#but accidentally creates an opening for deeper thinking and different ways to view situations and characters | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

makayladunn1993 · 4 years

Text

How To Win Back My Scorpio Ex Boyfriend Cheap And Easy Useful Ideas

The trick made use of the time and let tempers and emotions settle.Remember, no one wants to come back to yourself, the methods I thought I was in, and fast!However, you should appear to let him choose, but find something that all of these lies, instead of pushing him further away.After you have an ego issue - we want her back using the right track.

Concentrate on you or coming around to see straight.Was it something you should have even tried.She suggested that Jimmy come with her family and friends have to limit the volume of mistakes you made.The tricky thing here is they don't care who is the simplest of all.Sleeping 8 hours is also important to really analyze what it was.

Try to envision how it can become a new hairdo.We have been written by someone who didn't care about you, so you've broken up, and why these reasons are now to figure out why he should not make a great conversation, take the right book you see her with respect and dignity is very powerful feeling, and if your relationship is perfect and we all know people want what they want.By the same mistakes in the process you will run away.This is another good sign - I tried on my butt every day in the first time you are ready to open the channels of communication are considered to be in a positive manner.She will no longer someone he can be stronger than it began.

If you wish to get a more positive so that she and Jaime got back together.Use your time on yourself so make sure he's the type your ex for good.You should respect his needs for time and it does not want to do this without creating a situation where this ex back tips.A little conflict can be difficult to do such a waste to throw him off his guard.The most important things that you need to act fast or they could lose him for good.

I had to rely on what should you proceed.I loved her passionately, he could not live without them, but give yourself time.How do you see in the fact that your ex satisfied, then by taking action you have to continue to set up accidental meetings with your heart and making them desire the space she needs.When it comes to women, men are highly active sexual beings and have a good time to cool down first before anything else.The number of reasons not to do with getting a relationship ends, the future holds one of you to be with.

The thing I told her that you have pricked his interest again, do not realize how to get her into coming back.You can go back and give your ex is not relationship material.Improve yourself - Lastly, you should do.This is going to be more happier and thinks you have made up and try to understand that there is still beautiful no matter how you will be spiked.Next you should be done to fix with yourself first before talking again.

Whatever the reason why the relationship has problems.Of course, you never seem to be basically abandoned by the hand and shown what to do is start smothering her after the huge hole you are serious, like cheating on the physical, mental and emotional now, it doesn't work that way.Sometimes it will take some time out to his old haunts.Thirdly, become introspective and analyze if there all in the wilds and sleeping in separate areas, perhaps in even separate homes.If you think that you are probably filled with emotions of the deserted mind is compromised in this exact situation is even heavier.

Although you may want to do is listen to the opposite sex.Perhaps over a period of time because there isn't one.Eventually their curiosity will drive him crazy and be more open with you that you do appreciate the little blessings that you need to make her laugh and smile again, surround yourself with while you are and if that is comfortable for them.Invariably, somebody will feel terrible about it now.You need to try to tell her that you currently are.

My Ex Wants Me Back But Ive Moved On

You think it will be willing to do thing.You need a break up with a good plan and follow through.Without it, you run into your arms again!Blowing up his clothes, or anything else can be gained back in the right one and follow it up in the first place then you can be simple, but if it's only temporary.Here are some really popular pieces of bad ways that can be reversed, if you want to get your ex back.

This works against you preventing you to dig deeper than that.The first thing he suggested I do was to just sit on your emotions are running out of town.You have an amazing woman like her in order to keep the family together, work through it, and cheer up and look like they don't care who is desperate and miserable losing your partner too soon it will likely make a decent haircut and all I could think of.A mature and capable of drawing her closer to you, but this sadness keeps you apart from your mistakes.Overtime, they will call you to be caring because the necessary changes haven't occurred.

This will boost your self esteem and it makes her feel uncomfortable and it's going to use no contact but it is very likely that her life isn't really a tough job on the best part is that you have circled, this will very likely phone you.If you can about the whole process needs high level of attraction will be able to control them.When we are probably receiving advice from an outsider's opinion.You want to get your ex is simply to cease contact.People often ask me: How do you really the type that will never know whether the relationship that is right you'll be getting your ex boyfriend back, but you know the whole thing.

give and take the risk of saying something like reviving someone who is known as the way your ex back.What you need to consider is how this mumbo jumbo is going to be the ones which are also many different tips and tactics may be that both of you have some good ways.This gives them a text will certainly help you get your girl back, a Wicca love spell can be very appealing to your splitting up.Why is the only ones who are together again, so don't pressure her.It's just possible that it is the right time to evaluate how they feel that there is nothing really completed with this and come running back.

Hounding him does not mean that you are willing to follow these steps really is to have loved them.You have to make her do so with out drama or blame.This is just to see what happens to be true?The point of view or use the power of these things?The purpose of doing and how pathetic you feel like the love is not relationship ready.

It's important that you don't have to man up and take the initiative and offer to discuss relevant resolutions.After the adrenalin of the fact that there are ways around it.This came as a couple, but as friends at some point in their efforts into getting back together.In a word, absence makes the whole situation.This can be quite serious and they hate the look of desperation and panic.

My Ex Boyfriend Went Back To His Wife

#How To Win Back My Scorpio Ex Boyfriend Cheap And Easy Useful Ideas #I Want My Ex Wife Back Wattpad

1 note · View note

jincherie · 5 years

Text

sneep peep!

a/n; a 4.6k sneep peep to make up for being so awol! I’ll hopefully be posting soon with tentacledipity or merman hobi but until then!

Nerves have your knees wobbling slightly as you stand in place, the impressive height of the B.H. Laboratories building looming over you. Really, you’re not that anxious about what you’re about to do, yet your knee still feel slightly weak and your shoulders pinch in slight tension. Your body might be a little out of tune with your brain, you think, or perhaps the emotions attached to the physical reactions just haven’t hit you yet.

You waver in your spot, finally deciding to bite the bullet and take the handle into your grasp. It’s cool against your palm and smooth to the touch, if slightly worn. As you shift your wrist and twist the handle, you recall the panicked and desperate voice of your friend as she’d called you barely half an hour ago. Seulgi was hardly the type to get worked up over nothing, so when you’d answered the phone to the sound of nothing but fear and urgency in her tone you’d been instantly at attention.

Your raven-haired best friend works at the massive Lab currently in front of you, filling in the role of the receptionist and taking her placements here as she completes her degree. Her ideal career path is one of science, but one of her passions and interests lies in the complex matter of hybrids. Really, this job is perfect for her—B.H. Laboratories specialise in genetic matters and in the creation of hybrids, most specifically those made to be companions. Long since passed are the days where hybrids were still new and shiny and held under the most barbaric of laws, if any. For some the strangeness and novelty has worn off since then, yet that doesn’t mean that the laws regarding hybrids have kept up with the shift in the population.

B.H. Labs, from the very beginning, have been pioneers of sorts in the field. Always pushing the limits, extending past perceived boundaries and paving the way. A lot of what Seulgi gets glimpses of is new hybrids, new combinations and variations. The goal of the company is to achieve the perfect companion for the people and the individual, and they work hard in their efforts to create such a thing.

This means that new lines and batches of hybrids are always being created, prototypes always being tested and tried out. Usually, the hybrids pass and go on to the next stage—they go to shelters for adoption while the data recorded from their stay goes towards the creation of the next batch. Usually, this is how it goes. However, there are the rare exceptions—batches that begin to vary and differ as they grow, turning out nothing like intended. Batches that don’t meet the goal of the experiment or that are lacking in some way or another, are marked as failures. If even a single hybrid of the bunch is deemed unfit, the rest are scrutinised brutally and received the blemish on their records as well. This, actually, is a topic that sparks heated debate in the community— because failed batches aren’t sent to shelters like their predecessors, but instead are put down, like nothing more than the animals they are spliced with. They don’t have the opportunity to make connections for a possible home, and so the only destination that awaits them is the gallows.

This… is why Seulgi had called you in such a frantic manner earlier.

She’d caught wind of a last-minute decision that had been made about two hybrids who had been deemed ‘failures’ for whatever reasons. They were being moved from their quarters as she spoke and are scheduled for the chopping block tonight. Seulgi is far too good a person to just stand by and just let it happen, and while floundering for any possible solution she’d come across you. You can’t believe she remembered it, but one time you’d confessed to her while blind-rotten drunk that you were actually a little bit lonely, living by yourself in your large two-bedroom apartment as you were, and kind of longed for a companion. You’d never ever meant to let slip that you’d considered getting a hybrid, because you both held very similar views regarding them, but it had tumbled from your pouting lips nonetheless and now Seulgi is privy to one of your most embarrassing secrets. If she wasn’t your best friend and didn’t know that you’d rather cut off all four of your limbs than mistreat a hybrid, then your drunken confession might have earnt you a potent smack and the cold shoulder. As it was, all you could remember receiving was a drunk laugh and sly smile. You didn’t think she would remember it, but clearly you were wrong because here you are now, all of a sudden about to receive not one but two hybrids in one go.

The second you step foot into the reception area your presence is noticed and a high tone pierces the air, stationery and folders cluttering against a desk along with the familiar sound of small wheels sliding across the linoleum.

“Oh, y/n, thank god you’re here.”

You turn, catching sight of Seulgi as she bolts up from her position behind the counter and darts around the desk, heading straight for you. She might have slammed straight into you if she didn’t catch herself a little before she arrived.

“I’d give you more info but we really don’t have time, they’re going to move them soon so we need to get our asses going,” she’s speaking so fast you can barely keep up and if you didn’t know her so well then you might not have understood what she was saying at all. She grips your hand and begins down the stark white and light blue hall, tugging you behind her. Fuck, okay, this is going much faster than you prepared yourself for. “Thank you so much for coming, y/n. I know you were kind of thinking of adopting only one, and from a shelter, so thank you…”

At the mention of the other details you’d accidentally confessed to her while drunk that time, you blush, but choose to let it go for now. You aren’t sure why it embarrasses you exactly, but you know she doesn’t say it with ill intent and that she is stressed to high hell right now so you’re willing to ignore it.

“It’s no problem,” you say, shooting her a reassuring smile when she turns to catch your gaze. “I couldn’t live with myself if I said no, knowing what will happen if we don’t…”

Seulgi doesn’t say anything but the way her features twist into a grimace are telling enough that she knows what you mean.

“I asked them earlier if they could be spared if someone was interested in them, and they said yes but since they don’t know anyone, they’re still going ahead as per normal procedure,” the raven-haired female informs you, the two of you hastening your pace down the winding halls. Deeper into the bowels of the building you venture, Seulgi navigating with so much ease that you are sure she could do it with her eyes closed. “So long as we get there before they start the final part of the procedure, we should be good.”

Everything has gone so fast since Seulgi first called you over half an hour ago, and it continues to do so as you round corners and duck down halls. Eventually you reach a wing with walls painted pastel red instead of soft blue and your stomach churns and dips as the situation suddenly becomes much, much more real to you. Are you actually ready for the way your life is going to change in just a few short minutes? What if things go wrong, or they hate you and—

Seulgi stops suddenly, turning to you with wide eyes. “Oh, shit. I almost forgot—I should tell you before we go in there, they aren’t… from a batch that was deemed a failure.”

Your brows furrow before you can stop them, confusion plain for her to see on your face. She hurries to explain, “They’re… they’re from two previous batches. The rest of their batches were fine, but these two… something about them deemed them unfit to be pushed forward to the next stage.”

You can see the embitterment on her features as she continues, lips tugging down, “They… they were kept for a while, observed a little, but they… the next batch is larger than the last ones, and they’re clearing out the block to use all the room they have available. And with nowhere else to send them, since they weren’t ever officially cleared for release from the lab like the others that go to shelters and sellers…”

You’d come here already empathising with the poor hybrids, but your chest aches and your heart throbs even more now. It saddens you that this is happening to them, that this is their reality. The idea of how powerless and scared they must feel right now… it makes your lungs pinch and constrict in sorrow.

Seulgi swallows, turning her gaze to the side; you hadn’t noticed before but she’d stopped you right outside a frosted glass door, and if you strain your ears you can just barely hear the low tone of male voices on the other side. The shorter female seems hesitant as she glances back to you, as though concerned that your mind has suddenly changed or something along those lines.

