#fun fact i went and scrolled through her tag to find a screenshot just for u 💖

[mystery-salad]

megaphone and all emojis down to KNIFE for my beloved Tirs~ <3

HELL YEAH TIME FOR TIRS TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION AGAIN✨️

📣 MEGAPHONE - how loud are they? what do they speak like? got a voice claim?

I'm so bad at voice claims so she doesn't have one of those! However, I know her voice is very close to the canon PC sylvari voice! She is probably the closest to that out of my whole roster. She is a lot more jokey and flirty though✨️ ;3c

📖 OPEN BOOK - do they like reading? what's their favourite genre?

She loves cheesy romance novels, the kind so ridiculous that it's clear the author is more in it for the money and tropes than the actual romance. If you ever ask her about why she has so many, it's because she likes to "imagine herself crashing in and sweeping the girls off their feet herself~"

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

Loved one in danger hits the nail on the head! Love has hurt her so fucking grievously in the past, she was once a ranger but swore off living pets when her ex Envert turned out to use her sylvan hound for an...experiment. Left her gf and lost her pet in one fell swoop! She tries to keep relationships, both romantic and platonic, at a polite distance now. Never know what someone's hiding.

📸 CAMERA - do they enjoy having their picture taken? what's their go-to pose? do they like taking photos? what do they take photos of?

Oh she will show the fuck OFF for pictures, she's not the largest sylvari but being am engineer requires strength. She'll often lift whoever she's with if they consent to it. Other go-to poses are posing with her gyros and a simply cocky/flirty wink!

🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

Nope, she's pretty straightforward! Since there's no one she lets truly close right now, everyone gets pretty much the same Tirs from all angles. She's very jokey and flippant and fun! If someone does ever manage to get closer to her though (and gods one day I hope someone does! Just gotta find or make the right gal...) she is so protective and kind and attentive, a very doting girlfriend. She would pull down the moon and stars if you asked.

✂️ SCISSORS - what is the "last straw" for them to cut someone out of their life? how easily do they let go of people?

If you intentionally cause suffering to someone else you're out! She cut Envert out of her life for pulling that to an extreme degree, anyone else has much lower emotional stakes and will be easily removed in turn. She's not here for that shit and she has gotten into several bar fights because someone was being a fucking asshole.

💡 LIGHTBULB - is your oc a planner? do they write down every small detail or just wing it?

Wing it!!! Wing it all the way. No plans necessary, she's here for a good fun time and will do whatever sounds good and fun✨️

💎 DIAMOND - how rich are they? can they live the lifestyle they want to?

Fairly lower class, but she doesn't mind! She travels a lot, exploring new towns and visiting old ones, picking up whatever projects she can asking the way to fund her lifestyle. She's handy with a wrench, fixes a lot of things or builds custom gyros. Her money is spent about as fast as it's earned!

🎁 PRESENT - what types of presents would they be most happy to receive? are they good at gift giving?

She would love new supplies to replace older pieces as they break, and it would mean a lot to her that you noticed she was in need of new tools. As for gift giving, she's not the most thoughtful in terms of being able to just Know what to get for someone, but she is very earnest in her gifting which I feel more than makes up for it. She will see you look at something that you pass by, pester you about if you want it, and if you admit that you do she will drag you into the shop to buy it for you!

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

Children are nice! They're creative and incentive, they've got the best ideas and ask the best questions! Hand her a child and she'll have a new project in the works by that evening. She never wants one of her own, they're too much work and too fragile and she would be terrified of being responsible for one, but she loves just trading questions with em.

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

BADLYYYYYYYYYYYYYTYY and yeah she does blame herself for not being able to stop it. I already sort of answered this one above whoops lmao, but yeah this is a huge part of why she hasn't really kept anyone too close these days and just had more casual friends and booty calls across tyria that she visits.

[nikibogwater]

A Needlessly Intense Analysis of Hisirdoux Casperan

I’ve been religiously stalking the Tales of Arcadia tag since the day Wizards dropped, and I have not seen a single person utter so much as a pip of complaint in regards to Douxie as a character (and rightly so. The boy is a gift from the heavens sent to give us succor in these dark times AND IF YOU ARE MEAN TO HIM I WILL FIND YOU AND--). I’ve seen plenty of people who didn’t like the show in general, but interestingly enough, they all included something to the effect of “But Douxie was cool. I liked Douxie.” somewhere in their critiques. I’ve been running amuck in fandom culture for a long time now, and I don’t think I can impress upon you how utterly amazing it is for a character to be so completely and unanimously loved. 

This was originally going to be an outrageously long academic essay exploring the possible reasons why everybody loves Douxie so much (because I’m a sucker for intense character analysis), but after doing about one month of research and 2 hours worth of analyzing, I realized that the answer was pretty simple:

The biggest reason we love Douxie is because he loves. Unconditionally, and with his whole heart. Douxie takes a genuine, unselfish interest in the well-being of everyone he comes into contact with, not just the people he has established relationships with. Yes, we love his British flair, his brief moments of cockiness that somehow never come across as truly rude, his goth-esque character design, but those aren’t the parts of him that are universally appealing. I suspect that the reason we’re all so immensely fond of this magic lad simply boils down to the fact that he’s the kind of person who would be fond of us, immediately and without question, if he existed in the real world. That’s the short version of it. The long, slightly fangirly version was placed under the cut in order to avoid clogging your queue. Those of you with an uncanny interest in character analysis may keep reading, and the others may keep scrolling. I wish both kinds of people a very nice day. ❤

We get a really great first look at Douxie’s empathetic nature in Season 2, episode 8 of 3Below (”Luug’s Day Out”), and this is before he’s even been established as a main character. In this scene, Aja runs past him, very obviously in distress, calling for her lost “dog.” Douxie (who as far as we know has never actually met Aja) drops what he’s doing and investigates the situation. There’s no ulterior motive here, no established relationship in place that would motivate his concern for her, he just sees this distressed girl running down the street and immediately stops what he’s doing to check on her. He even looks genuinely apologetic when he tells her he’s on the clock and can’t leave the bookstore to help her look for Luug.

