#if you search on the reddit there are a few more discussion posts as well!

[theriverbeyond]

hello!! I love your tlt posts and metas and everything 😍 these books are just so packed with detail that I feel like I’m always learning more and more it’s so exciting.

I just finished NTN and have a question I haven’t been able to find answers to on the internet! I picked up on the fact that Nona is mishearing the names of the kids in the gang, both because when she says “honesty” and pyrrha or cam (I forget who) asks is that really his name she’s like that’s what I heard anyways or something like that, and then also when she says “born in the morning” to someone else they’re like you mean born in the morning and she’s like that’s what I said, implying she’s not saying it right but is still hearing it the same way even when someone corrects her. I was guessing that “honesty” is “augustine” and “born in the morning” is “mercymorn” but couldn’t figure out kevin or beautiful ruby or anything else, and could totally be getting that wrong anyways (I know there are so many references and details I’m not catching). But wondering if you’ve come across any explanations about who the kids are in reference to or any kind of significance about their names or anything like that!

thank u thank u 💌

Hi!! thanks so much!!! SO, general consensus is that you're right, Nona is not hearing the name but the meaning, i.e. would theoretically hear "John" as "God is gracious". to my knowledge there is no connection between the new Rho kids and Lyctoral characters.

One interesting thing is she is only hearing SOME people's names as meanings. This could be for many reasons, possibly just to make it less confusing to the reader, but for example she knows Camilla as Camilla, and not "helper to the priest" (which, btw, is such an on point name for her character), and the teacher Jolie as Jolie and not like, "one who was agreeable". And we know from the scene in the tomb that she hears John's name as John, and *not* actually as "God is gracious". So that is still kinda up in the air.

There are a couple of good posts out there discussing this! I really like this post by @onefleshonepod, linked here, that has a nice breakdown of possibilities! There are also some discussions on reddit, here and here. None of these have been canon confirmed (though perhaps we will get more info in the incoming NtN paperback glossary!), but good thoughts to be had all around.

For Hot Sauce, I think she is just named after the food! So it doesn't have any deeper meaning, besides the fact that it is a thing she loves and wants to be named after.

[naerwenia]

Modern William Afton

William Afton x female reader, modern setting.

Includes: Surveillance, food tampering, William just wants to be part of you (in a gross way), this is just the beginning.

William Afton was looking at you through the reflection on the coffee machine. It was late for you to be here, but William didn’t mind. It had been a quiet night as it was the day Henry Emily came to service the animatronics so no parties, just a general crowd of people who appreciated the pizza buffet or the cheap coffee. The girl was here for the latter, and for William too, at least he hoped so. It was a comfortable silence between the two of you most of the time and William did not push you to converse with him, though sometimes he found himself talking aloud to himself while you listened. The surprising part was that you always listened, committing every detail to your mind, as you remembered the people he mentioned and often asked how they were, especially little Elizabeth. On the other hand, you rarely brought up Michael, and when you did, it was to tell William how frustrating his son could be in college. You shared some classes and while Michael was bright, he was not easy to get along with. As far as William knew, the feeling wasn’t mutual, as Michael had once mentioned a girl who sounded incredibly similar to you, but William only got confirmation when he started surveilling you. 

It was easier than he had thought. Most of it was due to your trust in him and in time William took full advantage of it. The girl left your computer on your table when you went to use the toilet, and William made sure to look after it, but sometimes also looked at what you had open in there. More often than not it was research papers and discussion boards related to your interests, but once he took note of the username you used. Your full name was easy to get as you paid by card and sometimes answered calls, and William had searched those online before, finding only your public pages, but with a specific username he found a host of different sites you were registered on. Only a few were public profiles and even fewer had public posts, but William’s curiosity made him join those sites too. Most of the info he came across was mundane, books you were reading, local events you were interested in, and comments on random things, but the thing that caught his eye was your activity on Reddit and various fiction sites. Your taste in fiction and fantasy was very specific: older men, dominant, consensual nonconsent. The smile that grew on his lips as he read your comments as well as own creations was closer to a manic laugh rather than an actual smile. The discoveries he made created a picture of a lonely girl longing to belong as well as to be owned and taken. He knew your type, the silent sluts, shy whores, who would become wet the moment someone threw them against the table or gave them the sadistic pleasure they never knew existed or wanted. 

It was difficult to stop thinking about you, and his obsession of knowing everything about you soon turned to being part of everything around you. William was there, lurking behind a screen, keeping up with all your posts, and while he really wanted to see the sites you visited yet did not write to, what videos you watched, what you wrote but didn’t post. So many things were just out of his grasp, and he had to know. 

But even if he knew everything, he realised it was not enough to just take, William wanted to give you something back. Not his heart, not yet at least, but something small. Something you could not say no to. You were always refusing small gifts, like an extra cup of coffee, but when William brought it to your table, you smiled and thanked him. You were so sweet about it, not wanting to bother him and always so modest with your requests it was almost hilarious. It made him hate everyone else. Only you seemed to care. Only you turned down his advances because you were too pure, and he was the snake tempting you, waiting to show you how delightful corruption could be with him. There was no way for you to know how far he would go, as the blood had already dyed the water.

~

Cupcakes, bread, cookies, special pizza, whatever you needed, he made for you. There was always something small ready for you behind the counter, only for you. His need to be close to you had started small, simply making something you enjoyed eating or drinking was enough, but it felt hollow, like it was a fleeting sensation, so he began giving you drinks with his spit mixed in. Almost unnoticeable, but he knew it was there, even when you could not taste or see it. He was with you now, part of you.

“Thank you, it’s lovely,” you said, almost every time, and smiled. It was easy to ask if you liked it, sometimes hoping you knew, but you had no idea, only enjoyed the taste just like always. He wanted you to have more of him, but there still was a small string holding him back from falling off the cliff to depravity. A string that felt like snapping every time you smiled and thanked him. Such a small and kind gesture, but more than his kids ever gave him, and soon the kindness you gave him turned to resentment towards his own children. The smile embodied everything he wanted to give them, all the dreams and wishes he let them foster, but all he got in return was nothing. Not an ounce of gratitude, happiness, or respect, no matter how many times he did things for them and let them grow in peace. You, however, thanked him for the smallest things and appreciated every small piece of himself he gave you. 

