#authors definitely have beef with Jasons

[hehether]

PJO x Batfam crossover because I love them to meet someday 🧎‍♂️

[24hrsoda]

a friend and i have an AU where Jason adopts Clownhunter and it’s such a sweet sentiment and Bao is ready to become part of a family again after being alone for so long….and then he discovers that Batman is technically his grandpa now and he’s so shocked and appalled

[sepia-stained-sunset]

I really really want an au where Dana, traumatized though she is after Boomerang's attack, steps up and hardens her heart to be the last bit of family Tim has left (as far as she knows, anyway, since Bruce had the emotional literacy of an ulceric porcupine). A Dana who knows she's not his mother and he's not her son, but they love each other and that's all that matters. A Dana who is hurt and grieving the loss of her husband, but who pushes it down to shield herself and her stepson from those who would pilfer what little they had left.

It's such a tired cliche for female characters to be defined by motherhood, but Dana is a really good stepmother in the comics and them just throwing her into a mental hospital in a city that gets blown up a year later just pisses me off. Dana played an important role in Tim's life, not as a second mother but as a friend and an authority figure who wouldn't lash out at him or punish him for stupid shit. She never turns on him, never insults or berates him, never implies that he has to be anything more than himself with her, and considering how every other adult in this kid's life treats him, she should be up there with Dick in regards to his favorite people.

And hell, you could get a really interesting storyline out of Dana and Tim trying to protect each other, Dana in their civilian identities in regards to mitigating potential scandals and providing alibis, and Tim in his hero identity by giving her self-defense training and beefing up the house's security measures. Maybe a storyline where tabloids and gossip rags are insinuating that she’s trying to steal Tim's inheritance or that she had a hand in her husband's death, only for Tim to see that and call in a few favors to get those stories redacted and an official apology issued. Have her be the one person he keeps in contact with during his Brucequest, holding down the fort and reminding him that she won't give up on him.

Let Dana and Tim have a good relationship without Jack in the picture, is what I'm saying.

(Also the idea of Dana going after Jason with a bowie knife after Titans Tower despite Tim insisting that it's fine, this wasn't even in his top twenty beatdowns, please don't, and Jason having no idea how to handle her, is very funny to me)

I'm living for the idea that Dana is just semi-aware that Tim is a vigilante. Like she knows she can't stop him but she sure as fuck can keep him safe. Plausible deniability at its finest (aka she helps clean up his wounds and injuries while loudly exclaiming that he should be safer while 'skateboarding')

You just know that Ra's wouldn't have come two feet within Tim during Red Robin if he could just whip out his phone and call Dana and let her know that there was a guy she was totally welcome to run over with her car.

Also, she would most definitely put his 'mourning' Kon and kiss with Cassie into perspective wayy quicker.

[witchhazelevesque]

Hey lovely!! I was wondering about your valzhangrace THG au who would be the equivalent to snow in your au??

Hi!! Thanks for asking😁😁

It’s Khione.

jk, but I couldn’t not make that joke.

That’s actually something I’ve been unsure about lol

I thought about Jupiter or Gaea at the beginning but they ended up taking on different roles.

I think at one point I considered Jupiter as Snow and Jason as a Capitol kid, but decided that I didn’t have a solid idea on where to take that story. I think it’s a great concept, I just didn’t know how to do it myself lolol

So I think Kronos would be a good fit, since he was a more compelling antagonist than Gaea in canon. He wasn’t really central to Leo, Frank or Jason’s story in canon, but the way the au is set up, I don’t think that’s necessarily needed. Now that I think about it, one of the emperors- probably Caligula- would have been a really good fit but man, that personal beef Frank had with him completely distracted me from that idea 😅 lol this is a really long winded explanation, but yeah, probably Kronos. Since the gods are in the role of parents it seems fitting that the titan who first ruled over them be the one with the actual authority. I think he and Snow share some villain attributes like manipulation and using demigods/tributes/ just children in general as tools for power. I don’t care much for L*ke (censoring just to be on safe side) so that particular storyline isn’t involved and… I’m realizing I shouldn’t mention something somewhat related for spoiler reasons, but yeah lol. Definitely think him and his ‘Crooked One’ moniker fit.

Anyway, thanks for sending this ask, it’s always fun to talk about this stuff more in depth!!😄😄😄

[nikrei]

January Comics Round Up

Decided to do this monthly for my own edification

Green Arrow! Read a few golden age that were in the 70 year history, then the brave and bold 85, then did 70s green lantern/green arrow (76-128), then read the backups in action comics (421-458) and worlds finest (244-286). I had already read the backups in detective comics a couple months ago so just went straight to the 1983 mini and then longbow hunters (which is 1988 and therefore my stopping point).

I really enjoyed the first half of the green lantern/ green arrow run. Road trip with unlikely companions my beloved. Also snowbirds don't fly was a wildly good story for its time. Love Ollie as the activist hero for the downtrodden. It's really amusing to me that in fandom the pervasive idea of him being rich like Bruce is everywhere, but he spent all of the 70s and 80s totally broke working class. Maybe he gets his cash back in the 90s? I dunno yet. I was honestly not really a fan of the dark and gritty turn that longbow hunters took, and honestly I'm super pissed about how dirty it did Dinah.

The 70s Jubilee! Issues were read in 2 year chunks so I could stay chronological without having to switch around too much.

Justice League of America (75-186) (1969-1980)

Started reading at 75 cause I wanted to do a Dinah read and that meant JLA (having just said last month that i was Definitely Not going to read Justice League, no sir, too many other comics to read) JLA does a good job as an ensemble comic, which can get pretty confusing and surface level? the more people you add. Coincidentally my least favorite issues were the yearly crossovers with Justice Society, and it got even worse when they added a third team in just for funsies. My surprise fave is Red Tornado can't get enough of that robot being like, I can never understand human love (is a more caring partner and parent than 90% of humans). Any way when I started this I realized that as Barry was a major character I should prolly coread it with the flash...

The Flash (105-305) (1959-1982)

So I'm not really a silver age fan (bronze age woo!), it's always been a bit of a slog for me, but I couldn't figure out a good starting issue in the 70s so I decided to let the completionist in me win and started from Barry's beginning. Love this guy very much! It is wierd the sort of difference of characterization for Barry between JLA and Flash? Like JLA often has Barry being a bit more conservative and stayed, especially in comparison to Ollie. Diana has beef with him when she comes back to the team and he gets accused of being chauvinistic more than once. None of that going on in Flash.

Kirby's Fourth World!

Forever People (1-11) (1971-1972)

New Gods (1-19)(1971-1972, 1977-1978) and the finale issues in Adventure Comics

Mister Miracle (1-25)(1971-1974, 1977-1978)

New Gods and Mister Miracle were So Much Better with Kirby at helm omg. I was very very charmed by the Forever People and I'm sad that it ended like it did, shunting them off to never? be seen again. Also, I never before knew what the anti-life equation was all about! It's been mentioned in other comics and other mediums but I always thought it was a kill all life sort of thing, but it being a blind obedience sort of thing is waaay better!

The Demon (1-12) (1972-1974)

More Kirby. Fun to meet OG Jason Blood and Klarion. It's set in Gotham and a lot of the time I was wondering 'where's Bruce in all this?' The funny answer is that if it has to do with magic, He Does Not See.

Supergirl (1-10) (1972-1974)

Cute! It was sort of fun to read a comic that was clearly aimed at girls for once, even if the 4 different authors (for only 10 issues!) are all men and all have different ideas of what is important to girls. The last issue was a very inexplicable crossover with Prez (they're not supposed to be set on the same earth???? i think???)

Prez (1973)

Gave it a try. Wild and wacky is a way to describe it.

Swamp Thing (1-24)(1972-1976)

Read this one in the trade volumes so it included all of his other appearances too. Loved it, love this guy, really love the sort of bleakness but there's always hope vibes too it.

*siighh* The Joker (1-10) (1975-1976)

2 things: ha ha hacienda, and the joker RV.

Man Bat (1977)

Only two issues and I liked Kirk's stories in Batman Family so I gave them a read. Not really worth it, didn't have what I liked about the fam stories (hero for hire/private detective who has control over himself)

Black Lightning (1-11) (1977-1978) plus the trade volume that collects all his other appearances up to the 90s (except outsiders)

I already read the Outsiders so this was more backstory to me but it was good! Jeff Pierce is great i love him! The JLA did him v. dirty and he was right not to join.

