#second time posting. tumblr function properly challenge

[bear-do-well]

[thelucyverse]

How To Interact With Beta Readers - for Fanfic Authors

I wanted to make posts both for fic authors and beta readers, because I realized in several recent interactions that some helpful unwritten rules of fandom seem to have become lost to people who are new to it.

This isn't meant to be a call-out post against anyone to say 'you did it wrong!' (really, how could anyone be mad if you just didn't know any better), and there aren't even any definite rules for anything - but I just thought these things might be nice to know and helpful to share around. This first part will be @ the authors, the second part is @ the betas.

Asking for a beta reader

When you want someone to look through your fic, whether you ask in a tumblr post, @/helper in a discord server, in the notes of an already posted work or anywhere else, it's important to state both a) what the work that you want betad is and b) what you want from a beta reader.

The facts about the story.

The first most important facts about the story are a) length (in wordcount, as that is the most-used measurement for fanfiction - you can see it below the tags of an ao3 draft, or at the bottom left of a Word document), and b) rating and warnings. No, please don't just ask 'i have a fic for xy ship to beta' - that's nice information, but not helpful for someone who needs to decide whether they a) have the time to work on the length of fic and b) are willing to be confronted with the kind of content you have written.

In addition to that, you should of course also write what fandom, characters and dynamic it is about, because most beta readers are only willing to beta stories they would also usually read for fun. To make sure that the right people find the ask for a beta reader, you best target the post to them, so tag a tumblr post with the fandom and ship etc, and on discord share the request in a server or channel for the fandom, not an unrelated one.

What format is the draft in?

A word document you can send them via e-mail, a copy-pasted text in a direct message, link access to a google docs? Not everyone is comfortable with all of these methods, and you need to figure out one that works for the both of you.

Also, do you want the changes made directly in the text, in comment functions of the document, or as messages to you? If for example you send someone a Word document, and don't want them to change anything directly in your text, but they aren't comfortable working with the comment function there and end up writing you separate messages telling you what page and line the edits are one, that's going to be a lot more work for you to look through than you might have liked, so make sure to communicate it all beforehand and figure out a way that works properly for everyone.

What do you want from your beta?

'Well, to look over the story, duh?' but it's not that easy. Do you want the beta to:

- Only check for spelling and grammar mistakes in comments next to the text, No other suggestions at all because they would make you feel bad about your work/you don't have the time or want to spend the time on editing anything but honest mistakes/ any other reason?

- Grammar and spelling checks but also suggestions for word flow, repetitive words and phrases that could be changed and stylistic things like adding paragraph breaks (which are always nice to have for mobile reading)?

- [same as above] and also point out possible logic flaws and places where you might want to move a scene forward or back, or suggestions to things you could add to the story, with explanations as to why?

- [same as above] and also give suggestions for text you could cut that is unnecessary to the story or interrupting the flow of a scene in the opinion of your beta reader?

- Include nice messages as to what the beta liked best of the fic, or stay completely objective?

- Point out things they subjectively didn't like and would change about the story if they wrote it themselves, or not?

- Make corrections directly in the story, so afterwards you barely need to look at it anymore before you can publish it, or only give suggestions in comments or messages?

All of these are things some people welcome and others find incredibly annoying and/or hurtful! So make sure to communicate exactly what you are looking for. You don't have to do so in your initial public request, but once you have found a potential beta, you should text them the details before giving them access to your fic.

Do not be afraid of cancelling on a beta if you don't think it is going to work out! Whether because they aren't comfortable using the format you like to use, are a language teacher who can't stop correcting the long sentences you choose to keep as a stylistic choice, or just someone you don't vibe with, whether it's before or after they have started beta reading - be kind, but let them know that it just isn't working out, and that you would rather stop now before either of you wastes any more time and effort. If they want you to, you can tell them what you would have liked them to do differently, but don't ask someone to change how they are, and don't give unsolicited criticism, no, not even to a beta reader.

Decide on a time-frame

When are you going to send them the fic? Chapter by chapter over the next days, or the entire work? When do you want or need the work to be beta read? Is it for a challenge or gift exchange and needs to be finished on the same day, or can they wait for the weekend? Even if you don't have a specific deadline, when do you want them to send it back at the latest?

Working with a beta reader

After - or, if you are in for example a google docs at the same time, while - your beta reader does the corrections, you should look at them and decide which corrections you want to keep, and which to disregard. This is entirely your decision, it is your story, you don't need to feel bad if you don't take all of the suggestions for your work, even if you end up only correcting the spelling mistakes and ignoring everything else, it's your decision and this is fine.

If your beta gave suggestions for additional scenes or sentence changes, you can let them know once you have new text for them to correct, but keep in mind that they might no longer have time or energy to beta now, and don't be disappointed if they tell you this or don't reply. They already helped you, and you can always look for a new beta if you feel that your story still needs it.

Crediting your beta reader

Where are you uploading your fic, and how does your beta reader want to be credited? You best talk about this beforehand as well, as some betas only want to work on something when they will get the credit on a platform they are also on.

When posting on tumblr, it is usually expected to @ the person who helped you and write their url or tracked tag in the #s as well, but make sure to ask beforehand, as maybe they don't want other people to know they beta because they don't want to get swamped in work requests/ they don't want their url associated with for example explicit work/ they want you to tag a sideblog for the fandom instead of their main url.

On ao3, you can link to another author's dashboard or profile page (ask which one they prefer) in the notes by first going to the work text - rich text, writing their name, clicking the link symbol, pasting the url, going back to HTML text and cut-pasting the code to the note you want to have it in. You can do the prep work in a new work instead of your actual draft so you won't accidentally cut any of the work text. Again, ask the person beforehand whether they want to be linked there, or just want a nickname or their tumblr url credited.

You can also gift people works on ao3, and while this is in no way a requirement and most beta readers won't ask for it, just about everyone is happy to receive ao3 gifts! You can ask them beforehand if they want that, but as people can accept and refuse gifts on ao3 themselves, you can also let it be a surprise.

If your beta put a lot of work into your fic and wrote parts of it themselves, you can also make them a co-creator of the work on ao3, but only do this if you know and trust the person, as they will gain access to the fic and will be able to edit everything just like you.

Let me know if I missed anything, and I will update the post!

Tips for beta-readers themselves here!

[nyrator]

another long vent post about depression/anxiety

extremely depressed tonight

first made the mistake of driving myself to the grocery store at 6pm, first I had to try scraping the ice off the windshield with nothing but a broom and bare hands, then driving itself was nightmareish, the car feels like a death trap to me, very loose and sloppy compared to my last car, so loud and uncomfortable with no audible music to calm my nerves. My eyes have worsened to the point where I can’t see anything at night- glare takes up my whole vision, even with anti-glare shades. I was driving well below the speed limit the entire time and still almost hit three pedestrians who were all recklessly out on the roads in all black for whatever reason. My nerves are completely shot from it, my chest feels like I’m in a vice and can’t breathe, my eyes are wide open and hunched over the steering wheel, and my body feels both like I’m about to wet myself at any moment and that I’m too stiff/tense/frozen to function as a human at all, it’s that fight-or-flight response at its extreme. Meanwhile, my skin must be weak- my knuckles bleed when driving, and my wrists bled just from carrying in bags of groceries.

then getting home and just dealing with personal drama of someone I know who is so depressed and self destructive and too smart to reason with, who refuses/is unable to seek professional help, who just doesn’t understand or just can’t help venting to me nonstop, no matter how much I beg them not to over and over- their life is so terrible that suicide seems like the only option to them, and I don’t want them to do so, but I can’t keep suffering like this either and I feel like the only thing preventing them from doing so, as poor a job as I do as a human being anyway. But I can’t help them if they can’t help themselves, even if they were just ate a bit better, or just had a journal or someone anonymous they could talk to, but it seems inescapable and impossible to change anything and all we do is argue over it until I snap at them to leave me alone. That person is probably reading this right now and probably hating it, but I doubt anyone on this site even knows who they are.

