lines of dialogue I think are very important. They arrange to meet at the Bunker but Betty doesn’t want to meet that night but the next. The reasoning she gives for this is so that they have time to think about it and ‘make sure this is what we really want.’ The reason why this is such a big deal is because of the implications behind it. Betty is basically saying that in this moment at least she wants to be with Archie, this means that in this moment she had pretty much decided she was going to leave Jughead for Archie. The intersting thing is that she asks for that delay. I think some of it is yes so that she herself can be sure that it is what she wants and that she isn’t going to change her mind. But more than that I think she wants to make sure Archie won’t change is mind. I mean look at it from her perspective he has broken her heart before. Not only that but after they kissed last time when she next sees him after that night he is kissing Veronica and its obvious their back together, we know that Barchie hadn’t talked about the kiss at this point and they shared a look when Archie spotted her and realised she had seen him kiss Veronica. This must have hurt Betty too its possible she hadn’t spoken to Archie yet because she was working up the courage, unfortunately Archie could have seen the fact that she hadn’t tried to talk about it with him as indifference on her part which is part of the reason why he goes back to Veronica. I think Betty is thinking ok he says he can’t stop thinking about me now but lets wait a bit and see if that cools off and it changes because if we start something up for real then not only have they hurt the people they care about for nothing but Betty’s heart will be broken again.

Betty continues to read her diaries in the meantime and the next entry we get is acutally really telling given what comes next. In this entry Betty is talking about how much she hates Cheryl for kissing Archie. This is relevant because unlike the others this isn’t some happy memory of childhood love, in this memory she is remembering what it feels like to see someone you love kiss someone else. I suspect she is then recognising that this feeling is what Jughead and Veronica will go through if she does persue things with Archie. These thoughts and feelings are fresh in her mind when Cheryl comes in. This part of the episode does seem to have split some opinions in the fandom and caused a bit of a stir. Alot of people feel like it was really out of character for Cheryl to say that what Betty feels for Archie isn’t real and that she is in love with the idea of him considering she was the one saying that it looked pretty real to her just a few episodes ago. I agree with that I was very confuse myself by it when I first watched the episode. But since then I’ve gone back and watched the scene again and I’ve got a few things I think we should think about with this scene. Firstly we need to remember that Cheryl unlike the audience, doesn’t have all the facts. She doesn’t know about the kiss, she doesn’t know that Betty fantasized that dance, she doesn’t know about them meeting in the bunker. Betty straight up denied anything had happened between them when Cheryl asks. I think in these instances its really important that we look at it from the character’s pov. We can actually learn alot from studying Cheryl’s facial expressions during this scene. They are very subtle but if you look closely enough it can make you understand Cheryl’s thought process also it gives us an excuse to look at Cheryl’s beautiful face so its win win. This is Cheryl’s face when she first realises that she was right and Betty is having real feelings for Archie.

She is clearly excited and happy at the news. This is much more in line with what you’d expect from Cheryl after her comments about it looking real. However her demenour changes after Betty says she thinks a part of her had been in love with Archie for the last ten years and she suddenly looks alot more sombre and well sad to be honest...

So why the sudden change? Well her expression also seems really sympathetic to me as well as sad and her expression makes alot more sense when you see what she is seeing. She is looking at Betty in this moment and this is how Betty is looking at that moment.

I mean look at her, she is so devastated, she is clearly hurting and struggling. Now again we have to look at this from Cheryl’s pov. While she might put on an act alot of the time and while its true she seems to enjoy chaos, she isn’t a heartless person. In fact on many occasions we have seen a softer side to her an example of this with Betty is when Betty suspected that her dad was a serial killer she went to Cheryl and she was supportive of Betty and gave her some really good advice. Well they might not be bosom buds Betty is still Cheryl’s cousin, her family. Again if we look at it from her point of view not knowing about the kiss or any of that then Cheryl likely sees it as Betty has started to have feelings and the idea of it is really upsetting Betty. If Cheryl did know about the kiss she might have given different advice but she doesn’t. It’s also possible that Cheryl may be feeling some level of responisibilty for Betty feeling upset now because she was the one who put the idea in her head that she had real feelings for Archie. I actually think Cheryl is trying to find a way to cheer Betty up, to comfort her when she gives this explanation that she’s just in love with the idea of Archie.

I went to a body language class once and the guy told us that when a person lies or is trying to tap into their imagination they look up and to the right because its the creative side of our brians. If a person looks up and to the left they are trying to tap into the memory side of their brains. The interesting thing about Cheryl in this scen is she actually does both, her eyes flick from one side to another. Now I’m not an expert in body language I only ever went to the one workshop that covered the basics but to me this would suggest that Cheryl was searching for something to say here whether it comes from her imagination or a memory doesn’t matter she just wants to think of something to say that will cheer Betty up that will make it better.

If you look at Cheryl’s face right before she says false and then goes on to explain that she’s in love with the idea and that what she has with jughead is real, to me it has that lightbulb look. You know the one I mean, when you’ve just had an idea pop into your head? Yeah I think this is Cheryl’s that’s it, that’s the solution to the problem moment. You can see it alot better when you watch the scene you can see the moment where it pops into her head. So I do think this was more Cheryl’s miguided way of cheering Betty up. I mean like I said she doesn’t even have all the information about the situation all she knows is that Betty is feeling hella upset right now. I think Cheryl meant well but that she didn’t give the best advice at this moment. Also there’ another much simpler reason for why Cheryl said this. The writers. I think they want to draw this Barchie storyline out and play on the angst a bit and so they are using Cheryl here to throw a spanner in the works and delay Barchie getting together.

However that doesn’t mean that what Cheryl said doesn’t have some merit. In particular I think the line about being in love with the idea of the perfect romance is important. You know I actually half agree with Cheryl here. Only half though because I think this used to be true in the past. I think back in season 1 when Betty was more innocent and naive she was in love with the idea of the perfect romance with Archie. However now, when you think about it, it’s not possible for her to be. Mostly because she can’t have the perfect romance with Archie. By this point Archie has already broken her heart once, what’s perfect about that? They have already kissed and then hidden it from their significant others while pretending it didn’t happen in season 2, again what’s perfect about that? Now they’ve kissed again only this time its worse because they’ve actually cheated and now they know that if they do decide to be together alot of people are going to get hurt, yeah there’s definitely nothing perfect about that. My point is their relationship is already flawed, its already gone through the wringer and they already bear the scars from it, its not perfect so how can she be in love with the idea of a perfect love story with Archie? It not perfect but it is real. I need to point out as well that in this scene Betty admits that she has been in love with Archie the whole time. Yet when she talks about Jughead she says ‘I love Jughead’ not in love, love. I do think they’ve done this deliberately, this difference between the two phrases but I haven’t figured out what the significance of it is yet.

So now we’ve gotten to the second bunker scene. It starts off with Archie playing the song for Betty. What I do think is significant here is that whilst he is playing she flashes back to that scene where he was playing for them all and she gets overwhelmed and runs off. Like before when she was reading the diary entry about Cheryl she has remembered a time when she felt hurt and in pain because the person she loved had kissed someone else (Veronica in the cupboard this time) again she is thinking about how much that hurt her and how that’s how Jughead and Veronica are going to feel on top of that she’s got everything Cheryl said spinning through her mind and all just overwhelms her and she was to stop Archie. Another thing worth pointing out is when Archie asks if she doesn’t like the song she replies ‘it’s us, it’s us’ again here she is admitting that they are real, they are right because that’s what the song is about, so if she thinks the song is them that she must believe that. Yet I think in the end as she says she doesn’t want to hurt or lose Jughead. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to. It’s not that she doesn’t have feelings for Archie, its not that she doesn’t think they are right for each other, it not even that she doesn’t want to be with Archie, she just doesn’t want to hurt Jughead. She doesn’t want to face the consequences and so instead she just ends instead trying to convince them both that its just nostalgia and fear of things changing.

The immediate scene after shows that Archie is still playing the song and his mother comments how it must have been written for someone special, she assumes that its for Veronica. This is the moment when Archie says that he wants to join the Naval Academy and says he thinks it’ll be best to just have a fresh start. I mean this poor guy is so heartbroken that he’s decided that the only thing left to do is join the Navy. I do think being in the Navy is going to drastically change Archie in some ways it might be good for him as it will give him more control over his emotions and discipline but it also might make him a much harder person. We won’t know for sure until after the time jump but I do feel like we should prepare ourselves for seeing a very different Archie. Again though we are being shown Archie looking forwards to the future as a way of dealing with his current situation.

In contrast Betty is still focussed on the past, mainly on burning it away. But I do think its interesting that while one of them is obsessing over the future as an escape the other is losing themselves in the past in an attempt to deal. The thing is though neither one of them is focussing on the present on what’s going on right in the moment and so I feel like they are missing out. Its obvious that in this scene Betty still trying to convince herself that her feelings for Archie aren’t real. When her mother asks what shes doing she says she’s ‘exorcising her demons’ and then later after Alice points out that they are her childhood memories and that they are precious, Betty replies that they are just memories. I do think she is trying really hard to convince herself that what Cheryl said was true. I do think its interesting that its Alice in this scene that saves the last diary. I do think this diary is going to be an important plot point. I am very curious about whats in it. But I do find it ironic that Alice was the one in 3x01 who was trying to convince Betty to burn all her diaries but now shes the one trying to save them. Also it could be significant that Alice is the one to do this considering her past. When she was Betty’s age she too was in love with someone, FP. She too, like Betty is now, decided to not face these feelings and instead went for the safer option in Hal. As a result alot of bad things happened to her. While her life wasn’t necessarily terrible there was still something missing for her, the same can be said of FP. That decision to not face there feelings for each other had a direct impact on there lives. It had a domino effect. Like Betty and Archie Alice and FP had other opportunities to be honest with themselves and each other but didn’t.

