#images arent necessarily connected

[n3xii]

Vintage Aesthetic tarot decks ~a list created by your personal shopper <3 ~

as a tarot reader i've noticed that there's a clashing interest between having new, modern style decks VS having vintage looking decks that uphold classic art styles of the past. Many people probably think of the basic rider Waite decks or Marseille decks when they hear the word vintage decks, but there's actually a wide variety of beautiful, timeless cards that don't necessarily fit neatly into those categories. if you love tarot cards and are looking to expand your collection then this is a comphrensive list of decks I've found and some background on them! the affiliate links are in the title of each deck, so if you chose to buy from that click it would be no extra charge for you but would give me a small percentage. I love doing ''personal shopper'' type post for niche interests so i'm grateful to anyone who chooses to support!

the enchanted tarot: This is actually a deck that I own and even purchased for my sister for christmas as well. This deck is LARGE, it's vertically pretty long and the backs of the cards are this gold and white regal design. Sometimes with decks you LOVE the art on them but the backs of the cards just dont match the beauty of the rest of the deck. that is NOT the case with this deck, wvery single card and every single detail about this deck feels nostalgic and purposful. the deck itself feels expensive despite it being $25 dollars. I feel rich holding it and it was clear as soon as I got it out of the box that I had a very deep bond with it. Every reading I've had with it has been ACTUALLY divine and incredibly accurate.

2. Ancient Italian tarot: this is also another deck that I own. I cannot stress this enough, the art in this deck is everything a 1960's witch doing readings in the back of a party would want. The art style is very classic with italian titles for each major arcana card. This deck would be perfect for people familar with either marseille or rider waite in my opinion, but defintetly for more ''skilled'' readers. (if you're getting it for aesthetics it doesnt matter.)

3. cosmic tarot deck: my friend bought this in a shop the other day and I was blown away by how pretty it was in person. I love the blue tones of this deck, and the sureal, astral feel it gives

4. the medieval scapini deck: this deck looks older than it is, it originated in 1985 and the cards themselves have very recent images embedded into them. for example, the queen of swords represents an intelligent woman rising above a small scene of kkk members (yes the kkk) among other things too, this was the artist's was of depicting a person rising above ignorance and bigotry. The reversed meaning of the card is a person falling for ignorant or biased narratives. I feel like the art in this deck adds a whole new layer of meaning to each card and it can easily go above your head if you arent paying attention to them! I love this deck and have a very deep connection with it

5. a jane austen tarot deck: this deck isnt vintage in the literal sense, but it has that aesthetic and feel to it. even the cardstock is very thick and durable with a unique texture. this deck itsef can actually be used for cartomancy as it has 53 cards with a playing card design to them, with a corresponding scene from a jane austen book paired with each card. This deck is perfect for cartomancy, journaling, prompts etc.

[mikuyuuss]

Kny girls arent necessarily written perfectly by any means...but I always appreciated how they were written like regular characters? I don't know if it's just me, but I find them all really relatable in one way or another.

There's Nezuko and Shinobu's repressed, self destructive anger, especially Shinobu's feelings of bitterness and helplessness in general over thing's that she couldn't control, like her lack of physical strength, and what happened to her family, her tsuguko and her sister Kanae.

And there's Mitsuri's insecurities, how she has a low self esteem and feels like nobody will accept her, because she couldn't live up to the ideal image of a women. (really reminds me of when girls get mocked just for being slightly different)

And then there's Kanao and how she has trouble expressing her thoughts due to her trauma, and how her character arc shows her learning to regain her own autonomy back.

and even Daki's sibling relationship with Gyutaro, how it feels so raw and real and how it mirrors what Tanjiro and Nezuko could have been, showing the much uglier parts of their sibling bond under such tragic circumstances.

The way they dealt with their conflicts in their own respective arcs had some meaningful contributions to the themes of the story. (at least to me they did)

And even down to their designs. They all look so fun and quirky. I don't know how to describe it.. but they don't feel pretty for the sake of being pretty? like they all look really unique and personalized? It just really appeals to me personally.

I don't know if I was able to articulate all of my thoughts properly, (I wish I could say more, esp abt Tamayo, but I'm losing my train of thought) but yeah that's what I like about them. Is there room for improvement? definitely, but I do love how human and meaningful their stories are, and the fact that it's so easy to connect with them is why I adore kny girls as a whole.

[trans-leek-cookie]

the thingw the orcs in dunmeshi is sth i skirt around bc like u said it is. not a great modern take on orcs. obv not the worst it could be and kui at least did engage w trying to write a more involved lore on them rather than just having this be the same “orcs are big uncivilized brutes” version 8000000 but that element is still there. and i do think “its not the worst” is hardly what i would want to set my highest expectations to jdhdgksgd

tumblrs being a bitch n not letting me put images in so I'll just paste the text from the other ask

Nodding. ty for the info on the ways halfling racism can be compared to irl examples in “the middle east” like that rly is such a close comparison i wonder if it was at all intentional… AND FR on the whole . wishing we knew what they called themselves bc the “halfling” “half foot” thing i rly cant help but think abt how it feels like irl examples of certain groups being denigrated to category slurs its like. LOL. dunmeshi makinh me feel party to fictional racism and microaggressions against my will...

Idk Abt skirting around bc I think it's smthn we should face head on, but at the same time I'm not in a place where I can really add onto the discussion wrt orcs as a white/East Asian person. IIRC ppl have said tolkiens orcs are black and/or central Asian (Mongolian I believe) coded, which is meaningful cause he's influenced so much of modern fantasy, and thats. Y'know. Not great. Also the orcs in dungeon Meshi are essentially an indigenous group from what I remember so that's also a whole mess. Again, my opinions arent very meaningful when it comes to this, but I feel like it's incredibly disappointing to see an author who's clearly capable of nuanced and interesting commentary on racism in the context of real life and fiction (even if it's not always great it's clear she's thinking about it in some depth) really just. Fall back on tropes. Bc for the other races - human is a wider category than usual, tall men aren't always the Everyman, elves are long lived but that doesn't make them wiser, and halflings are mature, worldly and resourceful, which I feel like does a lot to break free of typical fantasy pigeon holeing. But the orcs are just sorta... The Bad Guy but Not That Bad I guess? Theoretically it's a departure from the "super evil forever no exceptions" idea of the but it's still so far behind what needs to be done to make it less of a lazy, racist trope.

Yeah, again I'm not west Asian or Arab like I said, but between reading stuff ppl online write n talking to my Iraqi friend + rereading dungeon Meshi and really trying to analyze it, it kinda stood out to me. I will say I was a little unconfident posting about it bc it's 3 things (4 if you count the name note) but theyre still really notable at least to me. The hand/foot cutting is I feel the most explicit? Because that's such a fucked up stereotype it just stands out immediately. I don't necessarily know if the half foot/middle east connection was intentional, because I assume Japan/Asia in general has a different relationship with West Asia (since they are the "far east" in comparison, so "Middle East" wouldnt really make sense?), but it could be one of those things that colonialism managed to spread. I'm not very knowledgeable about that, but even if it wasn't intentional I think it's a very interesting parallel in how language can be used to categorize people as "normal/other". So i can't say if its intentional or not, but it's definitely an interesting lens to consider the story thru. Id also say I believe halflings are said to be native to a place that's east from where the story takes place, but not the eastern continent (which is p much easy Asia). I've seen some ppl take this to mean eastern Europe, and I don't think that's wrong, but I think u could also think of it as west Asia? Idk if we ever got much info on it in story, so I might be missing some details. (Honestly I'd personally HC that halflings are generally mixed Eastern European/West Asian- not to conflate the two, but rather Im imaging the majority of them are in a kinda blended culture).