Firestorm (1-5) (1978)

Firestorm started showing up as the backup in Flash so I figured I'd go read the intro comic. Ronnie is the most high-school boy ever, and the fact that he's a jock getting bullied by a nerd gives me real big dog vs little dog energy. Also rip professor stein ur life is terrible.

Got through the 70s Jubilee in January!! But that reading list only had 13 entries! The 80s Bonanza has more than twice that many!

[admiralara]

I was confused for a minute but I think it’s making more sense now. Jason has wanted to control crime before, but now having beef specifically with using rogue gallery henchmen👌👌 AND ON TOP OF THAT just doing whatever fits his own agenda for as long as it serves him?? Yeah that’s him. Definitely the best character reason for him to help Selina

Also Bruce telling Jason he loves him and then takes away his free will?? Literally sobbing. And Zur annoys me sometimes but the way he’s manipulating Bruce like this is delightful. Tim is such a sweetheart and again, I do think being more level headed than Dick in this situation is pretty in character. Damian idk, I think. He would be observant enough to know somethings wrong with Bruce but he will die on any hill he chooses and he chose Batman’s. And he’s still just a kid who wants his dads approval

If the author knows what’s good for them Jason will forgive Bruce for the panic attacks but be pissed at the underlying hypocrisy of vigilantism. I don’t think he should be super mad about the lack of trust, Jason knows very well he’s planning on killing again even if it’s just Joker. But he probably will be anyway cuz the writers wanna play the same thing between him and bruce.

[tim-hoe-wan]

I agree with your take on OW. i think she always prioritized fame. I think she saw harry as her next leg up the ladder and didnt care about who she’s hurting in the process. I feel like at this point shes speaking into the void because everyone else is being silent on the drama and not commenting, but she’s the one creating headlines and doing coverstories and commenting on it all. Not one thing unmentioned lol.

For instance, the custody papers. Wasnt it her team who clarified the contents of the envelope after she was served? I feel like silence was the better option there. Let people speculate! Theyll get over it when the next celeb drama happens. But instead the only time jason commented on the split was in GQ last year and since then its been her constantly bringing it up. Thats what her kids will see. Oh mommy was on vanity fair! Mommy was on variety! Then they read the cover story & its starting a smear campaign on their dad where it also insinuates him not being a good person.

Same with the DWD drama- drama with shia? Shes the one constantly talking about it trying to make herself look like a hero for “firing” and abuser from her set. Shia came with receipts.

Drama with flo? Shes the one thats constantly talking about it. Florence is silent.

Relationship with harry? She claims theyre so private but shes the one talking about it! He wont talk about her but shell do everything to connect herself to him.

I hope if anything this is a learning experience for her. I think she is very intelligent, but i think shes completely disconnected from reality and doesnt know when to shut her mouth and doesnt understand that when she says things she better be telling the whole truth because people will have receipts to back it up. As a woman i also hope she eventually realizes that she doesnt need to mold herself to the man shes with or better yet— she doesnt need a man at all! And she needs to really take a look at how shes portraying herself as a feminist because honestly she just looks like shes pulling the victim card hiding behind misogyny

I wonder how spoiled Olivia was growing up cause it seems like she wants to have it all and throws a tantrum whenever she doesn't get it or throws the blame to everyone but herself/ gaslights you when called out. I'm pretty astounded at how so many of her blunders that led to her downfall could have easily been avoided. I feel this is especially true with her beef with Jason. Like girl, if you kept the whole truth of the document to yourself and never talk about it, you would save yourself this heat.

My friend messaged the times article defending her, and while I do agree with a lot of their sentiments, I think the author was (rightfully) not paying a lot of the attention and Olivia's own blunders leading to this moment. If Olivia were a man she would definitely get less backlash. But Olivia did quite a lot to set herself up. The men the author compared her with never quite portrayed themselves as some hero activist or actively pursued the tabloid. I feel people don't exactly realize the more you set yourself up and coat yourself as some gamechanger/ pioneer/ activist the bigger the expectations people have on you and rightfully so. Take note it wasn't even the media hyping her up the way the media hypes Harry up as some gamechanger, Olivia completely sets herself up by making feminism and activism her brand and constantly getting caught doing the opposite or having regressive ideas about it.

[bettsfic]

loved the fansplaining episode! i would love to hear your thoughts on a little life by hanya yanagihara, i read it recently and had very mixed feelings. honestly, when you guys started to go on that tangent, i was hoping you'd keep going! what didn't you like about it?

i think it would be easier to start with the few things i did like. 

structure: it’s difficult to give a bildungsroman (my favorite novel genre) any kind of urgency because it seems counterintuitive. clever writers can usually thread a long con, though, to keep some semblance of a cohesive plot. in the goldfinch (donna tartt), it’s the painting. in white oleander (janet fitch), it’s ingrid in prison. in body & soul (frank conroy), it’s claude’s music career. in ALL’s case, the overarching thread of plot is somewhat inverted – it’s being strung along for 2/3rds of the book by the mystery of jude’s past. so while you’re pumping the brakes on the present, knowing we’re barreling into a pit of despair, you’re also compelled to keep going to find out what made him the way that he is.

the realistic portrayal of PTSD: jude felt like a constant callout post to me, and i really appreciated seeing my more toxic behaviors rendered in such a clear light. like even in jude’s POV, there was no point where i believed his internal monologue was healthy or good, even though it very closely matched my internal monologue. on a character level, the thread of trauma was definitely well-woven.

the commitment to complicating and appreciating platonic love: it’s just rare to see a book that’s willing to tackle friendships-as-primary-relationships in such a serious and sensitive light. i liked the slowburn between willem and jude a lot.

law stuff: i learned a lot about law. and adult adoption. it seemed pretty well-researched on that front.

and that’s it! that’s all i liked about it. here’s what i hated:

first, the whole thing read like a really long cocaine trip. like yanagihara just got high as hell, locked herself in a cabin for two months, and pounded out this story. and an editor picked it up and was like “lol we good” and shot it out to print. on a very basic level, it’s one of the sloppiest things i’ve ever read, like a toddler running around covering an entire house in paint, and their parent goes “aw how nice.” somebody should have reeled it in. somebody should have said, “this is unnecessarily long, poorly paced, and in dire need of editing,” and then edited it. 

it was difficult for me to turn off my editor brain while reading, and eventually the language started feeling like someone was trying to claw my skin off. did you notice that every single line of dialogue – EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. – had a person’s name in it? no one says the person’s name while talking to them! unless they’re mad, maybe!! it’s like, you don’t walk up to somebody and go, “how are you today, helen?” and helen doesn’t go, “well i’m fine, jason.” that just doesn’t happen!! and maybe i could have tolerated that in a shorter book, but in ALL it just made me want to gouge my eyeballs out and never read again.

on that front, the descriptions got so goddamn repetitive. the themes, repetitive. the plot, repetitive. somebody needed to give that story a mercy killing, just gut it. it might have been a good short story. maybe even a novella or a short novel. but it did not need to be 8000 fucking pages. jesus christ. (and i love long books!! but this was a BAD long book)

eventually jude’s self-destruction becomes so repetitive it’s unbelievable. i know a lot of people like jude, who have similar pasts, who do the same things that jude does to himself. and you know what happens to them at some point in their lives? they go to therapy. they get thrown in a psych unit. they get a psychiatrist. they have dozens of counselors. it’s even happened to me, and i’m the diet coke of PTSD. it would have been far more realistic to acknowledge that even with all the medical help in the world, sometimes trauma still destroys you. that would have been the more compelling story to me, one of recovery attempts and earnest efforts toward wellness. but what we got was jude repeatedly dodging therapy and hospitalization, and all the people in his life going ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

and here’s my biggest beef: it is not written with an ounce of integrity. the entire time, i felt like someone was trying very insistently to pull emotions from me. pity, specifically. i despise stories about pity. pitiful characters in pitiful narratives make me want to puke, and what i hate more is how easily sold readers (and editors! and publishers!) are by it. evoking sadness =/= good writing, no matter how hard you’re crying. you can write about somebody killing a dog and make a reader cry. there was no art to it at all. just manipulation. jude may have been sensitively rendered, but there was a certain sadistic impulse in the writing that felt disingenuous to me, and at no point did i have trust in the story. it’s just melodrama wrapped up as literature. eventually you have to stop kicking people in the nads and write a story that’s true to the characters and world you’ve established. i hate authors who power-trip on making readers miserable.

