#and thats no real fault to any other content creator

[allastoredeer]

The ship name switch actually comes from manga/anime fandoms! I haven't been in any recently, but back in ye old days people could get very intense about who tops and who bottoms and switches were practically unheard of, so the names were kinda necessary. NaruSasu vs SasuNaru for example. You won't believe how much people fought over positions, it even got parodied in some japanese media. On a slightly related note, are you okay with top al content where the characters are properly portrayed? Or none at all? No judgment, we all should enjoy the fandoms however we like ^^

Oh 👀 that makes sense I wouldn't have heard about it then. I watched a handful a anime, but the only one I dipped my toes into was My Hero Academia, and even then, I didn't go that deep. I read a few fics, but that was the extent of it.

Fighting over who tops, bottoms, and switches is so silly. An argument can be made for any character being a top, bottom, or switch, because sexual preference/positions isn't something that can determined by a handful of personality traits. There's no check-list a characters has follow to be "deemed" a top. Or a bottom. Or a switch.

At the end of the day, it's literally just what the fan prefers for that pairing. And I think the more people accept that they can like specific dynamics without having to argue for their right to like it, the better and less-toxic a fandom will be. You should never have to defend why you like a character, or a ship, or anything else, because sometimes you just like it. You vibe with it. No other reason required.

As for the top!Al content, it can be kind of tricky to deem something as "properly portrayed" when, technically, everyone's portrayal is going to be different, and every portrayal isn't going to be 100% in-line with the show.

I think considering something as properly portrayed is wholly dependent on the fan and how they relate to the show and the characters. No fanfiction or fanart is going to be completely true to the show or characters. I don't even think that's possible XD Fans inject so much of themselves and their experiences into fan-content, that every portrayal can be considered properly done given the right audience.

But, if top!Al and bottom!Luci were written in a different way--maybe something that didn't UwU-ify Lucifer so much or make Alastor out to be this big, domineering alpha-male--I think I could like it.

I'm very picky with characterization. There are some details I can easily overlook, but depending on how certain things are written, it can take me out of the story so badly I can't even force myself to finish reading. (Believe me, I've tried. I found a Spideypool fic once that was so well written it was love at first sight. The humor was on point, the plot was intriguing, the dynamic between them was fun, but there was a small, little, itty-bitty detail in their interactions that kept popping up and it took me out of the fic so bad, I couldn't keep going. I tried to finish the fic, multiple times, but I never got very far.)

Funnily enough, when I was first scouring the internet for content after the show ended, I actually bookmarked a handful of top!Al and bottom!Luci on Twitter. But with how it's currently being portrayed across the fandom, any enjoyment I had for it has soured. I just don't vibe with the majority of top!Al I see now.

I've always liked bottom!Al though, and I've been seeing a lot more content for it lately! I've been eating well 😋

[fight-nights-at-freddys]

hey there! Feel free to block me if you want, especially if you find this rude or anything. This is actually genuine, i’m NOT being sarcastic or anti.

i’m on the fence about proshipping. On the one hand, don’t like it? Don’t read it. I’ve read some crazy fanfiction that teeters on the line, but that’s not the point. On the other hand, it gets to a point where…you’re just normalizing r@pe or inc3st in fiction. And people say it’s just fiction, but fiction can definitely influence reality! But writing shouldn’t be censored. People should be free to write what they want, however they want. It’s art and should be treated with the same diligence. However, the when, where and how proshipping fanfics are presented SHOULD MATTER. It’s not censorship to require warning tags, or restrict it from young readers more severely.

okay, that’s my little rant lol. Again, i’m not gonna think you hate me if you block me and never answer this ask. Just wanted to get some other points of view and share my own.

dwdw. and thank you for being so respectful and nice abt it <3 anti or not, its always appreciated/gen

and i (personally) have some views that are probably pretty controversial LMAO. Which is pretty much, if something is normalized in fiction and it doesn’t breach over into real life, we’re okay.

say for instance, murder is common in fiction, it has been justified, shown as good, etc etc. practically doesn’t get portrayed or seen as bad. yet irl if someone goes out there and kills a random family, ppl aren’t going to go “oh yeah, thats normal” they’re going to be upset and appalled for what that persons done.

same thing with incest and rape, theres been a lot of fanfics over the years that have those two things, yet both are absolutely abhorrent in real life bc they hurt people, and no amount of normalizing it in fiction will normalize it irl.

And we can even get into old examples like with Greek Mythology where rape and the incest were seen as normal(-ish) in the stories, and still, people think that those things are horrible in real life, so fiction didn’t affect reality there. So, why would it change with like, idk, a wincest or willmike fics.

yes writing can influence reality, but only if you let it. Do research, look at studies, don’t rely on words that a random person made up to tell a story, because then, you are at fault, not the creator or the work. (You spoken generally here, not at you anon)

If you live your life and base your knowledge only on fiction and nothing more, then yeah, your reality is going to be skewed, but again, thats not the fictions fault. - 🧁🍕

ofcofc! so, just to clear up any confusion, being proship JUST means being anti-harassment, and pro-ship and let ship. you don't gotta like what other people ship, you just gotta respect them enough to be able to block and move on.

i def agree, tags should be applied correctly, and mature content should be age restricted, but there's a limit to that imo. like, i wouldn't agree with sites making you show your ID or anything, due to the invasion of privacy, when a lot of the issue of kids being in spaces they shouldn't be could be solved by better parenting.

i also don't agree that certain kinds of fiction "normalize" rape or incest. fiction CAN influence reality, sure, but it's never gonna make you go from "incest bad" to "incest good" just from watching, like. game of thrones, ya know? there would 100% have to be a problem with the individual to begin with to even reach those kinda conclusions (and that's largely a problem with lack of parenting, education, or mental health resources)

my point is, if someone reads a yucky darkfic, and rape/murder/incest/whatever is depicted as good, it is still on you as the viewer as to how you react to it.

again, it's totally fine to think those kinds of fics/ships are disgusting! you're allowed to feel your feelings! but to assume that everyone who reads those fics has even the potential to be bad people just because they read those things is, like. objectively the wrong way to go about things

#/nm ofc - 🏁🎸

[regryrth]

Note from that dumb anon in case ur here

I just want this whole thing to have never happened and for me to never have said those things. Originally I thought my confession got deleted for being hate but whats even worse is that it didn’t. So I’d like to dedicate all the self-pity I’m unfairly feeling right now to the victim of my actions DRDT Dev. They are a lovely person and creator and their typing style is perfectly ok. I was an idiot for thinking otherwise And an even bigger idiot for thinking it was ok to post. And a dumbass for blaming it on something you can’t control. While neurodivergence and trauma can show up as reading harmless actions as malicious or vice versa. That wasnt at all the cause of what I said and did. Talking shit isn’t something you can or should blame on a condition that people can’t control. It just taints the real image of that condition and makes the stigma so much worse for everyone, including the people who do it themself. The DRDT Dev shouldnt have to worry about what they post or how they post it cause the fandom loves and cares for them and their content either way. But thanks to people like me and anyone else who feels the need to bring up shit about DRDT Dev and other perfectly good people thinking they won’t see it, they dont feel comfortable anymore. Now cuz of what I thought would be just another silly confession with like 3 notes I may have ruined a part of the fandom that I and everyone else loved. We loved DRDT Dev and their content, I know we did cause I was there to see and enjoy it too but I still thought it was ok to submit that stupid fucking confession. Im terrible for that. I accept full responsibility, and no one else- no not even the people who agreed- deserves to share that blame. Any of the discorse. Or anything that comes to me as a consequence. I cant ask for much after such a stupid decision, but I want to request that Anyone who reads this doesnt blame attack insult rant about anyone related to this who is not me because it’s not their fault and doing that will only make everything worse. I know what I posted is basically the opposite of what Im saying now in a way. But I dont want the fandom to be hurt. I dont want the fandom to have even the tiniest scratch in it after this. I love our fandom, me aside it’s like a tiny community of amazing kind creative people who all support each other and love DRDT. I dont want that to change just because of one idiot who couldnt keep their opinions to themself. So that’s my request here. Im not saying hate should be ignored or normalized though I suppose thats dumb to claim cuz of me staying anon. Sorry. going non anons the one thing I dont feel ok doing. But still. I’m saying that anyone who thinks its ok to do this should be fairly punished and taught their mistakes. And that they apologize even if no one forgives them. But mostly Im saying here specifically is that DRDT Dev didnt deserve what I said. Its not true. And it wasnt ok for me to say let alone how I said it. And like I said- DRDT is one of my favorite things in the world. So from now on Im going to try my hardest to 1, Take responsibility, 2, Think before I speak, and 3, Only speak kindly about others. And somehow I wish I could make it up to DRDT Dev because they and their work is so amazing. There an amazing person and I am eternally sorry to them and anyone else Ive upset. And I dont want them to stop that because of me.