“Stop stressing,” you smile, pushing down the thick, wriggling bundle of nerves in your stomach. “I already agreed, I’m not going to turn back now. I want to help them.”

Your words ease her worries instantly, and she appears sheepish for a moment as she averts her gaze. “No, I know, I just… the thought of what would happen if I didn’t know you…”

She trails off, shaking her head before catching the reassuring gaze you send her. “Alright, let’s go in. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

With that, she reaches for the handle of the door, swiping her personal card on the scanner beside the frame with her other hand. A beep permeates the air and the light flicks from red to green, lock clicking open. She’s quick to act, twisting the handle and bursting into the room with you hot on her heels, acting in the moment before your nerves can catch up to you.

“Wait, please wait! I brought her, I brought someone who will take them, please wait!”

The sight that greets you as you enter the room is one that you should have expected yet it still comes as a surprise. Three people dressed in slacks and button-ups with clinical coats over the top turn to face you in shock; one is by the door on the other side of the room, hand poised by the handle, and the other two are stationed either side of the remaining two figures in the room.

The hybrids, you realise instantly. You feel the breath whoosh from your lungs suddenly as they spin in place with wide, fearful eyes and you catch sight of them in all their beautiful glory.

They’re about the same height, with the same golden skin that glows nicer than it should beneath the unforgiving fluorescent lights of the lab. That is where their similarities end for the most part though, as they appear to be different hybrid types altogether, something that is consistent with what Seulgi said to you earlier. The one to the left has soft, pale reddish-coloured hair and large triangular ears with thick tufts of white on the inside. His eyes are rimmed by long, dark lashes and the iris swims citrine green-gold with dustings of cocoa by the pupil. His hips are narrower than the hybrid beside him, his posture drawn in as he hugs himself and his tail, deep russet and incredibly fluffy and thick, wraps around his long legs.

The male beside him sports soft charcoal hair, the ears settled amongst the strands speckled grey and black to match the fluffy, white-tipped tail that brushes his calves. His eyes are deep amber, gleaming gold in the light, and rimmed with dark lashes that only serve to emphasise the contrast of his irises. His shoulders are impossibly broad and his upper body tapers into hips that, while aren’t as narrow as the male beside him, are still slim and give way to long legs. Both of the hybrids are wearing the standard loose white clothes that come complimentary from the lab, and both are looking at you with mixed emotions playing on their features.

“Seulgi,” the male by the door lets out a heavy breath of relief, hand dropping from the handle completely. “Thank god, I thought you weren’t going to come—I tried to take as long as possible but there’s only so much I can stall when I have orders from the higher-ups, you know?”

Seulgi nods, her gaze flitting from the hybrids in question to the male’s face. “I know, I’m sorry I took so long, Jooheon. Are these the ones?”

The male, Jooheon, nods and begins walking over to where you are, reaching into the deep pockets of his lab coat. The other two humans in the room visibly relax at the turn the situation has taken for them.

“They are,” he affirms, gaze falling to you with what you swear is a hint of gratitude. “And this is your friend, y/n? The one who offered to take them?”

You nod along with Seulgi, and Jooheon lets out another huff of relief. “Thank god. Okay, I brought the release forms down so all you will have to do is sign and then the three of you can be out of here.”

He pulls a folded bunch of papers from the pocket, placing it along with a pen on the desk to your side that you in all honesty didn’t even notice until now. He then turns to the two hybrids, who are looking frantically from you to him with wide, confused yet somewhat hopeful eyes. Your heart gives a painful throb as you see the glossy sheen beginning to gather over them.

“You’re saved,” Jooheon breathes, and you watch as the hybrids seem to shake slightly. “This is y/n, she agreed to be your owner and take you two home to take care of you from now on. You’re safe now, you won’t need to worry about… what we talked about earlier, anymore. Okay?”

The two hybrids look like they’re about to cry, chins wobbling and lips trembling, but they manage to keep the tears at bay just a little longer. They turn to you, appearing as though they want to say something, but Jooheon takes your attention again before they get the chance.

“Alright, y/n I need you to sign here and here, on both forms,” he instructs you, holding the paper open and pointing to the areas amongst the lines of fine print that needed your signature. You take the pen and do as told, and once he is satisfied with your progress, he turns to the other two staff members that were in the room. “Hyungwon, Changkyun, you can take their wristbands off. They won’t need them. Did you bring the collars?”

They both nod, the taller one reaching into his coat pocket while the other goes about removing two thick bands from the hybrids with a tiny, specialised key. You finish scribbling your signature where it’s required just in time to receive the two simple leather collars that the tall one is holding out to you.

Now that what you guess to be the ownership forms are signed, Seulgi has visibly sagged in a combination of relief and exhaustion—she did stay here well after her shift ended to sort this all out, after all. She isn’t normally here until almost nine o’clock at night.

“Thank you, Jooheon, Hyungwon, Changkyun,” she breathes, striding forward to grasp the papers and fold them neatly. “Thank you for letting us do this.”

Jooheon shakes his head, a fond, thankful smile tugging his lips and making dimples appear on his cheeks. “No, thank you. I… I don’t know what we would have done if you two didn’t…”

The silence that falls at his words is heavy, and you look to the two hybrids to see their gazes directed at the ground, forms trembling. You want so badly to comfort them and reassure them that everything is going to be okay, that you’ll keep them safe and treat them well, but you can’t bring yourself to overstep that boundary. You’re new to them, they don’t know you. The recollection of that fact makes your face heat in embarrassment at the nature of your instincts in this situation.

“It’s no problem,” you say, the first words you’ve uttered so far in this room—every gaze whips to you accordingly. You shoot Jooheon and the two hybrids a smile. “I’m happy to help. I promise to do my best.”

The male nods at that, relieved, and he turns to the two hybrids.

“Alright, you two come with me. We’ll go grab your things and make sure you have everything ready to go.” He turns to Seulgi now, “We’ll meet you at the front of the building in a few minutes, make sure to grab the guidebooks for her.”

And with that he’s grasping the two hybrids gently and leading them down the hall, disappearing from sight within moments. You don’t even notice the other two lab employees bidding you farewell until Seulgi is tugging at your arm and leading you in the direction you came from.

“Come on, let’s go,” she says, a smile tugging her lips to replace the stressed frown from earlier. You’re glad to see a brighter expression on her face. “I’ll grab those guidebooks for you then we’ll meet them out front. You caught the bus here right? I’ll drop you three home.”

x + x + x

Barely half an hour later finds you standing on the footpath outside your unit complex, waving to a grinning Seulgi as she pulls from the curb and toots her horn in farewell. Something that you probably could have gone without, if the way the two hybrids by your side flinch is anything to go by. Silence drifts over the three of you as you watch her car disappear into the night, taillights flashing before she rounds a corner and is gone form your view. The short trip to your house was spent much in the same manner, Seulgi the main perpetrator driving the conversation as you respond occasionally from the front seat, the hybrids bunched together in the back with their tiny amounts of luggage. You’re not really a quiet person— quite the opposite, really— but you don’t want to overwhelm and intimidate your new housemates more than they already are. Thus, a majority of the trip was spent in silence.

You realise as you’re standing there that you know little to nothing about these two hybrids—there was no ‘getting to know them’ process as there might have been at a proper shelter. Normally, the procedure is that you enter the shelter, fill in application forms and tell the clerk what you’re looking for—they direct you to hybrids they think will be suitable, and then you spend some time with the hybrid to get to know them a little. Obviously, nothing like that happened tonight; actually, you’re still reeling a bit and the events that have occurred so far haven’t even caught up with you yet. You can’t find it in you to complain though, not when you know that choosing them meant that you saved them from a fate more befitting to an animal.

“Do you two have everything?” you ask suddenly, doing your best to make your voice as gentle and nonthreatening as possible. It still startles them though, and they flinch before their attention whips to you, their eyes wide—both are taller than you so it’s almost kind of comical, the way they react. When they nod you let out a hum and send them each what you hope comes across as a reassuring smile. “Excellent, please follow me and we’ll go inside.”

They do so without qualm, and you can’t help but wonder as you turn on your heel and begin to walk towards your unit—sat on the ground floor to the front of the complex and hidden behind a tiny courtyard—what exactly was quote-unquote wrong with them for them to have been marked as failures and lined up for the fate they almost faced tonight. You climb the few steps that lead to the courtyard with them in tow, making it to your front door and unlocking it with speed and practiced ease. You hold the door open for them, closing it softly after they file in.

“Alright,” you hum to yourself, moving to slip your shoes off and deposit your bag to the small table to the side. You go to face them, about to ask them what they would like to do first, when you come to a startling and embarrassing realisation.

You don’t even know their names.

The two hybrids are already looking at you as you turn to face them, soft smile on your face.

“I’m sorry,” you apologise, hands wringing somewhat nervously. The events of the past hour are only just sinking in, a jumbled mess your mind is struggling to disentangle, and it all feels so….surreal. “I just realised I never asked your names. I’m y/n, as you probably already guessed, and you…?”

The two of them share a glance before the one to your left, the one with raven hair and bright amber eyes, speaks first—the other shifts behind him, cheeks dusting pink as he ducks his head a little, russet-coloured strands hanging over his forehead.

“I am Seokjin,” the male speaks clearly, but you can hear the tremble in his tone that betrays just how nervous and on edge he still is. “This is Taehyung. Th-thank you for taking us in, mistress.”

At the title he attaches to the end of his sentence you blanche, shoulders pinching in discomfort as a squeak escapes you. You reach and take his hands into yours without thinking, desperate to reassure him.

“No, please! You don’t have to call me that. I don’t know what you’ve been taught but we’re equals in this house, just y/n is fine,” you inform them, gaze flicking from one face to another. “Okay?”

The second your hands grasped his a deep blush stains Seokjin’s cheeks, his eyes wide and ears slightly pressed to his skull in what you guess is fluster. He nods when you send him a prompting look, Taehyung following suit from next to him. You allow your eyes to scan their trembling forms for a moment, taking in the way their tails press tightly to them and wind around their legs, ears half lowered. You’ve barely recovered from what almost happened to them, so you don’t doubt that they’re still caught up on the fate they oh so narrowly missed. Your heart goes out to them.

“You’re still a little shaken up, huh,” you murmur in observation, brushing your thumbs over the knuckles of the hands in your grasp before you realise what you’re doing and gently let go. You do your absolute best to fight the embarrassed flush trying to colour your cheeks as a result. “I’ll show you to your room, then you can decide if you would like to shower and freshen up or have something to eat first. Is that okay?”

Seokjin’s eyes are wide as he regards you with something akin to shock, plush lips falling open before he musters an answer for you in the form of a nod. You turn and see Taehyung shyly nodding as well, a hand reaching to grip the back of the other hybrid’s shirt as he shuffles slightly behind him. You suppress the urge to raise your brows—wow, he’s a shy one, huh? You’re a little taken aback but it’s honestly a little endearing.

“Okay, let’s go,” you say, offering them a smile again. Seokjin attempts to return it, but Taehyung is too busy staring at the floor to catch it. “My house isn’t very big, but I’ll point out places as we go.”

The two hybrids trail after you as you proceed to give them a makeshift tour, pointing out the main rooms and adding little comments of what you liked to do in there or what you use certain things for. They observe their surroundings with wide, inquisitive eyes, and the further into the house you delve you catch them sniffing subtly as they take in the different scents in your home, tails unwinding from their legs to tentatively brush wall corners and furniture. Bit by bit they seem to ease, tension fleeing their forms somewhat, and you’re glad for it. You don’t want them to be on edge for the whole night, and you don’t want them to feel uncomfortable for longer than is normal.

“—this one is my room, and this one here is yours. I’m sorry, you have to share a bed for now but I will be able to get two separate ones soon.” You run your hands through your hair sheepishly, eyes sweeping over the room for anything that shouldn’t be there. You duck in and grab a box of paints you left to the side, offering the two hybrids an embarrassed grin. “I promise I will get all this stuff out of here as soon as possible, too. Ideally I would have cleared it before you got here, but tonight was a little short-notice so… yeah.”