[expfcultragreen]

This lady just found out some people might have an extreme phobia of bananas so what does she do? Exactly what her kid would do: try to cause psychic damage ("because its offensive when people arent psychopathic hater freaks, duh")

The comments were a mess as usual but there were some sane ppl:

Such bs that the mom takes it to the internet to double down on bullying people she doesnt understand, and that 88% of the poll respondents bought into her obfuscation/deflection

Glosses right over, why was your kids phone out in class, at all, let alone connected to the projector, at all, let alone, oh golly it just happened to be that she had up an image of something that will upset a classmate???? and she'll maybe even get in trouble with the teachers if the other kid freaks out as expected/desired, but, maybe she knows her bully asshole mom will think its stupid that she's in trouble so, its fine

And the vast majority of people watching this were like "too rite, i thought we voted kathleen wynn out and this kind of soft schooling was going to stop!"

For all they know this other kid was raped with a banana last year

The teachers obviously necessarily know more than the students do about the architecture of the banana situation, and theyre taking it very seriously, so, maybe theyre right and its very serious, like, fucking asshole, sort yourself and your kid out, grow hearts for chrismas maybe

[pokemon-ash-aus]

Howdy, I saw you reblog that post about clipdrop relight and wanted to let you know there’s some stuff to suggest it uses the images you upload to learn how to make NFTs. One of the co-creators is an NFTbro. Just be cautious about it is all.

Okay, where are your facts and where is your source?

I hate NFT's as much as the next artist, but i went to research it myself as best i could and i don't see that at all.

From what i can tell, and correct me if im wrong, is that ClipDrop was made by a team of 5, 3 of which had prior investements from what i can see and do not have any ties within the NFT community.

Now, does that mean that the other two arent susceptible? Its a 50/50 chance.

Granted, this was on a quick 20 minute search throughout it to see who and who wasnt apart of the team, and i still do not know 2 of the names of the founders. I do know of one web designer connected to the Clipdrop, in some way (meaning not necessarily a co-founder or even a designer but could be an investor), IS connected to NFT's in one way and Cryptocurrency in another.

But i need more information than just hey watch out. I've been on the internet for a long time and i've fallen for false and drama inducing lies before. I need more research than just some hearsay, i need links, i need details.

None of this, oh it suggests so, bull.

I cannot guarantee that this is NFT or Cryptocurrency free just as much as YOU can't guarantee that ONE co-creator may be involved.

Think about it anon. If it turns out im false, i'll gladly warn others, but if not, you're just sparking a huge scare for no reason.

[unlimitedhorsepower]

i dont know if they ever intend to tell us anything about ryans backstory because its not necessarily important to his character and it could be enough for us to know that he used to disobey his parents to go see his girlfriend of the time instead, and that he alludes to karinas parents being nice in a way that makes me think his own parents arent like that

but because hes an amalgamation of kotetsus and barnabys traits in a lot of ways, ive built my own ideal reality. also, this was supposed to be a really short post but its actually unnecessarily long and rambling and actually has little to do with his backstory in the end, and tumblr will cut it off thankfully.

its my blog and i post whatever i want, including my stream of consciousness thoughts. here. have this ryan figurine i think about on a regular basis

in my mind he would be from a well-off enough family and he wouldve started his career as a child and the hero work wasnt his topmost wish always. nowadays hes obviously rich, but i often think about KOW the rising saying that he likes to study tax plans and is good at buying in bulk...

anyhow, i think it would be fitting if his parents were kinda lacking in the parenting department. why did he become the wandering gravity prince? did he not want to stay with them, he never really talks about them even when its topical, they dont seem important to him. hes looking for a place to not get backstabbed and his first instinct is go to sternbild after a devastating injury and not like, show up at home for a bit at least?

kotetsus mom is still around and we know shes nice and doing the most really, and kotetsu has a brother who supports him too. kotetsu also is a very normal person without particular talents. in contrast, as we know, barnaby lost his parents who were busy but cared about him, and he was then raised by maverick who only wanted to use him and never cared about him.

barnaby is also a virtuoso in so many things, what is he not good at? he can have himself a perfect celebrity persona and do so many things so well. he was smart even as a kid. kotetsu, on the other hand, has no particular talents, however, he scored himself an eventual wife and a best friend for life (antonio!) when he was still in high school.

sure, he does dumb stuff all the time, but hes a decent guy who can make people laugh. hes well-liked enough, and he has a penchant for making genuine human connection even (and because of) his meddlesome nature. barnaby has difficulties making friends, in contrast. and if were absolutely honest, ryan is much more like kotetsu in the sense that underneath all of his ego that gets in the way of everything, hes actually a relatively normal guy with no particular talents beyond being extremely loud and proud about himself. without his ego he pretty much has nothing.

every day he wakes up and pretends to have both the positive traits of barnaby and kotetsu, when actually he kind of has both of their negative traits. his motto, too, is about believing in himself. as long as he believes hes perfect, then he can convince others of it too.

so hes a little bit like barnaby, who has a very likable and nice public image to supplement his shortcomings as a person who has difficulties connecting with people... but he goes beyond and above and makes no distinction between who he really is and what his “public image” is. his ego is Him, because its all he really has, and it gets in the way of genuine human connections.

again, in his schedule he is noted that he “had a pleasant time” at an event with a lot of celebrities, but theyre just his acquantaices. he keeps giving his number out to women, takes a woman home from a date and getting texted that the vibe was off, and he just goes okey-dokey and continues unbothered and arranges an another date

but then his buddy hero partner karina is about to DITCH him for kotetsu just like barnaby did (not that he cares. it was his master plan btw) and hes ready to flee the city immediately and cries.

does that really seem like a man who has a lot of genuine friends, like kotetsu has for example?

no... ryan has a lot of surface-level acquantaices and so on. hes well-liked enough, but the image he projects is absolutely insufferable and doesnt seem genuine (despite it being genuine, because he really just is like that), which also has made people consider him a rival to a degree it seems they arranged for gregory to cause ryan to lose control of his power.

in the scene where he loses control, hes wearing civilian clothes. was he invited to a hangout with the heroes at the monument he was crushed under? it certainly wasnt during his work, but his co-workers are in their hero costumes. it  would also explain ryans preoccupation with being betrayed, which implies to me a more active role than just leaving him to be crushed to death under rubble.

even barnaby, in the rising, suspects ryan of being involved with the villain plot, which ryan catches on and brings up himself and acts unbothered about- he doesnt mind, he gets it a lot, it seems. he would know this, too, because hes good at reading people.

anyhow, attention is what he wants, and attention is what he gets... he doesnt even mind if the attention is a bit negative.