Thats it. Thanks for reading all this if u did and again Im sorry. I love you all

[thelostmoongazer]

Okay- that last post had brought about quite a few responses in the replys as well as my inbox but I won't be responding to them all as to not make a bigger deal out of it than it is. I do appreciate all of your thoughts! Some of your responses were very supportive, and others were very informative so thank you for your 2 cents!

But I will say that my opinion on the matter is that, at the end of the day it's a circumstance of separating the content from the creator. Yes some of the things I've heard and read about dream specifically haven't been the best, but I'll be real, I'm really not as invested in him as a person as I am with other streamers.

I more like his character and the role he plays in the story that involves the characters I'm actually invested in.

The drama he may or may not get himself into is not my fault, and I'm not going to dismiss or encourage anything that ANY of these people do, not just dream, because im not invested in the moral stances of these people, I'm invested in the content. And this doesn't mean that I'm ignoring their behavior, this means that I should not be held accountable for their actions just because I happen to follow them on twitter.

He makes funny stuff and makes compelling stories! But if he's being an asshole thats not on me.

TLRD; I'm separating the content from creator and I think others should too. But you are allowed to disagree.

[yes-man-wireplay]

God i hate it when people think that if something morally wrong happens in a piece of media (especially fan content for some reason???) That the creator believes those or the work is harmful bevause it encourages that behaviour?? First of all if reading pedophilia fanfic keeps someone woth those kinds of thoughts from actually harming real kids, I couldn't give less of a shit. I might not wanna interact with that person but theyre technically not harming anyone amd the author shouldn't be blamed for that either. As for making people think its okay, i can understand that for kids content but like. If your kids get onto the internet completely unsupervised thats not the author's fault either, and we can either as a society try to prepare kids to use critical thinking, keep kids off the internet, or maybe the kid was already in an environment where these things weren't taught as a taboo and so their view is skewed (bad, but a different problem). Other than that, any adult should be capable of understanding the difference between fiction amd reality, and if fiction "convinces someone pedophilia is okay", then that's something they probably already believed and were going to go toward whether or not they consumed the media. The problem is not the content, the problem is how people are raised or treated, as well as problems with accessible mental healthcare. If you dont want to interact with certain content or it makes you uncomfortable, there are ways to avoid it and curate your space. You need to just deal with it.

[junquisite]

Fated to love 2

PAIRING : Park Junhee X OC X Kim Wooseok

GENRE : Fluff, Angst

WORD COUNT : 2.9k

PARTS :  I+P  1  2

AUTHOR’S NOTE : From now on italics mean that its real but from a past moment, so memories are in italics, regular font means present.

Seungyoun joined Wooseok at the cafe he invited him to and wooseok scowled at the first words that left his friend’s mouth.

“So what did you fucked up now?” 

“I did no such thing.” Wooseok gritted out as he passed Seungyoun’s usual order towards him - Latte and a pastry while he sipped on his ice americano. He vaguely noticed how similar Seungyoun and Bora’s tastes are but then the both of them used to love going to different restaurants and cafes together so.

 “You only specifically call me for breakfast when you do something. And Bora has returned from swiss 2 weeks ago. Thats too long for you to not fuck up.” Seungyoun  concluded as he happily smiled at his visibly pissed friend.

Wooseok sighed and told Seugnyoun everything - from the party to the dinner he crashed. Seungyoun stared at him for far too long he was comfortable with so he fidgeted with his phone.

“I don't know if you intentionally do this but why do you act like an asshole to her when you love her?”

Wooseok sputtered a loose explanation about how it was not his fault but Seungyoun knew it was just his jealousy acting up - which knowing Wooseok, he would never accept. Seungoyun also pointedly noted how he didn't deny the part that he was in love with her and that was interesting. 

“Apologise to her Wooseok. You were too much.” Seungyoun finally said and Wooseok nodded - already planning on how to apologise to her.

~

“I am so sorry i had to call you both in so late! I wanted to meet for lunch but I had an important meeting, but thank you for making time to meet me at this time!” Junhee saw as she trailed off when she looked up and only saw him.

“Where is Donghun?” she asked and he nodded outside.

“He had an important call, he’ll be in soon.”  he said and she nodded and got back up from the crouching position she was in before with her back towards him which led to her rambling as she had done. 

There was an awkward silence in the office as she fumbled with the papers and he kept staring at her.

“Did Donghun say anything after you left?” she asked finally and he nodded in a negative.

“Why?”

“He's too smart to not figure out that we have known each other longer than meeting yesterday for the first time.” she remarked and Junhee shrugged.

“He figured you were the girl I met at switzerland. He wanted to know if I was uncomfortable working with you and wanted to cancel the collaboration.” he said and saw as her eyes widened, she really wanted this to happen.

“Oh..do you want to? Cancel it?” she asked softly and he wanted to go close to her, comfort her and promise her to even bring the stars if she asked for, this collaboration was nothing.

“No. we’ll move forward with it.”

She nodded and the room fell in silence again.

He saw her hesitate and sigh. “Why..did he think you would be uncomfortable with working with me?” she asked and he mentally debated if he should tell how he was when he got back. Finally he decided to come clean, she should know that he's here, and now in front of her.

“When i got back.. It was hard to concentrate on work - i  could only think of you. A girl i met in switzerland whom i knew nothing about more than that she lived in seoul and was returning a week after me. So the sunday you were supposed to come back, a day before i checked all the flights coming to seoul from swiss, even checked the ones who’ll have pit stops. There were 7 in total and I was ready to spend the whole day at the airport just to see you again. He stopped me.

He said something which made me listen to him and not come.”

He saw that she was staring at him wide-eyed, hanging on his every word.

“He said i left my contact number to her and she still hasn't texted me for the whole week. That i was just a vacation fling for her and meant nothing more then that and that i need to stop being dumb.” he finished.

He saw her flinch as he was talking but that was exactly what Donghun had told him. And she needed to know it too.

“I'm sorry  I was late, should we get started?” Donghun asked as he came in and the gloomy mood of the room slightly lifted as Bora gave him a strained smile. If Donghun noticed it, he didn't comment on it.

“I ordered us Sandwiches. I hope you both will like it.'' She said as she passed both of them Subway bags and Junhee took his, only to look inside and find a chocochip cookie which was missing from Donghun’s as he saw him emptying the content on the table.

He looked across at her to see she was avoiding his eyes.

“It's 3 am.” she said incredulously staring at him.

“You don't know the fun of eating Subway sandwiches at 3 am.” as he wrapped a scarf around her and pulled her outside her room. Junhee pulled a whiney Bora to the subway 5 minutes away from her Hotel and went to order 2 chicken sandwiches and ice tea.

“Cookie?” he asked her and she said no.

He came back with one chocochip cookie though.

“I love these. I sometimes feel like Subway chocochip cookies are the best ever in the world.” he said as he took a big bite of it and moaned in pleasure. She slapped his arm in between her laughs.

Junhee took a  bite of his cookie. She remembered it seemed. Now was it a good sign actually or not, he wondered.

~

Bora was tired and only craving her bed by the time she reached home. So she was not expecting any guest - and especially not Kim Wooseok. So when she saw him, a sigh involuntarily slipped through her mouth.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I brought dinner.” he said as he showed her the bag he was holding. It was the restaurant she loved but it only took advance bookings and she was sure this was an impromptu visit so it meant he paid whoever had the chance to bring her food. She vaguely wondered how much he paid the person.

“How long have you been here?” she asked as she realised it was almost midnight - way past dinner time.

“A while.” he muttered and she sighed. It meant hours.

“Why didn't you wait inside? The code is the same as we set when we bought this.” she muttered as she walked past him to open the door and wave him inside.

“I didn't want to intrude.” he answered and she scoffed, turning around to stare at him.

“Why are you actually here Wooseok?” she asked and he looked away, clearly avoiding her eyes. She saw as his ear reddened and she raised an eyebrow.

