#the latest few asks in my inbox are all essentially asking the same thing

[fiveht]

My birthday is tomorrow and new Adore would be a great present. :D

Happy birthday, anon! I don't know exactly what time you sent this, but it's probably your birthday now. 🥳

I can't give you your present yet, but you can maybe possibly be on the lookout near the end of the month, like say, in two weeks' time, maybe on a Monday or Tuesday. I'm just saying, that would be a good time to think about a certain boy and his daddy, and wonder what they might be up to.

[the-artist-grimm]

Hello! So sorry to bother, I know your inbox must be full but I was reading your latest post and couldn’t help but notice you writing this

“And once Aym died and she saw how grief-struck he’d looked, heard how he rasped out Anthea’s name, watched as he reached out a trembling hand to the Lamb's collapsed, wailing form not to hurt but to comfort, she realized there was more going on.”

And it made me wonder even more how exactly the entire fight sequence went down between them all. I thought that Narinder would make the first strike after the twins deaths, but is it Anthea that does so out of grief or rage?

Anyways I love your content! Its great! Im normal about it!

Anthea strikes first yeah-Narinder had ordered them to sacrifice themself, then the twins to fight at their not so much refusal but more-so asking what the heck was going on (while he'd initially hoped the cages would be enough to encourage Anthea to lay down their life since he was betting on their self-sacrificial nature, when that didn't work he had hoped their love for the twins would get them to stand down instead). But after Baal got killed on accident via knocking Anthea off balance to ensure he'd get hit, then Aym doing almost the same via intentionally aiming for the cages with magic to force Anthea to counter (which unintentionally the curse they chose, an ice-based shield one produced a lot of shrapnel that pierced his stomach), he kinda broke a little? Like with Baal, he froze up in shock and didn't know how to react when Aym immediately went on a mana rage, then when Aym died as well that's what made his brain finally snap back and realize 'oh god what just happened my kids just died'.

Like he only asked Anthea to lay down their life because he was convinced they were going to betray him (see his overview here). And while at the moment he still thought as such, the shock of just losing his sons and now watching the love of his life break down covered in their blood had him just acting off instinct-Anthea's crying, comfort them now.

He reached out a hand, but the looming shadow just triggered a 'Fight' reflex, which was amplified by both their own grief and the Crown's desperation to defend its bearer in the wake of a threatening situation from its POV. Narinder nearly gets his hand blasted off with a curse launched on reflex, and it snaps him into realizing 'oh ok we're fighting now' which the battle goes from there. Narinder's chains had fallen off with each bishop's death so only his collar which was bound to the metaphysical one remained, so he was able to just jump into defense.

Which as a side-note (also see their overview here) Anthea doesn't actually remember much of the fight, like with losing the twins it was like losing their family all over again but worse since this time it was them who killed them, and the grief, confusion, and anger just took over. Combined with Red giving them essentially a massive adrenaline boost to make sure they could fight things just went downhill from there. Had Narinder not reached out his hand like that things might've gone a little differently-but because he spooked them battling it was.

All Anthea could see during that battle was red until Narinder was mortal size and their blade was pressed into his throat-and it was only at seeing how terrified he'd looked in that moment and the fact that they still loved him they snapped out of it. From there they sent him back to the cult, the two had an argument over who planned to betray who, and then they ignored him for the next few months.

So TLDR, the final battle is just a long chain of people making really bad split-second decisions (Baal tripping Anthea thinking he'd just get a simple cut to get Narinder to call it off, Aym following his brother's lead and miscalculating the possible results, Narinder reaching out a hand out of shock, Anthea getting spooked), and them snowballing into more.

(also thank you! :D)

[laminy]

Hello there, love, it's been a few weeks. How're you doing? What's the latest? Hope you're alright, your last post is a bit worrying ❤️

Hello! 🩵

thank you for messaging, it’s always so nice to see an ask in my inbox, puts a little bounce in my step.

I’ll put it all behind a cut because I’m sure some people don’t care and also some discussion of mental health might be triggering for people.

I cannot say this is the worst I have ever been or ever felt because in 2017 I had actual plans of when/where/how I wanted to die, and that is not happening right now, 2017 will always be the worst in that regard. but it is still a very hopeless period of my life and I’m essentially out of anything to look forward to and I spend most days pretty sad.

on the job front, I still have one. but I will be honest and say that every day, I would not be surprised if they fired me, and that out of the eight people in my department, I believe the only one not currently looking for a new job is the manager. she loves it, she think it’s great. it’s the rest of us who are struggling and feeling unappreciated, targeted, unhappy. it’s just tough because I hate looking for new jobs, I am very unlucky in job searches (the amount of student debt I graduated with, you’d think I’d have more qualifications), and I know that I’m very lucky in having a role that is still WFH, with the exception of maybe once a month. it’s just really frustrating because a year ago, yeah it was busy but it wasn’t upsetting like this.

the living situation is still hell. we’ve had to call the police multiple times in the past few weeks for various reasons — attempted break ins, domestic violence in another unit. on top of that, I really just don’t sleep because the upstairs neighbours are up all hours of the night, and so I’ll regularly be woken up between 2-5AM. we ask them to be quiet, they do not care, they will not change. also, the building is basically built out of damp cardboard and scotch tape so there is zero soundproofing and multiple water leaks throughout. but I really can’t afford much else. even if I could get approved for a place of my own in a different building (gosh my dream is to not have roommates), one bedroom apartments here go for 2.5x what I pay now. which just isn’t feasible.

the one vaguely good thing going on is that I am still writing! I know I’m not posting anything which actually makes me really sad, and I am sorry for it. I always think like, oh, I just sort of abandoned all those other ideas. but I am kind of all in on the original story I’m writing for now. I’m halfway through the second draft. it’s coming together a lot better than the first draft but there will still have to be a third draft. too much exposition in one scene. maybe too many things happening, a storyline might have to get cut. I enjoy it, I like writing the characters and their story, and at the same time, it’s also a welcome distraction from all the stuff going on in my life. the characters don’t worry about their living situations or losing their jobs, they can afford nice things, they’re happy (okay one of them is pretty depressed and the other can be quite insecure but they have hope for the future! they get the happily ever after).

I know that’s all a lot. but thank you for asking and checking in, I appreciate it. I hope things are well with you and I sincerely hope you take care! 🩵

[pumpkinpaix]

Thank you for that translation post. Tbh I think you and hunxi and other users being flooded with requests in the wake of CQLs rise in popularity are handling the pressures and inevitable discomforts with a lot of grace and patience that you’re not obligated to show. I have never personally met an English translation of my native tongue that didn’t fill me with unease. I love languages in general, and can fumble through a few of them enough to be considered multilingual. 1/

I love translations too, for their variety, their uncertainty, the special something that each translator puts into their work, because no two native speakers will ever translate a complex sentence the same way on the first try, in any language. And there is a beauty in that, because it goes beyond language and into the way we perceive the physical world, the nuances, the way we think and feel about things. 2/

But I think for a lot of us who never chose to exist in primarily english-speaking places, our native tongue can sometimes feel like a raw wound, because a lot of times (and I know most english speakers never mean it this way) we’re made to feel as if our native tongue is inferior. As if the peak value of our complex, emotionally vibrant and culturally rich language is its eventual English translation, which can feel pretty shitty, regardless of the language. 3/

Especially, as you said, when we begin to lose some of it, precisely due to overwhelming pressure of english-speaking spaces. It’s like adding insult to injury. So I know I get defensive a lot when it comes to my native tongue, because it doesn’t translate well into English, and it shouldn’t have to, in order to have richness and value. But the fact that I have difficulty communicating with my grandmother because 4/

I can’t simply substitute every fifth or tenth word with English when I can’t remember the correct one in my tongue probably makes me so much more protective of the words I still DO have. In any case, I want you to know that a lot of us appreciate the fuck out of you, your patience, and everything you’ve contributed to the fandom. Zewu-Jun is 泽芜君 and he shouldn’t have to be anything else in any other language.  5/5

(again, referring to this post)

anon, everything you said is such a Mood, thank you. i would quote half of this back to you essentially just to be like !!!! yeah that!! that’s the feeling. the slow, latent trauma of linguistic alienation. the defensiveness. the unease. thank you for putting that into words too!! the thing you said about being more protective of the words you do have? yeah. it took me a very long time to come to an understanding of zewu-jun, because I didn’t know those characters when I first encountered them. it took work! so of course now I’m not eager to try and re-transmute my understanding into something else that will inevitably fall short.

anyways, I’m really glad you think me and the others are doing a good job ahaha. because ultimately, even though I’m defensive and possessive about it, I do think that trying to reach out instead of close off is a better avenue. people are trying, after all! and that matters. even if im frustrated and salting in my dms all the time about the latest ice cold take i saw on my dash aslkdjflk. i try to keep that energy out of my posts, so I’m happy to hear you think it’s working 😆 i’ve been in other fandoms where popular, resource-type blogs could be really cruel to the people in the askbox--which I understand too, because. well, no one is obligated to be nice to a racist anon in their inbox, no matter how unintentional. but I was perpetually unhappy in those fandoms because I was terrified I would ask an innocuous question to the wrong person and be absolutely flayed alive for it. and I would rather mdzs and cql not become that, at least where I spend my time. so I guess, thank you! and everyone else!! for showing me that my effort hasn’t been wasted. 💛

[getengage]

How to Attract Customers in Retail Stores During COVID-19?

COVID-19 has shown retailers that their past strategies for footfall increase are no longer effective. To offset in-store traffic loss due to COVID-19, retailers need innovative solutions.

This blog is written to help retailers navigate the difficulties of COVID-19 with seven working ideas to increase footfall to your retail store.

But before that, let's understand what is footfall in retail marketing.

What is footfall in retail marketing?‍

Footfall meaning: Number of people who enter a store or venue in an hour. Also, footfall means the number of customers you get to your retail outlet per hour, week, and month on average.

Knowing the footfall to your retail store can help you decide how many products you need to stock, which days of the week are best for promotions, and what type of promotional offers work well.

What Is A Retail Store And What Is Retail Marketing?

A retail store sells goods and services to the end-users, called customers. And retail marketing is the process of promoting awareness and interest in retail goods and services to generate sales from potential customers.

Let's now look into the seven ideas to increase footfall to your brick-and-mortar retail store.

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‍How to increase footfall in retail during COVID-19?

The pandemic has drastically impacted customer behavior. People prefer shopping online to brick-and-mortar purchases, and consumers are limiting their spending on a range of items - investing only in essentials is the norm now (McKinsey).

What's more, customer loyalty is plunging awfully. If retailers do not have a come-back strategy, it's going to be hard to stay on top of the game. On top of that, to pull off a rulebook on how to increase footfall in retail during COVID-19 is no easy feat.

That is why I have compiled seven ideas to increase footfall to your store. Read on and be enlightened!

1.Abide by COVID-19 protocols for footfall increase

As a preliminary step, be well-informed of the COVID-19 protocols. Don't implement this merely under the government norms, instead take extra measures to show customers that you care!

Most importantly though: adhere to these guidelines religiously and never forget customer health is your top priority. Endorse contactless service at all possible points so as not to let any opportunity slip by.

And here are other things you’d want to implement in your brick-and-mortar store for footfall increase.

Have an automated entrance

Deploy hygiene counters

Fix thermal sensors in the entrance

Have an isolation space for those showing symptoms of the coronavirus

Lay an inner pathway that customers could use in your shop

Fix sneeze guards in the checkout counters

Ensure to have ventilation systems

Do give your customers the ease of a comfort room

2. Run in-store promotions to boost store traffic

Wondering how to attract customers to your store?

Well, discounts are a perfect way to attract new customers and retain existing ones. When you want to increase customer traffic in a brick-and-mortar store, give customers an offer that only works inside the store.

For example, Target's program, Cartwheel offers 5% to 50%, off specific items when customers shop in-store to increase foot traffic.

Much like the aforementioned example, there are various other ways to endorse in-store promotions. Below are a few techniques brick and mortar retailers can use to increase foot traffic in their store:

Offer a “Bring your family or friend” discount – this gives your customers a valid reason to visit your store. And when this takes on a chain reaction, you may rapidly increase the customer traffic.

Surprise your consumers with free samples of your products. This would allow them to try some new brands and products.

If you’d want to reduce your excess stock post the quarantine time, try running a multi-buy campaign.

Use Ingage to boost store traffic! Get your personalized demo here.

3.Enhance in-store shopping experience with digital signages

If you are wondering how to increase footfall in restaurants, or any retail outlet for that matter, digital signages are your best bet. They are innovative and amazingly powerful when it comes to empowering your customers in-store.

Digital signage is a  type of advertising that uses a video screen to display marketing messages. They can be used for attracting customers, conveying information, and promoting merchandise.

If you are wondering how to increase footfall during COVID-19, then consider these ideas to increase sales in retail stores:

Offer surprise discounts like “pay what you want” – this will make your customers feel valued and loved by encouraging them to visit more often.

Giveaway free samples so that customers get an opportunity to try new brands/products.

Also, if you have excess inventory post quarantine time, run multi-buy campaigns.

Some more examples of how digital signage is used for ways to increase sales in retail stores are as follows:

Grocery stores and supermarkets use digital signage to show recipes, make grocery lists, or serve as an information center.

Retail outlets in malls that have fashion sections can display the latest trends on their screens so customers know what’s new. This helps them pick out something they might like quickly.

Some restaurants showcase menus on screens while others even project live cooking shows! These displays help with menu navigation too; helping a diner decide between chicken tikka masala or steak tartare by showing pictures of both dishes at once.

4.Leverage beacon notification to attract customers to your store

The beacon technology is a way to implement a tracking system indoors. A beacon is an inaudible signal that can be tracked and act as the trigger for other events like sending notifications about deals, discounts, or new products.

Beacon technology helps with driving footfalls by giving customers an indoor mapping experience of your store's inventory. This ensures they always know where they are going and what’s around them. The navigation reminds them of their proximity to items on display so there’s never any confusion over whether something is nearby or farther off.

Beacon notification also increases customer engagement; through this tech, users get notified of discounts, deals, and new arrivals as they move around the store.

Along with this technology, you can also use geofencing so that when a customer enters your store's radius, they get an alert on notifying them of specials in the area or location of products while providing directions to their desired product.