Tuesday morning, I couldn’t sleep at all from anxiety- it was so severe and inescapable, I laid in bed for four hours feeling like I was dying until I was finally able to sleep for two hours. I can’t seem to stay asleep longer than two hours anymore. Was supposed to hang out with friends that day, but between lack of sleep, depression, and my absolute terror at driving in a snowstorm, I ended up just staying home.

Anxiety has gotten so bad again. I know a lot of how the mechanics work behind it, I know a lot of pains are from tension and lack of breathing. But my old coping mechanisms don’t work anymore. I can focus on breathing for several minutes straight and then fall right back into suffocating. Music, counting things, meditating, none of it helps anymore.

One way to describe the feeling of anxiety- it’s kind of like when you fall asleep on your arm, and you feel all the blood rushing back into it and that tingling sensation. Imagine that, maybe a bit less, but throughout your entire body (especially chest), your body is stiff and not numb, and your entire body is vibrating or shivering/shaking or something.

I still spend 16+ hours laying in bed every single day. When I got home from shopping, the walking around (and the stress of driving) was enough to send me straight to bed, I was so tired and weak. It’s probably why I don’t sleep properly, I’m half awake in bed all the time, what need is there for sleep

I have mail I haven’t opened, taxes I still have to do, messes to clean, and don’t care for any of it. Can’t even talk about some things I’ve been doing to myself out of spite or general depression, the way I’ve been abusing. I promise to try not to do anything too crazy or directly harmful, but even then I worry about slipping up- I tried one thing I shouldn’t talk about, which wasn’t too serious, but still seriously concerning how easy it was to try doing

still haven’t contacted a therapist, my fear of calling someone is so strong I can’t overcome it, especially not after just waking up. Talked to some friends, some agree that I should, at least one thinks it’s a waste of time and money- up to $125 per session to just get a glorified phone call thanks to covid restrictions. I just don’t see the point if I’m still stuck in my apartment at my computer, especially if I have an internet addiction already.

The lack of doing anything is driving me insane, I think. I’ve played four single player games in 2020- ACNH, KH MoM, Panel de Pon, and Picross. In terms of things watched on my own, probably just Japan Sinks and whatever else was on Netflix the few months I had it. Don’t feel motivated to play or watch anything anymore, nothing seems interesting, and mostly just do things with friends if at all

Even ACNH, the game I play the most, I barely do anything in it- mostly just get new items from stores, that’s it. My island decorating has come to a hard halt, mostly because I barely have any furniture I’d like to embellish it with, and mainly because I have no ideas to layout most of it

I want to create, but don’t have the energy to make anything at all. Rotten Nyan is still my current goal, but anxiety has made it next to impossible to work on. I’ve tried several times the past few weeks, all met with failure- the anxiety’s too much, half the time I don’t even know what’s causing it, but my body just gets too tense and cramped without even doing anything, and I just can’t breathe at all while working on it.

Thought about making an omake comic for it, then realized what a terrible idea it was, and how hard it is to draw comics in general. Or anything in general. Wrote down the entire comic while laying in bed one day, went to draw it, was unable to, tried making it a yonkoma, gave up, and felt sick thinking of all the gross things in it that I just made a vent description of Middle Lave and just posted that to the RN tumblr instead.

I can’t think of any ideas, I feel like my art has regressed- I’ve taken more shortcuts for the sake of my hands tensing so fast from anxiety, and I’ve gotten decent at drawing middle Lave I feel, but anything besides a character standing is impossible for me- any environments or character interactions that I’d love to do just feel impossible, let alone my inability to write good ones. Anything I try to think of writing-wise always ends up the same gross content that burned into my memories that I just can’t feel comfortable talking about much at all, nor do I think it’s content people want to see at all.

There’s a lot of detailed kind of art I’d like to do. I kind of want to loosen my restrictions on myself and just draw whatever suffering I feel like, maybe once I use the RN twitter more I might get a little more courage to do so. I see many artists draw detailed scenes in single images, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t capture that feeling.

Part of me feels torn about it being an autobiography for people to relate to, and being a suffering experience for people to find some weird enjoyment out of. I feel like I’ve lost sight of what it was originally meant to be and now just enjoy “bullying” Middle Lave half the time I guess, but unfortunately for me, bullying makes me feel like vomiting and is hard to draw consistently- maybe I’m too nice. I don’t know, I’m just rambling at this point. The comic is still laid out and just meant to explore the life of Lave, but it’s just so hard to work on.

In terms of other things, I have no idea what to do

Vtuber/streaming? Hate my voice, can’t focus on learning what I need for it in terms of rigging and texturing models. I only know the basics of making 3D things and nothing else.

Console art? I already designed all the ones I’m mainly interested in, but like I mentioned before, can’t think of any character interactions at all that I feel like drawing.

Making a game? I know 2k3 well enough to make anything in it event-wise, though never got over my map failings, and I can’t commit to anything long-term. Godot or another program, or programming in general? Good luck.

I just want to make something, work on a project without losing steam or letting anxiety prevent me from learning. Can’t focus on anything long enough to learn it- Japanese, making a game, programming, a new hobby, anything. I just don’t have the drive to do anything and will give up anything I even try to start, so what’s the point in even trying anything. I have books I haven’t read that I’ve been meaning to read for years, and still don’t have an ounce of energy to want to even organize them on their shelf, let alone open it

At the very least, I got my first big commission (second one ever), designing an OC for someone, and it’s going well, though tonight I’ve lost steam to finish it, and I hope I can get it back tomorrow to try to finalize it.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I really wish I just had someone guide me with art- I miss doing those 30 day challenge kind of things, or “send a number/emoji” kind of asks for OCs, but tumblr’s so inactive that I don’t see them on my dash anymore, and don’t know how to even look for them, especially not on sites like twitter these days. Though, the problem is, no one knows exactly what I like, and I feel awful letting people down if they ask for something I don’t want to draw

I can’t focus on exercise long term, and I’m so out of practice that exhaustion is too strong to beat. I’ve been trying to walk up and down on a step stool for exercise to get me back into basic movement, but even that’s too tiring. Want to do it while watching something, then I realize, I don’t watch anything at all, not even youtube, just an occasional artist stream that I mainly chat with rather than watch

I feel like I’m going to collapse if I turn or move too suddenly, and my eyes are absolutely terrible- glasses are okay, but without them I’m completely blind now- not just blind, but it’s like my eyes see at two different angles sometimes, like one is slanted or something, very disorientating.

It’s 7:30AM, and no desire to sleep at all. Terrified of laying in bed and letting anxiety take over me again. Part of me wants to become completely nocturnal and just avoid everyone during the day and just respond to messages in the AM hours, just wake up at midnight each day and avoid dealing with people. Go to sleep when everyone starts to get active and just isolate myself entirely from society.