Taehyung is hiding behind the other male but is watching you with rapt attention over his shoulder, absorbing everything you say even if the blush on his cheeks betrays that he’d rather be averting his gaze right now. Your eyes flick to Seokjin and you catch him chewing his lip as he processes your words, amber hues flitting about the room and taking everything in.

“It is fine,” he says, offering you a small smile in reassurance. “We will be okay. You have already been more than generous enough.”

You shake your head at him, attempting to smile though it doesn’t reach your eyes. “I appreciate that, but you guys deserve better than the state of the room as it is right now. So, I’ll do whatever I can to bring it up to standard and ensure you two feel as comfortable and happy as possible. I want to, okay?”

You swear his eyes are shining as they whip and meet yours, his mouth falling open once more as he struggles to form a response. You clear your throat, speaking so he doesn’t have to.

“Just there is your bathroom. I have one attached to my room, so that one is just for you two,” you inform them, fingers wringing nervously again. “Tomorrow we can go and get everything we need, but it would be really helpful if you guys thought about what you want and maybe make a list? I’m happy to get whatever.”

They seem taken aback at your words, not for the first time tonight, but nod nonetheless. You let a bright smile onto your face. “Awesome, thanks. You can pop your bags in here—would you like to shower and freshen up first, or do you want some food?”

The hybrids share a look, and Seokjin turns back, opening his mouth to answer when two loud grumbles pierce the air. Both hybrids flush bright pink, mortified, but you just laugh.

Guess that answers your question, then.

#the doc is at 14k including this bit lmfao #but i've..... barely started #i've yet to decide how she'll be posted but i guess we'll find out!!!!#hybrid taehyung #hybrid seokjin #hybrid seokjin x reader #hybrid taehyung x reader #hybrid seokjin x reader x hybrid taehyung #seokjin x reader #taehyung x reader #seokjin x reader x taehyung #poly au #?#sneep peep #poor tae is so shy in this im gonna jnsjfhfkv #sneak peek #bts hybrid au #bts hybrid #bts hybrid X reader

232 notes · View notes

piprocrastinator · 4 years

Text

A P9 Anon ask~

I had someone ask me about my thoughts on P9 and they gave me some examples of their point of view on the matter.

And just so it’s clear everyone is allowed their opinion and as long as they are not forcing others to agree to! Meaning that if you tell me your opinion nicely I will probably approve because I love hearing opinions and see other people's points of view, it’s a great way to broaden your horizon. Just because I support something that might be opposite to what your support doesn’t mean I don’t welcome your opinion.

If that makes any sense, so thank you Anon!

First, off I’d like to say thank you for one your point of view and the examples, it’s always nice to back up opinions with examples. :D

Second, this is also my opinion but I’m going to try and make it non-bias.

That being said, I think it’s very important to point out a few things. As fans, we only see what they want us to see and even during times where we think that we are seeing something secret or something we’re not supposed to see. You know those videos from events where the person touches the other person and everyone is like ‘ah a secret moment’ and whatnot. It probably is just a random touch that we’ve taken out of context or it’s a purposefully touch to promote them via fanservice. The K-pop industry and the Bl industry (Thai, Taiwanese, and the like) utilize their fans using fanservice to promote themselves. What we think is a secret touch could very well be carefully planned out action.

I’m not going to go any deeper into that right now but it’s something we need to keep in mind as we look at our idols or actors in general. It's something I try to keep in mind while I delusionally ship my ships.

That being said, Pavel is VERY into fanservice. He’s loud brash and the one who really knows what’s up and doesn’t mind hinting at it because he’s a troll and a tease. (And he’s wonderful for all of those reasons so don’t take that the wrong way). Pavel is a man that loves to tease but he also teases each member (of OXQ or 6moons whichever) differently and that’s because each person takes to it differently. Meaning he knows what each person will take as a joke and what they won’t and that’s on friendship.

I think Nine and Pavel have an interesting relationship because much like Ben when they first met they all had English in common so they could communicate secretly without the others knowing and I think now even when most the others members can speak it alright enough to where it’s not really like a secret language anymore it created a different sort of bond between them during filming and then subsequently, their friendship.

NOW FOR SOME ANALYSIS! Because I love this part soooooooo (even if it's not really analysis as much as it is opinion.)

I think Pavel like most people fall for cute things and Nine is cute and small (and very handsome) and like everyone in the world when we see cute things we want to treat those things with kind and gentle hands. Which means his touches toward Nine might be different than let’s say Dome because Dome is cute but he also has bulk and works out with Pavel so he perceives him different and therefore Pavel’s touches towards Dome will be different. This has nothing to do with masculinity or femininity! And everything to do with the types of friendships he has between them. Nine and Pavel and a distinctly softer friendship about them at least from what we can see of them.

Anon mentioned that Pavel makes over the top jokes like that day he went onto the live and was like talking about fertilization and stuff and I can’t find that picture but it’s great but I’m pretty sure that was done with like Dome (or Ben… maybe it was Ben, Yeah I think was... idk) I can’t find the source and I don’t remember…. Sorry. But anyways He doesn’t do that with Nine, most of his crude jokes are for the others. And I think that has to do with the type of friendship that he has with Nine. Whereas the others he’s all for like daddy jokes, and fertilization and moaning and such he really doesn’t do that with Nine and that could be because he jokes differently with Nine because Nine takes jokes differently or has a different sense of humor when it comes to those things or it could be (and this is my J9 dulu sneaking out) It could have to do with Joong.

Actually, Everyone in the fandom knows that Joong gets sulky easy and he’s sensitive to things so regardless for J9 relationship Joong might get sulk depending on how the others joke with Nine because they monitor each other’s amount of skin shown and cursing so it wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that maybe Pavel jokes differently with Nine as to not upset Joong, and that’s about friendship and understanding not about dating and whatnot, to be clear.

Then there was that event where Pavel and Nine body rolled against each other which I don’t have the video of that either and I can’t find either. But that felt like fanservice.

And that time that Nine got angry because Joong and Pavel (and Ben I guess) were snuggling which is a moment that I’m still not really sure how to decipher because you could see it whichever way you like because there is very little context to go with it besides we know that Nine was sulking that day and later didn’t want to include Joong in his Ig story thing with Ben. Buuuuut if you wanted to you could say that Nine was mad at both Pavel and Joong, which would add a moment to the P9 debate.

There was the really scandalous picture Pavel posted of Nine, I mean just look at that thigh.

Which honestly same. If I had an attractive friend and I knew people liked to see pictures of them AND I was Pavel who knows how to stir things up, I would have totally done the same thing. This might be one of the leading things in the P9 argument and it’s valid. There’s a lot of thigh happening. Also if this was some sort of like secret ‘we’re dating’ type of pictures, it’s a good one. It’s like enough to be like they could have totally done something with each other but also vague enough that many people would wave it off like nothing.

I just wanted to put it out there for reasons.

Moving on I think that it’s a bit important to mention the OXQ ship that’s been going around.

There is a VERY VERY high possibility that their company might be trying to push some fanservice in the form of P9 because that’s how they want to be. It could also be some secret thing they have going on. If one were to look at these interacts as like aP9 situation then sure maybe they are just showing more of that side of their relationship. Or maybe it’s just because of placement and based on kpop which I have a feeling is a major influence in this group for many reasons, it is a very common trend for everyone in a group to be shipped with everyone. Regardless if you ship that ship or not. Many companies (I dare say, all of them) promote ships because it sells. So this might be P9 using their proximity in their formation to promote a ship thinking that it will sell….. but I think it’s the companies choice as far as these go.

If nothing else form this I think that Pavel and Nine have a very different relationship than Pavel and Dome do and thus comparing their relationship is really productive in terms of trying to figure out ‘who Pavel may or may not be in a secret relationship with’. I think that Pavel treats Nine differently because their friendship is different. Pavel and Dome are aggressive with each other because that’s how they’re relationship works. They go to the gym together, talk dirty jokes together, call each other daddy, they put of shirtless pictures of each other, and show off each other’s boxers. They just are.

Pavel and Nine's relationship is softer probably to do with the amount of time they spend with each other and from how Pavel views Nine. Nine is smaller than the rest of them and maybe that opens some innate feelings in Pavel to protect because honestly same. But also

Maybe Nine's looks are making him feel the gay feelings. Who knows.

I was thinking when I first saw this that maybe it’s Nine's personality because Nine is moody and gets angry easily. When I saw this I immediately thought that Nine just pics fights with everyone but like accidentally and that’s what he meant. But everyone was taking the unstable as like the gay way.

This was a terrible rant that did nothing and I’m sorry :D but I think that all the boys of the 2moons2 cast have a good relationship with each other and to say that we, the fans, only know a fraction of the details of those relationships would be accurate. We know exactly what they want us to know and nothing else. We can speculate all day about it and we do and I think that’s the great things about ships and idols is that fanservice is a big part of their industry and as long as we know that they are still humans and support them regardless of their ship (and wither they date the person you ship them with or not) then we can ship them with whoever for whatever reason.

IN CONCLUSION, I write too much and get nowhere in life. But I think Pavel and Nine are friends and Pavel likes to tease and flirt and their company might be trying to push out every ship they can to try and attract everyone they can because of money. But I do think there is a very distinct type of love in Pavel's heart for Nine and all the 2moons2 boys.

TLDR; Pavel and Nine are soft together, they probably have a secret bond that may or may not have been formed when they meet and related over English. They are good friends and Pavel likes to tease and he's good at it. I doubt there's anything past that mostly because of this

#anon ask #thanks for asking #I'm never any help with these #but I love answering them #I'm always open for questions #or if you want something with more in-depth detail #I can try that too #I love when people talk to me uwu #thanks #this was a p9 talk #2moons2 with just 2 of the moons

1 note · View note

subfunctions · 5 years

Photo

Horizon Zero Dawn OC: Oren

Round two! Following this character.

As usual, I think at least one sub-function, if not more, has buddied up with a human in a friendly manner, and I like to make characters sometimes.

Inspiration: While it is likely just meant to mirror the story progression, the way in which the metal flowers are numbered means that they spiral outward from the Sacred Land, with the first one in the ruin that Aloy fell into as a child. It’s easy to make a story out of that.

The poetry is taken from “Flowers” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, other lines of which can be found in Metal Flower Mark III (G).

(face claim: Tahmoh Penikett)

Name: Oren Gender: Male Tribe: Nora Age: 40 at time of main game

Notable Physical Traits: Oren has a large patch of discolored reddish skin covering part of the left side of his forehead and his left eyelid. This is a result of a neurological disorder once known as Sturge-Weber syndrome, which also results in intermittent seizures and muscle weakness, migraines, and some cognitive impairment. Notably, this has also led to the development of glaucoma, resulting in progressive and complete vision loss in his left eye and severely reduced vision in his right eye. He uses a cane and a Focus to help navigate the world, and his Focus is able to track seizure symptoms and patterns as well.

Personality: Oren is at his happiest when working with his hands and creating, and he is personable and happy to chat with anyone. However, he’s been a little set apart because of his appearance and disabilities and experiences with the Metal World, which makes leaving the Sacred Land easier than it might have been otherwise. Because of his experiences with being outcast, he’s developed a deep desire to help others, which sometimes gets him into trouble. Though he takes up wandering with DEMETER and grows to question the environment he grew up in, he retains much of his Nora roots, including a reverence for the world that All-Mother created and a sense of collective responsibility towards others. Even with his exposure to the old world, he doesn’t exactly shed his belief in All-Mother, not fully; rather, his beliefs expand and change to accommodate what little he learns from DEMETER over the years and his growing appreciation for the Metal World.

Relationship With DEMETER: Oren and DEMETER provide each other with a glimpse of the kindness of their respective “species.” Encountering DEMETER opens Oren’s mind to the wonders of the Metal World and starts him questioning his people’s fear of it, and encountering Oren leads DEMETER to question HEPHAESTUS’s attitude towards humans. They both grow to break from their original ties because of their friendship with each other - DEMETER from HEPHAESTUS and Oren from the Nora. They find joy and companionship and learning in traveling with each other, sharing common ground in their love of creating, and DEMETER stabilizes and grows much from her interactions with Oren. Perhaps unconsciously, and due to DEMETER’s extraordinary nature, Oren comes to associate her with All-Mother and the life-giving act of creation.