like kotetsu, hes kind of meddlesome with other people, but hes also the type to claim all credit (even for things he didnt do), like when at the end of rising the announces its his idea that barnaby and kotetsu should work together.

anyway, i think this all would perfectly fit in my fantasy of ryans parents not being really explicitly awful but maybe they just didnt care enough so ryan never received an adequate amount of attention and parental guidance, and ended up like this.

barnaby is an only child, and kotetsu has a brother who he is on good terms with...

ryan could be an only child (as he never mentions anything related to a sibling as far as i know, but some information is so hard to get. i wish i could read japanese), but i think it would be interesting if he had a sibling, and for no particular reasons, the sibling was always just a little bit better than ryan. 

maybe they were smarter and had more realistic dreams (ryans wish is being the only number one. thats not even a wish. why did he even become a hero? i would say it was for attention. a guy with no life plans, really), or something, but it doesnt matter. losing in his parents eyes to something boring and cringe like a well-paying office job or a doctor or something. but thats something just for additional comedic purposes for me personally bc i think itd fit for him to be an only child

i also like to entertain the idea his parents wouldve pushed him into the entertainment field and i do love the idea that he was involved in a lot of things (like modeling etc) before ending up becoming a hero, which wouldve been one of his first choices he made for himself

hes not a bad person by all means, but to me at least before rising he more cared about the fame and attention part and people thinking hes an awesome person. theyll appreciate him then.

but then he learned about the power of friendship and now he can better focus on being a good person in the way he knows how to be (extremely meddlesome and getting into your personal business but nonetheless hes doing his best)

he definitely was like that as a kid too, you know how some kids are just so nosy? i also like to think he was the type of kid who just makes up outrageous lies and cant even tell why, which he stopped doing as an older teen and moved into exaggerating his life instead

i think hes always been really outgoing and the class clown-type who causes problems at school but like most kids who act like that, he was trying to get attention because he was going through something

and lets face it, hes kind of weird with how over-the-top he is. his apartment has black marble and leather and gold and he has frescoes of himself on his walls... this sort of eccentricity doesnt just happen overnight, im sure hes always been a little bit like that

but its harder to get bullied when you just tell everyone youre awesome with utmost confidence. kids dont really know how to react to something like that, its pretty easy to convince people youre cool as long as you can just act the part (source: me). you can get all of your weird traits excused if you own them and act like its the most natural thing (even if it wont stop people talking behind your back) anyway i think that deep down he knows that hes nothing special and has known since he was a kid but this lifestyle of his isnt something he can back down from. hes perfect because he says so and if he admitted otherwise it would be equivalent to getting executed.

he made his bed now he has to lie in it. but hey its a nice bed with silk sheets and damn he looks good

[determinate-negation]

i must say. i am very worried about the future of data and surviellance and technology and an emergent fascist movement. and it may not be in the near future necessarily but that is what gives me more concern, because when it happens we will find it hard to escape. i think people’s image of nazi germany as like a place where suddenly theres fascism and you have to have the right citizenship and identification ignores that it was a product of systems of classification of nationality citizenship personhood etc. which was created out of the modernization project and did not start in 1933 but in the weimar era and the beginning of modernity and is deeply connected to the creation of modern citizenship and the modern nation state. likewise we are seeing forms of data collection and surveillance that arent directly affecting us yet only because the state or the companies that have our information havent decided to do anything with it other than give targeted instagram ads. but the data itself is there

[jonbinary-archive]

Sees you have headcanons for gender in the devildom/celestial relm. My eyes do the anime glasses thing dispite not wearing glasses.

GO ON

-videogamereference

YES YES thank you for asking abt this uhhh i have been dying to post something about it but i wasn't sure if other people would be interested ? since it's fairly niche but uhh apparently you would >.>

under the cut so as not to utterly flood people's dashes with my ramblings but! click if you'd like some unnecessarily in-depth discussion of 1) how the different realms in obey me deal with gender/gender identity and 2) my personal gender headcanons for the obey me characters. this is mostly pieced together from one night when i went all pepe silvia in discord but hopefully its now somewhat digestible. thanks for your patience! 

ok so first of all: all three realms interpret and approach gender differently. i don’t think any of them are inherently wrong or bad, it’s just unique ways of viewing the same concept. i prefer the devildom way of looking at it but to each their own :] it maybe goes w/o saying but trans people are supported in every realm, no matter how they view gender !

GENDER IN: THE HUMAN REALM

obviously, the human realm in the om! universe views gender pretty similarly to how our world does. this is sort of like our baseline, where humans generally view gender on a male/female binary. (tho i do like to think that this version of earth is more welcoming to nonbinary and trans people, just cuz i do like a bit of escapism <3)

ultimately gender in the human realm is the most simplified version we will see. i actually have a small headcanon that MC, regardless of gender, is referred to with they/them because this simple gender structure doesn’t translate over well to the other realms

GENDER IN: THE CELESTIAL REALM

with that in mind, we can talk about how the celestial realm views gender. this gets into the whole ‘what is the gender of angels/god’ which is probably outside my expertise to talk about, but i will anyway! 

the celestial realm views gender as, ultimately, unimportant. what matters about a person is who they are, like one’s willingness to help others. most of the angels present masculine and use he/him, as in the image of their Father. there are some who choose to use she or they or present feminine (or any combo of pronouns/presentation), but they arent necessarily ‘boy’ angels and ‘girl’ angels. 

it’s basically like this:

so what are you?

i’m an angel!

no, i mean, what’s your gender?

i’m a messenger of our Father

ugh, that’s not what i meant. what’s in your pants?

oh, so that’s where my halo went!

transitioning, for lack of a better term here, is pretty rare in the celestial realm, but it does happen occasionally. michael will update the records with their new name if they so choose, and celebrations are thrown heavenwide in honor of the angel!

GENDER IN: THE DEVILDOM

now, on the flip side, the devildom almost...reveres gender? since they’re the polar opposite of the celestial realm, demons tend to hold gender up into the spotlight instead of rejecting it. this is why we see so many demons presenting as men but having feminine aspects (like asmodeus wearing pink off the shoulder tops or the demons’ painted nails). 

for angels who Fall, this difference can be very jarring and hard to deal with when they become demons. expression is important in demon culture! while angels see all others as made in their Father’s image, demons emphasize the things that make them different from one another. fluidity of identity is particularly celebrated!

