#i don’t have much judgment PR so this was an exciting find!

[sunlightfeeling]

Masquerade Hotel / Judgment

[whoacanada]

(Hey, look! That Zimbits AU where Jack goes into PR after retiring from the NHL and NHL!Bitty comes looking for advice about coming out!)

“Your ten-o-clock, remember?” April gestures to the conference room with her pen. “The cutie the Hurricanes coughed up for Pride Night outreach? He’s here.”

Jack tugs down the blinds with a cautious finger and zeroes in on the handsome blonde sitting awkwardly at one end of their large conference table, conspicuously alone. “There’s always suits for outreach talks,” Jack hazards, looking back at his receptionist over his shoulder. “They never send players alone.”

“It’s what we’ve got on the books. Eric Bittle, Carolina Hurricanes. No plus ones.” April whispers, checking her calendar. “Well? Get in there, Boss; and buckle up, he’s got an accent.”

.

Eric Bittle looks up, his dark brown eyes wide and unfairly attractive as Jack extends his hand, Bittle rising to take it. Everything about Bittle is polished and perfected; suit tailored, hair coiffed so neatly Jack would posit he’d gone in to have it trimmed before he’d arrived this morning. He’s pulled together so tightly, in fact, that Jack can’t find any loose threads, and if he remembers his time in The Show correctly, no loose threads means Mr. Bittle’s probably hiding something.

“Eric? I’m Jack Zimmermann. It’s great to meet you.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” Bittle chuckles, and Jack’s heart would skip a beat if he wasn’t so certain there’s a huge piece of context still missing from this meeting. “It’s still very nice to meet you in person.”

“So, tell me about Pride Night,” Jack pops the button on his suit jacket and settles down across the table. “What, exactly are the ‘Canes thinking about doing that involves you coming to see us?”

Bittle bites his lip briefly, gaze darting off before coming back to settle on Jack, and Jack is reminded of so many media training sessions it’s like he’s back in Vegas again.

“I may have, ah, fudged the reason for my visit a bit. Yes, we have Pride Night coming up, yes I’m the designated sacrifice, but I’m more here on personal business.”

Jack eases the tip of his pen from the legal pad, recognizing an off-the-record admission is coming. “How personal?” He questions. “Are we talking potential legal trouble or just potential social trouble? Or no trouble at all.”

“I’m gay.” Bittle says plainly. “Whatever trouble that may be. My team knows it, my family knows it, and I want to come out — I need to come out — and I can’t mess it up.”

Jack is grateful for his game face, reaching for the coffee carafe near him to couch his surprise and no small measure of his excitement. “Oh, you mean like I did?” Jack jokes, earning a soft smile.

“No active player has come out since you retired,” Eric skirts Jack’s comment, taking the mug before gingerly amending, “Not voluntarily, at least. I’d like to break that streak. Given your experience, and what you do now, it seemed like the smart move to come speak with you.”

“Well, I’ll be the first to admit my behavior didn’t lend itself to much confidence with the public at large, but that’s why I’m where I am today. Making sure people like you can learn from my mistakes.”

“And you made a lot of mistakes,” Bittle murmurs, taking the mug from Jack gingerly, glances back out the window as he takes a sip, and Jack fights a smile when he realizes what’s happening.

“Are you . . . chirping me?”

“Makes me less nervous,” Bittle admits, apologetic. “But that was rude, I’m sorry.”

Bittle’s eyes are bright. His smile is bright. Everything about him is warm, inviting. Jack might be biased, though, he’s always had a soft spot for compact blondes.

“Don’t apologize.” Jack leans back in his chair, feeling lighter than he has in weeks. “You might be the only one in the whole league right now that doesn’t need to apologize.”

“I think I need to have a partner,” Eric clears his throat. “I can’t come out without a reason, otherwise what’s the point.”

“That answers one of my first questions, gives us a place to start. Yes, a boyfriend gets you points, but not in the way you’re thinking. If you come out with a guy on your arm, the story becomes maintaining the relationship, not that you have one or that you are ‘out’ at all. The scandal is the relationship falling apart, or you flirting with a fan when you have your partner at home, that kind of drama.”

“And if I just say, ‘hello, I am a homosexual’ people will think I’m promiscuous, or just trying to get laid.”

“Maybe. Are you?”

Bittle’s expression turns indignant, lips twisting into a judgmental frown that reminds Jack of his grandmother before a scolding.

“What kind of question is that? Yes, of course, but they don’t need to know that. But that doesn’t — You know, you gave me hope?”

Jack doesn’t quite startle, he’s well beyond the jumpyness of his youth, but he has no clue where this conversation is about to go.

“When you came out, when you were drafted, your cup season . . . every time you succeeded, beat the odds, it made me think, maybe, I could do it, too. I could be a professional athlete, I could play hockey, and it didn’t matter who I wanted to be with.”

Jack knows there’s a ‘but’ coming, he can feel it; so he gets there first.

“But . . . then I overdosed.”

“Then you retired.” Eric corrects. “Two years before I signed with Carolina, and you just gave up. I was going to be the first out NCAA men’s hockey captain, you ‘retired’ in scandal, and suddenly the trustees didn’t want the attention. Back to square one.”

“Eric, I wasn’t well.” Jack defends gently, knowing Bittle isn’t trying to be cruel.

“You let them get to you! You were supposed to be untouchable. I needed you to be untouchable.”

“Eric.”

“I’m sorry,” Bittle looks down at his hands, the table, anywhere but Jack. “I genuinely didn’t intend for any of this to come up so quickly, you’ve been nothing but charming and here I am dumping all my baggage on you like we’ve been talking for years . . . ”

“It’s actually alright. I’ve made peace with what happened to me, what I put myself through, and I wasn’t kidding that I’m very intent on making sure I can help others avoid the same pitfalls. So, what do you need from me right now?” Jack asks, genuinely curious. “An apology? A hug? You wouldn’t be the first to ask.”

“I want . . .” Bittle huffs, closing his eyes and evening his breathing. “I want dinner.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’ve loved the idea of you since I was sixteen, but now I actually need your advice on how to do this without losing my mind, and I can’t plan my future from a boardroom, so, I want you to take me to dinner. I want to hash this out like two normal, well functioning adult men. Also, maybe alcohol.”

“Speak for yourself on the well-functioning part,” Jack chirps himself, “but I think dinner can be arranged. I assure you, you’ll have my full support moving forward. The firm’s, as well.”

Bittle’s lips quirk, holding Jack’s gaze. He caught the slip, and now there’s nothing to do but own it. They lapse into a gentle silence. Jack sipping his coffee, Bittle doing the same. Jack isn’t sure what he’s waiting for, the puck is at the end of his stick. He flashes a smile. Bittle blushes.

“So,” Jack begins. “Do you like Burmese?”

____

They part ways and April’s eyes are huge with suspicion. “Should we discuss fees?” she asks. “Do we need to start billing? Sounds like it went well.”

“Nah, we’ll talk later about payment,” Jack replies, folding his jacket over his arm, hiding the slip of paper with Bittle’s personal number and trying not to stare as the forward walks away. “I have a strong feeling I might be handling this pro bono.”

[angelamajiki]

PARINGS: Pro Hero! Dabi x Sister! Reader

TW: yandere, incest, no con, voyeurism, choking, burning, unprotected/no prep sex, breeding/creampies, snowballing, public sex, degradation, lots of dirty talk

AN: WHEEWW my first fic in a while, so excited for my first join intro collab!! thank you to the lovely jo for writing it <33 enjoy

A BNHarem Server Collab! Check out the other works here.

Breaking news: We have yet another report to add to the slew of attacks this month, this comes just days after we broadcast rumours of villains running rampant over the city. This spate of attacks has put the entire metropolitan area at a standstill, road closures and damaged property making it difficult for commuters to get to work in the morning. Road maintenance endeavour to do its best to keep the city running, but it seems futile when these attacks continue to increase. The entire city was brought to a standstill by the mysterious villain who has still not been named, but reports show they are nothing like we have ever experienced before.

Where are the heroes now? Who will save us from the terror overwhelming our city?

Every day the crime toll continues to rise and we have no one here to protect us. The Hero Public Safety Commission assured us earlier in the week that the crime rate would go down, that the top Heroes are out there protecting our city, but if so, where are they? Is it really safe to go out anymore, who can we trust? Would you put your life in the hands of a Hero today? When they have proved our streets are no longer safe. We still have no information on what is going on, or who is involved but we must remain observant. We will continue to report the latest news as we receive it, but for now, we must implore you to heed the warnings of the city-wide curfew that is soon to be implemented. If anyone has any information on these occurrences in the city please send them to us or contact the police, you can remain anonymous. The safety of our citizens is what is most important, stay vigilant and don’t go out unless it is absolutely necessary.

Christ, what a load of bullshit the news was nowadays. Constantly whining and squealing about what heroes did and didn’t do, promoting fear-mongering like it was the hottest trend. Between your father and two older brothers dedicating their life to the cause of justice, the world always felt just a little safer to you, the naive little thing that you were. And tonight was no exception.

Despite the rapidly increasing crime rates, your judgment to grab a couple of drinks in the city with your friends was hardly swayed. The stress of it all was getting to you and you’d love nothing more to drink your heart out at one of the few spots still left open. It was a sleazy place, but it was fun. If anything, you found a bar in the area where your eldest brother was currently stationed patrolling.

Touya had always been protective of you ever since the two of you were children, and he carried that same possessiveness well into your adulthood. Always chasing off any potential suitors, keeping you out of trouble, and generally being a menace to anyone who thought they were good enough to be around his favorite little sister.

By the end of the night, stumbling around drunkenly was the only thing keeping you upright as you made your way out of the club and onto the street, looking for a taxi to get you home. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance, a mess of blue and red lighting up the darkened streets.

“Hey sweetheart. Need a hand?”

Grubby hands met your arms the same time the cool air of the night did, tugging and pulling at you to come closer, wherever that may be. Jaunts and laughter echoed off the buildings, only adding to the haziness the alcohol induced. “What’s a pretty little thing like yourself doing out here all on your lonesome?”

Weak attempts to push the group of assaulters off you were in vain as they groped and squeezed your body at their pleasure. “Come on, we’re just trying to keep ya company. Right, boys?”

“Stop..”

Your whine came across much more pathetic than you could have ever hoped, only earning more chuckles from the men. “Just relax, sweetheart. We’ll take good care of you.”

Blue flames danced around the group of you, closing the lot of you against the building wall in a small circle of fire.

“Will you now? Last I checked, I'm the only man suited for that.” Touya was less than amused to have found out from Fuyumi that you traveled into the city given its state, even more so when he saw how drunk and disorderly you were being.

“T-Touya-nii!”

The men untangled themselves from you with ease, tossing you into the arms of your expectant brother, who was more than glad to pull you into a tight embrace. “Shit! It's the number three, Heatstroke!”

The comforting warmth of his body and scent of his cologne settled your frantic nerves, tucking yourself closer into his arms. “Honestly, it’s like you're asking for it at this point.”

Your heart sank low in your chest, but you couldn't find the strength to move away from him as he scowled down at you.

“Look at what you're wearing, you little tease. Bet you would have loved to have them violate you, huh slut?”

Never has Touya been so venomous with you before; it made your heart hurt, even more, to see your beloved nii-san be so cruel.

“Don’t you worry, that’s why your big brother is here to show you who you really belong to.”

Shoved against the wall, he pinned your trembling form with his right knee in between your legs and his hands wandering over your skimpy dress.

“You boys can stick around to watch; let a real man show you how it's done.”

Flames singed at your dress, burning it to ashes to expose you in the cool wind of the night. Hot fingers pressed into your skin, littering marks in their wake before they wrapped around your throat. “You were just begging for nii-san to come to save your slutty ass, huh, princess? I know you checked my patrol schedule before ending up at this dive.”

His hand tightened around your neck, his lips at your ear. “Wanted nii-san to come put you in your place, yeah? After fuckin’ teasing me all these years, you finally cracked me. Are you proud of yourself, little girl?”

A whine slipped from your constricted throat, your smaller hand gripping at the large one squeezing you with everything it had. “And now you've got an audience to witness my ownership over you. You're mine, little girl.”

Finally releasing your throat, his hands traveled down to your chest and groped at your roughly, pinching and pulling at your soft, sensitive nipples. Bile was rising in your throat as you drowned in your own fear, feeling him drag you into the depths of depravity.

“What’s the matter, imouto? I thought you said I was your favorite. You're hurting my feelings, y’know.”

“Touya, please-”

A scoff slapped you hard in the face as his knee jerked up against your cunt. “Don’t start with me. I know who you really are and what you really want, even better than yourself.”

His words stabbed at your heart, and his wandering hands only seemed to pour salt over the wounds. “You’re nothing more than my whore, little sister.”

Hips ground against your backside in a slow, teasing manner, groans pushing past his lips as he did so. “You have no one to blame but yourself.”

His erection was pressed flush against you, straining in his pants before he unzipped himself. At this point, you were more than sobered up running on fear and adrenaline alone. Your panties were ripped clean off with his free hand while the other stroked his hardening cock. “Look at me.”

The tip was aligned with your hole, rubbing slightly to gather the minimal wetness between your lips. “I said look at me.”

Teary eyes peaked up at him through wet lashes, silently pleading with a man who was not known for mercy.

“Good fuckin’ girl, so obedient for your big brother.”

With one snap of his hips, Touya fully sheathed himself inside of your tight cunt, groaning at the way you squealed for him. “Aw, you like that, huh, princess. Feeling good?”

A warbled moan was the only response you could give him as he slowly began to pull out. The alcohol had you buzzing enough to block out the pain of the stretch, and damn did you feel filled to the brim.

“Can’t wait to breed this greedy little cunt of yours.”

His pace was slow, agonizingly so. Touya couldn't help but savor every second of the first time having been inside you, especially after dreaming about it for so long. God, if it didn't turn him on to have an audience, knowing that these men knew he was fucking his sister.

What would the media think? God, the news cycle would be ripped to shreds tomorrow over this breaking story. But hey, no PR is bad PR.

The thought of finally having staked his claim in you almost had him coming prematurely, but he had to hold out for your very first time together, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Heh, your crying face was so cute. Those tears weren't shy by any means and neither were your sobs. It's alright, you’ll learn to love being Touya’s cocksleeve.

“Say you love me.”

An impossible request when you're being violated by the person you held dearest to your heart.

His pace had picked up brutally, slamming into you without care for his flames spreading wildly nor the group of assaulters who seemed to vanish once they had the opening to.

“I-I love you, nii-san! I love you!”

Your cries were shrill and whiny, echoing into the chaotic night. The grip on your hips was heating up, so much so that his handprints were burned into your love handles.

“Good girl, good little slut.”

His breathing was erratic, hot against your neck as he growled and grunted into your ear. “Gonna let nii-san breed this pretty little pussy? Yes, you are. I know you are because you're fuckin’ mine, bitch.”

Moaning out your name, Touya came deep inside your womb, thick ropes of his cum painting your insides. You were soon to follow thanks to his thumb against your clit, causing you to writhe and whine in his arms.

Utterly spent, you rested against the brick wall you were pinned to, feeling the cum drip out of your still filled hole.

“Let’s get you home and into my bed, princess. I gotta go have a chat with Dad and Shouto, let ‘em know you’re fully off limits now.”

— tagging: @libiraki @bonesoftheimpala @tomurasprincess @sightoru

[bizlawgal]

2. The fluff one were gilda (God bless her) with all her empathy and her observations skills goes like "yeah, Anna would be a good option. But, I'm sorry emma for saying this knowing your actual situation. You would be much better. Think about this, emma radiates good energy, and optimism and love and she looks like a normal person, and I think that's what we need right now. (2/?)

Not be seeing as we were some ethereal characters from a book, but normal humans being who are experimenting normal things. Like love, for example." And they go with it and noremma are all lovely and cute and everyone loves them ❤️. (3/3)

Second Version of PR AU from anon.

“You’re staring again.”

Emma sighs. It’s the fifth time Gilda’s caught her staring.

“I can’t help it. It just happens,” she plainly reasons out.

Gilda sits down next to Emma, a mischievous smile curving at the sides of her lips. “You’re jealous. Just admit it.”

“Where did that come from?!” she blushes as she stares at them from a distance.

Norman and Anna are busy preparing for their little act before they come out to the public. As of the moment, his arm is stretched out at her back, and it settles on her shoulder blade. Anna, in turn, has her head leaned on his shoulder, with one hand gently pressed against his chest.

It's a fairly convincing act for the public, albeit a little awkward, but it isn't something she's comfortable seeing.

Can she oppose? But she was the one who pulled the trigger for all of this to happen.

