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lovecolibri · 3 years

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SaL anon here friend thinking I'll join in on the speculations about the latest episode. So I read the post you rebloged about Buck mirroring the feelings of those around him as a way to avoid his own/feel accepted around them, and thought about how this episode was originally supposed to air 5x08 an episode where an actual mirror led to so much confusion and angst for Eddie and it was only when he realized it was a reflection that the kids were saved, and how Buck was upset he hadn't realized.

Hi bestie! You're posting theory once again proves true, for the most part, though in my defense, I'm also at the whim of the gif makers and while this episode was delightful in every other aspect but the b*ckt*ylor one, the last 10-15 minutes really drug the whole episode down (but also provided some...inch resting insights) leading to the wall of text posts I'm sure you saw (with a healthy mix of petty memes because of course). Anyway, I'm trying to figure out if once they break up, I'll be able to watch this episode again and fully enjoy it knowing I don't have to suffer through them being a couple for much longer but honestly I just so deeply dislike her character that sitting through her "sob story" again feels impossible. Like, I have zero trouble sitting through scenes with any of the other love interests for the rest of the firefam, even a*a's scenes (though I might still cringe) and still enjoy the episode but I'm not sure I can do it with Tay Kay because she has been pushed so in our faces and she is just so deeply unlikable as a character for me (sound familier? 🙃🙃🙃). And it's such a shame because the rest of this episode? Solid. Gold. Absolutely back on the normal 911 bullshit we all know and love. Insane calls? Family drama? Absolutely hilarious scenes that literally had me in tears? Adorable couple moments? It was all SO GOOD so I'm hoping some time and space and the eventual break up will soften the automatic "NOPE! HARD PASS!" reaction I have when I see her face, but we'll see. 🤷‍♀️

Okay, so as much as the last part of that episode was painful to watch (and not in the "good angst" kind of way like this show is so good at (lookin at you fight or flight, tsunami arc, etc), but more in the cringe, "sexy math" scene kind of way), it's also got me DEEP in my Evan Buckley feels because there is SO much going on here. With his actions born out of a knee-jerk trauma response to being "abandoned", with him shoving down his feelings so he's not being "needy" or making it about him, with him only getting a "love" acknowledgement for things he did and not for who he actually is as a person, with the choices Oliver is making with his face and the lack of eye contact and the body language and everything. It's all just so much in this episode, especially given the awkwardness we've seen from them all season.

And that mirror parallel to Defend In Place sure is something! The way we could have gotten the direct follow up to Tay Kay's story from 5x07 and then had an episode where she wasn't even brought up? But Eddie looks on the verge of a breakdown? Eddie realizing him and Buck had been, totally on accident, given bad information on the direction they should be heading and it took looking into a mirror to figure out the right way to go? The way Eddie lit up like a Christmas tree when he figured it out, but Buck was standing there still confused? The way Buck needs to look into the mirror of his relationship with Abby and see the parallels to his current relationship, but while Eddie has had his epiphany, Buck is still confused and hasn't made the connection yet? Like???? I'm absolutely feral about all this actually?

Because just like with Abby, Buck's putting in all the work and making the gestures, but this time he's not doing it out of love but because it's what he's "supposed" to do so it all looks (and feels) so hollow. Buck respected Abby first (definitely not something he will ever be able to say about Miss Girlboss) and genuinely enjoyed talking to her and then started a relationship. He asked Bobby what to do to keep the relationship working because she was drowning and he's Mr. Fix-It but he couldn't fix her mom being sick and eventually dying. And Bobby's advice was good and Buck did all the things out of genuine love and respect, however (it's especially clear on the re-watch), he and Abby had fundamentally different ideas of what their relationship was and what they wanted out of it and that's why she left thinking he would move on after a short time and forget all about her. And now, Buck is following the same pattern of getting into the mess because that's what Bobby said to do and it worked with Abby until her struggle was gone/took a new shape, and it worked with repairing his relationship with Maddie and building his relationship with Eddie, and being there and being a good friend to the rest of the firefam. But the thing is, it's not because he loves her that he's trying to help or be there as support for things he can't fix. It's because that's what you're supposed to do. It's a checkbox on a list of How To Keep People From Leaving You (Kind Of) and when it's backed by sincere love it's an act of service, it's a fulfilling part of the relationship but when it's not? When it's just a Thing You Do To Not Get Left? It's draining. And good god Buck looks drained this season. He is once again trying so hard and getting nothing that he actually needs back. And when he realizes he's fallen back into old bad habits, what becomes of his relationship then?