“I wanted to apologise.. For the party and yesterday dinner too.” he muttered while looking down at the floor and she ran a hand through her hair. Her face softened.

“I have had dinner already.” she settled on as he looked up at her and nodded, slightly looking like a kicked puppy. “I’ll get going then. Goodnight.” he told her as he turned to leave.

“Wooseok..” she called his name and he turned around. He looked young but tired, like how they used to be when they used to have their finals and would spend nights living on energy drinks and coffees - no matter how cold their relationship had turned now and how much she hated his guts now- he was still her best friend that she has known since kindergarten.

“Stay.. i’ll sit with you while you eat. And you can sleep in the guest room.”

~

Bora woke up to the smell of fresh eggs and toast and coffee and if you ask her, that probably is what heavens smell like to her. She freshened up and then dragged herself to her kitchen to see Wooseok cooking her breakfast.

“Did you knew you had nothing in your refrigerator except for alcohol?” he asked her and she shrugged.

“I'm pretty sure there was coffee somewhere here.” she said vaguely pointing to her kitchen and he shook his head at her.

“I had to go out for grocery shopping to make you breakfast.” he said as he served her and she thanked him.

“Take whatever food is left to your house though, it’ll go bad here.” she said as Woosoek joined her in eating.

“Shouldn't you learn how to cook about now?” he asked her and she shrugged.

“I usually grab breakfast either at the office or the coffee shop in front of it. Or at the main house if i'm summoned. Plus there’s no one around to teach me to cook.'' She spoke the last part lowly and Wooseok felt his heart clench.

“You can always ask my mom, she would love to teach you.”

As soon as the words slipped his mouth, her head shot up to stare at him as if he grew out another head.

“She hates me Wooseok.” she said with such a painfully straight face that it made even him laugh.

Breakfast ended and she helped him with the dishes.

“I’ll get going now. I have to go home and get dressed too.” he said and she nodded as she walked him to the door.

“Bora..” he trailed off and she smiled at him and for a second he felt like they were back in highschool where she would happily follow him around, laughing with him and making him feel like he was at the top of the world.

“Seungyoun said everyone was meeting for meat and drinks today. You wanna join?”

She looked to be thinking, probably thinking of her schedule.

“Sure. i'm in. i haven't seen him and the guys in a long while too!” she agreed and he smiled. He was already imagining telling a cocky Seungyoun that not only he apologised but she also agreed for the night out - he couldn't wait to see the look on his best friend's face.

“And Wooseok..” her voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Next time you wanna grab dinner, tell me. If not a day before then at least an hour before. I'll clear my schedule for you.” she said with a smile and his heart skipped a beat. This was the Bora he fell in love with all those years ago.

~

She entered the Barbeque place and the smell hanging in the air reminded her of Highschool and University - when times were better she thought. Once inside, she made her way to the table with the loudest voices and found her friends- Wooseok and Seungwoo were the only silent and smiling ones at the table - the other three were the creators of the noise - Hangyul, Yohan and Seungyoun who all looked halfway drunk. She was only half an hour late from the decided time though.

She took a seat between Seungwoo and Wooseok as Seungyoun passed her a glass of beer.

“I literally just got here.”

“And you have to compensate for the half hour you’re late for.” Seungyoun cheekily said as he passed her a shot of Soju which she happily took. Seungwoo passed her a plate of snacks and she thanked him softly.

An hour passed with drinks and talks and taunts to Bora for not meeting the others more. But it was all good and Wooseok was slightly tipsy and Seungyoun was trying to sober him surprisingly. It was just that Seungyoun had a good alcohol tolerance and Wooseok did not. And drunk Wooseok is clingy as the hand wrapped around her waist and head leaning on her shoulder was reminding her. It was vaguely reminding her of how close they used to be before and suddenly the alcohol in her system felt too much and the restaurant felt suffocating. 

She suddenly stood up, Wooseok almost falling on the seat as he was leaning on her and she asked Seungwoo to move, mumbling about needing fresh air. She really needed some.

She was standing outside as the cold air blew and saw the time. A little over 11 pm, none of them will even consider going home before 1 and she sighed. She tugged out her pack of cigarettes and a lighter as she lit one. She wasn't an avid smoker - only smoking occasionally when stressed and the friendly dinner with old friends was leading into dangerous territories - from highschool memories to her and Wooseok almost dating to their sudden engagement. It was frustrating since she knew the reason behind all his attention on her now - he wanted to marry her.

“Fancy seeing you here.” she heard someone speak behind her and turned around to see a smiling Junhee coming to stand beside her. She wanted to scowl at his smiling face but also apologise for never texting him again. She hadn't been able to sleep much last night because she kept thinking about what Junhee had said.

“I didn't know you smoke.” he commented as she took a drag of it and let the smoke out.

“I don't usually. But a tough day makes me want to take one.” she said as she took another drag and Junhee turned around to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?” she asked as he looked behind at her, face unreadable.

“I can't stand the smoke.” he said as he turned and started walking towards the alleyway beside the restaurant. She looked at the cigarette in her hand. Cursing lowly, she threw it on the ground and stomped it with her heels as she walked after him.

“Wait for me!”

~

After making sure Wooseok was sober enough to not fall, Seungyoun got up to follow behind Bora. He had felt her getting uncomfortable by minute as they kept talking about her and Wooseok and he wanted to make sure she was fine. And also maybe not to be so disgusted by the fact that she was engaged to Wooseok now.

He walked out to see a man standing beside her and paused a little behind, making sure to hide himself but also hear what they were talking about.

“I didn't know you smoke.” the man commented and Seungyoun was surprised that he actually knew her.

“I don't usually. But a tough day makes me want to take one.” he felt guilty when she said that. Was she that uncomfortable with the idea of marrying Wooseok? Isn't she the same person who would blush whenever Wooseok said anything directly to her and literally told him in the morning that she would clear any schedule for him?

“Wait, where are you going?” he heard say and looked up to see the man turning to walk towards the side alleyway.

“I can't stand the smoke.” he said simply and Seungyoun sighed. It brought back memories of the many times anyone had ever told her to not smoke.

It started during University. A huge fight between Wooseok and her that no one ever found the reason for and she went out alone at night. Seungyoun had found himself opening the door of his apartment to a drunk Bora at 4 in the morning smelling strongly of alcohol and smoke.

Since then, she had smoked on multiple occasions followed by someone telling her not to and her retoriting with something.

“You should not smoke.” Seungwoo had told her and she had just shrugged in response, choosing to not smoke in his presence out of respect but not listening.

“The smoke bothers me.” Wooseok had complained once. With a cigarette between her lips, she walked to the door of the apartment and opened it for him saying, “feel free to leave.”

“Smoking kills you eventually.” Aerin had said.

“So does life at one point.” Bora had retorted.

“Can you stop smoking?” he had followed after Aerin who was snuggled in his arms.

“Shut up.” was the crude response he got as she laughed and he joined, taking the cigarette from her hand to take a drag himself.

So maybe he was not the best person but she also has never listened. So when Seungyoun saw her throwing the cigarette down and running after the guy, something dropped in his stomach.

He went back in and joined the others. 

“Where is she?” Wooseok asked and Seungyoun shrugged.

“Did not see her. Maybe she went in the side alley to smoke.” he said, not willing to put doubts in the head of a drunk Wooseok. But sober Wooseok has to know. She came about 20 minutes after Seungyoun had come back and the smile and the slight flush of her cheeks were bothering him a bit too much. So he decided he’ll give him some sort of warning at least.

That's Why Wooseok woke up the next day with a killer headache and a text awaiting on his phone from Seungyoun saying, ‘You should have a serious talk with Bora about the engagement.’