There it was, his finest work. A cupcake with his seed mixed in it and the frosting. It was in front of you, he made sure it was this one, and you sipped your coffee while pushing your dessert fork in the baked good, separating a small piece to lift to your mouth, pushing your lips together to chew the small piece of cake. While your eyes were glued to the book you were reading, your hand almost mindlessly cut a small piece to eat again and again, lifting a piece of William Afton to your lips and mouth, taking him in eagerly, letting him enter you silently and unnoticed. All William could do was excuse himself and go to the backroom to jerk himself off. He had tried, really tried to savour the image of you eating, just watch you happily eat his cum, but he could not when his erection was way too noticeable and just the light touch of his clothes almost made him cum then and there. You embraced him, your mouth embraced him, and in William’s mind, you had allowed him to come in your mouth, and it made him cum in his hand with just a few strokes. It was messy, almost too messy, but you had given him the memory to last a lifetime, and maybe the best climax of his life. Reaching the peak just by looking at you and getting over it, actually climaxing and cumming, took so little yet the high lasted longer than normally, and he was still hard. He had to do it again, wrapping his cum covered fingers around his cock and teased his cock with a few light strokes while thinking of you, both eating the cake and licking the cum now over his cock. Oh how he wanted to see you taste it all by itself, not mixed with sugar and vanilla, just his salty cum on your lips and tongue. Rather than waste it again, the quick session ended with William cumming in a cup, hoping you wanted another cup of coffee, and another taste of Afton.

[blackdogswims]

So apparently the church scene in s7e2 Beneath You was originally been written by Doug Petrie, before it got binned by Joss Whedon who rewrote it the way it ended up in the show. The Petrie version was... not good. I find myself in the awkward place of having to give Joss kudos.

Here's a link to James Marsters discussing the change:

Here's Petrie's version, pulled from the above Reddit post:

A CEMETERY. 

It's dark, long shadows cast from headstones. Buffy comes running into the cemetery, stops.

She looks around, searching.

But the place is empty. Buffy turns to go, then stops. She looks back to the sole source of light casting these long headstone shadows...

Buffy's POV - We see, at the far end of the graveyard, a solitary CHURCH. A single light comes from within.

Buffy stares at it a moment, some kind of peace coming over her. Then she walks toward the church

INT. CHURCH - NIGHT

Twin heavy doors swing slowly open and Buffy enters the church. She hears the sound of sobbing.

She walks in, cautiously, drawing a stake.

Buffy's POV -  We see a figure, its back to us, sitting in one of the pews, rocking gently back and forth.

Buffy approaches. It is Spike, sitting alone, looking as lost and frightened as he can. He speaks softly and sanely.

SPIKE: I figured it out. Took awhile, yeah, but...I think the real problem is...

He looks to Buffy, eyes wide, vulnerable,

SPIKE : I was once this really nice guy.

Buffy remains cautious, keeping her distance.

BUFFY: So that's the problem.

SPIKE: I think.

BUFFY: Got news, Spike. You're not that nice.

Spike laughs, quietly, enjoying the irony of a good joke.

SPIKE: Yeah. I've been...well come on- Let's face it, been a one-man slaughterhouse, last hundred years. Raping. Murdering. And for what? (beat) Kicks.

He stands in the pew, bows his head in reverence.

SPIKE: William the Bloody awful poet, skipping down the lane...good boy, bad boy, all the sodding same. You like it? Wrote that one myself.

He rolls his head around slowly, up to the ceiling, staring.

SPIKE: Is it hot enough in here to burn all your mortal sins away? 

And suddenly, vampire-fast, he stands straight up.

SPIKE: Or am I just crazy? 

He laughs, steps from the pew, into the aisle.

SPIKE: Stuffy. Stuffed. Full, packed, sorry mate, no room, out you go, we're packed to the bloody brim, standing room only and no room for that. We. Are. Full.

Buffy steps back, giving him a wide berth. Spike lurches forward, up the church aisle, zig-zagging left and right, but always moving forward.

SPIKE: Full of sin. Full of guilt. Full of hate and love and loss and feeling. Full of it, quite frankly and it's been so long.(laughs) Since we felt anything here. Rusty switchboard, sparked to life, bound to be more'n a few sharp shocks.

Buffy slowly following behind, never losing grip on that stake, and watching...

SPIKE: Right? RIGHT?!? Shh. Quiet. Church. His house. Place of clasped hands, reverent hymns, and massive raw amounts of BEGGING. On your knees, boy. Beg him. BEG HIM...

And we see where Spike is heading: at the head of the altar, there stands a large, carved-stone CRUCIFIX.

SPIKE:...for forgiveness.

BUFFY: Spike...

SPIKE: Buffy. I can't sleep. Can't think. There's voices and darkness and blindness and pain and help me, I- I...

He keeps walking, slowly, up the aisle. Gets to the altar's steps and keeps going...straight to the cross.

BUFFY: You have a soul.

Spike stops at the cross. Responds without looking back.

SPIKE: I do indeed.

He wearily lets his head rest upon the stone crucifix. And STEAM rises from where his flesh makes contact. He grimaces, but does not scream.

SPIKE: And it's killing me.

He reaches out and HUGS the crucifix with both arms. Steam rises from his palms.

SPIKE: God...

He releases the cross, slowly pulling back and turning to Buffy

SPIKE: God hates me. You hate me. I hate myself more than ever.

Buffy wants to step forward but does not.

BUFFY: But why'd you do it...?

SPIKE: You know why. I got my soul back...

He keeps turning, now facing Buffy, barely able to stand on his feet, wobbling a bit - and holding his arms out wide.

SPIKE:...So I could be the kind of...(laughs)...Person...you could care for, the man you would come to...the man you could love.

Spike GRINS through bloody teeth. The burn marks stand out fresh upon his forehead and palms. He looks like death, and any second he's going to collapse.

And still, it's like something terribly sad is actually, deep down funny - and only he gets the joke.

He walks toward Buffy. Staggering gently. Eyeing the stake she still holds in her hand. He's drawn to it - and to her.

SPIKE: I was the enemy, then I was nothing, and now I'm God's garbage, not even a joke, less than, less than, less than all His creatures combined so tell me, dear Buffy...

Buffy lets him approach, unmoving, but not letting go of that stake, either.

He barely makes it to her - and SLAMS straight down, to his KNEES. And opens his arms wide.

SPIKE: How ya like me now?

Buffy's mind goes a long way trying to come up with the answer, but her mouth cannot speak and we:

BLACK OUT.

END OF SHOW

[bitsybunbun]

Hiiii! For those of us who are serial reposters, how would you recommend we start reaching out and making friends in the community?

