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queen-of-my-goofball-army · 4 years ago

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Why YOU should give Rush a chance

Okay, so right off the bat, this is not going to be like my other posts on my blog. This is not a post about some show that has captivated my interest or anything at all related to animation. If that's not your cup of Dot rambling coffee, than I would highly recommend you take your L right now and come back for your regularly scheduled programming in a few days.

Are they gone? Okay cool! For those of you that stuck around past my forewarning let me tell you about my newest special interest to join my now growing music love affair with 80's and 90's Rock n Roll. For those of you that don't know, I'm guessing that most of you do not know what Rush even is. If you are not somehow on the autism spectrum or know a lot about music in general than this band will be entirely unknown to you. Rush is a three man progressive rock band born in Canada made up of three incredibly amazing men Gary "Geddy" Lee, his best friend since he was 11 years old Alex Lifeson, and last but most certainly not least, the amazingness that was Rush's drummer and songwriter Neil Peart. Together, the three of them changed the world of progressive rock through Geddy's unique vocal qualities, Alex's incredibly underrated shredding guitar skills, and Neil's immaculate drums and lyrics. I am here to tell you, yes YOU reading this length rambling message in three sections to keep this fair. Each member will get their own sections and I will try my hardest to keep personal bias out of this. I also just watched Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage yesterday with my mom so I will mention some things that we talked about during it to try and sell people.

Geddy Lee:

* Geddy has one of the most unique voices in all of rock music. This will most likely be the thing that turns off the people that do listen to me and wind up listening to a couple of songs. He has had a lot of critics for his higher pitched voice usually yelling lyrics. However, I love his singing voice. It is filled with energy and power to it. His voice has a weight to it that not a whole lot of other people can really nail if they really want to.

* You want to talk about sheer talent? How many of you all know lead singers that are a one and done kind of singer? They can play one instrument and they're done? Well shove them aside because Geddy can play not only bass guitar but a double neck bass, synthesizer, and piano. Yeah I think all you haters can stand aside because this man will always be amazing technically.

* So many of lead singers in my opinion, think that they own the band. Because they get to sing the songs right? That means that they get to make all the important decisions and they can't ever do anything wrong. Well for those of you that know Rush, you will remember the synthesizer era. The era of new wave Rush where Geddy shelved his bass guitars for his synthesizer. This caused a small rift between Lee, Lifeson, and Peart who were not at all fans of the way that the synthesizer was going. While Geddy was having a fun time with it, he shelved the synthesizer almost for good and went back to his roots. I don't know many other lead singers that would put up something that they were legitimately having a good time with just for his bandmates.

* Geddy's just general goofball personality is something that continues to make me chuckle. Since he and Alex have known each other for practically ever (they met when they were 11) and have been there for each other for most of their lives they have very similar energy's.

Alex Lifeson:

* Alex Lifeson is an underrated guitarist. There I said it. I feel like of the three of them (Geddy, Alex, and Neil) Alex gets talked about the least due to the fact that Geddy also plays guitar. While it might be a different brand of guitar some people forget just how genuinely face melting his solos are. I could listen to his riff in Tom Sawyer all day long I swear. I'm still working my way through every Rush album in chronological order (I'm just now finishing A Farewell To Kings an absolutely beautiful album.) But his skills are not one to be downsized and I think he is an amazing, amazing guitar player.

* You want to talk about the group goofball? If Geddy is goofy, you look in the dictionary this man is the pure definition of a hilarious and quirky character. When Rush was FINALLY indicted into the Rock N'Roll hall of fame in 2013, after Neil and Geddy's beautiful and moving speech's about how important this means to them, Alex gets up there and his entire speech is spoken in very animated BLAHs. But what's really funny is that if you watch carefully he is actually trying to tell you a story. It's a story about how they all got there past the critics that tried to stop them along the way.

* I love the relationship between Alex and Geddy especially. They're just both such unique kinds of people but they have similar quirks and traits that are evidence of decades upon decades of friendship. I get massive big bro vibes from watching the three of them play together and it's really touching that they never let the fame go to their heads.

* While watching the documentary, I found myself in awe of just his general personality. He was a jokester and the life of the party, and even if sometimes Neil was exhausted by his presence it was obvious that he loved his bros.

Neil Peart:

* If you are asking me, the heart and soul of Rush, was their drummer Neil Peart. Neil wasn't just their drummer though, he also wrote all of Rush's songs after their first album together. Neil grew up probably the biggest bookworm to ever bookworm. He was a socially awkward kid it seemed since he was always reading as his parents explained in the documentary (more on this laster). This resulted in lyrics that are absolutely gorgeous in any context and sound like literature themselves. One of my favorite Rush songs is their song Rivendale themed to Lord Of The Rings.

* Peart was one of the most technically amazing drummers of all time. I don't think I'm saying new information when I say that. He has been praised for not only his technical prowess but the intensity of how he played as well. He was a force of nature when you put him in front of a drum kit. The drum solos in Rush are not easy. They are technically extremely difficult and always leave me to collect my jaw from the floor.

* Lyrically speaking, his lyrics were so intelligent and beautifully worded that it's hard to focus on them sometimes. I've listened to Fly By Night I can't tell you how many times just within the last few months. They are so unique, so beautiful, just so Rush. I can't think of any other word to describe them other than Rush. Nobody else could have written lyrics like these other than Neil himself. Even though he's gone now (Rest In Power you absolute Mad Lad.) I still feel like his music will resonate with millions of future generations to come. It could be the year 3000 for all I care and people will still be jamming to Tom Swayer, just you watch.

* Lastly about Neil himself, this is of the opinion of my mom and I, and you heard it here first, I think that Neil was aspie. He was the quietest of the three of them, he hated getting spotted by fans while the other two seem to tolerate it, he was constantly stimming with his drumsticks on and off the stage by spinning them around his fingers, he was totally nerdy and antisocial, he loved literature more than anything else growing up and would rather have a book in his hands than go out to a public place with his classmates, and he grieved in a different way than most people do. When his wife and daughter passed away, he hit the road with his motorcycle and most often Geddy and Alex wouldn't hear from him for months at a time. They had cute little nicknames for each other that Neil would always sign the postcards with. It was a different one every single time.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on this day guys! I really appreciate it, I know that this hasn't been your regularly schedule Dot programming but I really appreciate you sticking around! Give Rush a listen to if I've piqued your interest you will not regret it.

#Rush band #geddy lee #neil peart #alex lifeson #music #rambling

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thadelightfulone · 5 years ago

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All I Want... 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, Day 13

A/N: Yes, this is another update since I fell behind. ENJOY!!! Back to our regularly scheduled program later this evening.

December 6th

DeeDee swore off going out with her friends for a while. Phyllis was getting on her nerves and Beverly could only do so much. DeeDee didn’t even understand the hostility that was coming from her best friend. And now was not the time for her to be stressed out by shit she couldn’t control, like her best friend’s actions and reactions. So, it was time for a break and to focus on more important things, like her defense presentation.

She had chosen her PowerPoint background weeks ago. She drafted her presentation outline weeks ago. But she hadn’t yet put any of it together, even with all the time she spent in the library. Then again, the last time she was studying there, she found Erik’s note.

“Oh crap,” DeeDee grabbed her phone off the charger and saw multiple messages from him.

Prince Erik: Good morning Miss DeeDee

Prince Erik: I hope you have a good day and get some rest. You definitely need it. 😘

Prince Erik: Good night DeeDee

Prince Erik: Enjoy your day Miss DeeDee

Including a voice message, “Damn.”

VM: Sleeping Beauty

Do you know that you talk in your sleep? I learned quite a bit from you when you fell asleep mid-sentence last night.

Don’t worry, I won’t hold any of it against you...unless that is what you really want. Then what the lady wants, the lady gets.

I won’t tell you how long I stayed on the phone after you knocked out, but I’m sure that your phone probably died after I ended the call.

Whenever you get up, hit me up. I have some questions for you, pretty lady.

Later

After that eventful night out with Beverly and Phyllis, all she remembered was drunk dialing him, him answering the phone and then nothing else until she woke up late the next afternoon with a dead phone. She put it on the charger, but never checked any of her alerts and went right back to sleep until this morning.

DeeDee picked up her phone and went to her recording app. She didn’t want to flood his phone responding to his texts. And since he usually worked on weekends, she decided to send him a voice message instead.

She walked over to her patio door, opened the curtains and sat down at her desk. DeeDee opened up her laptop and pulled up all the documents she would need. It was time to get to work. Less than 2 weeks until D-Day.

---

Erik looked down at his phone for the umpteenth time that day and then walked the floor. It was weird, he hadn’t heard anything from DeeDee since he hung up on her Friday night. She was gone gone and yet, she still tried to talk to him. A sleepy drunk. He thought it was cute but he knew that hangover was gonna be a killer.

He hoped that she was ok. He still sent his usual text messages but he also sent a voice one because she said somethings that had him thinking. And it is said that ‘a drunk mouth speaks a sober mind.’ If that holds true, DeeDee laid herself bare in the most beautiful way, and yet she may not remember any of it. What a shame.

Erik moved to stand by the window of his office, while DeeDee’s words took up residence in his mind. He stopped focusing on his weekly reports an hour ago. His impression of DeeDee and the reality that each day his feelings about her being the one for him became stronger and stronger, cradled her very words to him from the night before.

A loud buzzing sound against his wooden desk, halted his wayward thoughts. He walked over and picked it up. It was a voice message from DeeDee. He unlocked his phone and opened it.

VM: Greetings From Louisiana

Good morning Erik,

I can’t believe you let me go to sleep on you the other night and didn’t say anything. Anyways, since I have no recollection of what I said, take it with a grain of salt. Please and thank you.

Sorry for not responding to anything yesterday. I just slept the day away in recovery. Nothing stronger than wine for me for a while.

I do hope you are free to talk tonight. I may not have much time over the next week or so as I prepare my final presentation for my dissertation. But I really enjoy talking to you and don’t want to miss out.

I’m probably rambling again. So, yeah. Just let me know if you have time and we can go from there.

Byeeee

Her voice always brought a smile to his face. He logged off his computer, grabbed his briefcase and locked up his office. He would have stayed there if she called, but since she didn’t, it gave him the perfect out. He could work from home and still talk to her until she needed to go.

---

DeeDee had just finished putting her talking points into her presentation file, when her cell phone rang. Erik. He must have gotten her message. She saved the file and opened the application.

“Hi Mr. Erik.”

“Hello Miss DeeDee.”

“I missed hearing that.” She said shyly.

“Oh, you did? Could have fooled me.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what? I’m not the one who said hi, some other stuff and then passed the hell out on the phone.” He shrugged even though she couldn’t see it. “I mean, I know I can put you to sleep, but that is not how I would do it.”

“You know what?” She started to laugh.

“What?”

“I can’t stand you.”

“Uh huh.” His voice was calm. “Lie again Miss DeeDee.”

“I’m not. I mean it.” DeeDee stomped her foot on the floor.

Erik laughed, “If you say so. But I think you feel differently about me.”

“Sir, remember I do not know what I said. I don’t remember anything after calling you.”

“And slurring my name?”

DeeDee groans, “So, that did happen?”

“Heeeeeeey Erik,” he mimicked her tone.

“Oh my god.”

“It was cute though. It lets me know you were thinking of me even when you were completely out of it.”

“I promised to call you when I got home.”

He paused, “You know what, you did honor my request to hear from you to let me know that you made it home safely.”

“Exactly.”

“So, it seemed like you had a very fun evening.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t say that.” DeeDee sighed, “One of my best friends who seemed excited for me to look for you, is now acting really funny towards me and I don’t understand it.”

“Funny how?”

“Well, can I share something with you?”

“DeeDee, you know you don’t have to ask that. If you want to tell me anything, I will listen.”

“Thanks E.” She curled her legs under her in the desk chair. “Remember how I said that I knew my career would take me away? You know traveling and experiencing the world and such.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I haven’t told anyone that I have applied for tenure-track positions far away from Louisiana.” She exhaled deeply. “I got upset when she said that I would never leave here, among other things. But at that same time, it hit me that I never told them that I wanted to leave. So, they have just always assumed I would be around for whatever.”

“I see. So, what about your other friend who was with you both.”

“Oh, she’s fine. They both want me to live life, but she is the only one who appears to really support it. So, I know she will be fine when and if I do leave.”

“You mean, when you leave.”

“From your lips, to God’s ears. I have gone through many interviews, but the waiting game is a lot for me to deal with.”

“I understand that. But just focus on your defense. The full-time position will come.”

“I know, and besides, there is always a postdoctoral fellowship too. And those look great on CVs.”

“Exactly. You can apply for one of those and work at another school until you find the school that fits you.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But Dr. O and Dr. Bell both think that I don’t have to worry and will get an offer my first time out.”

“I believe that, too. You are a bright woman, DeeDee. Any school would be lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Erik.”

“You’re welcome.” Erik took a deep breath, “Speaking of Dr. Bell. I will be at her retirement party in a few weeks.”

“Really?” DeeDee squeaked into the phone, “I am so sorry that I keep yelling in your ear like that.”

“It’s ok. I knew to pull it away this time.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“Well, I was hoping that we could meet and you let me take you out while I’m in town. What do you say?”

“I would love that.”

“Good, so it’s a date?”

“It’s a date.” DeeDee giggled.

Taglist: @teakturn @ghostfacekill-monger @shaekingshitup @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @woahitslucyylu @ladymac82 @bugngiz @eyeknowmywrites @ajspencer1892 @arafatih @issimplyaamazinggg @tchallasbabymama @killmonger-fics @beautifullmelodyxx @raysunshine78 @fd-writes @ljstraightnochaser

#25 days of christmas challenge #erik killmonger x oc #black panther fanfiction #bp christmas #all i want #thadelightfulone

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harrysgloves · 5 years ago

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Line Fine (Chapter 8)

>>>Catch up with the Fine Line Masterlist!

word count: 1.9k

story summary: Since you were kids you and Harry had always walked that fine line of friends or something more. Now, pregnant by someone else, you find yourself staying with your long time best friend after things go sour with your boyfriend of 3 years.

Singlemom!Reader x Harry Styles

chapter summary: You meet a new friend when Harry’s late to your appointment.

warnings: Language

a/n: Now that I got ‘In The Middle’ out of my head and published, it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming. Yes, I know I’m not funny...

>>><<<

You sat nervously in the doctor's office waiting room. Yes, you had been here a million times before for gynecologist appointments but never for obstetrics. The whole place seemed different now that you sat on the other side of the waiting room.

Your hands ran down your pants as your feet bounced up and down on the floor. Harry should have been here already. Your hands fumbled around for the phone in your purse. Pulling it out to check your messages again. No new notifications. No new messages. Nothing.

You knew he hated doctors offices but he promised you that morning he'd be there before running out the door to meet Mitch for something he said was important for the upcoming album. Your appointment wasn't until the afternoon so you didn't think anything about it. Figuring he'd be back way before you had to leave. When he wasn't, he called to tell you he'd meet you there.

Now, here you were absolutely alone. Sitting in a cold waiting room waiting for your best friend because your baby daddy couldn't be bothered to answer his fucking phone for almost 3 weeks. Rings of children crying beside you made your anxiety spike. The pediatrician section of the waiting room directly beside the obstetric side.

You silently cursed the fucker who came up with this layout. Obviously they'd assume every pregnant person would be comfortable hearing and watching little kids run around. You weren't that person. No you were absolutely petrified.

"First kid?" The guy beside you asked as he bounced the baby he was holding on his lap. Your head snapping to him as your anxiety raged through your mind.

"’S that noticeable?" You asked, your legs tapping faster on the floor as you stared a hole in the wall opposite of you.

Your eyes moving back to him when he let out a laugh. Your eyes racking over him.

He was cute. His dark hair piled in soft curls on top of his head. Light eyes that only had a slight trace of dark circles underneath of them.

No ring on his hand.

You smiled easily, sitting back in your seat. If Harry was going to be late the least you could do was chat up this guy.

"I'm Matt and this," he said as he leaned down to his baby's level, "this is Roman."

You moved forward in your seat. Your eyes blinking a few times at the baby in front of you. You were going to have one of these in a few months. The realization sinking deep into your mind as you stared at the child in front of you.

His dad waving his hand back and forth as you said hi to him.

"He's adorable." You said as the little boy continued to coo and talk up a storm to no one in particular.

"He's only cute when he's not fighting sleep." Matt said with a smile, his hand running over the top of his child's hair.

"They do that?" You asked with a slight panic. You thought all babies loved to sleep.

God, you had no idea what children did.

"Sometimes, they're curious little things. Want to know about the big world around them. This one is extra nosey." He said as he booped Roman's nose. His little baby hands holding on tight to his dad's as he squealed loudly.

A smile across your face as you stared at the baby in front of you. Maybe they weren't so scary. This one was definitely cute.

"You here by yourself?" He questioned, shaking you out of your trance like stare on his kid.

"Oh," you paused, looking around again only to see Harry still hadn't arrived. "My friend was supposed to be here but…"

"Mhh." He hummed, "his mom was supposed to take him today for his shots. She bailed at the last minute. Guess I should have listened to that whole "don't have a baby with someone you don't know" bullshit."

You laughed, shaking your head. A smile creeping on your face as you licked your lips.

"Guess I should have listened to that too." You said back not missing the way his eyes lit up as he looked at you.

"Know this is a bit weird, hitting on you in a doctor's office."

"Oh? That's what you're doing?" You said with a cheeky smile as you looked at him.

You still got it. You thought to yourself.

"Must not be as good at this as I used to be."

"No, you're doing great." You reassured. "My appointment is in 5 minutes though so you might want to get to the part where you ask for my number."

He let out a small laugh nodding his head as he handed you his phone for you to put your number in. Your fingers worked quickly to put in your information when your name was called.

"I'll be calling, Y/N." He said as you stood up from your seat. A bit giddy you'd been hit on. That was always a good feeling.

"Look forward to it."

>>>

Your legs hung over the paper lined table. Swinging them back and forth slightly as the very sweet nurse asked you a shit ton of questions.

"'M 'ere!"

The door to the room being thrown open. Harry standing there out of breath like he'd just ran a mile.