Anywhoodles, it's is very late and this is very long and rambling and may no longer make as much since as it did when I was thinking it in my head so I'm going to shut up now. *i just have a lot of feelings gif* but I'm just going to say that I am very interested to see what Monday night has in store for us for this winter finale. They are usually more on the wholesome side and wrapping up open plotlines but with as different (derogatory) as this season has been, who knows what we're going to get!

(also, whatever you do, do NOT think about masking and hiding true feelings and Michael Guerin (season 2 especially) because it WILL ruin your day and have you in tears. Just let these traumatized, curly headed men desperately grasping at any scrap of something that could possibly be "love" thrown their way, realize they are already so deeply loved by dark haired, sarcastic/sassy former military men who others might think are "closed off" but are actually giant marshmallows, and are a little overly cautious with technology/personal security, but on opposite ends of the tech-savvy spectrum.)

#my sweet nonnie friends #sleeping at last anon #911 #911 spoilers #evan buckley #anti bucktaylor #i am having lots of wild and incoherent thoughts #but i am cautiously hopeful about where this is all leading #because while TPTB loooove to ignore fandom #they have a harder time ignoring the general audience and dropping numbers and bad reviews #and it's well known that the GA has NEVER liked t*ylor #so to bring her back and put her with buck our normal ray of sunshine boy #and have him looking soooo miserable all the time?#choices have been made #yes this is also about malex because what ISN'T?

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deepdisireslonging · 5 years

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Family Found Part 42: Business as Usual

The choices are getting harder for the Reader, and everyone is taking notice. If she’s not careful, the fallout will be catastrophic not only to the roster but to her relationship with her cousin, Dean.

Warnings/Promises: wrestling violence, Ambrose Angst, angst in general, sassy Elias

Word Count: 2810

Note: Sooo, had to look it up, but because my series doesn’t align with the actual events of Raw, Dolph Ziggler never held the IC in 2018. Keep that in mind. Wow, a lot of stuff has happened. Thank you guys for sticking around with this series! Also, correction: the next PPV is Fastlane, not Starrcade. My bad.

Part 1: Welcome to the Team

Part 41: Fall Short (Elimination Chamber)

Monday Night Raw – February 25, 2019

“I’m sure our general manager, Y/N Ambrose, is not happy with how tonight started,” Cole reported. “Apparently, Dean stormed into her office and demanded a title match. He did get one, but it’s for the number one contender’s spot for the Universal. We could possibly see Ambrose versus Rollins at WrestleMania or sooner if the cousins work out a deal.”

“Unlikely,” Corey added.

Renee was in agreement. “After their spat last week, I don’t think they are going to see eye to eye any time soon. Do you guys think there will be an Ambrose versus Ambrose match?”

“What does it matter?” Corey chuckled. “We all know who you’d root for.”

“Perhaps.” Renee’s voice dropped to barely audible. “I would prefer them not to fight at all.”

Dean made his way to the ring, bouncing around while he waited for his opponent. You sent out Mojo Rawley. He hadn’t fought in a while, and he was eager to try for another title chance. Even if it meant facing an irate Dean.

To Mojo’s credit, he was willing to do anything not waste this opportunity. His own body was on the line, taking a lot as Dean punched through his frustration. You watched from backstage, glad this worked out as the opening match. The crowd was on its feet and chants for both opponents were split down the middle. But Mojo got a little too into it. You flinched as the referee forcefully pulled him away from stomping on Dean while holding the ropes but ignoring the five-count. You headed to Gorilla.

In the time it took you to make it there, Mojo had disqualified himself. You rushed out onto the stage. “I don’t think we’ve seen enough of this match. Have you?” you asked the audience. The smattering of boos was easily ignored with a surface smile. “Let’s restart this as a no disqualification, no count-out match.”