I feel like I exist with no purpose whatsoever, and it’s driving me insane- not that life is meant to have a purpose, but I could at least be doing something more than laying in bed all day every day for a year

[whichstiel]

I made this art for the 2019 Dean/Cas Tropefest. (HUGE thanks to the mods, Jojo and Muse, for being amazing!) As soon as I read through the summaries, I knew I needed to try to grab the DRAGON STORY right away. I just...really love dragons, okay? This story is delightful and unexpected, with lovely world-building, rich side characters, and a beautiful romance between Dean and Cas. I really enjoyed reading it and working with zaphodsgirl! You can read Shadow & Storm by zaphodsgirl now! You’ll love it. <3

Here’s the summary:

One night, a mysterious visitor appears in young Prince Dean's bedroom, and he suddenly finds himself transported to an abandoned replica of his home in an unknown land. He learns quickly that the borders are finite, and none may leave without incurring the wrath of the guardian: a dragon the people call Storm.

Left with no choice, Dean adapts to life as the others have, tending to the animals and working the land to survive. As he grows up, the life he knew as a prince seems more and more distant, until a new person arrives that he remembers from his childhood. Shaken by this arrival, Dean’s desire to escape returns anew, and he discovers more than he wanted to know about the Shadowlands and its occupants -- especially about the mysterious guardian of the castle, Castiel.

Continue reading for some insight into the process and drafts behind the art.

Reading this story, I was struck by its lovely fairy tale vibe, which inspired me to make some kind of story-book art. I’ve always enjoyed pop-up books, so that seemed like a fun thing to try. My first step was to learn more about pop-ups. I turned to the internet for ideas, and found recommendations for: Pop-up design and paper mechanics, by Duncan Birmingham. This was a really useful book (I got it from the library - and you can too!) It gave me some basic structures and some general rules of thumb for how things fold and work when opened. I stuck with the simpler forms, given the short time period before posting.

Tools & supplies:

Cardstock paper

Watercolor paper (for the folding pages/backdrops and some stand-ups)

Watercolors, colored pencil, sharpie markers

Glue (I really like this scrapbooker’s glue pen for paperwork. Dries FAST and mostly doesn’t warp.)

Scissors, precision knife, ruler, protractor

Bone folder for pressing seams

Once I had some broad ideas of some of the rules of pop-up creation, I started to sketch out some quick ideas. I always like to start with the cover image, since that’s the main image people see when they’re browsing a story list. I did a few basic sketches on paper, but I decided the easiest way to develop these pop-up pieces would be to do what Birmingham called “paper sketching.” With paper sketching, you just...eyeball the pieces, attach it to a folded piece of paper, and cut away whatever paper you don’t want. It’s sort of like working with negative space in that way. Paper sketching was invaluable for helping me figure out things like: how tall should the mountains be? How high are the wings? What can fold together to lay flat? (Because I wanted this to be a functional book.) How long can I make that flame spout? (Not long, as it turned out.)

Here are some paper sketches I made of the cover image. A few of these were before I re-read the story and realized that the castle was built INTO the mountain. Oops. Building drafts helped me to realize that the concept was possible. Once I had some general structures under my belt, I could start to do the finer work of cutting out the final pieces. Draft work was typically done with sketchbook paper or cheap cardstock from Walgreens.

(Left: first draft; Right: Oh my god maybe this will actually work)

I wanted the cover to convey the full expanse of the lands surrounding the castle. I made my author draw me an actual map and diagram of all the agricultural lands. Thanks, zaphodsgirl! I chose black paper for the cover for REASONS you will discover when you read the story.

(Left: background watercolor progress with marker details; Right: taping in a quick test sketch to see if it will fit with the dragon and to test the angle)

Behind the scenes

For each design, I started by painting a watercolor backdrop, making note of the center where I’d need to fold the page. Watercolor paper was a pretty good choice because it’s thick and you can really crease the hell out of that middle joint - and the page stays strong. The cover is the most detailed. For the others, I went with more imprecise watercolor washes - mostly in the interest of time.

Finding a good backdrop is always a challenge when photographing art, and was a big issue for the cover since that dragon really gets lost if there’s too much in the background. I decided to go “Maria from Sound of Music” and pull down one of my curtains as a backdrop. That, plus desk lamps for light made a pretty good set.

This piece features Castiel fading into the dragon. I suffered from proportion control for this project but chose to forge on ahead, anyway. Sometimes the dragon is huge, sometimes it’s small. Oooooh well, it’s a dragon, anyway. :D The little Dean torso is intended to be a manually-opened inset, more to show his reaction than anything else. The dragon is 5 pieces - tail, head and forepaw, wings, and body. Castiel is a single piece; his fold is attached to the dragon and there’s a little paper accordion behind his head to keep him upright.

(Top left: I hate concept sketches; Top right: Cas coming together. I made him too tall! Oh well, I’m gonna roll with it)

Behind the scenes

This next piece was actually the second one I did, because it was the most complex and I wanted to get it finished so I wouldn’t fret over it. The red light is from a bicycle tail-light that I’m holding in the air with one hand while taking a photo with the other. I just really liked that little shadow claw on the ground!

This dragon was somewhat inspired by a Game of Thrones popup my author shared with me. My dragon isn’t as complex, but it still opens wide and closes flat, so I’m happy. It’s basically built as an upside down triangle, cut into a folded piece of paper. The fold is on the bottom. You can draw a line from the fold in its snout to a fold on its torso. The spines were cut out and glued on after the fact because I completely forgot to add them!!!

I was having some trouble with the wings attaching properly, so my test models had the dragon at various stages of height or angles from the ground. Too high and it would pop beyond the book pages. Too low and it might as well be sitting on the page completely. The dragon body has built-in tabs to which the wings are glued and the forest cutouts have this as well, for max strength. This is one of those cards where I went through enough drafts that I resorted to tape as a quick-hold option to figure out things like height and angle and how much dragon could fit in the folded pages. I ended up using an actual tool with (gasp) measurements to finally get the angle of the forest inserts right. Folding the test dragon into the card, I actually just sliced off the excess wing and tail that peeked out from the edges, then used that space when I was cutting out my final dragon.

For each of these, it’s best to get your pattern pieces as close as possible and then use that to cut your final pieces. The angles and length of everything needs to be fairly precise or what worked in your draft won’t fold well in the final version.

(Top left: So many draft pieces, so little time; Top right: Use math, kids!; Bottom: Dragon open and closed)

Behind the scenes

The last piece is modeled after a simple folding animal style. Its feet are glued symmetrically over the fold.

It’s essentially a folded piece of cardstock with an animal cut out of it. The head is attached separately, as are the wings and Amara. I had a star hole punch, which made it easy to add some stars to Amara’s gown as well as on the page. I’d wanted to do a big fold-out window arch here, but realized that it wouldn’t fit over the dragon or the Dean/Cas fold. Ah well. Please imagine it, instead.

(Top left: concept sketch; Top right: Paper sketching is a great reality check; Bottom: Amara astride Storm)

Behind the scenes

The final step was to turn this into some kind of book. At first, I planned to stitch the pages together. I’d never bound a book before, and I was cursing myself for putting down all those layers of pop-up inserts if I was going to have to stitch through each page. Then I looked at some pop-up books and realized that often just the edges of the pages are glued, leaving the middle to float as necessary. This was good, because it was a way easier option! (Also the dragon in the forest came out a little tight, so the float was very helpful there.)

I glued the page edges and, since they were a little curly from the watercolor and popup designs pulling at them, I weighted them with books to dry for a while.

I found an old book cover that would work (from a very outdated technology textbook). I sliced out the original pages, recovered the book with black paper, and glued in my new book pages on the front and back. It was a perfect fit!

I finished with time to spare, so I added a little watercolor and paper cut-out picture and frame to the front and back to add some flair. Please enjoy my terrible glue job. (I forgot to smooth the paper.)