You should consider implementing beacon notification for attracting customers from all over because it is cost-effective and easy to set up. They're compatible across devices such as phones, tablets, laptops, etc., which means footfall increase is just one step away!

5.Train your salespersons to become the shopper's friend

Educating your salespersons on how to be consumers’ friends is important. They should be knowledgeable about what products are popular and in-demand so that they can help the customers find exactly what they want while at the same time giving guidance on how to save money by telling them where discounts and deals can be found.

It's an excellent way of building customer relationships and increasing traffic to retail stores.

For instance, Denver’s Cherry Creek does an exemplary job on this. The customer has penned the experience thus:

“One of my friends was getting married in a couple of months and stopped by the store where he and his groomsmen were getting their tuxedos. He was greeted by name and with a cold beer. Handshakes and hugs all around. When we left, I turned to my friend and asked, “Do you know them?” He said, “Yeah, they’re helping me with my tux.”  (Source: Vendhq)

6.Reconceptualize the checkout counters

Customers abandon their purchases because of long lines at the checkout. With the pandemic out there, this could be one of the reasons why the retail foot traffic is diminishing. (The Baymard Institue)

To overcome this hassle, and add another way to increase footfall in retail stores, you can reconceptualize the checkout counters. Some ideas are adding more till counters, or installing in-app checkout. This way customers don’t have to wait in queues for long periods and can make the purchase right there and then.

7.Encourage BOPIS (Buy Online Pick-up In-store)

True, consumers are inclining to online purchases as opposed to in-store shopping, but you can turn it to your advantage. In fact, an ICSC report cites that 69% of customers who went to collect their orders eventually bought additional items.

To implement BOPIS for your retail store, you need to have a centralized platform that allows you to manage orders, sales, and customers.  This helps you to deliver a personalized customer experience.

In combination with BOPIS, another way to promote footfall into the store and drive sales in retail is by bringing your website in-store. And this will be a good move if you have multiple stores and not all the stock in one place.

So people could browse your eCommerce site in-store for products they want but which aren't available at their local shop. If they show interest, you can then let them know that associates can place an order for these items, then deliver them individually to their home when ready of course!

This is yet another savvy way to increase footfall to your retail store.

How to calculate footfall in retail?

Now that you know how to increase footfall to your retail store, you must know how to calculate footfall in retail as well.

This is because, when you know how to calculate footfall in retail it can help you  with many retail metrics like:

How to plan your store for peak footfall times?

How much stock you need in the store and how often you'll need to restock it?

What products are selling well on an hourly basis? This is so crucial information for retailers that will help inform decisions about where to place certain items or which ones may be more popular than others etc.

When stores should have promotions (if they want), discounts, and raise weekend sales?

It can also help you gain insights such as how many people are coming into your store per hour and how much money is being spent.

Also, calculating the number of customers that enter your store provides valuable information about how many chances you had to make a sale. By dividing your transactional sales by the footfall data, you can determine what percentage of shoppers that came into your store made a purchase (your conversion rate).

Retailers can calculate footfall using "Beam Break" technology. Most retailers have the main entrance, and typically install an infrared beam across it. As each customer walks in the store, they get a count and by dividing it by two, retailers can see how many people come to their stores.

Learned how to increase footfall in retail during COVID-19?

We hope this blog gave you an insight into how to increase footfall in restaurants, malls, and other retail outlets.

Increase footfall in retail during COVID-19 with Ingage! Get your free demo here.

But to get a detailed blueprint, I suggest you read the White Paper we have compiled.  It has research from experts in the industry to help you increase footfall.

Here's a gist of what the White Paper covers:

How have pandemics catalyzed technological innovations

Customer sentiment and behavior during COVID-19

An omnichannel customer engagement strategy to drive sales in retail and footfall

The ultimate roadmap to increase retail footfalls

How to build the perfect loyalty program to turn foot traffic into brand ambassadors?

I'm sure that whatever questions were unanswered in the blog would be answered in this intense research-backed White Paper. Download your free copy now and bring in more foot traffic and increase your retail sales!

[purplesurveys]

878

Can you lift more than 100lbs? I can’t even lift 100 lbs flat. The most I’ve been able to deadlift was I think 80 or 90 lbs, but I already count that as an achievement since I weigh around that much anyway. What's your opinion on incest? Big yikes. Some memes can be hilarious but when you think about how incest will sometimes come from a place of sexual abuse within the family, it stops being funny so I’d rather take it seriously like 98% of the time. Do you have a favorite color for cats? Mmm I think orange is really cute. The few cats that have been nice to me are usually the orange ones. What was your latest email about? It’s an email from a transcribing website inviting me to their Slack. Since I can’t get a legit job for now, Gab let me know about these websites that’ll let you do some transcribing and pay you a few cents (around ₱15-20) for each of them. One of the sites I joined, whose test I passed, invited me to their Slack earlier today so I can be a part of the team. I’m still feeling too anxious to join the group so I haven’t addressed it for now, but maybe by tonight or tomorrow. What video games did you play when you were younger? Our parents weren’t too strict when it came to video game supervision so we were already playing Grand Theft Auto, Silent Hil, Resident Evil, etc. as kids. Those games eventually ended up being my favorites. I liked other less-violent games too, like games from the Burnout franchise, The Simpsons: Hit and Run and that one Spongebob video game based on the first Spongebob movie hehe.

Would you ever get a tramp stamp? That’s not really a place where I’d like to get a tattoo. I want it to be somewhere I can constantly see, like my fingers or wrist. Do you like Lady Gaga? Yeah. It has a sentimental point to it too because she’s essentially a part of the root of mine and Gabie’s friendship. When we first met I was heavily into Beyoncé and she, into Gaga. Telephone was still a super popular song then and people were really into the Bey-Gaga duo, so it was the perfect recipe for a friendship to form. We make it a point to like each other’s bias so she’s caught up with Beyoncé’s new material and I also always support Gaga’s. What's your favorite commercial? I love the sports car ad of Fita and the ‘First Love’ McDonald’s ad. Jollibee’s Valentine’s Day ads have also been pretty gut-wrenching in the last few years. Did you cry when Michael Jackson died? I didn’t, but by then I already knew how big of a star he was because of how much Beyoncé hyped him up before he passed lol. It was also easy to understand that it was a big deal because the news covered his death and funeral for hourssss during that week. What does the last notification you received say? “home” Gab drove out to run some errands and I asked her to let me know when she gets home, because the weather isn’t looking good. What's the ugliest species of animal? Cockroaches. Are you embarrassed about any songs on your iPod? I wasn’t embarrassed over the punk bands I listened to but I knew my classmates weren’t going to understand my taste and possibly ostracize me even more than I already was, so I kept my punk playlist all to myself. Who is on your Top Friends? I don’t have Myspace but Facebook ranks friends based on how much you interact with them and my top 5 are Angela, Gabie, Mils, Alique, and Andrew. What do you use to listen to music on the computer? Spotify.  Do people know a lot about you? You guys sure do. But yeah when it comes to irl people I wear my heart on my sleeve, too. What was the last thing you said out loud? “That’s enough for now.”  Do you miss anybody? Of course. All my friends. More than ever. Have you ever heard the song What A Wonderful World? Yes, though I think I may have only ever heard the chorus since that’s the most-played part of the song. Who was the last person you said I Love You to? Gabie. Have you ever deleted someone off of Facebook? I’ve unfriended countless people and blocked a handful of others. Do you have any bug bites right now? No. Puppy bites, yes. Have you ever been burned? My finger has. When I was 7 I stupidly laid a finger on a clothes iron that was plugged in. My grandma had been using it but she left for a while to do a task. It’s still up there on the stupidest things I’ve ever done. Who was your last inbox message from? It’s the same message from Gab I mentioned earlier. Would you ever consider being a critic? Nah. Analyzing works of art has never been my strong suit. I once had to keep a movie review blog as one of the requirements for my Film 100 class and I honestly found it difficult. Being a critic requires rich knowledge on anything and everything you’re critiquing, and I don’t know if I’m well-versed enough for that. I just want to enjoy my films, dude. Same goes for TV shows, paintings, food, poems, etc. Who was the last person you slept beside? Gab probs, but it’s been a while. Do you like Metallica? I loved For Whom the Bell Tolls from the very first second I heard it, which was when Triple H used it as his entrance song from one of the recent-ish Wrestlemanias. Other than that, I’m not familiar with their music.

What's your favorite kind of soup? Miso! What’s your best friend's favorite band? Angela loves The Maine. I know Gab doesn’t pick a favorite anything. Who was the last person you IMed? Again, Gabie. Have you ever heard of the band Thin Lizzy? Nope. Who was the last person you took a picture with? I haven’t had a photo with anyone in a while, but I want to guess that it’s my family. Do you play Guitar Hero? I used to. But I always preferred Rock Band because I really liked the concept of switching from one instrument to another. Do you play any real instruments? No. What are un-real instruments lol Where are your siblings right now? They’re both in the living room. Whose house did you last visit? My grandma’s house, aka the house where we used to live. My uncle baked me a tres leches cake as a graduation gift so I briefly came over to pick it up :) Since I was already there, my grandma also gave me a portion of the lengua she had made for dinner.  Who was the last person to come to your house? ^ Same grandma, and my cousin. They went over to meet Cooper and to do a lot of catching up. What time do you usually eat dinner? 7-7:30 in the evening. Have you ever searched your own house on Google Earth? Hahaha yeah, I think most of us have at one point. I also looked up myo old school when I was still studying there. Does it bother you when people have a loose grip on hugs? No. I know some people aren’t the most comfortable with hugs. Are you looking forward to next year? If I can be promised that the virus will be gone by 2021, then hell yes. What have you done so far this summer? This has been one long-ass summer...I’ve finished my thesis, relinquished my duties as VP for my org, owned a puppy, gotten sick for the first time in years, seen my girlfriend once in four months, cooked something from scratch for the first time, and tried to apply for simple side jobs over the interwebs. Do you have a common name or uncommon? It’s kinda in the middle? It’s not a unique name, but it’s also not a very popular choice. What's your favorite punk band? Against Me! I have my other fave punk bands but none has done it for me the way AM! has.

[banderhoe]

late night (colin ritman x reader)

hello, this is my first colin fic; hope you enjoy! ~

synopsis: (Y/N) works at Tuckersoft with Colin and is overwhelmed during a stressful workday. Fluff!

word count: 2134. i got carried away

___________________________________________

“(Y/N)!” You jumped as Thakur slammed his arms down on your desk playfully, shaking both your computer and Colin’s, who worked on the other side of your desk. He glanced up, shooting an annoyed glance at Thakur before shoving his headphones down harder over his ears and returning to work. “Whatcha workin on today?”

“Uh, still working on James’ proposal for next week. Why?” Your job at Tuckersoft was essentially to draft documents describing and proposing new games being developed at the company and send them off to major distributors to convince them to purchase the games in bulk when they came out. Developers would give you a demo of their game once it was completed, and you would use the power of persuasion to sell it to stores.

“Listen, I know this is last minute, but GameStuds down the street is struggling financially, and the manager told me today that they would double what they were previously gonna pay us for two new games if we get the proposals to them by tonight. Computer games are apparently their main sell, and he thinks they might be able to stay afloat longer if they can sell more. He wants Andy’s and Lola’s new games.”

“So you’re saying I need to have two new proposals for them by tonight?” Your heart sped up; that wouldn’t be nearly enough time.

“Well... I mean...” He sighed. “Yes. Yes, that’s unfortunately what I’m saying.”

“What the hell, Thakur?”

You glanced over at Colin, grateful for his interruption. He was standing up and walking around to your side of the table, headphones hung lopsided around his neck.

“You know how much work she puts into those things, and it’s the reason so many stores distribute Tuckersoft games. You can’t just make her bust out two full length proposals in a day.” You could feel Colin looming above you, the weight of his hand protectively on your shoulder, but you didn’t look up. Colin was always much more outspoken with Thakur than you ever were.

“Yeah, I know it’s not ideal, but it’d really boost profits for months to come if we can get double pay for two new games. And you’d obviously get double, too, (Y/N).”

Your eyes darted from him to your computer, Colin’s grip on your shoulder growing stronger. “Yeah, okay, I guess. I’ll do it.”

“Great. It’s 2:13 now, so, can you get them in by 2 am? That’s almost twelve hours. You don’t even have to run them by me, just email them straight to GameStuds.”

“Okay,” you nodded.

“I’ll have Andy and Lola send you their demos.” Thakur flashed you a grateful thumbs up and disappeared into his office.

“Well, I guess it’s gonna be a late night,” you said, spinning your chair around to face Colin.

“Jesus.” He was angrily staring in Thakur’s direction. “Are you gonna be able to do that?”

You shrugged. “I’ll have to. I don’t get off easy like you programmers, with months to work on one project. Spoiled assholes,” you grinned.

“Oh, fuck off,” he swiped at your arm. “I’ll be here for moral support if you need me.” He stuck a blunt in the corner of his mouth and winked, returning to his seat.

“Thanks, Col.” You ran your hands through your hair, preparing yourself for the long night before you.

You and Colin had been close for nearly a year, since you started working at Tuckersoft. You took classes at the nearby university and had picked up the job randomly for some money on the side because the job description had consisted of writing. You were not a computer science person, and, frankly, not a gamer. Because of this, you had no idea who Colin was when you started working at the company, and therefore were unfazed by his ego and blunt personality which could come off as intimidating to some. His frequent sarcasm and emo taste in music matched completely with yours, and in a short matter of time you two were practically inseparable, waiting for the other to finish what they were working on so you could take your lunch breaks together, and picking up breakfast for the other person when they were running late to work. When Colin needed a break from constant programming he would meander over to your side of the table and sit next to your computer until you payed attention to him. It made what was initially a meaningless side-job into something you genuinely enjoyed every day. Days like today, however, were much less enjoyable.

Your inbox beeped with an incoming message from Andy, a programmer who had been working at Tuckersoft for a little over a year. You opened the file and pushed your earbuds in, hitting the “RUN” button on your computer to test out the game. After about thirty seconds of smooth gameplay, the screen buzzed and glitched, revealing a blue and pink pixelated screen before ultimately crashing.