Ray's subtle glare from the other side of the room isn't doing much help to her case either. She doesn't know why he's doing so.

"Anna's the best option," she murmurs with absolute sincerity.

"Anna's one of the options," Gilda corrects her judgment as she looks over at Anna. "And by the looks of it, she's not exactly jumping up and down with the idea of being paired with Norman."

Emma only looks at her so Gilda carries on.

"Come on, Emma. You know you want to volunteer yourself."

"What?!" Emma glances around, hoping no one is within earshot of their hushed conversation.

"You didn't think I'd notice? Even Ray managed to notice it, and that guy is the least romantic out of all of us," Gilda huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "You were so starry-eyed the moment you laid eyes on him at the market when we first saw you! I thought it'd only take a few more months before something developed between the two of you!"

"There's nothing between me and Norman!" she cries out in defense.

"Oh, please! Maybe for you!" Gilda massaged both sides of her temple dramatically as she looks over at Norman's awkward performance of being affectionate towards Anna.

At this point, all Gilda feels for these helpless lovebirds is downright pity.

"And why would I want to volunteer myself?" Emma replies, completely aghast. "I don't even have my memories. I don't think I'll qualify to be his partner if we have no shared history."

"Shared history? Believe me, Emma. You and Norman have so much shared history it's astounding why you guys haven't -"

Emma raises an eyebrow at her. "Haven't?"

"Not important," Gilda says, restraining herself from uttering more. "If it really bothers you, just go ahead and say that you'd be more than happy to take Anna's place since both of them feel uneasy doing this, even if it's just pretending. I'm sure Ray will share the excitement with you."

Emma's eyes widen, shifting her sight from Ray to the blue-eyed pair. "Ray and Anna are -"

"Yep!" Gilda nods.

“But you said Ray wasn’t romantic!”

“Yes, which is quite a shock actually, but Anna’s very smitten with him despite his lack of moves. Now, go ahead and get your man. Spare everyone the trouble and get together already!"

"What?"

"Just go!"

Emma stands up and she feels the reluctance creeping in. Gilda matches her height and mildly pushes her to walk, both hands pressing against Emma’s back. When they reach enough distance for Norman and Anna to notice them, Gilda slides off to where Don and the other are.

“What’s the prob-“

“I want to volunteer!”

“I want to volunteer!”

Emma whips her head back and finds Ray displaying the same puzzled expression on her face.

Did he just hear him volunteer himself too?

“What’s going on?” Norman asks, interrupting the deafening silence that followed their interjection.

Emma momentarily loses the will to speak. She has willingly volunteered herself in Anna’s place, but she doubts she can fulfill the role.

“I-I want to-“

“Emma and I know you’re not comfortable doing this at all,” Ray responds to both of them, giving Emma a side-glance. “Which is why one of us willing to volunteer for the other’s sake.”

“Wh-what? Where is this coming from?” Norman presses further, eyes solely on Emma.

Ray gives her a nudge. He leans a little closer for a whisper. “Go get him.”

She stares at Ray for a second longer, wide-eyed. She really isn’t as subtle as she thinks she is.

“I-I wanted to volunteer because I know Anna–“ she stares at the doll-eyed blonde “–has eyes for someone else and she’s not comfortable doing this.”

“Oh, no need to trouble yourself with that,” Norman explains. “We’re just talking about how awkward everything is, and we decided that I would just ask somebody else who’s willing to –“

“I’ll do it!” Emma raises her hand. “I’ll be your girlfriend!”

“Eh?!” Norman nearly chokes on himself.

Emma hears the gasps and snickers in the background and begins to retrace where she went wrong with her statement; the realization of the mistake hits her like a truck.

She shakes her head, embarrassed. “I-I mean, I’ll be your fake girlfriend! I’ll take Anna’s place!”

Ray smirks at her side, and Gilda lets out a muffled screech.

Norman swallows hard at her determination, wondering where this is all suddenly springing from. He doesn’t want to question the intent behind it either. It’s enough to know that she’s willing to go through this little stunt alongside him and that she isn’t repulsed with the idea of them being together.

Even if it’s just playing pretend.

Norman laughs lightheartedly at her undeterred resolve. If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, it’s this one. “If that’s the case, do you mind practicing with me now?”

She tilts her head. “Practice?”

Norman bites the insides of his cheek to refrain from smiling at her bewildered state. “We have to make a pretty convincing act to the public. Would you mind practicing… with me?”

Emma recalls how Norman had tried becoming affectionate towards Anna a while ago. The close proximity they shared earlier lingered in her mind, and it’s hard to imagine they she’s going to have to do it with him.

Now.

She wants all of it, if it’s coming from him.

Emma grins, the kind that says she isn’t the least bit concerned. “Sure! Where do we start?”

Norman pegs every single person in the room with an icy stare. “I guess everyone has work to do.”

Gilda immediately gets his message. “Alright, everyone. Emma and Norman have to practice! Let’s all go do our chores, okay?”

Their little audience begins dissipating in Norman’s vision. He cocks an eyebrow at Ray, who merely laughs as he and Anna assist the younger ones back to their rooms.

When they’re almost left to themselves, Norman finally asks her. “Where do you want to start?”

“Hmm”, she hums. Although she’s unsure, she inquires the first thing that comes to her mind. “Should we start… holding each other’s hand first?”

Norman chuckles, finding the question charming. “That sounds like a good way to start.”

He offers his hand for her to take. They’ve held each other’s hand long before she lost her memories, so this isn’t anything new to him.

But it’s everything new to her.

When their hands finally intertwine, it fits perfectly between the gaps of their fingers.

This little stunt is going to be a piece of cake.

[sondepoch]

Day 6

10 Days (Jumin Han x Reader)

You didn't expect to find yourself locked in an engagement to Chairman Han, but with your own mother forcing you into it, you have no way of denying her. But as time continues and things change, you begin to develop affections for your fiance's son: Jumin Han. But the sad truth is that there's nothing either of you can do to stop the marriage, and you only have these 10 days before your future becomes reality. 10 days with Jumin Han.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | ✔

MASTERLIST

BREAKING NEWS: C&R Chairman Han to wed BC-Sonic's Corporate Heir?!

After a tip from an anonymous source, it has been newly confirmed that corporate heir (F/N) (L/N) has is engaged to C&R's Chairman Han, and has been for the past eight months! Looking through recent media footage, several sources have discovered multiple pictures and instances of these business lovebirds on various romantic getaways in these past few months. There has been a noted increase in sightings over the past few days of the lovers as they prepared for what we just learned is their approaching wedding date—a short four days from today!

"They wanted the wedding to be a private affair," A reliable source, wishing to remain anonymous, has informed us. "They were worried that if the media caught wind of their plans, then their relationship would suddenly be under scrutiny. But now that the date of the official wedding is so close, no one can keep the surprise any longer!"

The wedding is currently set to be in a private location, the two business typhoons wishing to keep the ceremony as intimate and secretive as their discreet relationship thus far; but now that this news has reached the media world, every outlet in Korea is abuzz with excitement for their future!

There is currently an interview scheduled with Chairman Han on the 12th, just after the wedding. Tune in to this outlet channel to watch the interview LIVE as he reveals all the exciting details of the relationship he's managed to keep secret for so long and stay tuned for a followup article to reveal all the juicy details!

With the number of times you've reread this article, you should be able to recite the whole thing from memory, but your mind simply cannot. You can't process it. Your brain can't begin to comprehend the utter, ridiculous possibility that this is real.

You drop the phone Jumin had handed to you on the table, leaning back in your chair. For once, he doesn't say anything and leaves your mind to process what you just read.

They got so many details wrong, you think. It's the media, shady and unreliable, so the severe drought of truth in the article was rather unsurprising. But the sheer confidence at which the information was delivered made even the lies seem convincing.

Eight months. They said I've been with Chairman Han for eight months.

If not for the severity of the situation, you would scoff at that fact alone. The two of you have been engaged less than eight days, and the 'multiple' pictures showing the two of you together weren't linked anywhere in the article, an obvious nod to the fact that you two had yet to even meet each other during that time.

But the biggest lie is even more troubling.

The words still bounce around in your mind, numb and daunting. Wedding date. Approaching.

You swallow.

Four days from today.

You close your eyes, shutting them before any tears can form and escape. You don't need Jumin to see you cry again.

But the man can practically read your mind.

"(Y/N)," He murmurs, placing a comforting hand over your trembling one. "Don't..."

But even Jumin can't complete the sentence.

Don't what?

This article isn't the only one popping up on headlines today. There are at least a dozen other articles, all quoting the same anonymous source, and you're quite confident that, if you turn on the television, you'll see features talking about your love life there, too.

The article said it.

All of Korea is abuzz.

And there are only a few people in this world who have the power to do such a thing.

You clench your jaw. Anonymous source. After meeting with the woman just yesterday, what other person can this mystery person be?

"Why would my mother leak these details to the public?" You ask, voice breaking in the middle.

Jumin knows the answer.

He also knows that you know the answer.

But you want him, you need him, to lie to you. To tell you that maybe it isn't true. That you aren't going to be marrying Chairman Han in four days. That your mother didn't inform the media as a cruel Checkmate against you, tying you down to the future that the world now expects of you.

Jumin is quiet.

You clench your fists, too horrified by the situation presented in front of you to even relax as the man squeezes your hand tenderly. You close your eyes, trying to think and find a way out of this situation.

And ridiculous as it seems, there's only one thing you can think of.

Something stupid.

Something you should have done a long time ago.

Pulling yourself out of Jumin's arms, you force yourself into a standing position, hoping that the assertive pose will give you the courage you need as you dial Chairman Han's number. The moment he picks up, you don't even give him the chance to bid you his usual "Hello darling," cutting straight to the point.

You take a deep breath.

"I don't love you."

***

Somewhere, in the distance, your father watches the scene playing out before him in the afterlife. Heaven is supposed to be a place of joy, he's been told, but ever since arriving here, he has only been brought misery at seeing all the paint that befell you after his death.

A tear slides down his cheek.

He's so proud of you for having the courage to tell your betrothed the truth: of your unwillingness in this godforsaken marriage.

But then another tear slides down, and another, and the man is quietly sobbing as he continues to watch the scene before him.

It's too late for you, he knows.

It's too late.

***

"I know, my darling."

Your eyes widen at Chairman Han's words, turning to Jumin in shock. The man seems just as surprised as you are at the words, though on his face, confusion overrides everything else. You can hear the gears turning in his head as he thinks: his father knows? This can't be happening, right? This can't.

"But in time, you will come to appreciate me as much as I do you." Chairman Han continues. "There's no other solution. Your mother sees it as much as I do, and while it will be difficult at first, things will definitely sort out. You will be happy in the end, my child. Truly."

Silence.

You know that Chairman Han is waiting for a response from you, but you can't think of anything to say. He knows you don't love him, and he still intends on continuing with the engagement?

In your state of shock, Jumin takes over.

"Father, what is the meaning of this?" His voice is controlled, but there's no mistaking the raw fury that lurks in between every word. "Surely you do not intend on marrying a girl who is unwilling?"

"She may not wish it now, but in time she will see that this is the best thing for her," Comes the Chairman's response, loud and clear. "If anything, Jumin, you should be the one to understand my situation here. You know of the...issues C&R has been facing, the very reason why I'm in international waters right now!"

"That?" Jumin's nostrils flare, and your ears perk up. C&R is facing issues? You knew that Chairman Han had left because of something serious, but what could be so ridiculous that the only solution he sees is marriage?

"As an independent company, C&R's stock will drop five days from now when the press statement and the details of this data breach get released. We need as much positive PR as we can get right now—this is to benefit your future, my son."

And then, it clicks.

Everything.

Your mother, she seeks to torment you. To return to you all the pain that you caused her when your father protected you from a drunk driver and lost his life. That's why she's so on-board with this situation.

On the other hand, you'd thought that Chairman Han wanted to marry you because he had taken an actual liking to you, and perhaps he had. In the beginning.

Now, it's obvious.

It's not a marriage Chairman Han seeks.

It's the cushion that the marriage will provide.

Marrying you, to him, will be a safety net.

Linking BC-Sonic and C&R will automatically ensure that his company doesn't go under, no matter how large the scandal caused by the data breach C&R suffered. Moreover, the current benefits that both BC-Sonic and C&R are facing are immense, the amount of media coverage going into investigating the details of your supposed "love life" only further advertising both companies and raising their value.

The rise caused by the media hype around your two companies will offset any losses that C&R takes when the public learns of this data breach, and the empire that Chairman Han has worked so hard to build will be safe.

And on top of that, he gets a pretty and young wife out of it.

"Father, you cannot be serious." Jumin looks terrifying now, pure wrath dripping into his every word. You wish that Chairman Han could be here now and see his son in front of him, see the distress that he is causing. "Do not marry (Y/N) for the sake of your business."

"Our business, Jumin."

"I would rather have no company to inherit than to inherit a company that was saved through you ruining an innocent girl's life."

"Goodness, Jumin! I am not ruining her life," Chairman Han defends. "She may not love me today, but she definitely will in the future. You know I will treat her well. I'm telling the truth."

And angry as Jumin is, you're shocked to find that even he does not contest that statement—though you're not sure if that's because it's the truth or because the man's judgment is being shrouded by the fact that he's dealing with his own father.

"Father, if it is the PR that you seek..." Jumin's voice wavers uncharacteristically, his tone desperate. "Please let her marry me instead. It will have the same benefits you seek."

You know you should pretend to be surprised, but you're too tired to put up an act. These past six days have shown you an entirely new world with Jumin, a world that you never want to leave.

You love him. And you know he feels the same way.

No doubt, you adore the idea of spending the rest of your life with him.

"You love her?" Chairman Han asks.

"Yes." Jumin doesn't hesitate. His father, however, does.

It's a long time before the man's response finally comes, but the weight of his words seems to sink your entire world. "I'm sorry, my son. Your hand in marriage is to be saved for separate business pursuits, and the public already knows about the two of us, and..."

You tune out the rest of Chairman Han's words, only aware of the fact that, other than Jumin, no one is on your side.

And now that Chairman Han has made his priorities clear, nothing can save you from your future.

"Please, put her back on the phone. This wedding will do no harm to any of us—it simply quickens things. (Y/N) and I were to marry from the very start, and we're going to be doing just that."

Jumin bites his lip, internal conflict glowing darkly in his grey eyes.

You can see his turmoil over having to accept his father's words or fight against them. Your heart softens. Just as weak as you are in front of your own mother, Jumin seems to harbor the same soft spot for his father.

You sigh.

Jumin has done so much for you.

It's time for you to accept that this is beyond your hands.

Gently, you take the phone from him. "Fine," You murmur into the microphone. You keep the words coming steadily, not giving Chairman Han a single chance to interrupt you. "I will marry you in four days. Send me the details over text, and please have all arrangements ready. Do not call me until then, do not contact me until then. Say what you will to the media—I'll marry you. But, Chairman Han, I do not love you."

You hang up the call, somewhat shocked that you even had to courage to say those words. They were so bold. So unnaturally bold, coming from you.

Then again, nothing about this situation is natural.

Closing your eyes, you slink back into your seat.

So much has changed over the course of these past few days.

Too much.

Just yesterday, when your mother had left the apartment, you'd been so willing. You'd truly accepted your fate. Resigned yourself to the fact that your life would be spent with the Chairman, as your mother wished.

You knew that you would have to marry Chairman Han.

But now, things are happening too quickly.

And...

"I don't want to marry him, Jumin." Your voice is small as you say the words. "I don't want him."

I want you.

"I know," Jumin murmurs. For once, he doesn't fight back or try to offer you any way out of the situation, now that he, too, knows how futile it is.

Fighting against one parent was one thing, but for both to be in on it?

Nothing could have prepared him for this, just as nothing could have prepared you.

"We have three days," You murmur quietly to Jumin. It's a silent proposition.

Three days until the day of your marriage, three days for the two of you to bask in what you both recognize as newfound love. Why, six days have already been wasted—you don't want to sacrifice even a minute.

Jumin turns to you, eyes focused. "I'll take these days off, then." He comes close to you, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear. "You do want this, correct?"

You nod your head.

You don't just want this. You need it.

And then Jumin's lips are on yours, as tender and delicate as the very first time you'd kissed.

You kiss back with a strange sense of solemnity, noting how this kiss is different from the previous ones. It's sad, the tear stains on your cheek moistening Jumin's own face. It's pained, with the knowledge that the two of you won't have the rest of your lives to continue kissing and loving each other. It's yearning, yearning for more of each other and more time to appreciate each other.

But most of all: it's helpless.