As I said before I don’t think that Barchie’s story is over yet. There are too many things left undone. We still haven’t heard the whole song in the show yet. I do think its possible that Veronica will somehow discover the song, whether because she hears a recording of it, or hears Archie playing it or becuse Mary asks her what she thought about it. Then one of two things will happen. Either Archie will be faced with the awkward situation where he either has to admit the song isn’t about her or pretend it is and play it for her. Or when she hears it Veronica realises right away that it isn’t about her. Maybe Jughead also hears the song and also gets suspicious. I also think that diary is going to come back into it, maybe Betty reads something in it that makes her realise Archie is the one she wants and so she rushes over to see him and tell him only to find that he has already left, she gets to his room and there is a letter for her on his desk. Inside the envelope is an explanation that he’s left for the Navy, a loves confession and the heart ring is in there too. Then we’ll have the 5 year time jump where we find out they’ve been longing for each other the entire time. Oh the angst. The other thing is that Jughead and Veronica still haven’t found out about the kiss and with these video tapes popping up all over the place its only a matter of time before that one comes out. Also its worth saying that technically Archie and Betty still haven’t had a proper conversation about their feelings. While they were better this time around and they did touch on the fact they couldn’t stop thinking about each other their conversations were more about what they didn’t want then what they did. They don’t want to hurt Jughead and Veronica. So at the moment they are kinda at a stalmate.

Well thank you to everyone who read all the way to the end of this. I know it got real long, like I said a lot of thoughts about everything. Again I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. I’m not sure how much information we are going to get from the next episode as its going to be a revenge fantasy from a story Jughead is writing but you never know, either way I’m still excited for the episode. So until next time.

#riverdale #barchie #riverdale theories

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vrainsweek · 6 years ago

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VRAINS WEEKS “LINK-14″ - Daily Prompts 2019

Hello again Minna-saaaaaaan!

How are yooou? Did you miss me? Did you miss the 2 weeks we were talking about Vrains and Vrains only? Yes I missed them, too. =D So I sat down and started thinking about the prompts for these year’s Vrains Weeks. But first a little information! As some of you remember I asked for another name for the Vrains Weeks because...”Vrains Weeks” sounds too normal and kinda boring even if any of you understand what they are. (I had a minute I wanted to call them Double Week but that was even worse.) So I asked around if you guys have an idea how to call them and actually... One person had the perfect idea! So first let me introduce to you the new name of the Vrains Weeks:

Link-14 (Weeks)

And I think it fits. 2 Weeks have 14 days and everyone in the Vrains fandom knows what you mean when you say “Link-”. My special thanks for this name go to @mythicalartisttm Thank you so so much, my brain never ever would have thought this way!

Thank you! Danke! ありがとう！

Before we start with the newest Vrains Prompts for 2019 let’s take a look at the rules again (So noone can say they didn’t read or find them!)

NO Bashing of ANY content! That means no BASHING or INSULTING over any Headcanons, Theories, Shippings, Works and and and.

NO NSFW. Sexual and / or Gore content or similar for some people in a fandom are exciting ofc but since I can’t control the age of this blog’s followers I have to keep this free for minors. Also I hope this will keep triggers away from some followers.

NO Copying, Stealing or Reposting of other people’s work! Not even with credits! This is unfair and really NOT a way to show YOUR content. Also you hurt the real artist with this and we don’t want and don’t need this. YouTube Videos musiclinks or similar for special topics for a day are excluded as long as credits such as the directlink are included. (Please contact me if someone reposted your art over the #vrainsweek or #VRLINK14 tag)

Don’t forget! If you break one of those rules you will be banned from VRAINS WEEKS! Also I want to inform you that every content is allowed as long as it doesn’t break the rules. Drawings, Cosplay, Theories, AUs, everything aslong as it fits with the topic!

About the tag you have to use to find your work you can use 2 tags now:

You can still stick with the #vrainsweek from last year or use #VRLINK14

I will look at both of them to check your guys’ works. Just don’t forget to tag! Ok, here we go! Ready for the 2019 prompts?

Monday (15th July 2019)

“Favorite Headcanon” To start the Link-14 weeks let’s begin with something easy. Show me your most favorite Headcanon you had so far after 2 years of Vrains. Draw something, describe it, whatever you like! It doesn’t matter if this headcanon is old or brand new just show us you always wanted to show all of us!

Tuesday (16th July 2019)

“Androids” Wouldn’t it be great if we see the Other Ignis as Andoids as well? Or even Yusaku and the others? I wonder how they survive in the real world? Do they eat like normal humans? Will they ever feel tired? How would the Ignis look like? Aaaah so many questions~

Wednesday (17th July 2019)

“Happy Hot Dog Day!” Of course the newest LINK-14 Week again is the same date as the National Hot Dog Day as well! And again you can do whatever you like aslong as it includes a Hot Dog (I am sorry if it sounds a bit NSFW But I DON’T MEAN IT THAT WAY ///)

Thursday (18th July 2019)

“Babies”

Last year we had a prompt which I wanted you to put our favorite characters into adults. This time let’s go back in time and show them as little kids and babies.

I think Vrains has too less of some past shots from when our favorites where small and cute, let’s change that!

Friday (19th July 2019)

“Memories”

Thinking of the past can be beautiful but also pretty cruel. We all know that everyone of us thinks of the past knowing that it made us what we are today. So do Yusaku and the others. They think of the past and appreciate every memory they have no matter if they are hurt- or beautiful.

Saturday (20th July 2019)

“Gaming Champs”

Ok ok so... I played some League of Legends a while ago and suddenly I thought: “How would Yusaku look like as a LoL champ?” I went too far and even thought about his skills but hey! Wouldn’t that be a great prompt as well? If you guys are actually gaming something why don’t you put Yusaku or Ryoken or whoever you like into a game? No matter if it’s an MMO or something like Super Mario or Sims 4 or whatever you like. Maybe...I will design Yusaku as a LoL champ as well *laughs*

Sunday (21st July 2019)

“Vacations” We all are soo thirsty for a beach episode but it looks like we never get it...sadly ... *cries* BUT That’s why the LINK-14 Week is here for so let’s get the boys and girls into some sweet vacations! They really REALLY need a break! It doesn’t have to be the sea, send them wherever you want them to be. Another place, another country, wherever you like!

Monday (22nd July 2019)

“What if?” What if Ryoken / Revolver never was able to save the children from the Lost incident?

Tuesday (23rd July 2019)

“Share some music”

Music is my way to happiness I always say. What are the songs you relate the most to when you think of Vrains? It can be anything, songs to some AUs or to a special character or shipping or a scene you liked the most.

You can share Spotify playlists or YouTube Links or just the title and singers of the songs (Please don’t upload music files).

If you want you can use this prompt as well to show some relating from Vrains characters to music (For example Hanois as a band)

Wednesday (24th July 2019)

“Me when I watch VRAINS”

I am curious and maybe this prompt is a bit stupid but Vrains and the LINK-14 week only works with the people who actually watch Vrains. And I want to give you a “stage” cause you matter a lot! What do you look like when you watch VRAINS? (Describe it or draw it or even take a photo of it haha)

Thursday (25th July 2019)

“VRAINS goes Hollywood” So I have two tasks and whatever you like more is what you gonna do: Drawers: Redraw a movie cover / movie poster from whatever movie with Vrains characters. Writers: Take a scene of a movie you love and rewrite that scene with Vrains characters. Those movies can be anything (Disney, Marvel, Ghibli or other Animes, Romance movies or Hunger Games stuff) as long as they still fit with the LINK-14 Rules.

Friday (26th July 2019)

“VRAINS Manga”

I don’t know how long we will wait till we finally get a VRAINS Manga But we all have a lot of imaginations of how it will be. So share!

Saturday (27th July 2019)

“Happy Birthday!”

Imagine it’s Yusaku’s birthday. No other comments needed just be creative ;D

Sunday (28th July 2019)

“???” This day will be a surprise. Just wait till 28th July to see what’s up.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER!! DON’T FORGET TO TAG YOUR POSTS WITH #vrainsweek or #VRLINK14!!!!!!

See ya in July Minna-san!!

Choco

Note: I got the render pic of Yusaku for the header from here: LINK ME

#vrainsweek #VRLINK14 #yugioh zexal #vrains #vrainsdays

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panelshowsource · 6 years ago

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a note about women’s month 💘

thank you to everyone who voted in the fave female panelists poll this year! last year was a blast and this year was even better! we’ve seen more woman on tv this year — and some improved, though grossly insufficient, diversity within that — and i love celebrating that with you everyday!

last year, i wrote this:

the lack of diversity in british comedy is an alarming issue that has only recently become headline news. statistics presented by this study, based on 50 years of panel shows and over 4,700 individual episodes, are beyond disappointing for women (here is an easy-to-read graph by series & by year); similar disappointment stems from the lineups at popular comedy festivals, like edinburgh. in 2014, the head of tv at the bbc promised to end all-male comedy shows, a “step in the right direction” that hasn’t been without fear of tokenism, fair criticism as well as some naysayers. women, people of colour, lgbt peoples, those differently-abled and those all of the above and in between are just as funny as cis-identifying white men and deserve a place on our screens. watch their standup, buy their books, stream their videos, listen to their podcasts, comment on and like their content, follow their social media. this support can directly help women become more visible in british comedy.

in the last year, have you been actively conscious of supporting women in comedy? i’d like to take a moment to talk about some ways you can do that :)

➡ from feminist discourse to tales of humans & their dogs to ghost stories, these women are providing some of the most touching, stimulating, and funny reading coming out of comedy:

How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican

Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe

The Guilty Feminist: From our noble goals to our worst hypocrisies by Deborah Frances-White

The Actual One: How I Tried, and Failed, to Avoid Adulthood Forever by Isy Suttie

Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate by Susan Calman

The More You Ignore Me by Jo Brand

Can't Stand Up for Sitting Down: A Memoir by Jo Brand

Look Back in Hunger: The Autobiography by Jo Brand

Born Lippy: How to Do Female by Jo Brand

Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart

Peggy & Me by Miranda Hart

Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi

A Beginner's Guide to Acting English: A Memoir by Shappi Khorsandi

Spectacles: A Memoir by Sue Perkins

East of Croydon: Blunderings through India and South East Asia by Sue Perkins

Once More, with Feeling: How We Tried to Make the Greatest Porn Film Ever by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Charlie Skelton

For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren Mitchell

Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians featuring Sara Pascoe, Katy Brand, and Danielle Ward

...and that’s just to name a handful! my fingers would need a 5 min power nap if i tried typing out all of susie dent’s books 💪

➡ this is a list of a lot relevant active podcasts coming out of britain right now (though it is missing, most notably, off menu). for example, if you liked alice levine on taskmaster, why not listen to her podcast? or watch/listen her on rhlstp? this is such a fun way to get more deeply involved in the comedy of some of your favourite ladies! might i recommend isy suttie’s the things we do for love, anneka harry’s brown bread, or box set go! with nicola stephenson (the newest ep features rebecca front!)? most of these are free, or they can be found/requested at /r/notapanelshow p.s. suzi ruffell, rosie jones, tiff stevenson and more are scheduled to appear on rhlstp this season 😍

➡ here is a list of some radio programmes currently on the air. while it does look stacked with men (because it is), women do feature on so many of these series and absolutely smash it! did you know sandi toksvig hosted the news quiz for almost ten years, and its regular panelists include susan calman, rebecca front, zoe lyons, and more? or that victoria coren mitchell has hosted heresy since 2006 (because there’s nothing she can’t do)? or that sarah millican, jo brand, and sally phillips have each hosted series of the museum of curiosity? these are all on the masterpost! 👏 p.s. you can always search for and/or request more radio shows at /r/panelshow or, if they’re not panel radio shows, /r/notapanelshow :)

➡ social 👏 media 👏 determines 👏 relevancy 👏 do i agree with this system? no. is this the system entertainers are currently slaves to? yes. do you follow your favourite women on twitter, instagram, youtube, etc? one click. one like. one retweet. one reblog. here is a list of some of the comedians i follow on twitter to get you started — all of your faves are on there! when you like something they are on, tweet about it! tag them, the network, the channel, use the hashtags, post pictures! tell channels like dave or people like richard osman who your faves are, who deserves more exposure, who you want to see in the future! we’re already obsessing over how much we like these ladies anyways, so why not make that obsession even more visibile?

➡ we have a really sweet, modest community here of at least 10,000 people. this is not something i’ve ever talked about because i don’t want what i’m going to say to be misconstrued as begging for notes — that is not my concern. but you may have heard people on this site talk about something called the like/reblog ratio. a lot of creators are concerned that, apart from tumblr’s ever-evolving ludicrous algorithms murdering their visibility, people are so obsessed with their blog aesthetics that they’re not actually reblogging everything they like. here’s a couple of my gifset details, one from a nicher post and one from a more popular post:

while i appreciate any notes, numbers likes these aren’t always encouraging. i’m not here to tell you how to enjoy your spare time and interests, or to criticise people who enjoy aesthetic. i just want to point out that if you want someone to be successful, you play a direct part in promoting them and spreading their art. as the years pass, this becomes more and more true. i know how much you all love these ladies — i get messages about them every single day — but it’s a simple fact that a gifset of james acaster or noel fielding or richard ayoade or david mitchell is going to get more notes than a post about any of the women who placed in the top 5 of this poll. i am not bringing this up to this make anyone feel guilty about what they enjoy; i only hope my mentioning this encourages you to be conscientious when participating on social media, especially when your interest lies in the products of a grossly unjust industry that is taking a lot fucking time to get itself on the right track. more followers on a comedian’s twitter = more work for that comedian, because that’s simply the direction the film & tv industry is going. if your follow yields that much power, why not use it for good?

please support women. if you buy one of their books, please message me and tell me which one! if you think one of them is shining on a radio programme and we’re sleeping on her, please let me know (timestamps appreciated!)! if one starts a gofundme or patreon to start a podcast or a tour, please donate 50p and then send me the link! there is always more we can be doing and we are always underestimating what even smallest amount of support means for their bigger picture. i don’t have all the answers, but i love the feeling i get when i believe society is evolving in the right direction. rose matafeo won the edinburgh comedy award in 2018, and sarah keyworth and kiri pritchard-mclean took the top awards at the 2019 chortle awards. women are here to stay and they’re fucking killing it. because duh ❣️

if you took the time to read this, i appreciate you x

#female top 5 #p #p.s. will post the top 5 results tomorrow and then it's back to our regularly scheduled programming...!

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vespaer77 · 6 years ago

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UPDATE! The Machine: Chapter Twenty-One

Exhausted by dodging false leaks? Embittered by battling antis? Emotionally drained by denying your own lingering doubts? Is your soul aching after countless months of asking yourself if you’re still “crazy” for being a Reylo? Are you utterly gaga over gaslighting???

Wish you could go back to a simpler time?

Good news, everybody!!! YOU STILL CAN!!!

I have the answer right here! Or, at least one out of countless thousands!!! It’s called Post-TLJ Canonverse Reylo Fan Fiction, friends. Of the highest quality, I guarantee! And absolutely FREE! All you have to do to start your blissful brain escape is click the lovely link(s) down below and enjoy.

Kudos and comments are always appreciated, but reblogs and fic recs are the best way to spread this joy to each and every corner of this thirsty, thirsty fandom - especially now, in our greatest time of need. And also any other time.

Have a great day, fellow Reylos! And may the Force be with you!

The Machine UPDATE: Chapter Twenty-One

Summary:

“Force users, they’re so arrogant. They think this war is all about them.”

Rey and Kylo Ren - two halves of the same protagonist. But if they’re both right, then who is wrong?

What if the face of true evil wears an entirely different kind of mask? What if it’s something with impossibly deep roots - a corruption so insidious, it could hide itself in plain sight? What if it’s the very same military industrial complex needed to fight this war in the first place?

What if it’s simply… greed?

War is a Machine, internally combusting and turning itself over. Is balancing the Force enough to stop it?

Is saving what we love even enough?

Doesn’t mean they’re not going to try…

Rating and Tags:

Fandom: Star Wars (Post TLJ) Canon Compliant Chapter Rating: GA, Teen & Up (for now, with perhaps eventual smut) Relationships Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) / Rey, Finn / Rose Tico Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Redeemed Ben Solo, Plot Driven, Adventure, Episode IX

Click HERE to start from the beginning!

Click HERE to read the newest update, Chapter Twenty-One: The Rescue!

“Well,” Omar Entero laughed as he lolled his head back and raised his hands to the sky, “I’ll be damned. This galaxy is just…”

He didn’t finish, he just continued to laugh as he let his hands fall back to his sides. He didn’t strike Finn as someone who was trying to be funny or project any attempt at levity. The laughter that was dying in his throat sounded more like the strained exhalation of a man strapped down with too heavy a load to bear - the air was just squeezed from him and this was the form it took.

“Pleased to meet you,” he sighed with resignation as he extended a hand toward the young boy. “I’m Omar Entero.”

Would you like for me to tag you in future updates? I’m beyond thrilled to do so - just give me a holler and I’ll slap you on the list in a very sexy-yet-consensual sort of way! =D

#reylo #reylo fan fiction #post-tlj canonverse #canon divergent #star wars episode ix #reylo fic #reylo fan fic #save ben solo #like no they really save him in this one #like kinda literally yall #the machine #update #signal boost #sorry spoiler alert #don't read the tags

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crownoyami · 7 years ago

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Prologue

New Story!

Title: Writing the Stars Pairing: Gabriel/Sam Winchester Rating: E Archive Warning: None

Warnings/Tags: Public Display of Affection Anal Sex Anal Fingering Angst with a Happy Ending Switch Sam Winchester Switch Gabriel (Supernatural) Rimming (mentions) Fluff and Angst Famous Sam Winchester Famous Gabriel (Supernatural) Author Gabriel Actor Sam Winchester Actor Jessica Moore Author Chuck

Summary: Gabriel is a famous author who has been known for his multiple blockbuster hits. He never misses his mark and keeps out f the spotlight but for one interview given per movie/book. Until his newest novel adaptation has him spending time on set, and with the leading male actor Sam Winchester a newly discovered star. Gabriel may have tried to avoid the spotlight, but he’s thrown into the media whether he likes it or not.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15813849/chapters/36810918

Author’s Note: Hello ^_^

For those not used to my writing, please note that warnings are posted at the beginning of each chapter (should any be needed). All my stories have the general warning of angst, also please note the pairings section (most will be M/M).

This work was initially supposed to be my submission to the Gabriel Big Bang, but alas that was canceled so here it is!

**This has been beta’d by JDL71! ~All remaining typos and edits are my error, not hers.

Prologue

Writing was hard. Despite what everyone had told him before he began, Gabriel knew how demanding those pages were. He spent most of his teen years trying to teach himself how to write, most of those years being pressured by his family to do something else, to be anything else. By the time he was in his early twenties, Gabriel had written more short stories and novels than he knew what to do with.

Thankfully his high school English teacher was also a published author. While he couldn’t do much for the young man, Chuck had taken Gabriel under his wing, and more importantly to his editor. The first two novels Gabriel presented were rejected, and while they had a special place in the young man’s heart, they weren’t what people wanted to read.

Book three was a success. It didn’t have the full-blown Harry Potter popularity, but Gabriel had several thousand fans who wanted more. Getting his agent to agree to take on more novels was easy after that. While his books were doing well, at the age of twenty-five, Gabriel found himself on his former teacher's doorstep once again. Writing had lost the edge the blond craved. Just like actors, Gabriel had realized authors were typecast as well. James Patterson wrote crime stories; Stephen King wrote horror, and Gabriel Novak wrote Dystopian novels. With Chuck’s encouragement, Gabriel was able to throw aside what he knew and take up a new genre.

