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temmtamm · 19 days

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Hello! Could you do yandere Pines family x female reader. (Mostly targeted to stanford pines) Can you do it where the reader (the reader is in her mid-20s) was traveling through gravity falls. But her car broke down, so the reader managed to stop at a motel (if gravity falls have one). The reader looks around gravity falls while she was there. And went to the mystery shack, and that's when standford meets the reader. He was love struck. So obviously, he started to stalk her, etc. Till he finally talks to the reader. After a while, the pines family has been noticing his strange behaviors (more than normal), so they went to investigate (mostly dipper and Mabel), and they realized they too really liked her. And started to see her as a graunty. Stanley comes in to see what's up and realize he also likes her too (as a little sister) and all of them try to get the reader to date/relationship with stanford. But the reader finally mentioned she was leaving soon. And that just...broke them. You can come up with the last part, okay?

Hii ^^ friendly reminder that I do not do gender specific asks, but I will gladly do this concept using gender neutral pronouns!!

Yandere Ford (+ twins) Headcanons

Okay, so I don’t think Ford would be a hard guy to impress, mostly because he had been away from human society for three decades and hence, grew accustomed to other dimensions customs, including their appearances.

That is both to say that you are something very new and exciting for him, both in the ways of fashion and what-not as you don’t exactly look like what people did in the 70’s-80’s, and you’re the first human he’s seen that was a romance-able option.

Things to note about Ford is that he is awkward, not all that socially aware, and he has no conversation skills to save his life…but, another thing to note that he is self obsessed. Ford is narcissistic as all his life he had been praised for his intellect. So, he is convinced he can use his intellect to woo you over, he just needs to study you.

He doesn’t like to call it stalking, only bad people stalk. He’s not bad, he’s just…collecting data. He’s not stealing, he’s just collecting samples, you get the point.

At nights, he lies awake thinking of you, over analyzing your twos relationship. He worries he is turning into a freak of nature, an obsessive monster that will end up destroying you and everyone else he loves. He’s afraid he’ll end up like Bill.

But…when he talks to you, when he watches the wrinkles form in the crows feet of your eyes from how much you laugh at his jokes, how well you take care of the twins, all his worries melt away.

He will never end up like Bill. He’ll make sure of it. He doesn’t want to destroy, he wants to protect. It’s the intent that matters, right?

Well…Stan doesn’t exactly think so. He gets worried seeing Ford hover so closely around you, always analyzing, always watching. He doesn’t want to lose his brother. It might be a bit selfish, but he just got Ford back, he doesn’t want you taking Ford away to god-knows-where once your car gets patched up.

So, he starts asking around, asking to see if Mabel and Dipper noticed Ford’s new attitude.

You see, another thing to note is that Mabel and Dipper don’t have a good home life. It’s not out of reach to assume that they had gotten sent to the Mystery Shack during summer while their parents got divorced, and in such a troubling time with a collapsing home life, they latched onto the closest thing to a family they had, which was you and Ford.

Ford had been Dipper’s ideal for a long, long time, before Dipper even really knew who Ford was, and hence, he’d be estatic to have him as a father figure. And Mabel?? Well, she has this unique ability to bond with almost everyone she meets, but especially you. You don’t chastise or make fun of her for being boy crazy, or liking pink, or being the ‘dumber’ sibling. You just let her be a kid and have her fun.

So, the two cover for Ford.

What do you mean he’s going out late?? He must just be getting used to his new life back home.

What do you mean he has a collection of your clothes? He’s keeping it for you…to wash.

He bought a perfume/cologne with your exact scent?? Obviously, it’s an early birthday present.

Hell, the two might even try to convince Soos to stall the fixes on your car, with Mabel in particular winning him over, saying it’s for ‘love’.

They, along with Ford, aren’t that willing to part with you. Won’t you just stay a little longer?? They barely got to know you.

C’mon, just stay…

At least let them pretend they have a happy family, at least for a little.

#fanfic #fanfiction #yandere x reader #yandere #romantic #platonic #platonic dipper and Mabel #yandere ford pines #yandere gravity falls #gravity falls x reader #gravity falls stanford #gravity falls fandom #gravity falls fanfiction #gravity falls #temmtamm

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stellocchia · 4 years

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Here’s an analysis of the “Tommy’s Plan To Kill Dream” stream (part 1)

I noticed that my “overly long” analysis always tend to be about extremely depressing streams, so here’s me trying to change that and failing miserably because I can find angst literally everywhere!

As usual I’ll be talking about the characters only unless stated otherwise from here on out.

The whole thing is under the cut because, as the name of this “series” suggest, I’m phisycally incapable of keeping things short

Before we proceed with the analysis we need a quick overview of Tommy’s relationship with the people he interacts with this stream so that we can all start with the same mindset:

Tommy & Tubbo: They have obviously been very close friends since the beginning but recently Tommy has developed a sort of dependence on Tubbo which really isn’t healthy. This of course is a direct result of his second exile and his mindset moving forward after that. While with Dream and then Techno Tommy was extremely isolated and made to depend entirely on the one person providing for him. He continued this even after Doomsday, this time developing an extreme dependence on Tubbo that culminated with the line “What am I without you?” (basing your entire identity around someone else is not healthy, who’d have thought?). With the developing of the hotel post-finale he expands his system of support to include Sam and Sam Nook, but this is of course ruined with the prison arc. Tommy doesn’t trust Sam any longer and, while he still cares deeply about Sam Nook, he’s not someone that can give him emotional support. So he went back to rely soley on Tubbo (though it’s obvious throughout the stream that he’s tentatively doing so with Ranboo as well)

Tommy & Ranboo: The two of them used to be sort of close before Doomsday, Ranboo still very much admiring Tommy and considering him a friend. Thet said Ranboo is not in the very small circle of people who Tommy trusts and finding him married to his best friend and moving in together with a child didn’t help his perception of him. He feels replaced by Ranboo and sort of feels like he “stole” the only system of support he had that he could count on. Though there is a beginning of change throughout the stream.

Tommy & Ghostbur: Their relationship is really interesting. Tommy is pretty obviously one of Ghostbur’s unfinished businesses (possibly the only one now that L’Manburg is gone) and most definitely his priority. He was the only one who offered to go with Tommy during exile and he tried to be there for him constantly. Even his return this time was Tommy-motivated as we know from what he said in Ranboo’s stream. Meanwhile Tommy’s feelings on him are very complicated. He swings between recognizing that Alivebur and Ghostbur are different entities to conflating them together any time he has a strong reminder of Alivebur (at the beginning of exile and after spending time with Void!Wilbur for example). He also has only very recently come to the full realisation that Wilbur was awful to him and that their relationship was definitely not healthy (something we can infer from him finally taking a stance on not wanting him back and him admitting that Wilbur is good at manipulating him).

Now that that’s done, let’s get into the analysis!

“Oh I forgot I died, didn’t I?” So, Tommy is in a very peculiar situation where he has to somehow process his own death and, at the moment, he’s still in a state of denial about it. He knows he died but he acts like he didn’t in the sense that he hates how it affects his life. He doesn’t want people to treat him any different (even though he IS different), he doesn’t want to acknowledge the changesto the world nor to his relationships, which is the reason why he dislikes the statues of himself so much (that and the fact that he simply never liked to have statues of him). They act as a constant phisycal reminder of what happened to him and, more importantly, how much things changed in his absence.

One other reason why change scares him so much it’s because of how often he’s alienated from the world around him. He spent more time in exile/prison then in his own home since L’Manburg got it’s independence. He is constantly forced to live in an isolated bubble while the world around him moves forward and then, when he gets thrown back in he is never really given much time to adapt and catch up before he is thrown once more into the role of the hero/villain that he despises (after the 16th for example he was painted as a liability at his first mistake and put on trial etc despite how much he did for the country. Again after Doomsday he had the Dream fight to think about and, after that, Sam Nook asked him again to be the hero against the Egg and he, once again, was villanized by the Team Rocket. Now again he finds himself in the position where he has to take action against Dream once more).

So the stream really starts with Tommy deciding to contact Tubbo to get some help in his plan to kill Dream. He heads to Snowchester to do so (stopping before that to build Sam Nook a little wooden platform to keep him out of the rain).

On the way to Snowchester he gets trapped in the tunnel and almost drowns, making him break the glass of the tunnel. This is triggering for him for a couple of reasons (aside from drowning generally being not pog): exile reminder of his waking up drowning every day and taking damage in general seems to be a reminder of his death (he also seems to be hypersensitive in general in regard to phisycal sensations)

The whole mansion scene is a further indicator of this new dynamic between Tubbo, Ranboo and Tommy. Tubbo and Ranboo grew extremely close as we know (got married for tax benefits, adopted a child together and, apparently, canonically fell in love after) and they are planning to move in together with their son in the mansion. This, once again, all happened while Tommy was locked in prison. The feelings of alienation for him in the situation are prevalent together with his jealousy at Ranboo as he perceives him as his replacement.

“You married someone without me- without my permission?” “Okay, can I have your permission?” “Does he make you happy?” “Yes” “then ye- okay” Just... I’m a softie and I think that it’s very sweet that his only requirement to give his blessing is Ranboo making Tubbo happy. We stan a unconditionally supportive friend!

“Ranboo listen, let me open up to you pal! I- I’ve been through a pretty rough time recently and- (”Yeah I can tell”) and I know that we were kind of close before I went into prison, but then you ki- Tubbo would you mind looking at that flower a bit more? You kinda stole my best friend, and that’s kinda- you know now I feel kind of very lonely- actually feel very lonely” “I didn’t steal...” “And my other friend who then turned out to be my enemy is actually dead. So I’m kinda feeling a little bit left out here, and considering I was locked in a prison for 4 weeks...” “Yeah, no, I mean... I didn’t- I didn’t steal...” “No no no no, you did, you did, didn’t you? You did!” That was a big piece of dialogue there to transcribe! Regardless Tommy doing my job for me here by literally spelling out for us how he feels about Ranboo. One thing to be noted though is that Ranboo remains calm and keeps an understanding attitude in all his interactions with Tommy. He constantly tries to be reasonable (trying to explain that he didn’t “steal” Tubbo as, you know, he has his own free will and can have more then one friend) and generally just doesn’t get mad. Keeping a non-confrontational attitude is probably the best thing he could have done here.

So after that exchange Tommy opens up to them a bit about Dream, explaining what he’s planning.

“The revive book is too much and he (Dream) is too powerful and he’s only gonna use it for evil now! He is an evil man and he used it- he used ME to prove a point and to experiment on me” “Oh my God, like a lab rat!” “Like a- like a- worse then a lab rat! A lab- a lab sock!” “A lab sock?! No!” “Oh God!” “Oh my God” This is the first time in the conversation where Tommy’s gone more in depth about his traumatic experience (though he did mention before that “Dream asked him about it” in reference to his revival). It’s honestly a really big positive that he’s opening up to someone, even if it is other two teenagers who can’t do much but be sympathetic to him.

“I think it’s good. You don’t actually know this but I’ve been- I’ve been collecting some data, but, honestly... I’m not sure is a too good of an idea” “You said it was good” “No no no, I didn’t mean it was good in the sense of we should-” “Ranboo’s changed you, Ranboo’s changed you! He’s manipulating you! He’s manipulative and controlling” So 2 things to unpack here:

1) Tubbo hesitance comes from both him being on his last life and how things went during the season 2 finale. He isn’t too optimistic about their chances of killing Dream (even with Dream being completely unarmed in the prison) and he’s also less passively suicidal then he was during the finale, probably because he managed to build a life for himself now. He has a home, a family and Snowchester, he doesn’t wanna loose those.

2) Because of very obvious reasons (Wilbur being abusive, Dream being abusive, Techno isolating and manipulating him and then siding with his abuser and Sam betraying his trust) Tommy views all relationships aside from his with Tubbo in a negative lense. Basically he has HUGE trust issues and he’s so used to his relationships having usually some degree of manipulation (exept for Sam, who still entirely broke his trust. Also recently found out Jack had been lying and trying to kill him as well, which probably didn’t help the issue) that he just assumes that must be the case for Tubbo and Ranboo as well. Both of them of course are fast to correct him on this as that’s really not the case.

“So why don’t you want him to bring Wilbur back now? What suddenly changed?” “I spent months in the death... area- let’s call it ‘the death zone’, with Wilbur alright?” “The death zone?” “I spent months there. I spent months and months and months there and I was only there for a few days, Wilbur’s been there for real months. He is so different and he is fucking powerful and you know how he molds me like a piece of clay, Tubbo. (hushed) I don’t want him to come back” So here we have Tommy’s admission to Wilbur’s manipulation and how effective it is on him (most probably because of how close they used to be). We also have another hint about how dangerous Wilbur is now because of the knowledge he acquired.

“In the mean time we also... unless we don’t kill Dream... we gonna have to stop Technoblade, ‘cause Technoblade owes him a favour” “Stop Technoblade?” “Technoblade owes him a favour and we can’t let him redeem it” When Tommy mention’s Techno, Tubbo immediately becomes even MORE hesitant about this whole thing (probably a mix of his death-related trauma, Techno exploding his nation twice and his most recent inquisition venture in Snowchester).