Dean grinned. He rolled out of the back of the ring and came up with a steel chair. Mojo had rolled the other way. He came back into the ring with a kendo stick. They began again. Dean’s eyebrow opened with a small gash that bled down his face. Mojo backed away, suddenly unsure of Dean’s calm as the referee checked on him. Then the referee turned to double check on Mojo.

It was then that Elias rushed up the back-right steps and pulled Dean’s head back into the turnbuckles before pushing him forward to fall on his face. Mojo knew a chance when he saw one. Elias disappeared. Mojo leapt for the pin. The referee counted to three. Dean didn’t come around until Mojo was already having his hand raised.

Backstage, you breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe if you avoided your office, Dean couldn’t find you to ask questions you didn’t have answers for.

***

He found you anyway, waving away a medic. “Okay, maybe I was a little pushy getting that match, but what the hell was that?” Dean growled and rolled out an ache in his neck.

It took all your strength to keep a neutral face. “You’ve been complaining for months that I wasn’t putting you in matches. But then I restarted this match so you could win not by disqualification, and you’re still mad at me.”

Dean shook his head. “No. Don’t turn this around. Yeah, I’m still confused about the last several months. Last week you won’t let me help you. This week you sent your attack dog to ensure I lost. Is it because I wronged you in another life, or is it because I couldn’t stop child services from taking you away? I thought I apologized for that already, but I can do it again.”

You scoffed. “I doubt your pride could take the hit.”

“Then maybe you should apologize. Because some’s got to clear the air around here.”

“No. I won’t say I’m sorry for what I did. My choices have been my own. There’s nothing I can do to change them. The bridge is burned, and I hated to watch it, but here we are. You. And me.” The force behind your statements almost made you believe them.

Dean stared you down. You shuffled on your feet, feeling more and more like the little girl caught borrowing his lock-picking set than the general manager of Raw. Finally, he sighed. “You really are gunning for a match between us, aren’t you? Fastlane or WrestleMania?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to!” The words burned passing your lips. If you stayed any longer you were going to tell him everything. Your mask of assuredness was beginning to break. His brow was already starting to crease as he realized you were holding something back. Before you could spill, you turned on your heel and hurried away.

***

Dolph Ziggler had taken over the ring in the meantime. He strutted around seeming very proud of himself. A review of the elimination chamber had just played, showing off his talent and how he’d been the last one eliminated. He was almost laughing too hard to speak. “I think I did rather well at Elimination Chamber, don’t you? All things considered, from Drew’s betrayal back at TLC, to getting walked over in opportunities, to having to fight for my spot in that match, I made it to the last two. And not just that, I almost had Drew pinned.” He hummed in delight. “I was runner up in the chamber.” He sang that little comment again and smiled. “And as such, I believe I deserve the first chance at the Intercontinental Championship.”

He would have said more, but the crowd overpowered him as Finn Balor’s music hit. “I ‘ave to congratulate ya on your accomplishment last week. Runner up against everyone in tha match is quite the accolade.”

Pseudo-bowing at the waist, Dolph thanked him. His head tilted in confusion as Finn began to make his way down the ramp instead of going backstage.

“But, that’s all you’ve ever been when it comes ta Drew. Runner up. Second best. An aftert’ought.” He stepped through the ropes. “Come on, Dolph. How long ‘as it been since you’ve been champion? I had to look it up. December of 2017, and ya told the WWE Universe t’at they didn’t deserve you. Then you vacated the title and haven’t ‘ad one since. It seems the titles and Universe decided they didn’t deserve you. Now, I’ve just been a champion. An’ I will be again because I’m still hungry for it. Even if I have ta go through you. You, who seems to have lost his edge.”

Dolph stepped to get in his face. “Maybe so. But at least I don’t need a demon to sit on my shoulder to win matches. I will beat McIntyre for the Intercontinental Champion. And I’ll do it before you can get your hands on it.”

Both men turned and readied for a fight as bagpipes took over the speakers. But Drew McIntyre came out in a black suit, making the white and gold belt stand out. “You are both welcome to try and take this title from me. Tell ya what… I’ll have an open challenge next week. But, it’s only open for one spot. Whoever makes it to the ring first, gets the opportunity. Deal?” He grinned as Finn and Dolph shouted in agreement. “May the best man step up, then.”