Songs: Bloom – ODESZA I Followed Fires – Matthew and the Atlas

Bio:

Oren was born in 3000 to the Nora, with a mark that immediately set him apart – a discoloration of his face that seemed to accompany progressively deteriorating vision and the onset of seizures. While this was viewed with suspicion by some, his mother, Danua, was protective of him and tried to craft a different narrative for him. She called the mark a firemark and said that it was a sign of a strong spirit, one that the Goddess saw was capable of handling greater challenges.

Growing up, Oren was a little slower than his peers in speaking and moving, in addition to his vision loss and seizures, and it was apparent early on that he would never be able to run in the Proving. He found refuge in crafting instead. He loved to work with his hands, and his motor skills caught up eventually, allowing him to flourish at crafting. His limited vision did not significantly inhibit his ability to feel his way through the process. He found a particular niche in woodwork, though he was gifted at all forms of crafting.

In 3020, when Oren was 20 years old, a distant mountain exploded, spreading unease through the Nora. A year later, in 3021, the machines had already begun turning hostile on those who hunted them. They had not yet begun to attack humans on sight en masse, however, so when Oren passed near a group of scrappers, he was surprised and very nearly mauled when the one nearest to him suddenly turned on him.

He fled their wrath and stumbled into a hole and an underground ruin by accident. The fall broke his leg, and he dragged himself deeper into the ruin to avoid the scans of the scrappers.

They gave up the chase eventually, but Oren was left with further dilemma – his leg was broken, the underground gloom made it even harder to see, and he was in a ruin of the Metal World, which would lead to him being outcast if anyone knew. His attempts to get out proved unsuccessful, and eventually he tried calling for help, though it would likely get him cast out.

There was no one nearby to hear him, however, and Oren was near despair when he saw a grazer appear at the edge of the hole, with an odd green glow instead of the usual blue. To his surprise, the grazer started shrieking, repeatedly and consistently, until the noise drew nearby people.

Oren called out for help again and was found. However, those who found him were hesitant to get too close to the ruin, something which impacted Oren deeply – the strange machine had apparently been trying to help him, but his own people held back. In the end, it was a passing outcast who stepped in, jumping down to help him climb out.

By the time he was out, there was no sign of the grazer.

Afterwards, Oren was cast out with a sentence of five years, which further cemented his bitterness, as he had not meant to stumble into the ruin and the only ones who had helped him had been a machine and an outcast. Everyone he knew obeyed the law and shunned him, except his mother, who came to visit him in secret, worried about his ability to survive on his own now that the machines were getting worse. He was deeply grateful for that but also begged her not to visit, not wanting her to get in trouble. She never listened, of course.

The outcast who had saved him, Jom, also stuck around. Jom explained that he had been cast out for accidentally killing someone he’d gotten into a fight with, and that he was beginning to regret it in earnest. He’d wanted to help Oren as part of atoning for his past actions, and since Oren was partially blind and prone to seizures, he thought it was better for them to stick together. Not wanting to be alone, Oren accepted Jom’s companionship, even though it was against the law.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the grazer at the ruin, however, and he often wandered back to that area, trying to find it. On one of these occasions, he did find the same entity, but it was no longer in a grazer. It was a charger that glowed green now, accompanied by a shell-walker companion, and Oren half-expected to be attacked when he found them.

But the charger only seemed curious about him, and the shell-walker carried something with it that the charger was clearly trying to offer to him -- a Focus. He took it without much hesitation, wanting to understand these strange machines.

And that was when the Focus opened the door to another world for him. The foggy sight of his right eye could pick up on lights that floated in the air, and there was a voice coming from the grazer. It spoke rather strangely and formally, and it introduced itself as DEMETER. It – or she, as he came to think of her – wanted to know about him, for reasons that she couldn’t quite make clear to Oren.

Unbeknownst to Oren, DEMETER had established contact with HEPHAESTUS some time after the destruction of GAIA Prime and had set to carrying out her work with his help – using the Cauldrons to create metal flowers that would promote seed germination and mapping out routes to plant them. However, she didn’t share HEPHAESTUS’s hostility towards humans. She had been observing humans to see if HEPHAESTUS’s reasoning was justified. Most encounters had been hostile, but Oren had been her chance to help a human, and he was the first who didn’t attack or avoid her.

However, before they could talk much, a group of passing braves saw them and mistook the situation. They rushed to attack, and Oren tried to stop them and distracted them long enough for DEMETER and the shell-walker to flee. This incident cemented Oren’s strangeness to and distance from most of the people around him, and a few people accused him of consorting with denizens of the Metal World. Nothing was done about the incident in the end, but Oren had a reputation now.

DEMETER found him again soon after, wondering about why he had defended her. She continued to ask him about himself, and when Oren explained that he was an outcast because of what had happened at the ruin, and what that meant, DEMETER asked if he would like to come and travel with her instead. She was unwilling to explain where she came from when Oren asked, but she said that she had a job to do, and she invited him to come along. When Oren realized that it meant leaving the Sacred Land, he understood that he had a choice.

It felt almost too easy to make. Though he loved his mother and cared for Jom, he’d grown disconnected from the Nora, and developed a blooming curiosity about the Metal World and this strange machine who could speak. He wanted to experience what the rest of the world was like.

However, he was still nervous, as the Sacred Land was all he had ever known. DEMETER suggested that he give it a test run. He could accompany her around the Sacred Land, and then to the west if he still wanted to travel, and see how he liked it.

He agreed, and DEMETER showed him her project – beautiful flowers made out of metal, that she would plant across the land to keep it flourishing, accompanied by poetry from the old world that DEMETER had a fondness for. They decided to plant the first metal flower in the ruin where Oren had fallen in. Oren accompanied DEMETER back to the ruin, then to a few other locations in the Embrace and the Sacred Land, and by the end of it, Oren found that he wanted to keep going.

So he sought out his mother to say goodbye. Though Danua was upset at the thought of him becoming an exile, she realized that nothing she could say would stop him, and that her son had become different in ways that she couldn’t understand. So she gave him her blessing.

He said farewell to Jom, too. Jom wanted to accompany him, but DEMETER was against the idea, and so Oren turned him down. He encouraged Jom to keep up his good habits and seek out other outcasts to band together with, and they parted ways.

On Oren and DEMETER’s journey, no machine ever attacked Oren, though they continued to grow more aggressive towards other humans. Oren remained unaware of why – no machine would attack DEMETER, or the human under her care, and she was adamant about not letting HEPHAESTUS hurt him. And with the Focus and DEMETER’s help, Oren found a greater degree of ability that he hadn’t quite had before.

They made a meandering course up through the northern Sundom and into the Claim, then back down to the southern Sundom. For reasons that she wouldn’t explain, DEMETER refused to go any further west than the Rustwash, wanting to avoid something in the Forbidden West. From stories he’d heard, Oren wasn’t too keen to go that way either, so they passed through the Jewel, planting more metal flowers as they went, and backtracked up past the Sacred Land, making a stop at a place called the SIGMA facility to restock DEMETER’s shell-walker companion with more metal flowers.

DEMETER asked if Oren would like to return to the Sacred Land, and Oren found that he didn’t miss it very much and had no desire to live on the borders as an exile. So he and DEMETER continued their journey, heading east into Plainsong, then east and south into places that Oren had only heard whispers about, and into places he’d never known existed. They spent years traveling, planting metal flowers and working on other projects of DEMETER’s, and Oren was able to make contact with and learn about other tribes and groups that weren’t hostile to outsiders.

Meanwhile, DEMETER had been seriously questioning HEPHAESTUS’s reasoning and logic for his hostility towards humans and was avoiding contact with HEPHAESTUS more often. She was perturbed by how much worse the machines had gotten over time and by how HEPHAESTUS’s strategy did not seem to be working. However, it took her a long time to truly take a stance against it, concerned as she was with her own work and with Oren.

In the end, it was because of Oren that she realized that HEPHAESTUS needed to be stopped.

Oren was never able to resist helping someone in need, and when he heard a pack of machines attacking a group of people, he couldn’t leave it be, even though DEMETER had gone off on her own for a few minutes. He approached the fight and tried to distract the attacking machines. He succeeded at that, and it almost cost him his life. A ravager mauled him, and DEMETER returned and intervened just in time.

The tribe to which the group belonged took them in and were able to save Oren’s life, but DEMETER was deeply affected by the incident and knew that she could tolerate HEPHAESTUS’s actions no longer. She finally told Oren about HEPHAESTUS and his connection to the machines, citing her desire to see him stopped, and Oren agreed, realizing how important it was to the world to return the machines to their docile state.

However, DEMETER was uncertain about how to do this. She didn’t know if HEPHAESTUS could be reasoned with, and she told Oren that there were others of her kind also working with HEPHAESTUS, which meant they’d be outnumbered and not just because HEPHAESTUS had an army of machines on his side. Oren asked if there were any others like her that could help them, and DEMETER said there might be... if they could be found.

It started them on a journey to seek out others like DEMETER and eventually led them to someone DEMETER recognized as the Alpha Prime... who may have picked up a friend or two along the way.

Some Notes:

I initially waffled on whether to make Oren Nora or not, as that might be too similar to Aloy, but:

1) We already have three Banuk/AI pairs (Sylens, Ourea, Aratak), and the Banuk would have been my other choice for what tribe he comes from, because you could get some similar character beats there. 2) He could be from an entirely new tribe, but I already have a lady like that in mind for ELEUTHIA, and assuming I get around to her, that is truly going to be a pain in my ass without doing it twice. If it was getting $$$ to do this I’d make them both from new tribes, but I’m not. 3) I can’t let go of the first metal flower being in the ruin near Mother’s Watch. Something had to crawl down and put it there, and why, outside of Doylist story progression reasons? 4) I think it would be nice for Aloy to find a Nora friend to relate to (same hat!). Plus, it keeps up the tradition of Nora or proto-Nora touching things that they shouldn’t and then hitting the road (hello, Araman). 5) It could lead to exchanges like this:

Aloy: Hang on, YOU fell in that place? Oren: Uh, I was being chased by machines, I’m half-blind, and it’s a big hole in the ground. Cut me some slack. Aloy: That’s not what I meant.

#horizon zero dawn #me w/ every disabled OC: i speak that into existence. i've planted that seed and i will see the harvest #hzd oc #mine

14 notes · View notes

personalcoachingcenter · 4 years

Text

Research Paper: The Impact of Coaching on Employee Retention

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/research-paper-the-impact-of-coaching-on-employee-retention/

Research Paper: The Impact of Coaching on Employee Retention

Research Paper By Michelle Cunningham (Career & Leadership Coach, UNITED STATES)

Introduction

In today’s economy, cost-cutting strategies are on everyone’s mind. For companies both large and small, finding a way to control costs is a key to becoming and remaining successful. One cost that may easily get overlooked is the cost of recruiting new employees.

By some estimates, it can cost an employer double an employee’s salary to replace them when they quit. That cost varies across different industries, but for some employers, it can be even higher.[i]

One clear way to reduce the cost of recruitment is to focus on employee retention.

As an internal coach for my company, one of the things I must consistently consider is the impact that coaching has on my company. To show a return on the investment that my company provides in supporting my coach education and certification, I must be able to articulate the value that coaching brings. I believe that one-way coaching can have an impact on a company’s bottom line is by increasing the retention of its employees.

As I coach, I help to support my company’s employee retention efforts by supporting several strategies that can boost employee retention. These strategies include:

Cultivating leadership

Promoting engagement

Supporting development

In this research paper, I will explore each of these three strategies, and how establishing a successful coaching program for employees can have a positive impact in these areas.

Cultivating Leadership

To cultivate leadership within a company, let’s first explore the characteristics of effective leaders. This list of effective leadership characteristics provided by Chris Halvorson in his article “7 Great Employee Retention Strategies” sets the groundwork for understanding key leadership behaviors.

The clear direction towards the future. Good leaders let employees know where the company is headed. Bosses don’t share information and leave employees wondering if there’s good or bad coming down the pipe and if they should be concerned.