Heya! I'm a shy bean and online friendships aren't my thing, but here's a few pointers based on my limited experience! Whether you're looking for friends on Tumblr, in a Fetlife group, a Reddit personals page (all of which can be good options!), or wherever else, I think there's some near universal ways to be kind and considerate in your search.

Be clear with your intentions right up front! If you're making a personals post, be really clear with what you're looking for, even if you're open to a range of things.

Be personable! If you're DMing someone, say more than just "hey" and talk about more than just your kinks. Introducing yourself and your interests and intentions right away makes it easier to connect. We can all bond over our hobbies and interests, and even if someone shares your kinks, they may feel more comfortable discussing vanilla things first.

Comment on people's posts! Friendly, relevant comments on my posts almost always make me happy, random DMs from strangers almost never make me happy. This might just be a personal preference, but if I'm chatting with someone in the comments of a post I'll feel much more comfortable chatting with them in DMs later on.

Take "no" for an answer! If someone doesn't seem interested, move on. Pestering someone is not a good way to make friends. Keep an eye out for soft "no"s, like not responding and not answering questions.

Again this is all from my limited viewpoint, I hope it was at least a little helpful! I know some folks find community on Discord, Twitter, or in-person events as well, but I'm less familiar with these.

Best of luck on your friendship search, I'm cheering you on!

[narutouzumakiarchive]

dude and/or girl, i hope this is not a bother but can you PLEASE teach me how to search for those old ass forums and tumblr/deviantart posts of naruto? i seriously wanna know more about the fandom 10-15 years ago but both of these sites are a pain in the ass to navigate far back.

Well when I first got involved with Naruto Tumblr, I followed people who had been involved in those Naruto discussions years before. So I would basically look through their blogs and posts/Naruto tags and scroll for ages to see some of the discourse, and save any art or posts I found interesting. There were many elucidating discussions and I found that shippers were not *as* isolated so there were a lot of back and forth arguments. I looked at the pages of the anti SNS fans that SNS fans argued with as well to get a sense of other opinions. I also found quite a few of those old SNS posts had links to other sites like Deviant Art, 2 ch (A popular JP forum),Live Journal, and Naruto Fanforums (many of those links were dead but sometimes I hit a jackpot) so that made it easier to see what things were like on those ends. I think the most straightforward thing I did though was search "Naruto *insert chapter number* reaction/response/review/discussion" and then type the website that I wanted to see discussions on. For example Naruto Chapter 574 discussion reddit. Then is look through the discussions and then look through the accounts of people that made responses and see their other Naruto comments. And also just talking to people and asking for resources helped.

[a-weird-cryptid]

Me, watching Reddit digging it's own grave:

So, Reddit is kinda killing itself now and many people migrate from Reddit to Tumblr because of that... Especially from r/169 (rest in peace). And I've seen so many people talk about their experience and many older Tumblr users posting guides on how to navigate Tumblr.

I've started posting on Tumblr as well as Reddit at around the same time, a few months ago, even though I have been on both sites for longer than that.

And here's the truth:

1.

Many of the "Tumblr guides" posted might help to get a basically, theoretical understanding of this social media site, but practically it's a whole different story. They're useful, very helpful and needed to understand how likes, reblogs and similar work, but can only get you so far. Everything else usually comes over time and by experience.

Though finding answers to specific questions is as good as impossible, unless you already have a wider reach. There's no such thing as r/help on Tumblr. The best thing you'll find are, again, guides provided by other Tumblr users. Other than that, you're basically on your own. Especially at the beginning.

2.

Tumblr isn't bad, but it's not Reddit. It's not even close to Reddit. They're two very different platforms with very different communities, people, purposes and functions.

If you're a Reddit refugee hoping Tumblr to become the perfect, 1:1 replacement, I'm very sorry to disappoint you. They are many things Tumblr can't replace. Which isn't necessary a bad thing, but it's something that needs to be called out and brought to attention.

Reddit is based of individual communities with their own rules, etc. What you personally have on your profile doesn't play a huge role. Your comments and posts are usually completely independent from each other, because you post them into specific, seperate subreddits. Reddit a forum site.

Tumblr on the other hand is based of individual, unique blogs, most of which don't have any directly stated rules and multiple mods to make sure said rules aren't broken. Your personal blog and profile is very important because none of your posts are entirely independent. Tumblr is a blogging site.

Saying that your blog is equal to a subreddit is an overstatement. They're two entirely different things. Subreddits are usually made of thousands, anonymous people, meanwhile Tumblr is more based of a small, more personal community. Usually surrounding some blogs of others and yours.

You most likely won't get as much hate and harassment as you might have on Reddit. But you also won't get as many deep dive discussions and seemingly endless conversations in the comments either.

3.

Finding and reaching specific communities here is basically a gamble. Sometimes you win, often you loose.

On Reddit, all you have to do in order to find, join and talk to specific communities and like-minded people is clicking on the search bar and typing in something you're interested about. Then click on the subreddit you like, "join" and congrats, you're part of a community now. On Tumblr it isn't that easy.

You need to constantly or at least actively participate in specific communities in order to find any. And in order for them to find you. Only making a few posts about one Fandom, topic, whatever won't cut it. Passively scrolling through what others have posted won't cut it either. If you see something you like reblog it.

Tumblr isn't really made for deep dives into very specific topics you like. It isn't made for serious discussions, interesting conversations or similar. If you came here looking for those things, you most likely won't find them.

However, if you just want to be silly, shit post and have a fun time doing your own thing without much judgement, then this might be the perfect place for you. And if you're very interesting in one or two specific topics (especially fandoms) and are willing to dedicate most of your blog to it, then you're more or less guaranteed to have a fun time. Keep in mind that Tumblr is mostly fandom and not communities in general based.

Personally, I really hope that Reddit can get it's shit together again, because it has so many unique things Tumblr, again, simply can't replace. And it's that uniqueness and those differences that lead me to having a way better time on Reddit than on Tumblr. It sucks that Reddit is digging it's own grave.

[gyllenhaalstories]

What do you think David Loki’s zodiac sign is? Do you think he genuinely believes in horoscopes or not?

hi, anon!!! this is a really interesting question! unfortunately, i must be the most unqualified person on this planet to answer such a question because i truly know nothing about astrology. i think my whole birth chart is a made up lie because nothing fits (and what fits can be very easily explained by my anxiety), so yeah, i never dug too deep into the topic. but... let's give it a try together, shall we?