Because at last, the two of you have come to terms with the truth: you're soon going to be sealed away in marriage to another, and Jumin will meet a similar fate.

You can't belong to each other.

But, perhaps, for these next few days, you can forget that truth.

You gasp lightly as Jumin wraps his arms around your waist, murmuring the word "Jump" huskily into your mouth. You don't waste a moment in complying and wrapping your legs around the man as he walks you to his room, pressing you against the wall. He keeps you pinned upright with his body, kisses trailing lower and lower until his mouth is settled over a familiar spot over your neck.

He sucks.

Your moan is breathless as it leaves your lips.

Jumin continues, slowly pulling articles of clothing off of you until you're entirely naked for him, only your underwear separating him from unleashing all his lust upon you. His eyes are hungry, starved for contact and starved for you as he gazes down upon your exposed form.

You can't belong to Jumin.

But for these next few days, that doesn't matter. For these next few days, you're his, and he's yours.

And as he tosses you onto the bed, crawling on top of you to continue leaving love marks all over your body, you can already sense that he plans on showing you all the love and lust and passion and happiness of your would-be life together in the short time you have remaining.

So with thoughts of Chairman Han and your mother pushed far to the back of your mind, you yank Jumin by his tie and pull his lips back onto yours, savoring the contact.

For these next three days, nothing will be able to pull you from him.

Nothing.

MASTERLIST

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 |  ✔

Word count: 2.8k

Notes: i havent seen my best friend in over a month and i hate it

Comment & Like

Next Update: 5/06/20

I do not own the rights to Mystic Messenger or any of the characters within it.

[sassy-starker]

Talk Too Much

Caffeine, small talk

Wait out the plastic weather

When Tony Stark talked to Peter Parker for the first time, the first thought that ran through his head was, ‘He talks too much.’

The second thought that ran through his head was, ‘I should kiss him to make im shut up.’

The next thing he did was reel back.  He tuned out of the boy’s talking and retreated into his own mind, telling it to shut up and reminding himself that the boy was fifteen.  When he tuned back into the real world, he realized that the boy had stopped talking. He attempted to play it cool by jumping back in and sitting next to the boy on his tiny, twin-sized bed.  He didn’t know if Peter realized that he wasn’t paying attention, but the hero-worship in the boy’s coffee-brown eyes assured Tony that it was fine.

For the entirety of the Germany trip and the entire homecoming incident, Tony Stark had tried to repress all his feelings, pushing them to the back of his brain and yelling at his supposedly genius brain that the boy was too young to have some old, eccentric billionaire pursuing him.

Mmhmm, uh huh, discussing current events

I'll take my time

The month after the homecoming incident, Tony Stark gave into his mind and invited Peter Parker to the lab.

“This is insane!” Peter exclaimed as they entered the lab.  Tony had a friendly hand on his shoulder, guiding him inside.  He tried not to notice the absolute, unfiltered joy in the vigilante’s eyes, but he couldn’t help but notice.  He was too far gone.

“Go crazy, Pete,” he said, reluctantly pulling away from him.  The teen rushed around, not bothering to hide his excitement.  Tony sat down and began working on an emergency Spider Suit, but couldn’t find it in himself to focus.  He kept glancing up at Peter, a fuzzy feeling filling up his chest at how amazed he was by the lab.

Eventually, Peter caught sight of Tony watching him as he had been observing Dum-E and tried to mask his emotions, embarrassment filling up his coffee-colored eyes.  His face flushed, the pink traveling all the way up to his ears.  Tony decided at that moment that he wanted to make Peter blush like that every day for the rest of his life.

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled out, gaze falling to the floor.

“Don’t apologize,” Tony reassured him. “I’m glad a genius like you finds my tech interesting.”

Tony wasn’t lying about the genius part.  He had seen what Peter could do with some junk technology he found in the trash or some chemicals he got from a high school science lab.  The teen had made a computer and his web-shooters from practically nothing.  He knew he wouldn’t regret giving the vigilante full access to the lab.

Tony watched Peter perk up again, lips peaking into a grin and blush fading away but still slightly present on his milky white skin.  Peter started walking around again and Tony kept watching, not even trying to hide it anymore.  He thought he couldn’t be anymore gone with the boy when he spoke up.

Peter was looking at an unfinished project for Stark Industries.  It was a leg prosthetic that Tony was having trouble with; he couldn’t get the ankle to bend as well as a human ankle would.  He looked on as Peter observed it with focused eyes and a tongue stuck out in concentration.

Without looking up, Peter simply stated, “This would work better if the bolt for the ankle was lowered about a third of an inch. The ankle could bend at a more natural angle then.”

Tony got up, stool making a scraping noise against the ground as he did.  Peter looked up, eyes widening and face morphing into one of guilt.  Tony bent down to observe the prosthetic while thinking about what the boy had said.

“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to say that out loud.  I’m probably wrong anyway.  I shouldn’t have tried to correct your tech.  I’m sorr-” Peter rambled on and on, but Tony cut him off.

“You’re right,” he said, turning his gaze to Peter and standing straight again.

“What?” Peter replied, voice small.

“You’re right. It would work better if the bolt were lowered.  You solved the problem I’ve been working on for a month and a half in a minute and a half.  You’re a genius.”

Peter flushed pink at the praise from Tony.

Yeah, Tony was gone.

I'm not the forward thinker

You read my mind

On his sixteenth birthday, Peter was invited to the lab.  Tony had been working on tech with him for a while and a good amount of the teen’s work had gone onto the market for Stark Industries.  When Tony tried to pay him part of the profits, the vigilante had refused.  He had even decided that he didn’t want to put his name on the products, humility on full show for Tony to see.  Out of options, the genius had instead decided the shower the teen in presents, giving him one almost every time he came over to the lab.  Peter always tried to refuse them, but Tony never let him.

That day in the lab, they worked together instead of on individual projects.  They were sitting right next to each other as they wired put together the Mark XVIII Iron Man suit.  The lab was silent except for the slight whirring of machines and their breathing.

The only thing going through Tony’s head was, ‘He’s a kid. Don’t be weird. He’s a kid. Don’t be weird. He’s a kid. Don’t be weird He’s a-’

“How’s school going?” Tony asked, desperately trying to make small talk.  If asked, he would’ve said that he preferred the lab to be lively with chatter, but he knew deep down that he just wanted to hear Peter’s voice.

Tony wondered if his father was looking down on him from heaven in shame, but his father’s sins far outweighed his own.  His judgment, even if justified by every melodious angel in heaven, meant nothing to him.

“Same old stuff as always,” Peter told him without looking up from their project. “Classes are easy, which is nice, but it’s still pretty boring.”

“You could always leave high school early and go to MIT,” Tony told him.

“Yeah, but I really wanna have the senior year experience,” Peter admitted.  Tony gave an understanding ‘hm.’

“You got somebody special you wanna spend your senior year with?” the genius teased.

It sent pins and needles into Tony’s heart.  He wanted to kiss the boy and shower him in compliments and take him around the world and make him blush.  He wanted to love him and be loved right back, but he knew that it wasn’t going to happen.  Peter would fall in love with another kid in his grade and go to prom and get his heart broken.  Peter was going to love someone and be loved right back, but it wasn’t going to be Tony.  That’s how it went.  The man knew that --  oh, he knew that -- but he loved and loved Peter anyway.

Peter sighed and tore his eyes away from the project, sitting up straight.  His shoulders slumped and his face fell slightly, helplessness filling up his expressive eyes.  Tony watched as the teen ran his hand through his hair, wishing he could put an arm around his shoulder and run his own fingers through the fluffy flop of hair on his head.

“Well,” Peter mumbled, “I like this guy, but he’s way out of my league.”

“I doubt he’s as far away to reach as you think,” Tony replied as he pulled himself away from the project as Peter did.  The teen snorted at the man’s response but didn’t meet his eyes.

“He’s never gonna think of me like that but I just keep dreaming that he does,” Peter admitted, a blush painting his cheeks pink.

Tony wanted to say, ‘I know how that feels,’ but replied with “I’m sure you’re just doubting yourself.  Tell me about him.”

“Well,” Peter says, a small smile on his face and his gaze resting on his lap, “he’s handsome and a really good guy.  He gets so much negative attention from everyone, but they just don’t know him like I do.  I’ve talked to him so much and I could keep talking to him for hours on end.  He’s so sweet and a genius.”

“He couldn’t be as much of a genius as you,” Tony complimented the boy, which made his blush grow darker.

“He’s known for being a genius.  He once called me one and I said I couldn’t be as smart as him, but he told me we’re on par.  I nearly died of happiness.”

Tony put a friendly hand on Peter’s should, which made the boy look up at him and finally meet his eyes.  He gave him a fierce look and hid his disappointment at how much the teen liked his crush.

“You just gotta make a move,” he told Peter.

Peter never brought his crush up again.

Better to leave it unsaid

Why can't I leave it unsaid?

Peter was invited to the lab on his seventeenth birthday too and he was just as happy to be in the lab as he was the first time he was invited.  That was one of the millions of things Tony liked about Peter: he was enthusiastic about small things.

This time around, the only thing running through Tony’s mind was, ‘Make a move. Remember what Rhodey said. Make a move. Remember what Rhodey said. Make a move. Remember what Rhodey said. Make a move. Remember what Rhodey said. But maybe you shouldn’t and-’

And then he looked at Peter smiling at him with rosy cheeks and joy-filled eyes.

He had talked to Rhodey right after Peter’s sixteenth birthday and the man, as always, was the only reason Tony hadn’t fallen apart.

Tony let out a long and dramatic sigh as he flopped onto the couch in the living room.  Rhodey, who was on the chair next to the couch, chose to ignore the genius and continued reading his book.  Tony gave out another overly dramatic sigh and Rhodey knew he would keep doing it until he paid attention.

“What?” Rhodey asked as he placed a bookmark between the pages and set his book down on the coffee table.

“I have a problem,” Tony informed him.

“I figured.”

Tony turned serious and sat up correctly.  He had a concerned and anxious look on his face, replacing his mask of confidence.  Rhodey rarely saw this side of Tony, which made him instantly worried.

“I’m in love when I shouldn’t be and it’s going to fuck everything up,” Tony told the man, forcing the words out of his mouth.  Rhodey raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to continue, but the genius cut him off.

“I shouldn’t even be attracted to him.  It’s wrong and disgusting!  I’m an awful person and my mom is probably looking down on me in shame.  I can’t believe myself, Rhodey!” Tony got up and walked behind the couch, starting to pace back and forth.  “He doesn’t deserve to have me wanting to date him.  It’s awful and I’ve been trying to repress it for almost a year, and I should distance myself!”

Tony paused in his pacing and buried his head into his hands, mumbling out, “But, cara madre Maria e signore sopra di, I am selfish.”

“Well,” Rhodey said nonchalantly, “I’m glad you at least know you like Peter.”

Tony’s head shot up and he whipped around to face his friend. “How did you know?!”

“It’s obvious on your face,” Rhodey told him, picking up his book again, “and it’s obvious on his too.”

The genius just stood there as his friend began reading again.  He was in a trance of shock and fear and, most of all, hope.

Peter was sleeping over at the tower for the night as it was his birthday and Tony, knowing Pepper would be mad if he and Peter stayed up all night working as they had done several times before, decided that they would have a movie night.  They were sat next to each other on the couch with ‘Me Before You’ playing on the TV.

You know I talk too much

Tony couldn’t stop thinking about how close they were.  He watched with loving eyes as Peter rambled on about the differences between the book in the movie, declaring the book much better than what they were watching.  Tony couldn’t focus on the movie, partly because of his crush’s talking and partly because of how distracting it was to watch the boy talk on and on with drooping eyes and messy hair.  Peter turned to him once he noticed Tony watching, but didn’t stop rambling on.

Honey, come put your lips on mine

Finally working up the necessary courage . . .

And shut me up

Tony leaned forward and placed his lips on Peter’s.

We could blame it all on human nature

Tony pulled back and looked at Peter, who had a blush painting his cheeks and ears pink and a shocked expression on his face.

Stay cool, it's just a kiss

“What was that for?” Peter said with a smile before backtracking. “Not that I didn't like it! I really did! It was nice! I liked it a  . . . I liked it a lot.”

Oh, why you gotta be so talkative?

“You talk too much,” Tony told him. 

“Do you not like it?” Peter asked in a small voice and looked down at his lap in embarrassment.

“I like it a lot,” Tony told him.  Peter leaned forward quickly and gave him another kiss, the two moving toward each other until they were shoulder to shoulder.

I talk too much, we talk too much

[countessgreytea]

I stumbled upon a forum and started reading through some MM threads.  One anonymous poster had some interesting things to share in a thread from late September 2018: 

So, I volunteered/worked for the DOS during the end of her toronto years and the transition. I don't like to bash black industry because I feel it's vital for us to make our own opportunities and grow our own wealth, but this tea is absolutely true, and then some. Certain power players would absolutely fawn over her when they met her with her ex husband and when she went to audition would literally laugh in her face. I will defend her against anyone calling her a hooker. That's absolutely untrue. She made a lot of her extra money by befriending fashion people and ultimately getting paid for appearances at dinners/red carpets. She was an opportunist, but honestly if it were a dude, we wouldn't be judging him the way people judge her. I can honestly say that the relationship timeline given to the public regarding Harry is false. If you find that interview with her ex's mom and read between the lines, you'll see it. She has historically not been great with timelines. If people have questions I can answer a few. I'm still in touch with her because I've moved on to work for her friend who is very much in touch with her.

.....

So she and CV (the ex) were as good as engaged even around the end of April - they were both at my birthday dinner. CV is engaged to a singer and they have a baby on the way - that's how ready he was to start a family. He's a really good guy. Even now when I go in to one of his joints and he's around we chat and he offered his family vacation home for me to take my mom for a week. I don't often say this about white men, but I really respect him, he reminds me of my dad. It's a little hard to believe now, but she was more of an earthy Cali girl pre-prince, so they weren't super serious about a formal engagement. CV was totally head over heels and the only reason they were waiting was bc meg really wanted to branch into movies and do something meaningful before settling down with kids and moving into a travel/food show. "Think Bourdain meets Nora Ephron meets hippie chic" is what I wrote in my notes when we were writing up a proposal. I was actually really excited about it, I was going to work on the show. Priyanka Chopra has sorta copied the idea and but changed it so she meets famous people lol. (I have PC tea too, someone point me to a thread and I'll post). Prinze was seeing someone. I hope you'll respect that I won't spill bc that could get me into real trouble. He and nutmeg actually met in the run up to invictus, she "wanted to help" but this is code for wanted to make connections. When they met sparks flew and basically she was like damn issa prince and made her moves accordingly. There was a month between the breakup and the first date and the breakup actually wasn't "final" it was "just a break." She said she was feeling like she was in a rut. From date #1 onwards it was a whirlwind. It was really lovely to watch two people fall in love but very tough bc I knew what had gone down prior. As far as I know she is not pregnant, she is doing IVF though and it has caused a little bloat. That's why her clothes are rarely fitted. She'll be pregnant towards the end of the Aussie tour if all goes as planned. She is very calculating but I really respect her game. For example, that story about the corgis laying at her feet was planted bc white people love anything to do with dogs (I mean, so do the rest of us but white people don't have great attention spans, let's be totally real). She has a natural strategic intelligence from her mother. I cannot say enough wonderful things about her mother. Oprah and Iyanla got nothing on her, imo. This prince thing is the first time ms.meg did someone dirty since I started working for her. She secured the bag, so good for her, I guess.

.....

Made moves - set up the Wimbledon appearance and "happened" to be at the soho house hotel so prinze and her could see each other again. It's a hotel that the public doesn't have the same kind of access too. 

.....

about the engagement interview, and the corgi anecdote:

Oh girl, you don't even know what I did for that interview. Just because Harry told the story doesn't mean it wasn't planted. They planted in the interview so that people would go "aww." Think about the placement of that anecdote - right after they spoke about meeting family and how they'd spent a lot of time together in the past 1.5 years. The story was to push that narrative over the edge by associating it with a sweet story.

.....

Someone replied that MM was in Mexico when PH was in Toronto ahead of IG:

My girl, this doesn't mean we didn't reach out and get in touch with the invictus team. The Internet issa crazy thing!

.....

Whether PH knew about CV:

I actually don't know much about this side of the story - I worked for the DOS, not the prince. I never had access to her personal texts or anything. From what I felt though, I don't think he knew exactly how serious they were

.....