I used a hair tie cut in half to hold the pages down for photographs (or display). I clipped two wedge-shaped bag clips to the underside of each tie to weigh down each side, and hold the book open at a slight angle.

This was a fun and challenging project to work on, and I’m so grateful to zaphodsgirl for all her effusive words and gifs of encouragement. You’re going to love this sweet story. Go read it now! Shadow & Storm on AO3.

(And if you feeling like tossing a comment my way, I’d love to hear from you here on Tumblr or on my art post on AO3.) 

[queenmorgawse]

transmigration for dummies

mdzs scum villain au, chapter two. read chapter one on tumblr. fic on ao3. as always, credits for the og idea to @lee-luca.

Here’s a life lesson from yours truly : if you don’t give yourself time to think about it, you won’t worry about it.

Getting into Gusu Lan’s white robes is so much of a hassle that, as he struggles with the unholy number of layers and conventions, Jingyi has no time at all to mull over the OOC function or how to get rid of it as soon as possible. To think he used to complain when his mother wanted him to wear a dress shirt and a tie to family events — if she could see him now, she’d probably tear a muscle laughing.

Fortunately, Sizhui seems to take it all into stride. Or, more accurately, he thinks Jingyi’s still too out of it to properly function, and therefore sees nothing wrong with having to walk him through the process of putting his own clothes on step by step like he’s a toddler learning about shoelaces for the first time. He imagines the original would feel humiliated, but Jingyi himself is all too glad for a plausible excuse to ask for help to care. The System grants him this one favor, and stays mercifully silent as Sizhui secures his hair into a high ponytail and shows him the proper way to tie his forehead ribbon (I really can’t do it for you, he says, and Jingyi understands. There’s no helping the virginity ribbon.)

Speaking of hair, he’s got to figure out what to do with his. He hasn’t had a chance to look into a mirror yet, but he knows that this body’s hair reaches his waist. From the looks of it, it’s lustrous and well-cared for, but it’s still a huge change from Jingyi’s style, trimmed whenever it threatened to grow past a finger’s length. His head feels heavy.

Right as Sizhui pats a speck of dust off his shoulder and declares him ready to go, the chime of a bell echoes through the Cloud Recesses, which Jingyi guesses means breakfast is served. Oh, well. His hairstyle’s a problem for tomorrow-Jingyi.

Their dorm’s disciples make their way to the common hall in orderly fashion. In Jingyi’s opinion, they look like a row of ducklings toddling after Sizhui, to whom the younger boys cling to like he’s their father, mother and brother all wrapped into the same person. Truly worthy of being the protagonists’ son! Perhaps in someone else, he’d dislike the model student, can-do-no-wrong attitude. In Lan Sizhui, though, it’s endearing — admirable, even.

They reach the dining hall before Jingyi can elaborate on that train of thought. On the doorstep, he has to take a moment. The donghua’s version was gorgeous, but even it pales before the real thing. The hall is all dark wood, draped in blue and white and delicate silver, the cloud patterns of Gusu Lan running across the banners. There’s something engraved on top of the doors, which Jingyi assumes is the sect’s motto, Be righteous.

One of his fellow disciples squints at him and he realizes, belatedly, that the original has probably seen this place a million times before and wouldn’t bat an eye at the scenery, no matter how enchanting. He immediately puts on the most dazed look he can manage, letting his eyes go blank, until the other boy turns away with a shrug.

Damn right, I’m a weirdo! Leave me alone!

The most anyone here seems to open their mouths for is to exchange quiet greetings, and Jingyi’s not quite comfortable enough with his surroundings to attempt it. What if he accidentally offends someone important? That’ll be the end of him for sure. Instead, he busies himself with trying to identify characters among the gathered disciples.

As it turns out, the task isn’t much of a challenge at all. The main branch of the Lan clan sits at the same table, though it does not particularly stand out among the others save for the cloud-patterned banners hanging directly above it. The guy in the middle must be Lan Xichen, Jingyi guesses, if only because of the respect others address him with, obvious even though he can’t hear their voices from where he stands.

From what he can tell, the unsmiling man sitting to Lan Xichen’s right is Lan Wangji, the main love interest. The intuition is further confirmed when Sizhui excuses himself from their group and flits to his side. Father and son barely exchange a few words, their dark heads bent together, but Jingyi could swear he sees Lan Wangji’s eyes soften a little.

He really does look sad. It’s not like Jingyi didn’t know, having read an entire novel about it, but seeing it for himself still makes his heart tighten in his chest a little. Worry not, Hanguang-Jun! he wants to say. Your future husband is coming back real soon! But of course, the System would probably nuke him instantly if he tried to, so Lan Wangji will have to be miserable for a little while longer.

“Come sit with me,” Sizhui’s voice says, and for the second time in less than two hours, Jingyi snaps himself back into reality to come face to face with the other junior’s kindly face.

It’s pretty wild how much effort Sizhui puts into being nice to him. Is it because he was there when Lan Jingyi was hurt? Does he feel responsible for him now? It’s not like the original was exceptionally pleasant to be around. He really does have to do something about it ⎯ or at least, he’ll take care of it when the System’s no longer on his ass about remaining in-character.

When Sizhui doesn’t seem to come to his senses and retract the offer, he hesitantly settles into the seat on the other’s left. Hopefully, everyone will just chalk up the delay in each of his movements to typical post-traumatic event confusion. What even happened on that night-hunt?

The silence that reigns in the dining hall is eerie, only disturbed by the clink of chopsticks against ceramic bowls and the occasional whispered thanks when a dish is passed down the table. It reminds Jingyi of an exam session, which does nothing to help his nerves.

He’s in the middle of his second bowl when the alert chimes in his head.【OOC behavior detected : -10 points. Current balance : 90 points. 】

What the hell? I didn’t do anything!

【The original Lan Jingyi never manages to stay silent during meals, effectively breaking Gusu Lan Sect’s two hundred and fifty-third rule. Points were deducted accordingly. 】

Was this even mentioned? Now you’re just pulling canon out of your ass! When the System doesn’t answer, Jingyi adds, plus, he’s sick, he doesn’t feel up to talking. It’s weird to refer to someone who’s technically himself in third person, but he can’t help it. He and the other guy probably wouldn’t be friends if they met, nevermind body roommates!

【... 】For the first time since Jingyi arrived, the System sounds somewhat irritated.【Objection considered : +5 points. Current balance : 95 points.】

A wide smile worms his way onto his face. So he can negotiate, huh? Jingyi’s always been pretty good at debate ⎯ he verbally wiped the floor with Huan Hua High’s team last competition, okay? He can definitely duke it out with an omniscient AI!

...Put like that, it sounds a little more daunting than before. But if he doesn’t want to end up booted off into a potentially dead body, he doesn’t exactly have a choice either.

Out of sheer spite, Jingyi finishes the third and last bowl of his breakfast in stubborn silence.

-

He shouldn’t have underestimated the soporific effect of a never-ending lecture. God, and he thought two-hour classes were bad. It's been three, and his soul feels like it's going to throw itself out of the reincarnation cycle.

Jingyi steals a mournful glance towards the window. The sun is shining outside, dammit! This is no time to keep children indoors! Yet Lan Qiren drones on, pacing back and forth in front of them and reading from one of too many foot-long scrolls, seemingly oblivious to his students’ boredom.

Why does he even have to be here? He was born a Lan, he’s supposed to know these things already! Jingyi conveniently ignores the fair point his brain raises (how the original must have known, but Jingyi himself could only recite a handful if he tried) in favor of complaining that, if pointless, is at least relaxing.