I checked this website that says David is most likely an Aquarius. They write this: "As an Aquarius zodiac sign, Detective Loki is intellectual and cerebral. Aquarians often finds themselves lost in thought while analyzing something or brainstorming solutions to problems. With a thirst for knowledge, Detective Loki is highly intelligent and has a strong desire to learn about all kinds of topics." This page on the Allure website (going strong with the serious sources, I know!) specify a few things about Aquarius that fit with the first description. They point out that Aquarius signs are known to be stubborn and go about things in their own way. The Aquarius personality, based off what the astrologer said in the Allure text, contradicts what Jake said about David with the whole 'works alone and is too eccentric to respect authority figures' (which... I mean, yeah, we see David confront the Captain). But Jake said, in this interview (but I'm going off this page), that David has been searching for an institution, for a found family. Jake pushes the idea of institution further by precising that "Loki represents an institution".

I found two Reddit posts (one, two) that discuss Detective Loki and someone pointed out the tattoos on his right knuckles: the zodiac signs for Leo, Scorpio, Aries and Virgo. I think this could be an interesting indicator. Are these his big four? Are these the signs of people in his life, from his past? Perhaps parents, guardians, figures he trusted or friends from the boys home? Maybe. If we go with the possibility that the tattoo represents his own birth chart, then I'm going back to the Allure website. Leo (loyal, consistent, magnetic, proud), Scorpio (intuitive, calculated, determined, passionate), Aries (impulsive, motivated, explosive, bold) and Virgo (systematic, destructive, resourceful, meticulous) all share characteristics that match Detective Loki.

Out of all the Jake characters, Det Loki seems to me like the one guy who would believe in this the most. I'm not saying he'd base his entire life around it, but he might seek answers in astrology and in people's signs. Loved ones, friends or partners, he would probably like to figure out their birth charts and he would try to understand them better as a person depending on the placements and planets and all that jazz. It'd be cute to read the horoscope in the newspapers, at home or at the restaurant perhaps, and discuss the vague warnings and descriptions it gives. It's safe to say Loki is a man of symbols and the meaning he gives to these symbols (astrology, the masonic ring, religion, his other tattoos) is a big part of the mystery that surrounds him. We know he, although playfully, inquires the waitress about hers and her boss' Chinese Zodiac sign. He reads the description for rooster and nods in agreement. I think there's a certain interest and fascination for astrology in Loki that is hard to find in other characters. I doubt that he would see astrology as factual, but I think he'd entertain the idea that some elements are not just coincidental.

i've always associated detective loki with winter so i want to support anything that validates my claim but i'm not too convinced about aquarius. i'd be more inclined to see him as a scorpio (i saw @/gyllenflower's answer and dan suggested scorpio as well so that's nice!). loki is very november vibes. although i can't lie, i do see a lot of virgo in david. his virgo attributes can easily be explained by just being good at his job but... what if? what if loki is the virgo character i've been searching for? my virgo self would be very happy. also yes i have spent three hours researching and reading about fictional people's fake and unconfirmed zodiac signs. my laptop hates me for having about 20 open tabs. i'm not sure that trying to go factual and trying to cross reference random posts and websites is the right way to approach a question about astrology but it is the way i chose to approach this question. i think i put more effort in answering this than in writing any final essays i have submitted in my awfully long student life. thank you so much for giving me an excuse to forget about the world and just think about detective loki for a while!

[whatsthekink]

Hi! A gal I've been fooling around with has a knifeplay kink and I keep procrastinating when researching it to make sure I'm not doing anything dangerous, so I figured I'd ask if you have any resources to throw my way in case I continue to procrastinate. For the record, the few times we've had a knife in bed it's been a dull pocket knife and I've been pointing the sharp side away from anything vital when it's nearby, figured those were the base safety things I should do.

oh boy, knifeplay is a whole bag of beans if you want resources it's generally never a bad idea to just punch "[kink] resources" or "[kink] guide" into your search engine of choice you will probably find a blog or two with valuable articles on the topic you're looking for you'll likely also find some helpful discussions on forums or reddit posts

would be better if you did that quickly, knife play is one of the spicier kinks and can get fairly dangerous if you handle it poorly (get it, handle?) i'll give you a list of my personal safety tips so you know what to look out for but remember that being informed is vital to BDSM, especially with the riskier kinks i mean it, inform yourself well

anyway, here's the list:

as a beginner, it's better to use something knife-like rather than a real knife so you can get a feel on how to handle such a scene first

if you really want to use an actual knife, make sure you use either a fixed blade (preferably a full tang knife so the blade can't wobble) or if you use a folding knife it absolutely must lock in place

if the blade doesn't lock it can hurt you and your partner unexpectedly

do NOT use a serrated or jagged blade, even an improperly dulled blade can be jagged and cause mean tissue damage if you use cuts during knifeplay/bloodplay

if you dull a knife you should know what you're doing, reason stated above

the shorter the blade the more control you have over it, so better go for a smaller knife (but also don't ever use a karambit or similar curved blades)

daggers or other double edged blades are dangerous and not worth the risk

ensure you are not in a compromised position when handling a knife. if one of you tumbles, slips or falls you risk having an accident

make sure you communicate how both of you act when a blade is involved first. if the bottom in the scene thrashes around too hard it could also cause issues

it's not a toy, don't wave it around

if you cut your partner out of their clothing, point the blade away from them (and watch your hands and face while doing so)

the knife should be dry when handled so make sure it's not covered in lube or bodily fluids. also make sure your hands aren't too sweaty to interfere with your grip

put the knife in a safe spot, preferably sheathed or otherwise covered, when it's not in use

you have to know how to treat both smaller wounds as well as larger/deeper ones and have all necessary materials for treatment at hand (doing a first aid course is always a good idea)

rule above is for both aftercare and in case of an accident, because: accidents can always happen. knifeplay with a real knife is never 100% safe

and finally: know when to seek medical attention

very deep wounds, jagged wounds, continuous bleeding after applying pressure for a while, any gaping wounds need proper treatment or you will regret it

wounds on head, face, hands, joints and genitals should be at least closely monitored if you don't seek professional aid immediately

stay safe, friend! -steve

[maidenmelanie]

I’m a Reddit lurker, and one of the places I like to lurk in is the Lost Media subreddit. I find the idea of lost media fascinating, but this one mixed with my love of metal so I had to give it a little search. I had a long weekend so, why not? Sadly I wasn’t able to find the video, but I will compile all the findings here in case someone is more search savvy or has possible connections. Feel free to share this wherever.