Sure! Auntie Dee has been through a lot in her own life. People haven't looked much into her own childhood, but there was family tension and abuse, but she never let that get her down. She was quick to compliment on good character "thank you for your honesty" "thank you for your grace" "i admire your strength." She really is crazy about yoga though, she says it helps preserve the body. She is not at all judgmental to people who do yoga the first time, including myself, and doesn't like that white women culture vulture yoga from Indians - she is fierce about respecting heritage. She loves gardening. She is lowkey a very strong Christian...idk how that fits with yoga tbh but she's cool with it. She is completely self-made and raised up several black women and other women of color in her professional life (yoga and social work and other artistic endeavours)

..... About the article with CV’s mom : “Mrs Vitiello surmises that Meghan and Cory had been apart for about three months before she first met Harry.”: 

Regarding that Daily Mail article: the specific wording is surmised. The meaning of the word surmise is to suppose something is true without having the evidence to confirm it. I know the person trying to poke holes in my tea won't believe it, but that specific word was fought over and eventually money was paid in order for that specific word to be used.

.....

I could be wrong here - I'm definitely not in her inner circle anymore (professionally there is no real room for upward movement, I started working for her blog so I could eventually work in digital publication and PR). I also know nothing about IVF - I just heard from my boss (her friend) that it causes bloat and it's really unfair that people judge her. I know for sure she is on IVF bc she needed an injection during her trip to Toronto and her PPOs were unhappy and my boss talked about it a lot.

.....

There are a lot of royal "rules" that the family must abide by that aren't normal for you and me, including medication. The physician must be present alongside the assistant to ensure that the shot has not been tampered with, etc. Remember, British royalty goes back to the days of people poisoning each other regularly, there are still archaic rules. I don't know more than that, I'm only peripherally in her life anymore. 

.....

someone asked about PH/MM’s dynamic:

I only saw the beginning, until the move to London. They are both demonstrative, but just from knowing her, I can tell she's a little more cautious in public - she doesn't want to seem too American/gauche. She'll probably relax as she has kids and sinks into her role, you know? It's tough to be totally yourself when you have so many eyes on you.

.....

Do the BRF like MM?

All I've been told is that they love her but they way it's been said seemed like the person who said it was trying to convince themselves as well as me. From emails and coordination purposes, "the firm" aka the staff took to her really well and Prince Chuck liked her a lot too. 

.....

What happened in Toronto with photographers before PH made his statement?

People were trying to break into her house and get onto the Suits set. She jetted to London one evening and eight hours later the statement had been released. It was released like 6 AM ET, I believe. 

.....

Her husband, as far as I know, was not a good dude. She never went into specifics but the person who worked for her prior alway said to forward any emails from him to her lawyer. Their relationship was not good. 

.....

About Suits, and were other family members at her wedding:

She speaks to the women and Rick, not so much Patrick and Gabe but was genuinely on good terms with everyone. I think she misses it, she tries to be normal by going about doing the same things she did in Toronto but I don't think it's the same. It's okay, she's a princess, she'll survive. Other family members were there, yes. 

.....

Oof, where you got all this sourness from? No bankruptcy, no jail (though she did work at correctional facilities). I think the living with her dad thing was just because of proximity to her school. I believe she spent Friday to Sunday evenings with her mom. 

.....

Her offering help with IG:

So she was not volunteering the way you or I would volunteer, but she was reaching out to ask whether she could lend her knowledge of Toronto and relationships with people there to help make things run smoothly. It's not really work, it's basically just talking lol. All these celebs who say they are the UN ambassador for whatever just go on paid vacations to poor folks' homes and film themselves being selfless aka playing with kids and then "lending their support" aka throwing a bit of money or "having high-level conversations." They were both in relationships at the time they first connected and the time they first met. She was looking to see if there was an opening for her, if that makes sense. The "first date" they talk about combines their first meeting and then the actual date after he expressed interest (they broke up with others to date, but remember, DOS told her ex that it was a break because she felt she was in a rut and not feeling connection with him). They definitely were texting a lot before the real first date.

.....

I never heard anything about this - if it's true, my apologies to the poster. I did not know everything about their lives. Doria did not strike me as someone who would file for bankruptcy but I know that many people "aren't the type"

.....

As far as I know Kate is cordial to DOS but you would really expect her to make more of an effort. There seemed to be some jealousy/distrust apparently. 

....

is she close with doria?:

I think they played up the closeness a bit during the "courtship" but from what I saw, they certainly became closer during that time too. I can say that she had been taking care of her mom financially when I was around.

.....

I know when she gets angry she tears up and gets very quiet. 

[ofsvges]

cailin russo. cisfemale. she/her.  ／  sage morrissey just pulled up blasting girl anachronism by the dresden dolls— that song is so them! you know, for a twenty-three year old singer/songwriter / AGT judge, i’ve heard they’re really -cavalier, but that they make up for it by being so +self-reliant. if i had to choose three things to describe them, i’d probably say lipstick-stained cigarette butts, irreverent lyrics screamed into a microphone, and neon lights reflected on pavement. here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble! ( cailin russo, kiiara, & the dresden dolls/amanda palmer vc )

hello angels it’s ya girl lainie w my Edgy gay daughter !! i haven’t played her in a hot minute n i’m so.....excited come hmu for plots or like this and i’ll come @ u. also this got rly long i feel like so i apologize in advance yfteygrhujs

tws for: death, drug use/abuse, minor mention of/allusion to child abuse

so FIRST of all, sage is marnie’s half-sister; when their dad left marnie’s mom, it was because the other woman he was seeing in secret--sage’s mom--had already had a kid two years ago, and he was just narcissistic and gross enough to decide at that point that he didn’t wanna deal with kids from marnie’s mom too, thus leaving her to fend for herself while he finally prioritized (if that’s what you want to call it) sage and her mom. sage had no idea growing up that somewhere else in new york, her father--whom she hated--had an entire family he’d chosen to neglect in favor of making sage’s and her own mother’s lives hell.

he was an angry, aggressive person, and though he'd never done more than squeeze sage’s arm too hard when he was mad, he often threatened to, and the way he screamed at her was traumatizing. the whole thing scared the hell out of her when she was little and she developed a deep loathing for him because of that and because of the way he treated her mother. it was just wildly misogynistic and demeaning and even as a kid sage felt it in her bones that it was wrong.

he passed away when she was eight years old and it fucked sage up big time. not because she loved or missed him, but because she felt relieved. she was glad, and it scared the shit out of her to realize she could feel that way about her own father's death. for a long time it caused huge internal conflict and sage spent her teenage years acting out; she was having sex and doing drugs at a young age, ditching classes, doing dumb shit and running from the cops, etc etc. meanwhile her dad hadn’t left them much money and her mom was estranged from her own parents, leaving her to work two jobs and deal with sage’s rebellion on her own. 

she’d been teaching herself to play guitar since she was eight and piano since she was eleven and in high school, sage’s teenage angst and inner demons finally pushed her to start writing music as a coping mechanism and outlet. it wasn’t until she was twenty, however, that a girl she was dating got her to start putting that music online; long story short, she got discovered on youtube, had a huge first hit with her single “gold” (kiiara), another with her second single “pink sand” (cailin russo), and the debut album itself went platinum. she’s grown up a lot since high school but still retains that rebellious fuck-you aesthetic and is known for the biting sarcastic wit of her lyrics and the chaotic way her sound jumps from one style to another. like her Pop music is the kiiara and cailin stuff and her more irreverent (and probably less popular) stuff is the dresden dolls/amanda palmer stuff. they’re all mixed up together on the two albums she’s released which i have yet to sort out yfgdhjs

she laughed so fuckingugyfsegdhus hard when she got asked to be an agt judge this season but then she did it ??? and she gets such a kick out of it. she’s so ruthless but like. ya girl keeps it real

she doesn’t do hard drugs anymore; she did two stints in rehab, once when she was 19 and then again at 21, and the second time it actually stuck. she smokes a huge amount of weed so she can be kind of spacey but it rly just....keeps her grounded oddly enough. part of it ofc is that she still hasn’t fully healed from everything with her dad--and then finding out about his second family--but she’d never admit that and has talked about it in interviews MAYBE once very vaguely.

big top energy

she can come off like kind of a pretentious bitch but like she’s actually not tsyyeguhs lowkey she’s v non judgmental and chill she just like. has an attitude sometimes idk. she’s extremely extremely independent, doesn’t like relying on other people, needs to feel like she’s in control of her own life. i see her having had problems with record labels bc of that

overall she’s a rly good friend if she’s invested in the relationship but if she gets annoyed or starts catching the wrong vibes she’s pretty quick to cut someone out of her life. some of that is an actual maturity where she’s able to do what she needs to do for herself to be emotionally healthy, but part of that is also a defense mechanism and can end up ruining relationships that could have been fixed

also she’s very close to her mom now (they had problems when she was a teenager but after her second time in rehab, they put the effort into healing the relationship through a lot of therapy) and takes care of her now so she doesn’t have to work. there’s some part of her that feels like she needs to make up for what her dad did and tries to make her mom’s life as comfortable and luxurious and stress free as possible. her mom is a cute supportive twitter mom getting excited about sage’s music

connection ideas

music collabs!!! pls!!! and people she’s toured with maybe?? gimme all that stuff

a past pr relationship from when she was still newer to this whole Fame thing and thought it was a good idea, but it probably just ended rly badly bc eventually sage was like ???? lmao no

a good influence ! somebody who’s always there encouraging her to stay off the hard stuff and do her best :(

also a bad influence i love angst

someone SHE’S a bad influence on. either in the past w hard drugs or currently where it’s just like......they’re too soft for how wild and blunt and controversial sage tends to be

ex girlfriends thank u. also maybe a........guy she dated in hs before she came out. it would be so soft if they were rly good friends now 

fwb, ewb, one night stands that turned angsty (or not), literally anything along those lines

her RIDE OR DIE she would literally do anything for and would probably be her roommate too

[p-k-dreamin-blog]

This is the life I’ve settle

1. Emotional Obstacles  🤔

Like I’ve always said in the previous projects, I think the most emotional obstacles I’ve met in my high school years, even more in my entire life until now, is the decision that moves to America and abandoned everything and everyone I had and loved. I won’t say it’s sentimental or tragical to leave the people all around me and the place I’ve lived for fifteen years, because that is how the things going on, leave your hometown, leave your family, encounter new people with new personalities, it’s everyone’s life. We have to get used to it. For me, an immigrant as a Junior student, it is just like have the opportunities to experience the mood swings: from excitement to depression, from joy to sorrow, from inner harmony to inner chaos. Even though I always heard elder people talk about how the old friendships go and new friendships develop, I’ve thought it would always have a way to maintain a relationship and never fade away, “how a friendship that is so stable and seems forever to die in the future? It makes no sense.” But the truth is, when I moved to a new country and went through such much things, I think I become more and more lazy to talk with my friends on phones. Am I only a virtual character to them? It seems like they also have the same feeling as me. How to find the best distance between a relationship? I’m considering. If the distance is so close we would fear more and be a coward when we really need to say goodbye and fuddle ourselves in the pathetic emotions; so how about pushing away the distance? We would possibly become more and more cold-blooded without realizing. I mean, I think the human being is just like other animals in the world, we need to accompany, to avoid the sense of loneliness, but we are more complicated. We have the emotions that most of the animals don’t have, jealous, suspicious, arrogant, the way we express our hate, and the way we express our love. I’m feared to pull the relationships so close to anyone and feared to push the relationships so far to them. All the people I’ve met, whether I like or dislike, they’re a lesson to me in some ways, if I appreciate them they are even the treasures, and I don’t want them either slip away from me or destroyed by time.

2. Past Actions 😏 🛫 🗽

I still remember in last year’ today and before the summer break, how I tried to persuade my parents to buy the air tickets and pre-order ten days and almost two months of vacation rentals in my hometown. I made a promise, then I did it, without any bargaining with my parents and hesitation to put into effect. I remember the feeling when I woke up at 8:00 AM on weekends, lock myself in my study room and spent three hours a day to memorize three hundred SAT vocabularies without rest; faced the mirror to practice my spoken English; and squeeze my time to prepare presents to my old friends. But now when I recall all these memories. Am I doing these hard work for myself, or to others? My uncle taught me when I was a child that never live for others in your lifetime, live for yourself. Yes, I improved my overall English skills in one year, got 1400+ on SAT and a good GPA, successfully earned my air tickets two times as I promised. However, I also remember how I laughed at my favorite shopping mall’ square when I called my mother to tell her I broke up with my Ex, I can’t say I did nothing wrong in the relationship, I just felt so funny, and I understood that there is actually something in the world that you can’t trade with hard work. But what would I become if I don’t try too hard to earn the air tickets？ Wander around for my entire Junior year? Give up the SAT because I noticed that there’s such a test too late? Only social with Chinese friends and avoid unnecessary communication with English speakers? For now, I can’t imagine what I will become if I don’t even try to do all of them. The experience when I went back taught me an unforgettable lesson, and I guess I just get my rewards in a way that leads me to become a more complete and sober person in the future.

3. Current Inactions 😑

I don’t really have something that I regret for my Senior year, just like when I tried to make a wish on my Birthday party when I blew the candles on my cake, I can’t think out anything I want for now. I have the friends that like me, a room that I decorated with a pair of big French windows, a lovely golden retriever, and a pair of AJ1 in my favorite colorway. For my Senior year, I took the classes that are challenging but also good for my future; I lay down burdens and bad memories and have a brighter view for future; I met the coolest teacher. If I really have some inactions to say, I would say I could call my old friends more frequently and let them know how much I miss them; and I could put more efforts on my classes and earned even better grades, but I’m also cool with the grades I have now.

4. Legacy (Best Friend)  👺

Hmm…. It’s really a more difficult question to think than my family members. Webber Yamaura is my best Japanese friend, and also my best of my best friends because we shared a similar taste on food, animes, Japanese TV dramas, he is the closest friend I had in my previous school, and few of the people that I would share both happiness and sadness in my high school years. I like him because of the way he tries to make me laugh when I was depressed or stressed out and how we live together before I move to America for days and after I returned to my hometown. I will use his tone to write a legacy for me.

At the very beginning, I apologize for my hesitation to write this for you. Afterall I don’t want to write it at all, or I’m fear to write it. Because this would be the very last letter I wrote for you and you would never come back to me again. I think you didn’t know me from primary school to Junior high school, but I always knew you, this is because of fate. We are always together, and you just like another half in my heart, you are my first time have met bosom friend really understand me!

You let me understand the world, how the world runs, you let me happy and I treated you back. Recall the memories when I poke fun of you every time, try to embarrass you, I was just trying to make you laugh. Can’t you imagine that lol! But you were always being depressed. ( I was really really afraid that you suffer from depression or something like that.) But saying more carefully, I’m also very glad to have you for my sophomore year. Even you can’t physically be with me anymore. I know how you try to be low key after you move to a new country, and I appreciate you to do so even though it doesn’t look like the old you. You used to want to be memorized of your achievements and grades for many years from primary school to high school and I guess you don’t want it anymore. Because when I reopen your social account and review all of your posts. You’re becoming quieter after you move to America and less out-going and flaunting. However, you are the people who can really care about others in true heart and respect others without judgments. You try to comfort the people around you when they’re depressed but you can’t really find a good way to comfort yourself. You seemed always have directions of what you want to do but sometimes no ready for the next step; seems so casual but self-confident, but you also lost yourselves in the nights. I’ve seemed the real side of you and that’s all the things I want and I’ve learned.

Although the last, we did not meet again.

(Reference some sentences from 2016-2017 Yearbook)

5. Legacy (Family Member)  👴🏻 👵🏻

Elder people in my life always think I’m a good child that has a good grade at school, respect the eldership, have a bright future. But I think my closet family members know that versatility is not the best way to define me as a teenager, a person. Like other teenagers, I’ve rebelled my parents, made them heart-broken by ravings. I’m a lazy child in person, I even gave up studying violin for a year and forgot most of the skills I learned for 7 years.  I had puppy love, which is OK in America but strongly against in my hometown. After all, I’m not as good as some adults think I’m. My parents would probably say:

“Our son is a child with a dream to become an adult, knowing who he is and knowing who he wants to become.”

It seems like a general parents comment to their children, isn’t it? But I think this featureless comment is actually very important to me. Somehow I don’t want to become an adult anymore when I realize how much obstacles and difficulties I need to meet in my future career. I want to pause at my age now and be myself as a high school student, no matter where I’m. My parents know me as a good child also, but they know how I’m not a perfect good child.