on that front, the ending was just so OTT. like what the fuck. i believe in tragedies as cathartic but this was just too fucking much. honestly i read to the jude/willem part (where the book! should! have! ended!!), read the wikipedia, and then skipped to the last few pages because i was just emotionally spent by that point. i was just being bludgeoned by “FEEL SOMETHING FEEL SOMETHING FEEL SOMETHING” and i couldn’t bring myself to care about anything that was happening anymore. i’ve written a bit on how good tragedies work, and the quick version is: you should know what you’re reading is a tragedy. here’s no point in hamlet you think he’s getting out of it alive, yk? but ALL (to me) gives just enough hope that you think maybe jude will get better. that’s definitely arguable, though; maybe other people read it and knew the ending all along, and i’m just a glutton for hope.

tl;dr a little life is sloppily written, too long, poorly paced, manipulative, and has a terrible ending.

obvs, if you liked the book, i’m happy for you. i can definitely see how someone might enjoy it, so don’t let my opinion change your perspective. you’re allowed to like whatever you like. but ALL was not my thing.

[theradioghost]

Low-Stakes, Comforting Audio Fiction Rec Post: For the times when you need them, either because all your other shows are just Too Much right now, or because the whole world is.

The Hidden Almanac. This has been my go-to calming show for years now; with a six-year archive of thrice-weekly episodes there’s a plentiful archive to listen to, but the episodes are also only four or five minutes each so they’re not overwhelming and good for when you don’t have a lot of time. Written by Hugo-winning author and artist Ursula Vernon and performed by Vernon and her husband Kevin Sonney, The Hidden Almanac is largely gentle, fantastical worldbuilding with occasional (largely silly) plots thrown in. Just sit back and listen as Reverend Mord, who may or may not be a colony of preternaturally intelligent beetles wearing a plague doctor suit, shares anecdotes about the history of his world, whimsical saints’ days, and gardening tips.

Love and Luck. Written specifically in response to the Bury Your Gays trope, L&L may sometimes dip into difficult subjects, but the focus is always on how people love and support one another through those difficulties. Through their voicemail messages, we listen to new boyfriends Jason and Kane fall in love, start a bar, and gather together a supportive and loving queer community -- and also try to figure out why they seem to have magic powers. Life may not be perfect, but everyone will have a happy ending.

The Cryptonaturalist. The official Twitter account’s very very good tweets often get passed around on Tumblr and the podcast is entirely in line with what those tweets would lead you to expect. A man known only as the Cryptonaturalist shares his notes on the strange creatures and phenomena he studies, from tiny whales to salamanders that swim in the asphalt of parking lots to the Half-Remembered Forest. In between, he reads poetry and flash fiction, and generally exudes in every word a love of the natural world that is both infectious and awe-inspiring. Good for listening to while you take a walk in the woods and let yourself breathe.

StarTripper!! Searching for freedom and fulfillment, Feston Pyxis has quit his desk job, sold all his possessions, bought himself a spaceship, and set out to see the universe. Taking the form of a travelogue, StarTripper!! is all about the joy and wonder Feston finds in every place he visits, the bonds he forms with everyone from runaway lovers to telepathic Cliff Terrors to space pirates, and the friendship he finds with his spaceship’s AI, Proxy, as they travel the cosmos and have fun. It’s sweet, exuberant, and wonderfully optimistic.

Solutions to Problems. Further over on the comedy side, STP is your feed for your favorite intergalactic sci-fi relationship advice podcast, featuring human host Janet and alien host Loaf as they attempt to puzzle out their listeners’ questions. Not sure how to navigate your new office when none of your coworkers are the same species as you? Time travel complicating your relationship with your girlfriend? Can’t agree with your partner about whether body-swapping has a place in your sex life? This is the show for you.

The Beef and Dairy Network. If you’re inclined towards the bizarre and macabre but want something with a little less plot and a little more dry British humor, then check out the number one podcast for those involved -- or just interested -- in the production of beef animals and dairy herds. I really, honestly don’t know how to describe this show in any way that does it justice, but it is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.

Standard Docking Procedure. Although at this moment this show only has a pilot and a couple of mini-episodes, it comes with the promise of being deliberately written as a fun, low-stakes, lighthearted story with a solid allegiance to hopepunk. So tune in and hear the antics of the crew of the space station Pseudopolis in this sci-fi workplace comedy.

Cabin Pressure. This is the odd one out both in terms of not being a podcast and having a bit more of an overarching plot that definitely produces Feelings™ in the finale, but I really do just love and treasure it so much. Cabin Pressure is a British comedy series about the four-person crew which forms the entirety of MJN Air, the world’s smallest airline (or “airdot,” because you’d need at least two planes to make a line), as they attempt to keep the company afloat despite their complete inability to avoid Shenanigans. It’s hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt and the only thing involving Benedict Cumberbatch that I’ve ever really enjoyed (just trust me).

[myso-calledlibraryy]

The Long Way Down

This week I read the novel The Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds. This book was different from the others as it is written in the form of small poem like passages. This makes the book very easy to read and simple, while also hitting home a larger, very important, message. 

The author, Jason Reynolds, is an American writer who was born in Washington DC. After growing up in a nearby Maryland town, Reynolds went on to attend UMD where he studied english. Reynolds first grew to love poetry and writing from listening to rap music as a child. He was inspired by the words he would hear and knew he wanted to write something of his own. Reynolds is now a New York Times best-selling author of multiple YA and adult novels. All of his novels have a similar theme which highlight the lives of Black Americans growing up in this country. 

The story is told by William Holloman, or as everyone calls him Will. Instantly, Will tells us the story of how his brother Shawn was shot and killed. This was something I had figured would be the plot of the whole novel, but it proved to be a much smaller piece in the big picture. 

Violence like a shooting is commonplace in Will’s neighborhood so he describes the shooting as something they’re trained to do. After the gun shots had settled and Will saw it was his brother who had been the target, his whole world changed. 

“Beef get’s passed around like name-brand T-shirts around here. Always too big. Never ironed out.”

In communities where gangs are prevalent, the fighting never stops. Someone always has beef with someone and their beef is your beef. Simply put, if your brother has a problem with someone you have a problem with someone and your friends have a problem with someone and this someone is all the same person all for the same reason and the cycle never ends. 

Will describes to us that there are rules in the neighborhood. Never cry, get revenge, just to name a few. And as you can see from just these two Will was going to react to his brother being shot in the same way everyone else would, get revenge on the guy who did it. 

Immediately following the death of his brother, Will isn’t reacting the way you would assume. He is just sitting in his room thinking about revenge. Will has made up his mind that Riggs, an old friend of Shawn’s, was the one who had shot him because of gang involvement. Riggs had been childhood companions, but when Riggs moved and became a member of the Dark Suns gang a lot of things changed for him. 

After attempting to get some sleep, Will picks up his brother’s gun, the first time he has ever held one. And he heads for the elevator. The elevator is where the rest of the book takes place and everything happens in under five minutes. Funny because the book is called The Long Way Down, but I think we can all understand the meaning of that. 

Will has every intention of taking the elevator down to the lobby, walking to Riggs’ house, and shooting him. Taking care of one of the first lessons he was taught which is revenge. 

A man steps onto the elevator with Will and just stares at him. Will is really annoyed by this and wonders if he knows this man. 

Buck was like a big brother to Shawn and taught him a lot and had even given him the gun in Will’s waistband. But Buck had been shot and was most definitely dead.

Now he was standing in an elevator with Will.

At this point in my reading I noticed I was inching closer to the halfway point and was asking myself what the hell this book was about. I was so lost but I had a lot of guesses so I needed to continue. I was fully convinced Will was actually dead and needed to see where this elevator was going to take him. 