“So why don’t we try to block Dream’s communication with Technoblade? ‘Cause then Technoblade would have no idea how to... redeem... the favour” “He can bring back the dead Tubbo, we need him DEAD! He’s too powerful for this server’s good and he’s a bad man and he won’t use his powers for good. And it’s not even-” “Mmmmh” “What do you mean ‘Mmmh’ Man?!” “I don’t know this really- this didn’t go too well for us last time we got all hyped up and tried to do this” Tubbo once again is mostly apprehensive because of how things went last time they were up against Dream. He also tried proposing an alternative solution to fighting that Tommy shoots down because he doesn’t think anyone should have the power that Dream has. Also, may I add that Ranboo is actually on Tommy’s side on this whole thing? Possibly because he knows as well how dangerous Dream still is.

“Just because he’s locked up doesn’t mean his strenght is, allright?” This basically perfectly sums up the crux of the issue. Of course thanks to Quackity’s lore we know that Dream’s power now is mostly a facade, but they don’t know this. To them Dream is just as powerful now as he was before. To them the image of powerlessness that the prison gives him is the facade.

That said the conversation in the electric chair tower ends here and, as this is already so incredibly long, I’ll also end part one of the analysis here. This was also the most lore-heavy part as the rest is more light-hearted so it’ll probably be faster to cover.

#tommyinnit #tubbo #ranboo #ghostbur #dream smp #tw abuse #tw manipulation #analysis #character analysis #I truly WOULD have mad it all one post #but this is already absurdly long as is...#and as I said this was the more lore-heavy part #so the split fits well #long post #but you knew that already #my post

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legobiwan · 4 years

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Thrawn: Treason (the rest of it)

Wow, Assistant Director Assbucket is the literal worst, I can’t believe Thrawn foisted him on Ar’alani at the end that poor woman puts up with a lot with Thrawn I never thought I’d live to see the day Grand Admiral “I have a plan for everything” Thrawn being the insane troublemaker of the Chiss.

Anyone notice Eli was starting to sounds a little...Thrawn-ish towards the end of the book? At least, when he was reassuring Vah'nya he would kill her and the other navigators if the Chiss fell to the Grysks???

But let’s back up a moment to the mission on Aloxor. ONCE AGAIN, I am so happy to see Thrawn’s strange cosplay fetish rearing its head, right where (or perhaps I should say wear hahahahah I’m so funny I’ll be here all night, make sure to try the chicken) it belongs - with Eli Vanto.

I love that Ronan cannot let go of his stupid cloak given to him by the Supreme Being of All Light and Intelligence Director Krennic what is Ronan’s deal with Krennic???

But Mole/Dayja had it right when said all people in charge love capes. Hahahahahahaha. Too right.

Savit’s little internal monologue about petty politics and corruption being the death of the Empire was really interesting because - as we all remember - the exact same accusation was lobbed at the Republic. And the Republic was bloated and corrupt and ruled by petty politics that ended up drawing the Jedi in and that didn’t end well but the same thing is happening in the Empire, just on an accelerated time-scale. Which makes me wonder, did Sidious believe that once the Death Star was up and running, it would quell any grumblings because everyone would just be too terrified to say otherwise? I mean, what was Sidious’s endgame being immortality and ultimate power? What do you even do at that point? (This gets a little close to the philosophical debate that death gives meaning and Sidious’s whole thing was avoiding death and I just kind of wonder what the point is after a while. Ultimate POWAH, I suppose.)

ANWAY.

Who was it in the book that pointed out that every weapon, ship, etc has a weak point, including the Death Star? I feel like it was Thrawn, but maybe it was Savit. Anyway, hahahaha foreshadowng.

Okay, so Savit was playing Imperial Robin Hood, stealing from Stardust to arm the rest of the Navy because he felt Stardust was both shortsighted and an onus on the budget. He’s not wrong. The Death Star is kind of a stupid gamble, and you have to wonder if Sheevy Sheev was getting a little too confident (as Luke pointed out in RotJ) and thus put all of his space eggs in one space basket. I mean, the man loves consolidating power, and a Death Star is just another step in that direction - but...it’s a bad idea??????

BUT. THE MUSIC THING WITH SAVIT HAD ME ROLLING. You guys have to understand, I finished listening to this while I was out on my run and I was laughing so hard at this scene I just had to stop on the street, double over, and cackle loudly through my mask. Thankfully, we’re still shut down over here, so there were fewer people to stare at me like I was insane, but this was great.

First of all, Savit arguing that he’s not an artist, he’s a musician and then between that the Ronan commenting on the hand gestures I knew exactly where this was going to go and it didn’t disappoint one bit.

I love that Thrawn says music is too up to interpretation, ah yes, composition - the true death of the author. (And the true death of the composer, who is likely spinning in their grave.) Except Ronan Savit plays (and conducts!) his own works. Starting with the high winds (of course, there are too many high wind players out there, market’s tight you have broaden your activities hahahahahahahaha), and then expanding as he gained status. I’m not entirely sure how this fed into his patronage/favors by the Coruscanti elite (did they just really like increasingly bombastic music?) but I’m totally willing to roll with it.

Anyway, this was GREAT I needed this ridiculousness in my life I’m so glad that whole conversation from the beginning of the book between Krennic and Savit came back. I love Thrawn and his art analysis classes can I audit the next one? Just for fun?

By the way, I am so glad Zahn didn’t go down the romance route with Eli and Vah'nya, I was a little afraid of that but it was unfounded.

But Eli. Ohhhh Eli. Your secret mission that you don’e even know about aboard the Steadfast. He’s analyzing numbers and data from Navigators in order for the Ascendancy to be able to locate future Navigators and perhaps gain insight into their skill. Their skill is Third Sight (and rarely, Second Sight), which is essentially Force-sensitivity. The Chiss are trying to locate Force-sensitives. As in, trying to create something like the holocron in the Jedi Archives that listed Force-sensitive babies. Hooooo boi. Sidious would want to get his paws on that and I think Thrawn knows that. Thrawn, despite his loyalty to the Empire (loyalty that goes deep enough that he brought in Savit despite likely agreeing with him on the objective facts of Stardust draining the budget). This, however, has to be a line in the sand. And it harkens back to something Eli was pondering earlier, about where both his and Thrawn’s true loyalties were.

Hooray both Eli and Faro got a promotion. Thrawn is such a good boss.

Okay, but the ending. *deep breath* Here we go. This happens, I believe, pretty close to the ending of Rebels. Now, I’ve seen discussions where people believe Thrawn was neutered on Rebels, especially with the somewhat deus ex machina ending. I’m in the middle of a rewatch so I won’t comment further on that until I’ve gotten through it, but here’s my initial reading, just based on instinct. Sidious is planning to either eliminate Thrawn or use him to conquer the Chiss. Sidious doesn’t know about the Force-sensitive list Eli is creating, but if Sidious got to the Chiss, he’d get that list and it would be bad times for everyone. Thrawn is not as politically naive as he allows everyone to think, at least not with this. He’s been playing both sides to the middle for a long time now and between Sidious and the Grysks, he is going to be forced to choose. I just wonder how much of that plays into the ending on Rebels, how Thrawn deals with Lothal, and - given his penchant for acquiring certain non-Chiss for the Ascendancy - what his possible plan for Ezra may have been (especially given what we know about the Second and Third Sight). I won’t say much more until I finish my rewatch, but those questions are floating around my head.

To summarize: it was a delight seeing Thrawn with some of his people and knowing he’s a weirdo there, as well. Thrawn and Eli together is still the absolute best combination and I wish we had more of it. Ronan is an ass and I hate him. Ar’alani just needs a damn drink to deal with all of these fools, Thrawn most of all. I would say out of the three, the first novel is still my favorite, but this comes in a close second and I really hope we get a fourth novel at some point. 9/10

#hello there #thrawn treason #grand admiral thrawn #eli vanto #grand admiral savit #Karyn Faro #admiral ar'alani #brierly ronan #legobiwan listens to a book

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impalementation · 4 years

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I think your take on Doublemeat Palace is interesting because to me it's emblematic of all the things that make Season 6 (particularly the back half after "Tabula Rasa") not work for me. It's relentlessly grim and unpleasant and I can feel the writers twisting the plot to make sure every character is as miserable as possible. I'm not opposed to seeing protagonists in a low point or even outright failing. Season 3 of Game of Thrones is some of my favorite TV ever. (1/2)

(2/2) But at a certain point the grim and gritty, if it's not well written, and broken up with some moments of lightness (like Buffy was previously known for) the audience gets numb. It also doesn't help that no one has any agency. (Magicrack, the not!wedding, Dawn doing zip) Again, I'm not opposed to dark plotlines. I'm opposed to incompetent writing.I don't think you can call an episode or an arc "objectively" good if it doesn't work for the majority of the audience it's been written for.

you know, i’m going to disagree about the “grim and gritty” thing. doublemeat palace actually stands out to me as being really funny. and for having a lowkey positive ending. true, the episode is about the soul-sucking prospect of having to do the same dreary work every day. it’s about how much it sometimes sucks to work, which is why you have willow dealing with the fact that recovery is a difficult thing that you have to decide to commit to every day, xander and anya facing the fact that marriage is also a lifelong daily commitment, and buffy taking an unpleasant and mechanical job in order to put food on the table (and the episode plays up that the managers have been doing it for five or ten years). but like, names like “manny the manager”? the weirdo robotic people? the exaggerated camera angles? the swirling cow and chicken? buffy’s constant attempts at jokes? “hot delicious human flesh”? a little old lady with penis monster on her head? this stuff is totally absurdist. i think of doublemeat palace as almost the opposite of episodes like once more with feeling and tabula rasa, where things superficially seem fun but are actually quite dark. doublemeat palace seems superficially unpleasant but actually has a wicked sense of humor. and i say that the ending is positive because it involves both willow and buffy committing to doing work. they’re faced with the opportunity to “cheat” at life like the trio, who steal money instead of having jobs, but ultimately decide to do the right thing. willow doesn’t accept amy’s magic and buffy doesn’t blackmail the company.

that goes for a lot of season six, in my opinion. even late season six. people say there was less humor, and i think that’s true to an extent, but honestly i think it’s more that the tone of the humor changed. it got more sardonic and absurd, but was definitely still there. eg people think of seeing red as the episode where the two Very Bad Things happened, but outside of those scenes a lot of the episode is like, fascinatingly (to me) slapstick (the whole jetpack bonanza? “say goodnight bitch” “goodnight, bitch”). and has that really lovely conversation between buffy and xander at the end. in general, i think a lot more season six episodes have positive endings than it gets a reputation for. i already mentioned the ending of doublemeat palace. but the end of gone has buffy saying she doesn’t want to die, the end of older and far away has buffy deciding to stay home with dawn, the end of as you were has buffy deciding to break up with spike, and the end of grave has buffy, willow, and spike all making important changes for the better. as in, season six can be very dark, yes. but i would not call it a hopeless or cynical kind of dark. it’s about the characters clawing their way out of that dark place. not just a statement that “adulthood sucks.” you can argue that the season didn’t pull off its attempts at lightness, but i very much think they’re there.

at any rate, i agree to an extent that if a work of art isn’t working on most people, that’s probably a sign it’s doing something wrong. but i’d offer the counterpoint that you might also say that if a work of art really works on some people, even if not everyone, it’s probably doing something right. as far as the season as a whole goes, i’d actually take issue, on a basic factual level, with the claim that it didn’t work on the majority of people. not to validate IMDB’s ratings for buffy’s episodes, but it does have an n=~2000 sample size and if you average out the ratings by season, season six doesn’t rank starkly lower than any other season. it’s on the less popular side, but it still hovers around an 8.0 average like most of the other seasons. moreover if you go by the big r/buffy polls (n=~120-310), season six ranks in the top three favorite seasons every year they did one (2011: 3 > 6 > 2, 2012: 6 = 3 > 5, 2013: 6 > 3 > 5, 2014: 3 > 6 > 5, 2017: 5 > 3 > 6). you can see the data for yourself if you scroll down to where it says “surveys”. perfectly possible that there’s data that paints a totally different picture. this is just what i had on hand. that ranking also doesn’t mean the majority of people liked the season, but it does act as evidence that there are a lot of people whom it really worked on. basically, i wouldn’t say that season six is disliked so much as it’s divisive. people seem to either love it or hate it. with a smaller percentage that likes it, but for whom it isn’t a favorite. or who appreciate what it was trying to do but don’t think that it succeeded.

as far as doublemeat palace goes i notice a similar phenomenon. people either really hate it or they really relate to it. either they think the style is bizarre and annoying or they think it’s delightfully surreal. so it really seems like it’s up to the individual whether they want to lend more credence to one audience reaction or another in order to assess quality.

which is why i tend to use my own rubric. when i ask myself whether something is good or bad, i pay a lot of attention to (1) is the work trying to do or say something specific? (2) how unusual or challenging or astute is the thing the work is saying? (3) how coherently is it doing that, and on how many different levels? (4) on a formal level—dialogue, cinematography, costuming, acting, pacing—how fluently was it executed, and how well did the formal choices contribute to the ideas in (1)?