***

Charly Caruso sighed in relief as she spotted Elias. “Thank goodness I found you.”

He was not as enthusiastic. “Charly, why are you interrupting my rehearsal time? Do you have any idea how long it took me to find a quiet space in this lousy arena? I think it probably would have been easier to leave this untalented city entirely so that I could hone my craft.”

“Please, Elias. WrestleMania is rapidly approaching, as is Fastlane. You have yet to announce who you will be challenging for the main event match you won by winning the Royal Rumble. As the championships sit, would you rather face Seth Rollins for the Universal or Drew McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship?” She held out her mic.

Elias looked at it indignantly but answered anyway. Sort of. “The Universal I would have to say has the most prestige. It’s been a hard championship to win, and an even harder one to hold onto… unless you are a certain incarnate beast. But some people say that the title is cursed to bring title ends in terrible ways. Balor’s injury. Kevin Owen’s forgettable reign. Goldberg’s twenty-second WrestleMania loss. Maybe I don’t want it. The Intercontinental is a classic. It’s got style, almost as much as it deserves. Around my waist again, it would be given back it’s well-deserved glory. But McIntyre seems a little busy with squabblers. And one more that he hasn’t paid enough attention to, besides me.”

He shook his head and stood. “Nah, I just might wait until after Fastlane to pick. Now if you’ll excuse me… I need to find a new spot to perfect my melodious gospel.”

With a huff, Charly dropped her mic and watched as Elias drifted into the shadows.

***

The second spot in Fastlane’s match for the tag team titles was up for grabs next. Tyler Breeze and Dana Brook were the surprise winners last week. This week, the match came down to the B-Team and the Ascension.

“And can you believe it, Y/N is considering making Fastlane’s match a triple threat. How is anyone supposed to compete with those kinds of odds?”

Cole grit his teeth at Corey’s outburst but had a quick enough answer. “The same way they have before I suppose: keep their head on a swivel.” He flinched and called Konnor’s drop of Bo Dallas.

The tag was made from each corner, bringing in the two wearied teammates. Viktor stumbled through a strike, giving Curtis Axel the room to catch him and drop him. As he went for a pin, Bo rushed forward and kept Konner from interfering. The B-Team was going to Fastlane to face an unknown number of opposing teams.

***

Rhonda Rousey fiddled with the mic in her hands. It took her a moment to gather up the last of her thoughts. “At first, I wanted to talk things over with Natalya in private. But the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that you guys need to hear her answers too.” She took a deep breath. “A few weeks ago, Natalya and I had a match to determine which one of us was going to have a spot in the chamber match. I went into it thinking I was entering the ring with a friend. If either of us lost, there weren’t going to be any hard feelings. But then… well. Maybe we should just show the clip.” She turned to look at the Titantron. First, it showed the impromptu ‘Moment of Bliss’ interview.

Alexa smiled. “What happens if one of you wins the Raw women’s championship after the Elimination Chamber? What happens to the-” she gestured between them, “the friendship?”

“Nothing.” Rhonda squirmed in her seat. “I’ve been here for almost a year. Natalya is my closest friend here.” She faced Natalya. “Why can’t we try one of those things where we help one of us get the title, then we’re the first challenge? Between the two of us, we could either rack of title reigns or help one another ensure long, successful ones.”

Not it was Natalya’s turn to squirm in her seat. “Rhonda, I’ve been in this business my whole life. I’ve seen-“ She sighed. “You know those don’t actually work, right? Someone always wants to be the best. They can’t be that if they’re always in their friend’s shadow.”

Then, the clip showed part of the match.

Natalya sprung forward, renewing her attack. “Take what you can get,” she muttered. Rhonda heard and faltered in her steps. She caught a kick to the face that put her in the perfect position for a Sharpshooter. Natalya released her as soon as the referee told her Rhonda had tapped.

With the clip over, Rhonda was about to speak when Natalya entered the arena. She stepped only as far as center stage, establishing that she wasn’t going to enter the ring. “What’s your point, Rhonda. This is the WWE. We wrestle. We fight. We win opportunities and we win titles.”