“Fuck,” you whispered under your breath, ripping out your earbuds and walking over to the other side of the room where Andy’s desk was. “Dude. Your game isn’t stable.”

“What?” He glanced up at you.

“Look, I usually wouldn’t mind giving you a few extra days, but Thakur needs this proposal in addition to Lola’s in by 2 am. So I can’t waste any time here. You have one hour, or I’m gonna be here literally all night.”

“Okay, you got it. Sorry (Y/N).”

By the time you returned to your seat, Lola had sent you her demo, which thankfully was stable. You breathed a sigh of relief and opened a blank document.

“What was that about?” Colin poked his head around his computer, looking at you from across the desk. He was wearing a faded grey graphic tee and a blue collared shirt on top, unbuttoned. He looked damn good, as usual. But you knew he wouldn’t feel the same; you two were friends. Just really good friends.

“Oh, Andy’s game isn’t stable. But it’s okay, Lola’s is ready, so I’ll just write her proposal first.”

Colin frowned. “Well, listen, if you need me to threaten that kid until he gets his shit together, just say the word, yeah?” He leaned forward in his seat. “And Thakur too, for that matter. You don’t need all this fuckin’ work.”

“I’ll be okay, Col, no threatening necessary.” You forced a smile, but Colin wasn’t fooled; he could tell you were stressed out. You were bouncing your knee and biting your lip, telltale signs of your anxiety. He knew them inside and out by now.

“Hey.” He leaned forward and grabbed your left hand. “Look at me.” You did. “You’ll be completely fine. Just relax. You’re a bomb ass writer; you’ll get it done.” He stroked your hand lightly with his thumb, and it sent a jolt through your entire body.

“Thanks, Colin.” You tried to calm your heart rate, but couldn’t be sure if it was so high due to the work ahead of you or the boy in front of you.

~10 hours later~

You had finished Lola’s proposal but only received Andy’s demo a few hours ago, and it was nearly 12:30. Most of the office had left already, expect for you, Colin, and the secretary at the front desk. Even Thakur had checked out. You and Colin were usually the latest workers anyway, but you had to control a whimper at the thought of finishing this entire proposal by 2 am. Andy’s game was complicated, and to write convincingly about it you had to learn all the ins-and-outs of the game, which took even more time in addition to the writing. You worked feverishly, eyes glued to the screen.

“(Y/N). Hey.” You jumped nearly all the way out of your seat, Colin’s voice having brought you out of your computer-induced trance.

“Jesus, Colin. Don’t do that.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he chuckled. “Just trying to wake up the zombie. Let’s go take a break, yeah?” He kicked your leg lightly.

“No, I gotta finish this proposal first.”

“Nooo, you need to take a break,” he said, steering your chair away from the computer. Usually, you were the one dragging him away from his programming, forcing him to drink a cup of tea and clear his head for a bit.

“No, I need to keep doing this, Colin, just let me do this first, I need to--” your voice broke, eyes tearing up. You were utterly exhausted.

“Hey, hey.” Colin kneeled down and held your shoulders. You avoided his eyes; you didn’t want him to see you crumbling under the pressure like this. It was embarrassing.

“You’re doing so well. You’re almost done, love.” He brought his hands up to your cheeks, lightly stroking them. “Hey, look at me.”

Grudgingly, you met his eyes. His touch was at least calming you down a bit.

“I promise you, you’ll be done soon and it’ll all be okay. I just need you to come with me for two minutes, okay? Just for a little break. Alright?” He touched his forehead to yours, breathing in slowly. You tried to match his pace and calm yourself down.

“Okay,” you said weakly.

“Okay. Come on, sweetheart,” Colin murmured softly, practically dragging you up out of your seat for the first time in ten hours. He wrapped an arm around your waist and led you to the break room. You leaned against the counter in an exhausted daze as Colin moved around the small kitchen. A minute later, he was by your side again, holding a cup of tea.

“Here, love.” You accepted the cup, your fingers sliding off of his as he gave it to you. He smiled supportively down at you, and you couldn’t help but to smile back despite the wrecked mental state that you were in. It was times like these when you wished you could just reach up and kiss him, but lacked the courage. You didn’t want to ruin a perfect friendship, anyway.

You swallowed a few sips and began to feel a bit better, the warm drink comforting your throat. Colin reached down and rubbed your back, and you leaned into his chest, closing your eyes and breathing out deeply for the first time in hours. You two stood like that for a minute, until you remembered the time, and the fact that you had less than two hours to finish your work. You slowly moved away from Colin, gulping down the rest of the tea.

“Feeling better?” he asked softly, his hand still lingering on your back.

“Yeah. Thanks, C. I just gotta finish this now.”

Colin nodded, taking your empty cup and following you back to your seat.

As you continued working, Colin moved his chair over next to you, as he was done with his work for the day. He sat there with his headphones on, eyes closed, reclined and quietly listening to music as you typed away, occasionally resting a hand on your arm or rubbing his knee against yours if you let out a frustrated noise or got too antsy.

At 1:52, you typed the last word and fell back in your chair, scrolling through the impossibly long document you had just written to make sure everything you needed was there.

Colin scooted closer to you. “Done?”

You nodded, did a quick spell check, saved the proposal, and sent it off to GameStud’s manager. “Oh, my God. Finally.”

“And look at that! Seven minutes before the deadline! What a pro,” Colin said, his voice husky with tiredness but happy.

“Hey, I’m sorry I kept you up so late. You didn’t have to stay with me.”

“I know, but I wanted to.” He reached out to wrap his arms around you, and you leaned in, falling into his lap, your arms around his torso and your head buried in the crook of his neck. He pressed a light kiss to the top of your head, and your heart nearly burst right there. If this was the way you two were going to be, you knew you wouldn’t be able to conceal your feelings any longer.

Raising your head up, you prepared to take your chance-- but Colin beat you to it, grabbing your chin and pressing his lips to yours. Fiercely, you kissed him back, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

After a few seconds, you pulled away, still in shock. “You feel the same way?”

“Well, obviously,” he chuckled, and pulled your head down to peck your lips again. “Since the day we met.”

_________________________________________

whEW that was longer than i expected lol. anyway, i might do a sequel for this if you guys want-- let me know! i will try to respond to any requests as well.

[wizardessheart-sideb]

The latest episode is here! Below the cut is a transcription

HEWWO!

Hello everyone, welcome to Royal Magic Academy Radio, a podcast about Wizardess Heart. I’m your host, Mari. So uh. YEAH, we had a lot of big stuff happen since the last episode, so let’s get on with the show.

GAMING NEWS

Event-wise, we got a joint Romance Point slot that brings back some of Elias and Luca’s past stories AND CGs. So it’s a combo of two guys AND stories and CGs. There’s a new star collection event, All Aboard the Mystery Express. I have to say I never expected to get a mystery train event, but I’ll take it. I think it’s a good theme and I like Hugo’s story. I haven’t read any of the other stories because I don’t care about them and I don’t have Klaus’ yet. 

We got Joel’s sequel! His main route early bird is still running, so we’re getting like Double Joel. Or in my case, triple Joel since I’m transcribing his main route so. It’s Joel season y’all.

We also now have quite a few new features. After years of asking, we now have a greet all button. While I’m glad this is a thing since a lot of people are happy about it, I personally don’t use it because using greet all and then sending people messages for that extra 20 Lune is a nightmare. I did a time comparison using my personal account and then the one I use to screen record stuff for Ceragon Dubs, and if you use greet all and then go into your friend list to send messages it’s a lot longer. But it wasn’t as long as how much time I spent screen recording, logging in and out of facebook accounts, and video editing and breaking out my phone and screen recording that for a timer.

There’s also a new feature on consumable items. I mean, that’s the best way to describe it. So basically, there’s now a thing called limited time items. As the name suggests, they’re only available for about 15 days, and if you don’t use them in that time, they disappear. So far, we’ve seen this with Story Tickets and Muffins. I imagine it will probably go over to the other snack items, but I don’t know about the others consumables. Time will tell, I suppose.

FUTURE EVENTS/SPECULATION

Okay so since we’re now getting the next batch of sequels, if we’re going in the order of the poll, Hiro’s is next. That is all. Although I do think we're gonna get season 10 first. But yeah, Hiro's should be next. Sequel-wise, at least.

CALL AND RESPONSE

And now we have the long awaited response portion of call and response! Everyone’s favorite segment where I have no clue what I’m doing, I take shit from Love Live!, and I am met with the realization if I were an idol my call and response would be the worst because I can’t think of anything, which is why we make Love Live references. Ngl I feel like my call would be like “Who’s my favorite audience member?” and then the audience is like “me!” and I fake mishearing them and I’m like “memes?!” and then we all dab or some shit because that’s my brand. Dabbing at everything. Okay but yeah so. I asked you guys to rewrite character bios so. Let’s have some FUNNNNN.

Okay, and I sort have things in the correct places so I can just read them. I mean "sort of" because I have to go through DMs and stuff, but... Okay so our first one is from @nadia-the-wizardess. And hers is for Hugo which of course it is, I love you dude. So she submitted... And I'm not gonna try to be a complete ham. I'm gonna try and have some dignity while reading these. "Friend or foe? The masked man seemed to be at every turn, either helping us or using us to his advantage. He claims he has come from the future to help put us on the correct path and change our tragic destiny. We still don't know what Hugo is truly planning, but despite all this, I've decided to put my faith in him and join him in his journey through time and save his-- our future!" And then her sidenote, "(God I hope I did this right sbhdnsns)." You did! You are all good and I - you know I love Hugo, probably… well…  probably just as much as you. Hugo is my best boy, so.

Okay, so. God, this segment is cursed. I… This is literally the fifth time I;ve tried recording this one little story because like my mic just keeps like cutting out. I need a brand new mic like this one is not cutting it anymore but anyway. So this call and response has a funny story behind it. So essentially like when I first get responses, I don't necessarily read them carefully at first, like I'm just kind of aware. Like “okay, like some.” So when I first did the call and response a while ago, um, I was vaguely aware that I had two and one was from Nadia and the other was from an anon. And so obviously like I push it back and then, uh, me and my friend have been chatting, who's not Nadia. That's the only identity clue I will give you cuz I'm not going to say who it is but um, *laughs* she's gonna be so mad though. So anyway, so me and my friend were talking and she was like, “Oh hey, I have a question so ‘theoretically’” in quotes, if she had sent a call and response answer to me like, would she have to make a new one or like whatever, like trying to figure out what's going on. And I said like honestly I’ll use whatever you give me because I do literally like whatever people spend in and I will use so it's a free-for-all, like I’ll use anything. 

And then she told me that was good because she forgot what she, and I air quote this, “theoretically” sent. And I was like, “Well you”... This was before I checked my inbox cuz I was like, “Oh, I’ll just go in and like copy paste in and put in our chat. So I was just like “You could always ask me to send you things” like if you don't remember what you do - andthis goes for anyone. Like if you send a response by not DM by like inbox and you don't remember what you wrote like you can totally just message me and be like, “Hey I sent this, I don't remember how I worded it exactly I'm worried that I messed it up could you please tell me what it was” and like totally go ahead and do that like I don't mind. So then, you know, like I went into my inbox so I was like, “Okay let's see what she said” and um. This is what she said. “Call and response for Sigurd (Feat. Leslie) - Sigurd's the only student who can equally terrify the staff at Olive Garden along with Klaus. With his overbearing obsession and appetite for any sort of pasta, he's best known as Klaus' right-hand man when it comes to needing a bud for their 2 for $12 appetizer promotions.” Not sponsored by Olive Garden. “I hear even though he currently majors in Magical Creature Taming, rumor has it he'll be switching to Culinary Magic for... ‘Reasons.’ Personally, I'd rather not know,” Same. “but if you insist...*Shrug”

And anyway this is cursed and yeah, I can understand why my friend did not want to like, confront me about this. Oh God, RIP. We got through it, she's fine.

So our next one is from @uraminowaltz and she has two and they're both for Klaus because of course they are. I should just rename this segment to me roasting my friends. Okay, so her serious Klaus one is: “Likes: Tea, sweets, challenging games, cooking. Dislikes: Coffee, Zeus,” Girl me too. “Irresponsibility, abuse of authoritative power. Hobby: Cooking, inventing magical tools. Skills: Unintentional romantic gestures, endurance with magic, WORKAHOLIC.” Yeah I-I felt that. I felt that. So the joke one: “Likes: His giant personal ring of 500 different keys. Dislikes: Losing his keys.” Also same. “Hobby: Making copies of his keys. Skills: Losing his keys PLEASE HELP HIM FIND HIS KEYS HERE IS A CROWDFUNDING LINK TO FIND HIS KEYS IT'S FUNDED AT 60%.” Oh, Klaus. Klaus. Honestly though when they did the Klaus II profile and it was like, thing that worries him, uh, losing, uh, lost his keys I was like goddammit. Like it just… It was one of those things that I didn’t realize was on brand for him, but then once I read it and saw it, I was like “Oh God yeah yeah that's his brand that's his... poor baby, that's his brand.”

Okay so our second to-  Actually, it might second-to-last I haven't checked the notes of that post so I guess I have to do that too. Okay so anyway, @sigurdcurtisholdsmegentle said… uh, did some, and you're going to be surprised who it was for. It was for Sigurd. So their joke one and they said… Their personal note for this was “Please actually kill me for this.” No I will not. You must atone for your sins. Uh... “Likes: Pasta. Dislikes: People who don't like pasta. Hobby: Naming spices in the pasta sauce. Skill: Cooking Pasta.” I'm very glad you did not put anything else because I would not want to read that out loud and that is NOT a challenge to anybody *laughs* So their serious one is: “Likes: Jazz music, Puns, The Rain, Make up.” Hell yeah. “Dislikes: His father, Himself, Ch… *laughs* CHICA,” I… We’re going for it. We’re going for the discourse and controvershy. The controversy. I can’t talk. Uh. Also dislikes “Blood. Hobby: Writing letters, Playing trumpet, Playing chess with Klaus. Skill: Decorating, Well timed exits, Running on little to no sleep.” Poor baby. But yeah I mean yeah. That's him. So the next one is... that they did was for Mel so it's “Likes: Apple cider, Plants, Perserving wildlife. Dislikes: Time Magic, Sol Felia,” It’s feh-lia not fee-lia, right? Like it’s not… I don’t feel like it’s fee-lia? I’m like pretty sure it’s feh-lia. Okay, it’s feh-lia now, I’m making the executive decision. It’s feh-lia now. Uh. “Oranges, Explaining.” God I felt that like whenever I reread Sigurd’s route, Mel's like “I don't want to explain” I’m like please shut up stop it like please, just explain. Good God. Like you're just making more trouble for yourself my dude. “Hobby: Sleeping in the greenhouse, Reading lore. Skill: Botany, Making wands, Flower” Oh my God, flower arrangements, that’s so cute. Oh my God, I love that actually. Like, I mean honestly like I liked all of them, but like that's so cute. That was super cute, I really like that one.