(image is cruddy because getting screenshots is a nightmare, but you get the idea). The fact that Douxie is genuinely concerned about Aja’s situation without even knowing her personally speaks to a deeply embedded sense of kindness that goes beyond your typical sense of duty, honor, or “it’s just the right thing to do.” 

Another great indicator of Douxie’s proclivity for unconditional love is the way he is uncommonly quick to show affection and emotional vulnerability. For example, look at his body language as he grabs Claire’s shoulders in episode 2 of Wizards (”History in the Making”) (again, cruddy image, I’m sorry, but it’s enough to serve my purpose here:)

He doesn’t have an intimate friendship with Claire yet at this point. Heck, they’ve barely been occupying the same space for more than an hour. But the moment he sees she’s in distress (and about to launch herself into trouble), he reaches out and gently takes her by the shoulder and the arm. Emphasis on the gently. Douxie isn’t only concerned with keeping her out of harm’s way (otherwise he would’ve just grabbed her by the arm). He wants to offer her real comfort. He’s placing himself between her and the source of her distress, making sure she can see his face (an indication of emotional openness), and speaking very calmly. (Fun fact, I am also a sucker for analyzing body language). And he does this constantly throughout the show. He reaches out to people, both emotionally and physically, regardless of how much or how little history they have between them. Because he wants to comfort and protect--not for any self-serving reasons, just for the sake of comforting and protecting. 

And don’t even get me started on how absolutely devastated he is when he discovers Jim is dying. Douxie doesn’t know Jim personally. Jim is just “The Trollhunter and the Best Tipper in Arcadia Oaks.” Beyond that, Douxie doesn’t have much of a relationship with Jim (I suspect that he did in the original draft, but Netflix is a filthy suppressor of artistic expression and only allowed for 10 episodes, so this is the canon we have to work with). And yet the news that going back to the future will result in Jim’s death visibly upsets him--and not in a distant “Oh no, this person is dying. That sucks” kind of way but in a “This person is dying. This person is dying. I have to find a way to fix this. I can’t let this happen” kind of way. Douxie’s near super-human sense of empathy is so incredibly endearing. We all know the frustration of wanting someone to understand and sympathize with our struggles, only to be met with confusion or indifference. The fact that Douxie cares so much so fast and is so ready to offer comfort and support is so amazingly appealing, it’s honestly a marvel that we don’t have even more Casperan Stans in the fandom than we already do.

So for those of you who sat through all of that, thank you for indulging me. And yes, it was originally going to be 5 times longer and very academic. But hopefully this is a good enough explanation for why my blog went completely off the rails and careening into nothing but various Love For Douxie posts. Would love for this to become something of a discussion (Maybe I’m completely wrong, and the reason you love Douxie all boils down to that dashing black hoodie and nothing else), but I’m aware that this is a very niche interest, and the fandom has been on the quiet side lately. Regardless, thank you again for listening to my blather, and remember to be kind and respectful out there. Make our boy Doux proud.

[gumnut-logic]

Thunderfam Appreciation Post

I’m giving this a new post to prevent scroll city, but the original and several reblogs can be found by clicking the above link. Also, it’s an excuse to post a piccy of Virg cos any excuse, really :D

Many thanks to @willow-salix for writing this question list :D

Before I start, I just want to say that I value every member of this fandom. I’m often hopeless at communicating in group settings so I don’t speak to many peeps, but that is my failing, not anyone else’s. You are an amazing group and you have supported me and each other just brilliantly over the last nearly three years that I have been hanging with you guys. Thank you ever so much for all your wonderful support and encouragement. I’ve had so much fun and created so much stuff…you guys are amazing. Thunderfam rock!

Please note that my memory is pathetic and I will fail to mention everyone. Please do not take any offence if you aren’t listed below. That does not mean I don’t value you, I do, it just means I have swiss cheese between my ears.

-o-o-o-

Your favourite writer of your favourite boy.

@i-am-chidorixblossom  You are a whumper and comforter after my soul. You speak the Virg :D @vegetacide I adore your turn of phrase and your description is to die for.

The person who's stories you will always read.

I try to read most fics that come across my dash, but there are a few that have me jumping up and down. @i-am-chidorixblossom , @vegetacide , @tsarinatorment , @scribbles97 , @the-lady-razorsharp , @janetm74 Of course, I regularly fail at this as some of you write a huge amount of fic and I am often playing catch up, but fic!

Who wrote the first fic you read in this fandom.

I landed on FF.net back in May 2018. I immediately ran into @the-lady-razorsharp who I knew from another fandom ten years prior and she was absolutely wonderful, drawing me in and introducing me around. I gobbled up several of her fics in the process.

Person you can talk to for the longest without a break.

I am hard to get started, persistence is required, but once started, it is usually hard to shut me up. @scribbles97 @vegetacide and @tsarinatorment have all discovered that. Dangle a Virg, a plotline and stand back.

Person you can't be trusted to be left alone with.

Um, @vegetacide and I have plotted out the entirety of Warm Rain together…poor Virg. Add @the-lady-razorsharp into the equation and Virgil ends up with a beard, dressed in leather and riding a Harley – that was a hilarious evening.  Between @tsarinatorment and @janetm74 Virgil gets grey hairs and has to go rescue Scott – because Scott inevitably ends up in the story :D  @scribbles97 gets the blame for Gentle Rain – expand your horizons she said ::headdesk:: But then there was the time I left one random line about Eos visiting Virgil in the shower and went to bed. I woke up to hilarity and chaos as Thunderfam took the idea and ran with it! Love you guys :D

Person whose fic made you cry the most.