6. Epitaph Reflection  🍂 🍂 🍂

Michael Leroy Luther - 2007 - “Game Over”

I don’t want my epitaph seems so sentimental like what I’ve described who I’m for the entire semester. I want it to be brief, and don’t leave regret and sadness to people who loved me and thought highly on me. “Game over” is a good way to express me also because I’m not a nerd who only know how to study in some adults recognition, I like games also. even more, Pretty like. I brought a PS4 at home this year and try to collect all the games I want to play from 2013 to 2018. Even though I don’t have enough time to play it. And on the other side, it’s also good to describe my manner to live in a proper way. I think my life, and anyone’s life is like a gambling. We put ourselves as chips on the table and see what will we win or lose after game round by round. Life for me is just a more realistic name of the game for many years already.

Douglas Glenn Colvin - 1951-2002 - “O.K… I gotta go now.”

This epitaph is both laid-back and practical at the same time. If I recall my description in my previous project and this one I would say I’m somehow easy on everything for now because I gained everything I want as a Senior. But I’m also a practical, kinda old-fashioned teenager who prefer use the vinyl machine than Bose Speaker. Is Vinyl machine practical? Definitely yes, the modern Vinyl machine can play Vinyl and use Bluetooth at the same time, and they are way more beautiful than a hulking black box. If I would die young I will use this way to summarize my life because death is unnecessary to be so sad, I’m not saying I’m not afraid death, but I’ve imagined using the weirdest Indian music in the world as my BGM for my funeral, but that’s what I want. Don’t be so sad, people die. I caught the moments of my life, while I’m young and quick, and I do not regret for both the good and bad decisions.  

  7. Epitaph Creation  😇

“Here Lies a dreamer. Arrogant but low key.”

Before I think about my own epitaph, I thought about who I’m again for the third time for this project. The conclusion I had is that I a, a contradict person. Like Hamlet, I have the directions on what I want to do in the future, but most of the time I don’t have a specific plan on enacting my dreams.

I was arrogant in the past, the most flaunting student in my grade and kinda disdain what my Chinese and English teacher taught but easily earned the very top scores on tests, so I think many teachers liked me and loved me at the same time. I was the class president in my previous school, I led my class to a wrong direction in a tricksy way which teachers probably know now when I move away and would regret their decision to let me be the class president. But I actually improve the overall test scores for my classmates in some ways, which I don’t know how indeed. I poke fun at teacher’s dialect also like other naughty students. I used to advertise myself in public and hope everyone in the school knows me as an elite student, I did successfully somehow. And I thought I would continue when I move to America.

But the truth is, I became much quieter when I move to Arcadia, probably is the environment influence. It’s really a quiet city if compared with my hometown or Los Angeles downtown. But the most important reason is that what I’ve gone through as an immigrant, a friend, a lover, a son, and a student. I think it’s unnecessary to advertise myself anymore so I’ve given up many manners I used to have and warning myself to be a low-key dreamer.

I want to memorize as a dreamer. Because a dream is better than realism when we are children. We become who we are all because of a dream, so even though I would be buried under grass and dirt I hope my dream could somehow influence some of the people I knew, like how I comforted and encouraged friends.

[jamesharringtoncreativeworks]

Anyone who’s followed me for the last few months knows that I was anxiously awaiting this game. My wife and I demoed it at PAX East, and we were excited to finally get our hands on a copy.

So where did this all start for me? Well… actually when I was following what was going on with hilariously comical #FreedomForTay movement, someone posted this video and likened it to what was happening to Microsoft’s Tay AI. (Read more here.)

  This trailer was incredibly well done, despite only being PS3 level graphics. You legitimately felt for Kara here to the point of almost having tears in your eyes. I was immediately hooked and started looking more into what this was about. I found out that it was a very early trailer for Detroit Become Human and I wanted to know more.

Well… the more I found out, the more interested I became and I really started getting into it when this extremely controversial trailer came out:

You really got to hand it to the PR people on this one. They really know how to get you hooked.

So for months and months I waited. Until finally last week… that glorious day happened! Detroit Become Human came out and my reserved copy was ready to be picked up!

I immediately ran out and grabbed my copy. I popped it into our PS4 and my wife and I began the game.

The opening scene deals with Connor, a special ‘prototype’ android that has been issued to the police department. His job is to talk down another android that has apparently gone insane, killed its master, and taken the daughter hostage. This was the demo we played at PAX. Well… we knew how our decisions went last time (not so well) and we wanted to try for a better outcome, so we made a few different decisions, sure enough… something totally different happened.

That’s how this whole game works. Detroit Become Human is more of an interactive movie than an actual game… and when I say interactive… I mean you really can’t be much more immersive than the game is. Even the title screen interacts with you by giving you your own virtual android to assist you with getting started… for a while anyway.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself…

The game takes place in Detroit (obviously) of the Future, 2038 to be exact. There, people are out of work, neighborhoods are crumbling, drugs are rampant, and automation is replacing skilled and unskilled labor.

… in other words, Detroit hasn’t really changed at all in twenty years.

  Sorry… back on topic. The story revolves around three androids:

Markus: A caretaker for artist facing the end of his days.

Kara: Another caretaker, this time for a child, Alice, and her drug addict, out of work, father.

Connor: A by-the-book police android who’s thrown in with a broken down cop who’s more often found at the bottom of a bottle of booze than actually in his office.

The story revolves around the evolution of the three characters and the choices they make. What happens to each character lands solely in your lap. If one or more character dies, the game does not end. The story simply continues without that character.

I really don’t want to give too much away, but I really preferred Kara’s story above all the others. Her struggle with keeping young Alice alive and happy while coming to terms with her own identity and finding her place was profound.

Markus’ story I found somewhat predictable. He’s an android who worked for an ‘enlightened’ artist who encouraged the android to cut his own path. Markus then, through a series of events that are not of his own making, becomes the leader of a revolution. After a few bad decisions, I didn’t like where this character was going and sought to kill him off… that might have been a mistake… It turns out, he’s a fairly integral part of the struggle for civil rights and losing him… has repercussions that are felt pretty strongly by the end of the game.

Connor… I’m not going to lie, I do love this one. If you like Lethal Weapon, his interactions with the other cop are pretty enjoyable. It’s a pretty standard buddy cop story, but it’s fun in its own way.

As I said, the story revolves around these three characters and the decisions you make will affect the lives of everyone around. One thing I will say about this game is that it get’s unexpectedly dark… I mean really dark. Murder, sexual assault, drug use, child abuse, domestic violence, and even genocide, are all potential themes in your story. Not all of them are avoidable. That is not a criticism, by the way, if you’re going to go dark, you should go all the way and this game very vividly shows the ramification of such themes.

So is this game everything I was hoping it would be?

Yes. The replay value is through the roof, it’s not an action game where you go around shooting and killing people. You’re essentially watching a movie when options come up on the screen, and allow you to choose what decision a character makes.

Negatives…

Well… when I say the game is immersive, I MEAN IT’S IMMERSIVE! You’re going to spend early parts of the game cleaning house, making dinner, doing laundry, and pushing an old man’s wheelchair. It’s definitely slow-moving at first and will lose some audience members with a shorter attention span.

Other than that, I was a little disappointed in how little the stories appear to interact… at least on my first playthrough. The most interaction I saw between Connor and Kara was when Connor looked oddly at Alice from across a room and when he Connor chased them across a street.

I expected their stories to be a little more intertwined, and maybe they are, but my first story was a fairly dark one that ended with android genocide and only Kara getting away unscathed.

So what’s my final judgment?

Detroit Become Human is awesome. The graphics are great, it’s got a great cast! The music is wonderful, the character development is excellent, and though initially slow-moving, the game’s storyline sucks you in and really makes you want to see what comes next.

So my overall score is going to be a 8.5 out of 10. Buy this game and try it out if you love a good story! You’ll love it!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note: If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

My Initial Thoughts on Detroit Become Human Anyone who's followed me for the last few months knows that I was anxiously awaiting this game.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Telling exceptional truths Ft. Katie Martell (Inbound Success, Ep. 146)

How can brands stand out and drive incredible customer loyalty?

This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, Katie Martell talks about what it means to find your "exceptional truth" as a brand, and why that should be the guide for everything you do as a marketer.

As Katie says, "the only thing in the middle of the road, is roadkill," and brands that fail to speak their truth get lost in the crowd.

In our conversation, we wade into the controversial waters of whether and when brands should speak out and take a stand, and how to do it in a way that keeps you tightly aligned with your customers.

Highlights from my conversation with Katie include:

Katie says it is the job of the marketer to understand what is happening in the world.

Marketing controls brand perception, and brand perception influences whether someone will buy from you.

If you're in marketing, you have to understand where your brand fits in the world of your buyer's identity.

When you know what your buyers care about, you can align that with your brand values, and you have an opportunity to take a position that will strengthen your place in the market.

Katie says that brands that don't take a position get lost in a crowded marketplace and are not a part of the conversation.

By taking a stance about what you believe, you can change the conversation in your market and, in doing so, become a market leader.

Katie says brands need to find "exceptional truths" - little kernels of truth that get buyers to stop, pause, and rethink the way they see the world.

When you've created that seed of doubt, buyers are open. They're leaning in, they're listening to what else you have to say. And that is when marketing works at its best. That's when they're more receptive to your pitch.

This takes knowing buyers so well that you know where they're misinformed or what they don't know or what they don't understand so that you can challenge that.

This approach is based on the concepts outlined in the book The Challenger Sale, which is typically used in the sales world but has a lot of application to marketing.

Marketers need to be confident to convince the organizations they work for that this type of challenge is the right approach.

This can be hard because marketing is a "voyeuristic" profession - meaning that everyone can "see" marketing so they think they are an expert and know how it should be done.

As a marketer coming into a new company, its important to determine what your exceptional truth is and then find ways of rolling that out across your marketing in a way that makes your brand unique and different.

Resources from this episode:

Visit Katie's website

Follow Katie on Twitter

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn

Listen to the podcast to hear Katie's take on why it is so important for brands to find their exceptional truths, and how to use that in your marketing to gain a competitive edge.

Transcript

Kathleen Booth (Host): Welcome back to the Inbound Success Podcast.

I'm your host Kathleen Booth. And this week, my guest is Katie Martell, who is an on demand communications strategist based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Welcome Katie. Katie Martell (Guest): Hi Kathleen. Thank you so much for having me.

Katie and Kathleen recording this episode.

Kathleen: I am excited to have you here. For everyone listening, I heard Katie speak at Marketing Profs B2B Marketing Forum in, what was that? September or October? October of 2019.

Back in the days when we still went to conferences in person. And I was just so blown away. She gave such an amazing talk on Rabble Rousers and it really not only struck me for the content of the talk, but also, you were just an amazing speaker.

We can have a separate conversation about that. But anyway, that's why I wanted to have you on and share some of your amazing wisdom with everyone who's listening.

So I could go on and on about you. but before I go down too much of a tangent, I would love it if you would explain what an on-demand communication strategist is and what you do, and also a little bit of your background and how you wound up doing that.

About Katie Martell

Katie: I would love to, and I have to start by saying thank you for the kind words about that talk last year.

So the title of that talk was something like "Market Like a Rabble Rouser" and it came from this fascination I have with the world of politics and persuasion mixed with what I do as a marketer.

So I've been a marketer in the B2B realm for 11 years now. And what's been interesting is, I've been marketing to marketers for the majority of my career.

And that was first at a B2B data services company. We were an early sponsor of the Marketing Profs event. That was a startup that I grew up to acquisition. And then it was a PR firm, an analyst from my own MarTech startups.

So I've kind of lived multiple lives, worn many different hats, but always marketing in this world of B2B tech, and MarTech specifically.

So I've been a student of marketing in a time when it's completely changing from what was the kind of capital M marketing that we've known it to be.

And so this talk was just honestly, they had asked me what I wanted to talk about, which is a moment in time where you go, "Oh, that's a dangerous, that's a dangerous ask of me." And I was honest. I said, "Let's talk about what's happening in the world of misinformation, persuasion."

I'm talking Russian trolls, I'm talking campaign interference. I'm talking all the stuff that, you know, you read on the headlines, on whatever news outlet you choose to follow. And let's talk about what marketers can learn from it.

So I get up on stage. I give this talk. It went over a little bit of time because that's, hello, it's me. Well, people were absolutely polarized in the audience. We had half the room, a little more than half, I will say, who were like, "Yeah, we got the takeaway. This is great. Thanks so much."

And the other half that I just think, I don't know what, didn't go across as well for many, because I presented a lot of information about Russian trolls and some of the exact campaign ads they used and it was pretty incendiary stuff, but that was the point. I was trying to get people riled up and hey, achievement unlocked.

Kathleen: But I also think, isn't that polarized response just such a perfect reflection of why that talk was needed in the first place?

Katie: I hope so. I was encouraging folks to really, you know, rouse the rabble, you know,? Create emotional responses, shake things up, and that's kind of what I did on stage.

Kathleen: Well, and to be clear, just to interject, your talk was not an inherently political talk in the sense that you weren't taking sides, you were presenting facts, right? And people can take that and do with it what they want, but I just wanted to put that out there.

Marketers need to pay attention to what is happening in the world

Katie: Well, I appreciate it. And let the lesson and the takeaway here be that we need, as marketers, to pay attention to what's happening in the world.

I mean, the world around us, look at this past week and today's date. I don't know if you're going to give the date here. It's June 1st.

So we are coming off of a weekend of civil unrest, Black Lives Matter protests. It is a time where, if you check social media, you're bombarded with hashtag activism and names and everybody from brands to individuals getting involved in this current conversation.

We as marketers should be watching this and learning.

Kathleen: Yes. I mean, actually, it's interesting that we are having this conversation today because I literally, just this morning, was online on social media and I saw one person saying something about how you have to speak out and you have to make your positions known.

And another person's literally saying "I'm not going to support businesses that don't say anything."

It's interesting. There's so many different sides to what's happening right now, but it really doesn't matter what you believe about the current situation.

The fact is that the world around us is going to make judgments and make personal buying decisions. And they could be different ones, person to person, but they're going to be made based upon what you do and or do not say right now, right.

So if you're not paying attention as a marketer, you're not doing your job

Katie: Because this is our job. It is our job. Marketing controls brand perception, right? Brand perception is the reality for consumers. They make a decision about us before they engage with us by the way we act through marketing.

That's the kind of inherent "duh" that we know about our jobs, but what that means at a time like this and what it started to mean over the past, I would say, decade or so as the world of social movements, identity, and brands and corporate world they've started to intersect.

And so what that now means is, if you're in marketing, you have to understand where your brand fits in the world of your buyer's identity, whether they believe in the Black Lives Matter movements, right? These kinds of areas that were kind of gray areas before of, we don't want to get political.

It's not appropriate for every brand to have a comment on what's happening.

For example, we're talking about the treatment of African American individuals in the US, if your brand happens to live values that embrace diversity and inclusion and have large representation from that community and you take steps to make sure that their employee experience is great and yada, yada, yada, you might as well leverage that in marketing.

You might as well show the world that you're on the same side as the giant movement that's now building in States and cities around the world.

My God, this is a great opportunity for marketers, which I know sounds dirty to say out loud, but it's absolutely a time to take advantage of the global zeitgeist right now, and be part of the conversation, be part of the narrative, earn trust. It might help you differentiate.

It is a way of saying to the world, "This is where we play, this is what we believe, this is who we are as a brand" that may go well beyond what your product or your service does.

That is an opportunity.

Kathleen: I agree with you. This is such an interesting conversation. In the past year, I had a conversation about this with someone who I've always considered to be very much a professional mentor/idol/role model.

I've come to realize as I've gotten to know this person better that they feel very strongly about keeping all politics, all commentary on social issues, completely out of business. And that is their personal belief.

It has come into focus, I think, with this last election cycle, and we had a big debate where the person was saying companies should never post about politics. I personally don't believe that, nor do I think every company should post about politics.

People will disagree with me and that's fine, but I think that it all comes back to really understanding your brand. And in this case, especially for privately held companies, brands are very inextricably interwoven with the person that owns the company.

This is going to come right down to the owners of the company and what they personally believe in.

There are some companies where the person that owns it is never going to talk about politics because that person, as an individual, doesn't talk about politics even in social settings.

But then you have companies, and there's some examples I'd love to cite, like Penzeys Spices. They are a spice company out of the Midwest. I had discovered them years ago because I was looking for some really niche spices. I like to cook and I had followed them, and then I started seeing this stuff on Facebook and they come out really, really strongly.

This is a long story, but I got into a really big debate with this person. And the person was saying, you are going to lose customers and that's not good for your business. And you're going to alienate people and that's not good for your business.

And my feeling is, that might be fine.

If you're somebody who believes that you want to live your beliefs and you want your business to live those beliefs, you may lose customers, but you will probably have the ones you keep drive tremendous loyalty and you may gain as much, if not more, than you lose.