Once his new books began to sell, Gabriel found himself in a place he had always dreamt of. People started to ask him if they could use his books for movies. The movies were small at first, but Sci-Fi was in, and everyone wanted to bring the next blockbuster to life. Eventually, over the course of five years, Gabriel was fully embraced by the film industry, and while he didn’t get to write the scripts, he made one thing clear; if they were going to use his books, they were going to have to deal with Gabriel having a say in what modifications were made and how it went. After his third movie hit the top of the charts, Gabriel was given even more leeway as his books were converted to film.

“And that’s where I am now, this book was co-written by the same guy who helped me get my start, and we’re really looking forward to seeing it put into action.” Gabriel smiled at the woman across the desk from him.

She was probably in her mid-forties with blond hair and brown eyes, and while friendly enough with a smile on her face, Gabriel had the impression he should never piss her off. It was probably how she landed the gig of her own show, people you could walk over never made it far, but Gabriel had a feeling anyone who tried with her would find themselves unable to walk at all.

“That’s what we’re all wondering about. This book is so different from your other hits. We’re used to seeing large worlds and big effects, I mean didn’t your last movie get filmed with about ninety percent green screen?” She asked while leaning forward slightly.

Gabriel shrugged before answering. “Yes, it was, and while it’s different from what you’re used to seeing from me, I want to remind everyone that I wouldn’t have this chance if the series didn’t sell so well.”

Glancing at the woman for a moment, Gabriel leaned back in his chair. “Chuck has an amazing mind, one I could never replicate, and you better believe this is a stroke of his genius.” Gabriel gave the woman a smirk then. “I’m just there to add some flare to it, Ellen.”

Ellen didn’t pause before pouncing on the opening, their time was almost up, and while Gabriel loved how in demand his books were, it was rare to catch him in an interview. “Not only your flare but from what I hear you’ve cast Sam Winchester and Jessica Moore. Those two are a hot topic wherever you go, and you managed to snag both.”

Gabriel laughed slightly, keeping his posture relaxed against the chair. “Trust me that was all the casting department, though I do look forward to working with them. Chuck made most of the decisions with the cast, the characters had been his vision, but I have to say I’m pleased with the results.”

Ellen was about to comment when the light went off by the primary camera indicating they were out of time. Gabriel went through the motions of letting Ellen finish her show which would fade off into a commercial for his latest movie. Once the camera was cut, Gabriel stood from his seat and stretched. “You know they may look comfortable, but these chairs are shit,” he exclaimed while glancing at Ellen who laughed.

“I like having my guests a bit uncomfortable, so they know who’s in charge, you’d be surprised how an uncomfortable chair manages to tone some people down.”

Gabriel nodded his head and thanked her before leaving the room. She didn’t try to stop him; once the cameras were off he was nobody to her again; someone who she would never think of. If he made another appearance, she would probably have to re-watch the episode to remember what was said, and if his ratings went down, she could pass Gabriel on the street and not recognize him. That’s how it was in Hollywood. You were either everyone’s favorite, or you were a stranger on the street.

Writing was hard. Writing for Hollywood was harder.

P.S. If you want to keep up to date on my writing add me to Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter or Instagram as CrowNoYami ;-) Also, if you want to see what I’m reading (I always review so you know what you’re getting into) I’m on Goodreads as well, the same name as always.

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fangirlshrewt97 · 5 years ago

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The Witcher Fic - Give Me One More Chance (Part 3)

Author: Fangirlshrewt97

Fandom: The Witcher (TV Series)

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier|Dandelion, Geralt of Rivia & Yennefer of Vengerburg, Geralt of Rivia & Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Jaskier|Dandelion & Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon

Characters: Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier|Dandelion, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Yennefer of Vengerburg, Roach

Rating: Teen Audiences and Up (Swearing, Mild Gore)

Warnings: None Apply

Additional Tags: Post Episode S01E06: Rare Species, Emotionally Constipated Geralt of Rivia, Pining, Touch-Starved Geralt of Rivia, Whump, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt & Comfort, First Kiss, Getting Together, Canon-Typical Levels of Violence, Monsters, I really put Geralt through the wringer here, but I am ok with that because poor Jaskier did not deserve it, I do acknowledge though that Geralt is multiple levels of screwed up and maybe thought he was helping them both when he was actually hurting them

Summary: After the dragon hunt, Geralt tries to cope with his actions. And misses Jaskier a lot. But refuses to deal with his feeling even when it almost kills him.

Alternate title: 5 things Geralt misses about Jaskier + 1 he didn’t need to

Link to A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389734

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

*****

Geralt did not have much time to ponder on his own cursed luck after the incident with the shapeshifter. Mere weeks later, he was in Cintra as it fell, and days later, he found his Child Surprise. He made a promise to himself as he was riding to Cintra that he would just protect her and then return her to her family after the danger had passed. But having seen the corpse of Queen Calanthe, and held Ciri’s small form against him, he knew he had a new purpose now.

Still, Ciri was a child, a princess who grew up wanting for nothing, and now she was all alone in the world stuck with a stranger destiny has assigned her. She screamed herself awake the first few nights, and Geralt did not know what to do but hold her when she sought comfort from his touch.

It had been a long time since Geralt had ever had to properly care for another human being, and he had never truly had anyone who looks to him for comfort. The last kind touch he had had, he had to pay coin for. He could hardly learn lessons on childcare based on his interactions at a brothel anyways.

He held her in his arms, ran his fingers through her hair. Those get her to stop shaking. Sometimes, he rumbled, noticing that she tucked herself closer to the vibrations. He knew a few of the lullabies and songs Jaskier had used to help comfort children they sometimes had to rescue from monster, but that was not an option. He remembered every lyric though, he just couldn't bring himself to sing Jaskier's words. His lark had never been quiet for long, and even when his scent had long faded from the memento Geralt still had inside his tunic, his melodies were forever imprinted onto Geralt’s brain. He hummed a few of the easier shanties under his breath. Ciri snuffled her nose and curled herself more tightly under his chin. After laying her out in her own bedroll, Geralt laid down nearby, still seeing the outline of her figure. The last time someone touched him to comfort him because they wanted to see if he was alright, because they genuinely cared, he payed them back by screaming that they were the cause of all his misfortunes. But each of them had led him to something invaluable had it not? He inevitably hurt all those he cared about, and the thought of somehow causing his newest charge any pain made Geralt want to vomit. His hands were made of killing not caring, how could anyone trust him to take care of such innocence?

Geralt was rarely selfish, but alone, in the dark with just the starts ad Ciri's sweet snores for company, he could admit to himself that he could no longer imagine life without Ciri. Or rather imagine it and not feel a void there. Same for Yennefer. They may not have parted with kind words, but she was still important to him, and she always would be.

///

After almost getting accustomed to the feeling of travelling alone once again, Ciri was yet another change to the routine he had established decades ago. And a welcome one, but unpracticed. She was fierce and brave, but ultimately she was still raised in a palace, her hands still smooth and without callouses earned through work done with one’s own hands. He taught her how to gather firewood, how to find a water source, how to determine if it was clean. He spoke more with her than he could remember speaking to anyone, including -.

No. Geralt would not deny himself the truth anymore. Thinking about him still hurt. Didn’t mean he would accept the pain either. Just... ignore it.

Except, he didn’t expect it to hurt even more to not think of him. Ciri asked him about his connection to her, about their destiny and how it came to be. About Yennefer. About Witcher training. About Roach. About himself.

And he told her. He told her about starting when he was a mere child, about the trials being lethal, about brothers being killed because they were not strong enough to survive. But he also told her that they were not asked to participate in the trials until they felt ready.

He told her about the purple-eyed sorceress. About the stories that had started coming out of Sodden, about a fight for the chokehold, the Nilfgardian army against a small group of mages and sorceresses. They were in a rundown inn when they hear a rumor of a witch with purple eyes who defeated an army before vanishing into smoke. Ciri tries to distract him when his face grows shuttered.

///

He didn’t tell her about Jaskier. Not about his bright clothes and merry laughter, about his endless well of impossible tales that nonetheless always made the children of any town they visited laugh. He also kept quiet about how he misses Jaskier’s fearlessness regarding touching Geralt. That was not a conversation he was prepared to have with himself even. He didn’t tell about how good a friend he was to the Witcher, and above all, he didn’t breathe a word about the guilt that eats at him a little more each day for sending the bard away.

It must be visible on him somehow though, because Ciri always wore a knowing glint when he recounted a retelling of an adventure he shared with the bard that he carefully worded to completely extract him from the story.

He told dull stories.

///

They found Yennefer six weeks into their travels. Or rather she found them. They were camping when Roach neighs at the change in the air around them, and his medallion starts to vibrate. He gathers Ciri and his swords, gives her a dagger and tells her to run in case the fight turns ugly. She had just managed to hide behind a tree when the portal opens and Yennefer steps though, looking as radiant and terrifying as always.

“Is this how you always greet friends, Witcher?” Yennefer asked, deadpan.

Geralt scented her familiar smell of lilacs and gooseberries, but the shapeshifter had a hold of his thoughts again, and he pressed his sword’s tip into her throat until he nicks her chin. She lets him.

“Satisfied?”

Still wary, he nodded. He lowered his weapon.

Then, she surprised him. Her voice was filled with genuine regret as she informed him: “Geralt. I am so sorry. Princess Cirilla was killed during the fall of Cintra. I know she was your Child Surprise, and whatever your feelings might have been about that, she was far too young to die.”

Geralt blinked at her, before snorting.

“Your informants are wrong.”

It was Yennefer’s turn to blink. This was not quite the reaction she had been expecting.

“I’m sorry?”

“Fiona! Come on out!” Geralt called out, voice just a bit louder than normal. Ciri came scrambling out of her hiding place, and plastered herself to Geralt’s side.