Will is OBVIOUSLY very confused that a dead man is talking to him but rather than question it, he stays fearful but continues to talk to Buck. Buck is kind of making fun of Will for even having a gun on him and asks if the thing is even loaded. Will opens it up and counts and the bullets. 

fifteen bullets in a chamber that holds sixteen. No big deal to Will and Buck brushes it off with a whatever. 

Buck lights a cigarette and fills the elevator with smoke, but Will knows not to worry because Buck is a ghost. 

At the next floor, a girl steps on. Instantly she notices the smoke and comments on the gun. Will wonders how she can see the smoke if Buck is ghost and how she knows that he has a gun. He plays it off and tries to flirt with her.

“It’s hard thinking about kissing and killing at the same time”. 

This line stuck me as no young person like Will should ever have to worry about killing anyone, let alone when he’s at a stage where all he wants to think about girls. This to me says a lot about how we treat black youth in cities. In the current political climate we are all engaging ourselves in these kinds of conversations hopefully. This is something that I think deserves a LOT of attention. Young black men in gang filled neighborhoods are made to grow up so quickly because of an environment our legislation has forced them in and that is not only disgusting and immoral but it is just down right sad. 

Dani. 

Dani was Will’s childhood friend who got shot right in front of them when they were playing on a playground when they were eight. Dani had kissed Will that day. She was the first girl he had really liked and he probably had some kind of future planned for them even though they were only eight. 

Dani was dead, but now she was in the elevator with Will. 

Are we starting to see a pattern here? People in Will’s life who had been shot were all getting onto this elevator with him.

But let it sink in that Will knows not only one person, but now at least three who had been killed because of street violence. How do we allow for children to live in these communities? How have we grown as a society to purely demonize black people, when we are the ones who watch their lives crumble and do nothing? This shit is not right. I know this is a book, but this is so very real. Reynolds isn’t writing this to tell a fun little story, he is writing it to express a pain he has felt as a black man in American and to bring light to realllllly real issue we want to pretend doesn’t exist. 

it is sad for Will that anyone he knows has to die, but something about Dani really hurt me. They were so young and innocent and just enjoying their lives together and someone senselessly took that away from them. Will says that after losing Dani was when Shawn taught him the rules, and for me this is where Will has fully grown up. At eight years old, he knows the rules of the street and he will follow them until he dies. His innocence just flies out the window. So yet again, here I am reading and crying my freaking eyes out. 

Next floor.

This time the cloud of smoke from Buck and Dani blocks the door so all that Will see’s is two hands coming for his neck. After being placed in a choke hold, Will is shook up and turns to find his Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark had died before Will was born but Will had heard a lot of stories about him. Mark had gotten involved in the wrong crowd selling drugs. The way he got involved made me cry for I kid you not thirty minutes. 

Mark had been given a camera as a present because he loved to make movies. After losing the camera, Mark knew he had to get a new one and he did what everyone else in their neighborhood would’ve done....sells drugs.

Will says Mark was able to make the money for the camera in an hour and this rush of making so much money so quick had him hooked because it was just that easy. Until he was caught on the wrong corner and got himself shot. 

All Mark wanted was a new camera, all he needed was some money, and all he could do was sell drugs. Man do I hate it here. 

Mark asks Will to tell him what he is gonna do when he gets to Riggs house and Will can’t even say it. After Buck interrupts and says “and shoot”, Will has a little courage to say it himself. 

shoot and the end. 

Mark and Buck catch him by saying no, it is never the end and now I finally see the pattern. This cycle of shooting for revenge will never end. Someone is always going to be seeking revenge for something and this revenge will always end in death. 

This book is powerful wow. 

The next floor the smoke clears and in walks Will’s dad. Will doesn’t really remember his dad because he had been killed when Will was so young. This fills Will with emotion and he just wants to collapse in his father’s arms but he has to follow the rules and not cry. 

I HATE THIS RULE. Boys need to grow up knowing that is okay to show emotion. I just wanted Will to be held by his father while he cried, even if it was all a dream. The rules as a whole are a detriment to these boys lives, but it is the only way they are taught to survive. We have to do better for this kids. 

Will’s dad had been killed for killing the man who killed his brother Mark. See the cycle here? Just like Buck and Mark said, it is never going to end. And yes I am most definitely crying again. 

Will’s dad asks him what he plans to do now, and Will tells him he is going to follow the rules just like his dad had. I hate the rules. 

Will’s dad is doing a lot to try to convince Will not to follow the rules and Will is confused because he is just following in his father’s foot steps. But then he tells him. 

Will’s dad had got the wrong guy. He just thought it had to be Gee who killed Mark. Just had to be, the same thing Will kept saying about Riggs. 

Killing Gee was what had got Will’s dad killed, and he wasn’t even the right guy. Screw these rules.

Will’s dad finally hugs him in this moment, but in the hug he takes the gun from Will and holds it to his head. Holds it to his head until they hear the ding of the next floor. Will is pissed, and rightfully so, but his dad is trying to scare him because if Will does this, he is going to be next. 

At the next floor Frick steps on. Will doesn’t understand why Frick is there until he begins to talk with Buck. The two are acting as if they old friends, until they tell Will how they know each other. Frick killed Buck. What was he doing here? What does this have to do with Will’s journey?

Oh.

The Rules. 

Frick killed Buck, so Shawn killed Frick.

fifteen bullets when there should be sixteen. 

Shawn had used that gun to shoot that bullet into Frick because he was following the rules. Shawn got killed because he had killed and now Will was going to do more killing. 

When they get to floor 2 it appears that no one is there, until hands fly in to catch the closing down. 

In walks Shawn. 

All the people are having a little reunion while Will just stares. Boy does he miss his brother.

This was VERY close to the end so I had been reading like a mad woman trying to get to part where Shawn would come. Will looked up to his brother in a way that I knew could stop Will from doing something to ruin his life. 

Will goes to hug Shawn but Shawn doesn’t hug back. Will begins to just let out all his emotions to Shawn, throwing a full tantrum about the rules and how he knows he has to follow them just like Shawn. 

But Shawn is crying. He is breaking the rules. While he doesn’t say it, this is Shawn telling Will that sometimes it is okay to break the rules. 

L. The Lobby. The End. 

The elevator comes to a stop and they have reached the bottom. As the doors open, all the dead file out leaving Will in the elevator car. Shawn turns to him and says two words.

You coming?

And that is the end. Two simple words to make you understand the purpose of all of this. Will is either going to get off that elevator and kill Riggs which will put him right up there with Shawn, or he is going to turn around and go home and live. 

When you follow the rules you end up in a cycle of murder that will never ever ever end. Someone is always going to be looking for revenge and this will always end in people dying.

Will has to be the change. He has to be the one to finally break the rules and break the cycle. If he doesn’t kill RIggs, no one will have to kill him and then no one will have to get revenge for that. 

The rules make life like a game and those who are dead realize how they made that mistake. Seeing all those who have died in front of him to tell him this is what is going to change Will’s life and this will change the whole neighborhood. 

Reynolds does an exceptional job of hitting the nail on the head of a very important issue. With this novel also being YA I think it is really even more important. 

In his bio on his website, Reynolds says that he knows so many young people hate to read and that many of these young people are boys. He says he hates to read about boring things too, and this is why he writes these books. Having your story be told makes you view yourself as valuable and this is something lacking for the young black community. We so often try to ignore issues that have been caused by centuries of systemic racism, but Reynolds seeks to end this. By telling the very real story of gang violence and the impact it has on the youngest of children, we can hope to educate others on what is going on around us. In order to make a difference we have to be educated. Going forward I cannot wait to read more of Reynolds works and continue my own education of racial issues. By doing this education we can commit ourselves to be actively anti-racist and use privilege of being educated on racial issues rather than experiencing them to make a change for the good. 

All in all 10000000/10. Reynolds struck a cord in me. Made me cry, feel angry, and really invoke a sense of urgency to make a difference. 

[woohooligancomics]

Webcomic Whimsy: Darklings

Welcome to the Woohooligan Weekly Webcomic Whimsy! If you're a webcomic author and would like a review, you can see my announcement and review rules here.