So, diatribe over. You're the guest, not me!

Katie: Oh, please! I love your point of view. I'm honored to be here because I think you are just brilliant and I love your work.

You hit on something really polarizing right now which works at multiple levels. It also kind of hearkens back to the fundamental truth that not all marketing advice is going to apply to every company. And I feel like that's an important disclaimer, because we tend in marketing to say, brands should do this, they shouldn't do that.

It's really, to your point, what is right for your business, your customers, and most importantly, your goals.

Now that spice company, I don't know them, but I guarantee their goal is not to be the spice for everyone.

It sounds like they know exactly who their buyer is and they know exactly what that buyer wants from them. They want a spice company that stands for more than spice. Great.

Not all car companies are going to be a car for everybody, right? Just like with Patagonia, right? If you're buying a jacket to go skiing and they have a set of brand values that they know aligns with the subset of the total market, but that subset will be inherently loyal to them because Patagonia is an example of a brand that's been consistent against their values.

For years, they've always been kind of counterintuitively anti consumption. They sell retail products. They need to drive consumption. Remember that famous ad that was like, "Don't buy this jacket"? You don't know it. You have to Google it.

And it's Patagonia saying "We cause too much waste in our industry. We build products that may cost you a little more, but they're sustainably made and we want you to wear them for longer.

We're going to help you repair them. We're going to give you some tools to make sure that you can make sure you get the most out of them. They're longer lasting."

These are brand values that the buyer can relate to because the buyer also shares those values.

So this really isn't a new marketing problem. We like to think it is because of social media and hashtag activism and all the propaganda that's happening. But this really isn't old school marketing best practice. Know your buyer, know where you fit in their world.

Bill Bernbach has a great quote that's like, "If you stand for nothing, you'll find some people for you and some people against you. And if you stand for nothing, you'll find nobody for you and nobody against you."

Which is worse for a marketer? To be completely out of the conversation or to be clear about where you sit and stand and who you're intended for?

I love old time radio. There's a great Sirius XM station about the radio shows from the era of when that was entertainment. Somebody had this quote in the old timey accent. They were like, "The only thing you find in the middle of the road is roadkill my dear."

Right now, today, brands do not have to have a comment on who should be president.

That is politics. That is up to the individual. We each have a right to vote. Stay out of it unless you're relating to the campaign or you're lobbying for a certain group.

Honestly, we need to have a say about issues that matter for our buyers. That's it. If it doesn't matter to your buyers, it shouldn't matter to you and your marketing.

If you're a founder, I'm going to kind of disagree with you on this, but if you're a founder trying to lever your organization for your own political, personal views, that's a mistake because not everyone in your company is going to agree with you. Just like not every one of your buyers is going to agree with you.

You have to find middle ground. That's what this is about.

When you canvas for a political campaign and you're going door to door for, I don't know, Bernie Sanders, you don't open the door and knock on the door and say, let me tell you why you're wrong about insert political candidate. You find common ground. You say, what do we share? What are we aligned on? And how do we then move forward together?

It's not about polarizing. It's about recruiting people to see the world the way you do. And those people likely bring the same set of values that you do.

Kathleen: To be clear, I should say because I probably didn't explain this, I'm not advocating that businesses come out and say "Vote for so and so."

I'm more coming out and saying that the context that came up when I talked about it with somebody, was that there were things happening politically that impacted other issues, whether that's the environment or social issues, et cetera, there was like a trickle down.

And there were businesses that at the time were coming out and standing for or against those environmental or social issues. That was what sparked the conversation.

It's very interesting to me because the things that swim in my brain when I get into this conversation are, there is an increasing amount of data that started to come out, particularly with younger generations, that they are actually much more likely to buy from businesses that are willing to say what they stand for.

Again, I'm not talking about politics, I'm talking broadly about things that you stand for. And I loved your statement about the only thing in the middle of the road is roadkill.

Because you know, you look at social activism and business today and you see companies like Tom's shoes, which stand for something, and Patagonia, which stands for something. These businesses are doing very, very well, particularly amongst a younger demographic.

And so I think part of it is knowing who you sell to, as you said. Part of it is also recognizing that over time, things are going to change as this younger demographic ages and people follow them, who knows?

I don't know what will happen with the next generation, but today's 20-year-olds are going to be the 30 and 40-year-olds of tomorrow and the next decade, et cetera.

And so as our customer populations age, their preferences come with them as they do.

It reminds me of the conversation that I've had with people about niching down as a business. I used to own a marketing agency and agencies talk about this all the time. Should we be the agency for everyone? Or should we declare that we are serving this one niche?

And the fear that everybody always has when you get into that conversation is the fear of having to say "no" and turn people away.

What most data shows, and most people find when they do it, is that when you niche down, you actually thrive. You make more money because you really find the right fit customer and they have a higher perception of you. They stick with you longer, et cetera.

And so, there's an echo of that going through my head as I listened to us talk about this.

Understanding your brand promise

Katie: Absolutely. And again, it comes back to branding basics.

You have to know the promise that you're going to make to anyone. That's what brand is. Brand is a promise. When they engage with you, they want to know that they're going to get something that you've promised them.

You don't have to take a stance around hot button issues. Stay away from hot button issues, unless you're ready for that, unless that's really core to your business and your values and live throughout the organization.

There are many examples, from our history, of B2B companies that stand for something in their industry. This is where this needs to be applied to B2B. B2B listeners might be thinking, this doesn't apply to me because I sell, I don't know, refrigeration.

And I'm here to tell you, there is, within the world of refrigeration, a company called Stirling Ultracold, that was kind of a smaller player within this world of refrigeration. They would sell to pharmaceutical companies, and we're talking commercial grade keeping stuff cold, right?

That's the extent of my knowledge, but they are ultra low temperature freezers that companies need. This is a great example of a company in a world that we would think, what is controversial about this space?

The way they were disrupting their own industry was just with this idea of sustainability and energy costs and carbon footprint -- these things that their product enabled companies to decrease. They saved something like 70% of energy costs.

Energy and sustainability and carbon footprint was never a consideration point for this buyer before. They just didn't look at it along that list of criteria that they're making their decision against. It didn't matter.

Suddenly, here's a company who comes forward with a great PR program, really strong thought leadership, a leader who says, "I believe we have a responsibility to have a smaller carbon footprint. And guess what? My products enable you to have it."

It suddenly changed the entire perimeter of an industry.

That is the exact same advice that you and I are preaching right now. Just take a stance in what you believe in your own market. That's how you're going to change the conversation in market.

That's how you're going to find buyers that are aligned with you around this value that now matters, and in a broader sense, you know, to the world, but really in this industry. And that's how you're going to differentiate and earn that trust, is when you declare "Here's what we're about."

And you do that with confidence, because that allows the buyer to look at you and say, "I know exactly what I'm signing up for."

Change the conversation in your industry

Kathleen: I love that. And it reminds me of a talk that I heard by April Dunford.

Katie: Love April Dunford, high five.

Kathleen: I heard it at HubSpot's Inbound conference. April Dunford is an expert on positioning and she gives this talk about the four different ways you can approach positioning for your business.

And I don't remember the nickname she has for it, but the example that she gives for one of the ways is about changing the conversation. And she talks about Tesla and how before Tesla, the leader in the electric car market was the Prius. And the whole conversation in electric cars was about battery life. How long could you drive before you needed to recharge?

You could substitute refrigeration, but the bottom line is that, as a new entrant, if you think about coming into an established market, you're not going to have the first mover advantage.

You're not creating a category per se. So how do you catapult yourself to the head of that market? You do it by changing the conversation.

And so she talks about how Tesla came in and totally changed the conversation by saying, "Yeah, whatever. Battery life. Of course, we all have battery life. It's really all about how sexy is the design and how fast does the car go?"

And now, you see a completely different dialogue happening in electric cars. You see Tesla as a front runner. And you see a lot more electric car manufacturers focusing on design and speed because they made it sexy.

And that's the new conversation. And it sounds like that's exactly the same thing this refrigeration company did.

Finding your "exceptional truth"

Katie: They had to. And this is really where I think, and I know I'm a little biased. I come from a communications background. I've seen the power of content marketing and PR and all of that working in tandem to lift up brands.

I mean, I'm a startup girl at heart. When you can't be the loudest voice in the room and you can't be the dominant player of which, by the way, there's only one in every industry. So the majority are not dominant players.

All of us need to figure out how to get more strategic with the way we leverage PR and content. I think we've fallen into a bit of a trap, and I'll use that word gingerly because of the rise of inbound marketing, because of the rise of the tools and tech that allow us to publish a lot of content.

What we've sacrificed are the kernels of little ideas that we're using to seed the market. We've become really good at publishing education tips and best practices, which are great and necessary. This podcast is a great example of one.

The issue is that we've lost sight of what creates movements, what creates change in people. It's that little kernel of truth.

I call them exceptional truths that get people to stop, you know, pump the brakes and go, "Wait a minute. I've been thinking about things all wrong."

And when you get a person, a human being to stop and kind of pause, you've got them, that's it.

When you've created that seed of doubt, the way that they saw the world may not be that capital T, truth, they're open. They're leaning in, they're listening to what else you have to say. And that is when marketing works at its best.

That's when they're more receptive to your pitch, to your ideas and your path forward, but it takes knowing the buyers so well that you know where they're misinformed or what they don't know or what they don't understand so that you can challenge that.

This is drawing from, everyone knows, The Challenger Sale.

Applying The Challenger Sale to marketing

Kathleen: I was just going to say, I used to be in sales and in the sales world, this is The Challenger Sale.

Katie: Yes. I don't know what happened. I mean, how can The Challenger Sale extend its way to marketing? Not to say that it hasn't, but you know, is that a puppy?

Kathleen: Yes. I have two who are laying at my feet and every now and then they lift their heads up and say, "Wait, there's a world out there!" They're getting excited about The Challenger Sale.

Katie: They probably are just as confused as I am as to why The Challenger Sale didn't work its way into the world of PR and content marketing. To me, we need to challenge the way the buyer sees the world. I think very few brands do that.

Kathleen: It's very true. I have worked in sales before and when I was in that job, I read The Challenger Sale. I used that approach in sales and it made me very successful.

And you're spot on. That has so much applicability in marketing.

I owned an agency for 11 years and I worked with a lot of different companies and there is, in marketing, this lemmings syndrome where we see the lemmings running ahead of us and we want to follow them off the cliff. If they're doing it, it must be the right thing to do.

And it extends from everything, from messaging and the way we talk about what we do, to things like brand colors. I used to do websites for attorneys and they all wanted forest green and maroon and these very stodgy, old attorney colors.

And I remember I had one client and I was like, "Let's just do something crazy." And they were like, "But nobody else did that." And I was like, "Precisely."

There's this inclination both amongst marketers and within the business world to play within the lines. And I think that does hurt us.

There's a sea of sameness out there and it's the content we create, it's the colors on our websites, it's the way we message. It's, you know, "Hey, you should or should not talk about this in our industry. We don't talk about that so I'm not going to" and I really think that that has tied our hands behind our backs,

Katie: I have a lot of empathy. I mean, I'm a Pisces. I'm gonna look at every situation from both sides. And it's empath to the Nth degree over here. But I do have a lot of empathy for the modern marketer.

And this comes from being one, but also selling and marketing to them for 10 years. I've been on the megaphone side of MarTech vendors back in the day when there was a hundred of us, marketing solutions in a world of digital marketing that was now starting to shift.

Don't forget, 10 years ago, we now had to be good at becoming top ranked on Google. We now had to start using social media to develop a two way dialogue. We then had to automate everything. Then we had to start measuring everything.

Now we're trying to leverage AI. It has moved at such a pace. It all happened in nine years.

It has moved at such a pace that the marketer, the poor beleaguered marketing ops person and lead gen new roles that are being created because of this ecosystem in MarTech have inherent uncertainty, an inherent doubt and inherent fear because thinking about it, you and I work, we do marketing for a living.

This is our income. How are we going to support our families? This is more than a job and an industry, buyers and marketing.

I always had this kind of point of view when I was marketing to marketers. The buyer is more than a director of marketing at an IT company. They are an individual who's just trying to figure it out.

And a brand like a HubSpot who comes out right at the turning point of an industry in flux to say, we have 10 ways that you can do this better. And five tips for this and seven strategies for success in that, that brand is going to win.

That fearful buyer who's like, I just need a job, and I need to keep ahead. The biggest fear for the marketing buyer is falling behind. If we fall behind, we're no longer relevant. If we're no longer relevant, guess what? There's some 23 year old who's going to come up and take our spot because they know Tik Tok.

I'm being hyperbolic, but that's constantly on our minds. And so we have to have empathy for that marketer who's like, we are going to do the things that work and copy the things that work because they work and we need a win.

It's really those organizations that can allow their marketing team to do what they do best. That means leave them alone. Let them understand the buyer and the market, the way that they're supposed to.

The challenge of being a marketer

Katie: Somebody else said to me that marketing is a very voyeuristic profession. Everyone can see it. Unlike finance, unlike R&D or engineering, or even sales, to an extent. Everyone can see marketing.

Everyone in a business thinks that they're an expert in marketing because they see marketing all day. They see billboards. They see ads. They feel like they know the science and the practice of marketing.

That creates a lot of pressure on the marketing team to kind of do whatever everyone else thinks they should be doing.

So we have a department that's not only fearful of falling behind, but also facing pressure from the business to do things that may be counterintuitive to what marketing should do.

To your point, the lawyers with the maroon versus doing something different.

The telling of exceptional truths, the disruption, the rabble rousing, it works on teams that allow marketers to operate with confidence and hire marketers that are allowing them the space to push back and say, "No, this is what marketing does.

Our job is to understand who the buyer is, what they need and why we're uniquely fit that market. And that may look different than what you expect, but that's why you hired me."

If you're listening to this and you're young and you love marketing, but you're unsure of the path ahead, that's the strongest thing I think you can do is to hone this sense of what marketing does for business and the sense of confidence that you need to bring to every meeting. You almost have to defend your job at every go, but the more you do it, the more resilient you get, the better you get at it.

Kathleen: Well, I think it also points to what you should look for in a place of work. I completely agree with everything you just said, and, and I don't often talk about where I work now, but I'm at this company Attila Security, which is in cybersecurity.

I knew I had landed in the right place and I had this sense when I interviewed.

When I got into the company and I met with the CEO and I presented him with my 90 day plan and strategy, this was about 30 days in, he said, "Yeah, just do it. I hired you because you know what you're doing", you know? "You don't need my permission." And I was like, "Wow, what a great feeling".

When you're interviewing, that's a thing to really watch for and to dig into and to see if that's a trait that you're going to find amongst the leadership team of the company that you go and work for.

Katie: I wonder how to ask that in an interview. I'm a startup girl who's just been at companies where inherently, there's no one to tell me what to do. What would you ask if you were interviewing?

Kathleen: As somebody who hires a lot, I've always been a big believer in behavioral based interview questions. Those are basically, you don't ask people "What would you do?", you ask, "What did you do?" And you ask people to talk about actual experiences.

So I would probably ask something along the lines of, you know and it depends on if it's a company that's had marketers before. I would say, "Tell me about a time when a prior head of marketing proposed something that you weren't sure about or didn't necessarily agree with, what did you do?"

And if they haven't had marketers before, if it's a startup, I would probably ask them something about being at a prior company. Or I would say, "Tell me about a time the head of sales proposed something," or somebody else in the company presuming that there are other leaders. Because I think past behavior speaks better than hypotheticals.

Everybody can come up with the right answer, hypothetically.

For what it's worth, that's kind of the approach that I've taken, but some of it is also just a feeling that you get from talking with people.

And I think that's something that you hone over time as you work in more places and you're exposed to more different types of people.

Standing out in a world saturated with marketing content

Kathleen: But one of the things I was thinking about as you were talking, you mentioned HubSpot and how they solve for something very specific at a time when it was a real need. And, it got me kind of circling back to a little bit of what we started with here, which is this need to tell exceptional truths and should companies go there? Should they not go there?

One of the things that I started thinking about as you were talking is that the interesting unique moment that we live in right now is that content marketing has become so commonplace. And there are so many companies creating content that there is this saturation.

There's just a lot out there. There's a lot of blogs. There's a lot of newsletters. There's a lot of video out there. We're all busy. Nobody has the time to read all of it. So how do you choose what you're going to consume?

And this applies to anybody, any buyer out there has this dilemma whether they're actively searching for something or not. And it seems to me that one of the factors that's really affecting what works now in marketing is that one of the most effective ways to stand out amongst a very saturated world of content is to have a point of view.