Anyway, this weekend a post was made to the Lost Media sub asking about Chuck Schuldiner’s last interview. A quick breakdown, Chuck was the singer and guitar player for the metal band Death. He sadly passed away in 2001 due complications from a brain tumor. This last interview with him took place in 2000, and there are multiple threads and comments discussing when it was shown, where it was uploaded, and how long the interview may be. I found several comments stating that Chuck’s nephew said the interview was an hour long. I guess it was possibly cut down to fill time constraints.

There is this very low quality clip from the interview, lasting 17 seconds. In the clip Chuck is talking about money. A user in the comments (obi-wannabekennotbi2418) transcribed what he’s saying.

"Everyone's... A lot of people been really good about it so far... uhm... ran into few problems here and there... and uh... you know when people especially when they hear you are in a band they assume you have a lot of money, that's unfortunately not true you know..." (There was a bit more at the end, but it’s hard to make out and the user didn’t have any luck)

https://youtu.be/18LWHP9m7JI?t=537  (8:57 - 9:24)

This tribute video has a longer version of the clip slowed down without any sound. It shows that it was possibly shown on an MTV News commercial cut-in. You can see Brian McFayden speaking followed by a clip from the interview. The date posted on the clip is 1.18.00 and says it was filmed in New York. After viewing plenty of MTV commercial spots and watching plenty of the channel in my youth, it was common for MTV News to do quick cut-ins like that followed by interview clips.

On MTV’s website, there was clearly a link to a video in this article and on the sidebar, which you can see in the screenshot above. This was probably the clip we see above which seems to feature more of the interview. I tried everything to get the page to load, even finding the old page that the Real media player was hosted on. Sadly the video has been fully removed from their servers. This would have been the direct link to it: http://www.mtv.com/sitewide/utils/playmedia.jhtml?id=1442580

I’m also adding a Wayback Machine link to it as well.

The two images I used in the banner were also taken directly from MTV’s website as they were used in multiple articles.

If the interview was an hour long, it’s possible MTV News was planning on showing it during one of their “Special Report” which was longer segments of their program. And this is where I hit a wall. Sadly I think unless someone has a recording of the interview saved somewhere, we will never see it.

I don’t know why I felt compelled to search for this. Maybe it’s just that I love metal so much and Chuck was a brilliant musician and seemed like such a nice guy. Combing through the news updates on EmptyWords.org left me feeling angry about the entire situation and sad that he was taken from us way too soon. Anyway, if you read this far, thank you and if you go searching, hopefully you have better luck than I did.

RIP Chuck.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

BRF/'the family you never had' - @TorontoPaper1 tweets revisits! by u/PleaseJustText

BRF/'the family you never had' - @TorontoPaper1 tweets revisits! Hello Sinners! I'm piggybacking off a fellow Sinner bayoucreator's previous post!Many of us are familiar with the now silent Twitter account, TorontoPaper1. Those tweets were SO snarky, specific & IMO, it seemed like the authors were speaking DIRECTLY to MM. FULL ON TAUNTING HER.It makes it all that more interesting to revisit these NOW & kind of group the related tweets together.One 2019 tweet spoke directly regarding 'the baby' and used the phrase, he's 'safe & in the hands of the family you never had.' Archie would have been around six months old at the time:​DECEMBER 9, 2019​This was basically a follow-up on the same day at the above tweet.That phrase, 'the family you never had', REALLY grabbed my attention. It reads VERY INTENTIONAL, in my opinion. It ties into Harry/Trevor referencing giving MM 'the family she never had' ... which has been covered in various books & discussed here.I'm enjoying a work-free day today & went through the account & searched for other tweets using the 'family you never had' phrase. There are quite a few - I may have missed one, but these are at least ... the majority.I've attached them below.............FOR CONTEXT:The first two snips begin with intial tweets ... that spoke directly about the baby/family you never had.The following snips use the same phrase, but are in chronological order - earliest (even before the baby tweet) ... to the final ones before the account went silent. I did include one that didn't specifically mention 'family you never had' but it seemed to be tied to that particular conversation.​March 16, 2019​April 7, 2019​November 9, 2019​December 20, 2019​January 2, 2020​Feb. 9, 2020 post link: https://ift.tt/KVhI4PY author: PleaseJustText submitted: May 03, 2024 at 07:59PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES AND STUDIES, MID-AUGUST 2023

Welcome to my latest roundup of ecommerce and other online news for small and micro businesses, including Etsy sellers. Usually August is a slow news month, but there is still a fair amount going on.

Want to receive this report and my website blog posts by email? Sign up here: http://bit.ly/CindyLouWho2Blog

With the continuing demise of Twitter being a concern, here is a list of places you can find me, and here is where I am posting news:

LINKEDIN

BLUESKY

REDDIT

TWITTER

I hope to get the next report out before Labour Day, but of course I cannot predict what will happen between now and then. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see more reporting on!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Repeating this from the last update since it so important: Etsy’s latest policy changes brought in the ability to opt out of the binding arbitration clause, but existing members only have until August 23rd to do so. The Indie Sellers Guild has some thoughts on this. If you are opting out, remember this must be done for each account (buyer or seller), and make sure to include the following information in your email to arbitrationoptout@etsy.com:

your name

the email address for your account

your username

your shop name (if applicable)

Expect a vague email response that does not verify that you are opted out, because this is Etsy and why would they be clear? 

If you have anything with images of children in your Etsy shop (including art and figurines), please carefully read Etsy’s new policy on such imagery, as it appears many current photos and other visual depictions will not be allowed as of September 8. I started a thread in the Etsy forum for discussion. 

Amazon changed the deposit rules for UK and EU sellers who started on the site before 2016, implementing the “7 days after delivery date” deposit release that newer sellers also face. The UK’s small business commissioner and the minister for small business were not amused, and that led to some money being released early, but with a warning that the new delayed deposits would resume in January 2024.  

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy has changed the criteria for payment reserves for the time being, but we don’t know much about how, other than the fact most have been reduced to 30% from the original 75%. We still don’t know how they have made “... adjustments for issues that are beyond sellers’ control” such as a lack of cheap tracking, or if they are truly providing better communications to sellers just put on reserve, other than this Seller Handbook article from August 4. That article does admit that most current reserves are about shipping. I do know that we aren’t seeing many new reserves mentioned publicly, so it appears they have changed something. 

A few sellers from the UK have been able to opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads, but Etsy is now pushing back and rejecting requests. Reminder that most of the EU and also Switzerland can now opt out. 