[unironicduncanstan]

big media companies really b like “listen ik you will absolutely NEVER make as much money as we have, and you will almost definitely never reach or exceed our audience numbers, but you should still feel BAD for STEALING from us with your successful fan content that you worked hard on out of harmless passion :’( ur popularity by actually making the entertainment yall wanna see is really taking potential revenue from usss” bro it literally isnt and kinda Cant unless you, as a booming entertainment business, are actually doing smth Hopelessly Wrong enough for people widely start preferring fan content to your original story. thats not an intentonal threat to you but a sign you are already failing. also you cant fucking ‘steal revenue’ based on popularity alone, you have to just make better shit if you’re worried about losing fans bc theyre all unhappy and attempting to do your job for you to fulfill what they want. imo if ppl like something, whether its a fanwork or not, it Deserves that positive attention, what right do you have to try and tell people it doesnt? idgaf that its not original bitch lmao, nobody is pretending it is, i respect originality but i also respect the Work people put into fan content and i view it as valuable, and i have the right to. i mean, to claim fan creators shouldnt be allowed ‘too much praise’ from other fans is pretty fucking selfish and its belittling and disrespectful to your audience. ur not my dad i know what im about and your guilt tripping means dick to me. tbr if i like a fan work better than your original, thats your own fault! idc what came first i like what i wanna see and theres nothing moralistic abt that, loyalty in entertainment isnt a real thing, you are not my Friend brand, and if someone else does good on your ideas you arent actually doing yourself any favors by shutting it down. learn and work harder instead of crushing aspiring creators and insulting the fans trying to entertain themselves since yall wont. 😒

[tyranasauruslex]

What do you think of Morgan??

I feel like I’ve answered this before but here you go….

My main issue is I just find her content boring, half assed and with no real direction or substance. She got the majority of her subs from Shane, which isn’t necessarily her fault, but she hasn’t put in the work to see what works for her channel or bothered to carve out her own identity outside of Shane or Ryland. Thats just lazy to me. Her and Ryland both rely way too heavily on each other and Shane to feature in videos, all though i’d argue that Ryland is more guilty of this, which comes across as they have little confidence in their own skills as content creators. Theres been so many times in which I’ve heard them both say that Shane gave them their video idea which makes both their channels feel like Shane 2.0. Granted I haven’t watched any of her stuff in a while so she might have gotten better but I did like her the way her and Garrett bounced off each other in group videos so I’ve always been confused as to why they never did a video with just the tow of them. Long story short her channel content just isn’t for me or what i’m into.

Secondly, I really can’t with her “I’m so dumb, my life sucks, watch me fake fall over” schtick. I don’t find it endearing or cool or quirky or funny; I just find it tiring and stupid. Not knowing how to cook a pizza at twenty one isn’t a cute look to me. What makes it worse is that she’s gotten worse with this the more she’s hung around with Shane and she’s basically absorbed his “i suck” persona. Maybe i’m just in feminist warrior mode but Morgan would be better served to herself and her audience to stop with this crap. How about not talking crap about yourself so your young viewers don’t normalise that behaviour and do it to themselves? She seems like a nice girl and smarter than Ryland so why not embrace that instead?

And lastly her ride or die mentality for Trisha, and that non apology, is just a massive turn off for me. You can’t be out here posting cryptic essays about Jeffree being mean to Trisha when Trisha has done and still continues to do some truly disgusting things to people. Read the room Morgan or at least try and see a perspective outside of your own privileged bubble. Her unfollowing Jeffree means nothing to me when she was happy to get free gifts, praise him for inviting her to his launch, and had him in that first date video she did. Jeffree was toxic before, during and after now but Morgan is only taking a stand, a pretty minor stand at that, because he’s affecting her and her families career/money; never mind all the other poor people Jeffree’s trampled over before her. 

Its doubtful her or Ryland will be having Shane in their videos any time soon and I think the will struggle with their audience tbh but like I said before, they’ve had enough time to create their own identity away from Shane but nether of them could be bothered. 

[ultimateseoorg]

Top 10 Lists Are Wastes Of Time

So an annoyance and a likely by product of SEO is the lack of quality articles and reviews on topics these days.  I expected that it would be annoying to search out a possible new theme for one of my sites but I what I found in the search results was a heap of … shit.  Like total crap that served as self promoting noise dressed up as useful reviews.

I Googled “SEO Agency WordPress themes” The top 10 results all pretty much sucked, they lacked any real effort in delivering what they claim to offer.  Lets look at the top result…and how bad it reviews what it claims to review.

1. 10+ Best SEO Agency WordPress Themes 2018 – aThemes

This top result on Google is pointless to visit.  They review the same thing ten times essentially and describe features of WordPress that are available to any theme on WordPress as if they are unique to the themes they are peddling.  Notice if we ignore the colors on the page not much else really changes theme to theme.

#particles-js3{ width: 100%; height: 100%; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; background-color: #4e56fc; background-image: url(''); background-size: cover; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; position:relative; transition: background 1s ease-in; } #particles-js3 .qcld_hero_content_area{ position:absolute; width: 100%; top:50%;} .qcld_hero_content_area h2{ width: 100%; padding: 0px 46px !important; box-sizing: border-box; } .qcld_hero_content_area p{ padding: 0px 10% !important; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; } .qcld_hero_content_area h2{ font-size: 20px !important; line-height: 54px; color: #d6d6d6 !important;text-align: center; padding: 0px 10% !important; text-shadow: initial; } .hero_slider_btn{ width:100%; padding: 0px 10% !important; text-align: center;} #particles-js3 .slider-x-lead-title, #particles-js3 .hero_slider_btn, #particles-js3 .slider-x-item-title{margin: 15px 0px;} #particles-js3 .slider-x-lead-title{ } #particles-js3 .slider-x-item-title{ } #particles-js3 .hero_slider_btn{ } .slider-hero-prev, .slider-hero-next{ } .slider-hero-prev:hover,.slider-hero-next:hover{ } .qc-sliderX-bottom-slide{ } .qc-sliderX-bottom-slide:hover{ } .qc-sliderx-bottom-current{ } .qcld_hero_content_area p{ color: #e8e8e8 !important; line-height: 40px; font-size: 30px !important;line-height: 30px;text-align: center}

function getOffset1( el ) { var _x = 0; var _y = 0; while( el && !isNaN( el.offsetLeft ) && !isNaN( el.offsetTop ) ) { _x += el.offsetLeft - el.scrollLeft; _y += el.offsetTop - el.scrollTop; el = el.offsetParent; } return { top: _y, left: _x }; } jQuery(document).ready(function($){ $.fn.sliderX.defaults = { sliderWidth:800, sliderHeight:480, //sliderBackground:'#4e56fc', pauseTime: 13000, paddingTime: 500, startSlide: 0, titlePositionTop:10, titlePositionLeft:'0%', descPositionTop:30, descPositionLeft:'0%', //titleTextAnimation:'pulse', titleTextColor:'#d6d6d6', descriptionTextColor:'#e8e8e8', titleFontSize:'20', arrowClass: 'arrow-circle', descriptionFontSize:'30', fullWidth:false, fullScreen:false, Screenauto:false, arrow_style: 'default', repeat: false, sliderestart: true, sliderpause: true, //Condition for single Slider slideStart: true, directionCon:true, bottomCon:true, randomslide: false, prevSlideText:'Previous', nextSlideText:'Next', titleAnimation: 'bounceInLeft', titleoutAnimation: '', desAnimation: 'bounceInRight', desoutAnimation: '', mainId: 'particles-js3', contentposition: 'center', beforeChange: function(){ //alert("i am changing.."); } }; $(window).resize(function() { if(jQuery(window).width()<767){ var maindivcontainer = $('#particles-js3'); var present_slide = maindivcontainer.find('.qcld_hero_content_area:visible'); //present_slide.css('height',maindivcontainer.height()+'px'); } }); $('body').css({ 'overflow-x':'hidden', }); }); var mainId = 'particles-js3'; jQuery(window).load(function(){ jQuery('#particles-js3').sliderX(); })

If you aren’t looking for a full width theme with words serving as a navigation bar at the top of the page and a logo in the upper righthand corner you’ll be pretty disappointed by this review from athemes.com.  They drop the ball totally in providing you with diverse options and meaningful comparisons.

Lines like “SEOLounge combines an impressive selection of pre-built content with some powerful customization options to help you create an effective SEO agency website with WordPress.” Are worthless, SEO Lounge doesn’t offer any more customization options than WordPress itself offers.  The features offered are basically identical one theme to the next.

Even the plugins they use are pretty much the same.  A theme having 55 icons isn’t of value, I can add icons all day long.  A one click installer is … essentially the way any theme is installed.  One click so why is that a point to note of one theme over another? The ability to put demo content into your site is stupid, let’s just call it duplicate filler content that has no relevance to your business.  That isn’t a feature.

Is this a feature of a theme or is this what WordPress does “Of course, if there are any homepage elements you don’t need to use on your website, you can easily deactivate or remove them as appropriate.  ” That’s not a feature of a theme, it IS WordPress.