“Fiona, I want you to meet Yennefer of Vengerburg.” Geralt told Ciri. Then looking at Yennefer, with a far more amused twinkle in his eyes: “Yennefer, I want you to meet Fiona.”

When Yen just stared he added “Also called Princess Cirilla, the Lion Cub of Cintra.”

Yennefer’s eyes widened as her jaw dropped slightly open. But she being who she was, recovers quickly and bowed and held out a hand for the young girl. Ciri squinted at her suspiciously before hesitantly extending her own hand.

“Pleasure to meet you Princess.” Yennefer adds, voice warmer than Geralt has ever heard it. Her whole countenance was softer than he remembered.

Ciri smiled, a sight that still instilled a warmth in Geralt’s core.

“Pleasure to meet you Yennefer.”

At that time, Ciri’s stomach let out a loud growl, causing her to turn pink.

“I’m so sorry!” Ciri says embarrassed.

Yennefer laughed. “What do you say I make a meal for a change? Neither a Witcher or a songbird can ever be counted on to whip up anything anyone can actually call enjoyable food. It’s all cooked enough to not be chalk or stone.”

She did not notice Geralt stiffen. Or Ciri perk up.

The excitement in her voice felt like a blade to Geralt’s heart. “Songbird? What songbird? Geralt you had a pet?”

Yennefer pauseed, frowning confusedly between them before she looks around the campground.

“Where is your songbird shadow Geralt?” Yennefer asked.

Geralt would swear his teeth were being grinded to dust in his mouth.

“Not with me anymore.”

“Geralt!” Ciri whined.

He makes the mistake of glancing at her and being caught in her doe-like gaze, stripped to his core and made to feel ashamed.

“Ciri drop it!” Geralt growled. She jumped away from him, abruptly leaving him feeling unbalanced. She looked close to tears.

“Yennefer, watch her. I am going to get us some food.” Geralt rumbled before grabbing his steel sword and dagger, and disappearing into the forest.

As he walked into the forest, he feels the dagger Ciri unintentionally embedded in his chest pierce deeper. He had not noticed until she pointed it out, but the world did seem to be getting duller.

///

The girls were resting inside Yennefer’s magic tent, on a comfortable feather bed surrounded by warmth and furs. Geralt laid outside the tent opening on his bedroll, the fabric just barely hiding the discomfort of the pebbles beneath him. He has stripped his armor, and a ways away, loosely tied to a tree, Roach was resting. He could faintly make out Yen and Ciri’s heartbeats from inside the tent.

He was tired. He has been pushing himself harder than probably advisable, even for a Witcher, but honestly, his thinking has been compromised and all his instincts were screaming at him to get his Child Surprise home to Kaer Morhen.

He told himself the cold he felt was because of the oncoming winter, and not the small loss of Ciri inside the tent instead of beside him. He had not realized how much he missed the presence of another person in his camp until he was all alone. That what he was missing wasn't the fur cloak he had given to Ciri to protect against the bitter cold, and not the other human who used to steal the very same coat and stick his cold nose into Geralt’s bedroll when he allowed it.

///

Yennefer declared she would travel with them for a while as they made their way northward toward Kaer Morhen. Geralt believeed her but also knows that Yennefer would not stay long. She was too used to luxury for life on the road. After the first two days, Ciri warmed immensely to Yennefer, happy for another female presence after only Geralt. And one who could talk in more than grunts and stilted sentences.

It was as he was coming back from one of his hunts that he heard them talking and decided to hide when he heard his name being mentioned.

“What was that?” Yennefer asked from where she was reading a book and adding something to a pot.

“What was the songbird?”

“Songbird?”

“When you first joined us. You asked Geralt where his songbird was. And he yelled at me?”

“Oh Ciri I don’t-”

“Please Yennefer.”

Yennefer sighed.

“There was a bard before you joined Geralt. Jaskier.”

“Jaskier? That name sounds familiar.”

“Have you heard the song ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’?”

“Yes! I loved that song. Back in Cintra, this bard used to come, his name was Dandelion. He would always sing that song for me, but never in front of Grandmother. She did not like that song at all.”

“Figures.”

“What?”

“Jaskier was the bard who wrote that song. He was a good friend of Geralt’s. I guess he was the reason we met.”

“Oh?”

“Jaskier- He was injured. A Djinn attacked him. Geralt brought him to me to be healed.”

“You were friends then?”

“I wouldn’t say friends. The bard was annoying, and could not shut up. He would get involved with everyone, did not know what discretion meant. Had no sense of self-preservation.” Yennefer paused. Then she smiled sadly. “But he wasn’t all bad. He was kind. For all his insults and pettiness, Jaskier never did anything to hurt. He was loyal. To Geralt above everything.”

“He was Geralt’s friend?”

“Bestest friend in the whole world if I remember correctly.” Yennefer's voice was almost nostalgic.

“What happened?” Ciri asked, before her voice lowered to a whisper Geralt had to strain to hear. “Did he die?”

“I- I don’t know Ciri. The bastard had terrible luck of always getting into life-threatening situations, but he also had a gift to talk himself out of nearly anything.”

“Then why isn’t he with Geralt?” Ciri asked, endearingly earnest in her curiosity.

“You are going to have to take it up with him. Now come on. This stew is almost done. Help me finish up and we can cook whatever Geralt brings back.”

Ciri thankfully dropped the subject. Geralt waited another minute before making himself walk noisily back to camp.

///

They were walking through a small town in Aerdinn, just like all the other small towns they had walked through in their journey. Completely unremarkable. But it was the first town they have come across in nearly a week without even a hint of war in the air. The population was made primarily of farmers and peasants, and though a few glanced at the peculiar group, no one stopped them. They made their way through town, and were planning on leaving after dinner when Ciri heard the sound of music coming from a tavern close by. Before either he or Yennefer could stop her, she split off from them and entered the building.

Geralt ran into the tavern behind her. The place was crowded, raucous. Ciri’s eyes were glowing, and she was practically vibrating with excitement. Yennefer came in behind him, face twisting when a couple of drunk locals bumped into her on their way out. But Geralt did not notice any of this. No. His eyes were on the troubador playing music for the crowd.

His doublet was a light green, just shiny enough to reflect the candlelight in the room. He was singing at the top of his voice, his feet leading the beat the villagers accompanied. His hair was longer, and his face had more wrinkles. His voice was more hollow that Geralt has ever heard it, despite the cheer the bard projected. Yet there he was.

His songbird. His little lark.

His Jaskier.

“Dandelion!”

The world seemed to freeze around them as electric blue eyes met ancient amber.

#the witcher #my fic #the witcher fic #jaskier #geralt #geraskier #geraskier fic #yennefer of vengerberg #cirilla fiona elen riannon #part 3 #I'll be updating daily #please let me know what you think #i'm done with this fic

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phanarchy-blog · 9 years ago

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Always

Words: 2,886

Warnings: angst, aggression

Dan and Phil have been raising their daughter Emmy Louise perfectly well for a few years now, but then she’s thrown into the spotlight. What will happen when Dan and Phil can’t agree on how to protect her?

Part 4 of a series which starts with The End of All Things! Can be read separately but for the full experience, follow the link above!

Dan gazed fondly as Emmy ran up to Phil and lifted her arms up high.

“You can say it. Use your words,” Phil said gently, putting the wooden spoon down and stepping away from the sauce pot on the stove.

“Up!” Emmy cheered in a small voice. Phil smiled at her and lifted her to his waist, resting her on his cocked-out hip and letting her look into the spaghetti sauce. He kept a hesitant watch, being sure no bubbles popped at her.

“Remember Emmy,” Dan called from his seat at the table. “After dinner it’s play time, and then we’ll tuck you into bed. Then if you need something you have to go to daddy because I’ll be working, okay?”

Emmy took a second to process it all, and then nodded. “Okay, Dad.” Dan grinned widely. She’d only just learned how to put together sentences, and even though it was a short one, he couldn’t imagine being more proud.

Phil lifted Emmy off his hip and set her down on the floor. “Now run along and play, this is almost done.” Emmy ran off, and Phil smiled at Dan, “How did I get so lucky?”

“Well, she’s half you,” Dan replied.

“Yeah, she’s also half you,” he said. “Which is a good thing. I just realized that made it sound like that’d make her worse, but I think that’s why she’s so great.”

Dan stood up and crossed the room to meet his husband, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close. “You know, I’m pretty lucky myself.” He kissed him softly, letting himself feel it in his chest.

Dan closed his copy of “House at Pooh Corner” and peeked above it to see Emmy had fallen fast asleep. Phil looked down at his watch.

“Time for your live show?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be cutting it close,” Dan replied. “I’ll meet you in bed in an hour.” Dan winked, only half joking.

They took turn kissing Emmy on the head, and grasped hands as they left her room, holding on for as long as they could while parting directions.

Dan entered the office and, browser already open to YouNow, hit the “Go Live” button.

“Hi guys!” he chuckled. “‘You look like shit’ someone says.” He laughs again. “I do look like shit! Thanks for pointing it out chat! I’ve just had a long day. Parent life, you know. But she’s asleep now, so shhh..” he raised one finger to his lips hushing the computer, which was of course silent anyway.

Dan watched as chat exploded. He expected it, of course. Any time he mentioned Phil, or Emmy. Frustratingly enough, it was as if the relationship between the three of them were what people cared about more than anything. As if their actual accomplishments were meaningless because they had love. Some days he appreciated it, other days like today, it was a bit annoying. He had plenty of experience hiding that though.

“No, I’m not going to get Emmy,” he said as he continued scrolling. “She needs sleep. Trying to get her on a consistent schedule, of course. Don’t want her ending up like me. And Phil needs his shower, so no him for now either, I’m afraid. You’ll have to deal with just me. On my live show.”