~

GENDER HEADCANONS: BROTHERS

now here’s the fun part, which is how i interpret these characters! feel free to let me know your own headcanons, i love seeing how others view the same characters :] 

LUCIFER: sure, he’s a demon now, but he still somewhat aligns with the celestial view of gender. to him, a person’s character is much more important than how they label themself. he’s just...lucifer. (agender man, he/him) 

MAMMON: has always considered himself a man! one of the rare instances of someone transitioning in the celestial realm. lucifer helped him pick his name :] (trans man, he/him)

LEVIATHAN: levi my beloved <3 ive shared some headcanons on levi’s gender in this post, as well as in the tags of this post. i think he really likes the freedom of demonic gender identity, and is very fluid (genderfluid, he/she/they/it)

SATAN: looooves fucking with gender, particularly if it irritates lucifer. he’s read a ton of gender theory and would love to have discussions about human gender with MC if they want. feels a connection to masculinity, but not to actually being a man (transmasculine, he/they)

ASMODEUS: loves fucking with gender even more than satan does. had gender with your mom last night ;) super gender non conforming, though most of the time you can’t even figure out what gender he is! basically the definition of ‘gender is a performance’ (nonbinary, he/she)

BEELZEBUB: probably doesn’t think too much about his gender. he was told he was a man so he just kind of goes with it. it’s really important to him to align with a healthy form of masculinity! doesn’t seek out pronouns beyond he/him, but wouldn’t mind she/her or they/them (nonbinary man, pronoun indifferent)

BELPHEGOR: similarly to beel, probably doesn’t think too much about his gender. he knows he enjoys being a brother and a twin, but doesn’t care much beyond that. he used to ascribe pretty heavily to celestial gender theory, but after Falling he’s shifted from gender apathy to like. seeing that feeling as his gender identity itself (agender man, he/him)

GENDER HEADCANONS: SIDE CHARACTERS

DIAVOLO: literally just a guy. like hes just a dude but in a slightly fucked up demon way (nonbinary man, he/him) 

BARBATOS: literally look me in the eyes and tell me this dude isn’t a he/they.  he’s not a man, he’s a butler (agender, he/they)

SIMEON: really subscribes to the celestial view of gender/believes that who you are in other people’s eyes is just as important as who you are in your own! doesn’t really identify w gender in any way since angels don’t technically have a binary to deviate from, but in human terms he is (nonbinary, mainly he/him but she/her ok too)

LUKE: also transitioned in the celestial realm! the brothers tease him, but if anybody misgenders the chihuahua, they should be prepared to eat shit (trans boy, he/him)

SOLOMON: started out as a sorcerer while trying to alchemize testosterone. he’s been living as a man so long that sometimes he forgets he’s trans in the first place (trans man, mainly he/him and occasionally they/them)

[incorrecttwoset]

Lesson time with Dani:

I think the thing we all learned here today is classical music is still very, VERY much alive. And that pop could be a pretty iNtEreStInG way to indoctrinate introduce people to classical music. I've been listening to a bunch of pop lately and honestly? It was a WEIRD experience. I kept getting befuddled by the amount of music there was (3 minutes of catchy beats is nOTHING against a half hour of intense musical dialog, argument, and passion) and the repetitiveness and simplicity of it (like dude wheres the motif? Is the motif your beat? Why is it playing the same thing over and over? Huh?). But, its still good music. There were a couple outliers too, that really gave me an experience. (Check out seasonal feathers by hitoshizuku it broke my heart) Look, what im trying to say is- classical and pop are both amazing genres of music that can do incredible things and I'm just happy that they can coexist together in one... piece? Of music. (My opinion might be a lil different compared to my lesson time on their other vid but hey people change)

So, lets get on with the songs!

Road to Kingdom - T. O. P. (Covered by Golden Child) and Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky. I... honestly, I didn't hear it at first. The electro music covered up much of the phrase. (please forgive my horrible usage of musical terms im just a kid thats really into classical music, in still learning how to understand and appreciate it everyday mkay?) Well, that's what I thought at first but I guess the transition from electro pop to singing along with classical jarred me so much that I had to listen to it a couple times before catching it. Anyways, the singing kinda vibed a lil with the music but when they changed singers or went a higher key, it started loosing that (already really loose) connection because even though I knew the tchaik would go higher, the singer went higher in a different key and it felt pretty weird and strange like what Eddy said. But overall, id listen to it. ...which isn't really that high of praise since I listen to everything (oh man... the days when i could still rap eminem's rap god to perfection...)

Shinhwa - T. O. P. and Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky (again). I'm not mad at them for using this a lot actually. I've been trying to watch the ballet on youtube but my classical music listening and appreciation and understanding skills are not yet that refined. (Aka i was already a goner when aCT ONE SCENE TWO WAS STARTING. Sigh, i need more training... and more Inside the Score) aNYWAYS- To quote Eddy, oh tHATS SO WEIRD. I literally said it at the exact same time as him lol. But like seriously thoooo. I thought it was gonna like, transition to the piece but like. No. They're just... singing to the tune. I mean like, you can't ruin perfection you guys but like- add a tune? Or something of your own? That isnt just lyrics? Ah shit, now I cant stop imaging playboy!Tchaik ugh. Thank you for making my brain run a mile a minute and being the reason why I won't be sleeping for a couple hours.

Top Dog - Topp Dog and Symphony in G Minor, No. 25 - Mozart. When I heard the first notes of the piece, I reacted the same as both of them. Aka, i recognized it but I forgot the name. As you do with classical music. I've always wanted to download and listen to that piece. Maybe this is a sign... Anyways, the piece here really just vibed with the song ykno? I think its because they decided that they didn't want to overpower the piece by slapping their own music on top but like... they accented and accompanied and complimented it without the spotlight being stolen from them. They brought their own little twist to it and I feel like thats why it works so much. But, I still prefer the orig because it isnt just tHREE MINUTES LONG. (cue airhorns and fire emojis) But its a great combo overall. 10 out of 10, would classical again.

Jimin - Lie and La Vida Breve - Manuel de Falla. Honestly, to me, i feel like literally anyone could come up with that tune. Its like, a really fast beat. You know how almost every basic piece of music uses dun dun tss as a beat? Its kinda like that to me. Because, speaking from my own personal opinions here, fast beats sound nice and that doesnt necessarily mean that it was inspired by a fast part in a piece. Or maybe Jimin listens to classical. WhO kNoWs?

Cherry Bullet - Hands Up and Beethoven's Fur Elise. That "EeeEeeeh" part made me laugh out loud the first time i watched this vid. It still jarrs me like oh my god what the heck why. Dude, they literally just slapped that part into different parts of the song and im- you didnt need to give me more reason to be sick of the opening of Fur Elise. I feel like if I listened to that, the opening is gonna be stuck in my head forever. At least they didnt repeat the "EEEEEE" thing. And honestly, id love to agree with the bois on this one but like... the opening of the song itself broke me im so sorry im so hung over this one detail gOD.

Gfriend - Summer Rain and Schumann - Dichterliebe. All i can say in this part is... Thank you editor-san for adding in that one detail those precious boys missed. But, as ive only seriously gotten into classical recently and therefore arent familiar with a lot of composers works, i can only hear the influence in the beginning instrumental of the song. So uh... might give it a listen for detail. But, i probably wont.

And, oh yeah is it just me or do they seem really tired? Or just... kinda out of it in this one? Because at the end, Eddy was just kinda... playin around with ding ding while Brett carries the energy for the both of them. Hope theyre not stressed but if they are, i hope they get some much needed rest and energy. I also wonder what was up with yesterday. Aka, they didn't post a vid yesterday and i got cONCERNED. I just hope theyre alright.

[greenwitchempath]

Types of familiars

Physical Familiars

Physical familiars can be almost any animal. From the more common cat, dog, snake, bird, ferret, and rat. To more uncommon ones such as (but not limited to) horses, cows, pigs, frogs, lizards, and even bugs.