So, I don't think my call and response post had any notes. Except from people just liking it but I'm going to double-check cuz I'm not 100% sure.

Okay so it's time for our final call and response which will be my own. I literally have to bring up the my inspiration, my muse to *laughs* to do this. Okay so like, my whole inspiration for this prompt was the fact that like Azusa never got like an actual profile. Like it's all just question marks and um, we're going to fix that. And that's why I got the idea like, “oh that be really funny like everyone just rewrote things.” Let's go for the serious one first. That way I can do that and then I can goof. So my serious profile rewrite for Azusa and I did not write this beforehand, so… yeah! Let’s see… “Likes: his brother. Dislikes: hypocrites, himself.” Uh, that’s such a… *laughs*

That's such a mood. Every dude in this game is like self-loathing and some way. But I mean that's just how people are so I mean I guess it's not actually like that much of a stretch. But anyway. “Hobby… ………” Uh. You know, it's bad that I can't think of anything not just because like, I can't think of anything, but because he's one of my favorites and I'm like, “does he even have hobbies” like I'm not - I'm sure he does but I mean… “Hobby: telling Randy to shut up” I don't know. Uh, “Skill: onmyojutsu” just because we're basic and that was our serious one. And now for the fun one.

Um…. okay so, “Likes: his family. Dislikes: people. Hobby: ……….. you know. Skill: being a jackass” I don't know. I'm not even going to try and improv a description. Oh, poor Azusa. Although I do wonder if- when he gets a sequel, I wonder if that… I wonder if they’re gonna, like, continue making the, you know, kinda like additional info thing or if we’re gonna get like, a real profile for- Okay like, okay. I would be so fucking mad if like once he gets his sequel and they put like his like, um, like second profile thing and it's literally just all *laughs* it’s all question marks. I would be so fucking mad. I’d be like “come on PLEASE. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO US.” Okay anyways, so that was call and response. Thank you guys for coming on this journey with me. Um, that was fraught with recording problems and I'm not looking forward to transcribing this, but sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.

ROUTE REVIEW

All right, so it’s time to review Sigurd’s route. His route had come out a bit before I started playing, and I vaguely remember getting a notification about it, but honestly I don’t remember too much about it. I was playing Yukiya at the time and while I thought Sigurd was cute, I was too lost in the Yukiya sauce to do anything but Yukiya-related stuff. 

It honestly took me a while to play Sigurd’s route, like i played it for the first time last year, and like. I just genuinely enjoy Sigurd so much. Like he’s such a funny guy and so sweet. Falling in love with a guy like that just feels natural. And the story handled it super well too. The story balances plot and romance very well and they feel very cohesive. 

The plot was really solid, with enough ends left to get resolved in Mel’s route. But then again, I’m very partial to this mystery series and no, I’m not just saying that bc I cosplay sol maiden!Liz. It’s a good story idea, bront. Not to mention there’s like, a lot of fluff in Sigurd’s. I mean it absolutely has upsetting moments, but it’s just. Okay like I don’t mean to get on a soapbox or whatever, but it’s just. I feel like my culture gets inundated with these images of cishet relationships where men don’t treasure their partners. I acknowledge it’s toxic and it’s a serious problem and all, trust me this sort of thing is something I’ve taken enough classes on to consider it an unofficial minor, but like I’M SO TIRED OF SEEING THESE CISHET MEN BE JERKS TO THEIR CISHET GIRLFRIENDS. Like really, we’re gonna romanticize a dude being a jerk to his girlfriend and not show the repercussions of this sort of behavior and act like it’s normal? Really? That’s what we’re gonna do? So like any media that portrays a guy as being loving and smitten and affectionate with his partner is just. That’s so refreshing and so WONDERFUL like I eat that stuff UP. Like it’s so clear Sigurd is so taken with the MC and it’s just like hot chocolate on a cold day. 

So yeah the plot’s good and Sigurd is just. Wonderful. But I also love how much lore we got in this route. We got country names, continent names, what sort of extra curriculars the academy has. Even some Goldstein lore. In my opinion, the best routes usually have some hella cool lore details and this route had a lot. 

And this is a minor thing but. As someone who was raised with their cousins and stuff, they just nailed the cousin interactions between Klaus and Sigurd. I have a cousin who, as of now actually since birthdays, is the same age as me, although usually I’m older. My cousin and I mess with each other all the time and he bullies me constantly. I’m just kidding, I’m definitely the Sigurd to his Klaus. And like Sigurd and Klaus, we actually play a lot of games together, or play the same game at once. We’re both really into video games and his latest hobby is bullying my brand new Fire Emblem husband Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. But in all seriousness, the game handled then well and the only way they could’ve made it more realistic is if they kept poking each other and making weird noises at each other. I mean, do you REALLY have a cousin if you don’t greet them by screeching like a pterodactyl? 

Typing this all out makes me realize how weird my cousin and I are. 

Okay but anyway. This route is very good and Sigurd is just an absolute doll. I highly recommend reading.

BYE BYE!

And that’s it for us today!! Thank you guys for tuning in this week. I’m sorry this episode is late. I was going to record it yesterday but something happened and basically made me give up on doing anything I wanted to do yesterday. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and hopefully next episode will be on time!! With that, have a great week! This is Mari, signing off.

[glare-gryphon]

May I put in a prompt? If you're totally burnt out on this verse, just ignore this. In the Negotiation-verse what would it be like if instead of the whole drugging and kidnapping business, they ended up sorting out the kiss and dating. Anakin has no idea his boyfriend is a serial killer. Could be serious, fluff, total crack or hell it could be Quin mocking Anakin about his hickies. I don't care.

This prompt has been sitting in my inbox for so long. I am almost ashamed.

Here u go.

Alternative

Negotiation-Verse

M/E, 2000 words.

A sharp rap at Anakin’s office door draws the detective’sattention away from the mountain of reports piled up on his desk. With no majorleads to chase at the moment, he’s been working on filling them out all morningand is grateful for whatever reprieve that the day can provide.

When he’d first become an officer, he couldn’t believe howmuch paperwork was involved in the day-to-day operations of a police station.He’d hated it then, and he still hates it now. Usually he tries to shove it offon Quinlan whenever he thinks he can get away with it, but Ventress has sweptVos away for some business conference she has to attend overseas and now Anakinis stuck catching up on both of their overdue reports. He supposes thatturnabout is fair play, no matter how much he would like to complain otherwise.

“Come in,” he calls, swiveling his office chair toward thedoor just in time for it to crack open, revealing one Coruscant Universityprofessor, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“Is now a bad time?” Kenobi asks, leaning against thedoorframe with a wry smile on his lips, as though already predicting Anakin’sanswer.

“Never a bad time for you,” Anakin replies, moving files offhis desk in attempt to clear a place for Obi-Wan to sit while the other mancloses the door behind him. He doesn’t here the soft snick of the lock, caught up as he is in his work, but he doesnotice the smirk on Kenobi’s lips when the man settles into the space hecleared. “What brought you over this way, babe?”

Obi-Wan shrugs. “Had a class cancelled, and just wanted tosee you. I don’t need an excuse to do that, do I?”

“No, I suppose you don’t.”

Apparently satisfied, Obi-Wan turns his attention to thefiles on Anakin’s desk. While it is technically against the rules for Kenobi tobe thumbing through them as though they were magazines in the checkout lanes ofgrocery stores, Anakin doesn’t see any particular harm in it. His partner isdiscreet, and isn’t the type to go blabbing about the detective’s cases toanyone he knows. Not like their social life is particularly riveting anyways,with most of their friends connected to the police force by way of Anakin’semployment. Really, there was no one to gossip with who wasn’t already in theloop; while Obi-Wan was popular enough with his coworkers, he didn’t maintainany particularly close relationships with any of them.

“Why was your class cancelled?” Anakin asks as Obi-Wanshifts paperwork around, digging through them to find something that catcheshis interest. Most of what is on Anakin’s desk these days is common muggingsand break-ins. Tedious work, but essential toward keeping the generalpopulation of Coruscant safe. He sometimes thinks he would like something moreexciting, but the more rational part of him knows that there will plenty ofthat come the Christmas season. He should spend the off months luxuriating inpicking up petty thieves instead of internal organs.

A hum of satisfaction marks Obi-Wan having found somethinghe likes, and the man answers with his nose buried in the pages of the file.“Not enough students registered. Apparently my Survey of Shakespeare coursedoesn’t have quite the same draw as it used to.”

“Kids today have no respect for the classics,” Anakinreplies, not because he himself has any particular interest in the works of along-dead playwright, but because he knows Kenobi likes to grumble about thedecay of society and youths today.

Leaning over in his chair to get a view of the file hispartner is reading, Anakin is not particularly surprised to find the Negotiatorfile in the man’s hands once again. Since the start of their relationship, he’sshown a keen interest in following along with the case as Anakin attempts totrack down the most prolific serial killer prowling Coruscant’s streets. Thisis hardly uncommon; nearly everyone he’s ever met are curious about theNegotiator case, as high-profile as it is.

“Do you think you’re any closer to catching him?” Obi-Wanasks, drawing a picture from the disorder and holding it up to the light asthough to get a better look.

It’s of one of the latest cycle’s crime scenes, another ofAnakin’s not-quite brothers left brutalized and bared for the world to see. Thepattern has changed again, much to Anakin’s frustration. While before they knewthe Negotiator was luring his victims with sex, the seduction seems to havetrailed off entirely with his newest set of victims. In its place are drugs—thecheap kind, easy to get on the street and difficult to trace for their prolificnature—slipped into drinks at busy clubs with distracted bartenders.

The level of brutality in thesemurders had risen with the exclusion of sex, each victim bearing more of thebruising and evidence of assault only sporadically found in older victims. Thescenes themselves had changed as well, no longer as careful and precise as theyonce were. Not rushed, by any means, or sloppy. Not enough to leave evidencebehind. But Anakin, when he looked at the cuts and the gaping, open wounds,could tell that each one had not been given the same carefulconsideration they once might have received.

“Not really,” Anakin confesses, and Obi-Wan frowns as he draws another picturefrom the file. The Negotiator’s pattern had always been consistent, its onedrastic change clearly instigated by Anakin arrival on the case. What hadcaused this most recent change, he can’t quite figure out. There are a fewpieces, in the rush of his work, but they connect to nothing of significance.No events that Anakin can identify.

“Made a bit of a mess, didn’t it…” the man mutters distastefully, more to himselfthan to Anakin as he grimaces at the picture. It had been a mess, blood usuallydrained away left cool and tacky on the floor and of the county library. Limbshas been shelved neatly away with the books, the head and heart sitting on thelibrarian’s desk when police arrived. There was no note for Anakin, nor hadthere been one this whole cycle. He’s unsure whether or not this comes as arelief that the targeting has stopped, or as warning that his nemesis had begunto lose interest in their game.

“It was messier than usual.” Anakin informs his partner. “I told the guys—Ithink he had a workstation somewhere, and for whatever reason, he can’t getback to it as much anymore. He’s having to work on fly, and it’s not as cleanas it might have been otherwise,”

Obi-Wan hums thoughtfully, offering the younger man a wry smile as he replacesthe picture and sets the file aside. “Perhaps he has someone to go home to, atthe end of the night.”

Anakin chuckles at the jest. “Is there true love for serial killers?”

“There’s true love for anyone, if you look within the pages of literature,”Obi-Wan replies, leaning over to run his fingers through Anakin’s hair.“Princes and paupers, knights and beggars.”

Anakin doesn’t resist when his partner uses his grip on his hair to draw himover, leaning eagerly across the desk and into Obi-Wan’s space. “Cops andserial killers; you and me,” the man breathes, and pulls Anakin into a kissthat is anything but chaste.

Obi-Wan, he has come to find sincetheir initial encounter, is an excellent kisser. When they’re together, it’slike the world around them fades away, as cliché as it sounds. He never used tothink it a thing that could actually happen, but when it comes to Obi-Wan, hesupposes it makes sense. The man himself is almost a cliché at times, seeminglywalking straight out of Anakin’s teenage wet dreams. It’s easy to lose himselfin Kenobi—so much so that he almost doesn’t notice the man sliding off thedesk, shuffling around to where Anakin sits, until he’s upended from his chair.Until Kenobi is bending him over the flat of his desk, tugging his pants downand freeing Anakin’s achingly hard cock from the confines of his slacks.

Another cliché.

“You planned this,” Anakin accuses when he hears the distinctive sound of a capopening. He tries to turn around, but the hand at the base of skull, pinninghim to the desk, only presses harder to still the movement.

“More hoped than planned, really,” Obi-Wan replies calmly, even as Anakin bucksin surprise at the sensation of cool lube drizzled between his cheeks. “Iconfess that this has always been a fantasy of mine, and when you mentionedDetective Vos stepping out of the office for a few days, well… I am quite theopportunist, my dear.”

“You do know you’re supposed to discuss these things with your partner first,right?” Anakin grumbles, but still finds himself pressing back against theslick fingers that have begun to work him open. “What if somebody were to walkin? You’re not the only one in demand of my attention, you know.”

Obi-Wan curls his fingers in a way he knows Anakin likes, dragging a raggedmoan that the detective has to stifle with his fist when the man’s actions sendpleasure racing up his spine. “The door is locked; if you’re quiet, no one willever know what we’re up to.” He murmurs as leans forward, nipping at the shellof Anakin’s ear. His fingers slip from Anakin’s hole with a last stretch, thesound of a zipper being undone quickly following. “You can be quiet, can’t youdear? For me?”