for the record, i don’t think that doublemeat palace is the best episode ever. i just think it’s solid, and fits nicely into what i think the season as a whole was doing. but the reason i say that it’s “objectively” solid according to my personal rubric—which granted, you’re more than welcome to not share—is that (1) it has a pretty clear idea that it’s exploring. the drudgery of work stuff that i mentioned in the first paragraph. moreover i think that idea is really relevant to the season-long topic of “what makes it feel like adulthood sucks”. buffy having to take a menial food job fits into the season’s food motif that i talked about once, which in turn fits character-wise with buffy’s ambivalence about being alive. a somewhat grotesque/humiliating job fits with the mood of material existence being unpleasant. (also, xander impulsively chowing down on food speaks to him probably not being ready for commitment) (2) i think this whole subject was just hella daring for the show to do. having been a poor and suicidally depressed 22 year old in a fucked up sexual relationship while working a menial job, season six and episodes like doublemeat palace just ring true to me as something for a show about growing up to depict. sometimes real life really is a grind, and sometimes it really does feel profane, absurd, surreal, etc. (3) i really like the way that buffy, willow, and xander and anya’s stories all fit the theme of episode but in different ways. i wouldn’t say the episode is a super nuanced take on drudgery, but it does have layers thanks to the three different storylines, and it comes off as clearly conscious and oriented around its theme. there are other parallels like amy, spike, and halfrek each being influences, too. (4) there’s some cool formal execution. not all of it. willow’s story, like a lot of her mid-season-six arc, is kind of tediously on-the-nose. but i enjoy pretty much every second of buffy’s part of the episode, because the direction is so in control of it. and i like the absurdist and genre-conscious playfulness. the soylent green riff, etc.

i also disagree on your assessment of agency in the season but this post is long enough as it is. regardless, i certainly don’t begrudge you your opinion. it’s an often clumsy season. it also sounds like we enjoy things in different ways--i genuinely don’t care too much about writers contorting things in the interest of theme. i’m mainly trying to push against the implications (1) that the season was obviously just trying to be dark and grim, and just for it’s own sake or something. instead of for deliberate and interconnected artistic reasons that one could analyze and talk about, and (2) that there is some monolithic opinion on and response to it.

#s6 #sigh i tried to add a tag and the read more got messed up #man tumblr code is fucked #fyi people are welcome to respond to this but i probably don't have more bandwidth to respond back #also if it wasn't clear from like 70% of this blog i adore season six and it means a lot to me #so at a certain point 'why season six is bad' discourse just kind of makes me sad #even if i respect why people think that and agree with various criticisms

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deereelis · 4 years

Text

To my ‘so-called friends’ & the Master-minds

I chuckle when I hear the enablers who call themselves my friends attempt to justify yesterdays domestic terrorist attack.

Even saying, all violent protests are bad and they should all be condemned in an attempt to deflect

True. but you have yet to condemn yours, my ‘so-called ‘friends.’ And bringing up BLM protests as to compare it to the ‘Trumpers’ attempted coup yesterday says way more about your bias than reality. With no mention of the dozens of other protests that get messy due to heightened emotions; you go straight for Black people, and it leaves one to wonder what yesterday was ‘really’ about, ‘so-called ‘friends.’

You proud boys & girls are so blinded by your bigotry you fail to see that we aren't. Having a relative thats Black has clearly had no effect on your inherited beliefs that we just shouldn't be. But the common thread of hate toward people like me and whom I love the most in this world are clear. and thats personal to me, my so-called friend.

For some context: Black folks protest the unfair treatment & death rate at the hands of those who are to serve & protect. A concept that is backed by data of nearly every known institution in this country. Facts & numbers that detail the 4th tier; sub-par treatment of fellow humans (criminal justice, medical, education, political, environmental, housing, etc). And in that fight for justice, sometimes things get messy. But let’s be clear about who has historically and continuously introduced violence into the equations to begin with.

Was it the Black protestor that stole a TV from Target?

Was it the Black man jogging in a park?

Was it the big Black man selling bootleg CD’s?

Yet I see you- my ‘so-called friends’ show more compassion for Target electronics than you have for dead Black lives, repeatedly. Yet, we march on.

When ‘Masterminds’ (shot-callers-above our pay grade) make this a

Black vs Blue;

Democrat vs Republican;

Liberal vs Conservative thing

You all blindly follow..

These simple-thinking ‘Masterminds’ can never comprehend the complexities of our humanity and limit our vastness into tiny left & right boxes. And you all eat that shit right up, don’t ya; my ‘so-called friends’.

I never let politics impede with friendships or family as a matter of preserving relationships with people I love. So if the extent of our conversation has to be family and dog food; be prepared to talk about every dog food brand under the sun & my love for my 3rd cousin, twice removed, because I’m guided by the most high. But your actions, my ‘so-called friends’ and your words aren’t from a place of political astuteness; but from a lack of willingness to open your heart to people that only look different. And your intolerance is personal to me.

The one damn thing that should never be controversial if you value values is inclusive participation in our civic duties to vote for the representation we deem appropriate for our collective peace. Yet when the ‘Master-minds’ create a theory of election fraud because poor, Black, brown, immigrant folks couldn’t have possibly showed up in drones; and hide it under the false disguise of a political party fight; ya’ll gobbled it up like turkeys. Look up the demographics of the most contested voting districts and tell me what you see. If this were in fact a Democrat vs Republican issue; well then the fact that several Republican professionals certified the results should leave you resolved; shouldn't it, my so-called friends?

But it didn't & it doesn’t.

You and I both saw nooses, KKK, white supremacists, confederate flags on the news and heard racial slurs, armed efforts to take over a government that dared live up to the standards set forth by your own fore fathers called for.

Was this really about an election?

The same folks beat up police officers who dared protect our public servants from the insurrection.

Was this ever about Blue Lives?

Breaking into the US Capitol burning and damaging property paid by your tax payer dollars & posing a risk to so many:

Was this ever about Target or unlawful behavior?

You see, my so called friends; when Black Lives marched, we did it seeking justice. When you defend yesterdays extremists you are defending the exact opposite. You are aiding & abetting injustice and terrorists.

You can say its political, or let the ‘Master-minds’ chalk it up as a Black Lives Matter vs Cops, a Liberal vs Conservative even an election fraud thing but ultimately, my so-called friend; your belief in our non-existence means you are NOT my friend & are simply pushing the agenda of your own ‘Master’ mindset.

And I can’t get down with that. Wishing you reflection and love to drown out the hate.

Damali

As for looters, people with the means don’t need to steal the jeans.

#blacklivesmatter #masterminds mastersminds lovethroughhate mysocalledfriends

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sisterdharma · 4 years

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When it comes to #BlackLivesMatter, believe it or not, YOU may be the problem!

From a BLM ACTIVIST:

Ok white friends, I’m about to lay some hardcore truth on you right now, and many of you are not going to like it. Some of you are going to get immediately defensive. But before you comment from an emotional place, I encourage you to stop, re-read this post, do a little bit of research about casual racism and white privilege and then come back and re-read the post again. After that, if you still want to comment, please feel free.Ok, here we go....

Many of you are the problem.

Yes, you read that right. Many of you are the reason why these riots are happening. Many of you are the reason why it’s come to this. This is especially true if you’ve ever (but especially in the last week) said any of the following;

1. “It’s awful but...” - No. No buts. In the English language, the word “But” is often used to deflect or to justify behaviour. Police murdering black people in the street is awful. Period. End of discussion.

2. “I support the movement but not these disruptive protests...” - No, you don’t. Right now, the movement is taking the form of disruptive protests. They’re the same thing. You either want police to stop murdering black people in the street, or you don’t. If you do, then support the protests — even if you find them disruptive and frustrating — because that’s black people fighting for their lives.

3. “All lives/White lives matter too..” - no one said they didn’t. The conversation is specifically about black lives right now because police are murdering them in the street. Until police stop doing that, and White people stop dismissing it, it’s not “All lives matter,” it’s “MOST lives matter.” It’s not “ALL Lives” until Black Lives Matter too. Stay focused.

4. “There are good cops...” - No one said there weren’t. There are three categories of cops; Good cops, bad cops and complacent cops. Good cops are marching with the protesters. They’re sharing the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. They’re trying to change the system from within the system. There are many levels of Bad cops. The most obvious one is those officers that are murdering black people in the street. Bad cops are also sharing the hashtags “blue lives matter.” Bad cops are trying to shift the focus. Bad cops don’t stop their colleagues when they murder black people in the streets. Complacent cops just show up, follow orders and try not to take sides. Complacent cops are bad cops.

5. “I don’t support the looting and destruction...” - no one says you have to, but please stop acting like looting nullifies the entire protest. And definitely stop acting like looting is “just as bad.” That’s like comparing someone stealing your car to someone murdering your child. They’re not equally bad. Stop pretending they are. Police murdering black people in the street is definitely worse than robbing a Target.

6. “Just because I’m white doesn’t mean my life has been easy...” Of course not. Everyone struggles. But being white has never been one of those struggles. Being poor has been a struggle. Being a woman has been a struggle. Being gay has been a struggle. But being white has never been a struggle. The same can’t be said for people of colour. I could go on and on about white privilege, but it would be so much easier if you educated yourself instead. This isn’t about how you, a white, cisgender, straight man has suffered in your life. This is about police murdering black people in the street. Stop trying to make it about you.

7. “I really wish they would protest peacefully...” - of course you do. They’re easier to ignore that way. People of colour have been peacefully protesting for hundreds of years. It hasn’t been all that successful. The reason riots and violent demonstrations work is because it makes people — especially white people — uncomfortable. We can’t ignore them when they’re waving torches in our faces. It scares us. It puts us on edge, which is precisely where we need to be. People only pay attention to the extreme. If you have trouble recalling a single one of the hundreds of peaceful protests that BLM held across North America last year, but you can still recall, with crystal clarity, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, then you’ve just proved my point.

8. “I don’t see colour...” — Congratulations , you’re lying to yourself. Of course, you see colour. And that’s good! Black people want you to see their colour. Their colours are beautiful and the very foundation of who they are. If you don’t see their colour, then you also don’t see their culture. If you don’t see colour, then you erase their very identity. If you don’t see their colour, then you also can’t see the pattern of violence they’re confronted with every day. If you don’t see colour, then you’re blind to more than just racial injustice. You’re blind to the world.

9. “They shouldn’t have committed a crime...” - This one is a big one for me. Consider me triggered. A boy who steals a can of pop from a 711 does not deserve to be shot in the back three times. A man illegally selling CD’s on a street corner doesn’t deserve to be shot to death in front of a record store. A man who runs a red light does not deserve to be shot while reaching for his registration. This isn’t about their crimes; this is about bad policing. Stay on topic.

10. “Black people kill white people too...” yes, murderers exist in every race and walk of life. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking police brutality, and the reality is, black officers are not murdering unarmed white men in the street. That seems to be almost exclusively white officer behaviour. Stop gaslighting.*Additions based on comments to this post;

11. “Black people kill other black people...” - Yes, they do, just like white people kill other white people and Latinos kill other latinos etc. Crime related violence does not adhere to any imaginary racial boundaries or allegiances. But, we’re not talking about criminal violence right now. We’re not discussing drug violence or gang violence or sexual violence or domestic violence or bar brawls or whatever random type of violence you’d like to bring up. The conversation is specifically about POLICE BRUTALITY. Say it with me. Police. Brutality. Any other form of violence you bring up is entirely irrelevant. Please stay on topic.

12. “I support black people, but I can’t support the violence...” — In other words, you would prefer people of colour continue to be murdered by police, rather than have them rise up violently against their oppressors. Got it. That’s not support.

13. “It’s not about race. We are all human beings...” yes, except people of colour often aren’t treated like human beings. For instance, they’re being murdered in the streets like animals. On video. While people watch. While people do nothing.

14. “The looting and arson distract from their message. It’s their fault for not controlling it...” If you’d like to lay blame, how about we start by blaming the police who frequently murder unarmed people of colour. If they didn’t frequently murder unarmed people of colour, the protest wouldn’t be necessary. The protest wouldn’t have turned into a riot, the riot wouldn’t have turned violent, and looting wouldn’t have happened. Blaming the oppressed for not better “controlling” their social unrest is asinine.

15. “More white people are killed by cops than black people. Here are the statistics...” - I love when people do research! Thank you for that! But those stats that you’re proudly flashing around aren’t an accurate reflection of the issue. According to data, there are approx. 234,370,202 white people In the United States. Comparatively, that same data states that there are 40,610,815 “Black” Americans. So, when your stats show 1,398 white people have been killed by officers since 2017 and only 543 Black people, what those statistics really show is .0005% of white people were killed by police in those 3.5 years, while .0011% of black people were killed by police. That means black people were killed at a higher rate. 220% higher, to be exact. Math has no racial bias. Those aren’t great stats. Stop using them to defend your position.

16. “Black people commit more crime...” - Do they really, though? According to data released in 2017, there were 475,900 black prisoners in state and federal prisons and 436,500 white prisoners. That’s a difference of about 9%. So for argument's sake, let’s say those numbers are an accurate reflection of the amount of crime committed. If people of colour commit only 9% more crime, why are they killed by police at a rate of 220% higher?