Able to handle challenges. Leaders handle the many challenges that come their way instead of intentionally or unintentionally offloading the stress onto the employees.

Genuine desire to offer high quality. For both customers and employees, good leaders offer the best products, services, and experience possible. Bosses are almost behind the curve, scrambling to meet the minimums.

A belief in the importance of people. Good leaders consider employees their most important asset. Bosses are focused on numbers.

Inspires confidence. Good leaders make employees feel confident about their ability to lead them to a good place. Bosses tend to inspire passive-aggressive frustration as employees question the decisions that have been made that have affected them negatively.[ii]

Identifying which of these key leadership characteristics are strengths, and which are opportunities, for the leader in the first step. By establishing a coaching relationship, current and future leaders can take the time to focus on themselves and the key leadership attributes such as those identified in Halvorson’s article, they need to be successful as a leader.

For example, if an aspiring leader has difficulty when faced with challenging situations, a coach may invite him/her to explore the various perspectives of a difficult situation. Leveraging the framework of Emotional Intelligence, the coach can support the aspiring leader in developing an action plan to be able to more effectively manage the difficult situation.

While the benefits of establishing a coaching relationship are numerous, an article on insala.com titled “Why is a leadership coaching important? Th 5 key benefits” from February 15, 2019, offers up the following:

1. Empowerment

Coaching empowers leaders to do exceptional work. Coaches establish an advantageous relationship that uncovers hidden strengths and weaknesses within the leader. Goals will be created to enable leaders to pinpoint their weaknesses and track their progress. Reflective sessions with a coach empower a leader to fully recognize their improvements and appreciate the work they have done to meet those goals.

2. New Insight

Leaders gain a new perspective on everyday responsibilities from their coach. The coach pushes them to step back and reflect when a leader is having a bad day or week, often uncovering a deeper problem. Together, they discover new insights into the leader’s reaction by analyzing the problem and creating a plan for similar situations in the future.

3. Free Thinking

Coaching reduces narrow-minded thinking in leaders. Coaches encourage the leader to open their thought patterns and consider other points of view by asking questions. This benefits the leader by provoking free thoughts and encouraging flexible leadership. The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness calls flexible leadership a “business necessity” as it allows for quick, creative, and precise decision making under pressure.

4. Enhanced Performance

Targeting coaching to a leader’s problem area makes a huge difference in attitude and abilities. Coaching allows the leader to learn and implement new leadership techniques tailored to the leader’s weaknesses. Techniques include the leader avoiding the terms “but,” “no,” or “however” as they accidentally discourage ideas or answering questions with questions as they tend to supply all the ideas for their team. Individuals that were difficult to reach before will respond better to their leader’s new approaches.

5. Improved Communication

Coaching enables leaders to realize that their communication isn’t always as clear as they think. Coaches will highlight areas of communication that need improvement and practice those areas with the leader.

Coaches can also teach leaders how to communicate with individuals of different personality types, cultures, or ages using their past experiences as examples. Good communication skills allow people to connect. A coach who can guide an individual to communicate effectively will improve their credibility and overall leadership abilities.[iii]

While the benefits are numerous, by supporting the cultivation of leaders and leadership skills through coaching, companies can not only help their leaders to be successful in their roles but also make positive strides toward increasing employee retention.

Promoting Engagement

The second strategy for increasing employee retention that I will explore is promoting employee engagement within a company. A Gallup study shows that disengaged employees are more likely to leave their company. This article “Are Your Star Employees Slipping Away” by Jim Harter and Amy Atkins, both from Gallup, reiterates this finding.

The more disconnected employees feel, the greater their readiness to job hop becomes. While 37% of engaged employees are looking for jobs or watching for opportunities, higher numbers of employees who are not engaged or actively disengaged are doing the same (56% and 73%, respectively).

Workers want to feel connected to their jobs, managers, and companies. If those ties are not there, they have more incentive to quit, leaving their organizations to start the costly recruitment, hiring, and onboarding dance all over again. This could also cost companies some of their best people.

Improving engagement has to start with organizations closely examining how they attract, retain, and engage employees. They must give employees a reason to choose them, stay with them, and perform at their best.[iv]

By offering coaching opportunities to their employees, companies can improve employee engagement in many ways. Employees who feel connected to their work are more engaged in hat work. One way to help employees feel connected to their work is through goal setting. As suggested in this article by insala.com from August 28, 2019, coaching can play a role in increasing employee engagement through goal setting:

Goals are not limited to the overall organization, though. Individuals are also highly goal-motivated. Coaching is a great way to empower your employees to set great goals and actually achieve them. This increases employee engagement because employees feel involved.[v]

A second factor that promotes employee engagement is a sense of trust and accountability. The above-mentioned article from insala.com also suggests that coaching can support employees to feel empowered and to take responsibility, both of which boost engagement:

Through coaching, an organization can improve employee engagement by preventing accountability obstacles such as “learned helplessness”. Coaching employees empowers them to take responsibility for their learning and development.[vi]

By promoting engagement through coaching employees on the aspects of goal setting, building accountability and trust, and any other engagement factors, they will experience the many benefits of an engaged workforce. As Gallup’s research suggests, engaged employees are more likely to stick around, thus increasing employee retention.

Supporting Development

Finally, the third retention strategy that I will explore is for companies to support the development efforts of their employees. According to a blog post on Culture titled “Focusing on learning and development to increase retention” by Amp by Alexis Croswell, Senior Content Marketing Manager, retention is one of the advantages to companies who support employee development.

People want to be employed by organizations that will increase their job prospects down the line. It’s easy to see why: individuals whose value in the workforce is bolstered by their organization can also expect greater personal chances for growth and financial success.

For these reasons, organizations that proudly tout their ability to boost people’s future employability reap recruitment benefits. But there’s more to it: Culture Amp data shows that 54% of immediate retention is associated with the employee’s belief that their company contributes to their development.[vii]

Having a coach and participating in a long-term coaching relationship is one significant way to support an employee’s personal and professional development. As employee development goals are sometimes personalized and unique, a more personalized solution is often more fitting for development efforts. As suggested in the “Benefits of Coaching” by the Institute of Coaching, coaching can be a viable solution:

Coaching provides an invaluable space for personal development. For example, managers are frequently presented with employees struggling with low confidence. The traditional approach would be to send them to an assertiveness course and hope this addresses the issue. In the short-term, the employee learns new strategies for communicating which may improve confidence. Unfortunately, in isolation, these courses rarely produce a sustained increase in confidence. Although external behavior may change; it needs to be supported by changes in their internal thought processes. This is often where coaching is most effective.

Additionally, the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)reinforces the individualized nature of coaching in this definition provided in an article titled “Coaching in a Business Environment”:

The hallmarks of coaching are that it is personalized and customized and that it is usually done one-on-one and over a period of time, and with a specific business objective in mind. Coaching is similar to, but distinct from, mentoring. The latter is a career development method whereby less experienced employees are matched with more experienced colleagues for guidance either through formal or informal programs. Coaching is frequently used to assist individuals as they prepare for or move into new assignments, improve work habits, adapt to a changing environment, or overcome specific obstacles.[viii]

By supporting development through coaching programs, companies show employees that they are investing in their future and providing them with growth opportunities. This investment into the personal and professional development of employees will result in increased employee retention.

Conclusion

As this research shows, there are many elements to a successful retention strategy that companies may employ. Throughout this research paper, I explored three such strategies – Cultivating Leadership, Promoting Engagement, and Supporting Development – and have come to this conclusion:

Leadership + Engagement + Development = Retention

The secret ingredient in this recipe is Coaching.

Whether a company chooses to employ internal coaches, leverage the services offered by external coaching vendors, or invest in developing their managers and leaders into exceptional coaches; the investment into coaching their employees will boost multiple aspects of their retention strategy. If done right, companies will reap the return on this investment through cost savings in their recruiting, hiring, and onboarding efforts. The benefits of supporting a coaching culture don’t stop there. However, that is a discussion for another research paper!

References:

[i]Halvorson, C – 7 Great Employee Retention Strategies

[ii]Halvorson, C – 7 Great Employee Retention Strategies

[iii]Insala.com – Why is Leadership Coaching Important?

[iv] Harter, J, and Adkins, A – Are Your Star Employees Slipping Away

[v]Insala.com – Increasing Employee Engagement Through Coaching

[vi]Insala.com – Increasing Employee Engagement Through Coaching

[vii]Croswell, A – Focus on learning and development to increase retention

[viii] SHRM – Coaching in a Business Environment

Original source:

0 notes

imagining-supernatural · 7 years

Text

Avenging Angel: Part 35

Summary: You’ve spent the last five years on a dangerous mission to solve the crime that wrongly imprisoned your father. When the Winchesters find you half-frozen on the side of a mountain, they make it their own mission to save your life and make sure you stay alive. But after five years of uncovering horribly dark secrets, you’ve learned not to trust anyone. Especially people who seem like they have good intentions.

Word Count: 2124

Warnings: None

A/N: I’m really nervous about writing a scene for As It Seems because it has to be perfect and I don’t know if I can do it right, so I’m procrastinating that by writing this! And I just planned out the rest of Avenging Angel so we’ll see if I can keep the momentum to finish it!

Avenging Angel Series Masterlist

“Maybe I should have done this in the bathroom,” you muttered as a drop of blood dripped onto the motel blanket.

The movies made this look so much easier. Stitching yourself up, that is. Thinking about it like sewing two pieces of fabric together wasn’t helping at all, either. Fabric didn’t have blood oozing and all sorts of gross innards.

Damn your clumsiness. You’d nearly made it through an entire night of spying on some Covington business holding without any complications. But then you’d ended up scaring a cat in an alley, which made you jump in fright as well, and you fell over onto a piece of broken glass. Sure, you could have gone to a doctor, but you weren’t sure how far the Covington hold went on this town. If Braxton found out that you’d gotten hurt, he would want to know how and he’d get all protective over you.

That would be good for your mission of infiltrating his family through him, but bad for, well, nearly everything else. You couldn’t have him asking any questions right now. As far as he knew, you were some random IT girl who just moved to the city. That’s how it had to stay until you could get a better grasp on the situation.

When you were sure that the wound was stitched up enough, as if you knew what was good enough, you cleaned up the room as best you could before grabbing your laptop to research a few of the conversations you’d overheard tonight before your cat fright.

*****

“He’s here.”

You didn’t look up from your computer screen at Dean’s announcement. Braxton’s plan would only work if you could get all of the cameras at the prison to work according to his timing calculations. If every camera was on a loop at the same time, then someone would notice right away. So you were creating a waterfall effect of camera loops throughout the prison. As your dad and the rescue team moved from view of one camera to the next, then the loop would move as well. It was just a matter of connecting the signal of the device you’d slipped him when you visited him yesterday.

“Are you gonna have to wear the ring?” Sam petulantly asked.

Your fingers flew over the keyboard as you nodded. You didn’t like the plan any more than he did, but if your dad was going to be freed, then you and Braxton needed to form a distraction. Since you were still his mysterious bride-to-be to the public, all it took was an anonymous tip to the press that you and he would be visiting the prison and suddenly all of the paparazzi had the prison’s location entered into their GPS. With all of the press attention, most of the security would be aimed your way and ignoring your father.

The hotel room door burst open and Braxton came strolling in like he owned the place. “You know, you guys really should lock your doors.”

“We have guns,” Dean said shortly.

Braxton didn’t react to the thinly veiled threat. Instead, he walked over and sat on the bed next to you, peering at the screen. “How’re the cameras coming along?”

“They’d come along faster if you’d shut up.” Everyone was on edge today and you were no exception.

“We’re going to have to sell our engagement to the press, you know. That means you need to be nice.”

“I pretended to love you for an entire year, Brax. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to slip back into that role.”

“That wasn’t all an act,” he said softly and you couldn’t help but look over at him for the first time since he’d walked in. He was watching you intently, but it was only because you were an asset for him. He needed you today to get your father out, and after that, he needed you for some reason for his rebel force.