"This must be dad." The nurse said as she looked up from her clipboard.

"Oh no, this is, unfortunately, my best friend who was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago." You said with a hint of anger etched in your voice. Not even looking at him as he took a seat beside the table you were on.

"'M sorry. I lost track of time and-"

The nurse cut him off as she continued to ask you questions. Her voice ringing high in the room around you two as she tried to avoid a fight breaking out.

He shouldn't have said he'd come if he didn't want to be here.

You sighed as the nurse finally left the room. Your eyes on the ground as you reminded yourself to not be too hard on him. It wasn’t like he had to be here. This wasn't his baby.

"'M so sorry." Harry said as he stood up from the chair. His arms around you as you hugged him back.

"'S okay. Know you got stuff going on. You still made it." You said as you buried your head in his chest. His head resting on top of yours.

"'M still a dick." He said, making you laugh as you pulled back from him. Your eyes connected with his that were filled with regret.

"You hate doctor's offices and this isn't even your baby. It's really okay."

The door opened right as he was about to speak. Whatever words he was about to say quickly being shoved back in his mouth as he pulled away from you.

"Alright, Miss Y/L/N, let's start with the easy stuff. How have you been feeling?" The doctor asked as she shut the door behind her. Your eyes on Harry as she sat in the chair with wheels across from you.

"Uh, sick to my stomach a lot and really tired. Feels like I got a real bad flu some days." You nervously fiddled with the end of your shirt as you tried your best to not chew on your nails in front of the doctor.

"Real common for this time in your pregnancy. We can prescribe some pills for nausea."

She clicked away on her keyboard that sat in front of her, barely looking at you but you didn't mind. You were just trying to not have a full fledged panic attack in front of someone you didn't know.

Harry's hand reached up to hold yours from his seat when he noticed your nerves not settling. You smiled softly at him. Silently saying thank you.

"As for the tiredness that usually wears off around the second trimester and come back again in the third." She turned around to give you a soft smile as you nodded your head. Understanding the next few months were going to be hell on your body.

"You're 10 weeks, so we won't find out the gender this time but we can still get a look at the baby. Make sure everything's going okay. That sound good to you two?" She asked as she stood up from her chair.

"Yeah." You and Harry both mumbled out.

Your stomach churned as you laid back against the table. Your eyes followed the doctor as she pushed forward an ultrasound machine beside the bed. Her hands gestured for you to lift your shirt.

You were somewhere between nervous and excited to see the baby as the cool gel hit your stomach. Your breath catching in your throat when the wand hit your stomach.

Nothing coming into sight on the little screen.

"'S that normal?" Harry asked on the edge of his seat as the wand moved over your stomach.

"Oh, yes. Sometimes they like to hide." She said as the wand pressed deeper into your skin.

Your eyes moved over to the screen again when you heard Harry take in a deep breath.

There they were. Your future baby curled up in a little ball. You felt your eyes start to water when it did a little flip and started jumping around inside of you.

You couldn't feel the movement yet but know the baby was actually in there, moving around. Living. It made your heart swell with emotions you've never felt before.

"Wow." Harry mumbled from beside you. His hand over top of yours in an instant.

"This one's really active. No wonder your stomach is so sick." The doctor said as she moved to get another look at the baby from the side.

"That's normal, right?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked intensely at the screen.

"I promise, I'll tell you if something isn't normal." The doctor said with a smile as she clicked a few buttons on the machine. Pictures printing out on the side of it.

Her wand pulled off your stomach quickly, handing you washcloths to wipe off the gel on your stomach. You felt an unfamiliar sinking in your heart as you wiped your stomach clean. You could have looked at your baby on that screen all day long.

"Healthy looking baby. That's great." The doctor said cheerfully as she handed you the pictures she had printed out. Harry craned his neck to get another.

"Only thing we have to do is keep an eye on your blood pressure." She commented off handedly as she cleaned up the machine.

"Wot?" Harry asked from beside you. A sinking feeling in your stomach setting in as you tried to telepathically tell the doctor to shut up.

It was only a tad bit high at the beginning of your appointment. Which you were sure was because of your anxiety and not anything more serious.

"Ah, see this one doesn't like to tell you things. Maybe you should be at the beginning of the appointments from now on." The doctor shot at Harry. Your laugh rung around the room as he nudged you with his elbow.

"Her blood pressure was a little high. It's common in the beginning. Only thing you have to be careful about is it not getting too high or when it drops back down, that she doesn't faint."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the doctor. His mouth practically on the floor as he stared from her to you. A very annoyed look across your face.

The last thing you needed was Mr. Overprotective hovering over you all the time.

#Harry Styles #Harry #Harry Styles x Reader #Harry Styles x Y/N #Harry Styles x You #Harry Styles Fanfic #Harry Styles Fanfiction #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Writing #Mine #Fine Line #FL

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lihimsidhe · 4 years ago

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Full Review: https://youtu.be/nMBgmV3QMwY

Summary

Stories Untold is a sci fi psychological horror adventure game released in 2017 by the studio No Code Lt and published by Devolver Digital.(1) Adventure games are characterized by exploring, puzzle solving, and narrative interactions with game characters. (2) The ‘adventure’ label hails from the 1st known adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure developed during the 1970’s. (3). In Stories Untold the player will do mostly 3 things: enter text into a writing prompt and hope what they entered progresses the game forward (text adventure), click around the environment to find interactive elements and utilize these elements in a specific order (point and click), and do some very light exploration.

Stories Untold’s origins lay in Ludum Dare; an event where game developers around the world challenge themselves to make a game from scratch in just a few days aka a ‘game jam’. (4) House Abandon was the product of such a game jam. (5) House Abandon would prove to be so well received that it is the very spark that would grow to become Stories Untold. (6). House Abandon became just one of the four stories featured in Stories Untold.

Each story has the player assume the role of an unidentified person using various electronic equipment ranging from locations that include an abandoned house, a laboratory, and a remote radio station in a blizzard. There is a fourth chapter but to explain its location and tasks can easily wade deep into spoiler territory.

It’s very difficult to reveal if this game attempts to execute on a specific message or not without spoilers. So treading as carefully as I can I will say that yes there is a message to be found here. A tragic takeaway that can hit hard for some players who put in the work to leave no narrative stone unturned.

Analysis

Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of puzzle games, or puzzles in games. They too often devolve into ‘guess what the developer was thinking’. More on this in a bit. Back to the regularly scheduled program:

The development studio behind Stories Untold, No Code Ltd, describes the game as the following:

“Four Stories. One Nightmare.

From the prototype 'The House Abandon' comes the critically acclaimed, and BAFTA winning, 'Stories Untold', the latest madness from No Code. Four short stories, tied together in a complex web of psychological-horror, intense visuals and genre-bending adventures.” How does this game execute on these selling points? Let’s address the last line first: genre-bending adventures. In my playthrough I walked in expecting a fairly basic adventure game with excellent presentation and left having experienced that same notion. This is all to say that Stories Untold, as far as I can tell, is not bending any genres.

The text adventure portion of Stories Untold doesn’t make a noticeable departure from one of the earliest text entry experiences ELIZA; a program created in the 1970’s that simulates a psychologist by responding to a user’s text entries (7). In fact after having played around with some ELIZA clones online (8) I’d say that Stories Untold actually underdelivers in this genre compared to ELIZA that was developed nearly fifty years ago. Point and click began with the game Enchanted Scepters in 1984 released on the Mac (9). In that game you do much the same as you do in Stories Untold: Moving your cursor to find an interactive point that hopefully drives the game forward. An activity unfavorably described as ‘pixel hunting’.

While I do concede that Stories Untold executes well enough on its mechanics would I also concede it is genre bending? Absolutely not. Mechanically speaking it falls very strictly within its genre.

As for the intense visuals the game advertises it has? I’m strongly inclined to agree. This game’s visuals are a love letter to the 80’s. It’s as if the game reached into the past and brought a portion of that era forward in time both temporally and visually.

Stories Untold also executes on psychological-horror aspects as well. There were times I was genuinely frightened both via jump scares and/or the dense atmosphere the game draws the player into. This game evoked feelings of fear, mystery, and foreboding of what was behind the next event.

“It is up to the designer to provide the appropriate information to make the product understandable and usable. Most important is the provision of a good conceptual model that guides the user when things go wrong.” (10) -Don Norman

The promise of a text adventure sounds great on paper: enter some text and the game reacts to what one entered driving the player’s progress forward. Just the thought of that fills my mind with excitement at being able to utilize my conversational skills I’ve learned in life to interact with a game sounds incredible The thing is, and the reason I’m personally not a fan of puzzle games is that they almost always seem like playing a game of ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ instead of the player applying their common sense to solve a puzzle.

If for example in a text adventure game you are trying to walk around a house you simply typing ‘walk around the house’ may or may not work. Perhaps the developer perceived ‘walk into yard’ as walking around the house. For me this creates a schism where it stops being about me vs the game and instead becomes a battle of how my exact wording for doing something very simple differs in verbage in how the developer would write it. So instead of walking around the house and losing myself in the story I’m now trying to guess what the developer thinks are the right words to say. What compounds this here is that the feedback is binary; either what I typed works or it doesn’t and I get the equivalent of an error message that doesn’t offer any guidance on exactly what the developer was thinking. This ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ issue wasn’t as pronounced in the point and click sections of the game. These were almost always tests on one’s observational skills and parsing over every little detail until the path forward reveals itself. Some of the puzzles I was willing to endure and some… I just looked up a walkthrough to solve them so I could get back to enjoying the game’s incredible atmosphere. The crazy thing about Stories Untold is me as a player desperately trying to scrutinize every little detail to move forward shares a strong connection to the game’s narrative. I really appreciate that despite my misgivings with this game’s puzzles.

As for the game’s narrative itself… I say I left the game mostly satisfied. Throughout the game the music, visuals, and gameplay really got my mind racing with the possibilities of the world that was spilling out before me. “Where could this story be leading?”, I excitedly pondered. And sometimes I was even afraid the game would provide an answer. Seeing how it was resolved was a bit underwhelming. I won’t lie. I went from a mind racing with possibilities to a flat, “Oh it’s that? Well that’s something I guess.”

If there was one thing I wish this game did differently it would have been to have focused entirely on the text entry mechanic presented in House Abandon. I said before I went and played with some ELIZA programs online and I loved that there was no failure state. The conversation just continued even if the code emulating a human would sometimes spout nonsense. I don’t expect anyone, let alone Stories Untold, to conjure up a fully realized artificial intelligence to amuse me for my 3 hour adventure game. But I can’t help but muse about a more realized text entry loop.

This game has 12 total achievements to earn. (11) Since the game utilizes a level select system, there are no missable achievements. Most achievements are earned by just progressing through the game. The ones that aren’t awarded in this manner are obtained by light exploration and finding some collectibles. All in all very easy to 100% in one sitting.

Significance

Stories Untold has received several notable awards (12) including British Academy of Film and Television Arts Game of the Year in 2017 (13).

Steam Reviews has it sitting at ‘very positive’(1) while Metacritic has it at a 7.0/10 user score. (14)

It has sold at least over 100,000 copies on Steam (15). If Steam sales remained roughly the same on the other platforms it was ported to (Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox) that would imply at least a few hundred thousand people have decided to enter the world this game provides. While adventure games have drastically changed since the days of Colossal Cave Adventure with games like The Walking Dead and Until Dawn, text adventures have mostly fallen out of mainstream gaming discourse. For that reason the fact that Stories Untold managed to break through in the way it did favors it being a touchstone for many adventure and text adventure games going forward.

Recommendation

Ask yourself the following: Do you like arbitrary puzzles? Do you mind some psychological horror in your entertainment? Do you ever wish you could just play through chapters in your favorite book? If you answered yes to both these questions then this game was made for you.

What if you’re like me and you can barely stand puzzles in games because they seem to evoke a ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ type of feeling?

I would still recommend this game. The reality of the game is that it can be completed in just a few hours. When you get stuck, look up a guide, solve your roadblock, and get back to enjoying this game’s stellar atmosphere. It’s really worth experiencing. Especially if you lived through and/or are a fan of the 80’s

If you’re completely puzzle adverse but still enjoy interactive narrative? It might be worth looking up a playthrough or livestream.

Sources

1. Dev & Publisher: Stories Untold on Steam (steampowered.com)

2. Adventure Game Def: https://www.britannica.com/topic/electronic-adventure-game

3. colossal cave adventure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure

4. ludum dare: https://ldjam.com

5. game jam: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2016/9/5/the-house-abandon

6. dev interview: https://www.pcgamer.com/crafting-the-unique-genre-defying-horror-of-stories-untold/

7. ELIZA (origins): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00146-018-0825-9

8. ELIZA (interactable): http://psych.fullerton.edu/mbirnbaum/psych101/eliza.htm

9. 1st point click game: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/01/history-of-graphic-adventures/

10. Don Norman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E257T6C/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_2BZA3S6D0KPFSKXFKHVM

11. Achievement List: Steam Community :: Stories Untold :: LihimSidhe

12. Various Awards: http://www.nocodestudio.com/nocodegames

13. BAFTA: https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/british-academy-scotland-awards-2017-winners-announced

14. Metacritic: https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/stories-untold

15. sales: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2017/9/21/stories-untold-news-patch-indiecade-awards

#storiesuntold #nocode #devolverdigital #videogames #sciencefiction #horror #adventure #scifi #horrorgames #horrorgame #textadventure #videogame #enchantedscepters #ELIZA #colossalcaveadventure #adventuregames #adventuregame #scienceficitiongame

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #299

“you look so beautiful tonight / reminds me how you laid us down and gently smiled before you destroyed my life.”