Title: Darklings

Author: Jonathan Smith, Art by Leiko Burningbear, Stephanie Paul (Cover Artist) • Facebook • Twitter • DeviantArt • Tumblr

Site: DarklingsComic.com • Ko-Fi

Genres: Horror, Suspence, Action, Supernatural, Experimental Art (it reminds me of woodcuts, but with brightly colored dialogue)

Rating: PG13, T for Teen(?) - some language and violence

Updates: Wednesdays

My Starting Point (requested by artist): Chapter 4.

Synopsis: The Consortium is a secret organization that investigates and contains supernatural threats, while also employing supernatural beings like werewolves as agents. (I couldn't find an official synopsis on the site.)

Darklings combines the look of old woodcut art with the plot and story elements of a Special Unit 2 or Warehouse 13. Chapter four features two Consortium agents, the werewolf Alec and the demon(?) Victoria. Whatever she is, she apparently has claws she can hide and she "shifts" in a fashion similar to a werewolf. But she's obviously not a werewolf, because Alec compares his claws to hers during the chapter. The two head out into mountains for a combination camping trip and survival training, surrounded by all the artifacts of a classic Friday the 13th movie. Once at their camp, they discover a large pit full of bodies and decide to rouse the local Sherrif's office and cause themselves more complications before completing their own investigation.

The opening page does a decent job of setting up the story, which is handy because although there's a cast page, I didn't see an "about" page with a setting or plot synopsis. So I can glean from this page that the two in the truck are in some kind of organized group with Gideon and some others (who would be the people putting Gideon in the "hot seat"). My first guess would be some kind of supernatural squad, like ghost/vampire/werewolf hunters, but it would be nice to have that about page ahead of starting the story, like the cover blurb on a movie.

I've never had any problems with the heated seats in my car either, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of malfunction. It only takes one gremlin to make your Gremlin burst into flames.

Friday the 13th movie... kids going camping, check, missing campers, check, obscure location, check, no cell service, check. All that's left is for us to go have sex in that truck!

Hey! Didn't you hear him say "plant idenftification"? I mean, what could be more fun than checking their visas?

The Consortium has strict rules about consorting with consorts! Specifically, it's mandatory.

Maybe it's just me because I've been making comics about Christian mythology, but Archangel Michael, Gideon Bibles... but he kind of looks like your college philosophy teacher -- dressed all in black, pony tail, goatee and sunglasses he never takes off because he's constantly hung-over. "Why is there something instead of nothing?! Why couldn't it be nothing? The something is killing me!"

The secretary's elf-ears do however confirm that this story includes elements of the supernatural. Elves, probably werewolves... I bet the Jersey Devil is on the Consortium's payroll. Convenient for them, that way they never have to send their agents to Jersey.

I'm gonna say Vicky there is a werewolf.

'Cause if he did, we need to check that plant's visa right now.

So you're telling me she's out of the loup?

I was wrong, Alec is a werewolf, Vicky is some kind of supernatural creature that "shifts" and has claws made by Ginsu.

Son of a bitch! This one's visa expired.

Also, sassafras will give you a lot of back-talk. Don't take any lip from them.

I'm not sure I would have used seven examples... I think the reader would have got the idea from three.

Oh, good, Jason found those missing kids.

Do werewolves normally hump corpses? I mean... we've had dogs that wold go to town on a leg, but usually the leg still had a pulse.

Didn't you just do that with the corpses?

Rick's hat's a bit big in that last panel... he reminds me of Dark Helmet. (It's the right size in the silhouette above though.)

County sherrif picking up Jason's bodies, check.

Chinese? In this town? It reminds me of Beetlejuice: "I can't believe I'm eating cantonese, was there no szechuan?!"

Did you check Tobin's Spirit Guide?

I'l cut a lich!... But will that cremation furnace work on internet trolls? Or at least their fingers?

Wait... none of us got color. Why does granny get color?! Is this a seniority thing?

What do we want?! Skin tone! When do we want it? Thursday would be nice, but definitely before the weekend!

So the Consortium is like Hellboy's Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development (BPRD), they run around dealing with supernatural dangers, presumable everywhere in the world.

You might need the wielder of the flame of Anor for that.

Damnit, even on the cell-phone, she's the only one who gets color! Rest of the phone is all green and yellow, brother can't get a little brown on his avatar photo.

Alec and Vicky go back to the site with a troll-compass and when that doesn't work they gather it must be a lich. They're predictably interrupted there by Sherriff Rick, who apparently likes to spend a lot of his time hanging around in the murder pit instead of running down traditional police procedural leads. There's a bit of verbal contention over what they're doing in Rick's murder pit, which is settled by Alec offering inter-departmental cooperation from the department of Homeland Security (which was their cover identity since the Consortium is a secret organization).

Sheriff Rick seems kind of hot and cold. First he's all suspicious of Homeland. All they say is "we can help" and suddenly he's making sure they get an office in the pecinct... and wifi. What's next? Scones?

Roast beef. In retrospect I should have known a country sherrif wouldn't eat scones.

Are we sure that hat isn't a supernatural creature? When it doesn't look like it's melting, it looks like it's eating Rick's head.

Chew, chew, chew... That other sherrif's pretty damned astute. Most people wouldn't even notice a new package, or they would simply write it off as something they hadn't noticed when they sat down.

Anyway, the box is labelled for Alec and contains some mystical artefacts for dealing with a lich. Alec does find the lich pretty quickly and there's a fight that gets pretty bloody pretty quick, in a kind of Evil Dead sort of way. I think the art for the action scenes could use a little more finesse, but the scenes work overall.

Awww! She got her skin tone!

So there's my pitch. If you enjoy shows like Warehouse 13 or Special Unit 2, you should give Darklings a try!

If you are a webcomic author and are interested in a review from me, you can check out my announcement and my review-request rules here.

If you enjoyed this and want to help me make more reviews, you can contribute on our Patreon or if you're short on funds you can also help by checking out and sharing my own comedy and laughtivist webcomic, Woohooligan!

Thanks to Smith, Burn and Paul, and to all of you reading, for sharing yourselves with us! Sam

[engagemachine]

Hey! Hello, i am the anon who asked you about Joker sexuality...? Well, first of all is not like i am against your arguments, actually i think that you have a better understanding of Heath!Joker than i can have so, i appreciate a lot your opinion. You are one of my favorite authors after all :) but i have a problem with the Joker- TDK Joker- being a rapist. I've read Brian Azarello's graphic novel and i feel like there´s little moments where the Joker is ooc and i take the rape scene like one.

(cont.) I do not see the character of the Joker as a sexual predator, since in the first place - as you well explained - he is not very interested in sex itself. That is why he comes to think of him as a person who could be demisexual, since his disinterestedness for sex and interaction with other people may scratch with asexuality, however it has been shown that the Joker is able to maintain Sexual relations - Gotham City Sirens and several lost sketches of Paul Dini and Bruce Timm - and also enjoys these; Yet it is not something I do with everyday - the constant rejection of Harley - or that I look for it with any other person, that I remember. I do not say it has to be a connection of affection or love if you want - can the Joker really love? - but one that seeks dominance, possessiveness and make the other person know all that, which is under his control, under his control, that has been trapped by him and only by him. I can easily relate to the Nolan Joker in such a scenario, without a real interest in sex or in someone, but who may be able to it, either with a man or a woman and try to convey those feelings to the other person. I do not know, I feel I’m not very good trying to make myself understood ^. ^ ’ Whatever, i really sorry for the too late response, but i just finished my last year of high school and well, i was a little busy saving the semester xd and also so sorry if this doesn’t make sense, the english is not my first language.

Anonymous, 

Hey! Thanks for getting back to me on our previous discussion. I apologize it’s taken me so long to respond to your messages. Sometimes I like to set hefty asks like these aside so I can have time to properly mull over a response. 

Regarding Brian Azzarello’s interpretation of the Joker and the infamous rape scene, I have this say: every writer’s interpretation of the Joker is going to be a little different, but the fact of the matter is, in this particular graphic novel, it’s there, it happened, and it’s canon. Whether or not that interpretation is in-line with Nolan and Heath’s interpretation of the Joker is really up to you, but I do happen to think it’s fitting for the character. 