I dislike Visual Composer, and I consider WP Bakery to be the same product cause it is…even their creator has an article titled Visual Composer = WPBakery.   If we discard every theme that uses that builder in this review we are left with only one theme that notes a different builder.

Wanna know what isn’t a feature of a theme?  A feature of WordPress or the ability to use a plugin thats available to any theme on WordPress.

These are some of the strengths noted of the themes that all look the same and offer nothing of value towards being different from a theme you could use to sale any other business service.   It isn’t necessarily the authors fault but SEOs in general, who forget what the point was in the search they are seeking to rank.

Other reviews in this search included very few good options despite the title’s claims or the site that hosted the content.  The second result listed was http://bit.ly/2H50hRd.  If you wanted a theme out of their 10 reviewed to not be … a logo in the upper right hand corner with words across the top serving as the site’s navigation then followed by a full width content area you’d have not found anything.

What could have been different?  A theme that included a collapsible fly-out menu?  Maybe a menu that was full width and tiles?  Why the site’s logo has to sit in the upper righthand corner in every theme is anyone’s guess.

So SEOs take some time to compare diverse products and recognize a theme’s feature should be unique to only that theme, not all of WordPress.

UltimateSEO: Make An Impact

[regryrth]

#drdtdevappreciation

Im so proud of how you all as a fandom handled this so well 💙 I know things are still pretty shaky in places and no one can rlly say this problem is “solved” or “forgiven” unless DRDT Dev specifically says so (which I dont mean to say they should or have to comment on anything, I know they mentioned theyre nervous and now uncomfortable interacting which I understand and accept responsibility for) But it really makes me happy to see how for the most part We’re turning something bad into appreciation. So for the fandom here. I appreciate all of you.

Even the ones who mightve gone too far. Just like me u had good or at least non malicious intent. Which turned out bad but there are still ppl who respectfully understand where youre coming from. Maybe its not wanted- But I appreciate and care for you too. I dont know how youre handling this all, But if its anything like how I did, I hope you understand nothing is ur fault just like how people have said it’s not entirely mine and not DRDT Devs. Even if it wasnt the best thing u couldve said in the moment. I understand u didnt want to harass anyone. It was a mistake made cause it’s human to act emotionaly have opinions and want to be understood with that. That can make ppl say and post things online that get deserved back-lash like I did. And the things u say can seriously hurt people like I did. I cant say how anyone else feels with everything thats happened But if Im right about everything so far. Its okay. To me at least which I guess isnt much. Even If u dont feel real remorse- You feel u were justified- But just dont want to be lectured in paregraphs over and over. Thats ok to me too. No one has to be completely justified in how they feel and it would be hyppocritical of me to say u do. And you shouldnt have to be looked at as any worse then the rest of us for stating your mind. Ur a great DRDT fan and person too and no one should claim any different for anyone. So while no one can throw around the word “forgive” for an incident that isnt ours to forgive- I “understand” u.

On a lighter note- The people who defended DRDT Dev without harassing anyone. U all acted so maturely in response to everything I honestly envy u a little. Does maturity and not making mistakes like these come one by one for you? When I make mistakes like this I feel like something with no real sense of right or wrong- Then I mess up and ppl come out to tell me where I went wrong and the “right” thing to do- And I piece together all the life lessons and “right” responses little by little until I feel safe with myself. Like a kintsugi piece. And like the cake in chapter 1! Did u have to do the same? I wonder if everyone experiences this. But thats not so relevant to appreciating you- So thank you for seeing every side. Even mine. Thank you for taking this whole situation and turning it into something good for everyone. We should talk about stuff like this more- While I still wish I hadnt posted that confession Im happy with whats been made of it- Even if the damage was still done. Because disrespecting and dehumanizing creators like DRDT Dev who put themselfs through so much to make wonderful content for us is never ok and to sweep it under the rug Like nothing ever happened is even worse. I know I requested the original post be deleted But Im ok with it being up on other blogs and posts because its important to hold stuff like this accountable and talk about it. And u guys did just that which is why Im so proud and thankful for u. This isnt a Thanksgiving dinner But u all deserve to be appreciated for doing good things too and supporting DRDT Dev.

And that brings me to who I appreciate the most- DRDT Dev. Everyone has said it so perfectly already I cant think of how to say it myself. But theyre so strong for going through all this. With their health. And going through and finding things like what I said. And other things none of us know about because they work to prioritize us over themself. And yet they still dont give up. They still keep going even with everything. They dont have to do this. But they do anyways and we should all appreciate them so much for that. Because sometimes we forget they and there team are human- I forgot that too. Doing things like my confession and taking their work for granted and other things is never ok. Im so happy we can do something to share our appreciation for DRDT, DRDT Dev and their team. Bad things and arguments and DRDT Dev being hurt by me had to happen first. I wish it didnt and that fandoms would give this much love and support to their creators without some incident happening first. But Im happy what happened let us appreciate the dev for there work now. And even if the DRDT Dev doesnt create side content anymore because of this- Its alright. They shouldnt have to push themselves past their boundaries or limits for us cause they already do so much. Even if we dont know much about them- We know enough to say theyre a wonderful person and we all love their content and them so much.

I know a lot of ppl apologized on my behalf and I suppose I wrote a longer apology to DRDT Dev and the fandom. But Ill say again as the anon themself- I am deeply sorry DRDT Dev for what I and others have said and done. I hope that you are well. And that youre able to see our appreciation through these posts.

I love you all 💙

[pensurfing]

Caitlin’s Three Things List

Okay, so moments (probably hours by the time I finish this) ago I wrote a goals list that I think is good for self-evaluation. (Keyword: This is what I think. results may vary depending on what you’re looking for.)

I’m going to hop to it and answer some of these that I laid out in hopes of having a better idea of what I want to accomplish. 

The Three Things Lists!

1) Three things that went well this year.

* Audience growth

So once upon a time, I grew a pretty decent following due to creating an Inktober Prompt list. My expectations: Maybe two of my friends would do this, maybe. And then one stranger that has followed me for a while. (There are a few followers I recognize their username because if I post something they always like it and for some reason that keeps me going.)

But because of this prompt, I was exposed to MANY new creators and illustrators that I now enjoy chatting with and following! Instagram had the biggest maintained growth. I’m excited to create for an audience that actually expects me to create and not just for friends who see my things “whenever they aren’t busy”. (Not to bash them or anything, just there are a lot where unless I tell them, they don’t see the posts I make.)

Another surge of growth in my audience was due to tabling at conventions this year. I was terrified to show my work let alone attempt to sell it to someone. Tabling at cons not only boosted my confidence but also quieted one of my ever going demons. “YoU sUcK aT dRaWiNg CaItLiN.” “How do you have a degree? oh right, you just barely passed.” I can’t say this is the case, there is an audience that genuinely enjoys my scribbles. So I am forever thankful to Atlanta Comic Con for giving me that chance. It honestly opened a few doors for me.

**Process

I’ve gotten more comfortable with showing my process. It can be messy, crisp, and illogical. But turns out the people who enjoy my content enjoy my scrambled thoughts. It’s something about not being alone in this sort of sense that calms the nerves.

So I can say with chest poked out that sharing process has gotten MUCH better. I can thank a self-help book I bought this year that was a FANTASTIC BUY. Austin Kleon has [two] (currently? If he has more then I’m buying it like people buy a name brand.) books that helped me see that it is GREAT to share not only the process but advice. “Show Your Work” is the book I’m talking about for now. Great tips, the outline is on the back of the book. So if you’re like me, I need to clearly see what I might be getting into, you might have a ball.

And finally, (not calling myself out on this but other) If you’re going to respond to people when they ask you “how do you___?” do not answer “Google it”. That is the rudest thing I’ve seen some of even my FAVORITE illustrators do; that response can burn in hell. PERIODT. (my one typo allowed.)

*** Art Style Exploration

For those who think college will help you establish an art style that you’ll enjoy or help nourish the one you currently have.... Let me save you over 80K.... No, the fuck it won’t.

That was the biggest thought I had going into art school. If anything, it confused me more and utterly destroyed what little confidence I had in my drawing style. After graduating, I had a huge swing from how I used to draw to how my art currently looks. I stopped trying to please the one professor who stood between me and my degree and started drawing to please my tastes. And guess what? That did something. And that something WORKED. I love what I draw now; I see why I chose this as my career path. I’m genuinely happy with how my pieces turn out versus in college just wanting to turn the damn thing in and hoping it isn’t an F.