17. “Well, the same stats you mentioned shows that even though they’re only 12% of the population, they commit 54% of the crime.” - Good Catch! You’re right. But those numbers don’t actually reflect the amount of crime committed. That’s why I said to assume they’re correct. Those numbers only reveal how many people are incarcerated. The reality is, while those numbers are all we have to go on, they don’t tell the complete story either. In the United States specifically, socioeconomic racism, which was designed to keep POC in poverty through district red-lining, lower quality of education and other systemic obstacles, is a huge component. Thanks to redlining (look it up) and other zoning and banking practices, the quality of education in “black” neighbourhoods are significantly lower, which means the average income for POC in those neighbours is lower and the unemployment much higher. Also, thanks to redlining, the unemployment rate, and lower-income rates, crime in those neighbourhoods tends to be higher. That means those neighbourhoods are patrolled by police more often. Thanks to racial bias, POC are followed, stopped, harassed and arrested more frequently than the white people who live in those same neighbourhoods. What all of this means is that, when POC are arrested more frequently, they often can’t afford fancy lawyers to help them. They usually end up with Public Defenders, who are often overworked, and they often encourage POC to plead guilty in exchange for less time. Then there’s the fact that, because white people make up 73% of the population, they also tend to make up a bigger percentage of Jurors. There’s lots of factors to consider. So don’t assume that just because they make up 54% of the people in jail, that they make up 54% of the crime. The entire system is broken. That’s part of the problem.

18. “You’re promoting violence and destruction, shame on you...” - I don’t remember encouraging anyone to riot. I also don’t remember encouraging anyone to loot or commit arson. The truth is, looting and arson is certainly not my preferred form of protest. But it’s important to remember that protesters haven’t committed most of the violent behaviour. Civil unrest tends to cause chaos and confusion. That chaos provides the perfect opportunity for poor-intentioned people to do poor-intentioned things. That doesn’t mean the civil unrest should stop. I don’t condone the violence. I just don’t think it should dominate the conversation. If you want to focus on the violence, try focusing on those officers who’ve killed POC in the street. You’re focusing on the wrong violence.

If any of you are guilty of saying any of the above, then I have unsettling news for you.

YOU are the reason it’s come to this.

YOU are the reason peaceful protests haven’t worked.They haven’t worked because

YOU haven’t been listening.

YOU haven’t been learning.

These violent riots are happening because YOU have left people of colour, no other choice.

These riots are happening because no matter how people of colour have said it, taking a knee, marching the streets, bumper stickers, banners, signs, or chants, YOU still don’t get it.

That doesn’t mean you’re bad people.

That doesn’t mean you’re racist.

It only means you’re white. And that’s not a crime, any more than being black is.The difference is, police aren’t going to shoot you in the street for it!

Copied and pasted. Feel free to do the same.

#blacklivesmatter #blm #police brutality #protests #riots #maga

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scambusternow-blog · 6 years

Text

Are you in love with a foreign National posing as an American soldier stationed abroad on a peacekeeping mission

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but you are the victim of a romance scam. The person you are talking to is not a US soldier.

I know this because I was the victim of a military romance scam myself. My scammer claimed he needed Amazon cards sent to him so he would have internet access in order to chat with me on Hangouts.

Accordingly, I'm quite sure the real military allows for communication without having to pay for data for the solder to use. Therefore the simplest way to determine if you are talking to a fake soldier as if they're asking you to send them iTunes and Amazon gift cards. The real military personnel would have no need for this. So you can be quite certain that if you are sending these cards you are talking with a scammer.

This is a good example of a trick that the scammers use to get us to send money to them. Because that is the only goal for them. To get as much money as possible from you. No he is not going to pay you back when he gets to the states to marry you.

Why? Because he is not real. Not real and the way you think he is.

He's real all right but he is not the image you have of him/her.

He is more than likely a 20-something year old from Nigeria or some other country that's known for scamming.

What I've learned since I was scammed, is the foreign National who is pretending to be your American soldier boyfriend uses the cards you sent him to access Wi-Fi from internet cafes, where they can run their scam from. And their communications can't be traced back to their IP address as easily. Therefore they avoid detection from law enforcement.

I would like to take this opportunity to post some more information regarding military romance scams to help answer your determine if you are speaking with a scammer or not

To reiterate, he's not a real soldier if he is constantly requesting money from you. Money in the form of gift cards that I mentioned Amazon, iTunes Verizon.... Or wire transfers like money grams. And God forbid the worst of all withdraws from the victim's bank account directly wired 2 the pretend soldier in another country where he claims to be stationed on a peacekeeping mission.

These scammers have been doing this for decades. They are extremely good at what they do. They still unprotected photos from real military personnel which are posted to their social media accounts. They also steal the soldiers pictures from friends and family members social media accounts.

Now you're scammer is armed with dozens of pictures and all the information he needs to know about the soldier from reading his social media posts.

What I'd like you to do is ask yourself how much of the conversations that you have with your soldier revolve around money. If you're honest you will see that it comes up a lot. Another sign is the soldier doesn't seem interested in sexting. What red-blooded American with a fiance or girlfriend wouldn't want a little phone sex or sexting after being in a relationship with you for months or years. After all he loves you more than anything in the world. But you'll write that off thinking he's traditional and sweet that he doesn't want that.

They are however completely obsessed with how we feel. Is he constantly asking how you're doing what kind of mood you're in. Does he show particular concern for your health and well-being. You think it's sweet but he's really making sure that you're happy and content and not questioning the fact that he is completely fake.

Some other warning signs are as follows:

If your boyfriend girlfriend/future husband/wife is asking you to do the following or has exhibited this behavior, it is a most likely a scam:

Moves to private messaging site immediately after meeting you on Facebook or SnapChat or Instagram or some dating or social media site. Often times they delete the site you met them on right after they asked you to move to a more private messaging site.

They profess their love to you very quickly & they seem to quote poems and song lyrics along with using their own sort of broken language, as they profess their love and devotion quickly to you. I have heard that their prime targets are ones that do not question this change in their written English. personally I excused mine because my scammers said he was a Russian immigrant. Actually my scammer was very Westernized and his English was almost perfect. However there are always ways to tell. If you know what you're looking for.

For example, they don't say how did you sleep. They say how was your night's rest? I have spoken to several romance scammers before blocking them that speak the exact same way.

They also showed concern for your health and love for your family.

He or she promises you marriage as soon as he/she gets to state for leave that they asked you to pay for.

They Requests money (wire transfers) and Amazon, iTune ,Verizon, etc gift cards, for medicine, religious practices, and leaves to come home, internet access, complete job assignments, help sick friend, get him out of trouble, or anything that sounds fishy.

Below is an email response I received after I sent an inquiry to the US Army, when I discovered I was scammed. I received this wonderful response back with lots of useful links on how to find and report your scammer. And how to learn more about Romance Scams.

Right now you can also copy the picture he/she gave you and do a google image search and you will hopefully see the pictures of the real person he/she is impersonating. This doesn't always work and takes some digging. if you find the real person you can direct message them and alert them that their image is being used for scamming.

Also try looking at YouTube videos about romance scammers. There are advocacy groups out there that will delete the fake account and post warnings for people. There are tons of groups on Facebook and Instagram devoted to catching and identifying military romance scammers. You might even try googling his fake name and put scammer at the end of it. With the net being so big you never know what you'll find. The other thing is they use the same people over and over. by people I mean they use the same real military personnel. They just change the name of the soldier but use the same stolen pictures of the one individual they have mastered the identity of.

Good Luck to you and I'm sorry this may be happening to you. Please continue reading the government response I received below it's very informative.

You have contacted an email that is monitored by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. Unfortunately, this is a common concern. We assure you there is never any reason to send money to anyone claiming to be a Soldier online. If you have only spoken with this person online, it is likely they are not a U.S. Soldier at all. If this is a suspected imposter social media profile, we urge you to report it to that platform as soon as possible. Please continue reading for more resources and answers to other frequently asked questions:

How to report an imposter Facebook profile: Caution-https://www.facebook.com/help/16... < Caution-https://www.facebook.com/help/16... >

Answers to frequently asked questions:

- Soldiers and their loved ones are not charged money so that the Soldier can go on leave.

- Soldiers are not charged money for secure communications or leave.

- Soldiers do not need permission to get married.

- Soldiers emails are in this format: [email protected] < Caution-mailto: [email protected] > anything ending in .us or .com is not an official email account.

- Soldiers have medical insurance, which pays for their medical costs when treated at civilian health care facilities worldwide – family and friends do not need to pay their medical expenses.

- Military aircraft are not used to transport Privately Owned Vehicles.

- Army financial offices are not used to help Soldiers buy or sell items of any kind.

- Soldiers deployed to Combat Zones do not need to solicit money from the public to feed or house themselves or their troops.

- Deployed Soldiers do not find large unclaimed sums of money and need your help to get that money out of the country.

Anyone who tells you one of the above-listed conditions/circumstances is true is likely posing as a Soldier and trying to steal money from you.

We would urge you to immediately cease all contact with this individual.

For more information on avoiding online scams and to report this crime, please see the following sites and articles:

This article may help clarify some of the tricks social media scammers try to use to take advantage of people: Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/61432/< Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/61432/>

CID advises vigilance against 'romance scams,' scammers impersonating Soldiers

Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/180749 < Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/180749 >

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: Caution-http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx< Caution-http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx>

U.S. Army investigators warn public against romance scams: Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/130...< Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/130...>

DOD warns troops, families to be cybercrime smart -Caution-http://www.army.mil/article/1450...< Caution-http://www.army.mil/article/1450...>

Use caution with social networking

Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/146...< Caution-https://www.army.mil/article/146...>

Please see our frequently asked questions section under scams and legal issues. Caution-http://www.army.mil/faq/ < Caution-http://www.army.mil/faq/ > or visit Caution-http://www.cid.army.mil/ < Caution-http://www.cid.army.mil/ >.

The challenge with most scams is determining if an individual is a legitimate member of the US Army. Based on the Privacy Act of 1974, we cannot provide this information. If concerned about a scam you may contact the Better Business Bureau (if it involves a solicitation for money), or local law enforcement. If you're involved in a Facebook or dating site scam, you are free to contact us direct; (571) 305-4056.

If you have a social security number, you can find information about Soldiers online at Caution-https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/sc... < Caution-https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/sc... > . While this is a free search, it does not help you locate a retiree, but it can tell you if the Soldier is active duty or not.

If more information is needed such as current duty station or location, you can contact the Commander Soldier's Records Data Center (SRDC) by phone or mail and they will help you locate individuals on active duty only, not retirees. There is a fee of $3.50 for businesses to use this service. The check or money order must be made out to the U.S. Treasury. It is not refundable. The address is:

Commander Soldier's Records Data Center (SRDC)

8899 East 56th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46249-5301

Phone: 1-866-771-6357

In addition, it is not possible to remove social networking site profiles without legitimate proof of identity theft or a scam. If you suspect fraud on this site, take a screenshot of any advances for money or impersonations and report the account on the social networking platform immediately.

Please submit all information you have on this incident to Caution-www.ic3.gov < Caution-http://www.ic3.gov > (FBI website, Internet Criminal Complaint Center), immediately stop contact with the scammer (you are potentially providing them more information which can be used to scam you), and learn how to protect yourself against these scams at Caution-http://www.ftc.gov < Caution-http://www.ftc.gov > (Federal Trade Commission's website)

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sweatycherryblossomnight · 4 years

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DSD player software is designed to playback Direct Stream Digital audio files (.dsf, .dff, sacd iso, DoP). Look how to play DSD files via free software (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS for iPhone, iPad), about sound quality, comparison list, F.A.Q. at this page - explanation by audio software developer Yuri Korzunov.

HD audio file conversion

Watch and share: What is DSD audio? Video explanation

Watch and share: Hi Res Audio [How it works. Sound quality. 7 Myths]

DSD player list

WARNING: This table can contain errors. It is not an offer or advertising. We are not affiliated with listed products. We guarantee nothing. If you found wrong information, contact us, please. To get exact information, contact with the software developers and/or vendors.