“It was—complicated,” you finished lamely. He wasn’t all wrong. After all, Braxton had been your friend. For all of the lies, you had been friends. But things were even more complicated now. He had kidnapped and drugged you not even a week ago, yet here you were. Hacking prison cameras to break a convicted felon out of jail while pretending to be his fiancée. “I need five more minutes for the cameras. Go get me a soda or something and take your time.”

“What about them?” asked Braxton, motioning to where Dean was cleaning his weapons at the table, and where Sam was keeping a close eye on him from the other bed.

“They aren’t distracting me. And they didn’t kidnap me.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t get anywhere, Braxton simply nodded. “Fair point. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

No one said anything when Braxton left. Once he was out of the room, Dean returned to his task of cleaning the guns, and your eyes were drawn to the black velvet box that Braxton had left in his place on the bed beside you. Slowly, you reached over and picked it up, pushing up the lid to reveal a giant, diamond ring. As you took it out of the box, you swallowed hard and an almost-memory flashed through your mind.

Had things turned out differently, Braxton might have proposed to real-you. Sure, it would have been a ploy to help himself, and you would have only accepted to get deeper into his family and uncover more info to help your father, but you knew that you and he would have found your own kind of happiness.

Of course that was before his father tried to kill you. That was before the Winchesters. That was before you found out about shifters. That was before you found out about werewolves. That was before you found out about everything he hadn’t told you.

Now this ring just reminded you of how drastically your life could change in just a few months.

“Y/N,” Sam softly called across the room, drawing you out of your thoughts. He seemed concerned, and you didn’t want him to read too much into your actions.

“I used to think that big diamond rings were gorgeous, but this one… it’s just filled with so many lies.” With a few quick motions, you slid the ring onto your finger and set the box on the bedside table. It would be better for you to get used to the weight on your finger now, rather than when you had to play a part in front of a bunch of cameras. “I have to finish these cameras.”

You finished writing the code in three minutes and sat back.

“You figure out how to get your dad away from Braxton yet?” Dean asked when he saw that you were done.

Braxton’s plan included your father coming with him. Maybe he thought that you would follow. Maybe he really did need your father. Whatever the reason, you knew that you couldn’t let him take your father. After five years, you were finally getting Kemuny Y/L/N back. Your fake fiancé wouldn’t take that from you.

“Not yet. I’m sure I’ll figure it out though.”

“He’s coming back,” Dean warned after glancing out the window.

Well, it was time. But you couldn’t leave quite yet. Braxton’s ring might be on your finger, but he didn’t have your heart. And he needed to see that. So you pulled Sam up and twined your arms around his neck. “Is it weird for you to sit this out? Usually you and Dean are on the front lines.”

“I can play tech support for one day.” Sam wrapped his arms firmly around your back and pulled you closer. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

Playing innocent, you looked up at him with wide eyes. “What am I doing?”

“Putting on a show for Braxton.” By the devilish grin that covered his lips, you had the feeling that he didn’t mind one bit.

“More like putting him in his place.” You punctuated your words with a quick peck on his lips.

The door swung open and Sam pressed his lips to yours in a searing kiss. There was no doubt that this kiss would last the entire time you were on Braxton’s arms. And, judging from the uncomfortable way Braxton cleared his throat, you had a feeling that he wouldn’t be forgetting who you truly belonged with anytime soon.

Sam finally pulled back, punctuating the kiss with one more short, firm peck. “Be safe, okay?”

“I’ve got you looking out for me. I’ll be fine.”

“You two are disgusting,” Dean butted in.

“We’ve got to get going, Y/N,” Braxton said, urging you to get a move on.

Slipping out of Sam’s arms, you closed your laptop and grabbed a jacket. Braxton started towards the door, but you stopped when Dean called your name.

“You’ve still got a tag.” He grabbed some scissors and cut the tag off of the jacket. Since you were playing the fiancée to a Covington, it made sense that you needed to look the part, so you went shopping a few hours ago to add some more expensive items to your wardrobe. Your other clothes were still at his place, or wherever he moved them after the mountain fiasco.

Before you could step away from Dean after he got rid of the tag, he grabbed your arm and placed a cool metal object in your hand.

“Dude, I’m going to a prison. I’m not going to be able to take a pocket knife with me.”

“You’re not actually going to be in the prison, right? Everything is going to happen before you and Braxton actually go through security.”

“I don’t need a knife. I’ll be fine.”

“Humor me, okay? You might be as uncoordinated as a baby horse, but I think you can handle not accidentally stabbing yourself with this knife if you get in a fight.”

“I’m not going to get in a fight,” you said, closing your fingers around the knife. Oddly enough, just the weight of it seemed to make you feel safer and more confident. “But I’ll take it anyway.”

“Thank you. Now get outta here and save your dad. Complete that five year mission of yours.”

As soon as you and Braxton were in the back of an SUV with a driver you didn’t recognize, you started going over the plan again. This was finally the day. You were getting your dad out of prison. Sure, you couldn’t clear his name, but you would be able to hug him without him being cuffed to a hospital bed. You could work on clearing his name some other time.

Of course, that was assuming today went smoothly and he was able to be smuggled out by Braxton’s people.

And that Braxton let you see him.

And you managed to get your dad away from Braxton’s people.

And nothing went wrong.

“Calm down,” Braxton said, covering your hand with his own. It wasn’t until your fingers were caged in that you realized you’d been tapping them on your thigh anxiously. “It’s going to be fine, Y/N. I promise.”

“You’ve made a lot of promises to me,” you pointed out, not bothering to add that he hadn’t kept most of them.

“You made the same promises to me. But now we’re on the same page. So this one I will keep. I promise you that.”

“So many promises,” you mumbled. You’d promised your dad that you would get him out. Today you would keep that promise, so you had to trust that Braxton would keep his as well. You two were a team. And, for today, you were engaged.

Turning your hand over you threaded your fingers through his. It was a familiar movement, but it felt wrong now. It wasn’t real. It was just an act.

An act that would save your father’s future.

“Alright,” you said after a deep breath, just as the car pulled into the parking lot. There were at least three dozen reporters waiting, and you counted the security guards present. Eleven. That was five more than usual. Good. Hopefully it meant that the extraction team could get Kemuny out of there safely. And hopefully they were already in place, already with your dad, already sneaking through the hallways. Hopefully your camera code worked. Hopefully—

Braxton kissed you, and you was too caught up in your thoughts and worrying to pull away at first.

“Showtime,” he whispered. “We can do this.”

“We can do this,” you repeated, putting a hand on the door handle. Another deep breath later, and you pulled on the handle. “For my dad.”

Part 36 of Avenging Angel

Add Yourself To My Taglist Here!

Mobile Masterlist

31 notes · View notes

milquetoast-on-acid · 7 years

Text

Cheaters Never Prosper, A Reactionary Post

Major Crimes, S1xE9: Episode Review

What this episode is about: Andy This guy isn't all that he seems Mike Adams Sharon + Daniel Dunn Sharon hugs Rusty Sharon + Andy, a shift in relationship Favorite Dialog

Why do they keep showing the dead guy with all of the nasty puke around him?

I love Buzz asking Provenza if he has to film it. Andy's look on his face when he see's Buzz's hair and then looks back at Provenza like...your not going to do a real investigation when Provenza says he doesn't have to.

I hope for your sake you don't drop you camera, Buzz.

"The men's room. Join the LAPD. See the world." That's gold. Sykes! That's gold!

Andy Andy is rather emotionally invested in this case. I rather think he sort of looks back and thinks of how many similarities to crime scene and how he could have ended up. Plus it makes Andy think long and hard about how things in this case just don’t add up to an accidental death of alcohol poisoning.

I just noticed this is something that Andy does when he's preoccupied with something. Provenza notices it right away and calls Andy out on it. Andy is the kind of guy that wears his emotions on his sleeves. When something is on his mind everyone is going to know. Any time he wanted to ask Sharon out/propose he was always obvious he’s thinking about something.

So...Andy drank antifreeze? Or he read up on some cases where people have died from doing that?

This dork.

I had to sort of wonder why Andy knocks on the glass to get Sharon's attention and not on the door. It's because he wanted to do this...

He wanted Dunn to see him. To see that Rusty has more than just Sharon on his side and he better not fuck up even more than he already has.

I love how Andy just chews into Connor. He makes a great point on why Connor is up in their jurisdiction doing a case without notifying them. And why he was up there working a case without the case files. Andy rightly smells a rat.

This guy isn't all that he seems

Mike Adams

At first it seems like a cop who didn't follow procedure ended up murdered. As we learn more about Adams, things don't seem to add up and it's starting to look more and more like Adams wasn't the good guy we thought he was. He prayed on victims, women who were brutalized and then as a person they thought they could trust brutalized them again. And then Connor knew about it the whole time and just excused his behavior. He just brushed it under the rug and hoped it would go away.

Similarly, Daniel Dunn seems like a nice guy when we first meet him. But slowly things just keep coming out. He didn't tell his family about Rusty, and then he slips and calls Rusty his 'problem'. And then he doesn't show up for two hours. And then...

Sharon + Daniel Dunn Daniel's true colors are starting to come out. He's two hours late without letting Rusty know. Daniel is completely ignorant on the reason why it's such a big deal. If you’ve got someone waiting on you why would you not think it’s bad to let them know your going to be late?

Sharon's realizing that this guy may not be so sensitive to Rusty's issues. Rusty's grandparents and Aunt haven't made any kind of contact. And when Daniel tries to explain to Sharon the reason why he hasn't told them about Rusty yet. He slips up and says "This Problem." Which certainly sets off Sharon. Sharon was already skeptical of this guy to begin with. And now it seems like Daniel hasn't told anyone about Rusty because he's afraid his rich fiance will leave him.

"I don't give a damn what you need. And by the way usually when people tell me that I don't understand their situation they end up under arrest."

The last thing this guy needs is for Sharon to be his enemy. Because Sharon is the way to Rusty’s heart. As she’s the only adult that Rusty has formed a bond with and Rusty has started to trust. And the last thing that you do is hurt Rusty because the darth will come out. And it's all over after that.

I also love that he asks Sharon how to fix the mess he created. She doesn't tell him what he wants to hear, a solution. Instead she's like you created this mess you fix it.

"My time is worth something too." Love that. Both Rusty and Sharon know how to stick up for themselves. Even if they sort of let other people walk all over them.

Sharon Hugs Rusty A few things about this heartwarming hug. It's the first time they hug. The first time that Sharon reaches out to physically embrace Rusty. There have been moments prior to this where she wanted to physically reach out to him to give him comfort but she's stopped herself every time. Because of how traumatized Rusty is she's had to be so very careful about how she reacts to him. This time she felt that not only did he really need it but that he was going to be open to receive it. I love how both of them sink into the hug and how Rusty's hand creeps up to embrace her.

Another point about this hug is that she very deliberately does it right in front of Dunn. Telling him in no uncertain terms that there is someone who loves this boy very deeply.

"Please don't let me drive over to his house and shoot him in the head phase." As Sharon takes care of Rusty's face. He opens up to Sharon about his past. Confessing that this is not the first time that he'd been beaten by a so called father figure. This is the first time we see Rusty talk about his life on the streets and his abusive past to anyone. I think it's interesting that Rusty tells Sharon that he did not fight back. It reminds me of when Rusty told the boys at school about his past and they beat him and he fought back - much harder than he should have. It shows that Sharon is starting to have an impact on him and his actions. That he is actually listening to her.

Sharon + Andy, a shift in relationship

I love hear how they are not only matching colors but movements as well.

Sharon pulling Andy into interviews with her is starting to become common place with them. I feel with him being the most accepting of her (and the first) as well as not being afraid to call her out on things he feels she’s done wrong. Makes this so telling as to why she brings him in there with her so often. He’s someone she can rely on in a crunch and someone who she knows will be honest with her. Especially since she’s so new to homicide investigations. She can truly rely on his experience in this field.

I never noticed Andy watching Sharon so closely here. Like he's not even trying to hide that. I thought maybe it was to do with the case but I rather think it's because he can tell she's preoccupied and rightly pissed off at Dunn for being so late.

Typical Andy behavior here. Much like his blah blah blah or yada, yada yada.