The Make an Offer tool now lets you choose which listings you will accept offers on, as well as other improvements. (It's still only available to shops that sell in USD, and not all buyers can see it yet.)

To accompany the release of Etsy’s new baby registry, Etsy reported on recent baby and nursery trends. Farm animals are apparently in, as are flowers. 

The holiday season trends report is also out; it covers Canadian Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. “277% YoY increase in searches on Etsy containing “wooden christmas tree decor” - With sustainability in mind, many buyers are opting for ornaments made of solid hardwood over plastic.” And apparently maxi skirts are back? 

The second quarter 2023 report showed stagnation in sales but more new sellers, plus Etsy focussing on telling sellers to discount items. You can read my coverage here. Some analysts are starting to sour on Etsy: “They feel a little bit like Pinterest to me where they have something great but they're not finding the opportunity on it.” 

Smiley faces are one of the latest takedown targets - not by Etsy bots, but by the actual rights owner. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

If you are using internal links on your website for SEO reasons, beware that the anchor text is also important. 

An analysis of the biggest winners in Google search results for the United States in the first half of 2023 shows Mercari had a huge leap in search visibility so far this year. 

Bing is not gaining much on Google’s market share, despite having a jump on AI search. 

Brave Search now includes both video and image searching. 

If you missed a lot of Google developments in July, Search Engine Roundtable has you covered. 

[Advanced content] An Ahrefs study found that ⅔ of websites using hreflang have at least one problem. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

Since most social media platforms don’t want people leaving their site, they tend to give lower ranking to posts with links in them. You can get around this issue by focussing on zero-click marketing. [text and video] There’s a followup video with transcript on the 4 ways you can promote content through social media as well. 

Another what and when to post on social media, this one covering Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, based on what brand accounts did in 2022. [I’m thinking the Twitter data may not be as relevant today.]

Several US states have passed laws requiring parental permission for anyone under 18 to join social media, or are in the process of doing so.

One of the downsides of Bluesky is that it counts any link URLs as part of your character limit, but you can get around that if you aren’t also adding a photo. 

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Daily active users on Threads have dropped over 80% from their peak. The site is still developing, however, and desktop access plus searching is coming soon. 

Instagram

Instagram is adding more tools that use artificial intelligence. 

Photos carousels now support music. 

TikTok

TikTok will be offering fulfilment services in the UK, to be followed by the US. “The example merchants are influencers and beauty brands to start with.”

Users in the EU will be able to remove online tracking from their TikTok “For You” algorithm in the near future, possibly by August 28.There will also be advertising changes. 

Twitter

The Twitter algorithm is changing, and now prioritizes replies, plus it is pushing video. “X is also penalizing mentions of the term ‘Threads’ as well as links to the Meta competitor.” [Yes, I am still calling it Twitter, but you can call it X if you want.]

Tweetdeck is now a paid service only. The ability to organize different lists and even work with multiple different accounts made it an essential for doing a lot of work on Twitter. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS (minus social media)

Amazon

Amazon will be charging additional fees for sellers who use Prime but don’t ship through Amazon, starting October 1. 

Amazon added hundreds of new product attributes that need to be added to relevant new listings starting on August 16. 

Looks like there will be another Amazon Prime Day in several countries this year.

Amazon’s second quarter was strong, with a lot of growth in ads. 

Investors are suing Amazon over several issues, including lying to them. 

eBay

eBay is finally agreeing to negotiate with the union of its recent acquisition, TCGPlayer, after the larger company failed to reverse the vote to unionize.  

Poshmark

Poshmark’s app will soon include an image search, called “Posh Lens”, although only some have the beta test at the moment. 

All Other Marketplaces

Depop’s new seller protection policy for US and UK sellers kicks in on September 3, and requires sellers to purchase shipping labels on the site. 

Wish is laying off over ¼ of its staff, including up to 40% of its employees in the United States.  

Shipping 

The port labour disruption in British Columbia is officially over.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (NOT SOCIAL MEDIA OR ECOMMERCE SITES 

If you aren’t using the free Google Shopping ads for your website yet, here are some tips on optimizing your products. Note that “Google may also assess your landing page speed and experience to rank your products”; many think that is only for organic results. 

Google ended “similar audiences” from all ads on August 1. “Campaigns using similar audiences will automatically get opted into optimised targeting and audience expansion moving forward. Marketers who would rather avoid this can go to the audiences tab in the Google Ads settings page and manually turn off the campaigns instead.”

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Still not paying much attention to Google Analytics 4? Here’s more info on why and how it is different from Universal Analytics. 

And that's it for this edition! Please let me know if there are other topics I should be covering.

[thefanficwriterscraft]

S2E1 - SMUT (OR, JUST CALL IT A DICK!)

Happy New Year! Our first episode of season 2 is here!

In this episode, Jo (@pebblysand) and her wonderful guest, @celestemagnoliathewriter, talk about smut. A fic genre in and of itself, generally encompassing what is known to the rest of the world as erotica, smut is an integral part of fanfiction writing and culture online. They discuss the purpose of writing smut, the different kinds of smut and the appeal it can have for some of us who don’t necessarily relate to mainstream pornography. They also discuss the ethics of writing consent, the difference between writing sex and smut, and the level of detail required to write good smutty scenes. 

Obviously, this episode contains explicit chats, so beware. Also, please note that Celeste and Jo generally write smut in the context of straight relationships, which is what we mostly discuss here. If you are a writer of LGBTQ+ relationships and would like to come on the podcast, please feel free to hit our ask box on tumblr or contact me through DMs. We would love to have those conversations as well!

This week, we mention: 

my dad wrote a porno (podcast)

Your recommendations for this week are:

Normal People by Sally Rooney

“The Ultimate Guide to Writing Smut Fic” by QuinnAnderson

Smut Thesaurus on Tumblr

A quick guide on what makes something mature/explicit (the envelope post)

Reddit - if you type in “smut” to the search bar in the fanfiction subreddit, you can find a whole lot of opinions and examples of smut. Just today (7 Jan) there was a post about what folks would like to see more of in smut. Every few days there’s a smut related post. Read through them and see what you like and don’t like - and don’t take it personally when others disagree with what you like. Fanfic and smut is about curating your own experience, whether reading or writing, and you do you. 