DSD player audio software list [See FREE audio players for hi-res]

Audio playerOperation systemLicenseSupported file typesSample rateDAC interfaceDescriptionDSD players Windows, Mac, LinuxAmarra Luxe Windows, Mac Commercial DSFAudiogate Windows, Mac DSF, DFF up to DSD128 DAC limitation for the software activationAudirvana Mac Commercial DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO DoP, DSD to PCMDaphile Run as firmware (Linux based) from flash stick memory Free DSF Music server. Stereo onlyFoobar2000(with sacd input plugin) Windows Free DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO up to DSD512ASIO, DSD to PCMFostex Audio Player Windows, Mac Free DSF, DFF up to DSD128 ASIO, DoPJRiver Windows, Mac, Linux Commercial DSF, DFF (including DST), SACD ISO ASIO, DoP, DSD over DLNA, DSD to PCM, PCM to DSDHQ Player Windows, Mac, Linux Commercial DSF, DFF (non-compressed DSDIFF) up to DSD1024 DSD to PCM, PCM to DSD, ASIO, DoPHysolid Windows Free DSF up to DSD256 ASIO, DoP WASAPI To work on music server PC with smartphone app controlLogitech Media Server Windows, Mac, Linux DoP PCM files Bit-perfect PCM output of DoP Need additional hardware and pre-conversion DSD files to PCM DoP files. How to adjust and use the software.Media Player Classic Windows Free DSF, DFFmoOde audio player To run on Raspberry Pi Free Here information about DSD settingsPine Player Mac Free DSD to PCM (up to 768 kHz)Mac App StoreResonic Player Windows Free, Commercial DSF, DFF up to DSD512Roon Windows, Mac; server on Windows, Mac, Linux Commercial Bit-perfect, DSD to PCM Server may be installed on network area storage (NAS)TEAC HR Audio Player Windows, Mac Free DSF, DFF up to DSD256 ASIO, DoPTechnics Audio Player Windows, Mac DSF, DFF up to DSD128 USB driver Read the software license agreement about using limitationsVolumio

Run as firmware from flash stick memory on PC, Raspberry Pi, other

UPNP DLNA, Airplay, DoP Music serverWtfplay Linux Free DSF up to DSD128; DSD256, DSD512 are experimental DoPDSD players Android and iOS (mobile applications)HibyMusicAndroid, iOS Free DSF, DFF (including DST), ISO up to DSD256 net driver (Dropbox / DLNA / LAN) native DSD, DoP, DSD to PCMHi-Res music player-NePLAYERiOS Commercial DSF, DFF up to DSD256 DSD to PCM, DoP Check DSD replay issues at online store pageHYSOLIDAndroid, iOS Free Music server control applicationNeutron Music PlayerAndroid, iOS Commercial UPnP / DLNA, USB DAC, DoP, DSD to PCM There is evaluation version 'Neutron Music Player (Eval)' on AndroidOnkyo HF PlayerAndroid, iOS Free, Commercial DSF, DFF up to DSD256 AOA 2.0, DoP, DSD to PCM Some limitations of free versionTEAC HR Audio PlayerAndroid, iOS DSF, DFF up to DSD256 DoP, DSD to PCM There are DSD limitations of free versionUSB Audio Player PROAndroid Commercial DoP, DSD to PCM, native DSD playback

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Download FREE DSD converters >

Check FREE DSD music downloads >

Read about DSD DACs >

Read more about mobile device connections to DSD playback here.

How to play DSD files

To play DSD files, audio player software should be configured properly. DAC may be either DSD or PCM. There is no general rule, that is the best sound quality for every case. When PCM DAC is used, the conversion of DSD to PCM format is used. DSD DAC may get an audio stream natively ('native DSD' stream via ASIO driver) of DoP (DSD over PCM).

Check out How to play DSD with foobar2000 >

Read more about:

What is the best DSD player

In audiophile application, the players are compared by the sound quality.

If the player has bit-perfect mode and used DAC support played file resolution, sound quality is the same for such players.

But, if an audio resolution is altered or EQ is used, then applied processing quality is a matter.

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In general, the best DSD player with processing should cause minimal distortions.

Also kind of distortions may be matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is DSD player? How do I listen DSD files?

DSD player is a device or software, that capable to play audiophile format Direct Stream Digital. It may be suggested as SACD optical disks or computer files.

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Is DSD better than FLAC?

It is matter of recording quality and playback tool implementation. Read about DSD and FLAC comparison..

Is DSD audio worth it?

DSD allow to simplify a playback system and solve some issues of analog filter, theoretically. But implementation of the system makes actual result. See more..

Where can I download FLAC songs for free? Where can I download high-quality music for free?

You can download high-quality (high-resolution) files from the download resources into list here..

Can VLC play DSF?

Looks like, VLC can't play DSF. Follow current state here..

Can iPhone play DSD files?

Yes. iOS player software can play DSD files. See here..

How do I play DSF files with foobar2000?

Yes, you can. Read foobar2000 DSD playback guide here..

Can Windows Media Player play DSD?

No. Windows Media Player can't play DSD. But, you can use other software..

What is DSD music file?

Hi End Player For Mac Os

DSD audio files are files, that capable to contains DSD audio content: DSF, DFF, SACD ISO and DoP FLAC, WAV, etc. Read details here..

What is DSF audio file?

Read DSF file quick guide here..

What is DFF audio file?

Hi End Player For Macbook

DFF file is one of DSD files. Its audio data content is identical to DSF by the sound quality. Read DFF file details here..

How do I open DFF file?

High End Audio Player For Mac

DFF file is supported by software..

How do I play DFF files?

DFF files are played back via auio player software..

How do I play SACD ISO file?

You can play SACD ISO at hardware and software players.

However, SACD ISO may contains stereo and multichannel album variant. And it consume additional place at hardware player.

You can extract SACD ISO to DSD or PCM files. You choice PCM vs DSD is matter of your music player and hardware ability.

Hi End Player For Macbook Air

See more:

How do I convert DSF to FLAC?

Read about conversion DSF to FLAC here..

How do I convert DSF to mp3?

Read about conversion DSF to mp3 here..

What is native DSD support?

DSD files may be played back 3 ways:

on-fly conversionDSD to PCM, and playback on PCM DAC (in PCM mode of the DAC);

offline conversion DSD to PCM with conversion software, and playback on PCM DAC (in PCM mode of the DAC);

transmit DSD audio stuff to DSD DAC to playback.

Option #3 is called 'native DSD support'. DSD may be transmitted via ASIO driver or as DoP.

September 15, 2020 updated | since May 01, 2018

Read articles about audio

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bestseoservicesglwn475-blog · 5 years

Text

24 Expert SEO Tips & Advice to Boost Your Traffic in 2019

It’s no secret that Google loves updating its SEO algorithm. In fact, over the course of a year, they may make upwards of 500 changes!

SEO means optimizing your content so it shows up more often in search results. With so many changes to navigate, it’s easy to miss something.

And when you miss something with SEO, your content might as well be invisible. 😱

But if you get it right, you can reap the benefits of increased traffic, which leads to more conversions, improves lead generation, and boosts sales.

And every business wants more traffic, leads and sales, right?

SEO ranking factors have changed a lot over the years (find out how in our keyword research guide). Search engine optimization techniques that worked even 5 years ago won’t cut it today.

That’s why we’ve pulled together some advice from experts so you can make sure you’re using the best SEO strategy for the coming year.

These are great SEO tips and tactics for building big traffic in 2019. As you’ll see, if there’s one theme that unifies them all, it’s creating a better user experience, but some of these experts take their own unique approaches.

We’ve also included a bonus section with 16 quick SEO tips that will have you going into 2019 with a bang and not looking back!

Ready for these awesome SEO tips? Let’s get started.

1. Focus on User Experience

Our first expert is Brian Dean of Backlinko.

Brian talks about the importance of user experience signals in search engine ranking. We’ve already heard from Google that RankBrain is their third most important ranking factor, and that trend is not only likely to continue but to become even more important in 2019.

If you’re not clear on what RankBrain is, you’re not alone; it sounds like something straight out of science fiction. And, it is a machine learning system that helps Google decide where pages should rank in search results. So, maybe it’s a little sci-fi.

To put it more simply, RankBrain watches how users interact with search results and rank the results based on that. If users click on a result and immediately bounce from the site, the site will start to lose ranking. But, if users click on a result and spend time on the site, the site will start to gain ranking (or stay at a higher ranking).

All based on the user experience with the site.

Brian recommends optimizing around medium tail keywords to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to search engine optimization and RankBrain. He says, “when you optimize your page around a medium tail keyword (and make that page awesome), RankBrain will automatically rank you for that term… and thousands of similar keywords.”

brian dean backlinko seo tips user experience

In addition to optimizing for medium tail keywords, RankBrain looks at:

Dwell Time: how long a visitor stays on your site (over 3 minutes is a good dwell time).

Click-Through Rate: percentage of searchers who click on your search result

2. Overhaul Your “Almost” First Page Posts

Next up, we have Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media.

Andy recommends looking for posts that almost rank high and rewriting them. You can find these posts in Google Analytics by going to Acquisition » Search Console » Queries and setting up an advanced filter to show the phrases where your average position (rank) is greater than 10 (on page 2).

google analytics average position greater than 10 query

Now give those articles an overhaul. Add details, examples, answers, statistics, images, contributor quotes, and anything else that makes it a better piece.

If you go big on quality, you’re very likely to add length and keyphrase usage naturally. Make it a page that you’re so proud of, you want to print it and frame it on the wall.

seo tips crestodina rewrite and optimize posts

Here are 3 ways to make this tactic even more effective:

Check all the rankings of the page, so you don’t hurt the relevance for an even better phrase

As you rewrite, pay attention to connected subtopics, which are visible on the search results page in the “people also ask” section and in the “related searches” at the bottom of the page.

youtube

Do this as a regular, quarterly content marketing audit.

3. Tap the Potential of Video

Video marketing can be a huge traffic source, but some marketers are still ignoring its potential, says Shilpa Shah, co-founder at Hummingbird Web Solutions.

Shilpa stresses that one of the best SEO tips is quality over quantity: just because you have a large number of indexed pages doesn’t always mean your site’s going to attract a larger volume of organic traffic.

She encourages site owners to get rid of shallow posts on blogs that have either low word count or superficial content (aka “no fluff”) and “to focus instead on meaningful content that’s truly engaging and makes each visitor want to read through the complete article.”

seo tips shilpa shah use video for user engagement

Also, video content has a lot of untapped potential which is great for SEO and makes for good user engagement. Chances are, that your user might quickly run through a 1-minute video but may not have the patience to read your 100-word article.

Online video is huge and is only going to get bigger. Cisco is projecting that online video will make up 80% of all online traffic by 2021. 🤯 And, even with all that video out there, 43% of people say that want even MORE video content!

Here’s how you keep your video content optimized:

Update the title and description on older videos to keep them searchable and relevant.

Optimize the video’s audio and video quality, as well as graphics and images.

Integrate videos into the rest of your site content.

4. Rank for Featured Snippets

A little more than 11% of search results have a featured snippet. These are the results that show up on search engine results pages typically after the ads but before the ranked results. They’re usually alongside an image, table, or a video, making them stand out even more and putting them in an even better position to steal clicks from even the highest ranked results.

Here’s what they look like:

featured snippet example

Pretty neat, right? Let’s hear from A.J. Gherich and our friends at SEMRush about how to optimize your content to get them.

A.J. Gherich, the founder of marketing agency Gherich & Co., teamed up with SEMRush to put together an enormous study of 6.9 million featured snippets made up of over 80 million keywords.

Based on their data-driven approach, A.J. recommends using a paragraph format if you’re trying to rank for question keywords like “how can I grow my email list” or “what is a featured snippet?” However, if you’re trying to rank for a preposition (“for,” “to,” “like,” etc.) a list format would be your best bet.

a.j. gherich featured snippet seo tip

Here are some ways to keep your content optimized for featured snippets:

Be clear and concise

Use headers for easy scanning

Ensure cross-device usability

Maintain social engagement

Use strong external resources

5. Create Comprehensive, Authoritative, Evergreen Content

BuzzSumo founder Steve Rayson recommends creating long-form, in-depth posts about a topic to position them as the kind of result Google is looking for: the best possible result for the searcher.

In their 2018 Content Trends Report, BuzzSumo analyzed 100 million articles published in 2017 and found out some pretty interesting things about social sharing, viral posts, and the kind of content that has staying power.

For starters, in the past 3 years, the social sharing of content has been cut in half. 🤯 This is partly due to content saturation (3 million blog posts are published every day) and partly due to a rise in private sharing (people are sharing content in private messages, not posting on walls).

Recommended Resource: Do social media shares count the same as backlinks? Google says no, but are they telling the whole story? Find out the truth in our guide to Social Media and SEO: Do Social Shares Really Matter for Ranking?

Steve did find that the sites doing well despite the decline of social shares and content saturation are sites with strong reputations built on original content. While most content gets ignored, Steve says, “authoritative research and reference content continue to gain links.”

steven rayson buzzsumo evergreen content

There are 2 great ways to show search engines that you have in-depth, authoritative, evergreen content on your site:

Stick with long-form content. Longer content (at least https://en.search.wordpress.com/?src=organic&q=search egine optimization 2,000 words) tends to outrank shorter content.

Use LSI keywords. These are keywords or phrases strongly related to your post’s topic.

6. Maximize User Engagement

Max DesMarais is an SEO & PPC Specialist for Vital, a Digital Marketing & PPC agency that specializes in PPC management services. His expert tip is to focus on user engagement.

From updating existing posts to creating new ones, pages should be built to maximize engagement.

Here are some great חברה לקידום אתרים ways you can maximize user engagement on your posts:

Be easy to read. Content utilizes whitespace, headings, short paragraphs, and relevant images to make the page easier to absorb and increasing the user’s time on the page.

Include highly relevant links and offers on the page. Offering relevant internal links that will answer a reader’s question. This often can significantly decrease bounce rates, and get users further into your site.