I’m about to go off on a little bit of a tangent, but I have a particular beef with people who say they do not think Nolanverse Joker would rape someone – but only if their primary argument stems from the Joker’s dialogue from The Dark Knight where he states, “I’m a better class of criminal.” A lot of fans have taken this statement quite literally, and thus believe this means he’s a more upstanding/classier criminal – which is ridiculous. We’re talking about the same man who blew up a school, attempted to poison the entire Batfamily, poisoned Batman (probably on multiple different occasions), shot Barbara Gordon in the groin, paralyzing her from the waist down for the rest of her life, beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, killed Jim Gordon’s wife, Sarah Essen (this was after he’d kidnapped dozens of babies and left them to crawl around in the basement of the GCPD headquarters), made it rain glass over Gotham (literally, after blowing up a blimp filled with broken glass), and planned to launch his girlfriend into space by way of a rocket. All that’s just the icing on the cake. So while there’s really no question that the Joker is absolutely vile, I think some fans like to pretend Nolanverse Joker is a little more “civilized” than he really is, just because you don’t see some of the more gruesome things he’s done in The Dark Knight. I mean, someone cut open Kilson’s stomach in TDK and planted a bomb in there and then sewed his stomach back up, only to have the bomb detonate sometime later. This is the same someone who herded hundreds of Gotham citizens onto two separate ferries with the intent to blow up both of them. 

I’m bringing up all of these points to demonstrate that this is a man who has zero regard for human life – even his own! – so why would he flinch at rape? What’s stopping him? The answer is nothing. Like I said in my response to your previous ask, if the Joker thought it would hurt the victim, or send the right message, he would do it. It’s not about the pleasure, and it’s probably not even about the act itself. It’s about what happens after. The message that it sends. 

In The Killing Joke, the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon in the groin, instantly paralyzing her. Afterwards, he undresses her and takes pictures of her naked body to send to her father. This, to me, is quite possibly one of (if not the most) horrific and violating things the Joker has ever done to another human being. These are the acts of a man not afraid to debase others, put them in compromising positions, or do any number of exploitative and vile things to them, all for the benefit of eliciting some kind of reaction. He didn’t have to rape her in that scene because, to Gordon, who only saw the pictures of the ‘aftermath’, it looked like the Joker already had. 

I understand that you’re not arguing that the Joker wouldn’t rape because you’re not coming from a standpoint where you think he’s “above” that. But if you agree that it’s not an issue of morality like many fans do, then truly what would stop him from committing an act of rape? 

Rape is always an act of power – or at least a derivative of it – and the Joker is someone who gets his thrills from exerting his power/control in other ways. I think if he really wanted sex, he’d manipulate you into wanting it, too, rather than just taking it from you. That’s certainly not to say that he’s “above” the act of it, though. That drives me nuts. I think certain Joker fans are uncomfortable with the idea of their favorite character committing such an unspeakable crime (but then are somehow okay with him being a mass murderer, which makes no sense). 

TL,DR: trying to pin some semblance of a moral ‘code’ on the Joker is ridiculous. He is capable of committing rape – but it has to serve a purpose beyond “I derive a sense of power from this” – it has to send a message. It has to be funny. 

(Side note: within the context of my own work, I actually have the Joker orchestrate the rape of a character – a rape that he himself doesn’t partake in –which I find incredibly fascinating. Within the context of the story, he can’t partake in the act himself, but it absolutely does serve a purpose, and the rape serves as a catalyst in order to drive our protagonist closer to the edge of her sanity. In the end, it is funny to him – he laughs – because the protagonist, even after finding out that the Joker was the one to orchestrate her trauma – still loves him in spite of it. That’s the power of his manipulation.)

The Joker’s relationship with Harley is a little more complicated to delve into, a relationship I could probably spend hours detailing in its many complexities. I think that his constant rejection of her is not because he doesn’t want to have sex with her, or not because he doesn’t enjoy being affectionate, but it’s quite simply that he’s preoccupied with other things 99% of the time. I cannot imagine what it must be like inside the Joker’s head. I imagine the wheels and gears up there are spinning constantly, a perpetual, unforgiving litany of voices, ideas, images, sounds, etc. In the way that Harley is obsessed with the Joker – wanting to be by his side and pleasing him – it’s the same way in which the Joker is obsessed with Batman, wanting to be near him, test him, and illicit reactions from him. He’s constantly trying to find the next big thing to make Batman ‘break his one rule’. 

The short of it is this: I don’t think the Joker is completely devoid of feeling. He’s been shown to be quite fond of Harley at times (and even drawn into intensely jealous fits of rage when she goads him).

OH, and to answer your other question, I definitely think the Joker is “capable” of love… I don’t think he gives a flying fuck about it, though. 

Thanks for your ask(s)! It’s always nice to discuss the Joker, regardless of what the topic is. 

[livefreeshop]

After a significant break from doing a real monthly income report, I’ve decided to give it another shot.  I’ve done sporadic general business updates, but I’m now ready to get more consistent with sharing what’s working in my business.

And the big change (that I’ve never done before), is I’m adding the income generated from NichePursuits.com!  I’ve never shared the income derived directly from this site, but hopefully a few of you will find that interesting.

I hope seeing the inner workings of my business a little bit more, including the income from the various activities that I’m involved, will be motivating in some way.

I hope these monthly income reports are a win-win.  I get a chance to reflect on my business and plan how I can do better the next month.  You get a chance to analyze what’s working in my business and get some takeaways that you can use to increase the income in your own business (hopefully).

I fully hope to make these income reports a monthly thing.

Oh and I figured I better take a selfie every month right before I hit publish on these reports so you can watch me getting older.  This should be fun!

Exclusive Picture for the Income Report! Showing signs of age?

A Quick Explanation of How I View My Business

As you read the income reports below, you will notice that I’ve broken them down by “Brand”.  In the last 6 months or so, I’ve started viewing my business this way…as a collection of brands that I’m trying to grow.

So, rather than just lump all the Amazon Associates earnings I make from all of my websites into one line item, I’m breaking the earnings out on a site by site basis.  This will give a more realistic picture of what brands are working well, and which ones I need to put more effort into.

Some of the brands also sell products via Amazon FBA.  For these brands, I have a website that I use to send traffic to my Amazon listings.  These sites also make affiliate sales or generate Google Adsense earnings.  As a result, I don’t break out how much I make on Amazon FBA overall…but I categorize the earnings by brand + website.

I also have dedicated brand managers working on growing some of these brands, so I truly do view them as standalone businesses…rather than just a bunch of niche sites.

For example, Niche Pursuits is its own brand and I act as the full-time brand manager.  I have a home goods brand that has its own full-time brand manager, etc.

So, with that brief explanation, here’s the income report!

Please note: *Gross Profit is the profit after all costs of good sold.  So, for any Amazon FBA product sales, I’ve already subtracted the manufacturing costs, returns, shipping costs etc.  However, this is not a net profit number…to get that, I’d need to subtract out salaries, software expenses, etc.

NichePursuits.com Income - Feb. 2017

Income Source Gross Profit Monthly Change

Total $3,945 ($5,139)

Bluehost: Inexpensive Web Host $270 $0 Jungle Scout: Amazon Product Finder $230 $112 Jump Send (manage Amazon promotions) $0 $0 Thrive Themes (See my strategy for increasing subscribers with Thrive Leads Here) $1,402 ($587) AmaSuite 5 ($100 Discount Here) $181 $328 Easy Azon Plugin $385 $85 SalesBacker (auto-email Amazon buyers) $254 ($1) MerchInformer Software. (See how to start a t-shirt business with Merch Informer here). $431 $328 Authority Hacker: Authority Site System Course $108 ($5,236) ListingEagle.com - Amazon Hijacker Monitoring (Get a 50% discount here). $50 ($1) Content Refined (Exclusive 10% off When You Use Coupon Code: "spencer" at Checkout) $0 $0 Long Tail Pro*(*My affiliate commission only, not my ownership distribution). $334 ($315) SEMRush Competition Analysis (See an in-depth tutorial and video here). $208 $56 Inventory Lab: Amazon Profit Tracking Software $5 $5 PointBlankSEO Link Building Course $30 $30 Hire Writers $58 $58 Ninja Outreach: Link Building Software $0 $0

For the amount of traffic and size of my email list, I make very little on NichePursuits.com.  To be honest, I have never focused very hard on making much from affiliate commissions.  As a result, I believe that I can significantly increase the earnings on NichePursuits.com.