Lewd Vocabulary 

You can find us online at:

The Fanfic Writer’s Craft: tumblr ; spotify

Celeste (@celestemagnoliathewriter): tumblr ; AO3

Jo (@pebblysand): tumblr ; AO3

[glass-k-l-kaboodlesteen]

Well howdy refugees from 196 to DestinyTheGame, with subreddits being quashed over on your website due to shitty decision I’m here to guide a few. By the way 5. Is more of an alternate for text post discussion lovers.

Tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm, or more of a really awful one so search by tags

If you dislike any content, just block it.. its as shrimple as that gamers

This is more of a courtesy thing, but if you like any art, just reblog it to help that artist out.. ps: the Roblog is that little cycle symbol

tumblr kinda has awful text based discussions due to how the UI works so best stay to images

if you would like an more Reddit-like alternative, Lenny, could work, but their servers are kinda on fire at the moment due to you guys

And finally i wish you luck to the ones displace by this internet tragedy.

[deeraredear]

Ok now that we have primary sources I can discuss more in depth.

Reddit section:

Generally the posts here fall into a few categories, relationships, sexuality, and anime girl memes.

On relationships, the first one about the cis femme divorcing the mtf. Yeah it’s definitely a bad relationship with a manipulative partner, however, all the comments tell her things along the lines of “I am a trans woman and you should leave that person.” I don’t really feel compelled to believe a significant portion of trans women behave this narcissistically in relationships, especially based on the overwhelming support for the cis woman leaving the relationship. For the one about the trans woman saying she felt like she needs to uphold a very patriarchal image of femininity. Yes, I think it’s valid that her partner felt offended and worried that her spouse also believes that she should uphold that same standard (shaving, submission, etc.), but it also appears these are more self imposed standards rather than ones the trans woman is holding her partner to. Plenty of woman are incredibly misogynistic and uphold the patriarchy because of societal brainwashing, this seems to be part of what’s happening. However, the main part seems to be that this woman is unhealthily coping with the fact that she does not feel that she passes well enough, therefore searching for anything that’s easy to change that might make her appear more feminine. Toxic way of thinking, but again, plenty of cis women, even lesbians, uphold patriarchal norms of being.

About sexuality, most of the posts in this section are about consuming a lot of porn or just genderally viewing women in a way that could be perceived as lust but is actually jealous to look/be perceived in that way. I’m getting tired of repeating this but, cis gay people do that too. It’s so easy to find countless “do i wanna be her or be with her” posts in wlw oriented memes. Disregarding the glaring issues with porn in general, because that’s a different topic, having trouble distinguishing between envy and lust is fine. The outlier posts regarding sexuality in here are one asking about how to achieve better orgasms as a pre-op trans woman on HRT, one about acting slutty for validation, and one about a woman feeling attracted to herself. I still don’t get the problem with these. For the first one, it’s a properly tagged post asking for other trans women to give advice on self pleasure. For the second one, this is harmful in the long run, but probably only to the op. She’s exchanging pics with a consenting partner and acting in a way that makes her feel sexy. When your sense of worth is derived mainly from other people finding you sexually attractive, things are wrong. However, pre-transition when I was in a bad relationship I did this too, lots of people, especially fem identifying people, have. It’s sad, but not really harmful to anyone except herself. Third, the way she worded it is admittedly a bit strange, but try to empathize with the experience of finally feeling like your body is as you feel you want it to be. I think it’s a completely normal reaction to marvel at the confidence and sexual power one might get from experiencing that for the first time.

Third, the only category in here I take broader issue with. Catgirl/anime girl memes are really popular right now, and I think most of them are posted with a harmless intent. Since most of these are meant to be stand-ins for the self in this context, I can understand the experience of wanting to align with something viewed as very cute and feminine, especially if you don’t feel that way in your real life. However, there is a pretty sinister undertone. The sexualization of young women, especially young east Asian women, is a massive problem in anime and in popular culture at large. But once again, this is not a trans exclusive problem in the slightest. Fetishization of one’s own youthfulness/innocence is a huge trend in many demographics of women. It’s often a trauma response, and I’m not blaming these girls for romanticizing their own victimhood, but just take a look at some of the videos Shanspeare’s done on the subject or take a dip into many tags on this very website to see tons of cis women posting way worse stuff than “what if I was a cute girl with cat ears and I could have BDSM sex with someone.”

First tiktok: You don’t have to date anyone, especially if they don’t fulfill traits that you require in a partner, like a vagina for example, you shouldn’t date them and that is not what this tiktok suggests. if someone has all the qualities (physical and personality wise) that you are attracted to and the sole reason you don’t want to be with them is because they’re trans, that is transphobic.

Second tiktok: I don’t believe porn is inherently harmful, but almost all of it is because we live in a misogynistic, patriarchal, and capitalist society. However, she is right in the fact that porn addiction is not (at this point) medically recognized as an addiction, even though many people have a deeply unhealthy relationship with it. (I generally feel that treating unhealthy relationships with porn as addictions is counter-productive to fixing the underlying roots, but that’s neither here nor there.) Additionally, the people pushing the fight against porn addiction, are generally not doing it for feminist reasons, usually religious or pseudo-religious instead, and are deeply misogynistic themselves. Therefore, I don’t watch her content enough to know if we agree on the more nuanced topics regarding porn/sex/kink in general, but I don’t find a major problem with this video.

Third/fourth tiktok: They’re horny on main. The SuperBowl themed one obviously has a more overtly comedic tone, but that doesn’t matter. The second woman is expressing fairly tame fetishes for the internet. I have issues with pet play/age play stuff which I covered above, but they’re both adults ostensibly having sex with other consenting adults, what’s really wrong with that? Trans women are so often treated as gross or predatory for expressing sexuality in ways that, problematic or not, cis women are not punished for to nearly the same degree. Separate tangent regarding autogynephilia as a concept: yes, most trans women who wish to medically transition feel more aroused picturing themselves in sexual situations with breasts and a vagina than flat chest and a penis. I really don’t see anything wrong with that.

Fourth tiktok: I generally agree with this one. I think a joke here or there is fine, but so often cis people go on and on about how repulsive other people’s genitals are. It’s great to set clear boundaries with people you may be intimate with about which parts you are and aren’t willing to interact with, but publicly body shaming other people simply because you are not attracted to them is over the top. This isn’t just about trans people either. It’s died down over the last 10 or so years, but the mlm community has misogyny problems and are often too comfortable hating on cis women's bodies because they are not sexually attracted to them.