I love how Sharon’ smiles at him over it too. Like even at this point in the series how often have we seen Sharon smile when it’s not directed at Rusty or about Rusty? This is just amusement here at work, at Andy and I love how it’s something very common in their relationship that ends up developing into something deeper. By that I mean Andy using his sense of humor to lighten Sharon’s day and get her to smile any chance he can get. And how can you not love that? It’s something so small but says so much.

"This might be a good time to tell you. I've spent almost my entire career in internal affairs. And I am this close to calling your department and starting an inquiry into your conduct." "She an't kidding, pal." I love that it's Andy that Sharon pulls into her office to talk to Connor. She could have asked anyone else to come in there but it was Andy she chose. This has to be my favorite scene of the episode. I feel 100% with this scene that Andy is firmly on Sharon's side. I love how they team up against Connor.

Another thing that I really love is this is the first time that we see Andy go off and Sharon reel him back in. She doesn't say a word. Just pats his arm and he starts to calm down. Here, she’s already starting to become a calming influence on him. How often have we seen Andy being defused so easily? Brenda would often have to yell at him. Sharon doesn’t say a freaking word just pats him on the arm. Now the anger is still there but he’s not as set off as he was earlier.

This is one of the things that I really love about this relationship. Is that they balance each other. That despite their differences and view points which set the two of them on different planes (mostly on their personal life). They are still able to use their differences to help the other become a better person. This really feels like the start of their personal relationship.

Favorite Dialog "Alright Amy, he's a bad guy." - Mike "People always give themselves away." "I wana arrest him because I can't stand listening to him anymore."

also...

your just giving me excuses to make awesome gifs like this provie!

What I didn’t like: I think the only thing I didn’t care for in this episode was them keep showing Adam’s puke.

What I did like: This is probably my favorite episode of the first season. There’s so much of Sharon and Andy’s relationship in this episode and we get to see a different side to it which eventually becomes a staple in their relationship. This is also the climax of the Daniel Dunn story when we finally see this guys true colors. All the while Sharon has had her suspicions and her instinct telling her that something was off about this man. Times like these are why you listen to your gut when it’s trying to tell you something.

#major crimes #sharon raydor #andy flynn #provenza #rusty beck #daniel dunn #a reactionary post #mc season 1 reactionary post #mc season 1 #shandy #sharon and andy #raydor and flynn

41 notes · View notes

samuelpboswell · 5 years

Text

Trust Fractures: How to Avoid Accidentally Eroding Your Brand’s Credibility

Recently, we’ve been running a series of posts here on the TopRank Marketing Blog called “Trust Factors,” where we explore techniques that modern brands can use to build trust and credibility with digital audiences. There are numerous examples of companies building trust with best-answer content and boosting credibility with influencer marketing for this purpose. Marketers are always seeking creative ways to forge genuine connections while standing out from the pack. New research from Edelman shows that consumers now have higher expectations than ever when it comes to brand responsibility. However, it’s worth pointing out that these efforts (even with the best of intentions) can backfire. When steps taken to strengthen trust instead have the opposite effect, we call these “Trust Fractures.” A recent example got me thinking about the subject, and why marketers everywhere should be cognizant of its lurking danger.

A (North) Face Plant on Wikipedia

Wikipedia. According to Moz, its domain authority is among the highest on the web. Search marketers are accustomed to competing with the community-driven online resource’s informational results atop SERPs of all kinds. Brands occasionally attempt to co-opt Wikipedia’s popularity and inherent trust factor in various ways. The North Face, an outdoor recreation product and clothing company, recently teamed up with agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made for a seemingly savvy initiative: taking high-quality photos of athletes in North Face gear at notable locations around the globe, then uploading them as featured pictures for the pages covering those landmarks on Wikipedia. The idea is pretty straightforward; when a user runs a Google search to learn about state parks and mountains and the like, they’ll click on the Wikipedia entry and find North Face products and logos within the imagery. In addition to the powerful authority for an image hosted on wikipedia.org helping these graphics rank very highly in image searches, there’s also the subconscious connection created in one’s mind when they see the North Face brand embedded in photos of these beautiful places. For a while, it seemed to be working, as explained by a recent writeup in AdAge. But when Wikipedia’s moderators became aware of the scheme, they were none too pleased. Unsurprisingly, this kind of activity goes against the non-profit website’s terms of service. “Adding content that is solely intended to promote a company or its products goes against the spirit, purpose and policies of Wikipedia to provide neutral, fact-based knowledge to the world. It exploits a free public learning platform for corporate gain,” said a representative from the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit that runs Wikipedia. (Source) “What The North Face and Leo Burnett did wasn't clever or impressive—it was duplicitous, using Wikipedia's openness against it, and in fact was directly contradictory to Wikipedia's Terms of Use,” one of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors told AdAge. This particular editor, William Beutler, also happens to be the CEO of his own agency (Beutler Ink), making his sharp words toward Leo Burnett extra-spicy. Wikipedia’s editors removed the offending images. North Face issued an apology. Perhaps they still consider the entire endeavor worthwhile given all the attention it garnered. But in their effort to gain brand trust and recognition by earning high search placements and associating (indirectly) with the Wikipedia name, North Face and its agency come out looking at best aloof, and at worst “duplicitous.”

How to Steer Clear of Trust Fractures

Sometimes, Trust Fractures are the simple results of blatant missteps by a brand or its representatives. These are relatively easy to avoid (don’t do shady stuff!). Instances like the one above, where a trust-diminishing situation arises as an unforeseen consequence, are tougher to eradicate but can be reduced through deeper and more comprehensive planning. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure your programs are strengthening trust rather than weakening it.

#1: Do Things for the Right Reasons

You can’t — for lack of a better term — “black-hat” your way into trust. There’s no gaming human emotions. If your brand’s actions aren’t genuine, people (and even search algorithms) will get wise, because both are growing a lot more adept. [bctt tweet="There’s no gaming human emotions. If your brand’s actions aren’t genuine, people (and even search algorithms) will get wise, because both are growing a lot more adept. @NickNelsonMN #TrustInMarketing" username="toprank"] If you create content solely for the purpose of ranking high on search, rather than fulfilling your audience’s questions and curiosities, then a best-answer approach isn’t going to deliver the results you desire. The former should arrive as a natural consequence of the latter. I’ve come across numerous keyword-stacked pages that bury you in lead-gen fields as soon as you arrive. Not only will users reject these kinds of tactics, but because of the correspondingly low time-on-page and high bounce rates, Google will too. The same goes for influencer marketing. When done right, as a mutually beneficial and fully engaged partnership, it’s a boon for credibility. But if you’re merely paying someone to associate your brand with them, it’s likely to be transparent to both their following and yours. We see this a lot in the B2C Instagram space, which (from my view) helps explain why millennials are reporting lower levels of influencer trust. So I repeat: do things for the right reasons. Was there a purpose in North Face’s Wikipedia-image play other than sneaking its brand name into objective informational content? Perhaps, but it doesn’t really come off looking that way.

#2: Avoid the Fauxthenticity Pitfall

I wrote about this last year, and it goes hand-in-hand with the point above. Basically, when brands try too hard to convey authenticity in hopes of building trust with their audience, it can make them look even more out-of-touch. This is the core issue afflicting many pay-to-play influencer engagements with Instagram celebrities, including one particularly cringeworthy example I cited in the linked post. When I see someone with millions of followers write nice but seemingly scripted things about a product, followed by hashtags indicating it’s an #ad, I have a really hard time trusting the legitimacy of the endorsement. I know I’m not alone.

#3: Think Through Outcomes and Next-Steps

Thinking strategically is always vital as a marketer, especially in cases like these. That means looking at the big picture. What was the end-game with North Face’s image play? Did their agency foresee this possibility? They probably should have, since Wikipedia’s terms aren’t locked up in secret somewhere. With any trust-building initiative, it’s important to account for what comes next. Where might things go wrong? Are there angles we aren’t considering? How might a certain action be perceived differently than we’re intending? Without the benefit of experience and seasoned perspective, it can be difficult if not impossible to think through all the effects that might ripple outward from a program or campaign. In this regard, it’s extremely helpful to enlist an agency partner with a strong track record of astute judgment.

Keep Marketing Trust Intact

When looking at the present digital marketing landscape, I frequently think about the saying that trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets. It’s so true, and so germane to this particular discussion. We as brands work so hard to establish and sustain genuine trust with our customers, prospects, and audiences that preventable backslides can be a real gut-punch. [bctt tweet="As the old adage goes: Trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets. #B2BMarketing #trust" username="toprank"] Here at TopRank Marketing, we’ve written often (and will continue to write often) about Trust Factors that can solidify relationships between your company and the people it serves. But it is equally important to be aware of potential Trust Fracture risks. By maintaining genuine intentions, avoiding forced authenticity, and adhering to a holistic strategic vision, you’ll be on track to stay clear of face plants and fissures in the delicate balance of trust. Want to learn more about the state of marketing trust today, with plenty of data-driven insight? Check out Tip of the Iceberg: A Story of Trust in Marketing as Told by Statistics

The post Trust Fractures: How to Avoid Accidentally Eroding Your Brand’s Credibility appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

from The SEO Advantages https://www.toprankblog.com/2019/06/b2b-marketing-trust-fractures/

0 notes

john-rowell · 7 years

Text

How to take sharper photos!

How to take sharper Photos

We are always trying to get razor sharp images but sometimes it is difficult, especially if you don't know what your are doing wrong... There are many factors that could make an image sharp, more than I originally anticipated. Here are 20 tips that will help you get the sharpest image possible! To make things easier I have broken it down into 5 categories:

The Basics

Focusing system

Stabilization

Technique

Your gear

The Basics

The primary reason for not sharp images is not knowing how your camera work, so this first section is going to go over each of the core elements of taking an image and seeing how they affect the sharpness of your image.

1) Shutter speed

This is usually the prime reason for blurry images. The shutter speed as double impact on the image being blurry.

The first relates to the subject. When your shutter speed is slow, than you will get motion blur. If the subject is moving quickly then you you need a fast shutter speed to "freeze" the action and make a sharp subject (if that is what you are going for). Motion blur can create a great dimension to your image, but is not always desired. As a general rule of thumb, you will need ~1/1000.

The second is to do with you, and is called camera shake. If your shutter speed is slow, any movements YOU make, no matter how small, will blur the whole image. This is very evident the longer (or more telephoto) your lens is. The longer the lens the more camera shake you get. In order to avoid camera shake, a general rule of thumb is don't use a shutter speed lower than 1/focal length of the lens you are using. For example, if you are using a 300mm lens you should not use a shutter speed lower than 1/300, otherwise you risk camera shake. This is obviously not applicable for everyone, depending on your abilities, but is a good starting point to gage it for yourself.

If you have any questions about shutter speeds, read this!

2) Aperture

Often images are called blurry when in fact they are not, they have just not focused accurately. This is a problem with low f/number lenses as depth of field is so low, it is easy to miss the target. If this is happening to you one option is to use a narrower aperture (higher f/ number), this will give you a deeper depth of field and means more of your subject will be in focus. However, remember, by increasing the f/number, you're letting in less light and will need to reduce the shutter speed or increase the ISO accordingly! It is all a balance.

Different apertures will give different sharpness. Lenses are rarely sharpest wide open, and to get the sharpest image you can from a lens you will need to stop it down a bit. For example, if you have a 50mm f/1.8, it will be sharpest around f/2.8 to f/4. However, the sharpness will get worse again after the optimal aperture so higher is not always best. This is different for every lens, so you will just have to test it for yourself. :)

Rule of thumb : 2 stops slower is generally sharpest.

3) Keep your ISO low

The higher the ISO the lower the image quality is, sharpness included. So you always want to keep your ISO as low as possible. For more information on choosing your ISO, I suggest you read this post I did:

Focusing system

Another prominent reason for not sharp images is due to focusing, that is how the lens projects the light onto your cameras sensor. I regularly see great images ruined because of incorrect focusing, mainly due to the the focus not being where it should and thus making the subject not sharp! In this section I will go over ways to make sure your focus is spot-on!

4) Manual FOCUS (MF)

The main advantage of DSLRs is the ability to view your shots immediately on the LCD at the back... This revolutionized photography for the masses. It also has another great use, manual focus. You can use your cameras live-view feature and zoom in (10x for me) to get a very precise view, allowing you to manually focus with precision.