Ever done any drugs? Besides alcohol, no. How many people have you kissed? Three or four. What’s your favorite show to binge? I could only ever willingly *binge* Meerkat Manor and not get bored after like, two episodes. Do you watch porn? No, it's never appealed to me. What’s one of your fantasies? Being financially stable. :^) Do you have/would you get your nipples pierced? I've lightly considered getting one, but I really doubt I ever will. What’s the most overrated movie? /shrug. Let people like what they like. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message. I'd love to get to know my Facebook acquaintance Courtlynn better; I've wanted to for a long time. I think we could be fantastic friends. We'll like each other's stuff regularly and occasionally leave comments, but we don't really talk. Do you like paper books or ebooks better? Paper ones, by a long shot. I just really like the feeling of a book and being able to clearly see how far in you are. I enjoy the smell and sound of turning pages. If you could live in a fictional world, what world would you pick? Probably Wonderland, realistically. I would say Azeroth, but too much world-threatening shit goes on every day lol. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like? G O T H Do you still have feelings for any of your exes? Yep. Do you drink? Very, very rarely. Almost exclusively during celebrations or on the once in a blue moon occasion we go to a sit-down restaurant. Do you read erotica? No. It would make me super uncomfortable. What color was the last candle you lit? I don't remember at all. Do you own a treadmill? No, but I want one. Have you ever signed up for a gym membership? Well, not exactly me. Mom and Nicole both had memberships to Planet Fitness, and I was able to come as a guest. It was just cheaper that way. What color was the last fish you had? That I owned or ate? Either way, idr. Is there a garbage can in your room? What color is it? No. If you play The Sims, do you download custom clothes, hair, etc? I don't play it. Does your animal sleep with you? Roman does, yes. He legitimately spoons with me lmao. Sometimes he'll move to the bottom of the bed, other times he'll sleep through most of the night there. Have you ever had to wear a hairnet? Yes. What is your favorite song to play on Guitar Hero or Rock Band? "Hotel California" by The Eagles on expert is so much fun and just feels good. The ending solo is just great. When you drink chocolate milk do you just buy the jug of it or the syrup that you can put into the milk? Almost always just the chocolate syrup. Do you own a robe? What color is it? No. What’s the worst abuse you have done to your phone? I know I've thrown it across the room once. Well, not my current phone, but a really old one. How did you meet your first love? High school. Well, you could maybe say Facebook. He sent me a friend request and I literally only accepted it because I thought it was another Jason. We talked via messenger some and then we ran into each other at school, and tbh I kinda knew I was fucked from there lmao. Have you ever worn the opposite sex’s underwear? I don't believe so, no. Have you ever kissed in a pool? Yeah. Are there any hobbies you have that you don’t perform in front of others? I absolutely cannot write in front of others, and I HATE drawing when people are watching. What do you do when you simply don’t know what to do? Odds are I'll probably be scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something in WoW that sounds even remotely fun, or I'll browse Facebook. How did you find out about your current favorite band? He's one of my mom's favorite singers/bands, so I grew up with some of his music, and when I was getting into rock and metal, I decided to go through her music case and listen to some of it. Ozzy's Black Rain album set the adoration into motion. Where are you most likely to go when you need clothing? The Internet or Wal-Mart, depending on what kind of clothes I need. When was the last time you tried to do something yet failed? I should have an answer for this very quickly... yet I'm unsure. I don't think anything *major* has happened in a while. Oh, this is a tiny thing, but I did look really hard for the pencil sharpener so my niece could finish coloring her drawing, but I couldn't find the damn thing for anything. Do you think your life is comprised more of success or failure? Lots and lots of failure. What’s one personality trait that’s not strong in you? Uhhh outgoing, ig. Are you a difficult individual to get to know? Considering I hide a lot about myself to try and be accepted, yes. When was the last time you opened up to someone and about what? Literally yesterday to my mom about this unreasonably massive fear I've had lately that she doesn't have much longer in her. I'm terrified she's going to get COVID or her cancer just comes back faster than we hope. To whom do you feel the most important? My mom. Is there something you want but might not ever have? Many things. What’s something you’re working to obtain? Mental stability. Do you tend to enjoy your dreams? No, considering they're usually violent and rarely just psychotic nightmares. Are there any projects or goals you’ve recently abandoned? Hm. What in life serves to keep you going? The hope it'll get better, and I'll reach a point of actually being happy and content with my life. What was the last good news you received? Nicole's trip to Maryland to bring back a baby was successful (if that sounds weird, she's a child social worker). He has a heart condition where if his heartbeat or something like that was irregular, she'd have driven all the way up there for nothing; the baby wouldn't have been able to take the ride. Are you more inclined to appreciate sweet or savory foods? Sweet. Are romantic relationships important to you at this point in your life? I mean I'd like to be in one, but I highly doubt it'd be successful, just given where I am in life. I'd be signing up for heartbreak. Who was the last person to apologize to you for something they did? I don't know. Probably Mom for something minor, like just bumping into me or something. Are you wearing a necklace, and if so, who got it for you? No. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done lately? Lately? Uh. I don't know, but I can guarantee to you it wasn't long ago at all, considering breathing embarrasses me, pretty much. Do you ��think out loud’? Sometimes. Do you take gummy vitamins? No. How do you know the majority of the people you know? Former schools. Hell, or maybe various online locations. I just might have more online friends and acquaintances than in-person. Is there a random object you own that has a huge personal significance? I've talked about my pebble from my partial hospitalization program enough. Can you play electric guitar? I used to be able to play a little bit; I took guitar lessons for a short while in high school. Best I could do was the intro to "Crazy Train," but I'd still occasionally mess up. Are you one of those people who chew two pieces of gum, not one? Usually. Do you believe in ghosts/supernatural occurrences? Yes. Without the aid of mascara, do you have long eyelashes? Yeah. Is there a kind of music you listen to that helps you release your anger? Yes, usually songs that are also angry. How does it make you feel looking at pics with your ex and someone else? The only case this has ever happened was with Jason and his gf after me. There are no words to describe the fucking hatred I felt. I haven't seen pictures of him with an s/o in a long time, and I absolutely never plan on seeking them out ever again. What song are you listening to right now? "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva. If you’re not in college, why? I couldn't handle the stress anymore. Just couldn't. Do you own a studded belt from Hot Topic? I have a good number of old ones from high school, actually. I wore them all the time. I could never fit into them now. Favorite fictional character? Um, Darkiplier, duh. Most recent thing you are looking forward to? I think it's finally set in stone that I'm getting my tattoo redone soon. Thanks to my laptop saying "ha fuck you," it's not as soon as I originally planned since I had to pay to fix it, but Mom seems fine with helping me pay for my birthday. Not a guarantee that it'll happen on that date of course, given scheduling, but yeah. It should fucking finally be happening. How many stairs can you climb before you wanna pass out? This is too embarrassing to even answer lmao. Have you ever kissed someone with braces? No. Would you ever consider adoption? I don't want kids, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't. I feel like I'd personally need the "wow this is a part of me (and/or my s/o)" connection. Do you ever go hunting/fishing? I would never go hunting, and the only occasion in which I'd fish again is if Dad asked me. I don't like the idea of fishing for fun anymore, but that's like... always been our bonding experience, and I wouldn't tell him no. Do you know anyone who plays guitar? Knew. What are you currently sitting/laying on? My bed. Who are your godparents? I don't think I have any. Do you have any friends who are famous? I have two friends who are parts of bands, but idk how successful they are. I don't think either are like, huge. Nova Mortis if you're into heavy metal and I think Toukan does rap? When was the last time you stayed at a hotel? Hm. I have no idea. What side of a heart do you draw first? Uhhhh I think the left? What is your mom saved as in your phone? "Mama Bear." Do you want your tongue pierced? I had snake eyes for a while, but I took them out because I kept chipping my teeth. I miss that piercing, it was so cute, but it wasn't worth ruining my teeth. Ever made out in a pool? It's possible very briefly, idr. Do you like to have long hair or short hair? SHORT. SHORT. SHORT. Do you change your phone background a lot? Not really. Would you get back with your last ex if you could? Yeah. Have you ever been strip searched? No. Has the person you like ever seen you in your pajamas? Yes. What is your least favorite type of chocolate? White chocolate is way too sweet. Did anyone see your last kiss? It was at an airport, so probably. Do you want a boyfriend or girlfriend? I mean, I do, but I don't really know how smart it would be right now. Is there anyone you wish you could fix things with? A few. Who IMed you on Facebook last? My friend Girt. Were you kinda scared of the goths in high school? Hell naw man, I looked up to them lmao. What size is your mattress? (single,twin,double,queen,king) Queen. Do you like spaghetti? Hell yeah. It was my favorite food as a kid. What about lasagna? No; I don't like the cheese at all. Have you ever been stung by anything? What was it? Mosquitoes of course, as well as a bee once. Maybe other things, idk. Have you ever worn contacts? (even just to try them out) Yes, but I changed to glasses because I had too much trouble putting them in and taking them out. Have you ever had any suspicious moles removed? No. Have you ever been screened for STDs? No. Did you have your tonsils taken out? No. Did you have your appendix taken out? No. Do you have any collector’s glasses or cups or mugs? What is a "collector's" glass or mug? Were you your parents’ first born? No; I'm the middle child. Do you have a child? Is the father still with you? No. Were you born perfectly healthy or with some (or a lot) of health issues? I was born healthy. Good 'ole days. Did you ever catch any bugs or insects with your friends as a kid? Ohhhh yes, my neighbor and I loved doing that. My favorite was catching fireflies with my sisters, though. Would you prefer to travel around the world by yourself or with a friend? With a friend. I'd get lonely. Do you know anybody who has been diagnosed with cancer? A whole lot, sadly... I'm despising that disease more and more every day that goes by. I know far too many people who have it or have died at its hands. Have you ever had to take care of an intoxicated person? No. Do you and your boyfriend/girlfriend fight a lot? N/A. Do not stay in a relationship where fighting is common. Would you ever share a site password with a family member or partner? I mean sure, depending on the site and person, and the reason they (may) need it. Has anyone ever told you they couldn't trust you? Hm... I actually don't think so? Who in your family has the prettiest eyes? Idk, I don't see enough of my extended family to know. What is an odd food item you would like to try, or have tried? I'm sure there's something I'd like to try, but nothing I think about with consistency, really... Most "odd" food I find unappealing anyway. When/if you drive, do you go the speedlimit? When I did, I certainly always tried to, but I was bad at maintaining a stable speed. I went up and down too much. Are you an aggressive driver? Or more passive-aggressive? I was dangerously passive at driving. Describe a hairstyle you had as a little kid? Well, I had long hair with bangs. What routine of yours would you most hate to break? Probably stopping getting a soda first thing in the morning... That is like so deeply ingrained into my day and is a motivator to get up in the first place. I want to change this to where I'm not allowed to grab one until I've had a full cup of water, but yeah, that hasn't happened yet. Has jealousy ever ruined one of your friendships/relationships? Honestly? I think it's possible that Jason totally split on me because of it. We were in this very unstable "friends" position after the breakup and hung out very briefly and awkwardly twice (which I'm pretty sure he didn't want), and I think one of our last attempts at conversation was who a girl he was talking to via Messenger was. No, before any assumptions are made, I didn't snoop. He showed me something on his phone and I just inevitably saw the little Facebook chat icon of a girl I didn't recognize. I don't even remember his answer. I just know it wasn't too long later I was blocked and everything. What is one restaurant you would NOT recommend? I personally am not a Chili's fan. What was your last conversation about? Mom and I were just talking about what a mush the cat is, haha. Who is your favorite person to debate or discuss with? Yo fuck debates, I got mad anxiety over that kind of stuff. Are you more likely to praise or insult yourself? Why? Insult. I don't even believe myself when I try praising, so it's not worth the effort. I have a billion and two reasons. Do you enjoy cloudy days? Why or why not? Honestly, not very much anymore. I've found that it actually does affect my mood. I like some cloud coverage, though. Would it bother you to be forgotten after death? Yes, even though when you think about it, most of us will be. I want to do stomething so badly; not even particularly something major, but just contribute to things and causes that matter and slowly change the world for the better. It's especially likely I will be forgotten though at some point because I don't want kids, so my blood isn't carrying on. Do you tend to prefer healthy or unhealthy snacks? Ugh, unhealthy. Has anyone ever asked you for diet advice? I think so, back when I started recovery and lost like 60 lbs fast as fuck. I wasn't even dieting though, just... came off awful meds. What age is your youngest aunt? Ummmm I have no clue. Do you like bowling? Yeah, it's fun, but I'm not good at it. Do you like roasting marshmallows on a bonfire? Totally. Do you prefer sweet or sour fruits? Sweet. How're your dancing skills? Rusted to the point of just not functional anymore lmao. What brand of batteries do you usually get? I don't pay attention to the kind Mom gets. Are any of your friends pregnant or have kids? A lot of my FB friends have kids. At least two are pregnant, but I only consider myself remotely close to one. I'm beyond worried about how she's going to be as a mom. Where's the strangest place a fast food restaurant was located? I've certainly seen some questionable placement in busy areas, but none that are super odd. Do you stay up all night on New Years Eve/Day or go to bed after 12am? I don't care nowadays; I just stay up until I'm tired like every other night.

#survey #surveys #questions #questionnaire #lyrics: ''rest in pieces'' by saliva

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fasa-umich · 4 years ago

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Jolene Soriano, FASA 2020-21 Co-Social Chair

Oh, hey FASA, didn’t see you there. It’s me, one of your co-social chairs this year, Jolene. You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. My story begins in a small town in the west side of Michigan where I had no real ties to my culture other than whatever my mom decided to cook up for dinner and the functions my parents had with the very few other Filipinos in Holland. I grew up always feeling a little out of place and always feeling the need to hide my culture from my friend group. When it came to my junior and senior year of high school, one of the biggest factors for me in deciding where to go for college was wanting to be in an environment where I could comfortably express myself and my culture. With that being said, I put in a deposit for Grand Valley State University, another predominantly white school. Not to bash on that school or anything, it’s a good school, it’s just I would’ve had a repeat of my high school days. Obviously, I did not end up going to GVSU and I ended up changing my mind and submitted my deposit for the University of Michigan the day before deposits were due. The biggest reason why I ended up changing my decision was because of the opportunities available at Michigan, that I couldn’t get anywhere else. One of these opportunities being FASA. So, when I got to Michigan, I waddled up to the table at Festifall, got info for their mass meeting, sat in on the mass meeting, ate some Insomnia Cookies, and ended up committing a large amount of time to the org.

For those of you who met me last year, you may know that at the first few events I ever went to I spoke a total of maybe five words. So you might be wondering how this literally silent person wound up as social chair, a position that requires speaking maybe more than five words. For this, you’ll have to thank Aber John Espinoza. I know I make fun of him kind of frequently (every chance I get), but I do genuinely have to thank him for providing a space in his Modern Tinik sets for me to finally get comfortable and start opening up to people. AJ’s naturally friendly and sociable personality allowed me, an unbearably shy individual, to start forging the bonds and friendships I have now. He was the one to kickstart whatever “sociable” nature I have in FASA. When I ran for social chair, the main thing I wanted to accomplish was creating a space similar to the 8PM to 10PM Modern Tinik practices in all of my social events and initiatives. I wanted to make sure everyone, new or old, had a place where they could express themselves and open up safely and start making those friendships in FASA that really will last a lifetime. Hopefully, that was something I was able to accomplish during my time in this position.

modern tinik origin story s/o aj (black shirt in the back set of sticks)

Social chair was not exactly what I had expected, granted COVID did not help anything. The ideas I had originally envisioned were no longer feasible, and online events were the only thing that my co-chair Jason and I could do. After our first few online events in June with Independence Day Spirit Week, I disliked hosting online events. At first, the events felt awkward, there were lag issues, the list went on. However, we pushed ourselves to think outside of the box and committed to making these social events fun, even if they were virtual. It was not easy to say the least. We didn’t have anyone to ask about how to make an online event “fun” since no one’s ever had to pull one off, and even if we did have ideas that we wanted to do, they weren’t exactly always feasible online. Nonetheless, we were committed to making these events as fun as possible and the result of that were literally hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours spent over the course of the year. You may think I’m exaggerating that time, but honestly I don’t think I am. Not only were we busy with these events, we were also launching the first ever year long FAM competition-- POTTER. This initiative had its own set of challenges from making the rules, the scoreboard, points, keeping in communication with FAM heads, the list goes on and on. We juggled our events, POTTER, and all the other board responsibilities that were asked of us.

welcomed the weekend with the best people

You could maybe say that we were a bit ambitious in our goals for our tenure, which might have caused us more stress than if we had just stuck to the traditional social events done. There could be some truth in that statement. I mean, we didn’t have to put in that level of effort into our events or into POTTER. But it would also be literally so embarrassing if we were that org and just did something basic like Kahoot at every social event. More importantly though, especially in the times of a panoramic and isolation, maintaining friendships and being social is crucial to one’s well-being. This is one of the main reasons why we worked especially hard. Although there were many instances where I questioned why I was putting in so much effort or allowing myself to incur so much stress, I feel rewarded at the end of the day. When I look back on the year and the things I’ve accomplished, I feel proud that I was able to do all the things I wanted and more. It also makes me feel good that I might’ve been able to create the same space AJ made for me. I would say that whatever stress or negative emotions I felt during my time on board was worth it.

FASA board has provided me with many invaluable experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world, from the countless midnight parties, boardie hangouts, stressful weeks and events, and meeting so many amazing people. FASA board has pushed me out of my comfort zone in a good way, forcing my introverted self to initiate conversations with awkward freshmen trying to navigate their way through their first year and leading zoom calls filled with many people. I’ve also learned the importance of teamwork, collaboration, and asking for help. It’s so easy to think “this is my event, so I have to do this on my own,” but in reality that’s just making more work for yourself. I’ve never been a part of a team that has worked so closely together, and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to have been supported by an amazing cast of characters.

charlie ft. trad #charlie supremacy

Ok, so this is the part where I’m going to go through a list of thank yous and messages to certain individuals. To Board, I don’t think there are enough thank you’s in the world to express the gratitude for you all. You all have been there for me whenever I’ve needed it the most and helped me throughout all the tough times this year. You all are smashing individuals and I wouldn’t have wanted to work with anyone else this year. To AJ, thank you for being the foundation of my time in FASA. I don’t think you realize just how much your existence has impacted my journey in FASA and on board and without you I don’t think I would have had the experience I’ve had if it wasn’t for you. I will dearly miss you when you inevitably graduate and I will try to continue your legacy of making FASA a safe space for everyone. Ok, I think that it’s for all the sappy words for you we’ll go back to our regularly scheduled programming of roasting AJ. To Sean Herrera and Bea Fandino, thank you for being the boardie boomers I could always go to. I will always be grateful for Midnight Party being the thing that brought us all closer together and started a friendship that no one saw coming. Also, sorry for all the random and questionable texts I’ve sent at odd hours of the night, but I hope you were able to get some entertainment out of it. To Kristina Mallabo, thank you for always entertaining my shenanigans and driving me to Fuller when I don’t want to walk 20 minutes. You truly have become one of my best friends and I wouldn’t trade you for the world (except for my anime boys but that’s to be expected). Hmmm… I think that’s all for my messages and thank yous… LOL just kidding how could I ever forget to thank the one person who’s kept me sane throughout this entire year… Park Jimin <3

KIDDING! I’M KIDDING! The last person I’d like to talk about in this testimonial is none other than Jason Portugal. A somewhat unlikely friendship born from the 8PM to 10PM Modern Tinik practices and late night Victor’s Pushes at Mojo. Mr. Portugal has been one of my closest friends since I joined FASA, and I don’t think there was another person I would’ve wanted to run for social chair with. I was really lucky to have one of my best friends as my co-chair and go through thick and thin with him. I genuinely do not believe I would’ve been able to make it through this year without Jason. I would like to thank him for making all of the late night meetings, stress, and countless hours bearable, for all the laughs, memories, and shenanigans, and for being someone I can be vulnerable with. I don’t think I could envision a life without Jason Portugal and he is a pillar of my life that I could not go without. Thank you, Jason, for everything you’ve done for me this year and for working together with me to accomplish the things we’ve done. We did it.

putting the “jj” in “jjk” (we love you kris)

Before I wrap this testimonial up, I’d like to write a message for next year’s socials. This board position is a lot of work, but I assure you that if you truly love what you’re doing, it’ll all be worth it in the end. I don’t think I can stress the importance of having fun with what you’re doing. You can’t expect general members at your event to have fun, if you’re not also having fun. The energy you give is the energy you’ll receive. Also, be sure to rely on your co-chair! You don’t have to be best friends or anything, but they are with you for your entire tenure and you go through so much together. Be sure to always keep in constant communication with each other! My wish for whoever carries on the social chair legacy is that they are passionate about instilling a welcome and safe space at every social event.

With that being said, I’ve come to the conclusion of this testimonial. I will miss working with everyone on board, contributing to FASA’s community through social events, and turning visions of event ideas into reality. I will not miss spamming the GroupMe with all of my announcement messages though. I’m looking forward to what next year’s board brings and am excited to participate in social events rather than planning them! Thank you FASA for allowing me to provide you with hopefully fun social events and activities this year. FASA has become such a large part of my life and I could not imagine my life without it. Maraming Salamat from the bottom of my heart.

<3 you all are the best

See you around FASA!:)

Jolene Soriano

#FASASocial #2020.21

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coatcymbal7-blog · 5 years ago

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Ideology Break

Utilizing A Lawyer To Create Your Will

Content

If You Don'T Want To Use A Solicitor

Indication Your Will Before Witnesses.

To Identify That Will Care For Your Minor Kid

Key Papers To Have Together With Your Last Will And Also Testimony.

When Should You Obtain Legal Advice To Prepare Your Will?

Complete An Inheritance Tax Type.

What Is Probate?

What To Get Out Of Your Solicitor

These charges will still use if the estate is very straightforward, or if a lot of the probate job is done by somebody else. These solutions are usually under ₤ 100, and even free, yet you may later find you pay with the nose in hidden fees. If you do not wish to spend for a solicitor, yet would certainly such as some support, you can think about using a will-writing service. If your estate is rather complicated, a great legal representative could be able to aid you think about putting assets right into trust. The lawful costs will possibly be higher these instances, yet will depends on can significantly reduce your estate's estate tax bill.