I know there were at least two fics that made me cry, but for the life of me I can’t identify them. I did cry writing my own fic – Flannel – and don’t tend to reread it for that reason. Purupuss traumatised me with A Quiet Day to the point I had to put it down and walk away for a bit ::wails::

Person whose fic made you laugh the most.

I have no idea. I know there are fic out there and I know I’ve read it, but without a complete list of everything I’ve read, I don’t have a clue.

Person whose fic made you think the most.

Aaaargh, I don’t have a master list so can’t remember everything. Staring at my paltry favourites list on FF.net (which was mostly gathered three years ago and never maintained), Purupuss’ ‘Brothers in Arms’ and her whole Quiet series has me wanting to write a Scott-Virgil telepathic fic (and she has given me permission to run with the idea, I just haven’t actioned it yet). Counterpoint by Swallow and Amazon is amazing and likely contributed to Sotto Voce.

Person you have laughed with the most.

I’m really not liking this ultimate one person idea. I’ve laughed with a lot of people in this fandom. I’ve candy cannoned a bunch of you as well :P There has been mad plot cackling, evil conspiring, fic written to stir pots and delight on purpose. Hell, I’ve even written fic that was purposefully a giant virtual hug because I’m so far away that even if half the world wasn’t in isolation, I couldn’t hug most of you. Sure, I talk with some of you more than others, and there is laughter in those chats…oh, god, so much cackling, poor, poor Tracy boys. But then there are also so many smiles both vocalised and not. Thunderfam is one of my happy places. Bring on the belly laughs :D

Your comfort fic that you'll go back and read again on a bad day.

I will often resort to my own fic when I’m really down simply because it helps me get to sleep :D and it is kinda tailored to me ::grins::  (and my memory is that bad I often forget what I wrote anyway – yes, it is that bad) But there are also a few on my FF.net favourites list. Mostly hurt/comfort in a Virg flavour. Cheesycheese, nhsweetcherry, A Small Rescue by Nalina, Breathe Easy and Under the Weather by @loopstagirl – several of hers, in fact – the Virg ones :D Pretty much anything that has Virg fainting and being looked after apparently :D Chiddi and Veggie fic, of course.

Favourite piece of fan art.

I have never been so honoured by artists before. This fandom has some amazing skills and I have been gifted some beautiful works. You guys are amazing (I keep saying it like a broken record, but you are).

Again, I’m stuck on having to list one and I can’t. I think Fanart Appreciation Month in January pretty much summed up my opinion.

Who have you known the longest in the fandom.

@the-lady-razorsharp followed by @vegetacide both wonderful peeps. I can’t miss out on @weirdburketeer either for her amazing support almost from day one.

Favourite OC.

I have to say that I really enjoy reading about Ray from @i-am-chidorixblossom ‘s fics :D He is so gentle and kind and just ::sigh:: Virg likes him lots :D Selene by @willow-salix is, of course, a major presence in the fandom and amazingly written. @hedwigstalons ‘ Claire is lovely.

Person who supports your work the most.

The Thunderfam? There have been some wonderful people who support all the time. @hedwigstalons  @cg29 @janetm74 @weirdburketeer in particular have been amazing support liking and commenting on just about everything I write. I honestly don’t know how they do it. Plus several peeps over on FF.net and Ao3 who support me over there.

And then there are the poor souls who put up with me in chat and listen to my wibblies and whining and character checks and field random chunks of writing that get thrown their way. @scribbles97 @vegetacide @the-lady-razorsharp  @tsarinatorment @i-am-chidorixblossom @onereyofstarlight @godsliltippy  @willow-salix @janetm74 all have had random passages thrown at them at all times of the day and night by a crazy me begging for feedback. Does this work? Is this in character? Am I insane? What the hell is Scott doing? Is this John??? I give up, tell me what to do? Virgil is driving me insane! So, um, yeah

Person who's progress you are the most proud of.

I love those peeps who appear in fandom who start off poking around commenting and generally being lovely and then all of a sudden get out their own pens and start writing and they are frickin’ amazing! Both @janetm74 and @hedwigstalons come to mind in this department. Like holy cow – ‘here is my first fic and I’m not sure’ ::reads it:: Omigod! Where did you come from? That was amazing. Sit down here now, keep doing that writing thing, bloody hell! I think being brave enough to pick up a pen and join in is a major thing :D

Person who's story you think is underrated and should be read by more people.

If I find fic I like, I reblog it and shout about it. What I like is definitely skewed in a Virgil direction and this dictates often what I’m going to read first. I can’t reblog what I haven’t read. So, this equation will always be skewed by ‘reasons I haven’t read a fic’ which mostly involves either Virgil or the fact I’m juggling RL. So, my answer to this is if I think a fic needs to be shouted about, I shout about it.

Something you think people would say about you.

She’s nutty.

Silliest 'thing' you do with someone.

I’ve been known to write fic on the fly directly into chat windows to try and distract peeps going through shitty times.

Favourite pairing you now Stan because of someone's fic.

Virgil/Kayo because of @vegetacide for reasons I have blamed her for multiple times. @the-lady-razorsharp and @weirdburketeer were accessories to the fact.

Favourite headcanon from someone's fic.

Um, Virgil and coffee? I got that from somewhere and it has infiltrated my fic…a lot.

Ultimately, though, I feel most people I interact with contribute to my fic and how I’m feeling. This has been a wonderful experience. I try to return the support as much as I can, but sometimes it is a juggle between writing more, my stupid fluctuating mood, the demands of RL and my own creative drive. I hope I’ve helped a few peeps, because you guys have certainly helped me ::major group hug::

And yes, I hug a lot, because to be honest, I have no other descriptor to communicate how I feel, so you get buckets of hugs :D

Tagging the Thunderfam. Feel free to grab these questions and run with them. You’re all part of the gang whether you write, read, art, gif, screenshot, chat, babble, stare at Virgil all day...I know I do a lot of staring.