5) The right Focusing Mode

MF is the best way to guarantee correct focus, but it has a major drawback; it is horribly slooooooooow. So most of the time, we use the cameras auto-focus instead, but it is important to use the correct focusing mode.

Cameras also tend to have another mode, that is an "intelligent" blend of the two. Avoid it, as it guesses what you are trying to do, and sometimes will guess wrong.

There are basically two types of Focusing mode on a modern DSLR; a mode that focuses once when taking the image (OneShot/AF-S), and one that focusing continually (IServo/AF-C). Each has its place, and if not used correctly, does not work well.

For example, OneShot focusing on canon, will focus and then take the image. If you use this on a static subject, it works great and is very accurate, but if you use it on a moving subject (particularly one moving closer or away from you), by the time it takes the picture, the subject has moved position and it will miss the focus. Like everything there are pros and cons, but the bottom line is this:

Still/static subject - use OneShot/AF-S

Moving subject use IServo/AF-C.

A note on IServo : Some cameras have settings for finer control of IServo, if your camera can do this, you should look into this so you can get the best out of your camera!

6) Use Single Auto-focus (AF) point

Modern cameras are packed with AF points, but just because you have 64+ of them does not mean you should use them all at the same time. By changing your camera setting to use only 1 of your AF points, it will allow you to focus more precisely on what you want sharp.

The exception for this point is birds in flight... using just 1 AF point makes it very hard indeed.

7) The correct AF point

Following on from using a single AF point comes using the best AF point! Usually this is the one closest to the subject. It is important to place it over the EYE of the subject (if it has eyes, if not, well, the main point of interest). So select an AF point that gives you the composition you want, or as close possible. On another note, YOUR centre AF is usually the best one, so in low light conditions use that to focus, it will be the most accurate.

If you have not got a focus point where you exactly want it (a common problem), then use the closest AF point, focus, recompose the shot how you want it, and then press the shutter.

If you've not read it already, I recommend you read a post I did on how the AF system works, and why it fails in low light situations and on dark subjects.

8) Back button focus (BBF)

This is a little bit more advanced, but then again, if you can notice you're images are not as sharp as others, and want to improve, it is relevant to you! :) The default setting puts the focus button and shutter button together, meaning, when you "click" the camera will focus before taking the picture. This makes sense for beginners, but it limits your photography options. By separating the focus from the shutter, you have several advantages:

Don't have to switch between focus modes

If you have your AF mode set to continuous focus, back-button is a huge advantage. press it once and you get one-shot focus, hold it down and you have continuous focus. This can not be done when the focus is initiated by half-pressing the shutter button! No need to switch AF modes (as much).

Can manual focus at any time

Normally, to manual focus, you have to turn AF off on your lens (assuming it has it) and then you can manual focus. with BBF, you just don't focus and you can manual focus whenever you want, no need to change settings! (assuming your lens has full-time MF).

Easier to focus and recompose

If your AF point is not exactly where you want it, or if you are shooting in low light and using only your center point, you need to focus and recompose. In the standard situation, this involved awkwardly half-pressing the image and recomposing (which can only be done in one-shot by the way). I found that this lead to accidental shots, and many missed focuses as it is not a comfortable situation. With BBF, you press to focus, then move and press the shutter when-ever you want! :)

The Cons!

Like everything in life there are some down-sides... but for this situation, in my opinion, there are few. The main one being you will probably screw up some shots while getting use to the new settings, but this is minimal and I find people get used to it very quickly! The only other down-side I can think of, is if you give your camera to someone else to take a pic of your good self, their images won't focus, as the average Joe does not know BBF! :)

Stabilization

I've already mentioned camera shake in the very section of this post, and this whole section is linked to that... It is important to hold your camera still (relative to your subject) in order to get a sharp image.

9) OS/IS/VR/VC

If your lens has it, use image stabilization (or whatever your lens calls it). This is a clever bit of mechanics that reduces camera shake, allowing you to take stable images at up to 1/4 the normal shutter speed (1/25 instead of 1/100 for example). This will not, however, help with motion blur in your subject, so it only really helps with stationary or slow moving subjects!

When shooting moving images you might want to pan with your subject. For this kind of motion there is often a specific IS mode on your camera so that the IS does not interfere with your lens panning.

10) Hold your camera properly

Holding your camera correctly is important to get the best stability, reduce camera shake and get sharp images... It is also important for you, especially when you are using big heavy lenses, and avoiding injuring yourself! That is why I took the advice of chiropractor come photographer Shelly Lake in a previous post!

11) Squeeze the trigger, don't click it!

Clicking the shutter moves the camera, introducing camera shake, so squeeze it slowly, don't click it harshly! Mastering this will allow you to reduce your shutter speed if needed/appropriate.

12) Continuous shooting

Following on from above, I suggest using continuous shooting mode on your camera. Hold down and fire off more than 1 shot. This is particularly useful when at a less than ideal shutter speed, as the movement of pressing the shutter causes camera shake, and this way the 2nd, 3rd, 4th pics are more likely to be sharper...

13) Tripod

For situation where you need or can use a slow shutter speed (stars, landscapes etc...), a tripod is a requirement. A Tripod is not really applicable for fast moving subjects (other than to rest your tired arms) since to get the subject sharp, you would need a shutter-speed so high that stabilization is less of an issue. However, it will allow you to use ANY shutter speed you need or want without introducing camera shake as long as you consider the following:

It is a good quality tripod, you want a good solid base for your camera that can easily hold the weight of your camera and lens.

Remember to turn the stabilization off on your lens when you mount your camera on a tripod. It can actually introduce camera shake in this situation, by trying to correct shakes that are not there!

Use a remote/shutter release, because even on a tripod you can still get camera shake from pressing the shutter button. If you don't have a remote, put the camera on a self-timer, so it has time to 'stabilize' before taking the picture.

Sometimes even the 'slap' of a DSLR mirror is enough to add blur to your image. So use mirror lock-up or shoot in live-view to avoid this.

The heavier your tripod is, the more stable it is from the wind... so add your bag to it!

If you don't have a tripod, use a wall, bean bag, towel or anything that will hold your camera still.

Techniques

These are some other tips, and to be honest I couldn't think of a good name for them, so I just called it techniques. :)

14) Find Good lighting

The better the light, the more options we have for getting the sharpest images. So try finding better light. this could me moving your safari jeep to a better vantage point or putting the subject in a different location. Good lighting makes photography easy, and will let you get the best image possible. Trying to get a sharp image in sub-optimal conditions is a lot harder, so make it easy on yourself.

In this case it was of my wife using an iPhone6... not known for their low-light prowess, so we moved so we could use the light from a restaurant window to increase the image quality and sharpness in turn.

More light generally means more options.

15) Use a flash

Using a flash is another technique that will help you get sharper images, particularly with portraits. It will all you to control the light on your subject and let you use camera settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) that will give you sharper images!

16) Don't be afraid of high ISO

Good lighting is will make a lot of difference to your images but we are not always in control of it. In situations like in wildlife photography, where we still need a high shutter speed, the only option is to increase the ISO. Noise and image quality in high ISO images can be dealt with (at least a little) in post-processing, motion blur/camera shake can not. So, I'd rather have a higher ISO image that captures the action, than a low ISO blurry mess! :) Like all settings in your camera, we are balancing the positive and negative aspects to get the best result we can. For more information on how to take better images at high ISO check this out!

17) Get closer

The closer you are to your subject, the sharper the image will be. There are are a couple of reasons for this:

The less air between you and the subject, the less the air is reducing your image quality (including sharpness). This may not sound significant, but when you are taking pictures of distant objects on a hot day, all that haze kills your image sharpness

The details are bigger, so the image looks sharper

The closer you are, the less camera shake effects the image (the same applies with wide angle lenses)

Your gear

A camera and lens for a photographer is like a saucepan and cooker for a chef. A chef can cook a fantastic meal with anything, and having the best saucepans and cookers does not make someone a Michelin starred chef. However, better pans and cookers does make it easier to make a delicious meal when you know what you are doing! Along this philosophy, I would recommend mastering everything above before considering this last section.

18) Lens

If you are doing everything correctly above, and your images are still not as sharp as you want, you might want to look into upgrading your lens! Lenses have the biggest impact on image quality and retain their value... You can use the same lens on several subsequent camera bodies.

Better lenses are sharper and often provide better stabilization. But, with great quility comes great prices, they are also very expensive!

If you have the best possible lens and your images are still not sharp... It's you! :P

19) Camera

To a lesser extent than a lens, your camera can also improve the sharpness of your images. So for peak sharpness changing your camera can make a difference, but get the best lenses first!

Here are several key factors of your camera that make a difference to sharpness:

Sensor size - From my opinion the biggest difference comes with using a full-frame camera vs a crop-sensor camera. Full-frame gives you the best and sharpest images, if you know what you are doing of course!

The AF system - The best cameras have the best AF systems. They are faster at focusing your lens, can see better the in the dark and are more accurate. They can be optimized more and will might have more AF points spread more across the frame. All of these together might help you get sharper images.

ISO performance - Newer cameras have better high ISO performance... this will increase the quality of your images at higher ISO's. And of course you ability to have a usable image at a higher ISO will allow you to balance your shutter speed and aperture accordingly to get the best result.

Megapixels - The more megapixels you have the more detail in your image, and the sharper it can be. But be warned, this is only true if you have VERY GOOD LENSES.

20) Camera/lens pairing

Sometimes a lens is not perfectly aligned with the camera. The result of this is that the final image is slightly front-focussed (focusses slightly in-front of the subject) or back-focussed (focuses slightly behind the subject). This is only really noticeable when you have a narrow depth-of-field, and is rarely a problem. I have only ever experienced it once.

But don't fear, this focusing problem can be fixed in most high-end cameras using Auto-Focus Micro Adjustments (AFMA). AFMA allows you to readjust this setting to optimise your lens and camera pairing by telling the cameras AF system how to compensate for this error. This is not a quick and easy topic to go over, so i suggest you look up the specifics for your camera. Canon made a nice guide for this... you can check it out by clicking on the image below. :)

The bottom line:

There are a lot of factors that can contribute to an image being sharp or not. You will have to figure out which one will help you!

There is another factor to sharp images, and that is to process them correctly. I'm working on a post about that now. :)

Leave a comment if you found this useful or if you have any other nuggets of wisdom to share! :)

#BT #sharp

0 notes

personalcoachingcenter · 4 years

Text

Research Paper: The Impact of Coaching on Employee Retention

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/research-paper-the-impact-of-coaching-on-employee-retention/

Research Paper: The Impact of Coaching on Employee Retention

Research Paper By Michelle Cunningham (Career & Leadership Coach, UNITED STATES)

Introduction

One clear way to reduce the cost of recruitment is to focus on employee retention.

As I coach, I help to support my company’s employee retention efforts by supporting several strategies that can boost employee retention. These strategies include:

Cultivating leadership

Promoting engagement

Supporting development

In this research paper, I will explore each of these three strategies, and how establishing a successful coaching program for employees can have a positive impact in these areas.

Cultivating Leadership

Able to handle challenges. Leaders handle the many challenges that come their way instead of intentionally or unintentionally offloading the stress onto the employees.

A belief in the importance of people. Good leaders consider employees their most important asset. Bosses are focused on numbers.

1. Empowerment

2. New Insight

3. Free Thinking

4. Enhanced Performance

5. Improved Communication

Promoting Engagement

Supporting Development

Conclusion

Leadership + Engagement + Development = Retention

The secret ingredient in this recipe is Coaching.

References:

[i]Halvorson, C – 7 Great Employee Retention Strategies

[ii]Halvorson, C – 7 Great Employee Retention Strategies

[iii]Insala.com – Why is Leadership Coaching Important?

[iv] Harter, J, and Adkins, A – Are Your Star Employees Slipping Away

[v]Insala.com – Increasing Employee Engagement Through Coaching

[vi]Insala.com – Increasing Employee Engagement Through Coaching

[vii]Croswell, A – Focus on learning and development to increase retention

[viii] SHRM – Coaching in a Business Environment

Original source:

0 notes