Our group has decades of experience assisting individuals prepare, modify and perform Wills. We're regularly designated as executors and are really experienced in estate administration.

web based Funeral plans Bristol should likewise contact the person's lawyer, accounting professional or bank to see if they hold the will. Also if you can't discover a certificate of deposit, you can still talk to the Registry to see if they hold the will. If the individual passed away in a treatment home or a medical facility you could check to see if the will was entrusted to them. Although it will be lawfully legitimate also if it is not dated, it is advisable to guarantee that the will also consists of the date on which it is authorized. A witness or the married partner of a witness can not take advantage of a will.

You can likewise choose to create the will on your own and also have an expert testimonial it, which will commonly be for a lesser cost. Whether you most likely to a solicitor, will writer or bank, easy wills start from concerning ₤ 80 and rise to a number of hundred pounds. Before writing a will, it deserves considering that will inherit your most important assets and any various other long for your estate. We appreciate it is a small relocation, but it is a shift in the ideal instructions, and also I am thrilled to state that our Member solutions continue to be steadfast.

If You Don'T Want To Use A Solicitor

Certain Will Writer can aid you streamline your method as an estate organizer or solicitor. Our members are devoted to the greatest requirements in the market as well as adhere to our stringent Code of Conduct, ensuring clients constantly receive an excellent quality, specialist service. From Wills as well as Counts On, to Lasting Power of Attorney, Funeral Program, and Probate Solutions, we give a variety of completely detailed as well as bespoke services. The advice given was excellent and I really felt every little thing was plainly discussed.

Indication Your Will In Front Of Witnesses.

What makes Will invalid?

If the court finds that fraud or undue influence were involved in the creation of your will, it will be deemed invalid. Common situations could include: A family member getting the testator to sign a will by pretending it is just a general legal document that needs a signature.

The service was impressive and also I really did not really feel pushed right into anything. an extraordinary service for wills, power of lawyer as well as building matters. A full plan of solutions which will offer you complete peace of mind as soon as your Will has been created including record storage space and also free annual Will updates.

To Establish That Will Look After Your Minor Children

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This is to make sure that, if your will is ever contested in the future, your witnesses can testify that they watched you authorize your will. At Farewill, we bill simply ₤ 90 for a single will or ₤ 140 for a couples will. And also with our limitless upgrade service, you can make changes to your will anytime for just ₤ 10 a year. If you currently have a will from a solicitor or an additional service provider, there's a high opportunity that they'll ask you to pay if you want to transform or upgrade it. In many cases, this could end up setting you back over ₤ 150-- and you still won't have a simple method to update it in the future.

If a witness is a recipient, the will is still legitimate but the beneficiary will not be able to inherit under the will. It is very important to select executors with substantial care given that their job entails a good deal of job and responsibility. It's additionally worth you providing some thought to what you wish to say in the will before seeing a lawyer.

Irwin Mitchell is a leading law firm with substantial expertise in the area of wills and also estates. We've assisted hundreds of clients get ready for the future with critical estate planning.

You will require to provide the complete name of the individual that passed away, the date probate was granted and also the name of the registry office where it was issued. You can purchase a duplicate of a will or grant of probate at any kind of district probate computer system registry. A basic search by the Probate Computer system registry will cover a 4 year period as well as a fee is payable. If you most likely to the Probate Computer system registry to do the search yourself, no charge is made, yet you still need to pay to obtain a duplicate of the give of probate and also the will, if any kind of.

If you are self-isolating but need people to witness as well as sign your will, it's unbelievably crucial that you don't place it off. To navigate this, you can schedule both of your witnesses to view through a closed window as you authorize your will-- it's important that they exist at the exact same time for this. To make your will lawfully binding you require to make certain it's signed together with 2 witnesses. It's truly essential that both witnesses enjoy you sign your will at the very same time, then they also require to include their own information and also trademarks.

Wills storage space business take care of files in a similar fashion to solicitors. The majority of fee on a membership basis, and also levy additional charges if your will needs to be altered. If you choose a lawyer, wills storage business or your bank, ask if there are any type of charges to access the will to make adjustments, or for the executor after you pass away. If your bank will not enable you to assign your very own executor within the will writing service, it might be best to look somewhere else. Despite reasonably straightforward estates, you could be billed a high percent of the estate, perhaps 5% to serve as single or joint administrator.

How long after death is a will read UK?

In general, it takes around 9-12 months for the deceased's affairs to be settled and the estate distributed to its beneficiaries in accordance with the Will. It is not the person with whom matters of the estate are discussed as these duties fall to the Executor of the Will.

Enhance your organization with a series of price cuts, services and products. Around 70% of UK people who passed away last year didn't leave a will. We can talk through your scenario, respond to any kind of questions you have and supply you with a free quote over the phone. If you enjoy to proceed with our service, we'll prepare a follow-up telephone call with a will writer each time that's practical for you.

Key Papers To Have Together With Your Last Will And Also Testimony.

We'll then put in the time to formulate your will prior to getting it expertly printed, bound and also sent to you in the message. With our upgrade service, you can make unrestricted updates to your will.

When Should You Get Lawful Recommendations To Draft Your Will?

In addition to writing the will, a lawyer will normally save it for you free of charge. That stated, if your scenario is complicated, looking for expert suggestions can be a good suggestion, as it's very simple to make a mistake that might make your will void or uncertain.

Since 2010 we have actually assisted over 6,000 people similar to you to secure over ₤ 1bn worth of properties. Our specialised Wills, Family Trusts, Lasting Powers of Attorney and our Funeral Plans, can help make sure your residence as well as various other residential or commercial property is acquired by your enjoyed ones properly.

A new IHT allowance of ₤ 125,000 might use if you possess a home as well as leave a few of your estate to loved ones like kids and also grandchildren. By making a Will, you can make sure that concerns like that will inherit your estate as well as who will care for your children are identified by you and also not the regulation. Unfortunately, the results of this might not be what you would certainly have meant. In the UK, it is approximated that approximately 72% of individuals lack a Will, an alarmingly high number. Without a Will, you risk leaving essential, personal issues regarding your estate to be decided by the law.

There is no demand for a will to be formulated or experienced by a lawyer. Nevertheless, you need to just take into consideration doing this if the will is going to be straightforward. Viability for a home check out is dependent on the dimension as well as complexity of the estate, as well as will be assessed on the preliminary phone call.

Making Use Of A Solicitor To Write Your Will

I'm single or solitary with no children.Even if you lived with your partner, your making it through companion stands to acquire nothing.

Anything over this amount will be shared to name a few making it through blood family members in order of distance, eg, parents, siblings, half-siblings and so on

. I'm unmarried or single with children.Even if you lived with your companion, your surviving companion does not inherit.

https://oxfordshire.wills4less.co.uk/funeral-plans/ above this amount is called the residue as well as will be shared between the enduring partner as well as the enduring children.

If there is greater than one child, the surviving companion gets a 3rd of the deposit.

Numerous hundreds of individuals pass away yearly without having a will, known as intestacy, making it extra complicated for family and also enjoyed ones left behind.

Your estate will be shared in between your enduring moms and dads and also if they are not active, it will go to your closest blood family member, eg, your sibling or sister.

I'm married or in a civil collaboration with no children.The very first ₤ 450,000 of the estate and also individual properties, consisting of cars, will go to the surviving companion.

To find out more about probate, seeDealing with the monetary affairs of a person who has actually passed away. Any type of evident alterations on the face of the will are thought to have been made at a later day and so do not form component of the initial legally valid will.

What is the best online will Maker?

Best online will makers for 2020Best for first-timers. view online . See at Rocket Lawyer. Best for advanced users (or frequent updaters) Nolo Quicken WillMaker and Trust. See at Nolo. Best service for creating a super basic will. DoYourOwnWill. See at Trial Data. Best for young families. Fabric. See at Fabric. LegalZoom. See at LegalZoom.

If you choose to compose a will with a lawyer on the high street rather, you would likely require a codicil to change your will. Nevertheless, if you want to change greater than 10% of your will, you'll likely be recommended to make a new will instead to stop the modifications from being tested in the future. The price of making a will over the phone is ₤ 120 for a single will or ₤ 190 for pairs. This enables you to talk everything through a professional to make certain your will is tailored to your particular demands.

We provide a bespoke Will writing service to businesses of all shapes and sizes as part of their advantages packages for their workers. Your will will be stored securely as well as securely, as well as you'll have access to it whenever you desire. There's additionally telephone support from our wills professionals, and also the alternative to send your administrator information of where it is being kept.

What Is Probate?

They will inspect their documents to see if a give of probate has actually been made in the twelve months before your application, and they will remain to check for six months after that. When probate is given, the will is kept by the Probate Service as well as any kind of member of the general public can get a duplicate. If there is a will, this authorisation is called a give of probate. When someone dies, the individual that is dealing with their estate has to normally obtain authorisation to do so from the Probate Service. If you can't discover a will, you will typically need to take care of the estate of the individual that has died as if they died without leaving a will.

Is the free will kit really free?

Yes! Your Free Will Kit will be delivered to you at no-cost, no purchase necessary.

What To Expect From Your Solicitor

If you do not make a will, you will die 'intestate' and also your estate may not most likely to individuals you want. There are unique rules for how your estate will be distributed these are called intestacy regulations. Our probate and tax professionals can additionally inspect that your Will is structured in the most effective method for your estate and also have the ability to encourage on any kind of amends where required.

#Making a will #Will writing services #How to make a will #Fixed Fee Will Writing #Online Will Writing #Will Aid #Will Writing Specialist #will template #how to write a simple will #will writing services near me #legal will #online will #family will #simple will #how to end a will

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letslinkedinautomationtool-blog · 5 years ago

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Marketing automation: How to automate LinkedIn with a chrome extension?

LinkHelp the most advanced Linkedin automation tool

Free trial: https://linkhelp.io

With link help, you can do some marketing automation on LinkedIn like:

-Send targeted messages

- Automatically add new connections

- Auto respond to your messages

- Endorse connections

- Follow and like LinkedIn connections

- Extract/ Scrape data on Linkedin

- Extract emails on linkedin

Linkhelp is basically an automation bot for Linkedin very smart !

In business circles, wherever you go, people are discussing LinkedIn. Despite the fact that it remains the most puzzling and misinterpreted of all major person-to-person communication destinations, enthusiasm for LinkedIn is at an unmatched level and sparks interest in how best to use the site to generate revenue. At this stage, any individual or organization that deliberately chooses not to perceive LinkedIn, or investigate its latent capacity, is seen as a slow hit. People get burned to learn that they "should be" giving more consideration to LinkedIn. They currently need iron proof that this really works before they contribute their time, vitality, and cash.

There is a wealth of online instructional exercises, web magazines, white papers, e-books, and recordings on how to make and increase LinkedIn's closeness. An important part of the work is a subsidiary, however, search a lot and you will discover solid and realistic content. While you can get a lot out of these sources, there is no viable alternative to learning LinkedIn through your own understanding. As a LinkedIn speaker, expert, and mentor, I've created a framework for sharing LinkedIn best practices that rely on the observational exam.

An Increase in LinkedIn automations

Some people have been on LinkedIn for quite some time and their perseverance has paid off. There is constantly another example of overcoming adversity, one that could not have happened without LinkedIn as a delegate. A sales representative exceeded participation. An attorney handled a huge corporate client. LinkedIn is improving people's expert lives, and the people receiving the rewards are discussing it. The best motivation for people who currently don't seem to understand a LinkedIn achievement is found in the enthusiasm and achievements of those who realize they made a transformative change.

How LinkedIn transmits intelligence to you

While Cliff Rosenberg did not speak on this point, the best methods for obtaining information are most likely through his own system. LinkedIn is a great device for connecting with hard-to-reach possibilities. By looking at second and third-grade associations, you can regularly understand that the people you need to contact are connected to a partner or colleague. It's a systems management goldmine and I'll talk about this in more detail later, illustrated now.

LinkedIn is a search engine

These continuous advancements from within the LinkedIn group show that LinkedIn is much more important about the substance, especially the preservation of content from across the web and the transmission of relevant data to its customers. Here and there it is quickly becoming a web search tool in its own right, similar to what Facebook has become.

Why is LinkedIn attractive to marketers?

In advance, the human-observer and human resources workforce persecution field, LinkedIn, is also attractive to organization-focused marketers. LinkedIn measurements tell a bit of the story:

• Globally, Facebook has more than 500 million people (with 300 million dynamic customers),

• Twitter has 40 million

• LinkedIn has 50 million people.

LinkedIn with chrome extension Software, LinkedIn Social Selling, and Self-Associating Device

Visualize an extension for LinkedIn that allows you to automatically associate, send robotic messages from LinkedIn, automatic support capabilities of your contacts, visit many profiles a day, get access to your own CRM page, build battles and even make your showcase.

Welcome OctopusCRM, the main LinkedIn promotion program for everyone.

This guest profile and social selling device is an ideal answer for bidding experts, promotion specialists, and enrollment specialists.

It is good with Linkedin automation Free, Sales Navigator, Premium and Recruiter light registers. The gadget functions as a paired partner, doux and Leonard soup, however, it is entirely suitable for clients as it recreates your manual labor and performs irregular deferrals after each activity and has a huge arrangement of highlights.

Linkedin automation tool Auto Connect

This item gives you the ability to send personalized association requests to second and third level associations on LinkedIn naturally. Most of the LinkedIn computing devices like linmailpro / doux soup/wizard connected or even doge's soup also give that item, but instead of separating the LinkedIn profiles into the list items every day, just send them to your CRM page and work with the summary day by day.

The easiest route for the lead age using LinkedIn. Discover, contact and attract a large number of potential customers in a single brand.

Chrome One2Lead expansion for the lead age on LinkedIn lets you focus on your possibilities with a single touch. Build your system and send bulk messages with an exceptionally personalized approach.

Just present it in your Chrome program and start your first prospecting effort.

Arrangement for:

Sales representatives

Recruiters

Marketers

New owners

Key points:

Send masses, however, deeply personalized requests

Accelerate your leadership capacity process

Create a deeply personalized scheduled effort for your intended stakeholder

Allow subsequent meetings to support your current customers

Create a micro-frozen scope battle by transferring your own profile overview

Manage your possibilities. Duplicate, impersonate, make contingent information

Track the effectiveness of your battle depending on the information obtained

Stay safe. We use calculations to mimic your daily movement, along these lines, you are protected to use

Works with a free LinkedIn account can be used without Sales Navigator / Recruiter

Export / Import your information. Stay up to date with your leads

Let One2Lead increase your effectiveness, produce a large number of LinkedIn leads, while you focus on developing your business and finalizing negotiations.

1. What is marketing automation?

The essential formula of any advertisement is:

Characterization Perspectives + Contact Details + Campaign = Marketing

The demonstration of the computerization of these media with the help of innovation and programming transforms it into marketing automation.

In this way, when with the help of business programming, a product or application deals with a few or numerous means of promotion, what is called marketing automation.

Marketing Automation Begins

In this sense, back in the beginning, when the PC and the web were new and not developing as much as they are today, the promoting organizations used to accumulate a not insignificant summary of the next clients and then send them a similar email individually. At the time, someone developed a capability whereby people had the option to enroll all email IDs into one email and send a bulk email.

We can call that the main Marketing Automation effort since the framework had mechanized a piece of the advertising effort. Currently, there was no compelling reason to send each individual individually. Currently, it ended with a lone snap. However, you first had to create a database with all the email IDs, but the tedious procedure of forming a similar email for each person was eliminated.

How?

A couple of shipping types have ready-made groups accessible for nothing. You can accept that design as the body of your email. At that time, there are administrations that give you a summary of the email IDs in the spaces you need. And then, in an email client, you plan for your messages to be sent naturally without their essence. It is not obvious? Nothing is made up, but then you've sent a lot of messages with a couple of snapshots.

Promoting automation: intelligence gathering

The automation promotion schedule has progressed, and in this regard, they have also progressed with each exhibition progression. The basic advertising recipe mentioned above has become complex, substantially more engaged, pooled, and adjusted for the highest ROI. These days, simply mounting email ID arrays is not enough. For more extreme effectiveness, you have more programming and strategies to get rid of people and steps that are less likely to transform into changes. You can target only those people who are most kind to transform into a customer.

2. Why should you automate your LinkedIn network?

You need an organized way to handle sales and the mechanization of LinkedIn makes the procedure seamless. Computerization builds your system while content builds the attention and firmness of the brand. So with the right computer gadget, you can build connections and extend your system the right way

These are normal inquiries that we constantly make when we visit potential customers. Also, the short answer is simple: definitely not.

Automation your LinkedIn network absolutely has a place in a business that is without a doubt.

In our business, there are a lot of procedures and tasks that we have robotized using great innovation to help kick some of the hard work out. For example, the finishing of our commercial procedure is fully mechanized.

At the moment when someone needs to ask about one of our articles, we do a survey, when they complete this they go to another page where they can legitimately book with one of our specialists.

At no time was anything physically done and simply as expected, one of the groups will call the possibility at the scheduled time. It is simpler for everyone, they reserve in a period that is useful for them as one of our colleagues.

They will call them at the reserved time and they are all champions. Regardless, when it comes to building connections, that's what LinkedIn is all about: it's an unequivocal no.

Of course, it sounds incredible in principle to transmit computerized requests en masse instead of doing it physically individually.

Ban your account

On the one hand, it goes against the terms of use of LinkedIn and may prohibit your registration. LinkedIn is becoming significantly more meaningful than its site. These days, when people scan online, the main thing that emerges is that your site is never really your LinkedIn profile.

So if this were to disappear out of nowhere, you would become a ghost of potential possibilities and the need to develop your system without any preparation.

Inclined to errors

LinkedIn is continually looking at approaches to shutting down mechanization gadgets by changing things that make it difficult for them to work 100%. This implies the possibility that you transmit association messages or welcome regularly, an inappropriate message goes to the right people or vice versa. We frequently see bulk messages or automatic responses that are missing in the main name field or with an odd string attached.

Validity

There is also a validity problem today, when people ask if they should be using robot devices, we generally use the similarity of OK, go to a systems administration job and get a robot to organize it and make connections?

No, you wouldn't, why would you do it on LinkedIn?

People can tell, they are not inept, they can smell it a mile away. Out of nowhere, you interact with them and after 5 minutes you receive a created tone message. They realize that it was mechanized and couldn't care less.