Anakin nods rapidly; he can be good for Obi-Wan. As much as he’d protested, thethought of getting caught—or someone knowing—comes with an unexpected rush ofexcitement. He wouldn’t have thought himself and exhibitionist before Obi-Wancame along, but then, his new parter had proven himself talented in draggingparts of Anakin to the light that he hadn’t even known were tucked away.

“That’s a good boy.”

Breath coming in excited pants, Anakin adjusts his grip on the desk as Obi-Wanslicks himself up. He has to bite down on his lower lip as the man spreads hischeeks, the blunt head of his dick pressing up against Anakin’s stretched hole.The feeling of Obi-Wan pushing into him is a familiar sensation now, but heremembers what it was like the first time they made love. Remembers how nervoushe was, splayed out on the man’s bed. Remembers how gentle his partner hadbeen, as though Anakin would shatter if handled too roughly.

He is not always so gentle now, not that Anakin minds, and today is noexception. He gives Anakin time to adjust of course, aware of the length andgirth of his cock, but once Anakin pushes back against him in unspokenpermission, he quickly finds a pace that has the younger man’s hips biting intothe edge of the desk with every thrust, that keeps him pushing back and takingObi-Wan deeper simply to stop from sliding up into stacks of papers he hadn’tcleared aside when this encounter began.

One of Obi-Wan’s hands lays over his own as the man thrusts roughly into him,their fingers entwining, and Anakin realizes that his palm lays on the openNegotiator file that Obi-Wan had set aside. His eyes catch for a moment on thepale, bloodless faces of his unfortunate look-alikes, and something twisted inthe back of his mind wonders if they liked what the Negotiator gave them. Ifthey enjoyed being stretched and filled and taken the way he enjoys being underObi-Wan. If they regretted it in those moments before he killed them, or ifthey even had a chance to think about it.

When they’re done, clothes adjusted and Obi-Wan sweeping from the door with alast kiss goodbye, Anakin has to close the file and stow it away in a drawer ofthe desk he’d just been taken over. Must throw himself into the work despitethe lingering scents of sweat and sex, to keep his mind busy. Must think ofother things, despite the feeling of Obi-Wan’s cum leaking from him, because ifhe doesn’t, he can’t help but wonder what would happen if the Negotiator foundhim, and if he’d like it too.

[williamlwolf89]

How to Write Comments That Stand Out (for the Right Reasons)

Blog comments are a relic from a bygone era.

That’s the word on the street, isn’t it?

In its heyday, a blog comment was powerful. Write good comments and they could land you on the radar of a popular blogger — the kind of super-connected influencer who could accelerate your success.

But that was then, right?

Today, readers have turned to Facebook and Instagram for their commenting fix. Spammers and trolls have taken over. And, as a result, some blog owners have done what would’ve once been unthinkable: turned off their comments.

So, game over. Blog comments are dead. Stick a fork in them.

Right?

Not so fast.

In 2020, it’s Easier Than Ever to Write Good Comments People Will Notice

Smart bloggers see opportunities where others do not.

Here’s the truth:

Because so many have dismissed blog commenting as an outreach strategy, there’s virtually no competition.

On social media, you’re competing against thousands of followers all vying for the influencer’s attention. Inside inboxes, you’re competing against the dozens or even hundreds of emails they receive every single day.

But in the comments section, you’re competing against crickets and tumbleweeds. And the handful of comments that do exist tend to…

Well, they tend to suck.

And that’s a shame because blog comments are still powerful. They can still land you on the radars of popular bloggers and influencers.

If — and this is the catch — you write high-quality, genuinely-good comments worth noticing.

Unfortunately, this is the part that trips up many bloggers. Nobody taught them how to comment on blogs the right way. Heck, they aren’t even sure what good comments look like.

As a result, many well-intentioned bloggers who still believe in the power of commenting are spending their precious time writing comments they think are great.

In reality?

Their comments probably suck.

Here’s why that’s a problem:

Clumsy Commenters Make Terrible First Dates

Blog commenting is a lot like dating.

You’re trying to woo another person, right?

With dating, you’re trying to woo someone into becoming Mr. or Mrs. Whatever Your Name Is.

With blog commenting, you’re trying to woo the owner of a blog.

You want them to notice you. You want them to reply to your comment. Secretly, you want them to visit and comment on your blog, follow you on social media, and ultimately become your best friend forever.

But is that possible if your comments suck?

Sure, it’s possible…

It’s also possible to stumble into marriage, kids, and a house with a white picket fence even if you turn up to your first date with a mustard stain on your shirt and spinach in your teeth.

But just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s likely.

Free Training: The 31 Most PROFITABLE Niches for Bloggers in 2020

That’s why it’s time to improve your commenting game.

To help you do that, I’m going to share with you the anatomy of a good comment. It’s my tried-and-true template you can follow to craft memorable comments that will get noticed.

Even better: you can apply many of these tips to Facebook comments, Instagram comments, outreach emails, and more.

Let’s dive in.

First, we’ll look at a few rookie mistakes that are sabotaging your blog comments. Avoid these and you’ll be ahead of 90% of the bloggers out there:

The Common Mistakes That Make Blog Comments Suck

Mistake #1: Using a Novelty (or Non-Existent) Gravatar Image

You wouldn’t show up to a first date wearing a disguise, would you? Or wearing a plain paper bag over your head?

So why would you choose an image of Grumpy Cat or Ron Burgundy to represent you in blog comments? Or settle for the faceless silhouette that screams generic nobody?

Instead, let people see the real you.

They will be far more likely to feel a connection with you if they can see your face.

Besides, you know you’re sexy. Show us that smile!

Tip: If your carefully-crafted message is somehow flagged as spammy and held in purgatory (aka comment moderation), a gravatar increases the chances the blog owner will approve your new comment.

Mistake #2: Using a Fake Name (or “Fun” Nickname)

Among your friends and family, you can go by Lil’ Bit, DJ Roomba, Superfly, House of Shane, or any other nickname you choose.

But unless you’re a spy, or in witness protection, you should use your real name on a first date. (Unless, of course, it’s a blind date and Gary Busey sits down at your table.)

The same is true in blog commenting.

Bloggers, just like dates, want to know who’s trying to woo them. And someone who hides behind a pseudonym likely isn’t a long-term prospect.

Mistake #3: Dumping Links in Your Comments

Want WordPress, Disqus, and other commenting systems to know you’re not writing spam comments? Refrain from embedding links in your comments.

Imagine you’re on a date and, halfway through, your date suddenly asks if you have life insurance.

You try to wave it off, but they begin discussing rates and policies with you.

“Oh no,” you think to yourself. “This isn’t a date … this is a sale’s pitch!”

If you embed links in your comments, bloggers are likely to react similarly. It comes across as a cheap attempt to peddle your lemonade on their lawn.

And usually it won’t matter how insightful your fancy words are or how relevant your link may be; the blogger will feel an irresistible urge to kick you off their property.

Mistake #4: Failing to Read the Post Before Commenting

Ever been on a date with someone from Match or eHarmony who didn’t bother to read your profile?

“Do you have any hobbies?” they’ll ask despite your profile’s thousand-word tribute to paper mache. “Fancy a juicy steak?” they’ll suggest despite your publicly stated veganism.

It’s the same with blog commenting. Yes, you’re busy. Yes, reading a post thoroughly before commenting takes time.

Know what else takes time? Getting your foot out of your mouth.

When you comment on a post after skimming it or — worse — not reading it at all, you greatly increase the chances you’ll say something silly.

Mistake #5: Droning On and On (and On)

Some people like the sound of their own voice. Ask them what music they like, and they’ll take you on a 12-minute journey into the minutiae of John Mayer’s latest album.

One-sided conversations on a date aren’t much fun and neither are blog comments that last forever and a day.

A long-winded blog comment, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.Click To Tweet

Many of the best comments are on the longer side, but be careful not to confuse quantity with quality.

A 500-word comment isn’t better than a 100-word comment. It’s usually just five times longer.

(And probably five times more boring.)

Mistake #6: Repeating What the Post Just Said

Ever had a date where the other person repeated everything you said?

You love Kevin Costner movies? So do they.

You adore Mexican food? Yep, them too.

You hate Mondays? They hate Mondays.

I call this kind of parroting a (re)Pete Comment.

It doesn’t add to the conversation. It doesn’t ask questions. And it doesn’t challenge an idea.

It simply repeats what was said in the post.

Summarizing to a point is fine, but your comment needs to be more than the CliffsNotes version of the post you just read.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

The 4 Elements of a Good Blog Comment (Plus: Lots of Examples)

The Friendly Greeting

The Sincere Compliment

The Added Value

The Parting Promise

Now that I’ve inoculated you against writing comments that truly suck, let’s look at the structure of a comment that stands out for all the right reasons.

How do the best comments begin? How do they end? What’s the stuff that goes in the middle?

Here are the essential parts, from top to bottom.

Part #1: The Friendly Greeting

The first thing I look for is personalization. This is so easy, all it takes is to just include the name of the author.Adam Connell

Let’s go back to our dating analogy…

You meet your handsome guy or beautiful gal at a restaurant for your first date. Could they be the one? They don’t look crazy or anything.

Hopeful, you take a deep breath, smile, and say hi.

But instead of greeting you or even acknowledging you, your date just starts talking.

No preamble — they launch right into talking about their day.

Did you know they have a co-worker named Mr. Buttons? Did you know they have a peanut allergy?

You do now.

Memorable date? I suppose.

A date you would like to get to know better? Definitely not.

And yet, every day, thousands of comments are written that do not bother to acknowledge the post’s author in any way, shape, or form.

Do they think robots wrote the post instead of a human being? Do they believe greetings are an outdated ritual? Or are they simply too lazy to scroll back to the top to find the author’s name?

If you’re hoping to catch the attention of bloggers and strike up a relationship, a healthy dose of proper etiquette can go a long way.

So say hello to them.

Greet them.

Refer to them by name.

How To Do It

This one’s so simple, it shouldn’t need an explanation. But here’s how to do it anyway.

Scroll back to the top of the post and find the author’s name. If you are prone to misspellings, copy the name so you can paste it into your comment.

Then say hello. Or hi. Or howdy, if you’re feeling folksy.

You’ll only spend a few seconds to get your comment started on the right foot.

It’s time well spent.

Part #2: The Sincere Compliment

It’s a nice confirmation when an author’s work is validated, and they can see the fruit of their labor.Carol Amato

You meet your date for the first time.

“Wow! I love your outfit,” you might say.

Or, “I really like your car.”

Or even, “Your SpongeBob tattoo is awesome!”

The details are different each time, but the act is the same. When you’re on a date, you pay the other person a compliment. It’s what you do in civilized societies.

Once again, blog commenting isn’t any different.

Remember, you’ve chosen to be on this person’s blog, not someone else’s. You’ve chosen to read their post instead of another. You must have a reason to want to connect with them over any of the other million bloggers you could be trying to connect with at that moment.

Chances are, you like them. You value them. You respect them.

So pay them a compliment…

Tell them how much you enjoyed their great article…

Make their day…

In short, pay them a compliment. Any compliment. Just make sure it’s a sincere compliment.

How To Do It

You can focus on the blogger, the post itself, or a combination of the two.

Are you a fan of the blogger’s body of work? Tell them so. Say how much you enjoy their writing.

Even better? Tell them about a specific example where their writing has helped you.

If you choose to focus on the post itself, talk about a particular point within the post that truly hit home for you.

Did it change your outlook on a topic? Or maybe it motivated you to go out and take action? Did it rock your world?

Tell them so.

Note: In order to sound sincere, refrain from heaping too much praise onto the bloggers themselves. A little praise can go a long way. For this reason, it’s often best to focus on the post rather than the blogger.

(Plus, you don’t want to come across as a creepy stalker.)

Part #3: The Added Value

My favorite comments add extra value to a post. Perhaps they add a personal experience, a different perspective or a new question.Henneke Duistermaat

Now we’re into the meat of what makes a good comment good.

Greeting the author and paying a compliment are nice, but no one cares how good the appetizers are if the main course is a BLT sandwich with no bacon.

Your goal in every comment should be to add value. If your comment doesn’t add value, it’s wasting everyone’s time.

Of course, adding value has become one of those overused and meaningless phrases in the blogging world. Like Sriracha sauce, people tend to throw it around and use it for everything.

What does it actually mean?

In this context, it means doing something that makes you appear valuable — useful, insightful, entertaining, or interesting — to the blogger you’re aiming to woo.

In other words, anything that establishes you as a person worth knowing and helps develop a personal relationship.

You do that by making a positive impression and then building upon it.

Here’s how:

Value Tactic #1: Share Personal Insights or Anecdotes

Did a particular point in the post hit home for you? Did you find something particularly relatable? Or did the post bring up an area in which you’re struggling?

When you share a personal insight, bloggers can more easily relate to you. You’re no longer just an unfamiliar name making a comment that could have been left by anyone…

You’re a blogger with a story!

How To Do It

Don’t worry about channeling Herman Melville; remember, good comments don’t have to be long to be effective.

Amanda Formaro demonstrates this perfectly in her succinct comment about email subscribers.

In the same discussion, Jenn establishes a connection by sharing her struggles.

Don Purdum, meanwhile, enhances the post by sharing the details of a conversation he’d had just days earlier.

The number of ways you can share insights and examples are myriad. But the more personal your insight, the more unique it will be.

And the more unique your insight, the more memorable your comment will be and the more you’ll stand out.

Value Tactic #2: Ask Thoughtful Questions

Was an idea presented in the post that you didn’t fully understand? Maybe you want the author to expand on a certain point?

Asking thoughtful questions is an excellent way to build relationships because it starts a one-on-one conversation with the blogger.

You ask them a question; they answer. It’s pure, simple, poetry in motion. And it’s a great way to introduce yourself to bloggers you enjoy.

How To Do It

Andrew Warner went the inquiry route after reading Andrianes Pinantoan’s blog traffic case study:

Pooja, an excellent writer in her own right, did the same after reading Glen Long’s post on crystal clear writing:

And Gertrude Nonterah, after reading my post on blogging milestones, took the opportunity to ask a question that had been weighing on her:

Sometimes for brevity’s sake, an author won’t fully flesh out a detail in his or her blog post.

So if the article contained a detail you want expanded upon, don’t be afraid to comment and ask.