He tapped his lip with his thumb, wondering what else he could talk about. He realized at that moment that he didn’t do much apart from care for Emmy Louise anymore. Not that he was a particularly active person before, but he made videos more often back when she was a baby and he didn’t worry about her running into shot while filming, and needing to start over.

“No, I haven’t seen the newest Game of Thrones episode,” he answered, still mindlessly reading the screen, answering any questions he could find that didn’t center on his daughter or husband. “I could tell you all about Baby Einstein though.” He laughed. Truth be told, he actually enjoyed watching it with her.

Just then, Dan heard little footsteps coming up behind him. And crying.

“Dad dad dad dad,” Emmy said, hiccuping as she cried. Dan turned to find Emmy sobbing behind him, blanky in hand and sucking her thumb with tears streaming down her face. He immediately got out of his chair and knelt down in front of her.

“What happened?” he asked and opened his arms wide. She threw herself into them and buried her head in his neck.

“Bad dream,” she mumbled, sniffling hard.

“It’s okay sweetie, they’re not real.” He picked her up and sat with her in his chair, her back facing the camera, so at the very least she wasn’t totally exposed. He pulled her back a bit to look her in the eyes. He wiped the thick mop of wavy brown hair from her face and looked into her blue eyes. “You know what grandma told me about bad dreams? She said once you tell someone about them, they don’t come back anymore. So you’re safe with me now. You can fall back asleep here.” He pushed her head gently back onto his shoulder, and leaned back in his chair. “But Dad’s still working, so I’m gonna talk to these guys too,” he said. “Sorry about this,” he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, but also smiling. “Realities of parenthood.” He rocked her back to sleep.

“Dan, have you seen Tumblr yet this morning?” Phil asked, sipping his coffee slowly. Dan sighed from the other side of the sofa. “Of course,” he said. He peeked behind his laptop screen. Emmy was there on the floor, playing with her blocks. Dan knew he had to be careful about what to say around her.

“I’m sorry,” Phil said. “I thought she’d be asleep longer. I wouldn’t have showered if I knew she’d have a nightmare.”

“Phil, that’s alright. I just worry, you know?” He kept scrolling through the website, and of course their tags were full of their daughter’s face. He reached his hand up to stroke over his face, contemplating what to do next.

Most of the pictures and comments were nice, sure. Some of them, not so much. One troublesome user had already turned Emmy’s sobbing face into a reaction meme. He’d found it being used a couple times outside of the fandom. People who didn’t even know who they were or where it came from were now spreading her image like wild fire.

“She didn’t ask for this,” Dan said quietly.

“I know, Dan.” Phil reached for his husband’s hand, and looked at him with the deepest level of concern Dan had ever seen on him.

“We have to do something,” Dan said. Phil squeezed his hand in reply.

Hours passed, and once they had successfully dropped Emmy Louise off with her god mother Louise, they were ready to have this conversation uninhibited.

“Phil, we can’t subject her to this,” Dan started. “I don’t know how we thought we could avoid it, but it’s starting way earlier than I would have expected. She’s a baby still, really.”

“I know Dan, but I don’t know how to avoid it any better than we have been. For the most part, things have been good. I think it’ll all blow over. Give it a week or two,” Phil said.

“Yeah, this will blow over, but what about next time?” Dan was beginning to raise his voice at Phil, the anxiety of it all causing him to feel angry with Phil for not being just as upset as he was. “Will she deal with this shit her whole life?”

“No, of course not,” Phil said automatically.

“What do you mean, ‘Of course not’? How can you possibly guarantee that?”

Dan stood up from where he was sitting across from Phil. He began to pace, and ran his fingers through his hair, puffing the front up into a quiff.

“Dan, calm down. We’ll figure something out,” Phil attempted to reassure him.

“What if she’s picked on in school because of us?” Dan asked. He stopped and looked Phil directly in the eye. “For having two dads who are practically famous for being two nerds on the internet.”

“If she’s picked on, she’ll grow into a very strong little girl. That happens sometimes, Dan. We can’t prevent anything bad from ever happening to her,” Phil said. His voice was firm now. He was getting mad now too, because for some reason, everything Dan said sounded like placing blame on him.

“Shouldn’t we at least fucking try? Damn, I know you had friends in school, and that got you through it, but I was picked on, and I went through school alone. I hated myself. I don’t ever want Emmy to go through that.”

Phil stood right in front of Dan and, without realizing it, puffed his chest out. “Neither do I, so what do you suggest we do about it?!” Phil shouted.

“I think we should stop,” Dan said resolutely. Phil stopped in his tracks. Dan was motionless. He let it sink in. “I think we should quit.”

“What?” he yelled, totally shocked. “No way in hell! Quit YouTube over some trolls posting pictures? When has that ever stopped us before?!” Phil threw his arms up in the air.

“Phil, this is our daughter!” Dan screamed. “Don’t you get that?! It’s not about us anymore!” Dan turned and kicked the coffee table. His foot collided with it with a loud bang. Pain shot up through his leg, but he was too angry to let it show. Instead, it just made him want to hit more things. He clenched his fists by his sides.

Phil slammed his hand against the wall, desperate to get the upper hand in the conversation somehow. “Yeah, and what will that show her? That you should run and hide from the things we’re afraid of? Is that what we should teach her?”

“It would show her that we love her, and that we’re good fathers,” he spat.

“Oh, so if I disagree I’m not a good father. Is that what this is?” Phil accused. “I don’t love her?”

Dan quieted at that. “That’s not what I said, Phil.”

“It’s not what you said, but it’s what you meant. How dare you,” Phil said. “How fucking dare you.” His voice was low, husky. He stomped out of the room and up the stairs, into their shared bedroom. Dan followed behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, nervously.

“Packing,” Phil said. He threw a handful of shirts from the closet into his luggage, hangers and all. Dan stood completely still, watching his every movement.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“My parents,” he said simply. He turned to the drawers and pulled out a few pairs of jeans. Now Dan was angry again.

“Oh sure, so it’s not okay to run and hide to protect our daughter from potential crazy people, but it’s okay to run and hide at mummy’s and daddy’s because you can’t get through an argument with your husband? Great message, Phil.” The sarcasm was dripping from his voice. Behind it all, Dan wished for nothing more than for Phil to put the clothes down. To talk to him.

“What can I say?” Phil said. “I’m not a good father, so what do I know?”

The words hit Dan like a freight train and he understood. He knew the line had been crossed and there was no easy way to come back from it.

Phil was shuffling down the stairs, Dan trailing him.

“Phil, don’t,” he said.

“Really, Phil, stop.”

Phil’s hand turned the knob.

“Fucking, really Phil,” and the door slammed in Dan’s face.

“Fine then! Go!” Dan waited to hear the door knob turn again, but instead he heard Phil’s pounding footsteps and the wheels of his truck fading into the distance.

Dan turned his back to the door, and slunk into a puddle on the floor, head in his hands and sobbing.

Just before 8 o’clock, Louise rang and Dan buzzed her in. Phil was still gone, and Dan had no idea what he was going to say to Emmy.

Louise brought Emmy inside and she ran to Dan and quickly grasped onto his leg. He bent down to grab her and brought her up to his level. He smiled widely at her, overcompensating. He brought her in tightly for a hug.

Behind her head, Louise gave Dan a knowing look. He shook his head at her. The air in the room was thick with the question.

“Where’s Daddy?” Emmy asked happily.

“Daddy’s gone to visit Grandma and Grandpa Lester for a bit. But he told me to tell you he loves you so much and to give you a kiss from him!” Emmy puckered her lips like a fish and Dan kissed them, sending her into a fit of giggles. He bounced her a few times before setting her down. “Almost bed time, sweetie. Play for now while I talk to Aunt Louise.”

“Anything?” she asked, glancing at the young girl behind Dan, worried what this all means for her.

“Not a word,” Dan said. He began to wring his hands nervously. Louise pulled him into a hug.

“He’ll come back,” she whispered to him. She backed away and nodded at him. “I’m going to head out so you can put her to sleep, and call Phil, okay?” She said the last part cheerily, to keep up appearances for Emmy.

Is this what their future would be like?

Emmy had fallen asleep two hours ago, and Dan still hadn’t called Phil. What could he say? That he was sorry? That he was a jackass? That everything would work out, he just knew it? How could he tell Phil that things would work out when he felt like they were all falling apart?

Dan put on Spotify low over the speakers in the bedroom. He wanted the music to distract him as much as it could. Of course, the universe was not so kind. When the universe wants something, it makes it happen. That’s what it felt like when the first song began to play. A beautiful acoustic riff drifted into the room.

When the world gets too heavy put it on my back,

I’ll be your levy. You are taking me apart,

like bad glue on a get well card.

Dan was crying again already.

It was always you falling for me,

now there’s always time, calling for me.

I’m the light blinking at the end of the road.

Blink back to let me know.

Dan laid down on his bed. It felt empty without the weight of his husband on the opposite side. He let his tears drip down the sides of his cheeks as the music washed over him.

Oh the castle’s under siege,

but the sign outside says “Leave me alone”.

Dan heard the patter of little feet outside his door, and the thought of it threw him into sobs.

Blink back to let me know. (It was always you.)

The door creaked open slowly, and there she was. He couldn’t hide from her this time. Emmy ran in and climbed up into the bed.

“I miss Daddy too,” she said. She hugged her dad and rubbed his arm.

Dan cried harder and gently brushed her hair from her face. He patted her head.

“Let’s call him,” Dan said. He reached for his phone and dialed. Each each ring the knot in his chest grew tighter, unsure of what he would say. It was late now. Would Phil even pick up?

Phil’s voice came across the voice mail, in a cheerful tone that spread warmth to Dan’s heart while also mocking him.

“Phil, Emmy needs you tonight.” He sniffled. “I really need you tonight.” His voice broke and he began choking back tears through the phone. He hung up. Dan laid down again in the bed and pulled Emmy close to his chest.