Clarify your customer avatar

Initially, you should be clear about your customer's symbol, who do you expect to partner with

Through LinkedIn we take a look at 5 measurements that include:

Title

Rank level

Organization size (count)

Zone

Industry

A: Sell your products and services

Today's business visionaries are concerned with getting excited about work and realizing that it is of greater importance. As business visionaries, we like our work to have an effect and help improve the world. Simultaneously, be that as it may, we like our work to be effective. Doing it admirably doing it great. With the most terrifyingly horrible recession in decades in our subsequent vision, today's entrepreneurs must be very imaginative and do things competently. These 7 stages to mechanize your online business will create agreements and improve your activities.

Automation is the way to build a successful business with fewer assets. Creating wonderful organizations, as a group, and using innovation, eventually to improve the world, is a shared goal of the present business visionary. And yet, today's business visionaries don't have the accessible budget resources to hire a group of workers. So the more the current business person can accomplish alone, the better.

Steps to build an automated online business on LinkedIn

Here are seven steps you can take on your journey to becoming a freelance, freelance, and deeply effective business person without burning all available resources.

Build a WordPress website

Build your email list

What do your optimal followers need?

What is the main problem they have that you trust you can explain?

What is your technique to deal with that problem?

What do you like to discuss more than anything?

Compose compelling content

The number of followers he has is directly identified with...

His ability to drive was exceptionally focused on traffic to his blog.

Your ability to change that traffic into FIERCELY LOYAL endorsers.

Your ability to get your readers to uplift and allude to peers.

Currently, it's up to you to make a move and arm your email list with compelling substance.

Build your social media profiles

b. Become a LinkedIn influencer

I recently spoke about the perception of influential people to build the visibility of your business. The opposite side of the coin is the means by which you can achieve LinkedIn influencer status yourself so that you can decisively impact different organizations. One thing to remember is that there is a state of influence and then there is a state of influence on LinkedIn. The two are not very similar.

What do you have to do to get influence status on LinkedIn?

Obviously, to experience the path to gaining influence status, you must start with the content, very similar to what you generally do. In addition to the fact that you need to create content, you need to do it in a crisp and compelling way, constantly connecting with the content. The more high-quality substance you produce, the higher your status as a LinkedIn influencer. It will also help you increase your expert notoriety as a rule, which is one of the main things you are looking for. As is always the case, you should avoid making a "difficult sale" to anyone. You will prevail in the sale of your articles, as well as in the administrations when developing your notoriety, credibility, confidence and positioning yourself as a master of subjects. Obviously, remember that the composition of your substance must be of high quality and it must also be intriguing. You must associate with your user on a human/passionate level and the story that each part of a substance tells must resonate with your user.

C. Get more visitors to your blog

This summary was found when people in my Marketing Group shared what works for them. These are reliable approaches to help you attract more visitors to your blog. I am sure you could continue to add more plans to this summary. In case you have something you want to include, it would be great if you let me know. I couldn't wish for anything more than being notified of what you're doing. We will start another summary.

1. Use clear sentences and expose them

2. Keep your site/blog updated - 2-3 times a week

3. Make a newsletter

4. Get interested in discussions or meetings, like LinkedIn, Quora, Ning

5. Send to local bookmarks - Stumbleupon, Delicious, Digg

6. Advance to others in your locality, exchange articles, be a visiting author

7. Put your sites in your email signature

8. Have a challenge or advance

9. Use social media devices like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

10. Be a visiting blogger, enter your site URL

11. Submit requests to your site for comments or for your occasions

12. AdWords

13. Make connections by keeping in touch, ask them questions

14. Write a book, ask for people's contact information, or post it on Scribd

15. Write public statements

16. Make a Facebook fan page to coordinate guests

17. Twitter to drive traffic to your blog site

18. Join different meetings where your clients get together

19. Exploit share buttons and benefits like Ping FM

20. Sign up for Google's local business catalog (Google Places)

21. Transfer an introduction to Slideshare with a connection back to your site

22. Profile people on your site and ask for comments or connections

23. Make videos of your articles/benefits and transfer them to other video administrations

24. Transfer photos to Flicker

25. Sign up for promotional pamphlets/writings for more thoughts

26. Show yourself on Craigslist, Kijiji and other free promotional destinations

27. Get substantial connections to your site from targeted traffic

28. Have more calls to activities

29. Offer a free digital book or blessing or report

30. Make up an extraordinary substance that people should go back to and share.

D. Get some social prove: Become trustful on LinkedIn

Even though your best results for creating new leads and prospects will come from dynamic prospecting (social selling), you would like to ensure that your profile improves. An improved profile makes it easy for those looking for your article or administration to find out.

Run these tips from LinkedIn to increase your chances of being found by the perfect people more regularly.

Streamline your LinkedIn business card

To ensure that your optimal customers get some answers about you, you need two things to happen: Your chances should have the option to discover it in the query items

The moment they find out, they should move to become familiar with you and the manners with which you can support them. This is where a structured LinkedIn business card turns out to be significant.

LinkedIn's role: Your role is the most basic piece of your profile. You can increase your chances of appearing in indexed lists by including keywords within your function that need to be found. In any case, more than that, your role should address your target market and motivate them to become familiar with you. That is the purpose of its function: to obtain its navigation possibilities to familiarize itself with what it offers.

Profile image: first impressions are everything, especially on the web. Use an expert profile photo in which you stand out, dress expertly, smile and look at the camera against a non-partisan base.

LinkedIn Publisher Article and Offer Ads

An elegantly composed business card can help you find it in the relevant indexed lists, however, don't just rely on the Advanced Search found on LinkedIn. Another brilliant method to expand your perceptibility on LinkedIn, particularly among its optimal possibilities, is to reliably publish LinkedIn publisher ads and articles.

E. Scale up your network

LinkedIn is really about partnerships. In addition, therefore, it tends to be an extraordinary asset to focused systems management. By joining meetings, attending occasions, and using current partnerships to create new partnerships, you can develop your business organization and promote your skills, increasing your capacity and image.

Interface with these individuals. Adjust the "individual note" alternative in the association request. Reach out to them for an espresso meeting and, if that can't be accomplished, propose a meeting on the web take a look at these meetings as being commonly advantageous. How could you help that individual and how could they help you?

Focus on offering some incentives to other people and being a connector. The more you do this, the more you update the estimate of what you bring to the table, either as a final supplier or as a source.

F. Give free ebooks and valuable tips to engage your Linkedin audience

The reason for ebooks is to attract leads. Convert an exceptionally significant substance that cannot be found in a direct online search on a digital book, and its possibilities are likely to give you its subtleties of contact as a by-product of access to the digital book.

While half of the substance display with digital books is the creating organization, the other half is elevating their digital book to expand ROI.

These are the means by which you can advance your digital book through a web-based network means to create important leads.

3. Add automatically some targeted connection on LinkedIn

LinkedIn.com is a site explicitly focused on informal communication that is equipped to interact with business experts who share basic interests. According to Nielsen on the web, LinkedIn, with just over 10 million customers developed by 193% in 2008 with an average age of 35 years. Recruitment reps and Human Resources experts love using LinkedIn to enroll planned workers. Additionally, it flaunts universal enrollment with approximately a portion of people located outside of the United States.

Your goal with LinkedIn should be to develop as an innovator in your industry or specialty, not just discover how to get traffic. Make important partnerships with customers and partners with whom you have a working relationship and build thereafter. Regarding the association with new individuals, it is worth proceeding with caution. Standards on LinkedIn propose that people should only interact with people they definitely know. The focus should be on creating connections, not on storing a huge following that you have no idea about. In the event that your profile is vigorous and appears to be a competent expert on your subject, at that point you will end up being an asset and people will start looking for you to make partnerships.

Here are a couple of tips to targeted on LinkedIn traffic:

Completely complete your profile and incorporate links to your blog or site. Your profile is your initial introduction, so dazzle! You only have one chance for an initial presentation.

Join groups in your industry or specialty and participate in conversations. You can post news in your meetings that contain a connection to your site or blog.

Use prompts to illuminate your system about what you're really looking for, new tasks you're driving, and the next few occasions that would have some meaning with them.

Edit your profile function, which is the line below your name to enter your site address. Currently, when people are browsing the profile arrangements, your site address will be unmistakable and curious people will tap on it to perceive what your site is about.

4. Send personalized and targeted messages to users

Select among the destinations that accompany you for your crusade:

Site visits

Lead age

Site transformations

Characterize your intended interest group in the Audience area.

Build your intended interest group by choosing the focus on aspects. Become familiar with the focus on alternatives and the current focus on goal-based understanding.

To apply a previously saved approach to design, click the Saved Crowds drop-down menu in the Audience area.

You can apply Peer Audiences, allowing you to redirect site guests or transfer records or contact records. Get acquainted with matching audiences.

Select Message Promotion in the ad design area.

Message promotions and discussion announcements are charged at an expense for each shipping premise/cost per sample. Familiarize yourself with the types offered and the cost and valuation of the ads.

Measure the display of your advertising crusade with compromise measures. Better understand your audience with segment details.

5. Extract the emails and other data

The moment you exchange your association information with Extract email on Linkedin, you may see that some of your contact email addresses are missing. This is because we recently introduced a setting that gives LinkedIn people more power over their email address, as a guarantee to put our people first. The new setting for "Who can download your email" is set by default to the strongest protection option. People can decide to change this setting to allow their immediate associations to download their email address when those immediate associations require a download of information.

Currently, you cannot exchange a summary of your contacts that are not first-degree associations.

In case you submit your associations since you have a copy account, be sure to close your additional registration and import your association summary to another LinkedIn account. Make sure you have saved registration in an area you can discover, and then adhere to the guidelines for transferring contacts using a CSV document.

Set me symbol at the highest point on your LinkedIn home page.

Select Settings and Privacy from the dropdown menu.

Set the Privacy tab at the highest point on the page.

How LinkedIn uses your information segment section, click Change next to Download your information.

You will be redirected to the Download your information page, where you can choose Connections.

You will receive an email at your primary email address that will incorporate a connection where you can download your association summary.

6. Auto-respond and auto-reply to your messages

Automated assistants are email parts that allow people to demand information about their articles, organization data, and administrations. The devices address subtleties to the applicant in response to a clear email that they send to their email address.

Automated wizards are perfect and essential special devices in case you have a web-based advertising adventure. Not many people call them Autobot, eMailer, or mailbox. Whatever name you use to address them, they accordingly respond to incoming messages without human mediation.

Automatic assistants spend free time and you can use them for some purposes. They work every minute of every day if you use solid, high-quality suppliers. In this sense, in case you need to build traffic flow to your sites, automated assistants are the best bet.

Many people use automated assistants to reduce online guest data. For example, when people appear on a web page entered by an automated wizard, the page opens and displays a pop-up message asking people to fill in their names or email identifiers on that page of the website. The automated wizard stores these email identifiers.

Types of automatic responders:

The main type incorporates automated auxiliary administrations. These are based administrations that allow internet advertisers to send submission arrangements to an online guest, who has mentioned their item details via an electronic page present on their website or elsewhere.

The benefit of this type is that you can configure it without much effort. Apart from this, they are solid and host-free, which implies that there is no need to access or organize the data of the guests. Rather, the devices carry out this responsibility for you.

7. Endorse your connections

LinkedIn has a cool new component that many uses. Perhaps this use is a direct result of its perceptibility, being regularly the main thing seen in a profile.

The supports allow you to easily perceive the skills and mastery of your system. In a brand, you can adopt their associations for a skill that they have recorded in their profile or suggest one that they have not included at this time. It's amazing to show proactive kindness and hug your associates, however, be sure to use it only for those you really subscribe to. This sounds self-evident, however, don't be overly decent and embrace someone's skills when you haven't seen evidence of experience.

Step by step instructions to adopt your associations:

At the highest point of an association's profile, you will see the supports prescribed for them. You can embrace the proposed skills, which originate from their profile or recommend additional skills.

The moment you hug someone, you receive a warning. The same applies in case someone supports you.

It is a simpler and quicker procedure than writing a suggestion for an association. These still have a place and are profoundly important in light of the fact that they are explicit and show that someone has put aside the effort to collect a few words about you.

With the element that prompts your system to embrace it, is it an opportunity to go back to the skills you have recorded and mend them?

Are your current skills recorded? Does the summary really incorporate skills or would you say they are increasingly similar to characteristics?

Use the skill territory to list the things you need to be known for: things that are part of your image, your business offering, or a range of skills as a representative.

Schedule for a profile survey this week. Ensure that your phrases are used throughout your profile, remembering your skills

8. Automatically like some specific posts

It is based on your monetary position what type of advertising or advance can support on LinkedIn. Be that as it may, towards the beginning of your blog, you will have to contribute as little as possible in the progress. Here are a couple of expert tips to get your blog moving free of cost or requiring little or no effort.

Receive new trends

You have two points to examine, one topic is in fashion and the other is an old story. It will switch to the most recent news or story as it carries some complementary points of interest along with accepting the latest updates. Currently, apply this circumstance to your guests.

Include a news section

The news is the latest, and the latest is the most necessary. Include a news segment on your blog. You can constantly update this segment or interact with your blog with an appropriate news site (deliberately or by paying them some cash).

Holding the audience

People love to talk. No one needs to become a silent audience or reader. Create systems to retain your audience so that your current guests become your guests without change. For this reason, you can create conversation threads along with comments, where people can associate with each other, have discussions, and offer their thoughts interest.

9. Follow some targeted prospect

Here are some ideas on the best way to do it.

Have a place away from your target market. Who are your administrations for? Who do you manage to work with? This must be point by point and give those focused on the possibilities of a flood of recognition. It must be explicit enough that its ideal possibility relates to its representation.

Describe the problems you can address using a perspective-oriented language. After perceiving themselves in their target market, they will be in a hurry to see below a representation of the problems they are trying to solve. Consider it in this regard. They have been looking for an answer. They are exhausted in the search and potentially somewhat bewildered. They will light up with confidence when they see your description of the problem they need to understand.

Make a description of what things might be like for them once they have your answer. This should be short but overflowing with rocking. What could they look for? What have you been waiting to have? What changes could they anticipate? At this point you have them salivating and needing to know more subtleties.

Tell them what to do immediately. Direct them to the next page of your site. You have shaken his advantage and consideration. Try not to make them work to make sense of what's immediate. It sounds short-sighted but is regularly neglected as a hard copy of a site. Imagine how you feel when you go to a stranger's house. You do not need to be received and coordinated at the place you will visit with your host.

Make sure your composition is short, clear, and moderately fast-paced. The ability to focus on it is famous for being short and volatile. A "wrong" word, a moderate sentence, or a confused idea is enough for guests to click off your site. Think of them as an annoying and rushed individual in a "store".

10. Scrap the phone numbers of companies on Linkedin

Of course, LinkedIn allows customers to discover different people in their database by searching for their email addresses or phone number. By touching second-degree associations, your association's immediate associations ("Chaperones") will discover your profile using your email address or phone number.

Linkedin Search

The search on LinkedIn is more focused and will give you essential data of your possibility such as Name, Telephone number, Job title, Company name and URL of the LinkedIn profile. So you can reach your possibilities in a portable way with your advertising message.

Constant phone number extractor

RS Phone Prospector is exceptionally focused on extracting direct phone amounts from your latent capacity possibilities, such as versatile or work numbers. You just enter focused on the slogan and the area. That's the product that will end up making your list of focused phones.

Expansive search

The expansive search is only you can be separated directly from the web crawler phone numbers for any company or expert like real estate agents, developers, specialists, protection operators, exhibition consultants, specialists and much more according to your wish.

11. What is the Linkedin extension LinkHelp?

This increase is illuminated by another notice check at any point where you have a new move on LinkedIn. Touching the raised symbol is also a simple method of legitimately taking you to the LinkedIn site to see your new action.

LinkedIn is an amazing asset to the B2B lead era. In the event that your business offers to organizations, it is an incredible stage to be in. People on LinkedIn are not kidding, they don't like it at all on Facebook. LinkedIn presents an extraordinary open door for anyone looking for a contact, hiring someone, or making B2B sales.

a. How to use it?

To use magnification, you need a Nimble record. The expense is $ 15 / month, however, you can start with a free 14-day preliminary. When you enter the increase, log in. The moment you discover a possibility on LinkedIn, display the individual's name and Nimble will turn on live profile highlighting.

To introduce the Chrome extension from LinkedIn, it would be ideal if you follow these means

Open your Chrome browser on any PC

Explore the Chrome store. You will see a symbol for the Chrome store or you can search for it using Google

The moment you discover the Chrome Store, start a search for 'Exelare' in the Chrome Store search box

You will discover 2 accessible Exelare Extensions. One for candidates and one for contacts

Choose which extension to install and tap the capture '+ "or' Include 'to enter the expansion

In the event that you are prompted once again to affirm the establishment, click on 'either' or 'Include' to confirm

Another Exelare symbol will be entered in the upper right corner of the program window.

'Right click' on the Exelare symbol and select 'Options'

Another window will open allowing you to enter your Exelare login credentials (similar data you use to log into Exelare)

Enter your Exelare login ratings and click 'ok'. Now you could close the new tab.

Adjust Chrome settings button (upper right corner) and then select 'Settings' from the dropdown menu

Another window will open where you will see a search box

In the search box type "Downloads" in the box: this will generate a summary of results

At the bottom of the list items, there will be an option to 'Request to save each record before download'. Kindly ensure this is checked.

b. Does it worth its price?

Now you could start using the LinkedIn extension for Chrome! It would be ideal if you watch the video on the most competent method to use the LinkedIn Chrome extension.

Track costs on Amazon and Steam that you think are excessively expensive and get notified once they drop to a value you determine. This increase is never under dynamic advance again.

The moment you see an item that is currently more expensive than you are willing to pay, That is Worth allows you to enter a value that you think the item is worth, and then tells you if the value falls below that estimate.

Track costs on Amazon and Steam that you think are excessively expensive and find out once they drop to a value you indicate.

The moment you see an item that is now more expensive than you're willing to pay, that is worth allows you to determine a value you think the item is worth, and then tells you if the value falls below that estimate.