Use וובס חברת קידום בנשר LSI keywords, and answer additional questions that users may think of after viewing the content. Simply offering only the content that a user searches for is no longer enough. Pages need to supply additional information a user may be seeking. Providing additional information will help retain the user, and tell search engines that the page’s content is not only answering the search query but providing additional value that other pieces of content may not be.

Contain multiple ways for users to absorb the content. Include images, infographics, video, and text. This will capture readers’ attention, and keep them more engaged in the content.

Article Source:

https://optinmonster.com/strategic-seo-tips-from-the-experts/

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blackmorgan · 7 years

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(via Classic Story Structures and What They Teach Us About Novel Plotting)

We’ll start at the beginning. The gold standard definition of plot comes from fourth century BCE philosopher Aristotle, who believed plot, or what he called the sequence of events, was the most important component of a drama, even more important than the characters.

He believed that the events must be related to each other, and more than anything, that the plot must arouse emotion in the audience.

He broke plot structure into three acts, coinciding with the audience need for intermission. The first act includes the story setup, popularly referred to as the “inciting incident.” The stakes continue to rise in the second act and include a false victory, that point where you think the story is over but it turns out it’s not. The false victory is referred to as a major reversal because the trajectory of the story reverses. The climax comes in the third act, followed by the denouement, a French word meaning “to untie,” which perfectly describes the cleaning up of any loose ends that happens at the end of a narrative.

The first Star Wars movie is a great example of Aristotle’s three-act structure in action. The inciting incident occurs when Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed, which pushes him to leave the planet with Obi-Wan and sets the story in motion. The stakes rise in the second act when Luke rescues Princess Leia but loses Obi-Wan. The false victory comes when Luke, Leia, and Han escape the Death Star, but it’s not over yet. Darth Vader is gathering power and knows where the rebels are hiding. Luke destroying the Death Star with his one-in-a-billion shot is the climax, and the denouement is the awards ceremony at the end of the film.

Inciting incident. Rising stakes. False victory. Denouement.

Freytag’s Model

In the late 1800s, a German writer, Gustav Freytag, came up with a modification of Aristotle’s model. (Because those with German blood are controlling and can never leave well enough alone; at least that’s what my first live-in boyfriend told me. Coincidentally, my ancestors on my mom’s side are from Germany.) Freytag’s main changes were to allow for more setup of the main character’s motivation in the beginning and to put the climax at the dead middle, which gives as much time to the untying at the end as to the setting up at the beginning.

The film version of The Wizard of Oz is the standard example for this model of storytelling. We learn about Dorothy’s dissatisfaction at home, much as we learn of Luke’s in the beginning of Star Wars, but Dorothy has the added motivation of needing to save Toto from being euthanized, escaping an incoming tornado, and squishing the Wicked Witch of the East, all of which weight the front end of The Wizard of Oz more heavily than was Star Wars’ first act. In addition, The Wizard of Oz climax appears in the dead center when Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch. There is still the Wizard to deal with, and the Scarecrow’s brain, the Lion’s courage, and the Tin Man’s heart to acquire, as well as Dorothy to get home, which counterbalances the longer beginning. So, where Aristotle’s three-act structure is more of a steadily rising line with a sharp drop at the end, Freytag’s structure can be visualized as a triangle with no bottom.

Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

Both Aristotle and Freytag’s methods of organizing plot have remained the standard bearers, with few alterations, until the 1960s when mythologist Joseph Campbell began to gain an audience for his theories of the hero’s journey. According to Campbell, stories are not only the binding agents of culture but also what binds our souls to our bodies.

In other words, humans need stories to survive.

Campbell went on to say—pulling in an impressive library of examples—that every myth, whether scratched on a cave wall or uttered by a holy priest or typed by a college freshman, comes down to one basic structure, or plot: the transformation of consciousness via trials. He broke this transformation into three steps, or acts: departure, fulfillment, and return.

Every single story, from the prehistoric to the biblical to the modern.

Departure. Fulfillment. Return.

I do love the elegance of Campbell’s model, as well as the universality. So did and do many. You’ll recognize this departure-fulfillment-return structure in many movies, including The Matrix, O Brother Where Art Thou, The NeverEnding Story, and Lion King. I also appreciate Aristotle’s point about plot needing to affect the reader and scenes needing to be causal rather than episodic, and damn if most compelling narratives can’t be broken down into a three-act structure. And Freytag is right on the money when he points out that we need to feel an emotional connection at the beginning of the story.

But on the whole? Don’t feel married to anything you just learned about the academic models of story structure. The only reason I even mention them is that they might come up in a conversation, and I want you to sound smart. Some other words that are good for that are “schadenfreude,” “epitome,” “pulchritude” (it doesn’t mean what you think), and “recalcitrance.”

But actually trying to follow one of the academic models of narrative structure feels like donning a crown and elbow gloves to dig a ditch. Real writing, in my experience, is blue collar work, and that’s all there is to it. You have to dive into the heart of yourself and subsequently your characters, uncover what they want more than anything, throw obstacles—like life has done to you—into their paths, and follow them as they overcome them (or not) and get closer (and sometimes farther) from their goals. Every event has to lead directly to another event—it’s a cause-and-effect daisy chain.

It’s not just me who believes that the key to good plotting is to figure out what your character wants and follow them. Scratch a writer, and you’ll find out that very few of them use one of the classic structures when they craft. Writing professor Matthew Jockers conducted an interesting study that stylishly illustrates this point. Jockers designed a computer program that charts the emotional silhouette, or plot, of any book.

Jockers used best-selling novels for his study, including The Secret Life of Bees, The Lovely Bones, Gone Girl, All the Light We Cannot See, The Da Vinci Code, and The Notebook. When he programmed the narrative arc for each of these novels into his computer program, it spit out lovely data that resembles the spiky, random readouts you see in a heartbeat monitor. In other words, the plots of these best-selling novels have nothing in common—no clean three-act structure, no triangle without a bottom. Most novels do not follow the classic models. They adhere to their own internal pulse.

Turns out there is only one universal rule of plot, and it goes back to what Joseph Campbell uncovered: every single story worth telling is about transformation via trials. There is no pattern to that because each character’s evolution is as unique and as individual as your transformation or mine.

So, the good news—and the bad news—is that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for plot. The only certainty is that your character must somehow depart from their regular life to seek out what they want more than anything (love, justice, understanding, etc.), undergo transformative trials, and return to a different life than they lived before.

This is beautiful, right? Crafting plot is where the real transformation of self begins, and where the blood-and-guts of writing gets a test drive. You already have an idea of your genre, your novel idea, and your protagonist and antagonist. The next step is to decide what your protagonist wants more than anything, to throw obstacles into their path, and to follow them through their transformation. And you’re going to make sure that what your protagonist wants is also what you want so that you can put the authenticity and energy into it that best-selling fiction requires.

There Isn’t a Formula, But There Are Some Rules

Also, when you’re choosing a goal for your protagonist and subsequently structuring your story, it might be helpful to know while there isn’t a formula for plot, there are some hard-and-fast rules.

Begin your story as close to the end as possible, to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut. Dive right into the heart of it and start unpacking. The same is true of scenes, which are the building blocks of plot. Start a scene as close to the end as possible, and end it as early as you can.

The opening of the book must establish an emotional connection with the protagonist. The poignancy doesn’t need to happen on page one, and the character doesn’t need to (and shouldn’t) be a saint, but readers need to feel something for them. In screenwriting, this is called saving the cat. The protagonist can yell at old ladies, steal from a blind man’s cup, and cheat at cards, as long as they go out of their way to save one creature from discomfort. Start watching for it in movies. You’ll find that in the first ten minutes, the lead character will enact some version of saving a cat.

The novel’s opening (somewhere in the first five chapters) must establish what your protagonist wants more than anything.

The rest of the novel should consist of a series of trials and conflicts, keeping the protagonist from reaching their goal, snatching away victories. These trials cannot be episodic. In other words, they can’t be of equal value, one after the other—first, your protagonist encounters a lion, then a bear, then a flood. The trials must instead be somehow connected, one inextricably leading to another, with ever-increasing stakes. First, your protagonist encounters a lion, then hides in a cave to escape and discovers a bear, but can’t leave through the rear of the cave because there is a flood and can’t dash out the cave’s mouth because there’s a hungry lioness crouching nearby, so they are forced to escape through a hole in the cave’s roof, where they discover a world they never knew existed. Every action must have a consequence, must be necessary. You’re weaving a chain, and if some action isn’t a result of something that happened before it and doesn’t affect what comes after it, it doesn’t belong.

The character needs to reach a point where all seems lost.

The character needs to end the story with a different consciousness than they began it, and most of the loose ends must be tied up.

That’s it. The rest of the narrative is your canvas to explore.

#writers #writing #stories #structure #reference

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cryptoandfire · 4 years

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How to earn Crypto by lending your coins?

Earn Crypto and enjoy freedom from State money! I know you will be thinking like, hey, we have Fiat currencies (like USD, EUR, JPY, CNY etc) that works fine in the economy and there is no need for a cryptocurrency. Let me tell you that these are centrally managed by Private banks like Fed that has a monopoly over money issuance. They just print money excessively, increase inflation, reduce purchasing power and never pay back debt. Go check the outstanding US National Debt here. As of writing this article, it stands at around $26.5T with no plans, whatsoever, how to repay them. Anything that is centralized doesn’t provide you freedom.

Go for the sound money decentralized Cryptocurrencies. Decentralize and unbank yourself.

How to Earn Crypto?

You can earn Crypto through various methods

Simple tasks to collect Crypto from a faucet

Joining Airdrops

Mining Proof of work coins

Staking Proof of stake coins

Exchange your services for Crypto

Use Brave Browser and collect BAT for free

Use Coinbase Earn

Official inflation rate in the United States has hovered around 2% over the last few years. For people with savings in USA, there aren’t many opportunities to earn interest above the official inflation rate. At the time of writing this article, the Fed funds rate is 0% – 0.25% which means you will get a pittance from banks as interest for your money.

Traditional financial platforms are there to earn money for themselves. When they don’t give you any interest on your checking or savings account, they still loan out money at a higher rate to other customers. More atrocious is they charge you around 18%-22% on your credit card debt.

Non-traditional financial platforms like BlockFi , Celsius Network etc may be the salvation against inflation. Before we jump into more information about them, let’s dive into first understanding the simple math concept of interest.

Simple Interest Vs Compound Interest?

Just to give a quick recap of your 5th grade math for folks who forgot what simple interest and compound interest is.

Interest is defined as the cost of borrowing money as in the case of interest charged on a loan balance. Conversely, interest can also be the rate paid for money on deposit as in the case of a certificate of deposit.

Interest can be calculated in two ways, simple interest or compound interest.

Simple interest is calculated on the principal, or original, amount of a loan. Your interest amount never changes over time unless the interest rate changes.

Compound interest is calculated on the principal amount and also on the accumulated interest of previous periods. It is dubbed “interest on interest” to understand easily.

To easily understand this in two charts in different perspectives, I considered $100K as the initial investment which gains simple and compound interest at the same rate of interest (6%) for 30 years. Your end of 30 year amount with simple interest is just $280K where as compound interest worked wonders with time and amassed you $574K. Understand the power of compound interest and how it doubled your money.

How to Earn Crypto with Compound Interest

For some Cryptocurrency investors, keeping their digital assets on a cold storage hardware wallet is their long-term strategy. HODL to the moon.

But, this doesn’t help create more wealth for you beyond the value of your investments increasing. If you are ready to take some risk and use the magic of compound interest to earn crypto, then there are various options that can help you achieve your goal.

1. BlockFi

BlockFi works exactly like the traditional finance world. You deposit your USD and get interest on deposits. It’s the same in BlockFi except you invest crypto and earn interest in crypto.

For example, using a similar example to the one above, let’s say you deposit 1 Bitcoin on June 30, 2020, earning 6% compound interest annually. On August 1 your new balance 1.005 BTC. And just like that, after 31 days, you earned 0.005 in Bitcoin interest. Now your principal is 1.005BTC and the next month earns interest on your previous interest as well.

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Einstein actually said that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Just kidding, that’s just attributed to him and no one knows if he ever said that. What matters is that the quote is absolutely true and have become the universal truth in Financial world.

The BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) is the best way to start earning interest on crypto. It takes a couple minutes to sign up and create an account. Once you get started and finish the extremely easy KYC process, you are ready to amass Compound interest in your account. Earn interest daily and get paid out on the first business day of every month.

BlockFi launched with its market-leading crypto-to-USD loans and continue expanding into financial services that focus on helping people grow their net work and manage their digital assets. BlockFi has a clean and easy to understand user interface.

Deposit menu helps deposit any cryptocurrency. Make sure to check the address and the type of Cryptocurrency you’re sending. There is no customer service in blockchain if you send it to a wrong address.

Withdraw menu helps to withdraw any supported cryptocurrency. Look up for the current withdrawal rates befoire you transfer and don’t get surprised later. I personally feel BTC transfer fee is too high at 0.0025BTC. It could be because most of earn interest in BTC and to discourage the withdrawal, fee for BTC alone is too high.

Trade menu executes market orders on your behalf. If you’re looking for limit order functionality, it is currently not available but should be available in this quarter (Q3 2020), according to BlockFi Cofounder Zac Prince.