One of the Jiang guest disciples is dozing, head strategically propped up and brush in hand to give the illusion of attention. Lan Qiren hasn’t noticed yet. God, I wish that were me.

As if to offer convenient narrative contrast, Lan Sizhui and perhaps a couple others are making a valiant effort to stay focused on Jingyi’s other side, dutifully taking notes. Even Sizhui’s eyes have started to glaze over, though, and when their gazes meet (the umpteenth time Jingyi lets his sweep over the room in an attempt to spot something of interest before he bores himself to death), the other boy actually slumps a little before sitting up ramrod-straight again, just in time to look pristine when Lan Qiren’s eyes sweep over him.

It’s kind of reassuring, to see that even the Lan clan’s resident golden boy is a little imperfect.

Just as Jingyi glances down at the dregs of his notes, wondering if it’s worth it to pick them up again, chaos erupts on his right. Random-Jiang-Extra’s steadfast elbow pose has finally failed him, sending him crashing onto the table. Ink spills everywhere, drenching his notes, the lapels of his robes and even the hem of his neighbours’. Jingyi saves his in extremis by scrambling back, almost knocking over his own desk in the process.

The guest disciple blinks, like he doesn’t realize yet the magnitude of Lan Qiren’s wrath about to descend upon him. There’s a rather large smudge of ink on his chin. From a distance, it could pass for Lan Qiren’s goatee.

Jingyi snorts before he can think that decision through.

Beginner’s mistake. Lan Qiren turns towards him, eyes narrowing, and his laughter dies in his throat. “Do not laugh at others’ plight,” their teacher fumes. “Three thousand and fourth rule, Lan Jingyi! I postponed the punishments for your previous offenses on the grounds that you needed time to recover, but since you’re obviously well enough to embarrass our sect again, you won’t need that delay after all!”

I don’t even know what the other guy did! Jingyi almost protests, but since that objection just sounds like it’ll get him hit with another rule about not telling lies or whatnot, he keeps his mouth shut. Instead, he bows his head and says, “Sorry, Teacher. I’ll try my best not to do it again.” Screw his pride! Anything to escape copying rules! Especially not while doing handstands!

Not to the original’s credit, Lan Qiren looks, for a moment, genuinely surprised. Not for the first time, Jingyi feels a small stab of resentment towards Lan Jingyi. He’s been trying not to, given that he has no idea what happened to the guy’s soul and he may be in a worse situation than Jingyi is right now, but why couldn’t he have been a good, well-behaved student like Lan Sizhui?

...In retrospect, maybe it’s just as good that he wasn’t. Jingyi would have gotten way too many points deducted just because he couldn’t sit still in class.

【OOC behavior detected : -10 points. Current balance : 85 points. 】

Ouch. Must be for the apology. Well, if it saves him from the dreaded handstand copying, he can make up for the loss later.

Against all odds, it works. Lan Qiren rubs the bridge of his nose, stifling what Jingyi is fairly sure is meant to be a long-suffering sigh. “One copy of our sect rules, to be done in the Library Pavilion. Lan Sizhui will supervise you...after his guqin lesson, is that right?”

“Yes, Teacher.” If Sizhui’s annoyed to have to take time out of an assumedly free evening to watch him butcher calligraphy, he doesn’t show it. From the look in his eyes, though, it may not be the first time.

Jingyi tunes out of Lan Qiren’s next tirade, directed at the hapless Jiang boy, who’s still staring at his ruined notes as his martial brothers make sympathetic noises. Can’t say this day started out all that well, but it’s not that bad for a beginning. It definitely could have been worse.

Then Lan Sizhui gives him a tiny smile that carves a dimple into his right cheek, and maybe today really is going to be a pretty good day after all.

strolls in with starbucks almost a month later,,, hello, i haven’t abandoned this fic, mini exam period just punched me harder than expected. i hope this chapter wasn’t boring - i’m trying to set things up before the actual mdzs plot kicks in, but we’re in for some zhuiyi fluffTM. also, i made a twitter! feel free to follow me over there for random au ideas (but mostly crying). still taking questions + prompts, both here and there. and finally, would you guys read a more serious / plotty / angsty fic with ljy x jl as the main ship (though romance would probably take a backseat to the plot)? i wrote a small premise over here, but i crave feedback and validation.

[mdhwrites]

Posting Writing On The Internet

And how thoroughly FUCKED it is! I’m going to try not to go one forever about this, but the general sum of it is that if you are a writer and want to get your name out there, not only are your options limited, they’re also hard to reach, hard to control sometimes, and still subpar to almost any other art community on the internet.

To begin with though, let’s start with the big four for where you can post writing in a dedicated space: Wattpad, Deviant Art, Fanfiction.net, and Archive of Your Own.

Wattpad: Pros are that it allows original fiction rather explicitly, it’s there, and... Not a lot else. As an author it’s unusually obtuse to use (fun challenge: Publish something on there and try to get back to your own story to make edits. You’ll be impressed how bad that is!), has no real groups, a search function that isn’t the most efficient and is a general mess to be found in. It’s the woooooorst.

Deviant Art: Pros are that you have the LARGEST community that you’re going to be able to reach out to because of the artists and other content creators on there. As well, you can make blog posts, join groups, and followers get proper notifications when you post something. That doesn’t really make up for the fact that Deviant Art is Artists first, not writers. You will get lost in the glut of content, you’ll pretty much never make the front page except in Newest for .5 seconds, and the previews for your works is just awful, as you only get to use your title and maybe your first paragraph to sell someone on it. This isn’t even getting into the nightmare that is actually posting the work to there, where copying and pasting from somewhere like Google Docs won’t carry over your formatting or anything like that so you have to do all of that all over again.

Fanfiction.net and AO3: Okay, some people are going to get upset at me, but hear me out. Both are meant for general posting of fanworks. Both have a jumbled mess of tags and searches in order to find anything. Neither feature blogs for authors, nor a front page that would help lead you to some of the best or newest works on the site. AO3 is still better than fanfiction.net, but the pros and cons for them are almost identical. Though, AO3 also supports fanart to be uploaded to it, so you get a little bit of the same pro and con of Deviant Art with having to wrestle for space with artists.

But these are just the niche, writing focused sites. Surely somewhere on social media is better, right?

...

Where? Instagram/snapchat and Twitter are about as non-writer friendly as you can get, with the latter pretty much requiring you to post a link, and I have no idea how you’d get the former two to even work as a writer. Tumblr was the best place for it, but it’s on the decline now and even then it takes longer to take in the material and takes more space on it.

This isn’t to say writers can’t do anything online to help themselves, but I could go much more into the actual, professional side of things about the nightmare that is trying to market your books if you’re an indie publisher, and how hard it is to find proper sites and reviewers to send it to even during times when the book is free. The big problem in the end is that the internet is best as a visual and  auditory medium, consumed quickly and moved on if you want to get the most bang for your buck, and writing is not commonly seen as that. Websites haven’t given enough time to properly formatting around them and the like, with the best one I’ve ever seen being the My Little Pony devoted website Fanfiction.net.

Otherwise though... Well, as stated above, you can try, but you’ll find it hard to find anywhere that you’ll be truly comfortable posting at while also building a community like so many other content creators wish to do. What they need to do to be successful. If you know of better places, please let me know, but right now this is just a rough time to be a writer on the internet, but I do think it is slowly turning around for people as it becomes more commonplace and as e-books and indie publishing become more and more of a commonality.