2) Three things you could have handled better.

* The loss of a good paying client.

Now hear me out when I say this: A good paying client DOES NOT EQUAL a good client. Say that three times and then exhale.

Back earlier this year, I had the opportunity to work with a writer who gave me hell and back. And even that is an understatement. I dealt with her because in school you were taught “if they pay on time, finish the work and get the exposure.” 

I’m here to tell you my lesson learned: A good paying client DOES NOT EQUAL good exposure, good pay, a good client. 

I was doing the work of three for the price of one and a half. (And was always told I charged too much.) She tried abusing this power with friends of mine, with other illustrators. When things turned out bad, she tried saying it was my fault. She read my contract and then tried telling me I changed the wording, I purposely did this thing, another thing was my fault. I could go on with this story.

The part that I wish I handled better?

How I treated myself afterward. I’m so used to people telling me, “Cait, this is what you do wrong. This is how you fix it.” that I don’t consider my own feelings, and when I bring my feelings into the scenario they no longer matter. Because they tell me they don’t matter. In this case, I wish I had treated me better, because my feelings, my mental health, DOES matter.

**My Patience Getting Into Conventions.

Pretty self-explanatory. I got into one, finished one, and wanted to do eight more in a week. But this sort of thing just takes time and I need to accept that.

***My losses

I had to listen to a Little Mix song to actually learn this one. The context of the song is nowhere near the topic at hand. But a verse from Power feat Stomzy really packs a punch after this year: 

“ You look him in the eye and say, "I know I'm not a guy But see there's power in my losses and there's power in my wins" “

I had to look one of my demons in the face, and state something similar. My loses mean I’m trying. My loses piling shows I’m not willing to give up easily, and that is something that took a while to be content with.

3) Three things artistically you want to improve on.

*Composition

It’s not awful, but it can be better.

**Color

I told this BOLDLY if I might add while critiquing someone else’s portfolio; “Your color palette is boring. All your [things] look as if they are from the same universe, during the same time of day, with the same kind of mood. After three photos it’s bland, boring, and understood you have a preference.” 

Can you say damn Cait? The statement was, in fact, true, but I certainly could not talk. My color palette is mainly bright, pop, and happy. In order to tell a story, I KNOW it is best told with color. And I failed myself this year. But I sure won’t next year.

***My Damn Tag

Okay, alright. Why is it well-established artists have their tag figured out? Even some who’s art style is so recognizable (I’m looking HEAVILY at you Gabriel Piccolo.) we know it’s theirs, seem to have a tag that suits them and works for them. But more importantly, they put it in A VERY DECENT SPOT. SOMEONE SHARE THIS SCIENCE WITH ME? CAUSE APPARENTLY I DON’T GET IT.

4) Three things you want to focus on trying.

*More backgrounds.

As much as it pains me, I need to improve on backgrounds and perspective. When I do make backgrounds, I’m told I make great pieces. That I should look into becoming a background artist. And don’t get me wrong, I like them. But I don’t like them.

I feel as though I need to improve in that region so that way I don’t feel as though it’s a weakness of mine. My backgrounds are nice, but they aren’t nice to my standards.

**More designs

I love character designs, but let’s be real. If you were to scroll down my site or my Instagram page, or even this Tumblr archive, could you tell? 

I draw characters a lot sure, but none are designs. No process, no sheets, no turnarounds, none of that. So that’s a huge goal of mine for 2019.

***Scheduling posting

At one point I was pretty good at this. Live stream in Instagram and Twitter, cool. Videos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Cool. Everywhere gets a photo, everywhere gets a silly one-liner. Yay. I’m not leaving anything out.

Well by the end of this year that totally crumbled. 

SO I want to try getting better at that thing there. Because having attempted this at the end of the year was cool, but it still wasn’t enough apparently.

5) Three positive things to tell yourself.

* You are an inspiration. That’s all you wanted to be in life, you did it. I’m proud of you.

**You didn’t kill yourself like you tried to; you opened up about it for once and used that pint up anger creatively. That is very hard to do, trust. I’m proud of you.

***You moved on, matured, and let it go. Even when the goddess inside you told you these peasants didn’t deserve your light, your friendship, your greatness. I’m proud of you.

I’m just proud of me for not snapping when I had every right to; not everything deserves a reaction.

6) Three negative things you want to leave for 2018.

*Comparisons 

Oh boy. I am extremely guilty for this: I’ll compare myself to a well-known illustrator my age. I’ll compare myself to friends who are in the field having a blast and getting work; I’ll compare myself to friends who aren’t in the field and they struggle at getting work. I’ll compare myself to the kid I graduated high school with who is traveling the world, is able to eat, come home to his dog and relax because he doesn’t have tuition to pay. I’ll compare myself to these goddamn baby boomers who keep repeating “We didn’t have it hard, you’re just being stupid. Millennials aka our children deserve to starve. We’ll just put our faith in our grandchildren because screw the kids we raised and refuse to pay accordingly. $7 an hour worked in my day, they need to make it work now.” I’ll compare myself to fake people I created in my head and purposely made scenarios and wonder why I’m not like them, said creations I made because I was pretty low for ten minutes...

I just compare myself too much. To any damn body. It’s draining, obnoxious and most of all pointless. My new motto for next year is: “Unless it is helping you grow yourself, your brand, your spirituality, don’t do it.”

I’m not comparing my chapter two to someone’s chapter thirty-five. I’m not even comparing my chapter two to someone else’s chapter two. I need to stop doing that PERIOD! My journey is different, unique, and worth seeing through.

**Listening to negative others.

A couple of years ago, I lost a close friend around the time my aunt passed away. During this time I was hypersensitive to any and everything done or said; I also kept many walls up to hide my mourning. He caught the crossfire of all of that. I kept secrets from him I was too prideful of admitting and lashed out because of the emotional turmoil I kept suppressed. While in the midst of packing his things and leaving my life, he mentioned that I was a failure because I was unemployed and artistically speaking I hadn’t accomplished anything; that I would remain that way because that’s just the person I deserved to be. Now mind you, I graduated college that year; he was a flunk out. I changed my art style dramatically compared to when I started school to pass; he thought just posting crappy pictures of lukewarm sketches were equivalent. I started attempting trends and all he could do was copy. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to bash my old friend. If he were to come back into my life and move on like nothing had happened I’d do the same. (With some limitations.)

It’s just while typing out this scenario, of our four-year friendship I can’t think of one nice thing/compliment/gesture he has said to me. That’s my problem.

I can be praised, admired, and look highly upon for years straight. But my problem is I let others negative thinking and comments marinate with me for a long while. Too long of a while.

Another example is my mother’s friend. (My mom has many friends that do this shit, but this one stung more.) 

This friend always roots for me; treats me like a person, and encourages my artistic journey. I consider her family before my actual relatives. 

We went over for some barbeque the family was having and I was ready. Black Hallmark Cookouts, laughing, good food, good music, shit talking others teams. She asked me a harmless question of when was I going to quit my day job. Seemed like nothing at first, until the added gest of what she continued with. “All I’m saying is you can’t do [your day job] forever. That will get old. If the art thing doesn’t work out next year what’s plan b?”

I’m not a calm person (usually). Normal Caitlin would have cursed her out and mentioned how just because she chose a job to settle and be miserable at for most of her life doesn’t mean I have to follow suit. But again, of all the nice encouraging things she has done, said, and showed, for a while, I couldn’t think of it. 

So I pray I let go of this nasty behavior in 2018; it’s going to be hard but it is dire.

***Saying I’m Not Enough

Alright, now put the combination of the two above in a bowl and what do you get? A Caitlin who struggles in interviews and applying for jobs because I let comparisons and negative comments rule my thoughts. This stopped me from applying to jobs I would have been perfect for; internships that could have helped me; posting art online.

We (including me) have to stop thinking that in order to be an illustrator means we have to pass a certain threshold of struggle, success, and a huge number of followers. That isn’t the job description. NO JOB DESCRIPTION has ”must have at least 10K followers on Instagram or Twitter.” nOnE. 

So we (including me) need to stop treating ourselves this way. Period.

7) Three things you’re looking forward to in 2019.

*Going to move conventions.