New Loan menu helps to take out a Crypto loan. Remember to repay the interest and add collateral on time, otherwise your position will be liquidated.

Dashboard

Dashboard section clearly explains how much dollar value of Crypto you have in your account, Total interest paid to you since you opened BIA account, Accrued interest for that month MTD.

If you scroll a little bit down, that’s where you will see all coins. Currently, BlockFi supports 6 coins.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Ether (ETH)

Gemini Dollar (GUSD)

Litecoin (LTC)

Paxos Coin (PAX)

USDC

You can click on them to navigate and see how much you earned in each Crypto historically and the current month’s accrual. You can also perform the same actions like Deposit, Withdraw and Trade from Dashboard section that you could from Menu.

Account

Profile – You can see whatever information you entered when you signed up. To make changes to your profile information, you need to email [email protected]

Security – You can change your password. But the two most important features are here. Enable two factor authentication (2FA) as soon as you sign up and enable Whitelisting of addresses. You will be able to send Crypto to only those approved addresses.

Wallet Addresses – Once you enable Whitelisting, this is where you go and add all your Crypto addresses to approve for withdrawal. Be careful and enter only your cold storage hardware wallet address and not exchange wallet addresses.

Interest – This is where you choose whether you BlockFi pays you in the same currency or choose all interest to go to one coin. They charge a hidden fees which is difficult to find on their website. So just leave it on default settings and not touch it.

Reports – This section holds past reports containing detailed information about coins and interest deposited. This was earlier sent in the email itself which is less secure.

Wire Details – It gives you the 8 digit PIN number if you want to wire money into the account. BlockFi, by default, converts the USD into GUSD. But you are free to move them between USDC or PAX with 1:1 peg later.

BlockFi Data Breach

BlockFi was breached on May 14, 2020 and hackers stole sensitive user data. Privacy experts fume that the use of Bitcoin mixing services could have prevented the data breach.

Hackers had compromised accounts belonging to BlockFi by using SIM swap, a common tactic hackers use to essentially steal the identities of cell phone users by fooling cell providers.

The company said in an incident report sent to users that sensitive information from accounts, such as names, email addresses, dates of birth, physical addresses, and activity histories were revealed to the hackers.

According to BlockFi, however, the hackers were not able to access other personally identifiable data, including social security numbers, tax identification numbers, passports, licenses, passwords, bank account information, account preferences, and photo IDs.

This is exactly why I stress on having your 2FA on and whitelisting address enabled. You can never trust anyone so much in the Centralized Finance world.

Lending Model

In short, BlockFi enables investors to use their cryptocurrencies as collateral towards a cryptocurrency-backed loan. The interest rate on the loans ranges a wide margin and may include an origin fee.

To sustain interest payments to depositors and investors, the platform’s average rate of return must remain above 8.6% for Stablecoins. Given that the platform is yielding 8.6%, it is likely that most borrowers are selecting loans with a high LTV (Loan To Value) ratio.

Higher LTV ratio loans will require less bitcoin to lock up as collateral. And as a result the interest rate is higher. BlockFi can easily pay depositors 8.6% and sell bitcoin to make them whole in the event of a default.

Interest rate changes based on the demand and supply in Market. BlockFi doesn’t change it as often as Celsius Network and provides some consistency. For example, BlockFi adjusted the rate for lending Ethereum in May 2019.

Assuming the platform diligently adheres to their margin call policy, the depositors have zero risk from potential defaults. However, users are trusting that BlockFi is taking appropriate measures to secure investor funds and will not act against the interest of users. In CeFi, trust and centralization forms the core. You need to trust that BlockFi is doing the right thing to help its customers to earn Crypto.

My Take on BlockFi

I personally have invested with BlockFi to earn crypto interest for more than 8 months now. Majority of my CeFi lending portfolio is with BlockFi. Granted, I shifted some funds to Celsius Network to diversify my holdings, after the hack.

Nevertheless, BlockFi pays amazing interest rates and has paid on time every single time till now. Beware of Margin calls on BlockFi if you’re taking a loan.

The post How to earn Crypto by lending your coins? appeared first on Crypto and FIRE.

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yashuazbabygirl · 4 years

Text

Ok friends, I’m about to lay some hardcore truth on you right now, and many of you are not going to like it. Some of you are going to get immediately defensive. But before you comment from an emotional place, I encourage you to stop, re-read this post, do a little bit of research about casual racism and white privilege and then come back and re-read the post again. After that, if you still want to comment, please feel free.

Ok, here we go....

Many of you are the problem. Yes, you read that right. Many of you are the reason why these riots are happening. Many of you are the reason why it’s come to this. This is especially true if you’ve ever (but especially in the last week) said any of the following;

1. “It’s awful but...” - No. No buts. In the English language, the word “But” is often used to deflect or to justify behavior. Police murdering black people in the street is awful. Period. End of discussion.

4. “There are good cops...” - There are two categories of cops; bad cops and complacent cops. There are many levels of Bad cops. The most obvious one is those officers that are murdering black people in the street. Bad cops are also sharing the hashtags “blue lives matter.” Bad cops are trying to shift the focus. Bad cops don’t stop their colleagues when they murder black people in the streets. Complacent cops just show up, follow orders and try not to take sides. Complacent cops are bad cops. Until they turn in their badge and gun, they are supporting state sanctioned white supremacy and terrorism against minorities. ACAB.

8. “I don’t see color...” — Congratulations, you’re lying to yourself. Of course, you see color. And that’s good! Black people want you to see their color. Their colors are beautiful and the very foundation of who they are. If you don’t see their color, then you also don’t see their culture. If you don’t see color, then you erase their very identity. If you don’t see their color, then you also can’t see the pattern of violence they’re confronted with every day. If you don’t see color, then you’re blind to more than just racial injustice. You’re blind to the world.

12. “I support black people, but I can’t support the violence...” — In other words, you would prefer people of color continue to be murdered by police, rather than have them rise up violently against their oppressors. Got it. That’s not support.

13. “It’s not about race. We are all human beings...” yes, except people of color often aren’t treated like human beings. For instance, they’re being murdered in the streets like animals. On video. While people watch. While people do nothing.

14. “The looting and arson distract from their message. It’s their fault for not controlling it...” If you’d like to lay blame, how about we start by blaming the police who frequently murder unarmed people of color. If they didn’t frequently murder unarmed people of color, the protest wouldn’t be necessary. The protest wouldn’t have turned into a riot, the riot wouldn’t have turned violent, and looting wouldn’t have happened. Blaming the oppressed for not better “controlling” their social unrest is asinine.

17. “Well, the same stats you mentioned shows that even though they’re only 12% of the population, they commit 54% of the crime.” - Good Catch! You’re right. But those numbers don’t actually reflect the amount of crime committed. That’s why I said to assume they’re correct. Those numbers only reveal how many people are incarcerated. The reality is, while those numbers are all we have to go on, they don’t tell the complete story either. In the United States specifically, socioeconomic racism, which was designed to keep POC in poverty through district red-lining, lower quality of education and other systemic obstacles, is a huge component. Thanks to redlining (look it up) and other zoning and banking practices, the quality of education in “black” neighborhoods are significantly lower, which means the average income for POC in those neighbours is lower and the unemployment much higher. Also, thanks to redlining, the unemployment rate, and lower-income rates, crime in those neighborhoods tends to be higher. That means those neighborhoods are patrolled by police more often. Thanks to racial bias, POC are followed, stopped, harassed and arrested more frequently than the white people who live in those same neighborhoods. What all of this means is that, when POC are arrested more frequently, they often can’t afford fancy lawyers to help them. They usually end up with Public Defenders, who are often overworked, and they often encourage POC to plead guilty in exchange for less time. Then there’s the fact that, because white people make up 73% of the population, they also tend to make up a bigger percentage of Jurors. There’s lots of factors to consider. So don’t assume that just because they make up 54% of the people in jail, that they make up 54% of the crime. The entire system is broken. That’s part of the problem.

18. “You’re promoting violence and destruction, shame on you...”. - I don’t remember encouraging anyone to riot. I also don’t remember encouraging anyone to loot or commit arson. The truth is, looting and arson is certainly not my preferred form of protest. But it’s important to remember that protesters haven’t committed most of the violent behavior. Civil unrest tends to cause chaos and confusion. That chaos provides the perfect opportunity for poor-intentioned people to do poor-intentioned things. That doesn’t mean the civil unrest should stop. I don’t condone the violence. I just don’t think it should dominate the conversation. If you want to focus on the violence, try focusing on those officers who’ve killed POC in the street. You’re focusing on the wrong violence.

If any of you are guilty of saying any of the above, then I have unsettling news for you. YOU are the reason it’s come to this.

YOU are the reason peaceful protests haven’t worked.

They haven’t worked because YOU haven’t been listening.

YOU haven’t been learning.

These violent riots are happening because YOU have left people of colour, no other choice.

These riots are happening because no matter how people of colour have said it, taking a knee, marching the streets, bumper stickers, Banners, signs, or chants, YOU still don’t get it.

That doesn’t mean you’re bad people.

That doesn’t mean you’re racist. It only means you’re white. And that’s not a crime, any more than being black is.

The difference is, police aren’t going to shoot you in the street for it.

#blacklivesmatter #all lives cannot matter until black lives matter #your silence is violence #facts over feelings

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sparkly-ethereal-mist · 4 years

Text

Ok, here we go....

*Additions based on comments to this post;

18. “You’re promoting violence and destruction, shame on you...”. - I don’t remember encouraging anyone to riot. I also don’t remember encouraging anyone to loot or commit arson. The truth is, looting and arson is certainly not my preferred form of protest. But it’s important to remember that protesters haven’t committed most of the violent behaviour. Civil unrest tends to cause chaos and confusion. That chaos provides the perfect opportunity for poor-intentioned people to do poor-intentioned things. That doesn’t mean the civil unrest should stop. I don’t condone the violence. I just don’t think it should dominate the conversation. If you want to focus on the violence, try focusing on those officers who’ve killed POC in the street. You’re focusing on the wrong violence.

If any of you are guilty of saying any of the above, then I have unsettling news for you. YOU are the reason it’s come to this. YOU are the reason peaceful protests haven’t worked. They haven’t worked because YOU haven’t been listening. YOU haven’t been learning. These violent riots are happening because YOU have left people of colour, no other choice.

These riots are happening because no matter how people of colour have said it, taking a knee, marching the streets, bumper stickers, Banners, signs, or chants, YOU still don’t get it.

That doesn’t mean you’re bad people. That doesn’t mean you’re racist. It only means you’re white. And that’s not a crime, any more than being black is. The difference is, police aren’t going to shoot you in the street for it.

Copied and pasted. Feel free to do the same.

I AM GOING TO POST THIS EVERY DAY UNTIL REAL CHANGE HAPPENS!!! STRAP IN EVERYONE, IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG RIDE!

Day:3

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christianitywithouttheinsanity · 4 years