Nutty

(Thunderfam rocks!)

[chenoehi]

The number of jikook accounts I’m seeing that still follow thisheartsmadefullmetal after she pulled her shit and disrespected Jungkook in that disgusting post is sickening to me. What the fuck is wrong with you people or are you genuinely ignorant of what she did and what she really is.

Sorry. But,

Really? Really. Alright. I didn’t follow some of you big accounts which I won’t name here, thank god, mostly because I already didn’t like you and for good reason I guess but I am very disappointed in the blogs I do still follow and the one I’ve already named which I just unfollowed because all I’ve been doing lately is losing good blogs but I guess an unfollow spree can lead to a new follow spree and a search for unproblematic favorites.

EDIT: the blog name has been removed for reasons below.

I just have to ask you guys one question first: is Jungkook only good for one half of a ship? Because if that's all, if that's where your interest starts and ends, then don't even call yourself OT7 or ARMY or whatever else you want to call yourself. We talk all the time about how TKs use JK for their own ship and shit on him if it means diminishing his bond with JM, but what about jikookers? A big Jimin bias account spews hate toward JK in a way she's never done toward the other members before, but nearly has, and ? She deletes the post, ignores the criticism, and moves on, and 'jikookers' who follow her continue to lap up her melodrama. So, you guys don't really care all that much about JK aside from the fact that he and Jimin look cute together and sometimes he takes those cute videos and photos of your bias. I see.

Tumblr is a refuge for me, it should be like a breath of fresh air after being on Twitter a little bit which is fun for a hot minute but can become suffocating,

and then I come on here and the first fucking post I see on my tl is a reblog of a post from thisheartsmadefullmetal after seeing that bitch’s posts come up on my tl every day the last couple of weeks

AS IF SUDDENLY EVERYONE FORGOT THAT SHE’S A PIECE OF SHIT WHO SAID GEMS LIKE SHE WANTED TO SLAP JUNGKOOK AND THAT HE ONLY STARTED LIKING JIMIN DURING BS&T ERA WHEN JIMIN STARTING STARVING HIMSELF BECAUSE HE'S A SHALLOW NARCISSIST WHO DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE HAD IN FRONT OF HIM.

But uwu she posted a cute photoset with Jimin and sunsets.

uwuwuwuwuwuwuwu

See, THAT’S where it’s appropriate to say shit like, “You guys don’t deserve x member.” In this case, none of you fuckers who still follow her knowing what she did, NONE of you deserve Jungkook or really any of the other members of Bangtan because if you also forgot:

- she’s called Taehyung a fake friend and insinuated that Taehyung plays their bond up for the camera

- she’s criticized Bangtan numerous times when it comes to Jimin as her way of showing “support” for her favorite

- she basically went on attack mode over MAMA 2018 because “Bangtan didn’t comfort Jimin when he was crying which obviously means they don’t give a shit about him”

- she’s perpetuated the narrative that the only people who care about Jimin are his solo stans, pjms, even at the exclusion of Bangtan because of course, you know, they’re all self-serving assholes and take advantage of his kindness and gentle nature

- she’s written 2k word monologues about her dependence on Jimin and how he’s the source of her happiness

- she’s perpetuated this destructive, highly toxic myth that A. Jimin is this fragile porcelain doll who will just break into a million pieces if anyone criticizes him or is mean to him (thus the reason why his fans are needed, they must come to his defense) and B. that the very sight of this 23-year-old MUSICIAN and CELEBRITY crying will be too much to bear for his fans and will break them into a million pieces because that’s how fragile their psyches are and so is he and they're all going to just melt into a puddle together and drown in their tears

And you bet your ass, if you don’t help trend a hashtag for him or drain a pint of blood for him if he needed it you might as well just leave the fandom.

You’re all a fucking disgrace.

I’m personally done with that shit. I'll most likely unfollow anyone who reblogs posts from her directly because that either means you follow her or you're just finding her in the tags and regardless I don't want to see her posts or support a blog who supports her. And yes, following someone like that who is toxic and dangerous and mentally and emotionally unstable and who is and has been openly hateful toward Bangtan in favor of Jimin, acting like an akgae, a toxic solo stan, yes ma’am and yes sir, you are supporting that behavior so you are just as bad. Actually, you’re worse than she is because at least she’s just delusional and that’s what her problem is. What’s your excuse?

I don’t reblog any posts from her anymore, even ones that have been shared by others, just because that’s my stance and I don’t even want to see her name on my blog after what she did; I only reblogged one of her’s once recently and that was to make a point and add to another post about how toxic she was being. 

But still following her after she wrote that disgusting post, deleted it (I have the screenshots and I posted about it, in fact, it’s my top post), never said a fucking word about it, and then moved on like everything was hunky dory, like her shit doesn’t stink, like she’s fucking invincible? Well, how else should she feel when her legion of followers keep bumping along behind her like little ducks. And when the Jungkook post business blew up? That was pretty big. Pretty hard to miss as it was posted all over the jikook tags and she tags other ships too. I’ll have a hard time believing people who say the really didn’t know about it.

Anyway. Maybe soon I’ll get to scroll through my tumblr feed and not get pissed off, once I’ve unfollowed all the people still following her. That would be nice.

But just to save some time: I don’t care how many followers I have and I don’t care how many blogs I follow anymore either. I want a positive experience on here for myself and I don’t give a shit what it looks like. But it’s not going to include her posts. So like last time, if you see this post and you follow thisheartsmadefullmetal and happen to be following me, unfollow me please right now. If you follow her and don’t follow me, block me please right now.

Regardless, if you follow that account and intend to keep following that account, all I can say is shame the fuck on you.

EDIT: This post needs to be edited to remove the other account I mentioned, tumblr is just spitting out my edits. They do not follow this toxic blog. I mentioned in a separate post earlier that I wasn't sure because it was brought to my attention you can just reblog from random accounts when surfing tags; I don't surf the tags anymore and I had a dumbass moment, I assumed they followed the account, and now I know. I've apologized for jumping the gun on that.