Value Tactic #3: Contribute To The Discussion

If you want the attention of influencers and blog owners, your comment should add to the conversation.Sue Anne Dunlevie

Were 581 sensory words presented in the post, but you know a good one for #582? Want to flesh out a point discussed in a post about landing freelance writing jobs? How about a detail that wasn’t covered at all?

If your comments enhance the overall value of the post, few bloggers will fail to see the benefit of your contribution. Sometimes they’ll even update their post in light of your comment — which is a major validation of your ideas.

When you write a good comment that adds to the discussion, it often has a domino effect. Others will respond to your comment, which will fuel even more comments.

The result is more people reading and discussing the blogger’s work, which means a higher comment count.

Bloggers love that — and they love the commenters who help make that happen.

How To Do It

A great example of this is the following comment Anne R. Allen left Brian Dean in his blogger outreach post here at Smart Blogger:

Another is the comment Harleena Singh left Will Blunt:

And one of the best examples you’ll ever see is the comment Matthew Harding left on Smart Blogger’s post on blogging milestones. Here is a snippet:

When you add value with a good comment, you’re investing in the blog post.

Bloggers love that. They appreciate it…

They learn from it…

And they remember it.

Part #4: The Parting Promise

I love it when commenters tell me they’ve shared or will share my work. The ideal comment would come from someone who both tells me they’re going to share, and then remembers to tag me when they do.Brittany Bullen

After a successful first date, each person is usually looking for a clue the other enjoyed themselves and a second date is in the cards.

That clue could be a lingering smile. It could be a casual remark about not having any plans the following Saturday. Or it could be the other person actually saying the words, “I enjoyed myself and would like to see you again.”

Whatever form it takes, it sends a message: this date was not just a one-off.

And when wooing a popular blogger, you’d be smart to let them know you’re interested in a longer-term relationship.

That’s why the best comments make a promise at the end. They tell bloggers, “Hey… I enjoyed this so much I want to keep the party going!”

How To Do It

One great way to make a promise is to tell the author you’re going to share the post on your favorite social media platform…

Tell them they’ve written such a good post you have no choice BUT to share it…

Or channel your inner Arnold Schwarzenegger and tell them, “I’ll be back” (to read more of your content)…

But whatever promise you make, be sure to keep it.

Tweet the post like you said you would. Read the blogger’s other posts, and leave more comments. In other words, do exactly what you said you would do.

And when you share the post on your favorite social media platform, be sure to tag the blogger — let them know you followed through…

And if the bloggers are anything like Will Hoekenga, they’ll notice and express their gratitude…

Examples of Blog Comments that Kicked Butt (and The Extra Ingredient They All Share)

So what does a good comment that has each of these elements look like?

It looks a lot like this comment from Adrienne Smith:

And it looks a lot like this comment from Ayodeji Awosika:

Source: How to Make Money Writing: 5 Ways to Get Paid to Write

Adrienne’s and Ayodeji’s comments start with greetings, go straight to compliments, add value, and end on promises.

But beyond that, they add an additional element present in most good comments…

Personality.

Any robot can start a comment with a greeting and end it with a promise.

But for a comment to take the next step, for a comment to get noticed by the blog’s owner or editor, you have to let “you” shine through.

As my friend Jaime Buckley once told me:

“Unless you’re engaging, my eyes will glaze over. We all have a personality, but do you use it? Does it come out in your comments?”

Jaime should know. He’s an expert at letting his personality shine through in his comments:

Source: The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms

Jaime writes his comments the way he might write an email to a friend.

It’s refreshing and it’s an excellent way to get noticed.

The Rich Rewards That Flow from Carefully Crafted Comments

You may be wondering at this point…

Is it worth it?

Is it worth putting all this time and thought into blog comments?

It was worth it for me.

Years ago, I left the following comment on a post published on this very website, Smart Blogger:

I greeted the author by name, complimented his work, added value, and promised to share his post on the now-defunct Google Plus.

A week later, after Smart Blogger published a new post, I left another comment:

Another greeting, another compliment, another piece of added value, and another promise.

The next week, I did it again:

And again the next week. And the next. Over and over, again and again.

Each week, week after week, I visited Smart Blogger, read their latest masterpiece, and left them a good comment.

Smart Blogger’s editor at the time, Glen Long, took notice:

A few months later, Glen invited me to become a guest writer:

This invitation led to my first post for Smart Blogger…

…which led to several more.

Fast forward a few years and Jon Morrow, the company’s CEO, invited me to join Smart Blogger as its Editor-in-Chief.

Today, I run the blog I admired and followed for so many years. I get to work for and alongside my mentors, Jon and Glen. I get to fulfill my dream of quitting the rat race and blogging full-time.

And I have comments to thank for setting the wheels in motion:

Your mileage can and will vary.

But if you need proof blog commenting can lead to wonderful things, look no further.

Let’s Find Out Where Good Comments Can Take You

It won’t happen overnight. And, clearly, good comments alone won’t catapult you to world domination.

But they’re an effective, often-overlooked component — especially now that so many bloggers think they’ve gone the way of the dodo.

In a sea of sameness, good comments with personality stand out like Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels at a charity gala for the preservation of the endangered Icelandic snow owl.

They’re capable of getting influential bloggers to sit up, take notice, and ask themselves: “Who is that?”

So, are you ready for a new era of smarter commenting?

Are you ready to discover where good comments can take you?

Then let’s do this thing.

Note: For a handy visual reminder of the four-part formula you can download or share on your own website, check out the image below:

Embed This Infographic On Your Site:

<!—– Copy and Paste This Code Into Your Post —-><a href=”https://smartblogger.com/blog-comments/”><img src=”https://smartblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/blog-comments-infographic.png” alt=”How to Write Comments That Stand Out (for the Right Reasons) from SmartBlogger.com” width=”700 px” class=”noa3lazy”/></a><br /><a href=”https://smartblogger.com/blog-comments/”>How to Write Comments That Stand Out (for the Right Reasons) from SmartBlogger.com</a>

The post How to Write Comments That Stand Out (for the Right Reasons) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/blog-comments/

[alynonymousstuff]

Ties: Tied to Untied

“The Great Unfriending Experiment”, a Reflection

• Sejeong (real life-close friend), Dayeon and Somi (not-so-close friends)

Christelle Agustin (BA COMM II) COM 120

Before a hundred points can draw a line, I admit, this is cliché in content. But I’ve heard this repeatedly from a lot of people and I have also dropped the same face of the dice identical to theirs; you can have more parallel and contradicting engagements with people you’ve known for a long time considering the framework given by time as a large avenue to craft structural experiences together. It’s like rubbing to each other’s surface and a productive friction dares to exist, and this scenario can ideally happen in social media podiums.

To be honest, I spent one and a half hour contemplating on my Facebook account, just constantly reviewing my friend list. At first, it was an easy round for me to identify those people who are close to me, but I had a rough dimension where I have to actually eliminate and trim down people in order to come up with the final participants of this experiment, thus, I also consider those people who are always reacting on my posts and those who I frequently talk to in messenger in a daily basis because they are the ones who would likely check my profile from time to time since it seems like we have this active conversation and maintaining connection policy in this particular medium even though we don’t disclose things to each other that much.

At the same time, I particularly chose the seven people because I don’t personally know them, we have zero or few mutual friends which led to my understanding that we really don’t have personal ties or even connections, their information shows they live in places I’m totally unfamiliar with, they share posts that are disgusting and not beneficial at all, the identity displayed in their accounts are affirmatively not their authentic self-presentation and others are old and inactive accounts I do not interact with.

I started unfriending at 8:00 PM and I ended at 8:25 PM. The whole duration of that made me imagine about the possible reactions simply because I am personally acquainted with their usual responses. For Sejeong as my real-life close friend, I was laughing inside my head knowing the fact that she’s a person of bluntness shaded with silly feedbacks, even her sudden outburst sometimes becomes comedic in kind. Meanwhile, Dayeon, who is one of my not-so-close friends and was my classmate in high school and now residing in California, I initially thought that she might be offended and her who can be easily annoyed is a plus. In contrast, I felt no worries to Somi because one of her characteristics that I appreciate the most is her being light and understanding.

The least person I expected to approach me after unfriending is Dayeon. But, surprisingly, she ranked first in messaging me with the content “Takte ka in-unfriend nak gayam oh! Main-inbox zone nak lang ngarud kanayon kenkan tapos nakarkaro pay toy in-unfriend nak ah.” At that juncture I felt a sign of success in a bit because I finally got a response after two days, so to go on, I asked her how did she discover it. Then she started telling me that she usually encounters news articles in her timeline because of my shared posts and in two days she noticed that I no longer appear whenever she scrolls in Facebook. She had this assumption that I just went inactive although I am always online but she still decided to check my profile and learned about it. After that, she sent me a friend request.

On the other hand, Somi and another friend unintentionally bumped into each other in the oval and we ended up walking to CHS to roam around the university. We’ve realized that it’s been a while since we last hangout together so we took a lot of pictures while walking. I was so tempted to tell her if she have seen my latest posts, to test if she already noticed that I unfriended her, but I refused to speak about it because it’s an experiment. At 7:00 PM that night, Somi popped up in chat, she informed me that she can’t tag me in her messenger story and went to check my profile to check if I deactivated my Facebook account. According to her, she got surprised but not shocked when she discovered that we are no longer friends. I did not respond to her immediately, I waited for more chats from her, fortunately, I received a message saying “Pero feel ko may purpose ka or experiment na naman ‘to noh? Di ka naman ganon ka-shallow kung trip mo lang hahahahaha”.

Lastly, Sejeong, who is a real-life close friend failed to notice it in six days. So, this Friday morning, I told her to kindly check my featured photos to see if they are still the same. She searched for my account and told me she got a technical error because there appeared “This Page isn’t Available Right Now”. Few minutes later she sent me a screenshot of my profile with the “add friend” button visually present in the screen. Being funny as always, she jokingly said, “Happy Halloween! Naar-arya’n sa pati FB tan ta di met agfriend’n lola.”

Whenever I make decisions or even selecting between options exclusively served for me, a part of the process is that I always try to figure out or visualize the probable outcomes of the things I weigh together in my hand. In relation to this, in choosing between two friends to unfriend, I choose who I think can provide me more essential or substantive responses despite being in its natural set-up. Moreover, I also take in consideration those who I am more comfortable with, where I can push myself to my greater limits when it comes to communicating.

These friends, I feel so lucky for they gave justice to my existence in their social media accounts as a friend because they noticed about the so-called disturbance of unfriending although it really took them for days.

A string can be tied again together but they will not be strong as the way they were connected before the incident of cutting. So, if there is a person I would never unfriend, it would be my mom. In a week, I spend five days in Batac, and only one and a half day at home, which means my mom and I dominantly talk virtually rather than in person. We always give update to each other, more on chats than texts because we are active when it comes to exchanging photos. According to Em Griffin’s Eight Edition of A First Look at Communication Theory, Joseph Walther’s Social Information Processing Theory indicates that Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) users can adapt online medium and use it effectively for close relationships. This applies to us, especially on the part of the theory suggesting that these people have the same warmth online and on face-to-face communication. I can never unfriend my mom, because it could be a sign of disrespect which may led to her disappointment and that’s the least thing I’d want to happen.

Yes, social networking sites can also be a real world.

While I was on the process of this experiment, I came to recognize the possibility that who I am offline massively affected my actions online. My personal preferences in real life influenced the decisions I’ve done in unfriending – I chose to eradicate those who I think do not have significant roles in my Facebook activities. Moreover, I can perceive my online behavior as the duplication or reflection of my offline behavior; I cut unhealthy and unnecessary ties. I’m an active multi-network user, on this context, I also saw the element of bonding social capital adapted from Williams (2006) that origins to Putman (2000), wherein, I was able to assemble the assurance that those people I chose not to unfriend are those who I could turn to in time of need and any other matters, more likely because we have built a certain degree of intimacy or closeness in our relationship. In the three behaviors of social capital, I only had a manifestation of maintaining relationship and information seeking in this experiment, completely disregarded the act of initiating.

Overall, this activity made me realize that the social networking sites I’m utilizing should be like an arena; open to some but not for everyone. There are seats inside it, and I think I should only allow those who have tickets to enter. Tickets, on this sense for me, are those who are deserving for strong ties, who can highly contribute on my social capital and those who delivers positivity and encouragement that can also enhance my offline behaviors. Because what I’ve learned the most is that, who I am offline and online are both interrelated to each other; and there should be careful parallelism, frequent contradictions are not always healthy.

[kadobeclothing]

English footballer Matt Penney reveals how German game got back in motion so quickly amid coronavirus fight – The Sun

MATT PENNEY is one of the few English footballers back in training as he currently plays in Germany. But the Sheffield Wednesday full-back, currently on loan at St Pauli in Bundesliga II, gets an instant reminder of the coronavirus crisis back home when he speaks to his mum Denise, as she is a nurse in a hospital intensive care ward. 3 Matt Penney (right) is one of the few English footballers back in training as he currently plays in Germany3 The top two divisions in Germany have received Government approval to trainWhile his former team-mates are attempting to keep fit around their homes, the left-back from Chesterfield is able to kick a ball again. The clubs in the top two divisions in Germany have received Government approval to train in the hope of restarting the Leagues in early May and finishing in late June. Penney, 22, lives in a country which appears to have dealt well with the coronavirus but is under no illusions of the problems back in England. He said: “They are handing things a bit differently over here. It seems the German people have taken on the advice and listened. Maybe they are more obedient. I have looked online in England and there are videos of people playing cricket in parks “My mum is a nurse in Chesterfield and is in an intensive care unit. It is normally one ward of eight and now it is four wards of eight. It is crazy and obviously worrying and very difficult. “Here in Germany, we have been allowed to train again but we have to be two metres apart. “At the start of last week, Dortmund and Bayern Munich were all back and we were all allowed the day after. 3“We are training in groups of five. There are three groups of five at the training ground but all at different times. Then there are two groups at the stadium, all at different times. “It feels so good. It is so much better than standard running around a lake or a park which we were doing before. “At the moment, the aim is for both the Bundesliga and Bundesliga II to return in May and finish as soon as possible. “There will be two or three games a week but we need to get the season finished. It will feel strange not having any fans in the stadiums as they will be behind closed doors. But, if it is safe, we should do it.” CORONAVIRUS CRISIS – BE IN THE KNOWGet the latest coronavirus news, facts and figures from around the world – plus essential advice for you and your family.To receive our Covid-19 newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here. To follow us on Facebook, simply ‘Like’ our Coronavirus page.