[productreviewsfree-blog]

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Links are a lot more successful than author byline links. Here are a few search queries to locate opportunities: NICHE + guest article NICHE + contribute to NICHE + write for us NICHE + contributors NICHE + guest author NICHE + guest post tips The Merger Technique The Merger Technique is the process of finding a relevant expired domain and 301 redirecting it to your website. It is a vote. Some of those votes are better than others. Candidates from Democrats and the Republicans are fighting to make their partys nomination. When you cut through all the media noise there is a marketing technique at play: Endorsements. Your focus should be what can I do right now to help my prospective customers or readers There isnt a single site online that cant enhance User Experience (UX). There's always room give more and to assist more. A website which puts 100% effort will earn backlinks. The only way to acquire such endorsements (backlinks), you want to offer tremendous value for the user. 2. Your Content Must Please the User you understand how aggressive content marketing is at marketing businesses, SEO, and the entrepreneur. Bloggers are pumping amazing pieces of content out. These content bits are more than 10,000 words.

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However you'll get results that are better if you build links to content assets that are strong. Editorial Backlinks For a URL to be editorial you cant have access to your connection and the website must pass editorial review. Google values backlinks more than any other type of link. Getting these high authority backlinks can be challenging. The truth is content comes in all shapes and sizes. There are no laws for producing content that is great. I do not believe that every piece of content you produce needs to rank on the first page of Google. Yes, almost all of your content should focus on a single keyword. There are times when you will need to solve a problem that is micro on your content. This problem may only get 10 searches a month in Google. WHO CARES. So long as you have the intention of helping a person, your website's value is going to improve. There isnt a issue too small or too big. No matter what Google does, it can never take away your content. You want to approach link building with a mindset in 2019 and beyond. I use the investing analogy often, but its true for SEO. There is a compound effect of promoting and producing content.

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Use the Check My Link plugin. When reaching out, you may use this. If there are no links that are broken you will need a content advantage. Otherwise, youll get denied. The White Alternative to PBNs The White Hat Alternative to PBNs is simple: Instead of buying an expired domain name and rebuilding it, you are likely to: find an expired domain scratch its backlinks then reach out and let the linkers know they are linking to a dead source If the expired domain is relevant, you can ask the linker to replace the dead link with your site. On a consistent basis. Understand that: users that are Joyful ARE your own marketing. Users will SHARE your content on networking. Your website will be RETURNED to by happy users. When you put your users 11, your SEO campaign will transform. Allow me to show you how to make backlinks by being user-centric: 11 Ways to Make Backlinks 1. I've gotten manual actions removed from clients due to web 2.0 backlinks. I recommend you avoid using these backlinks on grade one. Read The Art of The Super Web 2.0 to learn how to build them properly. To EARN Backlinks folks confuse traffic with constructing backlinks. This is the norm in these industries. However, this isnt the norm in each business. Should it be Maybe. There isnt a formula for producing. Thats immersing yourself in the industries above. Your view is narrowed by it.

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Second, your guest article can send referral traffic to your site. Bear in mind that Google frowns upon spammy guest posting. That means you need to focus your efforts on producing a guest post. If value is given by you, then there is nothing wrong with injecting backlinks to your website. You can recreate the initial content . The original needs to not better than the content, although this is evident. Reach out and let the linker know about the revised part of content. This strategy requires effort and time, but you get connection placements. Read. Have you ever taken a moment to think about why your website deserves backlinks Ive realized that there's only 1 way to EARN traffic You have to become obsessed with pleasing your users. As of late, I have become consumed with the ambition to please my customers. Web 2.0s Developing web 2.0s on sites like Tumblr, Weebly, and Word Press.com is an aged grey hat strategy that still functions.

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NOTE: if you take the grey hat route, you're increasing the probability of getting a penalty. None of those tactics are secure and I have seen sites get manual penalties using each of them. A endorsement can get great amounts of news coverage. Here are two examples at those spikes following endorsements After Glenn Beck Endorsed Ted Cruz Look. What does your site/blog need to deserve a significant endorsement endorsements will compound overtime and are fine. You have to be user-centric. If you please the user, you may please Google. I used to spend much. I cant get that time back, but I have learned an important lesson: To build a business, you must concentrate on pleasing the consumer.

[productreviewsonebay-blog]

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Your focus should be what can I do right now to help my prospective clients or readers There isnt a single site online that cant enhance User Experience (UX). There is always room provide more and to help more. A website which puts 100% effort will earn backlinks. Links are a lot more successful than author byline links. However you'll get results that are better if you build links to content assets that are strong. Editorial Backlinks For a URL to be editorial you have access to the site and your connection must pass review. Google values editorial backlinks more than another type of link. Sadly, getting these high authority backlinks can be challenging. Leverage Relevant Expired Domains If you are going to create a PBN, then you may as well do it right. Dont buy any expired domain name. Try to locate domains that have Topical Trust Flow Topics .

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A endorsement can get enormous amounts of news coverage. Here are two examples After Glenn Beck Endorsed Ted Cruz Look at these spikes immediately following endorsements. Think of backlinks as endorsements for your site. What does your site/blog need to deserve a big endorsement Small endorsements are fine and will compound overtime. NOTE: if you choose the grey hat route, you're increasing the likelihood of getting a penalty. None of those tactics are safe and I have seen sites get manual penalties using every one of them. If there's so much danger, then why am I showing you The reason is because lots of these techniques work well. I have gotten manual action removed from customers due to web 2.0 backlinks. I recommend you avoid using these backlinks. Read The Art of The Super Web 2.0 to find out how to build them properly. How to EARN Backlinks folks doing SEO confuse earning backlinks with building backlinks. You've got to be user-centric. If you please the user, you may please Google. I used to spend so much. I cant get that time back, but I have learned an important lesson: To build a business, you must focus on pleasing the consumer.

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Second, referral traffic that is relevant can be sent by your guest article . Keep in mind that spammy guest posting is frowned upon by Google. That means you need to focus your efforts on creating a valuable guest article. There is nothing wrong with injecting backlinks to your site if you give value, then. It is a vote. Candidates from Democrats and the Republicans are currently fighting to earn their partys nomination. When you cut through all the media noise there is a marketing technique at play: Endorsements. The truth is content comes in all shapes and sizes. There are no laws for producing content. I do not believe that every piece of content you create needs to rank on the first page of Google. Yes, most of your content should concentrate on a single keyword. The only way to acquire such endorsements (backlinks), you need to offer tremendous value for the consumer. 2. Your Content Must Please the User You know how competitive content promotion is at SEO, the entrepreneur, and marketing businesses. Bloggers are pumping incredible pieces of content out.

Things You Didn't Know About Backlink Software

Second, you will need to produce quality content to get backlinks. My agency has acquired thousands of editorial backlinks at this time. We have the links and can get these authority backlinks since we've built relationships. Promotional Relevant Guest Posts Guest posts are effective in two ways. You can recreate the content . The material needs to better than the original, although this is obvious. Reach out and let the linker know about the revised part of content. This strategy requires time and effort, but you get connection placements. Read more about the strategy here. On a constant basis. Understand that: Happy users ARE your own marketing. Users will EARN you backlinks. Your content will be SHARED by users on media. Users will go back to your website. Your SEO effort will transform when you set your users. Let me show you how you can make backlinks by being user-centric: 11 Ways to Earn Backlinks 1. To EARN, means that you DESERVE backlinks. Have you ever taken a second to think about your site even deserves backlinks Ive realized that there is only 1 way to EARN backlinks You have to become obsessed with satisfying your users. As of late, I have become consumed with the overwhelming ambition to please my customers.