[evilwriter37]

Tagged

Tagged by @jackiejack6 and @whosthatgal. Thanks!

Last

Drink: Cherry Pepsi

Phone Call: @jkgrimborn-thederanged We freaked out about the trailer together.

Text Message: @ultimatefandomtrash61

Song you listened to: @the-fanaddict put out the season 6 trailer music so it was that!

Time you cried: I don’t know. Pretty recently though. Still grieving for my aunt.

HAVE YOU EVER

Dated Someone Twice: No

Been cheated on: No

Kissed someone and regretted it: Nope

Lost someone special: Yeah... A few people... One very recently...

Been Depressed: Yup. Been depressed for a while now, folks.

Been Drunk and thrown up: Nope. Don’t plan on getting drunk anytime soon. Or ever.

IN THE PAST HAVE YOU

Made a new friend: Yes

Fallen out of love: Yeah.

Laughed until you cried: Most definitely.

Met someone who changed you: No. I don’t want to change myself for anyone. The only time that would be good would be if I was repressing my true self and this person came and convinced me to be myself.

Found out who your true friends are: Maybe?

GENERAL

How many people in Tumblr do you know n real life?: Quite a few of them. 4 or 5.

Do you have any pets?: 3 kitties named Inky, Alley, and Loki!

Do you want to change your name?: I’m good.

What time did you wake up today: 7:30, but ended up going back to bed after eating breakfast ‘cause I wasn’t feeling well. Missed my classes, but whatever.

What were you doing last night: I honestly can’t remember.

Name Something you can’t wait for: Season fucking 6!!! Bring it on, Dreamworks!!! Also, season 5 of Voltron! Still want Dreamworks to bring it on!!! Oh, and Black Panther. I already made plans to go see it with someone.

Have you ever talked to someone named Tom: Yep. My mom’s boyfriend.

What’s getting on your nerves right now: How tired I am all the time. And the fact that I have two essays due the same day season 6 comes out...

Blood type: Not a freaking clue. I should probably find this out.

Nickname: Hell, Devil Chicken, Hiccup Whump Queen

Relationship Status: Single but possible relationship in the near future?

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Pronouns: she/her, they/them

Favorite Show: Race to the Edge, Trollhunters, Voltron, (I’m a Dreamworks hoe), Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Agents of Shield, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra

College: Siena College

Hair Color: Brown. Boring.

Do you have a crush on somone: Yep. We bonded over our shared love of movie scores. It’s really hard to find people that are into movie scores and orchestral music. We like a lot of the same stuff and we went and saw The Last Jedi together on Saturday night.

What do you think of yourself: Eh, I don’t know really. I’m just me. Don’t think too negatively of myself, but I also don’t always think highly of myself either. Currently just in the middle.

FIRST

First Surgery: Endoscopy to diagnose me with celiac. Fun times.

First Piercing: 5 years old

First sport you joined: The fuck is a sport?

First Vacation: So little I can’t remember.

First pair of sneakers: Also too little to remember.

RIGHT NOW:

Eating: Souls

Drinking: The tears of my readers

I’m about to: Keep scrolling through this damn site. Or maybe write. Or watch an episode of RTTE and take screenshots. Ummmm...

Listening to: Sweet, sweet silence

Want kids: Can’t have them

Get married: Quite possibly. If the right person comes along.

Career: Lol, I don’t know. I should know this by now. I’m in college. Help.

WHICH IS BETTER

Lips or eyes: Eyes

Hugs or kisses: Hugs

Shorter or taller: Literally doesn’t matter

Older or younger: Not quite sure what this is asking

Romantic Or Spontaneous: Romantic. Spontaneity freaks me out.

Sensitive Or Loud: Depends on what mood I’m in honestly.

Hook up Or relationship: Relationship. I’m not gonna have sex with someone unless I have a deep emotional connection with them. Tis how demisexuality works, people.

Trouble or hesitant: No clue

HAVE YOU EVER

Kissed A Stranger: Yeah. I was at a party. We were playing spin the bottle. She was attractive. It was fun.

Drank hard liquor: No

Lost contacts or Glasses: If I put my glasses down and forget where I put them I’m screwed. No way in hell I’m finding that on my own.

Sex on the first date: Nope

Broken someone Heart: I seriously hope not.

Been Arrested: No

Turned someone down: Yes

Fallen for a friend: Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE

In yourself: Maybe?

Miracles: Not really

Love at first sight: Attraction at first sight? Sure. Love though? No.

Okay, I am SO BAD at tagging people, and so many people have already been tagged. Umm... @mischieflord777, @kworking, @the-fanaddict, @ultimatefandomtrash61. There. I tagged a few people.

[thecupcakeconsumer]

The Numbers Don’t Count

JILY CHALLENGE | @thecupcakeconsumer vs. @prongsfoots

Social Media AU Theme: “shoot, i was stalking you on Instagram and accidentally liked a photo from 235 weeks ago”

Notes: Why is this up early? Well, that totally has nothing to do with my procrastinating on math and english and history homework... featuring it’s an AU so I’ll change whatever I like.

The time, her clock read, was 1:37AM – exactly four hours and twenty-three minutes before the same phone that she held in her hand would blast the same alarm as the default tone and she'd moan loudly, trying to turn it off without opening her eyes to the bright, unwelcome light.

Of course, Lily Evans was a little too busy stalking James Potter on Instagram for it to really register.

His account went years back and it seemed as though he'd never deleted anything – not even, she was finding, the photos of him before he'd started to transition.

She couldn't help it – his account was public and he was cute.

He'd been tagged in the most recent picture of their mutual friend Remus Lupin, and here she was, her curiosity having led her to a picture of the pre-transition boy and Sirius Black with the caption “More than friends? Never – we're both too gay.”