“Let’s go back to sleep, honey.” Dan forced a smile. “We’ll see Daddy again soon.”

Dan woke to the rustle of the covers as Phil climbed in behind him. He rolled over gently, so as not to wake Emmy.

“Phil?” he whispered.

“Yeah?” Phil said.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know Dan, me too.” He pulled his shirt over his head and crawled in further underneath the blankets, facing his husband.

“We don’t have to quit YouTube, I was overreacting,” Dan said as he curled into Phil’s chest.

“You were scared and confused. I should have understood where you were coming from before. We really should do our best to protect her,” Phil said as he wrapped his hand around Dan’s side. Dan nodded his head.

“But it’s been done before. She can live happily with us doing our jobs too,” Dan reminded him, still half to encourage himself.

“Tomorrow we’ll do more research on how best to go about raising a child in the spotlight like this,” Phil said. Dan nodded again, feeling a lot better now they had a plan. Silence fell over the bedroom as they drifted towards sleep in each others’ arms. Just before Phil fell asleep he heard-

“Phil?”

“Hmmm?”

“I love you. Always.”

Thoughts? Comments? Reactions? I love feedback!

#phanfiction #phanfic #parent!phan

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seo53703 · 8 years ago

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Transcript of Sonic Branding and the New Rules of Marketing and PR

Transcript of Sonic Branding and the New Rules of Marketing and PR written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

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Transcript

John Jantsch: One of the pioneers of inbound marketing, of the new rules of marketing and P&R, David Meerman Scott, joins me for this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. David and I have been friends, colleagues, for over a decade writing about all of this crazy world of marketing. He’s out with the sixth edition. He’s also got a new project where he’s building sonic branding: branding using sound and if you check out this episode you’re going to hear an amazing story related the Grateful Dead towards the end. Check it out!

(Music)

John Jantsch: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. This is John Jantsch and my guest today is David Meerman Scott. He is an online marketing strategist, author of a whole bunch of books, including the sixth edition of The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Probably one of the best-selling books of the last decade, with anything to do with marketing, been translated into all kinds of languages some that I don’t even know who speaks those languages.

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

DMS: It’s great to be here, John. Like Albanian. I wonder how many people buy the Albanian edition of The New Rules of Marketing and PR. But it’s all good because occasionally I get a chance to speak in those wonderful countries. It’s fantastic. And you’ve been there since the beginning with The New Rules of Marketing and PR. I remember when we first started talking about it ten years ago, which is an amazing amount of time. It’s like twenty decades in dog life.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

DMS: New for New Rules. Well, what’s not new are the strategies. The strategies are: understand your buyers and create great content to reach those buyers, and reach them in real time using social networks and things like newsjacking. What is new are pretty much the tools. So the first edition was funny, I wrote the first edition in 2005 and 2006. It had, as you know because you’ve done a bunch of books, it’s due to the publisher and then it goes into this black hole for six months and then eventually emerges. And you’re like, I wrote a book? That seemed like so long ago. And when it came out, somebody immediately somebody emailed me and said “Dude, I just read your book. It’s really good. But didn’t you know there’s something called Twitter.”

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

DMS: And it was so embarrassing because Twitter didn’t exist when I wrote it and it did when the book came out. It’s all about the new tools and in the sixth edition the newer things are Snapchat and Facebook Live, which were not in the older editions. I mean, Snapchat did exist in the fifth edition but the Snapchat story as part of it didn’t. I’m always looking for the newest tools that people need to use.

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

DMS: Ooooh, yes! You know what I did to make it shorter? Some people think it’s radical until I actually say the reason. I removed the chapter on mobile marketing. And people say, well, gosh, people say mobile is so important. The reason I removed it is I don’t think mobile is one chapter out of 24 in a book about marketing. Mobile is ubiquitous so I interspersed the bits that were important about mobile throughout the book. So that chapter disappeared and then I also just went through and ruthlessly cut stories even if I liked them if they weren’t appropriate any longer in this day and age. I still had some stories in there that I had written more than 10 years ago, and I liked the stories but it’s like, ahhh, I gotta cut it. I gotta put a new, fresh story in there. So that’s why it got shorter.

John Jantsch: That’s funny. Remember, we talked about mobile marketing for 10 years before it became a thing. And I think you’re right. It’s just … you know, your website has to be mobile-friendly and everybody’s on a mobile device and so it is ubiquitous, as you say.

DMS: I think it is. I also think, although I didn’t really write this, but I also think that online marketing is marketing. I don’t really think there is any demarcation anymore. I mean, if you want to reach people with your product, your service or your ideas, you have to be out there using the tools of electronic communications. When the first edition of the book came out, it was “Hey, there’s this thing called the web.” (Laughs).

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

DMS: And now it’s like, duh, everyone knows that. And marketing is marketing, no matter what tools you’re using. It’s not like this is new and different, it’s more like okay, well how to do I do this effectively.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I’ve actually, for the last couple of years, really been referring to it as your online presence. Because it’s also not just a website, it’s an integration of all of your activity online, which may end up being the hub of your business in general.

DMS: Yeah, that’s right. Absolutely right. And I think it’s really important in this world of social networking that every organization, every person, have either a website and/or a blog because that’s real estate that you own. So many people, they have a LinkedIn, they have a Facebook, that’s great. Or they have a Twitter, that’s great. But ultimately that’s not real estate that you own and it can go away. Those poor people who staked their online reputation on the Vine social networking platform, which many people did – I had a Vine account and posted some online videos on Vine – it’s gone now. Disappeared. No longer.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

DMS: I don’t think Facebook is gonna go away but they can always change the way they do business and change their algorithms and start to charge. Or maybe they’re gonna say I’m sorry, your old posts are no longer gonna be kept unless you give us money for them. But your own website, your own blog, is real estate your own that eventually people who find you, they go to you and you alone.

John Jantsch: So for many years, we marketing folks kind of put the cliché Content is King out there forever. To the point where people said, okay, okay I get it. But I’ve been, for the last couple of years, I really think content has moved to the status of air. You almost can’t play in any channel without content. How have you seen content evolve in the time period you’ve been writing about content?

DMS: I have, actually, seen that as well, John. But for me the thing that I’ve noticed and I’ve actually written a lot about it including a couple of books solely on this topic. The thing I’ve seen is that content has gone from where it started – which is that you publish content on a timetable, you do a blog post every week, or something like that, or you plan that next month you’re going to have two infographics come out, or you work on your email newsletter a couple of weeks ahead of time – to now content being real-time, instant engagement. And that’s really changed the dynamic because Twitter is real-time. When somebody posts something on LinkedIn or Facebook it’s real-time. Not next week but right now.

And then the concept of newsjacking – and we actually did an entire podcast on newsjacking a couple of years ago – the idea of newsjacking, which is linking your expertise to a breaking news story to generate attention. That’s clearly real-time. So, yes, content is like air I agree with you. But where a lot of people make a mistake is they don’t focus on creating content instantly right now through social networks, through streaming video like Facebook Live, through Twitter, whatever it might be. Creating a blog post but writing that right now when the moment is right, rather than writing it ahead of time or thinking about what you’re going to do next week.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

John Jantsch: And I would contend there’s a bit of an art to that though. Because I get pitches all the time where people are trying to tag or peg their expert to something that just happened in the news and it comes off really kind of made up.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

DMS: And I agree with you. I get them all the time myself. It’s kind of funny because newsjacking has become so ubiquitous. I’m really glad I named that concept. It’s a nice way to drive people to your brand. But when someone just says, Oh President Trump said this so you should buy my product.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

DMS: But what does work is if you’re an eye doctor and there’s an eclipse coming and you put out the Top Ten Tips for how to protect your eyes when you’re viewing the upcoming eclipse. That’s valuable information and because you’re an eye doctor and because the eclipse involves looking at the sun in some way or another, you are clearly an expert in what’s going to be happening in that news story. Or what did happen in that news story if you’re writing post that event. That’s where the idea of real-time and instant and newsjacking really comes into play is if there’s a legitimate tie to that story rather than just some made-up, hey we’re thinking about this and in a sleazy way tie our brand to it.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

John Jantsch: Okay, so let’s talk about … your brand is very tied to the idea of inbound marketing. I have been pushing out for the last couple years and I get some pushback on this but I think that outbound marketing has never been more effective. In fact, I think outbound marketing is a great way to actually make your inbound marketing even more effective. Your thoughts on that?

DMS: I would agree with you that a combination of both is really great. It partly depends on definitions here. HubSpot invented the concept of inbound marketing. They wrote a book called Inbound Marketing that came out, I’m gonna guess it was 2010, I forgot the exact date. I wrote the forward to that book. Brian Hal ligan and Dharmesh Shah, the two co-founders wrote that book. And inbound marketing is using content to create something of value that drives people into your business as opposed to the concept of outbound marketing of what’s traditionally been thought of as interruption techniques of advertising and whatnot.

But I would definitely agree with you that a combination of pushing stuff out as well as creating the content that will bring people in is a valuable strategy. One neat little way to think about those two things in action would be on Facebook. On Facebook, you can create a post, you can post a photograph, you can post a couple of paragraphs of text-based content, or you can do a Facebook Live video, or you can create a video and then upload it to Facebook. All of those are ways that you can use Facebook to send a message to your audience.

But you can also then boost that post, and that’s using the Facebook advertising program. I would argue that’s outbound marketing in the sense that you’re paying for that advertisement, and you’re using it to reach people that you don’t yet know because when you choose the demographics of Facebook users that you want to reach, you pay a bunch of money and then all of a sudden, your message, your video, your photograph, whatever, gets shown in the stream of people that you don’t know. I think from … Many, many marketers have told me that strategy has been working for them. They create something, it goes to their current followers, their current fans, and then it also goes, if they boost it, it also goes to people that don’t yet know. So I’d agree with you.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and I mean the key to that, really, is that we’re producing the inbound assets. And so you can even take that to the physical world and salespeople are much more effective now if they’ve got good content. [inaudible 00:13:39]

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: And, and, absolutely. It’s interesting you said that’s a combination of inbound and outbound. I think you’re right. I’ve never really thought about it that way. It’s a nice way to think about it.