We've talked a lot about in the marketing world about authenticity, and a hot topic lately has been email newsletters and getting really real in your email newsletters and showing personality and individuality, even in company newsletters.

And the reason that that's working so well, I believe, is because it is different. Just the fact that it's different and just the fact that it doesn't sound like everybody else, people gravitate to that.

So I'd love to know kind of what you think about that.

Katie: I a hundred percent agree. Mic drop because you said it yourself.

This idea that everyone is a publisher, everyone can produce content - it makes it more important than ever to do what we were suggesting 20 minutes ago, which is to know exactly who you're talking to, what they value, the ways you share that value and just be confident that that is the niche that you have decided to own.

You cannot be all things to all people. I'm hearkening back to my marketing undergraduate. This was a long time ago now. It's the one thing I learned.

This is not new, right? We just have a proliferation of information now available to us. It makes it more important than ever to have not only a clear point of view, but first a very clear intended audience.

You cannot be the solution, in your case, for all CIOs. You're the solution for all CIOs that are extremely risk averse or something.

There's something about your buyers that you are really aligned to. Well, many companies fail to understand what that niche looks like and where that alignment happens.

I have a newsletter. I call it the "World's best newsletter." I started it when I started consulting, frankly, honestly, truthfully as a way of reminding the world that I wasn't gone.

I was leaving a startup at that time that I had co-founded and I was the public face of, and I needed a way to take that momentum and transfer it into my consulting, speaking, whatever it is that I do, practice.

So I started a newsletter. I had no intentions with it. I had no best practices around it. I probably break every rule in the book.

People love it. And what I do with it is what I've done from day one. I collect the things that hook my attention throughout the week, that I believe more people need to read, and I send it out weekly. And I say, "Here's what is important to me".

I am a human being with other other interests outside of marketing. I'm a fierce advocate for feminism, and I'm a fierce advocate for human rights.

And I have a documentary coming out about the intersection of marketing and social movements. And all of that is jam packed into this little newsletter, seven links and a quote of the week.

It makes no sense. If you were to tell me, as a marketing consultant, it wouldn't make any sense. There's a lot of marketing stuff in there, but sometimes there's a really important New York Times cover story about racism in America.

It works for me because people know what they want from me. It's neat.

I have been really reticent to do that. It feels wrong. It goes against everything I'm taught as an email marketer, but you know what? It performs.

It might be because it's real. I think it's because it's honestly what people want from me. I think that's really what matters. And they come back to it week after week because it serves that need and it's fresh. They don't get it from other people.

Finding your unique brand voice

Katie: If you're a business, trying to figure out what to send in your newsletter, think about that first. Just like a product and the way that you develop a product, look at the consideration set. What are you up against? What are the other emails looking like from your competitors or even others in the same general industry? Do something different.

Maybe it's just doing it shorter. Maybe it's coming at it from a totally different angle, right?

Content and thought leadership should be treated like product development. Not only is it something new and different, but it's like this muscle that you have to work on.

You've gotta be really good at coming up with the processes to uncover those insights from inside the business to say, "This is what we believe, what we know." And then really, really good at delivering that in a fresh and new way.

That's what makes the job of content fun and hard. But it's not what most people do. Most people opt for the easy ebook, the 10 tips, best practices. And then they wonder why isn't this performing?

How to find your exceptional truth

Kathleen: So true. So if somebody is listening and they're a marketer, who's come into a company and they're thinking about - and let's talk about startups because I think that's the best way to illustrate how this works.

If you come into a startup as the first head of marketing, it is a green field, right? You get to shape the clay. If you're coming into an established company, that's a different story, but it's still, the challenge is still there. It's just how you navigate. It might be different.

Putting on my hat as head of marketing at a startup, I'm coming in, it's the first time we're going to have a marketing strategy. If I wanted to come in and really mine the richness of what you talk about as exceptional truths, what is the playbook for doing that?

Katie: Well, good luck finding a playbook. The place to start, in my mind, is to ask yourself the question, just like you would if you were starting a movement and activism, "What is the change that you want to see in market?" What is that end result that you're hoping to get people to switch?

It could just be, you want them to choose you instead of a competitor. Great. So what does that mean? What belief do you need to shift? What misinformation do you have to correct? What new insight, to quote the Challenger model, do you have to bring to the table to get them to see the world a bit differently?

I'll give you an example from HubSpot again, because I think HubSpot did this so well. And it's an example that we can all relate to.

Your podcast. The name is a great example of the power of what they were able to do, how this came to market. I hate to say it, they were just a blogging, search engine optimization, social media, and eventually an email tool mixed into one.

They were not the only player doing this at the time. However, they thought about this brilliantly. They needed people to see the way they wanted things to change. They were advocating for us to use these tools instead of cold calling, billboards, et cetera.

The way that they got people to make that shift was to create a dichotomy or create an enemy. I actually presented on this at their conference two years ago, create an enemy. You can find it on their inbound library. And they saw the world in two ways.

There's inbound and outbound. There's the new way forward, Mrs. Beleaguered marketer, who doesn't want to lose her job, the way that you're not going to fall to irrelevancy. And there's the old way that you're going to fall behind if you keep using it.

They were extremely polarizing with this perspective. It was just one article that started all of this, right? They were like, "Here's the way forward. This inbound and outbound. One is good. One is bad. White, black, right? Devil, whatever it is." And 80% of the market was like, "Oh man, there's no way I'm going to go there."

They were pissed because HubSpot is over here, challenging the existing status quo, the way they sell. 20% saw that and went, "Oh, you're right. Let's opt into this." And so HubSpot now of course built an entire movement around inbound marketing.

It is a practice. It is a job title. It is a category in and of itself because they started with that kernel of what changes do we need to create. We need to figure out a way to get people to move from A to B, to go from what they think they know to what we want to advocate for.

And then they brilliantly built a movement around it.

And they did so with a ton of content ideas, a community of people that were proud to call themselves inbound marketers and this kind of repetitive, consistent muscle they use to push the movement forward, now extending years and a $125 million IPO and 19,000 people at their conference.

It just has ballooned because they were smart about this kernel of truth that they've never deviated from.

Are you going to be the next HubSpot? No. This is right place, right time, right conditions and market. But, you do have to find and be willing to provoke, with purpose, the existing beliefs of buyers, and then be consistent about that. If you can do that, your startup is going to make a lot of noise.

You're going to punch well above your weight. Even if you don't have the biggest budget, you're going to make waves and you have to be willing to do that or risk falling into irrelevance.

Kathleen: It's a really incredible story, that story of HubSpot and it's certainly not the only one.

You have Mark Benioff at Salesforce who famously picketed outside with a sign that had a big red X through the word software. And he similarly named the enemy and it was software and his solution was move to the cloud, software as a service.

That is an approach that absolutely works. I would say to go out and read The Challenger Sale. So many sales people read it, but so few marketers do, and I love that you brought it up in this conversation.

Kathleen's two questions

Kathleen: We are going to run out of time soon so I want to make sure I ask you my questions. I could talk to you forever.

My first question that I always ask my guests is of course, this podcast is all about inbound marketing, and is there a particular company or individual that you think is just a great example of how to do inbound marketing in today's world?

Katie: I think Rand Fishkin and his work with Moz and now with SparkToro which he actually details really well in a book called Lost and Founder. It's a great book. If you're thinking of starting a company read this first.

It may scare you away, but he always was the example for me of somebody who was again, challenging white hat versus black hat, giving away all the industry secrets to become a trusted industry resource, to ranked the highest, but it really builds trust in his company and him as an individual.

And I think it's just his consistency, Whiteboard Fridays, he was writing five days a week. That's still the best example of consistent inbound marketing.

Kathleen: You know, it's so funny because I could not agree with you more. He is somebody that I have followed really closely. I read his book. I read everything he does at SparkToro. I follow him religiously.

And I have been very surprised. I think you might be the first person that has mentioned his name. I ask this question of every single guest and that has baffled me because I think he's amazing. So I'm really happy that you said that.

Katie: He's also the world's nicest guy. We both spoke at the SpiceWorld conference in, I want to say, 2018. Both of us were speaking in the marketing track and I'm sitting here backstage fan girling because I love him. Who hasn't read his stuff?

He comes off stage with the mustache. He's the nicest guy. He's just, you know, very down to earth. And I think that's the secret. He wrote this content to truly help others. And I think that genuine purpose behind the content is really what sets him apart.

More people should have mentioned him.

Kathleen: Yes. I agree. And maybe they will now because we'll turn them on to his stuff.

All right. Second question. You mentioned earlier that the biggest fear of marketers is falling behind. And the second question I always ask everybody is exactly that.

It's like every marketer I talk to says, they feel like they're drinking from a fire hose. There's too much to keep up with. So how do you personally stay up to date and keep yourself educated?

Katie: 100% LinkedIn. I'm a huge advocate for using LinkedIn appropriately. I have a big following there, so I love it as a platform, but I also use it to consume a lot of best practices. I ask a lot of questions. I'm constantly looking through comments. It's become a resource that just, I find invaluable. It's a mess. Sometimes now people take advantage of LinkedIn to post some really nonsense stuff, but at the core of it, it's there.

Can I give two answers? There's a lot of Slack communities that are being built around specific topic areas. I'm not in marketing, but I'm part of a great marketing operations Slack group that keeps me knowing what's going on.

I work with a lot of MarTech vendors still as an amplifier now and a community evangelist. I need to know what's going on. And so even on that, in the practice, these Slack groups are hidden sources of insight.

So if there's not a Slack group for your world, your community, build it, invite people. They will come. This is not field of dreams. They're desperate to connect, one-On-one, sometimes outside of the loud world that is LinkedIn.

Kathleen: That group would not happen to be the MoPro's would it?

Katie: No, but now I want to join that one.

Kathleen: I'll send you a link. A guy I interviewed once for this podcast has a marketing operations Slack group that I am in.

But I agree with you. I have a ton of Slack groups and there's only like, let's say, two or three of them that I'm religious about checking every day. They're just insanely valuable.

But, love all of those suggestions. Again, I could talk to you all day long, but we're not going to do that because we both have other things we need to do. Great conversation.

I'm sure people will have opinions, both ways, about what we said here today, but that's okay. That's why these conversations are important to have. If you listened and you disagree, tweet me. I would love to hear your perspective. This is all about learning and listening and I'd love to hear what more folks think about this.

How to connect with Katie

Kathleen: But Katie, if somebody wants to learn more about you or connect with you online, what is the best way for them to do that?

Katie: They can Google me. I'm very, very, very Google-able. You can LinkedIn me. You can find my website. I'm just, I'm everywhere.

Kathleen, congratulations on over 150 episodes of this. This is a service to the community and we are grateful for it and it's a lot of work to put these together. So thank you for doing what you do and thank you for having me, really.

Kathleen: Well, I very much appreciate it. And I will put links to your personal website as well as your LinkedIn in the show notes. So head there if you want to connect with Katie, and she does produce some amazing stuff, so I highly recommend it.

You know what to do next...

Kathleen: If you're listening and you liked what you heard today, or you just felt like you learned something new, I would love it if you would leave the podcast a five star review on Apple podcasts, because that is how other people learn about the podcast.

And finally, if you know somebody else who's doing amazing inbound marketing work, please tweet me @workmommywork, because I would love to make them my next guest. That's it for this week. Thank you so much, Katie.

Katie: Thank you, Kathleen. Everyone take care.

Want to stay updated when the podcast is released?

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Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/telling-exceptional-truths-ft-katie-martell-inbound-success-ep-146

[textualdeviance]

Re: that last reblog about false neutrality: YES. Balance is bias. Facts always lean toward one side or another, and any news org pretending otherwise is gaslighting you. 

My J school taught exactly that principle, thank goodness. Unfortunately, a lot of reporters--particularly in TV news--don’t have journo backgrounds that include this kind of training, nor have they had proper training in copy editing and fact checking. Way too many of them are just talking heads with a generic communications degree, if that. Used to be everyone in news had either a J degree or rigorous training, but once the big corps with their profit-driven agendas started swallowing up local radio and newspapers and running big cable news nets, journalistic integrity got thrown out the window in favor of the 1980s version of clickbait.

Because these supposed reporters are not fully educated, it’s assumed that they don’t have the skill and wisdom to make a judgment call about what facts are and who is most able to provide them. Thus the practice of getting quotes from all sides of a story, and then laying them out with (supposedly) equal weight, and letting the audience decide who’s right. Problem is: The audience mostly isn’t qualified to make those judgments, either, plus they look up to reporters as people who know more than they do, and thus they expect that the news will reliably tell them the truth. So if some jackass on Fox includes quotes from a Flat Earther in every story about NASA, they assume that reporter is telling them that the Flat Earth Society is every bit as qualified to tell the truth about Mars as an astrophysicist from the JPL. Adding confusion: The editorial and “debate” segments/shows that don’t frame themselves as different from straight news reporting. Used to be people knew that commentary and opinion pages weren’t the same thing as reported news. Now no-one has any damned idea what’s actual news and what’s just someone bloviating or a couple of people yelling at each other for the WWE version of reporting. After about 30 years of this, millions of people are no longer able to determine who’s a properly qualified expert and who’s completely full of shit, and an entire generation of news consumers has no fucking idea what’s real and what’s not.

Fast forward to the intarweebs age, and now news has been fully democratized. In many ways, this is a good thing. If everyone has access to a wide-distribution platform, it’s harder for gatekeepers with bad agendas to suppress a story that makes someone in power look bad. (This is part of why people who love propaganda want to kill net neutrality--if you can make it impossible for the plebes to load the pages with real news, it’s easier to control that flow.) Unfortunately, this also means that every dipshit with an axe to grind can call themselves a reporter and insist that their stories be taken just as seriously as ones from actual journalists. See Alex Jones. See Breitbart. See Young Turks. See U.S. Uncut. See the myriad sites run by homeopaths and other “natural” scammers passing off anti-science woo barf as legitimate information. Bald-faced lies are now being framed as fact, and far too many people have absolutely no clue they’re being lied to.

So how do we fix this? Well, it’s actually pretty easy:

1. Support your local newspapers and public radio.

As long as your local paper isn’t run by a massive conglomerate like NewsCorp or Gannett, chances are good it’s doing some decent reporting. If your local big metro paper is shit, look for ones from smaller cities nearby. Many of the weeklies are doing pretty good, too--even the ones that are part of the Village Voice parent company. Figure out who owns it, who the EiC is and what their background is, and then pay especially close attention to stories written by staff reporters (rather than wire services, freelancers, or stringers.)

Subscribe, if you can, or at least pay for a paper copy. If you prefer to get your news in digital form, turn off ad blockers when you go visit the paper’s site, so they can keep making enough money to pay their reporters and editors.

Any local radio that’s affiliated with NPR is probably a good bet, too, especially ones run by colleges. Donate to them if you can. Ignore virtually all talk radio. It’s an absolute cesspool these days.

2. Support the best of the national/international news orgs.

While they do have a slight liberal lean these days, the WaPo is one of the best national-news sources out there. I’d trust them over almost anyone else, including the NYT. For now, NPR is a close second, but whether that lasts depends on how much Trump fucks with it. For wire stories, take anything by the AP with a grain of salt, and pay closer attention to anything from Reuters, the BBC and Al-Jazeera. Many international papers also have good reporting. If you can read another language, look for stories from Der Spiegel, Le Monde, etc. If you’re looking at the U.K., be aware that they have some absolute shit there--ignore anything from the Sun, the Daily Mail or the Telegraph--but they have some good ones, too. The Guardian is particularly reliable. In Canada, the Toronto Star and Vancouver Sun are pretty good.

Some magazines are also good, and because of their longer lead times, you can often get far more in-depth reporting than the constant flow of glorified headlines you see elsewhere. Many of these have a strong East Coast flavor/bias, so keep that in mind, but for the most part, stuff from the Atlantic or the New Yorker is reliable. Ignore the big weeklies, though: Time, Newsweek, etc. They’re every bit as useless as anything else you’d find in a dentist’s waiting room.

3. Ditch ANYTHING that doesn’t do its own reporting, or doesn’t pay reporters.

News aggregators are the scourge of journalism. If the site you’re on is simply repackaging or doing commentary on stories that someone else reported, stop going there. This doesn’t include blogs or other places that are specifically designed for doing news commentary--and are upfront about that--more just the places that link to someone else’s story in the first graf, then have three more grafs paraphrasing or spinning what was in that story, and calling it reporting. That is not reporting. At all. If the person on the byline didn’t actually talk to any of the sources in the story, it’s not real news. It’s clickbait.

Likewise, some places may have a bit of original reporting, but because they don’t pay their freelancers, they should be ignored. HuffPo is particularly bad about this. They’ve even gone so far as to try to justify this by saying that paying their writers would introduce bias. HOLY CRAP NO.