Protector/guardian - the most common type of familiar. They have a similar vibrational energry to your own. A creature who helps and protects a witch on their path. They have a special spiritual connection which allows them to communicate (not in words but images and feelings). They have an affinity to magic and tend to be drawn to people and places who radiate a similar energy.

The Conduit - This type of familiar has a high vibration and "loud" energy. They enjoy participating in rituals and spells and will amplify anything they are involved in. Basically the clear quartz of familiars. They tend to be playful and mischievous.

Wild Animal Familiar - A wild animal who you have a strange instant connection with, you see them regularly and they seem to enjoy your interactions. Maybe you even feel that your energry has been boosted or replenished. Just remember that wild animals must remain in the wild. In my opinion it's ok to have an open door policy, so long as they may come and go as they please - just dont force them to stay. Make sure you also do research on your familiars diet before feeding them.

(I only know of three if you have any knowledge or experiences in more please feel free to add on)

Spiritual Familiars - Familiars that arent on the physical plane. Commonly are fae, dragons, and other spirits.

I dont actually have any experience with spiritual familiars and am not necessarily the person you should come to for information on them. However I still felt that they should be included nevertheless.

Common ways of meeting your familiar

"They've been with you the whole time" - it's not uncommon for guardian familiars to have been with you even before you began practicing magic. However when this happens it can be difficult to tell whether or not they are truly your familiar or if you just want them to be. In cases like these I always say to trust your gut, and if it turns out to be wrong then that's ok. It's a learning curve.

"They just kinda appear" - sometimes they just show up. Maybe you weren't looking for a familiar but you just knew that it was meant to be. Somehow the circumstances are just right and it just kinda happens.

"Actively Seeking" - I always advise against looking for your familiar specifically because its easy to adopt a completely normal pet thinking that they will become your familiar. Sadly it doesn't work like that, it's not something you can force on them or teach. Not every pet you own will be your familiar, take it from a witch who has 5+ pets. There are ways you can try to avoid this. Instead try some spells to help draw out your familiar to you, foster some animals or volunteer at a shelter (this also really helps out local shelters), and most of all be patient. They will come to you when the time is right.

"Adopted a pet who turned out to be my familiar" - you adopted/bought a pet with zero intention of them being your familiar, and then you started noticing the signs and thought "oh my God so this is what they meant when they said that they'll come to you when the time is right."

Please feel free to add on if you have any knowledge of the subject and/or share your experience meeting your familiar and what type you think they are?

[ephemeraljpg]

im gonna politely disagree with you and say that if a person is racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic etc they are ugly no exception... they don't get to see themselves as a victim here bc they walk in their oppressive privilege so yeah i'll call them ugly and that's that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

maybe i shouldve explained myself better.

my point isnt that youre calling that gross person ugly, idc about their feelings. what i care about is the impact that using physical appearance has an insult as on people w little self esteem or self image issues and arent the kind of person youre describing. 

if you specify that the ugliness is singularly connected to their prejudice/attitude/“"opinion”“ then??? yea sure. but if your argument is "lmao youre [insert one of the characteristics you mentioned] and youre ugly bye”??? then i’m sorry but that will have an impact on other, unrelated ppl  and imo thats just not right

like listen  i do understand the urge + i think theyre ugly too as in. not necessarily in looks, as in personality, as in trash. but i am not willing to put down, or negatively contribute (even if accidentaly + indirectly) to the image issues of ppl who have zero to do w whatever argument is going on at the time + are just caught in the cross fire.

[cryptswahili]

5 Signs From CES 2019 That Crypto Is Ready for the Mainstream

If you have doubts about the future of crypto, look no further than Las Vegas.

The Consumer Technology Association’s CES is the biggest trade show in the world and the biggest event hosted in Las Vegas every year. Over 2.7 million net square feet of exhibit floor space is set aside for over 182,000 tech industry professionals to learn the latest trends in consumer technology.

I drove to Las Vegas with a small production team to catch up with the blockchain and cryptocurrency developments at CES 2019. As the winter rolled on (registration was last fall), it became clear through the programming and exhibitors that crypto is a force to be reckoned with this year.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the crypto and blockchain highlights from CES 2019 in Las Vegas.

1. Cryptocurrency Hardware Wallets Are Legit Tech

Wallets and exchanges shined throughout CES, with Ledger and Trezor both showing off their offerings. Both are available at major retailers and could be expanding their presence in the market in 2019.

Ledger introduced the Nano X, which is a Bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet and a step up from its popular Nano S, which sold over 1.5 million units as of the end of 2018. The Nano X can hold up to 100 crypto assets, six times more than the previous version. Ledger is also launching the Ledger Live mobile app that supports Nano S and Nano X users.

Meanwhile, I got a hold of a Trezor Model T and bought some Bitcoin to get started in cryptocurrency investing myself. My 2019 resolution is to invest $100 in a new altcoin every month this year. I’ll work on comparing wallets more once I do.

Kevin Love from Bundil, the Shark Tank-funded crypto investment app, was also on hand discussing the benefits of crypto investing.

2. Retailers Are Crypto-Curious

Retail’s biggest pushback against accepting crypto as payment is volatile pricing, but they’re not necessarily against blockchain technology. CES 2019 had a range of informative sessions throughout the week to demystify crypto for merchants.

During “The Great Crypto Debate”, MakerDAO (MKR) President Steven Becker and Bitcoin Foundation’s Brock Pierce participated in a roundtable discussion about the viability of crypto as both currency and technology.

And Pundi X(NPXS) hit CES in a big way, showing off its new blockchain-based phone at CES Unveiled. Called “Function X, ” the phone runs on Android 7.0 and the company plans to released 5000 phones to proof the concept before licensing their tech to other manufacturers.

If you don’t already know Pundi X, it has point-of-sale devices and a crypto wallet, which, when combined with this phone, creates an end-to-end, blockchain-based connection between retailers and customers.

3. Esports, Media, and Marketing Are Decentralizing

Advertising, video games, and media in general are among the leading use-cases of blockchain technology. Tracking creative materials from sounds and images to more complicated work can be frustrating, and it’s hard to know what’s effectively reaching who at the right times.

“Blockchain and Advertising: The Possibilities and Realities” paired CTA’s Jack Cutts with Sara Bruno at Arent Fox, MIT Media Lab’s Michael Casey, and Brian Wong from Kiip to discuss how blockchain technology relieves the biggest pain points for ad agencies, including nearly $20 million lost to ad fraud.

Casey joined more speakers from Nexus, BTC Inc, and Entertainment AI in another talk on how blockchain is remaking the media and entertainment business.

And gaming (especially esports) could be found all over the CES floor, from conferences detailing how developers like Blizzard are adapting to modern digital economies to hardware companies like Nvidia, Razer, and Intel featuring pro gamers at their booths.

4. The Future Is Mobile-First

Blockchain is a fundamental technology in the future IoT environment, and CES 2019 made this very clear. IBM’s Jason Kelley and EY’s Louise Keely were among the participants CBS’s Teena Maddox spoke with about cities around the world dipping their toes in blockchain technology.

From smart cities to supply chain and operations, blockchain technology is working with IoT to create a mobile-first world.