In my mind, I’ve focused more on case studies and tutorials that eventually helped me build a highly successful software company (Long Tail Pro).  Now, that I’ve sold Long Tail Pro, I’m going to take a look at Niche Pursuits with fresh eyes and see how I can turn it into a higher earning brand without sacrificing the quality.

As you can see from the income above, I made a significant amount from promoting the Authority Hacker Authority Site System in January.  I only sent out 1 email and never even mentioned it on NichePursuits.com…not bad. So, the income dropped significantly in February primarily due to the fact that I made a bunch of one-time sales for this course in January, but did no promotions in February.

Overall, I have some plans in the works to increase the income overall…and I’ll definitely share what’s working next month.

Also, please be aware that generally speaking, NichePursuits.com is a small portion of my overall income.  Most of the revenue generated in my business is from the actual products and brands that I own outside of the internet marketing space.

So, I’m in the trenches with you guys building real businesses…not just talking about it!

Home Goods Brand Income - Feb. 2017

Income Source Gross Profit Monthly Change

Total $15,775.26 $(4,915.10)

Amazon Product 1 $10,258.52 $(4,967.93) Amazon Product 2 $2,414.54 $(2,257.90) Amazon Product 3 $1,081.44 $158.76 Amazon Product 4 $279.14 $9.15 Amazon Product 5 $81.62 $(13.66) Amazon Product 6 $(7.46) $1,219.97 Amazon Product 7 $(150.65) $2,184.67 Amazon Product 8 $(281.61) $(281.61) Amazon Associates $1,557.86 $(993.96) Google Adsense $541.86 $27.41

My home goods brand is where I started my Amazon FBA journey.  I’m very happy with the way it’s turned out!

As you can see, most of the income is derived from the top 3 sellers, while several other products we’ve tried have just kind of fallen flat.  This often seems to be the case.  But overall, it’s a very profitable venture.

We use our niche website to generate lots of free SEO traffic and then drive a portion of that traffic to our Amazon listings.  This helps us generate more sales, which in turn helps us rank better on Amazon.

Because some of the articles on our site review products or target keywords outside of the products we sell, we also monetize the site with Amazon Associates and Google Adsense.  This is sort of “bonus” income.  Our real concern is selling our own products.

For this brand, I just hired a part time brand manager in January…and he will be starting full-time very soon!  I’m excited to have Jason on board, and I’m sure I’ll have a chance to introduce him more officially to the Niche Pursuits audience down the road.

While the income is down quite a bit for February, I am not too concerned.  Here’s why:

January tends to be the biggest month after November and December, so a drop in February is to be expected. (Plus it’s a shorter month).

We are also going through a complete rebrand of our products.  So, we’ve changed the domain name and did a 301.  This caused our traffic to go down, but it’s on its way back up and Google is catching up to everything.

March is off to a good start already, and so I fully expect this home goods brand to move back in the right direction.

Tools Used in February for this Brand

Jungle Scout – We constantly are using this to see how much potential profit we could make with new product ideas.

Jump Send – Ever since the incentivized review changes late last year, I’ve avoided doing any sort of special promotions.  However, now that the dust has settled, we started a promotion/discount for a few of our products using Jump Send (where we do NOT ask for reviews).  So far, I’ve been very impressed with how easy Jump Send is to use, and how effective it’s been in generating discounted sales.

Fitness Brand Income - Feb. 2017

Income Source Gross Profit Monthly Change

Total $1,221.71 +$577.14

Amazon Product 1 $695.36 $659.16 Amazon Product 2 $4.61 $4.61 Amazon Product 3 $(19.82) $(19.82) Amazon Product 4 $(37.44) $(37.44) Google Adsense $25.20 $(9.52) Amazon Associates $553.80 $(19.85)

This is a site that I started several years ago; however, not until recently did we start selling physical products in this space.

“Amazon Product 1” is actually one we have been selling for several months, but it went of stock in January…but finally started selling again.  The other 3 products are brand new and show a loss because we only sold a few at a discount.

This is a brand that Jake helps manage (along with several other responsibilities he has).  Jake has been focused on hiring and managing writers/editors to beef up the site, and he has also started to do some more link building.

We have started to use Ninja Outreach quite a bit to prospect and find link building opportunities.  Jake has had some great results using the software so far.

My plan is that when this brand (or any brand) does $2,500 in gross profit for 3 months in a row, I will hire a part time brand manager.  I think this site has a lot of potential to be the next brand I hire for.  I hope so!

Going forward, we will continue to do some additional promotions for existing products to help them sell a bit better.  However, we also have a couple of brand new products in the works that are being manufactured right now.

The potential is very good that once we launch these 2 new physical products that this brand will start to take off and need a dedicated manager.  There’s just no way I could manage all these brands myself.

Music Brand Income - Feb. 2017

Income Source Gross Profit Monthly Change

Total $781.27 ($423.25)

Amazon FBA $720.55 $81.33 Shopify Sales $0.00 ($565.30) Amazon Associates $60.72 $52.85

Although this brand doesn’t seem significant right now in terms of earnings, it’s one that I’m VERY excited about.  This is a brand that I purchased about a year ago off the Empire Flippers Marketplace.

The physical product associated with this brand is super high quality.  In the past year, we have had ZERO returns.  That’s unheard of for an ecommerce business.  People love this product.

However, because Jake and I have been so busy working on other brands and projects…this one has been somewhat neglected.  I do believe this brand is going to turn around quickly though.

In January, I took a risk and hired a part-time brand manager…a musician that actually understands this space and happens to be good at internet marketing.  He’s already implemented some great changes, and I really do think that the next 6 months will be quite good for this brand.

The “Shopify Sales” on the chart above refer to our own eCommerce store.  We took down the store in February to try seeing what would happen if we sent all our traffic to Amazon.  The end result was not good!

So, we are in the process of revamping our site and will focus on building a real brand with the majority of sales taking place on our own eCommerce site moving forward.

Amazon FBA Incubator - Feb. 2017

Income Source Gross Profit Monthly Change

Total $2,530.77 $560.72

Amazon Product 1 $215.75 $(19.36) Amazon Product 2 $590.78 $27.75 Amazon Product 3 $107.05 $1.36 Amazon Product 4 $6.55 $3.19 Amazon Product 5 $0.88 $69.92 Amazon Product 6 $19.79 $(11.78) Amazon Product 7 $542.79 $(84.55) Amazon Product 8 $29.75 $182.75 Amazon Product 9 $175.64 $(71.00) Amazon Product 10 $- $(134.19) Amazon Product 11 $5.06 $(20.31) Amazon Product 12 $591.72 $468.54 Amazon Product 13 $202.15 $189.05 Amazon Product 14 $6.68 $(18.50) Amazon Product 15 $36.18 $(22.15)

I have several other products that sell on Amazon that are in just about every category imaginable.  If I see a good idea or want to test something out, I just launch it.  I don’t worry if I have an existing brand that it fits under.

So, for all these “misfit” products that don’t fit under any of the previous brands, I call my “Incubator”.  Jake manages all these incubator products and we try to get them to a point where it makes sense to build out a branded site and start pushing a bit harder.

As you can see, the incubator brings in $2,500 a month or so, which I’ll take all day long for just some things we are testing out.

Total Income From All Brands – $24,254.01

Undisclosed Income

I’ve been quite detailed in the income listed above.  However, I also have several other sites or income sources that I prefer not to be as detailed with.  I hope you don’t mind.

Here’s some additional sources of income that I won’t reveal the exact amount of:

Small niche sites making less than $500/month.  I still have several niche sites from the “good ol’ days” or a few that just haven’t taken off yet that are not mentioned above.  So, for any sites that make less than $500 a month, I don’t plan on doing any sort of detailed reporting.  If a site starts making more than $500 a month, I’ll add it to the official income report.

Long Tail Pro Ownership.  I still own a portion of the Long Tail Pro business and receive quarterly distributions based on net profits.  (The Long Tail Pro income listed above is only for my affiliate commissions from Niche Pursuits, not the total income I make from Long Tail Pro).