4. Do your own leg work.

The ramp-up for this can be painful, but it pays off down the road. When trying to decide whether a given news org is worth your time, do some research on it. Find out who owns it, how long it’s been around, etc. Get some background on the EiC. Read some of its editorials to get a feel for where they lean. Look at some of its staff-written stories and see who they use for sources and how they frame quotes. See if they follow up any dodgy quotes with other sources refuting those. If a source seems questionable to you, go look them up, too. Could be that the head of Scientists for a Better World is actually some anti-vax crank who lost his medical license and is now operating a cult out of a strip mall. Some of the worst groups out there have names that sound legit--they do that on purpose to sow confusion. Make note of the icky ones, and avoid any news orgs that use them as sources. Also, see how often they run stories that read like slightly edited press releases. If they’re way too excited about some company or product or person, they may have literally just copypasted from docs they got sent by some PR hack. While press releases are useful for getting quotes or initial information, they have to be followed with real reporting.

Also: Don’t rely on your friends or family to give you reliable news (unless they happen to be journalists!) I’m sure Aunt Sadie is a wonderful person and means well, but if she insists that the article she read about how vaccines are dangerous is the gospel truth, chances are good you shouldn’t trust most of what she says about other news. There are a fuckton of well-meaning-but-misinformed people out there, and while they may be good sources for news about your cousin’s graduation, they shouldn’t be relied on to tell you a damned thing about what’s going on in Syria or whether the county water board has been taken over by corporate stooges.

(This caveat includes me, BTW. If all this seems like horseshit to you, feel free to look me up, too. I don’t expect my words to be taken on face value, and I’m happy to be transparent about my background and perspective.)

After a few weeks of doing this kind of investigative digging, you should be able to determine which of your potential news sources is going to be the most reliable, and you can then follow them on Twitter or FB or--gasp!--even buy their dead-tree editions if they have them, and rest assured that what gets in your face is going to be good information. Try to have at least two or three that you regularly follow. Getting a variety of angles is always a good thing, and some places are especially good for one subject or region, but not necessarily useful for other things.

The only way we get better, more reliable news is to pay for what’s already good, and stop giving money and clicks to the bad stuff. All news has to rely on revenue these days, so money alone doesn’t make a news source bad, but if you dry up the cash flow for the shitty stuff and start dumping it on the good stuff, we can eventually get news media back on track. To get good news, you have to be a good news consumer. Working for responsible journalism is a job for all of us.

[thenorthwoodsvegan]

Do you know how to say “brat?”

It’s funny, depending on where you live, that word means and sounds different. You need to use context clues.

Mostly it might mean someone who is acting childish and selfish, being bratty. It’s also a food, a kind of sausage eaten on a bun like a hot dog, and it’s pronounced “braaahhht,” short for bratwurst. (I don’t know phonetics or if that’s a long A or short A or what). 

Brats are big where I am. They are often boiled in beer and onions, and then grilled. They are eaten while tailgating, and around here, we tailgate everything and anything...all sports, any weather, graduations, weddings,...not joking. (I could do a whole ‘nother post on tailgating culture, it’s extreme. Maybe I will.) So brats are A Thing.

It’s been a while since I was faced with a Vegan Challenge of some kind, trying to fit a real-life situation into my ethics/ my ethics into a situation. I like when these challenges come up. I know I’ve said here before, when I first went vegan, I ran into ethical dilemmas all the time. People were always waking me up on gosh dang desert islands with no food, you know the deal. Now I run into challenges less often, or I guess I run into the same ones, but I’ve already decided what to do. So, I get excited when I get to puzzle through it again. 

Recently I had A Challenge! I regularly volunteer for a food bank warehouse. They receive large donations, mostly from grocery stores and restaurants, but also from food drives and individuals, and they distribute throughout our state. Mostly I sort produce, throwing out the stuff I wouldn’t buy, and crating out portions of good food. I feel really good about this, that people in need can get fresh fruit and veg. 

Occasionally I also need to sort meat or eggs. I don’t have a problem with this (not ethically anyway, although getting ham water all over my clothes is oogy). 

I know I am contributing to a cause I care about, a cause that gets people healthy food of all kinds, and it’s not up to me to decide what people in need get to eat to survive. This organization is pretty great, too, so I love being there. 

Coming up, they are part of a large community event. The event has a lot of different sponsors, and it’s a weekend festival. For every hour of volunteering I do at the organization’s part of the event, the organization gets something like $8. Their spending power is about like every $1 buys them $3 of food, so every hour I volunteer, I’d be contributing $24 to this great cause. The issue? The event is Brat Fest! A weekend that literally celebrates the eating of pigs and cows!

So, I was caught in a dilemma. What to do?! Contribute to this great cause, but at what cost? Serve people meat all weekend (or for four hours or whatever)?

I do not think I am a utilitarian really, because I won’t follow it all the way to its end. 

A lot of my approach to animal ethics, however, is very utilitarian. I want to minimize harm and make things better all the time. So I knew what a utilitarian approach to this situation would be: decide if my being there is causing more good than bad. Still, I had reservations. 

I wanted to know what some other approaches to this problem might be, and I wanted to find out why I was still a little hung up on it. So I turned to my friend who does philosophical counseling.

Did you know philosophical counseling existed? I didn’t, until my friend started with it. I think it’s an awesome idea, and I had a good experience. Someone who is removed from your situation to help you break down a problem and look at it differently, but not a mental health counselor. I asked my friend Russ to help me. If you have any philosophical questions, you should talk to Russ, because he will help you, too. This is his info: http://www.russhamer.com/

When we spoke, I told him basically everything I wrote above, and asked him what some other approaches to this problem might be. He walked me through a few (what Kant might say, what Aristotle might say) and it was very interesting. But he really brought it back to me and asked me why I was hung up about it. 

I told him, for one, I couldn’t decide if my being at this event was even going to be more good than bad, even if I wanted to make my decision that way. I also told him that I care very much about the image I project, walking my talk, being a role model, etc, and that even if I decided it was ok, I didn't know what others would think. I have talked on here before about how even if I’m within my own ethics, I don’t want people to even THINK I’m hypocritical. The most effective/efficient thing I can do for “the cause” is interest others in animal ethics and changing their behaviors. I lose a lot of capitol if people think I’m hypocritical (even if I’m not wrong). 

Russ got this and where I was coming from. Through our conversation he helped me realize two important things: 1), that this event was going to happen with or without me, and 2), this is such an opportunity for vegan outreach. I’m going to break these both down. 

1 - The event will happen with or without me. I had thought of this. But, I hesitated at this thought, too. How is this different from me saying “well factory farming will happen with or without me, so I might as well eat at KFC”? I don’t like when people say that or try to stand an argument on that. The difference here is my action. If I choose to participate in factory farming, I am giving them my money, and therefore my support. If I don’t, they don’t have my support. By volunteering at this event, I am not really giving to brats in any way, and I’m not supporting the brat industry. I am specifically supporting my organization and feeding people in need. So the brat fest will happen with or without me, but the organization might not get enough volunteers without me. That’s the difference, in what I am supporting.

2 - What an opportunity for vegan outreach and PR. Many people have an idea about what vegans are, and it’s not always positive. We can be prejudged as judgmental and holier-than-thou, jamming our beliefs on others. If I’m just chillin, doing my part at this event, and it happens to come up that I’m vegan, people will immediately have a new, more open-minded picture of what a vegan can be. I might get an opportunity to have a conversation with someone about it, and even if it’s not a long conversation, hopefully they would leave with a plus side in the vegan column for the future. And, if my mission is really to get more people to think about animal ethics, I need to be where the meat eaters are! People eating brats are exactly the people I should be encouraging to think more about the impact of their choices (generalizing, but you get the point). I can't just hope to surround myself comfortably with others who think like me and expect to make a difference in the world. (I joked about bringing some pamphlets, but that might be crossing a line.)

So in the end, I signed up for a shift at this event. I signed up for a shift serving corn on the cob, because since I have the choice, yeah, I’ll serve the vegetables. 

I hope the event goes great and we raise a lot for the food bank! And that I get to do some vegan outreach! Thanks for your help, Russ!

[loiseambat]

Know Thyself

Fun fact: I actually enjoy taking personality tests and other random quizzes on the internet. I feel like these tests help me learn and discover more about myself. So when i read that as part of our individual assessment, we would be taking 3 or 4 tests, I was actually quite excited. 

I remember taking the MBTI test a few years ago. Back then, I had a totally different personality type - my test results showed that I am an INFP or the idealist. But taking it again, my test results showed that I now fall under the INFJ-T type. I think the change in my personality shows how much I have changed and grew as a person. Upon seeing the results, I think I do resonate INFJ personality type. With my shy and reserved personality, I am aware that I lean towards the introverted side. I do have the tendency to act based on instinct. However, in terms of nature I used to think that I base my decision on logic rather than my emotions. But my test results show that I rely more on my feelings. Although I feel kind of disappointed with the results. I’d like to think of this in a positive manner. Maybe leaning towards the feeling side of my nature shows that I am more compassionate and that I have more connection with people. Additionally, I have read that people with judging personalities don’t do well with spontaneity and I very much agree with this one. I prefer planning ahead rather than going with the flow, and I get a lot of stress when things get unexpected. I mostly agree with the results of my MBTI test since I think that its description resonates with my personality. 

Job careers were also provided in the results of the test. These jobs include: counselor, social worker, HR diversity manager, organizational development consultant, custom relations manager, writer, and pediatrician. Before entering college, I remember considering some of the career paths included in the list. I considered going into medical school to become a pediatrician. I also considered taking psychology to work as a therapist. However, now that I am in college, none of the recommended careers no longer appeal to me as I am happy with the degree program I chose. I see myself excelling more in design and creatives which is why I am beyond satisfied that I chose to major in marketing.

Moreover, I think that learning your personality type helps in becoming an effective leader. By knowing your personality type, you become more aware of yourself - strengths, weaknesses, how you work and deal with things. For instance, knowing that I am an INFJ makes me aware that I am the type of person who functions better when things are planned ahead of time. It makes me understand that since I tend to lean more towards my emotions when deciding, it makes me more of a compassionate person. Which I think is very important especially in establishing a relationship within a team. 

Aside from taking the MBTI test, we were also tasked to take the OCEAN personality test. My test results show that I have a 41% level of extraversion, which is 6% higher than my MBTI results which shows a 35% of extraversion. Based on the 2 result, I can infer that rather than being purely introverted, I am actually an ambivert leaning towards being introverted. And I actually find this true. When given the chance, I am not one to shy away from parties. But I am also not the type to strike a conversation with new people. I like working with people, especially the one that I know and have previously worked with. But I also don’t mind working on my own.

From the given definition, I can describe myself as someone who gets stressed very easily. I like to look at the brighter side of things but I also remind myself of their risks and consequences. Although I prefer planning out my day, I also have the tendency to make impulsive decisions. And though I don’t limit my imagination, my traditional and conventional self keeps me boxed inside my comfort zone.

Comparing both of my test results, I don’t think the given description is quite consistent. For instance, my level of extrovertedness. However, I don’t see this inconsistency as a negative thing. I think both test results give more explanation about myself. The way I see it, the small differences between the two test results does not limit me in a single standard. It makes my personality more unique.

For the second part of this assessment, we were asked to take the RIASEC test. This is a test which profiles the user based on his/her interests. 

In this, my RIASEC test results are at some point not in line with what I know about myself. Earlier in this post, I have mentioned that my personality is normally shy and that I lean more towards being an introvert. However, my test results show that I am less realistic (or shy based on the definition of the website) and more social. But aside from that, I think the rest is pretty much the same with the way I see myself.

More into my level of introversion/extraversion as per my test results, I don’t think I agree with the given results. Due to my shy and quiet nature, I know for a fact that I am indeed an introvert. 

Moving on, among the recommended jobs based on my RIASEC result, I am interested in becoming either a copy writer or a PR specialist. This is because I am a marketing major and both of the jobs are under marketing. And among all the suggested jobs, I think the 2 jobs that I mentioned are something I would be capable of doing. I think working as either of the two jobs would lead me to a more fulfilling career since it is exactly what I am preparing for. I would be able to apply the lessons that I have learned as a marketing student and experience it in the corporate world.

Lastly, we were tasked to create and answer a survey that determines our strengths and weaknesses in different competencies based on the context. In my case, I chose the family context, hence I asked my family members to answer the survey, particularly both my parents and my older sister.

Based on the survey results, I have observed that I have a tendency to look at myself at a lower position. In the line graph, it can be seen that I have rated myself with a lower average score as compared to the scores that I have received from my respondents. Hence, I can infer that I indeed have the tendency to think lower of myself. I think from this observation,  I would need to build my self-esteem and self-confidence more.

My greatest strength, based on the survey results would be authenticity. I already had an idea that this would be one of my strengths because my sister had always told me that I could be blunt and straightforward, and that I always say what needs to be said without having to sugar coat things. On the other hand, my greatest weaknesses would be personal integrity, humility and wisdom. For this, I already expected that one of the three would be my weakness most especially personal integrity and humility. This is because my view and opinion on things tend to be swayed when I encounter a different opinion from mine. For humility, on the other hand, though I may deny it at times, I have the tendency to be judgmental of others.

I think this 360 degrees assessment is important because it makes us more aware of how others see us and how we project ourselves to the people around us. Although we may claim that we already know ourselves well enough, there are also instances in which our view of ourselves differs from how we project ourselves to others, And as a leader, I think this is very important because one of the roles of the leader is to be the role model of the subordinates. Your subordinates would look up to you and follow your image. So I think it is important to be aware of how others perceive you.

[thirtydaystil30-blog]

Day 27/30: The Holiday

Well we’ve reached the point in the year where I watch rom coms in the same loungewear for approx. 6 days in a row. Ten minutes into The Holiday and I was reminded why I love it so much: the deep recognition of how truly awful (albeit exhilarating) unrequited love is. You love it, you hate it, you end up crying about it on the subway. And in the bar. Also in the street. In the dressing room at TopShop...you know the drill. It’s enough to make you want to escape to an adorable cottage in the english countryside, replete with a judgmental terrier and mini cooper. 

It’s this trash feeling that led me to date online, which led to it’s own adventures in misery. And joy, which may be another post (oh who am I kidding, the misery might be one, too). 

ANYWAY. 

All of this leads me to the most recent #datingtruth I’ve come across, courtesy of Ask Polly.  Particularly this part: 

What if you don’t have to improve anymore? What if there is no way of measuring where you stand relative to other women? What if you’re beautiful and also a little ugly, gorgeous to some and monstrous to others? What if you are incredible and also scary, exciting and sexy and also a little bit too intense to tolerate? Because you are. We all are. And the guys who want more mystery, who want more quiet, who want a better body, who want more suspenseful waiting time between texts? Those guys can go chase one of a million self-made shadows, shiny ghosts that are always disappearing around the next corner, harpies who shriek in eerie minor chords that make every threatened, mystery-addicted dick for five square miles grow rock hard in milliseconds. We don’t want those dicks. We want to be complex and concrete and unnervingly real instead. We want to be monstrous and glorious and openhearted and deeply wrong. We are not publicists, and we don’t need to hire them, because we are not looking to draw in as many clients as possible, into the theater/the bookstore/the auditorium/our beds/our lives. We are not looking for the best possible human male specimen that we can find, one that matches our advanced degrees and our amazing jobs and our salt-of-the-earth friends. We are just looking for someone who makes us laugh and sees us clearly. When someone sees you clearly, PR, you won’t think of how many standard deviations you are from the norm. You won’t consider where your face falls on an objective numerical scale of beauty, if such a thing has ever existed. You will be sparkling and lit from within. You will have way too much to say and you will say it all, and he will ask you to say even more, drunk on your scary, idiotic, gorgeous, brilliant words and your delicious, unreal, elastic body.

That is the magic you seek. It’s a sloppy kind of magic, one that does not require strenuous self-improvement. So: Do not refine your product-testing procedures. Do not edit and clarify your questionnaire. Do not sharpen the core message at the heart of your brand. Admit that you are a little odd (in ways that are neither adorable nor “quirky”). You will always care too much, and that’s not attractive to most people, because most people are really fucking weak and frightened. But seriously? Fuck them. Stop looking for hot, frightened guys because you think you’re scary, because you think you require another gold star, because you love an impossible challenge.

So I’m gonna (try to) go into my 30′s with that in mind: no refining, no manipulating myself. No reframing or hiding. Just me.  And, hopefully, an adorable cottage in the British countryside...and maybe a terrier or two.