Back in training since last Tuesday, Penney was not tested for coronavirus but has been told he should remain at home if he suffers any symptoms. He made 17 appearances for Wednesday last season but with his first-team chances looking slim last August, was signed on loan by Dutch coach Jos Luhukay, his manager at Hillsborough in 2018. Penney joined St Pauli at the same time as former Arsenal trainee James Lawrence, the Welsh international who arrived on loan from Anderlecht. Penney added: “I always said to myself that at some point, I would love to play abroad and experience a different culture. “St Pauli did not win any of their first few games and I was asked if I fancied it. It was a no-brainer as it was a great opportunity. Hamburg is a great city and a lovely place to live.” The club, which sells out its 29,000-capacity stadium each week, has a fierce rivalry with Hamburg.

With nine games to go, St Pauli are 11th and Hamburg third. But in the city derby, St Pauli won both games with Penney scoring a goal in a 2-0 away win in February, in front of 57,000 fans. He said: “The supporters here are incredible. I have been having quite a few mates come over and watch the games but if I cannot get any more tickets, it is difficult as they do not go on general sale. All the games are sold out. “We have a few games left and now, I just hope we can return to the season although, we all know that at the moment, some things are more important.” Give now to The Sun’s NHS appealBRITAIN’s four million NHS staff are on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.But while they are helping save lives, who is there to help them? The Sun has launched an appeal to raise £1MILLION for NHS workers. The Who Cares Wins Appeal aims to get vital support to staff in their hour of need. We have teamed up with NHS Charities Together in their urgent Covid-19 Appeal to ensure the money gets to exactly who needs it. The Sun is donating £50,000 and we would like YOU to help us raise a million pounds, to help THEM. No matter how little you can spare, please donate today here www.thesun.co.uk/whocareswinsappeal

Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton share memories of playing for Blackburn Rovers

Source link

source https://www.kadobeclothing.store/english-footballer-matt-penney-reveals-how-german-game-got-back-in-motion-so-quickly-amid-coronavirus-fight-the-sun/

[preciousmetals0]

The Fed Shells; Shopify Excels; Lyft Smells

The Fed Shells; Shopify Excels; Lyft Smells:

The Fed’s Shell Game

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell just finished back-to-back meetings with the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate banking committee.

It was exciting stuff … let me tell you. Kind of like watching paint dry.

It’s no wonder the financial media are still focused on the Wuhan coronavirus and the market’s fresh all-time highs.

But there were a couple of rather juicy tidbits buried in Powell’s testimony that I feel should not be overlooked.

First, the most obvious tidbit is that the Fed’s basically out of tools to deal with any potential recession. The fact that interest rates hover near 1.75% “means that it would be important for fiscal policy to support the economy if it weakens,” Powell told the House.

You’ll notice that Powell didn’t specifically say that the Fed was out of options. He passed that buck on to Congress by calling out “fiscal policy.” It’s funny how fiscal policy is the Fed’s focus now. I wonder what could’ve changed in Congress to make deficit spending suddenly matter again? Anyway…

Second, and not as obvious, is that Powell addressed suggestions from Congress that the Fed directly fund the government during a recession to cut taxes and boost spending.

“That’s really an untested and not widely supported perspective,” Powell said.

The Takeaway:

So, Jerome Powell doesn’t believe in directly funding the U.S. government? That’s very interesting … let’s explore why.

Right now, as we speak (Type? Read? Whatever…), the Federal Reserve is buying Treasuries.

But there’s a bit more to this situation. Typically, foreign governments and entities buy U.S. Treasuries. But with the low returns they get from Treasuries right now, nobody’s buying.

Wall Street banks are required to take up the slack and buy U.S. Treasuries. But the Federal Reserve is buying from these banks to help free up liquidity in overnight lending.

Remember all that talk about trouble in the repo market? About the Fed dumping billions to shore up liquidity and maintain overnight lending rates? That’s what we’re talking about here.

OK, Mr. Great Stuff, you’ve sufficiently confused me. What’s your point?

What’s my point? Well … what are Treasuries? Say it with me, class: Treasuries are government debt securities that earn interest until maturity.

Right? Treasuries are government debt. The Fed is buying government debt. It’s buying so much government debt that it basically funds the U.S. government … albeit with extra steps.

And the market knows. Just ask Banyan Hill’s expert economist, Ted Bauman:

Chairman Powell’s shell games in the repo market might fool Congress, but they aren’t fooling the market. As primary dealers, Wall Street banks have to buy the Treasuries flooding into the market because of the massive federal deficit. When the Fed is forced to buy those Treasuries from them to inject “liquidity” into the repo market, it’s printing money to pay the government’s bills as sure as sunshine.

Why bother? Just transfer new dollars to the government and be done with it. After all, that’s what the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) embraced by Bernie Sanders and other assorted “socialists” is calling for anyway!

Anyone else find it ironic that the Federal Reserve is already stealthily implementing the “radical” MMT approach?

Deny it all you want, Chairman Powell, but the Fed is directly funding the government.

Your “this isn’t quantitative easing” shell game has no power here, Jerome — and neither I nor Ted Bauman will fall for your shenanigans!

If it’s not clear by now, Ted tells it like it is … no matter how painful. From calling out money policy malarkey to showing you must-know secrets to boost your nest egg, Ted Bauman is your guide behind Wall Street’s lies.

And if Ted’s no-filter news insights tickle your fancy, just wait until you see the man’s investing approach…

Click here to see how you can get Ted’s sage market wisdom — and his latest investment research — pumped straight to your inbox.

The Good: Victory Lap

Who’s awesome? You’re awesome! Today, Great Stuff readers are taking a victory lap!

Shares of e-commerce specialist Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) soared more than 12% today after its impressive fourth-quarter earnings report. If you bought SHOP shares back when Great Stuff recommended it, you’re up more than 43% right now!

Congratulations!

By the numbers, Shopify reported a 59% surge in earnings and a 47% spike in revenue due to a stellar holiday shopping season. Both figures easily beat Wall Street’s expectations.

But the real pièce de résistance was Shopify’s guidance. The company expects full-year 2020 revenue in a range of $2.13 billion to $2.16 billion — well above the consensus target of $2.11 billion. In other words, it’s Christmas all year for Shopify.

In the company’s earnings call, it noted plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years in order to take on Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). That’s a tall order, but we all know that venders are looking for alternatives to Amazon’s online dominance.

While SHOP shares are a bit overbought right now, I like the company’s growth and ambition. Great Stuff recommends holding on to SHOP for now.

The Bad: Lyft Didn’t Smile — 1-Star Rating

For all intents and purposes, Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq: LYFT) just released a stellar quarterly report.

Lyft’s quarterly loss of $1.19 per share was $0.19 narrower than expected. Revenue topped the consensus estimate. There were more active riders than anticipated, and revenue per active rider was above Wall Street’s targets.

Heck, even guidance was ahead of targets: a loss between $450 million and $490 million, compared to the consensus for a loss of $490 million.

So, why is LYFT plunging today? Because the company didn’t give lip service to analysts and Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER). When Uber reported earnings, it moved up its profitability timeline. Lyft did not.

I find it hard to believe that Uber (which missed all of those same targets that Lyft just blew past) will be profitable before its key competitor. After all, the company posted a quarterly loss of $1.1 billion, compared to Lyft’s loss of just $130 million.

In fact, the only “bad” thing about Lyft is that it keeps getting compared to Uber. Which, if investors were saner, would be a good thing.

The Ugly: What, Am I a Joke to You?

Apparently, Wall Street thought Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) was only joking last month when it missed third-quarter earnings targets and pulled its fiscal 2019 guidance.

That’s the only sane explanation for today’s 25% plunge in BBBY shares.

This morning, Bed Bath & Beyond warned of “short-term pain” and reported that December/January same-store sales fell 5.4%. The company also acknowledged inventory problems, noting that key products were “too low or out-of-stock” ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Bed Bath & Beyond warned investors last month that something like this was coming. You don’t just pull your forecast for a minor reason. The question is, can new CEO Mark Tritton deliver on his promise of “bold and broad-based changes” soon enough to make a difference for Bed Bath & Beyond?

Given how the rest of the company’s competitors are doing — and the potential for supply-chain disruptions out of China — I think there will be a few more nasty surprises for BBBY investors down the road.

It’s time to go to the polls gain!

Last week, we asked you: “What time of the day do you enjoy reading Great Stuff?”

The results are in, and it looks like about 47% really do enjoy Great Stuff for its dinner conversation, choosing to read after 5 p.m. That said, there is a strong group of morning readers (25%) including Great Stuff as part of your complete breakfast.

We are jam-packed with essential vitamins and minerals, after all … but I’m not sure if that comes across in the emails. Hmm…

The rest of you are scattered throughout the day. I assume you need a laugh on your morning or afternoon breaks. We’re glad to be of assistance!

Today, we delve deeper into what you like about Great Stuff — I mean, aside from the fact that it’s a great after-work snack and excellent dinner conversation:

Finally, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

The Fed’s Shell Game

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell just finished back-to-back meetings with the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate banking committee.

It was exciting stuff … let me tell you. Kind of like watching paint dry.

It’s no wonder the financial media are still focused on the Wuhan coronavirus and the market’s fresh all-time highs.

But there were a couple of rather juicy tidbits buried in Powell’s testimony that I feel should not be overlooked.

First, the most obvious tidbit is that the Fed’s basically out of tools to deal with any potential recession. The fact that interest rates hover near 1.75% “means that it would be important for fiscal policy to support the economy if it weakens,” Powell told the House.

You’ll notice that Powell didn’t specifically say that the Fed was out of options. He passed that buck on to Congress by calling out “fiscal policy.” It’s funny how fiscal policy is the Fed’s focus now. I wonder what could’ve changed in Congress to make deficit spending suddenly matter again? Anyway…

Second, and not as obvious, is that Powell addressed suggestions from Congress that the Fed directly fund the government during a recession to cut taxes and boost spending.

“That’s really an untested and not widely supported perspective,” Powell said.

The Takeaway:

So, Jerome Powell doesn’t believe in directly funding the U.S. government? That’s very interesting … let’s explore why.

Right now, as we speak (Type? Read? Whatever…), the Federal Reserve is buying Treasuries.

But there’s a bit more to this situation. Typically, foreign governments and entities buy U.S. Treasuries. But with the low returns they get from Treasuries right now, nobody’s buying.

Wall Street banks are required to take up the slack and buy U.S. Treasuries. But the Federal Reserve is buying from these banks to help free up liquidity in overnight lending.

Remember all that talk about trouble in the repo market? About the Fed dumping billions to shore up liquidity and maintain overnight lending rates? That’s what we’re talking about here.

OK, Mr. Great Stuff, you’ve sufficiently confused me. What’s your point?

What’s my point? Well … what are Treasuries? Say it with me, class: Treasuries are government debt securities that earn interest until maturity.

Right? Treasuries are government debt. The Fed is buying government debt. It’s buying so much government debt that it basically funds the U.S. government … albeit with extra steps.

And the market knows. Just ask Banyan Hill’s expert economist, Ted Bauman:

Chairman Powell’s shell games in the repo market might fool Congress, but they aren’t fooling the market. As primary dealers, Wall Street banks have to buy the Treasuries flooding into the market because of the massive federal deficit. When the Fed is forced to buy those Treasuries from them to inject “liquidity” into the repo market, it’s printing money to pay the government’s bills as sure as sunshine.

Why bother? Just transfer new dollars to the government and be done with it. After all, that’s what the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) embraced by Bernie Sanders and other assorted “socialists” is calling for anyway!

Anyone else find it ironic that the Federal Reserve is already stealthily implementing the “radical” MMT approach?

Deny it all you want, Chairman Powell, but the Fed is directly funding the government.

Your “this isn’t quantitative easing” shell game has no power here, Jerome — and neither I nor Ted Bauman will fall for your shenanigans!

If it’s not clear by now, Ted tells it like it is … no matter how painful. From calling out money policy malarkey to showing you must-know secrets to boost your nest egg, Ted Bauman is your guide behind Wall Street’s lies.

And if Ted’s no-filter news insights tickle your fancy, just wait until you see the man’s investing approach…

Click here to see how you can get Ted’s sage market wisdom — and his latest investment research — pumped straight to your inbox.

The Good: Victory Lap

Who’s awesome? You’re awesome! Today, Great Stuff readers are taking a victory lap!

Shares of e-commerce specialist Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) soared more than 12% today after its impressive fourth-quarter earnings report. If you bought SHOP shares back when Great Stuff recommended it, you’re up more than 43% right now!

Congratulations!

By the numbers, Shopify reported a 59% surge in earnings and a 47% spike in revenue due to a stellar holiday shopping season. Both figures easily beat Wall Street’s expectations.

But the real pièce de résistance was Shopify’s guidance. The company expects full-year 2020 revenue in a range of $2.13 billion to $2.16 billion — well above the consensus target of $2.11 billion. In other words, it’s Christmas all year for Shopify.

In the company’s earnings call, it noted plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years in order to take on Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). That’s a tall order, but we all know that venders are looking for alternatives to Amazon’s online dominance.

While SHOP shares are a bit overbought right now, I like the company’s growth and ambition. Great Stuff recommends holding on to SHOP for now.

The Bad: Lyft Didn’t Smile — 1-Star Rating

For all intents and purposes, Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq: LYFT) just released a stellar quarterly report.

Lyft’s quarterly loss of $1.19 per share was $0.19 narrower than expected. Revenue topped the consensus estimate. There were more active riders than anticipated, and revenue per active rider was above Wall Street’s targets.

Heck, even guidance was ahead of targets: a loss between $450 million and $490 million, compared to the consensus for a loss of $490 million.

So, why is LYFT plunging today? Because the company didn’t give lip service to analysts and Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER). When Uber reported earnings, it moved up its profitability timeline. Lyft did not.