Investment websites.  I have invested in several other websites, some of which are quite valuable.  For most of these I own anywhere from 5% to 33% of the business.  However, they are all passive and managed completely by other people.  Because there are other owners involved, I won’t be disclosing the income from these sites.

Jake FBA Business Partnership.  I invested in an Amazon FBA brand that Jake runs personally.  This business is doing well, but I am not comfortable disclosing income from this business, since I am just an investor.

A New Project and Your Thoughts

I do have one other project in the works that I am very excited about.  However, it hasn’t gone live and isn’t making any money yet.  However, I expect to share more about this “top secret” project in the next couple of months.

Overall, I’ve never shared the full income from NichePursuits.com, and it’s kind of nerve wracking!  And perhaps I picked a bad month to start showing income as it’s down for a couple of my brands (including Niche Pursuits).  But if I’m going to consistently share what’s going on in my business, I have to share the good and the bad.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my first income report in a long time.  Do you find this interesting at all?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

The post February 2017 Income Report for All My Brands, Including Niche Pursuits appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

from Niche Pursuits http://bit.ly/2m9pVHR

[chrisabraham]

My keto diet has killed my appetite and hunger dead

I have been eating according to the keto diet for eight days, according to /r/keto on reddit.  After a little more than a week, my appetite has really been suppressed and it's taken a lot less keto-friendly food to sate my hunger. I'm not at all like by buddy Mark Harrison who needs to be reminded to eat at all every couple days when he starts to get headaches and become irritable. All his friends know the panacea to his distress is food: "Mark, have you tried eating today?" No, I'm the antithesis of guys like that.  Me, more like: feed me Seymour!

It's really weird. Not only that but with just ~530 calories in once meal with 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs, I've started feeling over-stuffed, like that feeling you get after a real Thanksgiving stuffing.  It's real. I have also heard things like, "man, I was so sick and tired of stuffing down sausage and bacon" from people back in the day on Atkins.

And I'm not the only one.  "What works for me may not work for you, but what I did was not worry about calories until I hit Ketosis,"  Mrdirtyvegas shared with me, "Once I hit Ketosis I'm able to eat 1600kcal a day and not feel hungry between breakfast, lunch and dinner. Previously if I only ate 1600kcal a day, I would feel like I was starving. I was putting back about 2500-3000kcal before keto." Testify!

Maybe the keto diet is the food/nutrition version of making the bad teen you caught smoking cigarettes smoke the whole pack, the entire carton: that'll show you, piggy! Now I understand why a ketogenic diet  and intermittent fasting (IF) go hand-in-hand. I have a fridge filled with bacon and spinach and slow-cooked beef and mayo and blue cheese dressing and cheddar cheese and even alfredo sauce and dozens of organic eggs and it kind of makes me feel sick to think of eating them. I think the ketogenic diet is sort of nutritional judo: yes, it may very well teach your metabolism to get its energy from stored and consumed fat instead of from carbs and sugars but it also triggers even the most stubborn "I'm full, I'm satiated" triggers even from those of us, like me, who are happy to graze all day like a cow. 

Before I go on, the most important thing to overdo on the ketogenic diet is water consumption. Drink way more water than you consume anything else. Do you want to get gout or gallstones or any harm to come to your liver or kidneys? No! So, be sure to keep drinking more water than you really want. Consider gulping water when you're in the shower (why not!). Don't drink tea of coffee like water as they're diuretics. You can have them, but water--not juices or diet sodas or sports drinks--is your one and only friend. I was going to really commit to keto but I wasn't feeling like any sort of IF--or even proper fasting--would actually be viable, but now, I think that I could probably only eat from around 7AM until around 3PM in the afternoon. It's called the 16:8 diet and can be moved around anywhere: noon until 8PM, etc.  For me, getting an early breakfast (7:30AM) and then a late lunch (2PM) can work really well for me and my lifestyle. 

I am tired of being fat. I have heard amazing things in the past about the Atkins diet and now about the Keto diet. It's Atkins on steroids.  According to Wikipedia, "the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that . . . forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates." I first discovered it on Reddit, /r/keto.  As I lurked, folks from all over were getting amazing results. Dropping weight and eating as much as they needed to feel sated, satiated, satisfied, full. Upon further inspection, this completely counter-intuitive, suicidal way of eating seemed to solve a lot of health issues, bringing the dedicated into line with their cholesterol, their blood pressure, their insulin and sugar spikes, and their personal energy.

I then jumped into The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Jimmy Moore, Dr. Jason Fung;  The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Dr. Jason Fung; Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet by Eric C. Westman MD, Jimmy Moore; and The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners: Your Essential Guide to Living the Keto Lifestyle by Amy Ramos. 

My ex-girlfriend swears by keto. I don't know how she does it as a vegetarian. The macros for keto are 5% carbs, 20% protein, and 75% fat. That's a lot of fat and so little carbs for a vegetarian life unless that life is 33% eggs, 33% butter, and 33% olive oil. But, for others, there's a lot of animal fat built into the diet. According to envelopepusher, "I buy KerryGold salted butter and eat it plain, or melt it in some beef broth." This is how most folks in ketosis are eating if they're eating keto.  Here's an example of a recipe that Apecks suggested I use to dilute all the protein in chicken thighs--and this is typical of a keto hack, "I would maybe try taking the thighs, slitting them in half, stuffing them with a mozz/cream cheese/gouda mix, then closing them up and wrapping them in bacon. Or you could separate the skin some and stuff the cheese in between the meat and skin. Make a sort of chicken thigh bacon cordon bleu. That's just me though." That's a lot of fat.

Not only have I embarked on a diet that limits my carbohydrate consumption to only 5% but I have embarked on a diet that also limits the amount of protein. It's a diet in which I must dilute all the carbs and proteins in my diet so that, by the end of the day, I've diluted them down to only 5% and 20% respectively. The rest is fat. I've gotten some pretty great advice from reddit, however. When I made a dozen slow-cooked skin-on chicken thighs in my crock-pot, I was pretty pleased with myself. When I went to input them into My Fitness Pal, there was very little fat even with the skin in comparison to the bomb of pure protein they contained. 

Earth_echo suggested that I "brown some sausage and throw some in there with the chicken to dilute the protein. Chicken has 10 g protein per ounce and sausage has 4 g of protein per ounce. Chicken is one of the highest protein meats you could eat, which is why you'll often see bodybuilders eating tons of it." And Otto-Didact added, "Alfredo is your friend. Reduce the amount of chicken, take up the difference with Alfredo. That'll balance it right up." According to szorg, "Protein is a goal, fat is a lever - you only need to eat fat to satiety. Also... butter it. Oil it. Fatten it up." This keto diet really spins my head around. I guess I have passed the first test: can I make it a week? Yes. Have I died yet or had a stroke or a heart attack? Not yet. Am I in ketosis? I don't know.

I don't have the test. But I am going to continue on it through the holidays and maybe until my birthday in March.  One this it's done is made me sober (I don't have a problem at all stopping drinking, but I hadn't wanted to) so I don't drink anything but lots of water, some black coffee, a little whole milk, and maybe some original almond milk. That's it for beverages.  I try to eat as many fresh vegetables as I can without killing my carbs for the day. So many people on reddit have said that thinks like romaine, brussel sprouts, asparagus (which I am having tonight) and spinach are just dandy in any quantity because they're good for you, have fiber and vitamins, and because "nobody's complained of getting fat from eating too many vegetables."

Oh, and I guess I've completely given up fruits as well. In addition, of course to breads, cakes, candies, ice creams, and other processed goodies. At the end of this long article, I must say that naming all the things I've given up and even all the good foods I am eating have not made me hungry. The meals I have had for breakfast and lunch today are still keeping me full and sated at 14:46PM today.  It's working. I hope I don't die before I've reduced enough body weight to get me out of the health danger zone for obesity. This is a dangerous game!

The author erging Final note: keep on walking, keep on squatting, keep on taking the stairs, keep on swinging that kettlebell, keep on doing pushups and situps. Keep on lifting weights and rowing that Concept2 indoor rower. Keep on with the stairmaster and the morning runs around your neightborhood. Keep playing tennis and basketball and join your softball league or kickball league at work or at school. Keeping active might not technically be as important as diet for losing weight but fitness and heart health are. Use it or lose it!   Read the full article