She lingered a little too long, and froze when the familiar heart was filled in with red.

“Oh, no,” whispered Lily. “No, no, no no no.”

It was bad enough that she'd been stalking him.

Now, she'd liked a picture from – what was that date? - March 24, 2013.

Four and a half years ago.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it was of him pre-transition: she'd look like a jerk.

Mary and Marlene would either be asleep or out drinking if she texted them at this hour: thus, asking her friends for advice was out of the question.

Should she like every picture so she didn't look like a bitch? Or would that seem too stalkerish?

Would he even notice?

She scrolled up to the top of the screen: @deerestjamie had 254 followers, and was following 409.

Cool, cool, cool cool cool cool. He wouldn't notice one like out of more than three hundred photos, would he?

Obviously, the best solution was just to leave it be and stop stressing, she resolved, putting her phone on the charger and flipping around to turn away from it.

(And yet all twenty minutes it took her to get to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about it.)

Light streamed in through the narrow opening between the curtains, a bird chirped outside, the fall day just barely cool enough that one could wear a sweater or a t-shirt – of course, none of this mattered to the iPhone whose alarm was about as welcome to its owner as a sheep in heat would have been that morning.

“Oh my God,” murmured Lily, blindly fumbling for her phone and begrudgingly opening her eyes, her relief at managing to turn it off eclipsed by the Instagram notification – a DM from @siriuslyy.

She opened it, and was met with nothing more than “(ง'̀-'́)ง".

“Yeah, real eloquent, Black,” murmured Lily, before realizing there was also a screenshot that seemed to be taken from James's account of her having liked his picture, the only notification for the entire day.

Well, shit.

“Wait, why does Black have access to Potter's account?” murmured Lily, before shaking her head and rolling begrudgingly out of bed, deciding to address it after she got ready for work.

Sirius glared at his phone screen as he sat back on his chair during lunch, feet up on the break table even if he technically wasn't supposed to be lounging as such.

'I know you've seen this message Evans' he tapped out, sending the message, his lip curling when it registered as read almost immediately.

'Is it usual to have access to your best friend's Instagram?' came the sarcastic reply.

'There's nothing usual about us' Sirius answered, then adding, 'Is it usual to like a picture from over four years ago?'

A pause.

'Okay, listen.'

'Listening.'

Grabbing his water bottle off the table, Sirius easily opened it and started to drink, watching with slight amusement as she hesitated.

'I'll explain, but you can't tell James about this.'

'I can't control what the man does and doesn't notice.'

Not that James really would notice, considering almost a third of the pictures were posted by Sirius and he had turned notifications off so as to focus more on his work.

However, it wasn't as if anything would stop Sirius from standing up for James.

'Okay listen I stg I don't have a problem with his being trans – that's not why I was on his profile. Liking that photo was an accident.'

'Was being 3 years back on his profile an accident?'

Another pause, longer than the first.

'No?'

'Look, I have to go.'

And with that, he knew he'd lost her.

Damn.

He’d been having such fun.

“Hey, Lily,” greeted Remus, looking up from the book he was absorbed in when the bell at the door rung.

“Remus, your boyfriend is kind of an asshole.”

“Sirius? We know that by now, but since when do you know him?”

“You know he helps run James's Instagram?”

He blinked. “Since when do you know James? I mean, we all know by now that they're co-conspirators on about everything, but-”

“He was in your most recent picture. James, that is.”

Remus tilted his head to the side, as if trying to gauge what exactly Lily was on about, before realizing.

“You thought he was cute, didn't you?”

She flushed red.

“N-no, that's not what I – not that he isn't, but-” Remus smirked, which did nothing for her comprehensibility.

“I can't blame you, he's always been fairly attractive. Not my type, of course, but you wouldn't be the first who's fallen for him.”

“I did not fall for James Potter!” exclaimed Lily, flailing her arms and flinching when her hand hit one of the bookshelves in the small store. “Ow. Ow. What was I saying? Oh, right, I'm not falling for James Potter! Please. I don't even know the man.”

“Sure, sure, that's what they all say. You know, he's single?”

“He is?” asked Lily, before smacking herself internally when she realized by the way in which he only smiled wider that she'd managed to play herself. “Not that I care. That's great. Lots of people are single these days. Being single is the new being taken.”

“Played yourself, Evans. Now, what were you saying about Sirius? Wait, don't tell me.”

He put down his book on the counter, before walking around to the other side to examine her more closely. “You mentioned Instagram, and the fact that he's cute-”

“I did not-”

“Oh, please. What would Sirius have noticed, then? You know they both run his account, maybe you left a comment on a photo? No, you're that desperate… but stalking him?” Her involuntary twinge was all he needed. “You were stalking him and accidentally liked an old photo. Classic.”

“That's not fair,” murmured Lily, crossing her arms. “You're not allowed to come in here and smart-ass me-”

“Actually, you're the one who came in here, might I remind you. Not that you're unwelcome – it's been a while, hasn't it? And besides, you wear shame so well.”

“Remus!”

“Fine, fine. What do you want me to do about it?”

Her bottom lip jutted out. “I don't know. What am I supposed to do? Is he going to be upset?”

“Who?”

She raised her eyebrows as if it was obvious. “James?”

“Over… your liking one of his old pictures?” Lily nodded furiously. “James?”

“I don't know him!”

“Okay. Think of it this way. James is like the old man who sits in his chair reading the newspaper, and Sirius is like the overactive dog who barks at every disturbance.”

“So…?”

Remus shook his head with a laugh. “He's unlikely to even notice, and if he does he won't care, Lily. It's not a big deal. But – whatever you do – don't let him find out.”

“Because…?”

“Pretty girl like you stalking his Instagram? The man's ego is already big enough that it's a wonder he can fit through a door.”

She sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God. Thanks, Remus.”

“For?”