I find it hard to believe that Uber (which missed all of those same targets that Lyft just blew past) will be profitable before its key competitor. After all, the company posted a quarterly loss of $1.1 billion, compared to Lyft’s loss of just $130 million.

In fact, the only “bad” thing about Lyft is that it keeps getting compared to Uber. Which, if investors were saner, would be a good thing.

The Ugly: What, Am I a Joke to You?

Apparently, Wall Street thought Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) was only joking last month when it missed third-quarter earnings targets and pulled its fiscal 2019 guidance.

That’s the only sane explanation for today’s 25% plunge in BBBY shares.

This morning, Bed Bath & Beyond warned of “short-term pain” and reported that December/January same-store sales fell 5.4%. The company also acknowledged inventory problems, noting that key products were “too low or out-of-stock” ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Bed Bath & Beyond warned investors last month that something like this was coming. You don’t just pull your forecast for a minor reason. The question is, can new CEO Mark Tritton deliver on his promise of “bold and broad-based changes” soon enough to make a difference for Bed Bath & Beyond?

Given how the rest of the company’s competitors are doing — and the potential for supply-chain disruptions out of China — I think there will be a few more nasty surprises for BBBY investors down the road.

It’s time to go to the polls gain!

Last week, we asked you: “What time of the day do you enjoy reading Great Stuff?”

The results are in, and it looks like about 47% really do enjoy Great Stuff for its dinner conversation, choosing to read after 5 p.m. That said, there is a strong group of morning readers (25%) including Great Stuff as part of your complete breakfast.

We are jam-packed with essential vitamins and minerals, after all … but I’m not sure if that comes across in the emails. Hmm…

The rest of you are scattered throughout the day. I assume you need a laugh on your morning or afternoon breaks. We’re glad to be of assistance!

Today, we delve deeper into what you like about Great Stuff — I mean, aside from the fact that it’s a great after-work snack and excellent dinner conversation:

Finally, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social media. If you can’t get enough meme-y goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[batenchantingcollectorsong]

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that House Democrats would proceed with articles of impeachment, she did so in the language of duty, history, and the Constitution. “This has nothing to do with politics,” she said. “It’s about the Constitution of the United States.”In almost the same breath, Pelosi revealed that it does, in fact, have at least something to do with politics. Asked what her “a-ha” moment was—the thing that got the long-reluctant speaker on board with impeachment—she said the Ukraine allegations against President Trump “changed everything.”“The polls,” said Pelosi, “went from 59 percent opposed to impeachment, to 34 in favor, to now even.”That conspicuous juxtaposition of lofty principle and hard political reality highlights the tension at the heart of the impeachment process as it heads into a decisive stretch. This week, Democrats’ sense of obligation and their sense of politics will be on a collision course as lawmakers debate, draft, and introduce their articles of impeachment against Trump, which are set to be revealed within days.That’s because the decision of what, exactly, to impeach Trump over will challenge the near-unanimity that’s existed within this big, fractious group of Democrats. Their overwhelming consensus so far has been that the president’s desire to pressure Ukraine into doing him personal political favors merited the use of the House’s most powerful check against a president for just the fourth time in the country’s history. No such consensus existed for other elements of Trump’s conduct in office, particularly the allegations of obstruction of justice outlined in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. The majority of the public, as Pelosi noted, did not feel those charges justified impeachment—and neither did she. Even though over half of the Democratic caucus was publicly supportive of impeachment before the Ukraine story emerged, the moderate and purple-district lawmakers who won them the majority dismissed a Mueller-based impeachment drive as political suicide. Now, Democratic leadership and lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee—the panel that led House Democrats’ charge on all things Mueller—are weighing whether to weave that thread into articles of impeachment. Few on Capitol Hill predict this will be a fight that tears the party apart, but strong views on the subject abide, and lawmakers on both ends of the debate are anxiously bracing for a decision that amounts to something like a final judgment from House Democrats on the president’s conduct. “From the very beginning, we were clear that the process should be clear, strategic, and efficient,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a freshman Democrat from a Trump-won district in Michigan. In a September op-ed written with several like-minded colleagues, Slotkin called for an impeachment inquiry based squarely on the anonymous whistleblower’s complaint. The move went down as the speaker’s come-to-Jesus moment on impeachment; she launched the inquiry the next day. “Clear, meaning we have to make the case to the American people. We got that strategic focus on specific articles, hone in on those—don't take a kitchen-sink approach, really think strategically. And then efficient. This doesn't need to be an 18-month process,” Slotkin told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “I have made myself clear that it should be a very tight group of articles, very limited, very focused.”This view is not exactly shared by many of Slotkin’s colleagues. “You might say I’m in the kitchen sink caucus,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, a northern California Democrat who has long backed impeachment. “This office has been abused and damaged in profound ways,” Huffman said on Friday. “I personally would be for holding him accountable for every bit of it. Not for every grievance we have—I wouldn't include his bad behavior or his offensive rhetoric—but some specific actions that I believe that have abused authority and rise to the level of impeachable offense, in my view, would go well beyond the current Ukraine scandal.”But many Democrats in this boat admit the moment is simply too important for the party to suffer any real show of discord. Huffman says he would “accept a more strategically focused set of articles if that's the decision,” but said he expected some kind of compromise to emerge. Over the weekend, the Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) held closed-door discussions about the possible scope of articles of impeachment and prepared members of the panel for the significant week to come. On Monday, the committee will convene for a hearing where lawmakers will hear prepared evidence for impeachment. According to a source familiar with the committee’s plans, Democrats spent the weekend huddling with Harvard constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe and holding mock hearings—during which Democrats played the roles of GOP members like top Judiciary Republican Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who has made parliamentary and process based interruptions central to the party’s hearing strategy. The format of the hearing is a sign that Mueller’s Russia investigation could get another high-profile public airing. On Monday, attorneys for both Judiciary and the House Intelligence Committees will present evidence that Trump committed impeachable offenses. Intelligence submitted a lengthy report on the Ukraine matter, but Judiciary has spent all year focused on Mueller. On Sunday, Nadler appeared on CNN and said that he is seriously considering an article of impeachment based on the Mueller findings in order to establish a “pattern” of wrongdoing by Trump that goes beyond Ukraine and encompasses his entire presidency.  Democrats both on Nadler’s panel and around the caucus see the logic to that move. “If there is an obstruction article, how do you ignore documented evidence of obstruction by the special counsel, for which he essentially said, ‘I’m not charging because of the Justice Department policy regarding the charging of a president,’ the Congress has remedies available,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) on Friday. “To me, that's just like, a great big blinking light that says, yeah, you really need to look at that.”An idea percolating within the caucus is that the Mueller-related charges could be put to the floor precisely so that moderates could vote against them, while the Ukraine-focused articles would stand a far stronger chance of passing. “Including one or two counts of obstruction for the Mueller report is totally appropriate,” said Huffman. “And if our more politically fragile members feel like they've got to vote against that, let them do it.”But among those who represent competitive districts, taking such a vote may not be such an appealing prospect. One aide associated with the moderate wing of the party said any vote on Mueller-focused impeachment grounds puts these lawmakers in a “terrible position.”“Largely, there’s no support of idea of bringing up articles about Mueller,” said the aide, calling the investigation’s entire subject matter politically “toxic” in the districts these lawmakers represent. This wing of the party is anxiously watching to see how Nadler—likely with a heavy hand from the speaker—draws up the articles. “Thirty-one Democratic members of Congress in Trump districts are going to be living with the decisions he makes for the next year,” said the aide.There’s some hope, however, that this could result in some kind of compromise to be brokered this week that reconciles the tension baked into Democrats’ impeachment enterprise. “I mean, we're not gonna send everybody home happy,” said Huffman. “That's just inherent in the situation that has been forced upon us.”Among some of the lawmakers who decided to support impeachment knowing it could be a liability back home, there’s a sense that the most important Rubicon has already been crossed.“For many of us, if this was purely a political issue, we would not have come out in support of an inquiry,” said Slotkin, who is just one of several Democrats already seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of impeachment-based attack ads against them in their districts. “So you have this threshold where you say, doesn't matter what a poll says, it doesn't matter what my consultants are telling me to do, what matters is right and wrong.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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[attredd]

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that House Democrats would proceed with articles of impeachment, she did so in the language of duty, history, and the Constitution. “This has nothing to do with politics,” she said. “It’s about the Constitution of the United States.”In almost the same breath, Pelosi revealed that it does, in fact, have at least something to do with politics. Asked what her “a-ha” moment was—the thing that got the long-reluctant speaker on board with impeachment—she said the Ukraine allegations against President Trump “changed everything.”“The polls,” said Pelosi, “went from 59 percent opposed to impeachment, to 34 in favor, to now even.”That conspicuous juxtaposition of lofty principle and hard political reality highlights the tension at the heart of the impeachment process as it heads into a decisive stretch. This week, Democrats’ sense of obligation and their sense of politics will be on a collision course as lawmakers debate, draft, and introduce their articles of impeachment against Trump, which are set to be revealed within days.That’s because the decision of what, exactly, to impeach Trump over will challenge the near-unanimity that’s existed within this big, fractious group of Democrats. Their overwhelming consensus so far has been that the president’s desire to pressure Ukraine into doing him personal political favors merited the use of the House’s most powerful check against a president for just the fourth time in the country’s history. No such consensus existed for other elements of Trump’s conduct in office, particularly the allegations of obstruction of justice outlined in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. The majority of the public, as Pelosi noted, did not feel those charges justified impeachment—and neither did she. Even though over half of the Democratic caucus was publicly supportive of impeachment before the Ukraine story emerged, the moderate and purple-district lawmakers who won them the majority dismissed a Mueller-based impeachment drive as political suicide. Now, Democratic leadership and lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee—the panel that led House Democrats’ charge on all things Mueller—are weighing whether to weave that thread into articles of impeachment. Few on Capitol Hill predict this will be a fight that tears the party apart, but strong views on the subject abide, and lawmakers on both ends of the debate are anxiously bracing for a decision that amounts to something like a final judgment from House Democrats on the president’s conduct. “From the very beginning, we were clear that the process should be clear, strategic, and efficient,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a freshman Democrat from a Trump-won district in Michigan. In a September op-ed written with several like-minded colleagues, Slotkin called for an impeachment inquiry based squarely on the anonymous whistleblower’s complaint. The move went down as the speaker’s come-to-Jesus moment on impeachment; she launched the inquiry the next day. “Clear, meaning we have to make the case to the American people. We got that strategic focus on specific articles, hone in on those—don't take a kitchen-sink approach, really think strategically. And then efficient. This doesn't need to be an 18-month process,” Slotkin told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “I have made myself clear that it should be a very tight group of articles, very limited, very focused.”This view is not exactly shared by many of Slotkin’s colleagues. “You might say I’m in the kitchen sink caucus,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, a northern California Democrat who has long backed impeachment. “This office has been abused and damaged in profound ways,” Huffman said on Friday. “I personally would be for holding him accountable for every bit of it. Not for every grievance we have—I wouldn't include his bad behavior or his offensive rhetoric—but some specific actions that I believe that have abused authority and rise to the level of impeachable offense, in my view, would go well beyond the current Ukraine scandal.”But many Democrats in this boat admit the moment is simply too important for the party to suffer any real show of discord. Huffman says he would “accept a more strategically focused set of articles if that's the decision,” but said he expected some kind of compromise to emerge. Over the weekend, the Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) held closed-door discussions about the possible scope of articles of impeachment and prepared members of the panel for the significant week to come. On Monday, the committee will convene for a hearing where lawmakers will hear prepared evidence for impeachment. According to a source familiar with the committee’s plans, Democrats spent the weekend huddling with Harvard constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe and holding mock hearings—during which Democrats played the roles of GOP members like top Judiciary Republican Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who has made parliamentary and process based interruptions central to the party’s hearing strategy. The format of the hearing is a sign that Mueller’s Russia investigation could get another high-profile public airing. On Monday, attorneys for both Judiciary and the House Intelligence Committees will present evidence that Trump committed impeachable offenses. Intelligence submitted a lengthy report on the Ukraine matter, but Judiciary has spent all year focused on Mueller. On Sunday, Nadler appeared on CNN and said that he is seriously considering an article of impeachment based on the Mueller findings in order to establish a “pattern” of wrongdoing by Trump that goes beyond Ukraine and encompasses his entire presidency.  Democrats both on Nadler’s panel and around the caucus see the logic to that move. “If there is an obstruction article, how do you ignore documented evidence of obstruction by the special counsel, for which he essentially said, ‘I’m not charging because of the Justice Department policy regarding the charging of a president,’ the Congress has remedies available,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) on Friday. “To me, that's just like, a great big blinking light that says, yeah, you really need to look at that.”An idea percolating within the caucus is that the Mueller-related charges could be put to the floor precisely so that moderates could vote against them, while the Ukraine-focused articles would stand a far stronger chance of passing. “Including one or two counts of obstruction for the Mueller report is totally appropriate,” said Huffman. “And if our more politically fragile members feel like they've got to vote against that, let them do it.”But among those who represent competitive districts, taking such a vote may not be such an appealing prospect. One aide associated with the moderate wing of the party said any vote on Mueller-focused impeachment grounds puts these lawmakers in a “terrible position.”“Largely, there’s no support of idea of bringing up articles about Mueller,” said the aide, calling the investigation’s entire subject matter politically “toxic” in the districts these lawmakers represent. This wing of the party is anxiously watching to see how Nadler—likely with a heavy hand from the speaker—draws up the articles. “Thirty-one Democratic members of Congress in Trump districts are going to be living with the decisions he makes for the next year,” said the aide.There’s some hope, however, that this could result in some kind of compromise to be brokered this week that reconciles the tension baked into Democrats’ impeachment enterprise. “I mean, we're not gonna send everybody home happy,” said Huffman. “That's just inherent in the situation that has been forced upon us.”Among some of the lawmakers who decided to support impeachment knowing it could be a liability back home, there’s a sense that the most important Rubicon has already been crossed.“For many of us, if this was purely a political issue, we would not have come out in support of an inquiry,” said Slotkin, who is just one of several Democrats already seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of impeachment-based attack ads against them in their districts. “So you have this threshold where you say, doesn't matter what a poll says, it doesn't matter what my consultants are telling me to do, what matters is right and wrong.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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