#linkedin automation tool #how to automate linkedin with an extension

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jovialwitchcollection-blog · 5 years ago

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Presenting Reminders and Unsubscribe includes in Yahoo Mail

At Yahoo Mail, we're continually endeavoring to give more apparatuses that assist clients with dealing with their email inboxes as effectively as could reasonably be expected. We're currently presenting two new highlights that will bring more association and less mess: our Reminders and Unsubscribe highlights.

Updates

Clients would now be able to set updates inside messages to organize what is important the most to them. Genuine model: simply opened an email about the service charge that is expected soon? Set a suggestion to pay it in five days, and a notice will spring up at that point.

This element has a notes area to include message, and can be set for a particular date and time later on. To empower a brisk set up, Reminders proposes which messages ought to have updates and prescribes timing, all dependent on email content. Updates can generally be altered, refreshed and erased whenever through an "Oversee Reminder" choice. Additionally, clients can see idle ones at whatever point they need.

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Withdraw

Actualized as a simple to-discover button when opening a message, the Unsubscribe highlight lets clients effectively quit getting messages while never leaving their Yahoo Mail inboxes. A choice to withdraw from an email sender shows up in each email. What's more, on the off chance that clients mistakenly tapped the Unsubscribe button, they can switch the withdraw activity, as long as three seconds after the underlying snap.

Our Unsubscribe highlight helps keep inboxes spotless and filled uniquely with pertinent substance, making the whole withdraw process snappy, productive and tranquil. E-bulletin senders and email advertisers ought to likewise discover an advantage, as they'll see a decrease in spam casts a ballot and be boosted to convey connecting top notch content, since perusers who are never again intrigued will rapidly have the option to withdraw.

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Begin Using These Features

Both of these new highlights are accessible promptly across iOS and Android, so begin utilizing them and let us recognize what you think. Likewise, be watching out for extra component refreshes sooner rather than later. Indeed, we're as of now taking a shot at a withdraw suggestion alternative, where clients can pick to get programmed proposals around which messages to withdraw from.

Have any recommendations for future Yahoo Mail refreshes? We'd love to hear them! In case you're utilizing the portable program, go to the side board and tap on "Send criticism." If you're utilizing the Yahoo Mail application, go to Settings and tap on "Send input."

yahoomail promise

NOV 13TH, 201815

Presenting Yahoo Together – bunch informing just got sorted out

Adam Mathes, Senior Director, Product Management

Have you at any point been in a gathering SMS string with 10 individuals discussing 18 distinct things on the double? It can make it difficult to track, not to mention plan a grill.

We manufactured Yahoo Together to fix that. It's gathering talk that makes life simpler through association and brilliant devices.

Assemble individuals into the gatherings you care generally about (family, companions, book clubs, bowling classes) and afterward split up your discussions with subjects. So as opposed to discussing 18 things on the double, you can follow the themes you care about, and quiet the rest.

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Sharing photographs and recordings likewise work incredible in Together, yet we went past that to let you join any document you need into a mutual library for the gathering. What's more, rather than burrowing through your long content strings to discover a message or connection, ground-breaking search encourages you discover each one of those no problem at all.

Arranging something with a gathering? Common schedules are an issue to set up and get individuals to utilize, so we regularly wind up depending on informing to do the reminding for us. We've mechanized that – you can append a brilliant suggestion to any message. The gathering will get advised at the planned time.

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We've additionally made it simple to react in a solitary tap with a custom response. Our group has discovered that they immediately come to mirror our in-jokes and individual catchphrases –

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Watch our video to see Yahoo Together in real life, and give it a shot with the gatherings you care about today! Download it now for iOS or Android.

OCT 4TH, 20187

9 Reasons to Create a Wedding-just Email Address with Yahoo Mail

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State "I Do" with Yahoo.

You're locked in and presumably so eager to begin arranging this momentous day. Be that as it may, before you plunge into your Pinterest sheets and booking your meetings with providing food, setting, cake, flower and dress/suit merchants, we have an overly significant, must-do, #1 step before you begin arranging your enormous day—make your wedding-just email address with Yahoo Mail.

Why? Happy you asked, look at the 9 reasons underneath:

Make proper acquaintance with another, perfectly sorted out inbox.

Reason numero uno: weddings are CHAOS. Get your stuff together with an inbox devoted to all the subtleties where you can without much of a stretch sort things into envelopes. You'll have one predictable email address to disseminate to visitors, sellers and family.

In addition, Yahoo Mail has Views only for your record documents so you can see all your PDFs and statements in a single singular motion.

Keep your own records isolated.

You don't need this significant wedding data to get covered in your fundamental individual email inbox, isn't that right? Your inbox needn't bother with more mess. Consider it, when you begin reaching merchants, you will begin getting a huge number of messages.

By having an inbox only for the wedding, you'll keep every one of those significant (or negligible) wedding messages in a single spot.

One shared email. 1,000 less contentions.

You and your perfect partner can both have equivalent access to everything. No contending about whether somebody got a particular message or not from messages with the flower vendor, DJ, or food providers.

On the off chance that you get the Yahoo Mail application or signing in from your work area, you can include every one of your records so they are on the whole effectively available: your wedding inbox, you work email, and your own email. (regardless of whether it's Gmail. We love everybody here.)

Every one of your messages accessible in a couple of taps. Cake.

A route for individuals to email you their uncommon minutes.

Rather than downloading each one of those photographs individually from your wedding hashtag, why not request that people email their photographs straightforwardly to you. You'll have every one of those extraordinary pics effectively visible in your wedding inbox through the Photos View.

Besides you don't need to stress over capacity, ever. With 1000GB of capacity, you'll have to have more than 500,000 photographs just to top it off.

Get cash back without the issue.

As a Yahoo Mail client, you have elite access to an Earny enrollment. I don't get that's meaning? Well it implies programmed discounts when costs drop.

Truly need those rose gold sleeve fasteners however need to keep a watch out on the off chance that they go at a bargain? No need. Purchase now, and get cash back naturally if the value drops.

Wedding buys? Get free 2-day transportation and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

With Yahoo Mail (in organization with ShopRunner), you get 2-day FREE dispatching! Isn't that so? It likewise incorporates free returns, select arrangements, 140+ very good quality retailers, and it's typically $79/year.

Go advanced with welcomes.

Did you realize Yahoo Mail is the main email supplier with advanced stationery to spruce up your messages? Not just that, they're overly charming. We have craftsman structured stationery from Paperless Post and unique plans from our gifted plan group.

Ace Tip: Match your Paperless Post welcomes with a portion of their exemplary plans in Yahoo Mail.

Individuals just warnings.

Overpowered by all the messages you're getting? With Yahoo Mail, you can turn on People just notices, so you can ensure you get that message from your flower specialist, relative or officiant without such additional commotion.

Pick astutely.

Simply state I Do with Yahoo! We even have a wedding tumblr blog for all your computerized wedding tips and inspo. Look at it here.

hurray mail wedding email wedding arranging wedding association weddingwednesday wedding wednesday

SEP 26TH, 20188

Declaring Yahoo Mail for iOS 12

By Aditya Bandi and Shiv Shankar, Yahoo Mail Product Team

What's going on in Yahoo Mail iOS 12 application?

Apple declared today that they will be discharging iOS 12 for all clients on 9/17 and we are excessively amped up for it. The Yahoo Mail application for iOS 12 is presently LIVE in the App Store, download it here. Here are a portion of the wonderful iOS 12 highlights that Yahoo Mail underpins:

Siri Shortcuts

Siri recommendations

With iOS 12, we made it quicker and simpler to get to your inbox. We improved the application dispatch speed by 15%–quicker application implies quicker access to what is important to you!

We are generally amped up for Yahoo Mail's coordination with Siri Shortcuts, which permit you to in a flash access significant data in your inbox with brisk, adjustable expressions.

Siri will likewise become familiar with your schedules after some time and propose helpful alternate routes to your oftentimes performed assignments. You don't have to set up anything to begin utilizing Siri recommendations for Yahoo Mail.

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What are Siri Shortcuts in Yahoo Mail?

Hurray Mail Siri Shortcuts are intended to help you rapidly get to significant data in the application by conversing with Siri with an alternate route expression of your decision.

At the point when you include an easy route for a particular activity in Yahoo Mail (like "see late connections"), it brings you straightforwardly into that element of the application without having to physically open the application and explore to your goal. This turns out to be particularly valuable in time-touchy or possibly distressing circumstances envision filtering through the entirety of your coupons at checkout while a line shapes behind you, or attempting to discover your ticket at the air terminal with TSA operators watching and pausing.

With the Yahoo Mail iOS 12 reconciliation, Siri in a flash surfaces your spared arrangements or flight subtleties on your order so you can proceed with your day (and keep feelings of anxiety low!). Notwithstanding these alternate ways, you can likewise approach Siri to check for new messages, search your inb

#how to contact yahoo yahoo customer service yahoo customer service phone number yahoo support number yahoo contact number.we are the best ya

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bakugou-tm · 7 years ago

Note

I just saw the post! Can you do a dying kiss :3c cause i love angst. Thank you!

Oh boy I’m super bad with angst but your wish is my coMAnD, I hope you enjoy even though it’s so a n g s t y

Never had Bakugou gotten downtown so fast.

The day started out simple, a normal fall Saturday, the ash blond split his free day off doing homework, then playing video games, then training.

Bakugou had been planning to spend the rest of his night over at your place but of course only after his daily training, if he was going to be the number one hero there was no time to simply “take a break”.

Letting out a groan the ash blond trudged back into his empty living room- both parents out shopping- and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.

“Let’s see if that shitty girl finished her volunteering yet.” Bakugou mumbled to himself, just smiling at the thought of you giggling around at the animal shelter you volunteered at. Taking a sip of his water he pressed your name on is phone and listened to it ring while the TV Logo popped up on the screen.

‘You have reached the voice mailbox of (s/o), at the tone please record your voice message, when you are finished recording you may hang u-’

Scowling the ash blond threw his phone to the side, figuring you were in the middle of helping out an animal, and leaned back on the couch as the TV suddenly clicked on.

After thirty minutes had gone by Bakugou began to grow curious as to what you could be doing. Even if you were busy, you always texted back to say you were busy, so when he got no calls or even texts from you he grew confused.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this important message.. all civilians living in the downtown Musutafu area must stay indoors, multiple villain sightings have been declared. Heroes are being contacted as we speak so for your safety, stay indoors.”

Suddenly, a small twinge of concern itched at the bottom of Bakugou’s stomach. The animal shelter you volunteered at was downtown. But there’s no way you would be dumb enough to interfere with a villain right? And even if you did you could hold your own, your quirk of manipulating air was very powerful.

Biting at the inside of his cheek the ash blond flipped through the channels to get to the main news channel, surely they would be there recording the scene.

“Here in Downtown Musutafu a villain named Moonfish has been seen wreaking havoc amongst the civilians, as for a cause we are not sure yet but a young hero has decided to take action against the infamous villain. She’s seeming to hold her own.”

Bakugou’s eyes widened at the sound of a female young hero defending civilians, every inch of his being was praying that female wasn’t you.

“C’mon (s/o) please tell me you aren’t out there, please tell me…”

The ash blond froze when the camera zoomed onto you on the street, your fists were clenched ready to attack the freakish villain until one of his sharp teeth slammed you against the wall of a shop.

“Shit!” Bakugou shouted as he quickly threw his phone to the side and darted to the door, not even bothering to lock it before he slammed it shut and launched into the air with his explosion quirk.

What felt like hours was only minutes for Bakugou to arrive, multiple police cars and news reporters around the scene as he landed amongst the crowd, impatiently the ash blond shoved them out of the way, getting a glimpse of your form.

With your back pressed against the concrete, one of Moonfish’s sharp teeth came flying toward your body, but using your quirk you were able to blast yourself out of the way before jumping up and sending a large blast of wind to the wicked creature like man, sending him flying into the brick wall this time.

“(S/o)!” Bakugou screamed as he continued to shove his way through the people while he waved his hand in the air, finally making it to the front of the baracades.

Looking over to the familiar voice you let out a sigh of relief as you saw your boyfriend at the tip of the crowd waving to you. Flashing a somewhat confident smile to calm down his nerves you waved back to him, “I’m okay Katsu-”

Time suddenly froze, for you and for Bakugou. The sudden feeling of a cool sharp object impaling your abdomen was so foreign yet so intense.

The crowd instantly fell quiet from shock, honestly the pain from the sudden action wasn’t hitting you, rather confusion as to why not only the people in the crowd looked so shocked, but as to why your boyfriend looked horrified.

“(S/O)!”

Suddenly, the pain kicked in.

“You motherfucker!” Bakugou screamed, hand lighting up as he grabbed the villain’s metal like teeth before setting off a large explosion, causing the villain to not only fly back unconscious but all of his teeth from his quirk to shatter completely.

Looking over to Bakugou’s enraged state you felt your body begin to sway, as if someone had poisoned all of your limbs and now the sudden pain turned your body lifeless. First it was your knees locking, then without feeling your whole body collapsed to the ground.

“No no no, NO!” Bakugou shouted as he slid down to your body, picking you up into his lap bridal style while he observed your profusely gushing wound in your chest. The sight of your fading pupils struggling to focus made Bakugou sick to the stomach.

“Hey (s/o), hey hey hey, you stay awake you fucking hear me?” Bakugou said nervously, his hands shakily wiping the hair out of your face while he lifted your shirt up to observe the wound.

Breathing heavily you looked up to the ash blond with dazed eyes, struggling to see him correctly before you shakily grabbed onto his shirt, “A.Are the civilians okay? Did I save them? Is the villain gone?”

All these rapid questions you were throwing to him barely came out, sounding more like raspy breaths as your chest rapidly moved up and down desperately for air.

“It’s okay, it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay.” Bakugou kept repeated as he covered your wound firmly with his hand, only for your thick crimson blood to spill over his hand, a horrifying image that would never leave his mind.

“B..Bakugou.”

Furiously the ash blond looked to you with wide crimson eyes only to see your head begin to droop back, causing him to growl and hold your head up firmly, “Hey you stop that! Stay awake (s/o) c’mon we’re gonna get you help!”

When Bakugou began to lift you up you quickly grabbed his face, causing him to freeze and look down to you, a soft smile appearing on your lips that made him feel sick.

“It’s okay Bakugou.”

Blinking in surprise at your sudden reassuring words the ash blond suddenly knew what you meant, gritting his teeth he shook his head and held onto you shakily, warm angry tears beginning to prick into the corner of his eyes, “No.. no this is not okay (s/o), no!”

“It’s okay, I promise.” You said softly, your palm weakly resting against his cheek which he held up tightly while his face scrunched up in anger and horror, “Y..You were my first love Katsuki.”

Letting out a growl the ash blond held your body tightly up against his, tears now visibly rolling down his face that mirrored your somewhat peaceful ones. When you weakly leaned forward to place a kiss on Bakugou’s lips he was shocked, but didn’t hesitate to kiss you back softly. He tasted the ash and salt from your fight and tears from before, such a bitter taste that made him nauseous.

When your head suddenly fell back softly when you lost any sort of strength Bakugou began to shake visibly now, his arms holding onto you so tightly his knuckles were pale, “No…No stay fucking awake (s/o), I swear you better-”

His sudden words were stopped when you placed your thumb against his lips weakly, still flashing that same weak smile that made him want to shrivel up with you.

“Y..You… You are my only love Katsu.. Katsuki…”

Suddenly the pupil of your eye began to grow bigger, all life inside of them seeming to float away, the sight took the breath away from Bakugou.

“No. God, come back. Please, come back. Please, look at me, I’m right here” The ash blond cupped your chin firmly, watching your non responsive body form into putty in his arms, “Stay with me (s/o) please!”

Suddenly paramedics and officers were around him, offering to take her from you but he would only growl, holding your lifeless form desperately to him as he howled in pain and fury.

“(S/o)! (S/o), (S/o), (S/o)!” Bakugou screamed, his voice cracking as he sobbed against your chest, “Fuck, (s/o)!”

News reporters began spreading around the scene to get the two students from UA on camera, surely an event that couldn’t be missed out on.

“Reporting live from Musutafu, the loss of a young heroes life was a price paid in order to defeat the insane villain. Truly a tragic loss of a true hero here today,”

But this was more than a tragic loss of a true hero. This was the loss of his best friend. The loss of his soulmate. The loss of his one true love,

The loss of you.

#katsuki bakugou #bnha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bakugou #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #enjoy dis angst

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katmstanton · 7 years ago

Text

Fatherhood - Ch. 21

Tags: @mrsrafaelbarba @madpanda75 @sweetsummertime99 @obfuscateyummy @julie-yard @dreila03 @esparza-army @ctfarhan @tiredrainbi @Lyssa1385

Chapter 21:

Over the next few days Olivia and Rafael world with Langan to find Jake a therapist and support network outside of legal system. The three of them had started using a group message to throw ideas at each other and, much to Rafael’s frustration, it was actually helping them coordinate with each other.

As he was making his way out of his office towards a meeting he stopped at Carmen’s desk. He had been waiting on some information from Olivia for the better part of the last hour and knew he would be caught up the rest of the day and needed help.

“What can I do for you Mr. Barba?” Carmen asked after a moment of him standing at her desk.

She was used to his odd tendencies by now and knew how to work around his annoyances and mood swings. However, him standing in front of her desk staring at something in the distance was not part of her normal day with the sarcastic ADA.

“Carmen.” He stated as he was startled back to reality.

“I hate to do this but I am waiting on some information from Liv and with this meeting and briefing I am afraid I will miss it and it’s important.”

She smiled as she reached her hand out to him. His shoulders relaxed and he smirked back as he handed her his phone.

“The passcode is -“

“- I already know. And before you say anything I will let you know if an emergency comes through with the boys or Liv. Also, don’t worry about Jake.. it’s robotics club day so you have a bit of time.”

He shook his head slightly as he let out a soft chuckle at Carmen’s knowledge and response. When he turned and left the office she sent Olivia a quick text from her phone.

“He’s gone for at least 3 hours. What do you need me to handle on this end?”