John Jantsch: All right, let’s move to social media. Obviously you’ve covered it in every edition of New Rules including the sixth edition. How, in your mind, has social media evolved for the good or bad in the last couple years?

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

DMS: Right, right. So now it’s everywhere. So I think what’s interesting to me about social media is that the big, big, big social media players, and I’m thinking Google, Facebook, Twitter, arguably Snapchat, are all islands.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: And they don’t like one another, they don’t play nice with one another. You know, you’ve got North Korea over here, and you’ve got the U.S. over there, and you’ve got another state somewhere else. When you’re playing in Facebook, LinkedIn is a completely separate island. So when social media first started it was very interesting that Google would show tweets in the search results. The social networks kind of played nice with one another. And now it’s like, they’re just trying to beat one another up. They copy one another’s features and it just feels like they’re trying to encourage people to use only one social network ,and I’m not sure I like that.

So what does that mean for us as marketers is that we have to make a decision. Are we going to focus on one social network. Hey, you know what? For me, LinkedIn is really important. I’m going to focus on LinkedIn. Or does it mean kind of what I do, which is create a piece of content and push it out on a bunch of networks. My typical pattern is, I’ll write a blog post, I’ll put it on my blog – webinc.now – and then I will send a link to that blog post on my Twitter. I’ll usually post a link to that blog post on my Facebook. Then I’ll copy and paste that blog post into LinkedIn as a LinkedIn post. It’s kind of like, okay, I’ve got to send an ambassador to each one of those islands to tell them I’ve got this thing going on. I don’t know if that’s good or bad but it’s the reality of social networking now, I think.

John Jantsch: I believe that in the last couple years people have come around to this idea of social media, social networking, actually being social. I see a lot more … A lot less focus on building large followings and a lot more focus on engaging in, say, Facebook groups.

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

DMS: They are just pushing stuff out one way and aren’t engaging in two-day conversation. And the other thing is that many, many organizations have a sort of a company Facebook page and a company Twitter account. Even if they’re a tiny company with three employees, they’re still doing it that way when, I think, it’s much better … I think it’s okay to have the company one. But also have a personal one. And if you’re the CEO of a company, have a personal Twitter, a personal Facebook, a personal LinkedIn, that you use to communicate for the most part. The company one is fine. But people don’t really wanna engage with companies unless they’re enormous brands. For example, I engage with American Airlines on a pretty regular basis. I also engage with individuals at American Airlines like Jonathan Pierce, for example, who worked there, who I met through social networks.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

DMS: So think about the elements of branding. There’s visual branding, which is things like logos and colors. There’s branding using text, so the written word, as a form of branding. You can use video as a way to brand your organization. Great customer service is a great way to brand an organization. One of the least used and least understood form of branding that I know of is branding using music, using sound.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: And I’ve for a long time wanted to start an agency. Actually for 15 years I’ve thought about starting an agency and I’ve always rejected it because there’s people much smarter than me who are great at having, for example, a search engaging optimization agency or a public relations agency, an advertising agency, a content creation agency. I didn’t want to do any of those things cause there’s a lot of people doing em. But almost nobody has a sonic branding agency. So I started this company with my friend, Juanito Pascal, he’s a composer and a touring musician and he has a bunch of CDs. He’s done music scores, he’s done film scores, he’s done television scores. We create sonic logos as well as original music for companies. A sonic logo is between, say, five and 15 notes …

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Or the Skype ringtone is a sonic logo. Or the NBC chime or Intel Inside. Those are all sonic logos. We create those for companies. We also create original music that might be used for – hint, hint – podcast theme music.

John Jantsch: Right.

DMS: Or original music might be used as background in videos. Or walk-on music for public speakers that might be used as they’re walking onto the stage. That might be used on the trade-show floor, or on-hold music on the telephone. And that is music that’s perfectly represented in a brand. Most people, when they think of using music in those applications, do one of three things: they either steal the music, popular music, which you can go to jail for; or they use music that they get from a stock music house, pay a hundred bucks for but somebody else could have that music and it doesn’t really represent their brand; or they try to work with a recognized musician and have to spend huge bucks to get a popular song licensed for them. So we provide a wonderful alternative, which is get your music composed especially for you.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

DMS: And it’s been really fun because, as you know, I’m a huge music geek. I wrote a book called Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. I love the intersection of music and marketing. I wrote a book, that book, which was a fun tome about the intersection of music and marketing, and this sonic branding studio that I built with Juanito is another way that I can link music and marketing together in a really cool way.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

DMS: I have seen Dead & Company a couple of times but oh, man, did I have fun a couple af weeks ago. Brian Hal ligan is the CEO of HubSpot. He’s a great friend of mine and my co-author in Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. A couple of months ago, Brian purchased Jerry Garcia’s favorite guitar, named Wolf, at an auction for $2 million, a little bit under $2 million.

John Jantsch: Wow.

DMS: So Brian now owns Wolf and the Garcia family reached out to Brian because it was Jerry Garcia’s 75th birthday celebration at Red Rocks out in California, one of the best music venues on the planet. And they wanted to use Wolf in the celebration and have some musicians play Wolf. So I actually escorted Wolf to Red Rocks in Colorado myself. We had two first-class seats. I had one seat and Wolf had the other.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

DMS: We flew out to Colorado and Wolf was played and we had backstage passes and we went for sound check and met the musicians, John Mayer and Bob Weir and Oteil Burbridge and a bunch of other cool people. And then enjoyed the show. It was absolutely fantastic. I Grateful Dead geeked out on that big time, John.

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

DMS: I was nervous. I was nervous. But that was the only way the guitar could get out because Brian had a meeting in a different city before that and another meeting in a different city after that. I was going Boston-Denver-Boston and so I was the designated Wolf wrangler.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

DMS: No it’s a custom-made Doug Irwin guitar. It was made especially for Jerry to his specifications. There’s only one like it in the world. It took about a year to make. It was Jerry’s favorite guitar. And unlike most guitarists who change their instruments constantly … I mean, you watch, for example, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. He’ll play five or six or even ten guitars in one concert.

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

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repumktg61602 · 8 years ago

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(Music)

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Right.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

John Jantsch: Wow.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

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seopt58147 · 8 years ago

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(Music)

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Right.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

John Jantsch: Wow.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

http://ift.tt/2eKy7gR

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ramonlindsay050 · 8 years ago

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(Music)

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Right.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

John Jantsch: Wow.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

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seo90210 · 8 years ago

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(Music)

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Right.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

John Jantsch: Wow.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

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mortlend40507 · 8 years ago

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Transcript

(Music)

DMS: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: David, thanks for joining me.

John Jantsch: Well, and you know I’ve been podcasting that whole time because I think you came on the show with the first edition.

DMS:Absolutely I did, I’ve been on a couple of times. You must be up to multiple thousands of episodes by now.

John Jantsch: I am, and I bet money – I will bet money – that I’m the only podcaster on the planet who can say that he interviewed you for the first edition and the sixth edition.

DMS: There you go, well look at that. How cool is that. So you are, actually, at the moment that is true. So thank you for that, John. I appreciate that.

John Jantsch: So, what is new in New Rules?

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: So one thing an observant fellow like myself who has all of the editions of your book is that somehow you’ve pulled off making it shorter.

John Jantsch: (Laughs) Right.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

So that is an area that most people, the vast majority of people, are not doing right.

DMS: It comes off as sleazy when they don’t have a legitimate tie to the story.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: (Laughs). Right.

DMS: Or, or Hey there’s an eclipse, buy my product. That doesn’t work so well.

John Jantsch: Yeah.

John Jantsch: Yeah, and you get the bonus if you’re that eye doctor because President Trump apparently did look at the sun without glasses so …

DMS: He did … I can’t even believe that he did that, after everyone told him not to, he still did it. Oh well.

DMS: Yes. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I’ve …

John Jantsch: (Cough)

DMS: I’ve said for years now that marketing is creating content that will reach many people at once fails at using that exact same content to curate that content one buyer at a time.

John Jantsch: Yeah, yeah

DMS: Actually, I don’t even know that social media was in the first edition cause I’m not sure that eleven or twelve years ago we used the term “social media”.

John Jantsch: Yeah, that was about the year 2005, 6

DMS: I might be wrong but I think that term grew in popularity around 2009, 2010 or so. Do you remember?

John Jantsch: Yeah, I mean … It’s not in … 2007, spring of 2007 Duct Tape Marketing came out, first edition, and I did not cover social media.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

DMS: Yes. I think you’re right. I think you’re right about that, John. And, and … I think that too many organizations are in broadcast-only mode.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You told me about a new project that you’re working on, something called Signature Tones, a sonic branding studio

DMS: Ah, yes …

John Jantsch: So tell us about that.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

DMS: …that’s used as a recognizable sound, that people remember a brand around. So, for example, when you shut down your PC it makes a noise and that noise is a sonic logo.

John Jantsch: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

John Jantsch: Right.

John Jantsch: I think you need to get a couple baseball players for their walk-up song. You know the [inaudible 00:21:49]

DMS: (Laughs). Yeah.

John Jantsch: They could be your endorsements.

John Jantsch: Yeah, I was going to ask you how many Dead shows you’ve seen this year.

John Jantsch: Wow.

John Jantsch: (Laughs)

John Jantsch: I tell ya, carrying a $2 million guitar would have made me nervous.

John Jantsch: So is that a Strat? What is that?

John Jantsch: Oh sure

DMS: Jerry Garcia played the same guitar for a decade. It was his favorite and it was totally custom-made. For Deadheads, it’s incredibly famous. There’s thousands, well millions, of..

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#Transcript of Sonic Branding and the New Rules of Marketing and PR

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