The Business Of Automated Backlink Software

The key is for the expired domain. These domains are harder to come by, but it is worth it when you find one. There are still a few diamonds in the rough, although this strategy has been abused by SEOs. No matter what Google does, your content can never be taken away by it. You want to approach link building having a long-term mindset in 2019 and beyond. I use the investing analogy pretty often, but its true for SEO. There is a compound effect of promoting and producing content on a constant basis. This is the standard in these industries. This isnt the standard in every industry. Should it be. But its not. For producing content that pleases a 12, there isnt a single formula. Thats it can be harmful immersing yourself above. It narrows your view. Web 2.0s Developing web 2.0s on sites like Tumblr, Weebly, and Word Press.com is an old gray hat strategy that still functions.

Automated Backlink Software Street Talk

Use the Check My Link plugin. When reaching out, you may use this. Then you'll need a content asset, if there are no broken links. Otherwise, youll get denied. The White Alternative to PBNs The White Hat Alternative to PBNs is simple: Instead of buying an expired domain and rebuilding it, you are likely to: find an expired domain scrape its backlinks then reach out and allow the linkers know they are linking to a dead source If the expired domain is applicable, you can ask the linker to replace the deceased connection with your site. There are occasions when you need to address a problem . This problem might only get 10 searches a month in Google. WHO CARES. As long as you have the intention of helping someone, it will improve the value of your site. There isnt a issue too large or too small.

[flyerthan-you-blog]

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Web 2.0s Developing web 2.0s on websites like Tumblr, Weebly, and Word Press.com is an old grey hat strategy that still functions. This is the standard in these industries. This isnt the standard in each industry. If it be Maybe. There isnt a formula for producing. Thats it can be dangerous immersing yourself above. Your view narrows.

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You can recreate the content . This is evident, but the original needs to not better than the content. Reach out and let the linker know about the new piece of content. This strategy requires more time and effort, but you get link placements. Read more about the strategy here. It's a vote. Candidates from Democrats and the Republicans are battling to earn their partys nomination. There is a highly effective marketing technique at play: Endorsements when you cut through all the media noise. A endorsement can get great amounts of news coverage. Here are two examples: Google Trends Following Sarah Palin Endorsed Donald Trump Google Trends After Glenn Beck Endorsed Ted Cruz Look at those spikes after endorsements. Think of backlinks as endorsements for your site. What does your site/blog need to deserve a significant endorsement endorsements will compound overtime and are fine. When reaching out, you may use this. If there are no links, then you will need a strong content advantage. Otherwise, youll get denied. The White Alternative to PBNs The White Hat Alternative to PBNs is simple: Instead of buying an expired domain and rebuilding it, you are likely to: find an expired domain scratch its backlinks then reach out and allow the linkers know they're linking to a dead source If the expired domain is relevant, you can ask the linker to replace the deceased connection with your site.

Indisputable Realities About Backlink Software

No matter what Google does, it can never take away your articles. You need to approach link building having a mindset in 2019 and beyond. I use the investing analogy often, but its true for SEO. There is a effect of producing and promoting content on a consistent basis. I've gotten manual action removed from customers due to web 2.0 backlinks. I suggest that you avoid using these backlinks on tier one. Read The Art of The Super Web 2.0 to find out how to build them properly. To EARN Backlinks Many folks doing SEO confuse backlinks with building backlinks. Second, your guest post can send referral traffic that is relevant . Bear in mind that Google frowns upon guest posting. That means you need to focus your efforts on creating a guest post that is valuable. There's nothing wrong with injecting backlinks to your website if value is given by you, then. There are times when you will need to address a problem . This micro problem might only get 10 searches per month. WHO CARES. As long as you have the intention of helping someone, it will enhance your website's value. There isnt a problem too small or too large.

The Business Of Best Automated Backlink Software

NOTE: if you take the grey hat route, you're increasing the likelihood of getting a penalty. None of those tactics are secure and I have seen websites get manual penalties using every one of them. If there's so much danger, then why am I showing you The reason is because many of these techniques work well. You've got to be user-centric. If the user pleases, Google will be pleased by you. I used to spend much of my time trying to determine how to trick or manipulate Google. The only way to acquire such endorsements (backlinks), you want to offer tremendous value for the user. 2. Your Content Must Please the User You know how content promotion is at marketing businesses, SEO, and the entrepreneur. Bloggers are currently pumping out incredible pieces of content. Second, you likely will need to generate quality content to acquire backlinks. My bureau has acquired thousands of editorial backlinks at this time. We have the links and can get these authority backlinks because relationships have been built by us. Promotional Relevant Guest Posts Guest articles are successful in two ways.

Common Benefits about Backlink Software

Your focus should be what can I do right now to help my prospective customers or readers There isnt a single website online that cant improve User Experience (UX). There is always room provide more and to help more. A website that puts 100% effort will earn backlinks. On a consistent basis. Understand that: users that are Joyful ARE your own marketing. Happy users will SHARE your content . Happy users will RETURN to your website. Your search engine optimization effort will transform when you set your users. Let me show you how you can make backlinks. Leverage Relevant Expired Domains If you are going to create a PBN, then you may as well do it right. Dont just buy any domain that is expired. Try to locate domains that have Topical Trust Flow Topics . This wont always be possible, but its worth the patience. Contextual links are a lot more successful than author byline links. Below are a few search queries to find opportunities: NICHE + guest article NICHE + bring about NICHE + compose for us NICHE + contributors NICHE + guest writer NICHE + guest article guidelines The Merger Technique The Merger Technique is the process of finding a relevant expired domain and 301 redirecting it to your site.

Additional Advice on Automated Backlink Software

If you build links to content assets that are strong, but you will get results. Editorial Backlinks For a URL to be editorial you have access to your link and the site must pass editorial review. Google values backlinks more than another type of link. Getting these authority backlinks can be challenging. The key is for the domain name to be 100% applicable. These domains are harder to come by, but it is worth it when you find one. Although this strategy has been abused by SEOs, there are still a few diamonds in the rough. Have you ever taken a second to think about why your website even deserves backlinks Ive realized that there's only one way to EARN traffic You have to become obsessed with pleasing your customers. As of late, I've become consumed with the overwhelming ambition to please my customers. The truth is. There are no laws for creating great content. I do not believe that every piece needs to rank on Google's first page. Yes, almost all of your content should concentrate on a single keyword.

[puzzled-barista]

The difference will be puzzling : Intro.

Okay, so I don’t use this tumblr very much, but I do like to write and document certain things because it’s always fun to keep track of things and look back to them to see where you’ve gotten. I’m going to be using this a space to keep track of ideas, progression, and achievements (both reached and planned)  that I have for one of my favorite games Puzzles and Dragons.

So what is Puzzle and dragons? 

it’s a Japanese mobile game that’s been popular both here and japan for the past 5 years. I’ve been playing it for not that long (maybe like 3, collectively), but it has always been a game I return to. It’s a game I enjoy very much, combining collecting, progression, and excellent artwork.

So where am I at on this? 

So far, I’m here: 

My box is... A bit of a mess. It’s good and terrible at the same time, at least that’s how I feel when I look at it. Obviously, the strongest part of the box are my red cards. I have a pretty functional Awoken Krishna team that has cleared a lot of content for me, and I’m sure can continue to do so. Having the cards that I do, I can pretty much take any dungeon on with some minor modifications to the team in order to get through certain areas and floors of a dungeon I might have trouble with. Standard team I use (which was just on there at the time It took this screenshot) looks like this. 