I’m gonna likely rewatch and take notes on the Jessie Gender video tomorrow, so whatever there is from that I’ll post publicly. After that though, I think I’m done. Based on your very barren account and the tonal switch between your post on your account and your comments on mine, It doesn’t really seem like you’re here in good faith. I’ve put some energy into trying to be helpful so you “don’t become a full on TERF,” but by scrolling through your likes for a minute and what you’ve been saying, it seems like you’re there already.

if any of my trans mutuals on here, especially transfemmes, want to add their own perspective, either dm her or talk in the comments of my last post, no silliness though please.

[kitkatt0430]

Do you know where I can find a following for my niche fandom?

Honestly i don't know that I'll be a lot of help on this topic. I don't use much in the way of social media beyond Tumblr. And here you just kind of have to put together what you think the most relevant tags for your fandom are and then check to see if the tag search gets you any hits.

Or use the google search trick of searching the tag + tumblr.com

You also have to keep in mind that character tags are going to see a lot of crossover between fandoms. Even fandom names may have cross contamination between fandoms. "Riven: The Sequel to Myst", for example, is pretty straightforward tag wise. You're really only going to see posts about the game Riven tagged this way. But a lot of people who have played the game don't use the full name. It's just "Riven". And they'll tag it as such. But "Riven" is also the name of a character in another fandom, so searching the "Riven" tag for posts about the game is also going to get posts about the unrelated character. Khione from the Flash also shares her name with characters from other fandoms, so the tag "Khione" has several different characters all grouped together. But not a lot of people who discuss Khione specifically from the Flash remember to use the "Khione (The Flash)" or "Khione [The Flash]" tags

So basically you're going to have to be patient and diligent and check through a lot of tag permutations that may or may not be populated from equally valid uses from other fandoms.

I don't really know much about discord beyond that using it tends to make me really anxious in a way that forums don't, so I honestly don't know how easy it is to find fandom spaces there.

Reddit might actually be useful here, it can serve as a gateway to fandom spaces. But it's very hit or miss.

Older fandoms may still have a presence on LiveJournal though a lot of those have migrated to Dreamwidth or Tumblr over the years. Pillowfort's a good tumblr alternative as well.

Older fandoms are also more likely to have a presence on older fanfic sites. Squidge - including the SquidgeWorld fanfic site - is older than Ao3 and is associated with a number of older fandoms. Fanfiction.net may be slowly falling apart but it has a huge repository of fic still that goes back several decades at this point. adult-fanfiction.org is still hanging around, though that one does cater more heavily towards R/NC-17 rated fics hence the 'adult' specified in the name and it will ask you if you're 18+ or not to view the site. And of course Ao3 itself is constantly absorbing new niche fanfic sites of varying ages in order to preserve the fandom history those sites and their fanfics represent.

But sometimes you just have to see where googling the fandom name + "fandom" will take you. And sometimes you have to be willing to be the first person to post a fic for the fandom on Ao3, or post a fic to a mostly dead fandom, and hope that someone else in the fandom will see it and choose to comment. Or start posting rambly meta commentary on places like tumblr and hope the tags attract the fellow fans you're hoping for. Though that last one might generate enough interest from your mutuals or followers that a few of them might check out the source material and wind up sucked into the fandom with you.

[soundorp]

How can a Podcast increase SEO and increase Reach

No one talks about it much but buddy you have no idea what you are missing if you are not adding this strategy in your podcast marketing checklist. Yes it’s SEO. But how can a podcast increase SEO? Screw it! What is SEO in the first place? Let’s chew over some definitions before we start pep talk.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It involves optimizing online content like web pages, blog posts, and YouTube videos to attract free organic traffic from search engines like Google and YouTube.

How to enhance SEO Rankings for Podcast Episodes

Sam has been podcasting weekly for 3 years and wants to increase his podcast’s discoverability through search. Sam is a solopreneur and tried the 5 pins, 3 reels, 3 YouTube shorts, and 7 TikToks a week route. He hated it, and it didn’t increase his weekly downloads.

Sam also tried live-streaming and using that as a podcast for 10 episodes. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for him — being on video and entertaining that audience took away from the content he prepared for the podcast(that caused friction with his ADHD).

Currently, Sam’s podcast has its own website via Simplecast with its own domain name + he uploads transcripts for all episodes. And he is doing pretty well.

Now Let’s make a step by step plan for you-

Brainstorming Episode Topics

First, brainstorm episode topics based on your niche. Suppose you’re starting a podcast focused on freelancing. Write down all the episode ideas you have in mind, both broad and niche.

Tips for Gathering Ideas

Use Reddit: Find a couple of subreddits relevant to your podcast topic and see what people are discussing.

Check Out Other Podcasts: Look at other podcasts related to your topic and see what they’ve covered.

Google Search: Search your topic on Google and analyze the first few results. These results likely reflect solid keyword research, making the topics they cover great to explore or narrow down further.

Getting More Specific

In your episode, explore what questions people are asking. Take that keyword and insert it into a site like AnswerThePublic or Ahrefs Keyword Generator. You’ll get a list of questions people are asking about that keyword, helping you plan the content of your episode and the questions you want to answer. Look for highly searched topics, which you can identify using key indicators.

Rewrite Episode Titles for SEO

You may think that clever or catchy episode titles are the way to go and they might be for your current audience. But if you want new listeners, you need to rethink your strategy. SEO loves straightforward, keyword-rich titles.

For example: Instead of titling it “Lights, Camera, Action! The Hidden Gems of 90s Cinema,” try something more SEO-friendly like “Best 90s Movies You’ve Never Heard Of.”

It’s not as flashy, but it’s going to pull in way more people searching for “best 90s movies.”

Use Keyword Research Tools

Use keyword research tools to get started. A free tool with significant functionality is Wordstream. Search each of your episode ideas one by one. For example, if you want to create an episode on “photography freelancing,” search that term. Ensure the term has low competition but high search volume, meaning lots of people are searching for it, but there’s not much information online about it. Based on the volume and competition ratio, this could be a great keyword to use. Once you’ve found it, move on to the next step.

Conclusion

It’s easy to think that SEO is something only bloggers need to worry about, but that’s far from the truth. Podcasters have a wealth of content and with the right strategy, can boost their visibility online. Just like Sam, you can turn your passion project into something that not only reaches more people but also grows your influence in your niche.

Remember, SEO isn’t about gaming the system — it’s about making your content easier to find by the people who need it. And when done right, it’s a win-win for both you and your audience.

I have made a broaden discussion in my full blog, where I have shared some more tips on how you can boost your podcast SEO, by creating website, cross promotions and more and provided some useful links. To read my full blog Click Here.