Autonomous cars, flying drones, home entertainment, robot and voice-activated assistants, smart homes, and so much more technology was on display. It’s more clear than ever that we’ll be connected to technology wherever we go.

5. ICOs Are Complicated

We cannot possibly say enough about the shift from ICOs to STOs in 2018 and beyond. If you don’t know why, CES 2019 had a surprisingly poignant 90-minute session called “True Confessions: ICOs, Crypto, Tokens and VCs” with Yahoo Finance/USA Today’s Rob Pegoraro discussing the pitfalls of ICOs with people who lived through them.

Tim Draper (Tezos), Matthew Roszak (Bloq), and Sam Trautwin (Carbon) were among the people discussing their experiences. Draper has by far the most interesting story, and if you’re not familiar with the Tezos soap opera already, click the link above. What’s even more interesting is the lessons learned. None of the speakers are pulling back from crypto – they’re just applying the lessons learned and moving forward.

And that’s what gives me hope for blockchain and cryptocurrency moving toward 2020. Everyone has their hand in it, and the projects have gotten as sophisticated as any other technology at CES this year.

We’re in the right business.

The author is (finally!) invested in digital assets, including Bitcoin, which is mentioned in this article.

Join the conversation on Telegram and follow us for updates on Twitter!

The post 5 Signs From CES 2019 That Crypto Is Ready for the Mainstream appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

[filipeteimuraz]

How to Start Using Instagram to Grow Your Small Business

Every business needs an active social media presence. This statement holds true whether you have a small, medium, or large company. In fact, it’s more important for smaller businesses than large ones.

Big brands like Apple and Nike are already household names. If they stop using social media right now, they’ll probably still generate sales.

But you can’t make a sale to people who don’t know who you are yet. Just like you can’t rely only on foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar store, if you operate online, you can’t rely solely on people navigating to your website.

That’s why you need Instagram as a marketing tool.

Honestly, if you’re not currently using Instagram, you’re behind: 71% of businesses are already using Instagram as a marketing channel. But it’s not too late to get started. That’s the inspiration for this guide.

According to Instagram’s user data, 80% of accounts follow a business. It’s obvious that people are willing to follow and engage with brands on Instagram. The key for you as a small business marketer is to figure out how to take advantage of this opportunity to drive growth for your company. This article explains some beginner strategies to stimulate business growth on Instagram and teach you ways to convert your followers into customers. If you’ve created an Instagram profile, but it isn’t active or effective, you can benefit from this information too.

Promote your profile with your existing customers

When you start your account, it’ll come with zero followers. It can be a little discouraging to start from zero, but you don’t have to start from scratch. Rather than trying to get random followers who don’t know who you are and don’t know anything about your brand, turn to your existing customers.

Start with your email subscribers. Check out how MeUndies signs off its marketing emails.

The CTA here is to follow MeUndies on Instagram.

Your email list isn’t the only place to recruit current customers to Instagram. You can promote your profile on your other marketing channels as well:

YouTube videos

website

blog posts

other social media profiles

purchase receipts

in-store signs

Take a look at how Shady Rays uses its website to get more followers on Instagram.

The social media feed showcases their most recent Instagram uploads. If you click on any of the photos here, it will bring you to that image on Instagram. There’s also a direct link and a CTA to follow Shady Rays on Instagram.

Showcase your products

Now that you’ve got followers, let’s take a look a the reason they’re following your profile. Coupons? Sales? Let’s look at the top reasons why people follow brands on social media.

The number one reason people follow brands is because they’re interested in that brand’s products and services. That reason ranks higher than promotions and incentives. So while it’s not a bad idea to give people an incentive to follow your profile with an exclusive discount or another offer like that, research shows that more people follow a brand out of interest alone.

That means it’s definitely OK to show them your products.In fact, 65% of the top performing posts on Instagram featured a product. (This is a great chance for you to generate sales for a new product release.)

But, you don’t want to oversell on Instagram: 58% of users think it’s annoying when brands post too many promotions. So, showcase your products, but do so sparingly.

Take advantage of shoppable posts

It’s one thing to show products to your consumers. But Instagram gives businesses the opportunity to sell products directly through their platform. Shoppable posts take our last strategy one step further.

60% of people use Instagram to find new products and 75% of those take action after viewing a post. Those actions can lead to conversions, especially if you use shoppable posts.

Here’s an example from Western Rise of a shoppable post.

It’s just a regular photo. But the promoted product is tagged. The tag includes the name of the product and the price. When a user clicks on the link, they are directed to a product page where they can buy that product.

This is far more efficient than what businesses had to do before this feature: In the past, brands would have to post about a product and then say things like, “find this on our website,” or “link in bio.” Way too many steps. Plus, if you had to use the one link in your bio, you couldn’t promote more than one item at the same time. Shoppable posts have way less friction and increase your chances of driving conversions.

You can also run shoppable stories. It’s the same approach: simply tag products in your story instead of your profile.

If you haven’t used this tactic before and need some help setting them shoppable posts, refer to our complete guide on how to increase ecommerce sales with shoppable posts on Instagram.

Tag a purposeful location

Next up, location tags. If you haven’t been using location tags, you aren’t maximizing your potential engagement. Just look at the effect that a simple location tag can have on your metrics.

Posts with location tags have more engagement.

There are a few reasons for this. First, tagging the location can make your post more visible on the popular page for people in that area. Second, people who are viewing that specific location on Instagram have a better chance of seeing your post.

The great part about location tagging is that you don’t actually need to be in that area you’re tagging to tag it. Let’s say you run a Boston-based company that sells bathing suits. You’re probably not going to be selling bathing suits to many locals in that area during the winter months. And you’re probably not going to increase your engagement all that much by tagging a bathing suit picture in Harvard Square. Instead, you can upload photos of your products on Instagram and tag warmer locations, like Miami or San Diego. This will lead to higher engagement rates, which will increase your social following, brand awareness, and chances that people will buy your products.

Add photos with faces

Let’s continue talking about engagement. Photos of products alone don’t perform as well as photos with faces. In fact, photos with faces generate 38% more likes than posts without a face. Furthermore, posts with faces get 32% more comments. The more people engage with your posts, the greater your chance of driving conversions that will ultimately help your small business grow.

Here’s another example of a shoppable post from PX Clothing that includes a face in the photo.

This is more effective than posting the duffle bag by itself without a face in the photo.

Partner with social influencers

When it comes to influencer marketing, Instagram leads the way for brand collaborations with social influencers.

Your competitors might already be using this strategy. Now is your chance to jump on board to keep up with them. If you’ve never done this before and you don’t know where to get started, you can use our guide on the top platforms for effectively managing social influencers.

You’ll want to find influencers that have a strong following within a specific niche that speaks to your target audience. For example, let’s say you’re targeting women in New York City between the ages of 24 and 35. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be looking for influencers who fit that profile. Instead, you’ll want to find an influencer who has lots of followers that fit your target market. These resources will help you get connected with influencers in the right industry that will reach your target audience.

Run ads to generate leads and sales

Depending on your marketing budget, Instagram ads can be a suitable strategy for you to consider. If you’ve run Facebook ads in the past, you’re already familiar with how this works — Facebook owns Instagram and the two platforms use the same ad manager. You can choose your target audience, location, and budget.