“For being the smart-ass you are.”

“Me? A smart-ass?” he asked in a bad impression of offense, subtly pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of her in the doorway, looking askance with a smile. “Why, I never.”

“Hey, Moon!” called out James as he entered the shared apartment, throwing his keys on the table and wincing when they fell short.

“James. Good day?”

He nodded, bending down to pick them up. “Great. Actually, work was pretty boring. Paperwork. Buuuut, I saw a cute girl today.”

“She work with you?” asked Remus conversationally.

“Nope!” answered James. “Actually, I didn't see her. Wait, no, that's not even true. I saw her, but like, not in person? I saw a picture of her, that is, taken in… what's your bookstore called again?”

“Lily?”

“No, no, that's not what it's – wait, is that her name?”

His friend smirked. “You know, I have her number.”

“You do?” asked James eagerly, wincing as his voice cracked on the last word. “Wait, seriously? You're not joking?”

“Do you want me to call her?”

“No!” He froze. “Wait, no. I mean, yes. I mean, maybe – you don't just call someone up. Aren't calls outdated? She probably has a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. Then again, being single's on the up-and-up again. It's like being single is the new being taken. What was I saying? Oh, right, Lily. Pretty name. Pretty girl. Okay, I'll call her.”

James pulled out his phone confidently, before stopping. “I don't have her number.”

“I know, James.”

“I'm sorry, I'm just nervous.”

“I know, James.” Remus held out the phone with a grin. “Here. It's ringing.”

“What?!” squeaked James, hurriedly taking it from him. “Remus, you don't just-”

“Hey Remus, called to torment me?”

Even her voice had him in love.

“This isn't Remus.”

“Is this Sirius? I swear to God going through your boyfriend to get to me is just low.”

“What? No! You know Sirius?”

“Wait, if it's not Sirius, then who is this?”

He grinned. “It's James.”

A dramatic pause, then, “I hate you, Remus.”

“Oi! I'm not Remus! That's offensive, he has no taste in men.”

“I'm right here,” piped up the man in question, but was quickly shushed.

“Aren't you friends with Sirius?”

“Doesn't mean I want to date the man. Anyway, Lily, Lily Lily Lily, what're you doing this Friday night?”

If Remus had been drinking tea, he might have spit it out.

“This Friday night? No plans.”

“Great. Want to go out with me?”

A high pitched squeak resounded on the other end of the line, making it hard for James to discern whether or not it was from the technology itself or from his contact.

“Er, Lily?”

“That depends. Does Sirius have access to your phone too?”

“Not too often.”

“Give me your number and I'll be ready at eight.”

Waggling his eyebrows at Remus, he quickly gave her the number, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from spreading.

“I have no clue when I became your wingman.”

“Oh, shut up, Remus, you know you love me.”

“And?”

“And I love you too, Remy-poo.”

James sloppily kissed Remus on the cheek with a wet smack, nothing able to dull his mood.

Not even when he walked into his own door and found it closed, hitting it head-on.

“Adoorable.”

“Quiet, Moony.”

[connecticut-seo-adwords]

6 CRO and SEO Lessons from Top Speakers at MozCon and Conversion Jam

I just got back from speaking at MozCon the top SEO conference in the US and ConversionJam, the largest CRO conference in the world, and wow did I learn a lot. Both MozCon and ConversionJam were jam packed with inspiring speakers, extremely interesting sessions, actionable content and powerful takeaways I just couldn’t let fly by without sharing them with you guys. Below is a summary of some my favorite sessions, the top CRO and SEO lessons that included powerful tips and resources about conversion optimization, UX and SEO.

Link Building’s Tipping Point / by Rand Fishkin

It comes as no surprise that Rand’s session was a great one. As someone who isn’t a full time SEO peep, I found his tips to be incredibly helpful, actionable, simple to execute for and very profound. Rand gave us a deeper look at the link building world, rather than thinking of it as tactics, he introduced 5 long-term link strategies that work for the most successful companies in the world. In fact, Rand says these strategies are adopted by the vast majority of companies in the world and those using them correctly see great results. These are the strategies he mentioned that gave me some amazing ideas for my own site and for Banana Splash’s strategy:

The community path

The press and media path

The embed path

The partnership/alliance path

The content marketing path

Rand went on to sharing his top 10 hacks for link building, and as he should, made a point of reminding us that the best way to utilize these hacks is by connecting them to larger strategy. There are my favorite hacks that he shared:

Republishing Content – One of the most used tactics for promoting content and getting links is republishing content on platforms such as Medium and Linkedin. The key to success here, isn’t simply copying and pasting your content on these platforms (which is what most marketers do) but re-writing or editing the article and only then publishing it on these platforms.  

Anchor Text in Bio Links – Use anchor text links in your bio to promote certain links. Anchor links still work really well for rankings as Rand showed us how he promoted his wife’s blog in his own bio and got ranked for new search terms.

Using Local Links– This is an awesome way to find new sites you want to get a link at according to location. First find your two most popular competitors in your region, then combine their names with your region as a search query and discover new relevant websites that could recommend you too.

Giving Testimonials & Case studies – another awesome way to get links is with testimonials and case studies. Usually we just ask our partners and clients to write something for our site, however, by writing a testimonial, review or case study for their site, you get a direct link to yours.

Get the full slides and examples here.

29 Advanced Google Tag Manager Tips Every Marketer Should Know / by Mike Arnesen

In probably the most actionable session I’ve seen in ages, Mike Arnesen blew us away with some amazing tips about Google Tag Manager. Mike basically covered 29 ways we can up level our GTM usage, track better and become smarter marketers. Some of my favorite tips included:

Mike started off by helping us make sure that GTM is present on all the most important pages of our site. To do so he used ScreamingFrog which is a great tool all marketers should check out.