**Adding pieces to my portfolio to try again at job hunting.

***Becoming content with the fact that my current situation isn’t my permanent situation. Unless I laze around and make it so.

Alright, so this was basically me calling myself out on my noise. Lashing out my demons and putting it in writing what I want to accomplish. I hope this inspires you to write yours, even if you keep it private. I hope it guides you and maintains your vision.

I’ll see you in 2019

A new wave

Caitlin xx

[writingguide003-blog]

Writers Are Completely Terrible People

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/writers-are-completely-terrible-people/

Writers Are Completely Terrible People

Twenty-first century writers suck.

Not at the craft not all of us, anyway but at presenting ourselves as sympathetic characters.

Many of us have become media whores, slaves to the 5-star rating system, players of the ever-evolving Amazon game, and in the pursuit of success weve become insufferable.Virtual book launch parties, author platforms, review swapping, cover reveals, phony author interviews, incessant book birthday announcements, hashtags, hashtags, hashtags never before has the author been so personally responsible for book marketing, and its glaringly obvious that most of us are no good at it.

Sure, there are a precious few shining stars among us who are both excellent writers and savvy marketers, and theyre the ones who have a real shot at becoming the fabled success stories.The rest of us, on the other hand, are bumbling around with beginner-level marketing techniques, spamming our readers and anyone else who will listen with a constant wail of reeeeaaaadddd mmmmeeeee.

Now, before you start organizing a lynch mob to come after me with torches blazing in defense of your platform, I want to add that this is not (entirely) our fault.

With a new book being published – traditionally or independently – roughly every 30 seconds, the publishing industry would be blind not to notice the influx of new writers all clamoring to hop on the book-making machine.And although many of us may cry foul, the industry just wouldnt be part of an inherently capitalist system if it didnt look upon these new arrivals as a gift of free labor thus, weve become cogs rather than creators.The business end of books has fallen to the author, and those of us who want our work to be read are obliged to play along.

No more will the publishing houses take primary responsibility for the marketing and advertising of books, and for many new authors it has become impossible to even attract the attention of a traditional publisher without a pre-built audience ready to slide across the table alongside their manuscript.Because there are so many of us and so many books all vying for attention, traditional publishers have taken a page out of the self-publishing business model and adopted a do it yourself attitude.

Authors whether traditionally or self-published cannot count on having access to the advertising dollars and expertise of a publisher, and this change has necessitated a new breed of writer: the prolific, unedited social media whore.

These authors generally of the indie persuasion, although I hate to stereotype – pump out books at break-neck speed, never slowing down to edit, reflect, or proofread, because thats what the Amazon machine has taught them to do.In the self-publishing world, an extensive back catalog is life and quantity wins out over quality every day of the week.

When theyre not writing, this new breed is marketing their hearts out because they know that every ounce of success or failure they taste is dependent on the amount of blood, sweat, and tears they pump into the machine.Theres no room for laziness in this brave new world, just like theres no room for editing, so every day authors sally forth with a new batch of tweets and posts and pleas and cries of read me.

And the vast majority of us the ones without book deals or Top 100 Amazon rankings are doing nothing more than shouting our atonal siren songs into the void.Readers definitively do not care about our virtual book launch parties, our author platforms, our cover reveals, our book birthdays.They dont care about the discordant lines we post on Twitter as teasers for our works in progress.

Were spending all our energy catering to audiences that arent there because we think its the only way to achieve success, according to the new rules that the publishing has set for us.Weve been sold a bill of goods by the many, many self-proclaimed content marketing experts, who promise success and Kindle sales beyond our wildest dreams if only we build the perfect platform, run our social media accounts with an iron fist, and spread our literary legs wide in the name of promotion.

But none of this behavior builds a fan base comprised of anything but commiserating writers, and its not how audiences are built.Show me a single study hell, Ill settle for a convincing anecdote about how its not discipline, practice, and persistence but the constant extruding of our souls through the marketing machine that produces successful authors, and Ill eat my book.

The good news is that we dont have to follow these rules.We dont have to exhaust ourselves with the tedious task of pimping our platforms, only to realize we have no gas left in the tank to write.We can reset the game.

How?By refusing to play it.

For a brief and beautiful window sometime around 2010, self-publishing was a way for authors to make their own luck after being turned down or jaded by the traditional publishing industry.Ever since then, though, its been dragging us all down into the muck of opportunism, greed, and shameless self-promotion.Shouting into the void should not be the objective, but indie and traditional authors alike are being pulled in so many different directions that theyre doing anything but writing and editing and honing their craft the only thing that really makes a successful writer.

Its not how many Twitter followers we have. Its not our newsletter subscribers. Its not our Amazon ranks. Its not the number of hours we spend marketing yourself.

Its our bodies of work.

Collectively, we need to stand up and demand better of ourselves.If self-publishing is ever going to be more than the Great Slush Pile in the Cloud, indies have to stop putting every little piece of garbage they write on Amazon in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.If traditional publishers are ever going to pick up the marketing slack again, its the authors who need to demand that change, not slavering over the promise of a book deal and agreeing to whatever terms are thrown into the contract.

If any of us has a chance of being heard over the cacophony emanating from the book-making machine, we all must help thin the herd by demanding better writing and accepting less bullshit marketing.

Read more: http://thoughtcatalog.com/

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Why Do Internet Marketing Training Products Fail?

New Post has been published on http://www.limitless-life.club/internet-marketing-training-products-fail/

Why Do Internet Marketing Training Products Fail?

Do you get bombarded with emails daily professing they have THE course that make you into a millionaire?  Do you ever wonder if you’re actually missing out on something by not getting it?  Worse yet, have you bought one, only to find out it’s not going to turn you into the next Kardashian?

On the other hand – you might think those are just scams.  If they weren’t then everyone would be a millionaire by now, right?  Well, the truth is that Online Marketing IS a thing.  The problem is, not everybody who gets into it, does it right, and not everyone does it ethically.

We’re going to share with you the TOP FOUR REASONS why internet-marketing training products fail to achieve any measurable results with over 80% of the people who try them by showing you what to look for when purchasing a training program and what you need to after purchasing it.

Deceitful Training Products Fail

Topping the list of why training products fail are Deceitful Products.  As a rule of thumb, a quality product is either FREE or mid-range cost (about $50.00).  Why Free?  Because the product has a more expensive backend, and the creator of the product is banking that his free information will provide you with enough value to enter his mid-range or high-ticket product. Products that cost under $20.00 typically have incomplete, outdated, or hyped up content.

For instance, I once bought a $7.00 product that advertised $100.00 daily commissions.  The thing is, once you get the program and he let’s you see what he does, you see that the $100.00 he made, cost him about $60.00 in “solo ads”, and he let slip by mistake his lifetime earnings since 2006 to 2016: $5,000.00!  10 years to make $5000.00!  Thats $500.00 per year, or about $41.00 per month!

Pretenders Make Training Products Fail

So what many of the “little guys” do is they rent a high-ticket car and house and shoot a video showing off how well-off they supposedly are.  Then they try to sell a product at mid-range (about $50.00) and if you decline, they will downsell to $27.00, then $17.00, then $7.00.  RED FLAG!  The content of these products is almost always ripped off a real internet marketer’s Free product or webinar.  However, that free information that the pretender is selling, was designed to be the ‘bait’ for a further product, which the pretender most likely doesn’t have, and thus, you end up with an incomplete or deceitful product.

Legitimate Internet Marketing Coaches almost ALWAYS will give out a FREE webinar that outlines their strategy, prepping you to buy their mid-range or high-ticket coaching program.  While the Free information is great for educational purposes, it is not enough to launch a new career in Affiliate Marketing.  Yet, the Pretenders will take that information, repackage it, and sell it off as their own “course”.

As a rule of thumb: if a so-called guru is not willing to give you free value first, he’s most likely a scammer.

Hidden Costs Make Training Products Fail

The third reason why training programs fail is that they have hidden costs.  The cost might be in terms of necessary tools or processes that have a cost above and beyond the cost of a program.  For instance, when I started in Network Marketing, and I ran out of warm market, I decided I would try to take that business into the internet.  So I bought a $27.00 program that was supposedly “Done For You”.   What they failed to mention was that the program required a $97.00/month tool to handle the landing pages, and the so-called Done For You funnel was designed to target business partners only, not sell product.  And finally, the “course” had no traffic or follow-up training.  It was basically a pitch for MLM as a business, hoping for immediate sales and no follow up mechanism.