The great part about advertising on Instagram is that you can have ads run in multiple formats.

photo ads

video ads

carousel ads

collection ads

story ads

If you run story ads on Instagram, you’ll want to leverage the “swipe up” feature. Here’s an example from Olivers Apparel of what that looks like:

The “shop now” CTA at the bottom of this sponsored story takes users directly to a landing page where they can purchase the pants being advertised. This can definitely help increase conversion rates because it eliminates additional steps in the purchase process.

Encourage UGC

Another way to grow your business on Instagram is with user-generated content.

82% of consumers say that user-generated content is valuable to them during the purchase process. 48% of people say they discover new brands and products as a result of UGC. When customers get exposed to UGC, brand engagement increases by 28%.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is with contests.

This is one of our favorite strategies for several reasons. First, it helps you get more followers. For one of your followers to enter a contest, they’ll need to upload a photo to their own profile and tag your brand. In doing this, it increases the exposure to all of their followers, who may not currently know your brand or follow your profile. This added exposure will entice more people to follow you on Instagram. That’s because UGC is memorable and trusted.

People who see a user-generated photo on Instagram have a 4.5% greater chance of converting. If they interact with the post, such as liking it or commenting on it, they are 9.6% more likely to convert.

Engage your followers

It’s important for you to connect with your Instagram following. Now that you’ve found so many new ways to get followers, likes, and comments. You don’t want to lose those relationships.

Reply to their comments. Answer direct messages. If you don’t do this, you’re not providing the appropriate customer service needed to drive business growth. On the other hand, using Instagram to improve your customer service will definitely help your business grow.

Here’s what will happen if you ignore customers on social media.

People expect brands to respond within four hours after they reach out on social media. The average response time is ten hours. 35% of consumers say that social media is their top choice for customer care, yet 89% of social media messages are ignored by brands.

Don’t let this happen to you. If you’re having trouble managing all of your Instagram messages with other social media comments, our favorite time-saving social media marketing tools can help.

Conclusion

As a small business owner, you need to establish an active presence on Instagram to grow your company. If you’re starting from scratch or don’t have many followers right now, turn to your existing customers to build a following on your profile.

Use Instagram to showcase your products. Drive sales directly with shoppable posts.

Find ways to increase your engagement, such as tagging your location, uploading photos with faces, and leveraging relationships with social influencers.

You can also run ads to generate brand awareness, increase your followers, and drive sales.

Create campaigns that encourage user-generated content, which will increase your reach in a trusted and memorable way.

Don’t ignore customers when they reach out to your brand with comments and direct messages.

How are you using Instagram to drive growth for your small business?

http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/12/31/how-to-start-using-instagram-to-grow-your-small-business/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2019/01/how-to-start-using-instagram-to-grow.html

[amazingviralinfo]

Im not a Directioner, but its not like Im averse — One Direction just missed my particular age group.

So, before he left the band, whenever someone mentioned Zayn Malik, my brain would prompt the hot one and thats about as far as my knowledge went.

Ive been learning more about Malik since he left One Direction, thanks in part to profiles from Fader and the latestBillboard. Ive learned his musicality leans R&B, hes into street art and he only smokes Sativa weed because its creative (lol).

And Ive learned his dad is British Pakistani and his mom converted to Islam in marriage, but Malik doesnt particularly like talking about being Muslim. In 2012, he told the Mirror:

I don’t think you should stick [your religion] in peoples faces. I think you should just keep it to yourself and that’s how I’ve always been with it.

Malik hasnt been much more forthcoming recently. He told Fader:

I would never be trying to influence anything or try to stamp myself as a religious statement or portrayal of anything. I am me. Im just doing me.

Malik declined to talk about his faith with Billboard.

But at a time when Muslims around the West are facing increasing discrimination and persecution, Maliks voice (in song or spoken words) could be more useful than ever.

Republican presidential candidates have repeatedly stoked fear of Muslim people in connection with ISIS and terrorism.

Meanwhile in Europe, the rush of refugees from Syria and the Middle East reignited damagingparanoia that accepting Muslim refugees increases the risk of terror attacks.

Although Maliks standing among Directioners isnt exactly steady these days, he was accepted as one of the worlds biggest pop stars for several years.

Donald Trump has been using the popularity of Islamophobia in America to gain traction, but as Trevor Noah connected, a young Muslim man is a global pop star:

Don't vote Donald trump @zaynmalik pic.twitter.com/j0Dh522kYp

— makayla (@makayla4167480) December 10, 2015

Pop stars have historically used their platforms to discuss issues they care about, like Miley Cyrus and her foundation for homeless and LGBT youth. Malik could similarly use his status to stand up to Islamophobic sentiment.

Duncan Cooper at Fader suggested Malik shies away from speaking about his religion due to the horrendous backlash he gets from bigots, saying he may not feel safe enough to be more politically outspoken.

This is understandable; Malik has been harassed, mocked and sent death threats for even slight mentions of Islam and a #FreePalestine tweet.

And anyway, it shouldnt be every Muslim persons job to defend his or her religion from Islamophobesand One Direction haters.

You could argue Malik is doing enough by living as a normal 22-year-old who wants to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight.

Malik is a hugely successful pop star with an Arabic name who tweets Eid Mubarak to 17 million followers for the major Islamic holidays.

Even if you want to laugh away One Direction, you cant laugh away the impact Malik’simage has on millions of young people around the globe.

Eid Mubarak

— zayn (@zaynmalik) September 24, 2015

Diyana Noory, now a university student in Ontario, wrote about how Malik simply living while following his religion and culture helped her embrace her own as a teenager in an essay for Noisey:

Zayn shared that his favorite food is samosas; I stopped hiding the tabouleh that I brought for lunch. Zayn tweeted Eid Mubarak; I quit typing happy eid and instead proudly posted Eid Mubarak on social media.

In a piece for Medium, Malik expert Fariha Roisin explained Zayn is helping to redefine the image of Muslim men both by being accepted as a pop star and by being forthcoming with his personal emotions.

Malik is showing non-Muslims that Muslims are no different from anybody else. He lays claim to the privilege his actions arent necessarily dictated or influenced by his religion. Hes not perfect, and he doesnt have to be perfect — hes human.

This is a form of the contact hypothesis — the theory suggesting discrimination can be lessened simply by biased people interacting with someone from a group they don’t like, thereby seeing people from that group as real peopleand not false stereotypes.

Malik is showing the world young Muslim men can struggle with their career choices because theyre growing up, not because theyre wondering if it fits their faith.

Hes showing the world young Muslim men can be sh*tty boyfriends because theyre bad at communication, not because they oppress women. Hes showing the world young Muslim men can be withdrawn because theyre shy or awkward, not because theyre plotting jihad.

Malik is showing the world a young Muslim man is the same as any other young man.

They do dumb things sometimes and are trying to figure out the best use for their talents, and sometimes they piss off millions of teenage girls (OK, maybe that one’s just Malik) because they are human and thats what humans do.

So you can argue Malik is doing enough simply by being the formerly hot one of One Direction who also happens to be Muslim.