Text

Ok friends, I’m about to lay some hardcore truth on you right now, and many of you are not going to like it. Here is another one of my "political" posts that isn't really political because this isn't a political issue, this is a human issue. I copied this from a friend, feel free to copy and share it as well. Some of you are going to get immediately defensive. But before you comment from an emotional place, I encourage you to stop, re-read this post, do a little bit of research about casual racism and white privilege and then come back and re-read the post again. After that, if you still want to comment, please feel free. Ok, here we go... Many of you are the problem. Yes, you read that right. Many of you are the reason why these riots are happening. Many of you are the reason why it’s come to this. This is especially true if you’ve ever (but especially in the last week) said any of the following; 1. “It’s awful but...” - No. No buts. In the English language, the word “But” is often used to deflect or to justify behavior. Police murdering black people in the street is awful. Period. End of discussion. 2. “I support the movement but not these disruptive protests...” - No, you don’t. Right now, the movement is taking the form of disruptive protests. They’re the same thing. You either want police to stop murdering black people in the street, or you don’t. If you do, then support the protests — even if you find them disruptive and frustrating — because that’s black people fighting for their lives. 3. “All lives/White lives matter too..” - no one said they didn’t. The conversation is specifically about black lives right now because police are murdering them in the street. Until police stop doing that, and White people stop dismissing it, it’s not “All lives matter,” it’s “MOST lives matter.” It’s not “ALL Lives” until Black Lives Matter too. Stay focussed. 4. “There are good cops...” - No one said there weren’t. There are three categories of cops; Good cops, bad cops, and complacent cops. Good cops are marching with the protesters. They’re sharing the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. They’re trying to change the system from within the system. There are many levels of Bad cops. The most obvious one is those officers that are murdering black people in the street. Bad cops are also sharing the hashtags “blue lives matter.” Bad cops are trying to shift the focus. Bad cops don’t stop their colleagues when they murder black people in the streets. Complacent cops just show up, follow orders and try not to take sides. Complacent cops are bad cops. 5. “I don’t support the looting and destruction...” - no one says you have to, but please stop acting like looting nullifies the entire protest. And definitely stop acting like looting is “just as bad.” That’s like comparing someone stealing your car to someone murdering your child. They’re not equally bad. Stop pretending they are. Police murdering black people in the street is definitely worse than robbing a Target. 6. “Just because I’m white doesn’t mean my life has been easy...” Of course not. Everyone struggles. But being white has never been one of those struggles. Being poor has been a struggle. Being a woman has been a struggle. Being gay has been a struggle. But being white has never been a struggle. The same can’t be said for people of color. I could go on and on about white privilege, but it would be so much easier if you educated yourself instead. This isn’t about how you, a white, cisgender, straight man has suffered in your life. This is about police murdering black people in the street. Stop trying to make it about you. 7. “I really wish they would protest peacefully...” - of course, you do. They’re easier to ignore that way. People of color have been peacefully protesting for hundreds of years. It hasn’t been all that successful. The reason riots and violent demonstrations work is because it makes people — especially white people — uncomfortable. We can’t ignore them when they’re waving torches in our faces. It scares us. It puts us on edge, which is precisely where we need to be. People only pay attention to the extreme. If you have trouble recalling a single one of the hundreds of peaceful protests that BLM held across North America last year, but you can still recall, with crystal clarity, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, then you’ve just proved my point. 8. “I don’t see color...” — Congratulations, you’re lying to yourself. Of course, you see color. And that’s good! Black people want you to see their color. Their colors are beautiful and the very foundation of who they are. If you don’t see their color, then you also don’t see their culture. If you don’t see color, then you erase their very identity. If you don’t see their color, then you also can’t see the pattern of violence they’re confronted with every day. If you don’t see color, then you’re blind to more than just racial injustice. You’re blind to the world. 9. “They shouldn’t have committed a crime...” - This one is a big one for me. Consider me triggered. A boy who steals a can of pop from a 711 does not deserve to be shot in the back three times. A man illegally selling CD’s on a street corner doesn’t deserve to be shot to death in front of a record store. A man who runs a red light does not deserve to be shot while reaching for his registration. This isn’t about their crimes; this is about bad policing. Stay on topic. 10. “Black people kill white people too...” yes, murderers exist in every race and walk of life. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking police brutality, and the reality is, black officers are not murdering unarmed white men in the street. That seems to be almost exclusively white officer behavior. Stop gaslighting. 11. “Black people kill other black people...” - Yes, they do, just like white people kill other white people and Latinos kill other Latinos, etc. Crime related violence does not adhere to any imaginary racial boundaries or allegiances. But, we’re not talking about criminal violence right now. We’re not discussing drug violence or gang violence or sexual violence or domestic violence or bar brawls or whatever random type of violence you’d like to bring up. The conversation is specifically about POLICE BRUTALITY. Say it with me. Police. Brutality. Any other form of violence you bring up is entirely irrelevant. Please stay on topic. 12. “I support black people, but I can’t support the violence...” — In other words, you would prefer people of color continue to be murdered by police, rather than have them rise up violently against their oppressors. Got it. That is not support. 13. “It’s not about race. We are all human beings...” yes, except people of color often aren’t treated like human beings. For instance, they’re being murdered in the streets like animals. On video. While people watch. While people do nothing. 14. “The looting and arson distract from their message. It’s their fault for not controlling it...” If you’d like to lay blame, how about we start by blaming the police who frequently murder unarmed people of color. If they didn’t frequently murder unarmed people of color, the protest wouldn’t be necessary. The protest wouldn’t have turned into a riot, the riot wouldn’t have turned violent, and looting wouldn’t have happened. Blaming the oppressed for not better “controlling” their social unrest is asinine. 15. “More white people are killed by cops than black people. Here are the statistics...” - I love it when people do research! Thank you for that! But those stats that you’re proudly flashing around aren’t an accurate reflection of the issue. According to data, there are approx. 234,370,202 white people In the United States. Comparatively, that same data states that there are 40,610,815 “Black” Americans. So, when your stats show 1,398 white people have been killed by officers since 2017 and only 543 Black people, what those statistics really show is .0005% of white people were killed by police in those 3.5 years, while .0011% of black people were killed by police. That means black people were killed at a higher rate. 220% higher, to be exact. Math has no racial bias. Those aren’t great stats. Stop using them to defend your position. 16. “Black people commit more crime...” - Do they really, though? According to data released in 2017, there were 475,900 black prisoners in state and federal prisons and 436,500 white prisoners. That’s a difference of about 9%. So for argument's sake, let’s say those numbers are an accurate reflection of the amount of crime committed. If people of color commit only 9% more crime, why are they killed by police at a rate of 220% higher? 17. “Well, the same stats you mentioned shows that even though they’re only 12% of the population, they commit 54% of the crime.” - Good Catch! You’re right. But those numbers don’t actually reflect the amount of crime committed. That’s why I said to assume they’re correct. Those numbers only reveal how many people are incarcerated. The reality is, while those numbers are all we have to go on, they don’t tell the complete story either. In the United States specifically, socioeconomic racism, which was designed to keep POC in poverty through district red-lining, lower quality of education, and other systemic obstacles, is a huge component. Thanks to redlining (look it up) and other zoning and banking practices, the quality of education in “black” neighborhoods are significantly lower, which means the average income for POC in those neighbors is lower and the unemployment much higher. Also, thanks to redlining, the unemployment rate, and lower-income rates, crime in those neighborhoods tends to be higher. That means those neighborhoods are patrolled by police more often. Thanks to racial bias, POC are followed, stopped, harassed, and arrested more frequently than the white people who live in those same neighborhoods. What all of this means is that, when POC are arrested more frequently, they often can’t afford fancy lawyers to help them. They usually end up with Public Defenders, who are often overworked, and they often encourage POC to plead guilty in exchange for less time. Then there’s the fact that, because white people make up 73% of the population, they also tend to make up a bigger percentage of Jurors. There are lots of factors to consider. So don’t assume that just because they make up 54% of the people in jail, that they make up 54% of the crime. The entire system is broken. That’s part of the problem. 18. “You’re promoting violence and destruction, shame on you...”. - I don’t remember encouraging anyone to riot. I also don’t remember encouraging anyone to loot or commit arson. The truth is, looting and arson is certainly not my preferred form of protest. But it’s important to remember that protesters haven’t committed most of the violent behavior. Civil unrest tends to cause chaos and confusion. That chaos provides the perfect opportunity for poor-intentioned people to do poor-intentioned things. That doesn’t mean the civil unrest should stop. I don’t condone the violence. I just don’t think it should dominate the conversation. If you want to focus on the violence, try focusing on those officers who’ve killed POC in the street. You’re focusing on the wrong violence. ------------------------- If any of you are guilty of saying any of the above, then I have unsettling news for you. YOU are the reason it’s come to this. YOU are the reason peaceful protests haven’t worked. They haven’t worked because YOU haven’t been listening. YOU haven’t been learning. These violent riots are happening because YOU have left people of color, no other choice. These riots are happening because no matter how people of color have said it, taking a knee, marching the streets, bumper stickers, Banners, signs, or chants, YOU still don’t get it. That doesn’t mean you’re bad people. That doesn’t mean you’re racist. It only means you’re white. And that’s not a crime, any more than being black is. The difference is, police aren’t going to shoot you in the street for it. Copied and pasted. Feel free to do the same.

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#Church #Christian #Christian Liberal

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douglassmiith · 4 years

Text

Inside the judging chamber: 17 tips for crafting impressive awards submissions

Since inception in 2015, the Search Engine Land Awards have maintained some of the highest submission requirements and strictest standards among digital marketing agency awards programs.

The application process requires submitting details around campaign budget, metrics, strategy and tactics, tools and resources used by entrants, in addition to laying out a compelling case study within the submission limitations.

As a result, assembling all of the required materials and supporting data is a team effort and time investment, though one past winners and finalists have concurred is well worth the effort.

About our panel of expert judges

While it’s common across many marketing agency awards programs to have a judging panel of peers (often, competing agency employees or consultants) for campaign focused categories, we have taken a different approach given the sensitive nature of the data required in our program.

Our panel of judges are comprised primarily of the Search Engine Land editorial staff (employees and contractors of our parent company), who are responsible for the primary task of reviewing and scoring all of the campaign focused categories, in conjunction with representatives from Google and Bing.

All judges are required to adhere to strict confidentiality standards in order to maintain privacy of sensitive data, recuse themselves from judging any submissions with a conflict of interest or bias.

17 tips to create an award-worthy submission

What impresses the judges most:

What impresses me is when people have clearly aligned the tools and features they’re using to the goals they want to achieve. It sounds simple, but the entries that are goal-oriented rather than focused on tactics are always strongest. – Ginny Marvin

When entries have a new take on a situation or feature and talk about into how their strategy is different from the norm, and demonstrate why is their strategy or tactics are award-worthy. – Brad Geddes

When submissions are succinct but concrete in their campaign summaries, show examples (i.e., ad creative where relevant) and use straight-forward English rather than marketing agency speak. – Greg Sterling

When applicants are able to go beyond percentages of increases and show tangible results of how the campaign directly impacted the bottom line of the business. Also, it helps to put results into perspective — so instead of simply saying: “Before the campaign, the client was only bringing in this # of leads, clicks, etc — but the campaign raised that number to XXX” offer an example of how the campaign impacted the business overall and not just the analytics. – Amy Gesenhues

When entrants share a lot of technical data around their case studies. – Barry Schwartz

When entries prove their point with stats, graphs, and especially screenshots of GA/PPC Engine/ other paid search tech providers. Too many just say, “we increased business [some huge number]” with no way to back it up. – Brad Geddes

It really impresses me when entrants show how they retooled, revitalized [a campaign] or did something extraordinary to achieve extraordinary results. Or, how they outfoxed a competitor in a clever way – anything that shows how extraordinary results came from really extraordinary work. – Matt Van Wagner

What judges want to see more of:

I love to see orchestration — when teams use tools, tactics and features in interesting ways to solve problems and execute on a strategy. – Ginny Marvin

Images from the campaign and data illustrating concrete outcomes. Calling out what was innovative or especially significant or effective about the campaign. – Greg Sterling

Stories around how the campaign was unique from other campaigns the agency and/or client had implemented in the past and the tools used to implement the campaign. Also, did you learn anything from the campaign that you’ve been able to introduce to other campaigns/clients. Were there any unexpected benefits that played out during the course of the campaign? – Amy Gesenhues

I’d love to see more data from our entrants that pinpoint successes or failures in their case studies. – Barry Schwartz

Entries that show the challenges they had to overcome that are outside of the norm (the scrappy startup against goliath, goliath showing it can innovate still against the scrappy startups stealing market share, etc), which might be market conditions, a business change, etc. – Brad Geddes

What entrants need to stop doing:

It’s great to test new betas, but having access to betas doesn’t make you a great marketer. Be sure your entry doesn’t lean on implementing the newest beta features as evidence of running a successful campaign. That’s not enough. – Ginny Marvin

Padding their discussions, using marketing agency jargon or bloated writing. I’d also like to see less self-congratulation. – Greg Sterling

Using language like world-class, best-in-class, etc. to define your campaign. Talk specific numbers and results. Using flowery language to build-up the campaign takes away from actual/quantifiable results. (In other words, let the numbers speak for themselves.) – Amy Gesenhues

Not differentiating on strategy or tactics. While it’s important that we see ‘best or standard practices’ are in place in an account, we are also looking for a detailed explanation of strategy that truly differentiates the work from others… For example, an account testing new ad extensions / formats or a landing page that breaks convention but delivers impressive conversion data. – Brad Geddes

Claiming increases of 200% when you really mean 100%. A 100% increase means you doubled your number. Going from $100 to $137 is not a 137% increase. It is a 37% increase. I’d like it that when you say ROAS, you show the formula you used to calculate it. A 1000% increase is almost always ignored as a metric. It is the opposite of impressive – it is suspicious. It is most likely you were doing very little before and now you are doing a little more than nothing. – Matt Van Wagner

How Search Engine Land Awards applications are scored

In order to provide complete transparency into our judging process, we wanted to share greater detail around how our awards categories are judged and scored.

All submissions are individually reviewed and scored within our secure online platform by the judges, with the first round of scoring producing a shortlist of the top-rated submissions.

Each required element of the application is rated on a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being exceptional, with incremental points (.25, .50, .75) allowed. Our scoring process is weighted objectively to avoid bias and places an emphasis on verifiable results, innovation and best practices.

Most of the campaign and in-house team focused categories in our awards program are weighed heavily on measurable results, innovation and creativity and expertly implementing a smart strategy utilizing best practices. Other factors that account for a small portion of the final score include points and deductions for degrees of technical difficulty, expertise demonstrated, and effective use of budget and resources.

The individual awards categories place an emphasis on thought leadership and overall industry contributions as part of the innovation and creativity score.

Once all entries have been submitted and judged, the top five highest-scoring applications will be “shortlisted”, and all applicants will be notified. A second round of review takes place for the top five scores in each category, and additional review is required for final scores within .5 points of other submissions within the category. Ties, albeit incredibly rare, are subject to an additional round of scoring on results and innovation.

The Early Bird entry deadline for the 2020 Search Engine Land Awards is July 24, 2020 at 11:59 pm PST. The FINAL entry deadline to submit is July 31, 2020, at 11:59 pm PST. Review the categories for 2020 and begin your application here.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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