I think this team in itself is pretty strong just for the fact that I have Two Yamato (one being new years). I use to see Optimal Krishna teams run two Yamato anyway, So when I pulled the new years one, I figured it would make a nice substitute, being almost the something while also providing a boost when playing in co-op mode ( which I do not do much of). Shiva is there to add more health and damage to the team, and breaking any kind of high defenses I run into, along with having really good awakenings, but really his slot on this team is meant to be switched to what ever I need at the time. If I take anything out of the team first, it would be him first. Lastly, I have Sanada, because he’s amazing Krishna sub, providing fire and heart to he board just like yamato, and getting rid of the most useless orbs in the game: Blue. - I’ll explain that bit later.

Anyway, as much utility I can crank out of my fire box, a lot of the things I have in there are not developed well enough to take them into higher end game content. I have Tsubaki, and the wrong evolution of Cao Cao now, so I need to work on those to make them a little more applicable to what I need.  Set is useless, but I’ve got a sweet spot for that card for some reason, providing a crazy amount of health, and being one hell of a tank, but after hearing he was getting another evolution, I was pretty happy I kept him. Uriel was obtained at the poor execution of trying to construct Xiang Mei team (oh god, that was a horrible idea.) but with krishna being good, at least I get some good uses. Suzaku is a must have card that should be maxed, and I have no idea how to go about her. I see the value, but nothing too demanding, so I tell myself I’ll get to her, but then I never do.

So blue. I’d show you my blue team, but I don’t have any, because I think blue is a terrible color in any game and I refuse to play it. The only thing that will change my mind and investment into that side of my box is if Karin becomes a crazy good lead specifically With Skuld, Sun Quan, And Isis, and that just sounds god awful already, so lets just stop talking about it and move on to my next best color: Green.

Do you count it as green if it’s more rainbow-style? 

This is the team I am currently using to clear all the content that’s thrown at me. Yes I know, I am missing Kaede, BUT I HAVE RAGDRAGON AND ROZUEL , HOW CAN I NOT PLAY THIS TEAM, IT’S LIKE HELLA FUCKING GOOD AND SO GO DAMN STRONG.

Enough with the yelling, How am I dealing with this? well instead of bringing Kaede (which I swear I had and probably just sold to try and get some MP or what ever) I turn those slots into something that can used for utility. Is it more system-ey that works for a Heart-Cross rainbow team? No, but Ronove’s active is so short that with maybe a little more patience, a little more control ( and a shit ton of luck) you can get by with enough tankines and damage to get you through almost anything. RagDrag offers A full rainbow board change and Rozuel offers more consistency to obtain hearts in a lesser used color like Light. Yes, Ra is a light, but He gives me another second of orb movement, unbind-able, Protection from Blind attacks, and servers a nearly identical purpose to shield smashing. Even if I don’t get the kill with the 77777 Damage, the extra orb extension from his active allows me get those high damage numbers. What’s my further plans with this team? Well, I was going to try and get a second RagDrag to make up for not having Kaede as I’ve seen teams sort of get by on that. Wont be good for maybe challenge one shot runs, or maybe even arena runs because Sophidet is a bitch that shouldn’t exist, but other than those, team will get me through pretty much everything. With the addition of skill inheritance extending to some Decent monsters (most notably Scarlet, Gainaut and Linthia) this will allow a much wider pool of subs, while still having access to really good actives that could provide optimal bored for Ronove. Will he still be Relevant by then? Probably not, but look at this dude, how can you not play him?

As  mentioned, Gainaut, Scarlet are still good subs for Ronove. I want to make a farm-able team with those two monsters having a constant rainbow board accessible to me.

Edit: It was in between me writing this entry and the last godfest that just happened on the 28th of febuary thAT I PULLED A GOD DAMN KAEDE.

As you can tell by the use of gifs, I’m pretty excited about this. This makes my Ronove team nearly relevant with the Inclusion of Visnhua. I didn’t notice until today, but I invested so much into this team that really, it’s probably my strongest team I have currently available to me. Obviously Krishna might be used still for longer and more sustainable clears, but having the way the team is now (Ronove / Ragdrag / Vishnu / Keade / Rozuel Ronove) Can clear me through most things. Granted, I’m still not to great at heart-cross teams, but at one point I also thought that it would be impossible to learn how to play a rainbow team at all without stacking. Here’s being hopeful that I’ll stop sucking the more I play on with this play-style.

So what’s the new direction? continue to hyper max every member of it. Ronove is done, Ragdrag and Vishnu are a skill up or two away, and Kaede is already 297′ed, but still requires her full trail of skill ups to really get some amazing value out of her. Poor Rozuel, having the least amount of attention, but that all goes back to my red box just being under developed in itself. Since she’s the last to be 297′ed I’ll make it more apparent in the coming weeks to give him more to contribute more to the team. Her active is really just there to fix awkward situations which doesn’t seem to happen very often, but is always better to have a solution then stall out of a problem.

Alright enough fan-girling about green, let’s move on to my other colors: Black and White. 

Why together? because I want to post this already and I don’t have much things to say about this part of my box anyway.

Both parts of the box have just been there to fill space for any other teams I’ve had for the past few years. Ra filled in for Kaede, Chocobo fills in for D.Kali, Batman fills in for Echidna, yada yada yada, what ever. Neither Color really has any focus much like the blue part of my box, but I do have intrest and plans for them.

I got really good at stacking, so maybe Ra might come up and become another contender for a light based rainbow lead, but if I ever get to that point, why am I not just playing Myr, or Ra-Dragon? Because I’ll probably be too lazy and just make with what I have. Go figure. Ilm has also been an interesting choice to look at, along with Metatron because of her new ultimate coming (or is that dmeta?). Kirin as well has a lot of uses, along with Saria. Most of my light cards are good, but no lead or any other good subs to really take advanage of any of them. hopefully in the future, that might be able to change.

I personally told myself I would build teams in dark, but never really get around to them. I had the amazing luck of pulling sepheroth and is still considered a good lead in the game, but the lack of subs that were so specific to his team are the things I lack in order to properly use him. I have a Yomi I should definitively start investing in to, but other than that, i really didn’t see any kind of value rising up from this end of my box until I heard of D.Athena.

Now when she first was announced, I didn’t care cause I already knew that my dark end of the box was terrible. Why should I care about a monster I can’t even play? I decided to just move to Ronove and just invest my time into getting Ragdrag not really worrying about this card until recently. I neve really looked at the teams that were used, and I never really wanted to until I posted my box in a group and was told that I should probably start hitting that Dark end of the box to get ready for D.Athena. Haku? check. Persephone? Check. Durga? Check. grida? Check. is it the perfect team? Absolutely not. IS IT a team though? . Well with a broken card like D.athena, it might as well be. So the 390k mp revent is happening soon, so most of those investment is going to go into making this team a little more relevant.

Ideally I want to have a team for every color because well... why not? It’s a game, i don’t need a real life purpose for doing any of this, I simply want to, and without that, why would I even be playing this game? I’ve got some strong teams and leads already, that much I’m aware of, but with no goals I’ll stop playing and there won’t be any reason for me to do this. So what does this mean for this blog? 

In term, I’ll have updates on events or certain things that might be valuable to document through the course of my game to just get a fun idea of where i’m going. Doing this will be fun to look back to where I cam from, and see how far I’ve gotten. Maybe one day I’ll look back at this and laugh at the idea that I tried to “replace” Kaede in some way or form. Let’s face it, It’s sad right now, but it’s going to be a pretty funny joke in the future.

If you read this far, holy shit, that’s crazy cause I didn’t even want to write this much. what was suppose to be a quick intro turned into an essay. Is that bad? well probably, but oh well, it’s done already. Hopefully i’ll be checking back on this to really get more out of what I want out of this game.