But then again, if hes already moving mountains by just doing him, can you imagine the effect hed have if he actively and regularly spoke out, even a little bit, against Islamophobia?

Maybe its time for Malik to use his powerful position to stand up for something important. To createchange, its not enough to just exist —Malik has the platform tolight up the world like nobody else andmake itmore beautiful.

[viralhottopics]

In defense of ghosting: It’s a valuable dating tool, not a problem to be fixed

Image: Christopher Mineses/Mashable

Ghosting is everywhere, and dating apps are desperate to put an end to this disappearing act. But ghosting doesn’t need a solution it is the solution.

If you didnt already know before plunging into the deep, dark depths that is online dating, you certainly learned quickly thereafter: dating is a numbers game. And when youre messaging with what turns out to be your third lamest match of the day, ghosting becomes a necessary tool to manage the exhaustion that is mining through the hundreds of (probably boring) people at your fingertips.

For the record: This isnt the nicest way of looking at people.

For the record: This isnt the nicest way of looking at people. But neither is the meat-market display of the swiping mechanism employed by the most popular apps. It is, as they say, what it is. If youre going to partake, this objectification is an inherent and unavoidable aspect of dating app culture.

SEE ALSO: We’re so tired of dating apps but we just can’t quit them

There are a literal million reasons why a match can flop. You can chalk most failed conversations up to lack of spark you either have a connection or you dont. Not everyone wants to partake in games of witty one-upmanship (*raises hand*) or blatant innuendo (*puts hand down*). You might just be on completely different pages right off the bat.

Some people are lazy swipers. Theyll casually swipe right before really analyzing your profile only to later discover oh, wait they actually really hate people with cats and ew thats a cat in your last picture and they missed it the first time. It happens.

Other people are coming off their last breakup sore and just looking for the validation, comfort and ego boost that newcomers tend to feel from the matching experience they were never there to meet up anyway.

See: a literal million reasons.

So when someone doesnt chat you back, the rejection isnt necessarily personal. Its cheesy but its true: Its not you, its them. Youre not a fit, and thats okay.

Its cheesy but its true: Its not you, its them.

Ghosting isnt unique to the online world. Weve done it countless times in person, it just doesnt seem as pointed. If you were at a party full of single people and chatted briefly to someone before pausing to chat to another, and then turned back to discover the first person had disappeared, you probably wouldn’t think too much of it after all, it’s a big party and you’re all there to mingle, a 45-year-old single writer who uses a combination of Tinder, Happn and Bumble told me.

Speaking briefly with someone in person does not imply an investment, and neither does an online greeting. You havent met, you can barely remember this persons name without going back to check their profile, and youve made no promises or commitments.

As a 32-year-old single software developer said, I think that’s why people feel okay ghosting. I hardly know this person. Do I really have to go through the exercise of telling them why I’m not interested? And thats the main issue: formally cutting off every conversation you might have with a stranger online would be exhausting.

Even as someone who only casually flips through dating apps, I have 200+ matches that I do not speak with, either ever or any longer. Some I stopped replying to, some stopped replying to me. Thats online dating.

SEE ALSO: The internet baes who ‘breadcrumb’ you and never meet you in person

I have so many conversations going on at the same time that don’t result in actual dates that I can’t actually reject all of them. So I ghost, a 29-year-old investment professional told me. I don’t think the person really devoted any resources to chat me along with other multiple people at the same time online.

Ghosting is easy. Sitting down to explain why you arent interested in continuing a conversation with someone you barely know is not.

And what good would come of it anyway? As much as some people might feel like understanding why the other person disappeared would be helpful, there are too many variables.

Even with the best intentions, some criticism might read as offensive. Or they might just not know what the hell theyre talking about. (They dont actually know anything about you, after all.) Or it might be one of those incredibly personal literal million reasons that would have no impact on your future involvements.

As the 29-year-old investment professional put it, How would the other person possibly benefit by an internet stranger saying he or she doesn’t wanna meet up because I find you boring. The 45-year-old writer said something similar: If I hardly know a person, I think I have little right to judge their behavior. It’d be massively egotistical of me to judge them after so little interaction.

Its just not feasible for every match to answer your requests for feedback.

Online dating moves quickly. One day youre all about one or two threads of interaction, and the next its an entirely different set of people. Its just not feasible for every match to answer your requests for feedback.

I think it’s slightly unrealistic to expect people to pour their hearts out to you when you hardly know them, the 45-year-old writer said. The problem is that one person might just not be into it (call it chemistry, call it feeling, call it vibe, whatever) while the other person is projecting all sorts of stuff on the other person and building up the proto-relationship in their mind.

The only effort we can reasonably expect from a match is to take a stab at an honest-to-goodness conversation. If it doesnt pass the initial chemistry test, anything else is unnecessary.

There are, of course, scenarios where ghosting is bad. If youve been dating someone even casually for a chunk of time, for instance. But when youre just chatting, gauging who the hell this person even is? When you havent even committed to a first date? Its not rude its just part of the process. Its expected, as the 29-year-old said.

Dating apps like The League and others are rushing to try to “solve” the problem of ghosting. Theyre offering features like read receipts or expiring messages that feel more like shaming. Those features, along with other attempts to engineer social interactions between matches (like limiting how many people you see, especially with The Leagues penalization of people who dip into any kind of inactivity) are manipulating your behaviors by controlling your experience.

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So why are these apps even bothering? Ghosting is always going to be a part of online dating, as long as its a numbers game. But neither of those things are inherently bad. Dating apps, as abhorrent as they can be, are at least convenient and manageable. You can gauge a potential match from a safe and fairly anonymous distance, and you can decide when to pull the plug without the risk of them continuing to have unfettered access to you.

The fact that online dating is on your terms is one of the few things it has going for it.

The fact that online dating is on your terms is one of the few things it has going for it. The best feature these apps introduced was making communication gated rather than leaving it open to a wild west world of negging and sexually-charged commentary. Thats done. But theres certainly still room for features that would minimize the need for ghosting.

The most cumbersome part of all this is swiping through the piles of profiles some of which are joke accounts or spam to get to someone you could see yourself liking. Anything that would help that experience vague and magical algorithms, for instance would be more effective than these features that feel like yet another opportunity for a cash grab (with paid-for member accounts nabbing extra flexibility) rather than a service to the user.

If, one day, apps were able to accurately detect and record your most personal-interest swiping habits to better predict who you would like as in, be an actual matchmaker wed probably spend less time swiping and ghosting in favor of more time actually dating.

SEE ALSO: Hater, the app that lets you find love based on what you hate

Most of the current algorithmic qualifiers dont have much of a bearing on what kinds of people personality, look, style, character youre looking at. Tinders voting-as-ranking system, based on what we know about it, seems far too much like a Black Mirror Season 3, episode 1 popularity contest than a personalized matching system.

For now, were left with an imperfect system. Theres plenty about the culture of online dating that would deter any number of people. Ghosting, I would argue, is one of the less offensive ones a tool of efficiency rather than rejection. But its up to you to decide if its worth the hassle.

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from In defense of ghosting: It’s a valuable dating tool, not a problem to be fixed