Before she could even put her phone away Olivia was calling her directly.

“Carmen I don’t know what you did but thank you!”

“Ha! I don’t know if I did anything but I did help schedule the meetings. He has been overly weird today and only had 3 cups of coffee.. none of which were from the cart outside. He actually used the Keurig you gave him.”

Olivia groaned and brought Carmen up to speed on the meeting with Langan a few days prior. She explained the need to get Jake into a therapist while also looking for one that could also work with Rafael both individually as well as with Jake jointly. As she spoke Carmen jotted down notes and highlights in order to make a few calls herself.

“I’m going to take a guess you guys are looking for someone who is not afflicted with NYPD seeing as this Ms. Fields lady already doesn’t like Mr. Barba?”

“Exactly. I have sent him a few names and Langan has also but he hasn’t been able to call everyone. I did speak with my contact over at child services today and she gave me the information to someone they use regularly.”

“Who is it? I have a few hours of peace so I can go ahead and call and make all the arrangements. I know Mr. Barba typically likes to do things himself but you and I both know if we let him handle everything alone we would both still be waiting on him to ask you out.”

Carmen and Olivia shared a laugh and as Olivia gave her the information she wrote everything down. The two spent the next few minutes catching up and agreeing to meet for drinks one day to swap stories of Rafael and the boys.

After grabbing a hot tea for herself she settled back at her desk and proceeded to call the possible therapists and agencies Olivia had given her as well as a few she had found sitting in his “To-Do: Jake” list on the shared drive he had with her. They usually used the drive to keep case notes accurate or to share files for cases as he had been trying to go paperless more.

When she found the list she was a bit surprised about what he had jotted down.

“To-Do: Jake

Find therapist

Find a buddy - NOT Sonny

Shadow day?

Do more with Jake

Court - Suit Needed

Call him “son” or “mijo” - don’t force it!

Family day?

Name? - Barba? Anderson? Anderson-Barba

Family Picture

Be a better father

Boys night?”

She had known Rafael for years and since their initial meeting she had realized the hardened ADA was really a big softy who masked his anxiety with snarkiness and sass. She could see parts of his insecurity with the added remarks and question marks. She knew he often used lists to keep on track and funnel his thoughts when working so she knew she shouldn’t be too surprised he was trying them out for his personal life as well.

As she read through the list she smiled. His list was like looking into his soul and seeing how insecure he really was and how he wanted everything to be in order and perfect with every aspect of his life. After reading over the items a few times she figured she could help with a few of them and try to take a little stress away from her already overly stressed and coffee addicted boss.

Over the next few hours she made call after call and sent numerous emails getting things set up for not only Jake but also Rafael, Olivia, and Noah. She reached out to not only therapist after therapist but also support groups and mentorship programs.

She arranged numerous counseling sessions with one of the best therapist she was able to get on the phone, set up a meeting for Olivia and Rafael to meet with the local mentorship program that not only worked with teens but also younger children as well, and coordinated with Sonny on helping with Noah and Jake.

By the end of the third hour, just as Rafael was walking back in the office, she was scheduling a fitting session for Jake and Rafael at Rafael’s favorite suit and tailor in his childhood neighborhood.

She had made numerous appointments for him in the past and arranged pick up more times than she could count that she was surprised Rafael didn’t ask more questions about just how much of his personal life she was aware of, especially since his suits always ended up in his office before he was even notified they were ready.

She watched as he grumbled as he walked by mentioning something about needing a scotch before closing the door to his office rather forcefully. She knew he would be out within the next few seconds seeing as he did not pick up his phone on the way by or ask if anyone had called and if she knew her boss, which she did very well, it would take him just a second to return.

“10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. -”

“Carmen.” He grumbled as he opened his door to walk back out.

“How was your meetings Mr. Barba?”

“humph.. “ He snorted as he rolled his eyes.

“Did Liv call? Any word on the boys?”

“Yes and yes.” she stated as she handed his phone back to him with a folder attached.

“What is this?”

She smiled at him as he opened everything and watched as his brow furrowed a bit as he read through the contents. After a few moments she took pity on him and decided to explain everything.

“On top is the list of appointments and the arranged transportation to and from for Jake, and your, therapy sessions with Dr. Miles. With his the credentials and information for his practice behind it.”

As she spoke he looked over each document she described, eyes wide as he did. She didn’t need to see it as she did, seeing as she had put it together just like he wanted his files so she could restate everything in it in her sleep if need be.

“After that there is information and the scheduled intake appointment for Noah and Jake at a mentorship program that comes highly recommended by the therapist and dates for when Sonny, Lucy, or myself will also be present with them. We won’t be there all the time, but will stop by a few times to check on both of them.”

He looked at her and started to say something but she held her hand up to stop him.

“Finally there is information and the appointment information for your next fitting with the tailor.. I also added Jake to the appointment seeing as he does not have a proper suit for anything.”

When he looked over the appointment information his brow furrowed and he felt a bit insecure. He didn’t know how she knew but the more he thought about everything the more his shoulders relaxed and he felt some tension in his shoulders leave.

“Before you say anything I wanted you to know I already updated your calendar with everything as well as sent all these updates to you via the shared drive.. Where your list was.. Sorry I didn’t mean to pry but I felt you needed a hand.”

He had no words and didn’t really know what to say to her as he felt himself get a bit emotional for the first time in a long time. He moved towards her and pulled her into a quick, but tight, hug before turning to go back to his office.

“Carmen?” He said as he turned back towards her.

“Yes Mr. Barba?”

“Thank you.”

#rafael barba #Olivia Benson #Barson #barson fanfiction #law and order svu fanfiction #law and order svu

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toumakibangs · 7 years ago

Text

More High [English version]

@suzuka-nitta‘s prompt was: “In my defence, I thought this would go a lot more smoothly” and I personally think they nailed it (THANK YOU FOR SIGNING UP!) - let’s follow our favourite couple through a day-long date at an amusement park! Or better, THE amusement park! XD

You can read the original version (in French) here.

And thanks to @liesmyth (who literally saved my life this week), you can read it in English under the cut! Thank her for the best parts of the translations, blame me for anything that might be incorrect!

[About this, @suzuka-nitta: if you see anything that needs to be corrected, do not hesitate to message me and I’ll edit accordingly!]

Jinpachi Tôdô had impression he was living the best day of his life. Even if he already said it during his last date with Makishima. Every new day spent in the company of the climber of Sohoku made him full of joy. He couldn’t sleep for the excitement. In his bed, he mentally organized his ideal day, the clothes he should wear, the pick-up lines. Nothing was left to chance when it came to spending time with his boyfriend. And, as always he had been being a pain the ass of his team mates for the whole week. The latter had finally learned to ignore him while shaking their heads to let him believe they were paying attention to his words. It was easy to do so when you realized that in his monologues, Tôdô was too busy thinking about his rival or focusing on himself to even consider the opinion of others. It was no secret that the best climber in Hakone had feelings for his main opponent, and he was not shy about it. So much assurance worried a few people. His closest allies who had been following him for three years. After all, not everyone was open about homosexuality. Some cadets could not see a boy like him as vice-captain. But Jinpachi had a natural charisma and a talent for climbing highly recognized. And above all, he was protected by Fukutomi’s serious glances, by Arakita’s frowning ones and Shinkai’s demoniac ones, who discouraged everyone from bad-mouthing him when he spent too much time on the phone. He had never noticed his guardian angels. The two climbers had started hanging out regularly during their second year of high school. Even if Makishima proclaimed that a casual encounter in the same race couldn’t be considered a date, Tôdô treated it as such.

After all, every moment spent with the man he loved was a blessing. Whether it was on a race, at his place or the other’s, or like today, in the famous Tokyo Disney Park. The Inter-High had been over for two weeks, and the return after the summer vacation was approaching. It was the perfect opportunity for a romantic date. They hadn’t foreseen that some of their respective teammates, who had decided to enjoy the end of their summer vacation as well, would have come too. It seemed that all the third year students of Sohoku and Hakone had made an appointment, as was Manami who had been forcibly brought along.

- He hasn’t been feeling well since the end of high school, - Fukutomi has said. - We put a lot of pressure on him. He must relax before school starts and put up his best face.

- Look who's talking – stammered Arakita.

He was sure that in terms of “best face”, Fukutomi was far from being at the top of the charts. He and Kinjo stared at each other as if they were assessing each other before a race. Everyone felt the pressure emanated by the two captains with the exception of Arakita, who compared them to two strangers embarrassed to have farted in the elevator. Apart from this group, Manami seemed elsewhere, so discreet that we would forget his presence. And on that hot day, the young climber looked more like he wanted to ride his bike or take a nap in the shade of a tree.

- Your team is not complete, - Kinjo pointed out to his rival. - Your second sprinter is missing.

- Izumida didn’t want to come. He is busy polishing up all the club's weight machines before school starts – explained the blond.

- Where are your kohais? The keys to the success of your team?

Indeed, the three young recruits of Sohoku, who had distinguished themselves so much during the Inter-High, shone for their absence. It wasn’t bad, thought Tôdô. Onoda's presence would have made Manami uncomfortable. He liked little Glasses, but he could not help but feel the discomfort of his kohai when someone mentioned the winner of the Inter-High. And then, Onoda might have glued himself to Makishima, so it was better that he was not in the game. Tôdô wanted to spend time alone with his boyfriend, disappearing as soon as possible from the group and take him where his program planned.

- Onoda is attending a unique event in Akihabara, he preferred to go there and try to win something, - Kinjo explained. – As for Imaizumi and Naruko, they spent the summer challenging each other, and that's what they were still doing today. There’s no way to stop them. But we brought two other important members of our club.

Indeed, Teshima and Aoyagi were part of the expedition. The poor eliminated from the Inter-High were delighted to spend a day with their senpai Tadokoro after failing to ride with him on the race they had dreamed about since their first year.

Although disappointed by the presence of so many people, Tôdô kept a good face. It was quickly necessary that the group separated so that he could enjoy his boyfriend. Each seemed to have different expectations for the park so it would be easy to disperse. He could then run away with his Maki-chan, and finally steal his first kiss of the day. Makishima ended up accepting hugs in public. He especially understood that it was useless to dissuade Tôdô, who wanted to scream his feelings to the whole world. However, the spider still refused to kiss him in front of other people, even if it was his team, who he trusted. None of them seemed to be disturbed by their relationship, and it seemed totally obvious to them how they had evolved together. It was not the same for society in general who could not see two men kissing each other at an amusement park. Tôdô was totally indignant with this system. His meetings with his boyfriend were so short and precious that they did not want to waste time looking for a place to hide. His lips itched, so he cut right into the chase. He took the hand of the green-haired boy and exclaimed out of the blue.

- Let's meet at the entrance at 7 pm. Have a nice day.

And immediately he fled, carrying, despite himself, the spider, who let out a long "sho" of surprise. Tôdô insinutated himself without any problem into the park, discreetly passing between the different families like the ninja he embodied on his bike.

- Tôdô, where are you taking me?

- I have a sudden urge," he said, turning towards the bathrooms.

- You do not need me for that sort of thing, - lamented the green, who had been pulled inside one of the stalls.

As soon as the door closed, Jinpachi pressed hard against Makishima in a tight hug. The receiver stiffened before relaxing. All the time, he had to be able to anticipate this kind of attention coming from his touchy boyfriend.

- Maki-chan – whispered the dark-haired man, then raised his head asking for a kiss.

Makishima met his expectations. He wanted to kiss him too. This was one of the reasons why he wasn’t happy with the choice of destination. The presence of his team didn’t bother him, but to be out in a place so crowded, even more during the summer holidays, was the worst way to jeopardize their privacy. They didn’t have the opportunity to see each other every day, and Makishima enjoyed savouring the time spent with Tôdô. He loved him sincerely, but at the same time he didn’t often say it. That wasn’t the case for his partner, who never failed to remind him during his daily calls, and even more when they made love.

- I love you, Maki-chan, - he whispered between kisses. - You’re the only one I want for me. The others can manage very well, and I entrusted Manami to Shinkai. Arakita doesn’t inspire me much confidence, Fuku has a unique chance to let go. It's not easy at all to be our captain. He must already be worrying while we are still on vacation. But Shinkai has a little brother, I guess he'll do well.

The red sprinter looked really friendly. As for his own teammates, Tôdô was right about the fact that they would be able to cope very well. Basically, he wasn’t very unhappy that the handsome brunet had brought him by force. The place was not romantic, but he ignored that, focusing on the beautiful man who was still clinging to him. Purposefully, he leaned over to offer him another kiss, his long green hair hiding their faces, while his hands slid on his partner's back, making him shudder.

- Mmh, - groaned Tôdô, when he felt the fingers go under his shirt and touch his skin. - Maki-chan, it's not the best place to do this.

Makishima silenced him with another kiss. He didn’t intend to indulge in a place like this. Despite the frustration between each of their separation, they had never lost themselves to such primitive instincts. Tôdô's dream was to convince Makishima to let himself go in the open, but Makishima was too modest and anxious to be discovered and he’d always refused.

- So, what did you plan to do? - asked the green when he finally loosened his embrace, but without releasing the two hands that held his.

- I just want to spend time with you. We did not have the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays together this year, with the Inter-High”

The two lovers occupied important spots in their respective team, as climbers. They’d had very little free time in recent weeks. Mornings, evenings and rest days were devoted to their training. During July, in particular, their schedule had become extremely busy. The Inter-High was held in early August, just before Jinpachi's birthday. They’d both wanted the victory of their own team, and knew it would have been difficult to meet and have fun together shortly after the defeat of one of them. Even though Makishima had been more than happy about his team’s victory, he also knew that Tôdô and the entire Hakone team had mourned their second place. Including Manami, whose behaviour had changed from a careless joyful teenager to a tortured boy, which greatly worried his senpai.

Tôdô felt guilty for not caring for him, but Makishima was a priority. They had hardly seen each other during the summer, it was too much for him.

- Are you thinking about your kohai? - asked Makishima, who had noticed the pensive look of his companion.

- I know that Manami has the abilities to recover from this defeat. The team regulars of Hakone aren’t just anyone. But I blame myself a little for abandoning him.

- If you prefer to accompany…

- No way, - cut in the brunette. - It's you I want to enjoy today. It was Shinkai who suggested taking him out of his room. He promised he would take care of it. He's a good senpai as well, just look at how devoted Izumida is. I trust him. It's just that I feel defeated when I see him so depressed, but at the same time I understand him. I wouldn’t like being in his place.

Even though he wasn’t used to taking the initiative, Makishima pulled his boyfriend against him once again before pressing a chaste kiss on his head and saying softly:

- You're a good senpai.

- And you are the perfect boyfriend - Tôdô replied, wrapping his arms around the other’s waist.

Makishima didn’t think so. He wasn’t very sociable, didn’t know how to smile, or even how to chat. All the opposite of the brunette, who could have been going out with whoever he wanted, and yet that divine being had chosen him. He was more than honoured, but of course he would never admit it out loud.

- And today, I planned to make you climb even higher than the mountains - said Tôdô smiling.

- Higher than the mountains?

- Today, I'm going to take you into space.

As he spoke he pointed his finger at the sky, which left Makishima puzzled. What did Tôdô have in mind?

- But for the moment, I just want to enjoy the day with you. Come on, let's go, I spent days memorizing the map of this park.

What a perfectionists. It was a quality that just had to be expected in the talkative climber.

~**~**~**~

If he had been able to hide, Makishima would have done so gladly. Even Mickey's Mansion seemed far less ridiculous than his current situation. Wearing a headband that sported the ears of the park’s mascot, to match Tôdô's one, he wandered around the park with this ridiculous accessory. The two of them weren’t the only ones wearing a similar outfit, but Makishima couldn’t stand the mockeries of Tadokoro, who he met in front of a restaurant window, or Arakita’s taunting as he queued with Shinkai for an attraction. He went red like the knot of the famous Minnie. How did his boyfriend always manage to put him in awkward situations?

They had also crossed paths with Kinjô and Fukutomi in the accessories shop. The two captains went on defiantly, but Goofy's ears and Donald's hat serving as headgear made them lose all credibility. Well, at least there was someone worse off than them, Makishima consoled himself.

- I have the feeling that something is missing, thought Tôdô after they had met their friends.

He held the thought for a moment before letting it go. I couldn’t be that important.

If Makishima didn’t like crowds, it was because he never went unnoticed. Children looked on intrigued at his particular style. He was used to being stared at from head to toe, but adults could be much more discreet. He hadn’t been around so many children since he himself had been one. This kind of place was definitely not for him. It was the opposite of Tôdô, who seemed totally in his element. He strode from right to left without any restraint, acting ecstatic in front of the fairy decors and threw himself shamelessly at the mascots to give them a hug. As always, he got himself noticed and dragged Makishima into his mayhem.

As excited as the other kids, he chatted with ease, debating with them the studio's feature films. Some girls even compared him to a prince, and he amused himself by kneeling before them for a kiss, making his boyfriend somewhat jealous. Noticing his confusion Jinpachi jumped in immediately by pointing at him and saying how important Maki-chan was to him. He never detailed the exact nature of their relationship. The younger children thought they were just best friends, but some older kids and parents understood the meaning of his words. Makishima wanted to tell him to stop revealing so much, but no one could deny the love the brunette felt. His violet eyes shone, filled with adoration, powerful, honest and irresistible. Makishima blushed again, realizing that he was the target of this look, admitting to himself how much he loved this boring boy. With as much as he wanted to please him, he forgave him, as always, and he smiled. A sincere smile this time, which even caught the eye of some of the women and girls. Who would have believed that Tôdô had the power to imitate that natural charm on his scary face.

Makishima was finally happy to be here. Here or elsewhere, as long as he could be in the company of the other climber. He wasn’t particularly fond of this kind of place and attractions. He had always preferred the feeling of feeling free when riding on his bike. But Tôdô spent more time looking for the mascots, taking selfies with them in front of the minimal scenery, and the day went by quickly, especially when the line for the least tour lasted between half an hour and one hour, sometimes even more. No wonder, at this time of year and with the school holidays. Everyone was impatient in these interminable tails, except for Makishima, who preferred these moments because it was a pretext to stick against his boyfriend without it seeming suspicious. In the end, the couple only made the most out of the park, and themselves. Makishima noticed that Tôdô only chose quiet attractions.