One of my personal favorite tips he shared (#3) was a way to track the most valuable clicks on our site (the ones we care about) without involving a development team/person. This to me is one of the most important tips as there is nothing more frustrating than waiting on someone else such a developer to get things done. It’s frustrating and makes it even harder to launch tests which is why we built Banana Splash the way we did – designers and developers free.

Mike went on to show us how to track file downloads, outbound clicks, merge GA and CRM data and most importantly how to configure cross-domain & subdomain tracking all in one session!  Check out Mike’s incredible list of tips, links, screenshots, videos and tutorials here.

How to Be Specific: From-The-Trenches Lessons in High-Converting Copy / by Joanna Wiebe

Another great session that came as no surprise was by Joanna Wiebe of CopyHackers. In her session Joanna gave us some great actionable tips on how to grab our customer’s attention in email marketing and get them to perform an action rather than closing our email and never opening it again.

The first rule is simple yet extremely important – Make it obviously about me. This is also one of the main pillars of the emotional targeting and persuasive design course and probably why I connect with it so well. It’s easier to pay attention when it’s obviously about me. Walking us through an entire case study with Wistia, Joanna showed us how they optimized Wisita’s email campaigns for higher conversions by feeding their customer’s ego, connecting the email to their life, empowering the customer and using a call to action button in first person.

The second rule was “connect the dots for “ME” and tell ME exactly what and HOW to do it”.

The third rule focused on it being easier to pay attention to what customers can visualize. This is where Joanna made it clear for all those who doubt – people read copy whether long or short if it helps them. If it doesn’t they won’t even read your short copy.

Get the full presentation to see the play-by-play of how Wistia increased their conversion rates here.

The Secrets of how Amazon Crushes the Competition / by Bryan Eisenberg

While most people analyze the tactics Amazon uses to increase their sales, Bryan who did the opening keynote for Conversion Jam focused on the strategies Amazon uses and how all marketers can and should use them. My favorite tips and strategies include:

Obsess about customers – Apparently, everyone at Amazon has to spend 2 days a year working with the customer success team answering emails, phone calls and helping customers out. This is one of the ways Amazon ensures that everyone within the company talks to customers and optimizes their specific work according to their needs and feedback. Whether you’re in marketing or maintenance, talking to customers matters.

Continuous optimization – every year Amazon runs over 1,900 experiments. They don’t test variations for the sake of testing, instead they test big ideas addressing the little things that change processes within the company, for example “the ready to buy area”. The key to testing at Amazon is that they don’t just test for design, they test to change their business. Each test tells them more about their customers and helps them optimize their tactical operations such as shipping, packaging and much more.

Culture of innovation – Amazon spend a LOT on research, investing in new categories and ideas. As my favorite saying goes, Conversion optimization is not about your website, it’s about every part of the experience – finance, returns, customer success and more. Everything needs to be optimized in the company, from the cleaning process to marketing and robots that deliver the products. It’s all about customer experience and Amazon is nailing it.

Top 7 ways to sabotage your Google Analytics data / by Annie Cushing

Annie gave us the ins and outs of Google Analytics. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her on stage and I absolutely love how nerdy she gets about data. She LOVES it and has a great way of teaching marketers on all levels how to take their GA skills to the next level. My favorite tips from this session include:

You know that annoying feeling you get when you check Google Analytics for traffic sources and just just “direct” or “other”? Well there’s a quick fix to reducing the amount in these channels by tagging all links you publish on social sites and email with campaign tags. It’s an awesome and simple solution that will prevent email traffic for example from showing up as direct traffic without these tags.

Another great tip for the channels issue and for finding misstagged campaigns is checking your (Other) channel in the Channels report by switching primary dimension to medium.

A last great tip from Annie that is true not only for Google Analytics data is simple: Don’t send your visitors away to do what you want them to do most (check out, sign up for an event, book a hotel, etc.). They take their most critical data with them!

Annie has a huge amount of , online courses and templates for rocking Google Analytics. Be sure to check them out.

One Click & Nothing to Purchase; Redefining News Media CRO / by Unn Swanström

Watching Unn on stage was a lot of fun. As a UX designer, she shared her experience working for some major publishers in Sweden and gave us a look into what she’s been testing to optimize content sites and blogs. Her most relevant tips discussed metrics you should follow and behavior to look out for:

How to give relevant recommendations:  It’s about understanding who your reader is and how you can create a better experience for them with relevant recommendations. To do that, Unn suggests to look at your data and start asking your customers questions that will start identify different segments and categories of readers that use your service in similar ways. Once you know what they’re doing and reading on your site, you can highlight those behaviors and encourage them even more.

Check: Are visitors really reading? Another important aspect for content sites and blogs is understanding not just what people are reading but how far they scroll, the time the spend on the site and how fast or slow they scroll. Don’t just look at one metric (time on site), get the whole picture of how people read and then optimize those sections in need.

Retention – The key to a better reading experience is giving readers a good experience in and to do that you have to combine the two most important parts of research: Quantitative data and qualitative data.

So, those were my top CRO and SEO lessons from these great conference I’ve spoken at. The last session I’ll share with you is my own.

The Mobile CRO Equation – How to turn more mobile visitors into customers

During this session I dug into the importance of understanding that mobile visitors are not mini desktop visitors. Because most marketers design for desktop and adapt to mobile, there’s a 270% gap in conversions. Which is why we have to start optimizing for a dedicated mobile experience.

My main points covered the psychological and behavioral differences between someone on their phone and someone on desktop, why we must create a personalized experience for mobile visitors and how to do so with the mobile web equation:

Mapping out the 4 most critical stages of a mobile journey, I showed how to address key pain points within your mobile funnel and how to optimize for them.

My next stop is at Google’s LCS Conversions event where I’ll be meeting the talented web psychologist Nathalie Nahai and the brilliant optimizer Craig Sullivan for 2 full days of mobile web and cross device optimization.

Stay tuned for some additional tips and sessions from my next conferences.

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