Loss of Motivation Makes Training Products Fail

The final reason why training programs fail, is loss of motivation from the buyer.  Sometimes, the sales presentation really pumps you up, and you buy the program, but when you see the work that you have to put into it, the motivation sort of wears off.

Often, the fault lies in the sales presentation.  It often makes everything sound so simple, but the truth is that online marketing is a business like any other.  It requires planning, strategy, and more than anything, ACTION.  To quote Tony Robbins,

“If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to receive what you’ve always gotten”.

– Tony Robbins.

Other times, it is Pleasure/Pain tug-of-war.  We crave the pleasure rush of anticipating the time and / or financial freedom we will supposedly achieve with this program, but then once we have it, the pain of anticipating a failure, or worse yet, a public failure, is enough to demotivate us from actually taking the steps in the program.

So, there – the top FOUR reasons why online marketing programs fail.  For another take on why PEOPLE fail at internet marketing, Quora has a nice article.

[viralhottopics]

Susan Sarandon: ‘Its an easy place to put your frustrations, to blame me’

The actor discusses playing Bette Davis in the new small-screen drama Feud and why shes tired of people criticizing her for refusing to support Hillary Clinton

Susan Sarandon is here to talk about a much-publicized feud between two successful women. But, as the Oscar-winning actor and activist had made crystal clear the week before I spoke to her, during a tense interview on MSNBCs All In, shes not interested in talking about that feud.

Rather than yet another over-analysis of her role in Hillary Clintons shock election loss, shed rather turn the discussion to talk of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, two women also pitted against each other, this time in 1960s Hollywood. In Feud: Bette and Joan, the latest FX show from Ryan Murphy, creator of American Horror Story and American Crime Story, the intricacies of their famed battle are brought to vibrant life with Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford and Sarandon playing Davis. Its a fun, snappy eight-episode behind-the-scenes reveal (the next season will focus on the feud between Prince Charles and Princess Diana) and provides a worthy reminder of the destructive influence that meddling men had in tearing the two women apart.

This is a really blatant example of trying to control two people by making sure they dont join forces, she tells me on the phone, dog yapping in the background. I think that mentality and lack of imagination you can see in all the reality shows. Thats the entirety of their plots: just turning women against each other and getting them drunk so that something dramatic happens, even if its a fight over nothing. Its always easier, I think, to suck people into drama when its negative as opposed to something thats constructive.

Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford in Feud: Bette and Joan. Photograph: FX

If thered been a Real Housewives of Hollywood in the early 60s, Bette and Joans on-set sparring while making Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? would have made for a ratings magnet. There was a pay dispute, nastiness in gossip columns, petty pranks and even physical violence. But over 50 years later, the business is different: studios no longer own stars in the way they once did and women are making headway towards equality. Competition is not what it once was.

I think that happened just in my generation, Sarandon says. I see examples of actresses just a little bit ahead of me who really saw women as their enemy and had no intention of forming any kind of alliance. Now, thats certainly not true. You might be envious of a part you didnt get but its switched to understanding that you need women as allies and that were stronger together, not divided.

Its an ethos thats been reflected throughout her career, with roles in a number of Bechdel test-smashing films, including The Witches of Eastwick, Thelma and Louise, Little Women, Stepmom and last years acclaimed comeback vehicle The Meddler. Shes also been keen to work with more female directors, having recently worked with a set of them on the production of Feud, but one area of equality that shes less sure about is that awkward matter of who gets paid what.

I dont think it matters that Jennifer Lawrence is paid 70 times more than what I am, she says. Its a business that is so subjective and I feel so lucky to be able to earn a living, and this is why to go after pay equality is a really chancy subject because if Tom Cruise has a leading lady thats in the movie as much as he is, should she get the same amount of money if shes been in the business a shorter amount of time? And should a character actor thats been in the business for 50 years not get paid more? Its a sin what happens to these supporting actors through the years where they can barely exist on the pay they get. Theres no equity in terms of value, and who knows how these decisions are made. So you cant apply that to feeling unfair because the whole fact that actors get paid as much as we do is ridiculous. I mean, what a fabulous life. I cant bitch about whatever my pay level is. I dont focus on that.

Susan Sarandon in The Meddler. Photograph: Sony

But as content as Sarandon seems, theres no denying that shes been frustratingly absent from the spotlight in recent years. Shes not stopped working but more often shes been taking on small, little-seen roles. Its not simply a dearth of scripts for women of a certain age in the industry, its also Sarandon being understandably picky. Unlike many other Oscar-winning female actors, shes resisted the urge to take on thankless roles in franchise fodder. She chose not to play the doomed female president in last years Independence Day: Resurgence (When I read the script, I couldnt understand what was going on) and the only sequel youll see her in any time soon is John Turturros Big Lebowski spin-off (something she calls a crazy film that she still cant believe they got the money for).

After the success of Thelma and Louise, many thought it would be a game-changer, showing Holly-bros that theres a sizable audience for a film about female friendship but as Bridesmaids has since shown, these hits are often seen as unlikely exceptions and fail to cause the seismic shift predicted. I think that a woman can look at a story that has a male protagonist and can identify that she could do that or be in that situation, she says. But I think its harder for male executives to imagine that anybody is really gonna get into a female lead because its hard for them to imagine. I dont think its meant to be a mean thing, I just think its a lack of imagination.

Its meant that, while shes starred in a number of aforementioned female-fronted films, shes still been paired mostly with men throughout her career. Its been a generally harmonious time, but Sarandon recalls the closest shes got to having a Bette v Joan situation. There was one gentleman, she says. He hadnt really done films, I dont think, and he was in the midst of a very successful TV run and was a heart-throb. There were definitely some problems and hed developed some habits, because in the atmosphere where he was working, he wasnt used to women challenging him in any way and was spoiled by the rules that they set up. At one point, they allowed him to leave on my reverse at the end of the day, so I was suddenly expected to do my lines with the script supervisor and him gone for my close-up.

She wont give me a name but she counts it as a rare occurrence. I dont thrive on tension or any kind of aggression, she says. But its an unavoidable part of the job, especially, depressingly, for a woman who chooses to speak her mind. While men might still be seen as brave and refreshing, women who speak out are still often painted as difficult or bitchy. Sarandon knows this all too well.

I think it is more annoying to have a woman with opinions for a lot of people, she says. I couldnt give you any solid proof that has hurt my chances in the business. Today in the New York Times, they were talking about the Academy awards and the fact that I was one of the people who didnt get a nomination for The Meddler, and [it] mentions that it might have something to do with the Clintonized Hollywood, when I supported Bernie Sanders.

Bernie Sanders and Susan Sarandon in April 2016. Photograph: Brian Snyder / Reuters/Reuters

Which brings us to the elephant in the room (or over the phone). Sarandon was a vocal supporter of Sanders as he ran against Clinton to become the Democratic pick for president. When he lost out on the nomination, she expressed her frustration and publicly endorsed the Green candidate Jill Stein instead, stating that she did not vote with her vagina. She had previously called Clinton more dangerous than Trump.

I have had a huge amount of backlash, she says. Theres been a really strong blame for a lot of things that are obviously not my fault.

A cursory scan of Twitter shows a stream of bile all the way from the Will & Grace star Debra Messing to the author Kurt Eichenwald. Sarandon remains defiant, unapologetic and frustrated with Democrats who suggest that shes let the party down.

Theres no valid argument, she says. Its just an easy place to put your frustrations, to blame me. I mean, if you read the list of people who voted Hillary Clinton and then I think its me and Viggo Mortensen on the other side. Youd have to be delusional to actually think that Beyonc and Jay Z and George Clooney and Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep, and the list goes on, were actually overpowered by the two of us.

But shes unperturbed, still hyper-aware of the daily failings of Trumps government. And despite resistance, shes continuing to show up at Democratic events, such as a recent anti-Trump rally in New York. Im focusing on reaching out and forming a coalition not only with all of Hillarys people but with people I know that voted for Trump, because we have serious work to do now, and we cant indulge in blaming or depression or any of those things, she says. There isnt time any more to look back. We have to look forward.

Feud begins on FX on 5 March at 10pm with a UK broadcaster yet to be confirmed

Read more: http://bit.ly/2mnLjtT

from Susan Sarandon: ‘Its an easy place to put your frustrations, to blame me’