-Do not you like strong feelings?

- It's just that they may mess me up. I want to stay perfect in front of you.

- It's not so important…

- Yes, it is, - Jinpachi cut in, very seriously - I don’t want to embarrass you.

Makishima wanted to say that rather, he was the one who didn’t feel at home by his side. Since they had started going out together, Jinpachi still placed him on a pedestal. Surely if the vain Mountain God praised someone other than himself he must be damned infatuated. Makishima just regretted never being able to return the favour. Would Jinpachi ever tire of never receiving attention in return? He knew his boyfriend was very cuddly and tactile, and he was not the type to take the initiative.

- And then in that case, I will get you to hold me against you as long as possible - the brunette ended up justifying himself.

Indeed, the attractions he chose were often held on boats or auditoriums, in darkened spaces. Jinpachi always managed to get to the back or in a corner. So that he could be close to his boyfriend in all discretion. Anyway, the other visitors were far too busy enjoying the show and watching their children to care about them.

Jinpachi insisted on carving their names on one of the slabs at the entrance of the park, in memory of that day. In exchange for tolerating his many quirks Makishima got to enjoy an ice cream, something Tôdô usually protested by singing his eternal refrain about the need for a healthy diet. He ended up choosing a sherbet as sweet as possible. Around the time they enjoyed their afternoon tea they met Tadokoro and Shinkai again, who were trying to swallow the biggest ice cream in the park. They were almost finished, followed closely by Aoyagi who was doing pretty well when it came to ingesting a tremendous amount of calories. Tôdô felt nauseous just looking at them. Fortunately, Arakita and Teshima were much more reasonable in their choice.

- I still feel like something is missing, - Jinpachi said, for the second time that day.

But no one knew what he could refer to. The day was coming to an end and Makishima wondered what Tôdô meant when he said he would take him to the stars. They were in line for a final attraction. To his astonishment, Tôdô had this time chosen a high-speed train: the mythical Space Mountain. He shrugged, not even trying to understand why he had suddenly changed his mind about this kind of attraction. Maybe because it was late and he could now afford to get his hair windblown. Tired after the long day, Makishima listened with a distracted ear to yet another story that his boyfriend shared to pass the time in these long queues. And when he got the change, he read the warning signs and safety instructions.

- An attraction that combines the words "space" and "mountain" is indisputably made for us, Maki-chan, - Tôdô finally explained. - I found out about it I wanted to do this with you. Today, we will climb higher than the mountains, into space. I would have taken you there sooner but wanted to save the best for last.

So that was what he’d meant, a simple attraction. It was just like Tôdô to take him to such a place, wanting to give him the illusion of climbing ever higher. It was awkward, but he appreciated the intention.

Once they were finally sitting in the wagon, quite naturally, Makishima removed the headband ear and tied his hair, which immediately outraged his partner.

- Maki-chan, you're supposed to keep that on all day! - the other climber shouted.

- But we have to remove it to use this ride.

- How so?

- Sir, - one of the Space Mountain managers told him - please remove and protect any mobile props that may fall. Headband, bezel, also store your phones, cameras and cameras.

Jinpachi obeyed without understanding, somewhat disappointed, at least until the huge safety strap was lowered down on his chest, tight enough to take his breath away.

- So much protection for a little dance among the stars.

- Uh, Jinpachi, do you know how this ride works? - suddenly realized Makishima who could not believe that Tôdô did not know what would happen now.

The restriction imposed on them by the harness prevented him from leaning forward to see him better. Makishima extended his arm to grab his boyfriend’s hand.

- Maki-chan! - exclaimed Tôdô, at once surprised and excited.

- It will be okay.

And before the brunette could answer, the train went off at full speed. Makishima didn’t find it very enjoyable; this kind of attraction wasn’t particularly fun. Nothing could replace the satisfaction he felt climbing on his bike. It even bothered him to have to bear the shouts of all the other passengers, those of the boy next to him mingling with the others. He squeezed his boyfriend's hand even harder, and felt him cling desperately to him. Having no other choice but to enjoy the spectacle of the scenery of the space that the attraction offered them, Makishima decided that the ensemble was well done, although the speed of the train prevented him from visualizing well. His eyes didn’t have time to take in everything. In just a few minutes they had returned to the starting point. It was only when they were released that Makishima was able to inquire about Jinpachi's condition, finding him still clutching his hand. His boyfriend seemed paralyzed, as if he had just received the biggest shock of his life.

- We must get off, Tôdô.

Without letting go, Makishima took him outside. The first steps of the Hakone climber were disoriented. He decided to lead him to a bench to sit and rest.

- Why did we go if you don’t like this kind of ride?

- In my defence, I thought this would go much more smoothly.

- But the Space Mountain is very well known. You didn’t hear the shouts from outside, or see all of the warning messages?

- I don’t know, I didn’t pay attention. I was so excited to share that with you. I thought it was a kind of planetarium. I feel ridiculous, and I'm sure I must be looking horrible. I am so stupid.

He had tears in his eyes, visibly still shaken. It was not much, of course, nothing serious. But Jinpachi was very detail-oriented. He did not want to feel so stupid in front of Makishima, whom he loved and wanted to impress so he would not lose his love. Makishima didn’t like to see it like that. Although they were still in public, he pulled him against his chest to kiss his head. Tôdô was dumbfounded, realizing that his boyfriend had not let go of his hand.

- I liked it a lot, thank you very much.

- Don’t say that just to console me. I know I screwed up on this one.

- It's not just because you brought me through the stars. I loved today. I can’t thank you enough. It's always you who organizes our meetings. You only want to make me happy, and I do nothing in exchange.

- But knowing you are happy is what makes me happy, Maki-chan.

- I think that, within a couple, we should both pull our weight, - said Makishima, pressing a simple and chaste kiss against his boyfriend’s lips. - I promise you I’ll do more, too. I love you Jinpachi.

This time there were tears of joy. Tôdô threw his arms around his boyfriend's neck in a hug that was both tender and tight, quite different from all those he’d shared with the mascots.

- Maki-chan, Maki-chan, Maki-chan, it's so good to hear you say that. I love you, I love you so much.

They remained entwined for several minutes, indifferent to other visitors who mostly ignored them. They just enjoyed this closeness, the warmth and smell of each other, the happiness of being together, quite simply. Their hearts beat in unison, beating against their chests as if they were trying to get out of their cage to join.

- Come sleep at my house tonight, - invited Makishima.

- My parents wanted me to help them tomorrow.

- Tell a lie. A train strike, an accident on the track, anything, but sleep with me tonight.

- Of course, as long as I can stay with you.

They kissed again, simply but tenderly. Ignoring the world around them and the curious eyes of the passers-by. And to think that at the beginning of their relationship, Makishima hadn’t even dared to hold Tôdô's hand. At each new meeting, they felt as though they were evolving in their connection, rising higher, always higher, like a climber who travels the hills on his bike. They loved each other madly and each day a little more. Both of them wanted to continue on this path, until they reached the summit, and even beyond.

- I just had the best day of my life - Jinpachi said.

- You say that every time.

- I think it every time.

The day was coming to an end. They only had time to go to the gift shop. There they found all their friends. Arakita was lining up at the cash register, two plushies under his arms, each for his two younger sisters. Elsewhere in the shop, Shinkai was looking for the perfect gift for his little brother Yûto, who loved cute objects. Tadokoro, meanwhile, had purchased several baking pans shaped like Mickey's head. Teshima and Aoyagi had much simpler tastes, choosing small accessories such as pens, keychains and notepads that were totally overpriced. Everyone was surprised to find Kinjô and Fukutomi in the same position as at the beginning of the day, staring at each other, arms crossed, without even blinking. Had they enjoyed the park, if only a little?

- I definitely feel that something is missing - proclaimed Jinpachi for the third time.

And once again, nobody could understand what he was thinking of. It was only when he took a look around the shop, observing plushies of the various characters, some decked out with angel wings, that he suddenly realized.

- MANAMI!!!

That’s what it was. He hadn’t seen his junior since the morning, when he had fled with Makishima, entrusting the young climber to his teammate.

- Shinkai, what did you do to Manami?

- Manami? Damn, since when he’s no longer with us?

- But how irresponsible! - said the handsome brunette, who had already taken out his phone to contact him.

- He was so discreet that I didn’t even notice that he was no longer following us.

- He must be sleeping somewhere, as always” said Arakita, who knew the boy's tendency to take a nap anywhere and anytime.

- He’s not answering his phone! - Tôdô panicked even more.

- Don’t worry Jinpachi, he can’t have left the park. Let's go and find him, and let someone go to the front desk to make a call - Shinkai suggested.

Meanwhile, the managers of the dolls' house saw one of their boats empty of any passenger, except for a young boy who had been drowsy for several hours.

- We should tell him to go out now. Did you hear the announcement? His friends are looking for him.

- It would be about time.

For several hours, Manami had been rocked by the songs and the sweet atmosphere of the attraction that had managed to soothe a little of his pain. The managers, seeing him alone and so peaceful, hadn’t dared to disturb him. It was not until the end of the day that another young boy, a brunette with curly hair, came to pick him up. He thanked them for taking care of him before leading the boy to the park exit. The little climber from Hakone was barely aware. He thought it might be Tôdô leading him away, but his senior did not have such curly hair. However, this head was familiar to him. Probably one of the members of the second string of Sohoku. He hadn’t slept well since the end of high school and felt very tired. He rested his head on the other boy's shoulder, an arm around his waist, and he let himself be guided, warmed more than he thought by this presence at his side. For him, it was not such a bad day. One day, no doubt, Manami would unfold his wings again to fly and rise, starting from where he had fallen. That burden on his shoulders wouldn’t prevent him from going higher, always higher.

THE END

#toumaki month 2018 #toumaki #suzuka-nitta

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yourlifeinsurance411 · 4 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://www.lowestpricetermlifeinsurance.com/index.php/2021/05/20/why-millennials-need-to-start-thinking-about-life-insurance-now/

Why Millennials Need to Start Thinking About Life Insurance Now

Not only is life insurance is far cheaper when you're younger—but it can also be a great way to accumulate wealth for retirement.

By Mia Taylor

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CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

During my "invincible" young adulthood, life insurance was the furthest thing from my mind. Not only was I confident that the need for such a policy was a long way off, but I was also clueless about the many savings and investment benefits that can often be derived from certain types of policies.

Fast-forward more years than I care to reveal with any specificity, and I've learned the costly error of my earlier thinking the hard way. For a variety of reasons, obtaining a life insurance policy at this point would be a seriously pricey endeavor, one I simply can't afford. This is why I've set out to help others avoid a similar mistake. Millennials, in particular, should take heed.

While COVID-19 has raised awareness about the important role life insurance plays in families' financial security, new research from LIMRA shows that 42 percent of Americans would face financial hardship within six months if the primary wage-earner were to die unexpectedly. The very same study shows that young Americans are most at risk, as more than half of millennials have no life insurance coverage.

Here are five reasons millennials really need to consider getting life insurance sooner rather than later.

When you’re younger, life insurance policies are cheaper

Let’s start with the most obvious point, one you’ll hear like a steady drumbeat from nearly every life insurance expert or financial advisor: The earlier you get a life insurance policy, the more affordable it will be.

“Life insurance is cheaper and easier to get while you are young and healthy,” says Micah Metcalf, owner of Metcalf Financial, a fully digital insurance agency. “As you age, your health tends to age too, potentially bringing a whole host of medical complications that you may have never even thought about in your 20s. Things such as diabetes, depression, or arthritis can all bring about more difficulty with obtaining life insurance, which can make it much more expensive.”

To drive this point home, Metcalf rolls out the following dollars-and-cents example. If a healthy 25-year-old male were to obtain term life insurance right now, the monthly cost would be a mere $30. This is based on quotes from such companies as AIG, Protective, and Banner William Penn. However, if a 45-year-old were to seek coverage, those monthly premium costs are more than five times higher, ranging from $164 to $169 per month from the same insurance companies quoted for the 25-year-old.

While we’re on the topic of policy cost, it’s also cheaper to get larger policies less expensively when you’re younger, which is not an insignificant consideration.

“You can get more coverage for less,” says Jessica Lepore, the millennial founder of the life insurance agency Surevested. “Larger policies are much cheaper to pursue when you are younger. Although you might not think that a $1 million life insurance policy is necessary when you live alone in your New York City studio apartment, think five, 10, 20, and even 30 years down the line. Your needs will for sure change by that point, and by pursuing coverage while you’re young, you will be saving much more money than if you waited until later in life to start coverage.”

Policies are also easier to obtain when you’re younger

Another important point while youth is on your side: When you’re young and healthy, life insurance policies are easier to qualify for (in addition to being a bargain). The flip side of this coin is that when you’re older and saddled with health challenges, you may not qualify at all—or it may cost a small fortune to secure a policy because of any significant health conditions you may have developed. And this is no small concern even among millennials because a recent Harris Poll found that 44 percent of older millennials already have chronic health conditions.

“In many cases, when you’re young, you may be able to get a policy without even having to undergo a medical exam. As you get older, this may no longer be the case. Life insurance companies may require you to undergo an exam, blood work, or even request up to five years of your medical records just to get approved,” says Metcalf.

As a bonus, when you obtain coverage younger, before being hit by any serious health issues, the policy is often guaranteed from that point forward. Meaning, if you develop health conditions later in life, you need not fret about being unable to obtain life insurance, because you already have a policy.

“Some policies are guaranteed to be renewable at the end of the term, so if you get in now you don't have to worry about qualifying later if a medical condition develops,” says Derek Szeto, co-founder of Delaware-based Walnut Insurance.

Student debt galore

Raise your hand if you have student debt. Chances are, that hand is in the air right now, because as of the second quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, for borrowers ages 25 to 34—a significant share of the millennial population—there was 497.6 billion dollars in outstanding student loan debt, according to New America. Furthermore, a recent Harris Poll found that most older millennials (68 percent) are still paying down their student debt a decade or so later. Now, who will be charged with paying off that debt if something were to happen to you?

“Unfortunately, when we pass away, our debts don't always go with us,” says Lepore, of Surevested. “Even if you're not someone with a family or mortgage, you might have other debts like student loans. By taking out even a small life insurance policy when you're young, you can ensure your family won't be left with the burden of paying those debts back if something were to happen to you.”

And while we’re headed down this road, do you happen to have a co-signer on that student debt? All the more reason you should be thinking about these issues.

“If you had a co-signer on your student loans, that person could still be responsible for your debt even if you passed away,” explains Allison Kade, millennial money expert from the digital life insurance company Fabric. “If you want to make sure that your parents or other co-signers aren’t stuck single-handedly paying off your debt in your absence, you could get a life insurance policy that would give them money to pay off your loans.”

Retirement savings

Now put your phone and Slack messages on "do not disturb" and spend some time with this next point, so that you can fully absorb it: One of the least understood and most valuable benefits of life insurance is that it can be used as a lucrative investment vehicle to build significant cash value over the course of your lifetime. This is particularly important if you’re behind on saving for retirement.

Cash-value life insurance also referred to as permanent life, provides a death benefit and can be used to build cash (as opposed to term life insurance, which does not offer the cash value component). The money you put into these policies can be used to develop an investment portfolio that helps you accumulate wealth. And as you age, the cash in the policy can be tapped to cover retirement living expenses.

And here’s perhaps the best part: You’re accumulating wealth tax-free.

“This is the most misunderstood and overlooked benefit of permanent life insurance by the average consumer,” says Brian Carlson, a certified financial professional and vice president of wealth management with GCG Financial. “If utilized properly, a permanent life insurance policy can provide a tremendous value to a person’s long-term savings goals. The concept of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) is hot amongst millennials. The usage of a permanent life insurance policy fits perfectly into the FIRE strategy due to the ability to remove funds without taxes or penalties before age 59 half. Permanent life insurance policies have a tremendous benefit, in the form of cash value.”

A permanent policy provides the ability for the policy owner to grow funds on a tax-advantaged basis and remove funds in the future without incurring any taxes if removed properly, explains Carlson. But, like retirement accounts, the sooner you start contributing, the greater the account value will grow to be as you age.

As independent life insurance agent Susana Zinn explains, most millennials do not have a financial plan that's robust enough to successfully cover their retirement. A life insurance policy can correct that shortfall.

“Seventy-one percent of millennials don’t think they will have saved enough at 65 to meet their retirement needs,” says Zinn. “And according to the National Institute of Retirement Security, 66 percent of working millennials have nothing saved for retirement. Instead, they’re busy paying down debt and covering their general living expenses, while saving for retirement is pushed to the bottom of their priority list.”

At the risk of beating a dead horse, life insurance can help you as a millennial ensure a financially healthy retirement.

“With life insurance, you don’t have to die to use it; you have flexibility with how the money is used, which can help with financial needs for both your planned and your unplanned expenses,” adds Zinn.

OK, you may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Protect your business after you’re gone

Actually, one more point. And it should be a point of pride. Millennials are one of the most entrepreneurial generations America has seen in a long time. A recent GoDaddy survey of 3,000 Americans—including 1,000 millennials, 1,000 Gen Xers, and 1,000 baby boomers, found that millennials lead the pack in entrepreneurial efforts, with nearly one in three millennials (30 percent) reported as having a small business or a side hustle. Securing life insurance can be a way to protect this legacy, making sure your business survives long after you’re gone.

If you share your business with another entrepreneur, for example, "that person could use the cash from your life insurance policy as a transition to keeping business flowing in your absence,” says Kade, from Fabric.

The financial burden you would leave behind

If all of the reasons already stated are not convincing enough, ask yourself this one last question: Would anyone have a financial burden if I passed away? No need to tell us the answer, just be sure to heed this final bit of advice.

“If the answer is yes, then you need life insurance protection now, so you won't leave your family with thousands of dollars in lost income or debt,” says Metcalf.

Mike Sheehan

#term life insurance #whole life insurance #Why Millennials Need to Start Thinking About Life Insurance Now

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