“I get that. And I get that sometimes the goals come between people. But was it worth it? You lost to Nia and had to start the title match. Then, you were eliminated by Mickie and Alicia. The opportunity you fought so hard for fell flat.” Rhonda stepped closer to the ropes, halting as Natalya took a step back yards away on the stage. “Why can’t we work together like they did. Like Sasha and Bayley do?”

“You realize you’ve picked the worst examples, right?” Natalya huffed with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m a third generational wrestler, Rhonda. Title reigns have come and gone, some recently for me. But with each passing week, I can physically feel them getting further and further away. When I think about it, it’s hard to breathe. I don’t want that burn, that desire to hold gold again, to go on so long that it slips into feeling normal. I can’t.”

A pause separated the two women. Rhonda quietly said, “so where do we go from here? Sometimes I feel like you’re my only true friend here, but nowadays even that is disappearing.”

Natalya looked off into the crowd instead of at Rhonda. “We continue to train together. Business as usual. Let life and work roll on. This will work itself out.”

“Business?” Rhonda nodded. “Okay. So be it.”

***

The non-title match between the Riott Squad and the team of Nia Jax and Tamina was supposed to be the main event.

Ruby Riott was ringside, doing her thing and keeping an eye on anything that might threaten her teammates. The Squad themselves were keeping up with the powerhouses. Liv Morgan was successfully irritating Tamina into making mistakes, and Sarah was surprising Nia with strength of her own. The Squad had switched so it was Nia versus Liv at the moment when Ruby drifted to thinking about her own plans. She was still keeping a lookout by looking to one side, but her thoughts kept her blind to what was coming from the other direction. It wasn’t until Sarah was knocked off the apron to fall over her that Ruby realized her mistake.

While Liv rushed to the ropes to check on her partners, Tamina rushed back and tagged in. She rushed to grab Liv’s pink locks and slammed her back for the pin. Sarah scrambled to get in the ring, but she was too late to stop it.

Beaten, the Riott Squad tried to hasten a retreat. Nia’s voice over the speakers froze their steps.

“You know, Tamina, I don’t feel like we’ve had enough excitement for tonight.”

“You know, Nia. I have to agree. What did you have in mind to change that?”

“I thought maybe, since Ruby Riott hasn’t done anything tonight, I might just challenge her to a match.” She grinned.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Tamina continued. “But what about the other two? They might get in the way.”

Nia draped an arm over her shoulder. “That’s what I’ve got you for. Someone who really knows how to watch my back. Someone who doesn’t… get distracted.”

That final addition made Ruby grit her teeth. Before her squad could hold her back, she slid into the ring and told the referee to ring the bell. Tamina rolled to the floor before it did, cutting Liv and Sarah off from getting closer. She kept an eye on the match by glancing at the Titantron.

In the ring, Nia was already built up from her last match. Ruby was still distracted. And now angry too, which kept blinding her to obvious feigns from Nia and the consequences of her own mistakes. She was able to hold an upper hand for a while, but Nia shut it down. A final Samoan Drop ended the match, leaving Ruby in a heap.

Tamina held up her arms as Liv and Sarah ran past. They ignored the other team leaving and rushed to help Ruby sit up. Liv took the tag title just now being returned to them and set them to one side. Ruby’s eyes followed them. As her teammates patted her on the back with uplifting words, she kept her gaze on the pair of white and gold. She reached her hand out to them, but couldn’t bring herself to touch them. Liv and Sarah flinched away as she shrugged them off.

Part 43: It’s Official

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Forever Tags: @blondekel77 @hallemichelles @laochbaineann@ramblingsofabourbondrinker @savmontreal @southsidebucky@tinyelfperson @zuni21798

WWE/Series Tags: @a-home-for-stray-stories @kingslayers-queen @top-1-percent @mother-forker @neversatisfiedgirl @racheo91 @roman-reigns-princess @secretagentfangirl @thetherianthropydaily @scuzmunkie @cait-kae@ramsaypants @sony-undead18 @brianaraydean @st4yingstrong@dopeybubbles @crystallizeme @jessica91073 @denise8691 @stalelight @kenyadakblalock @1dluver13xx @lauren-novak @lunatic-desert-child@littledeadrottinghood @livelifewondering

#Family Found Series #42/50 #cousin!dean ambrose #cousin!reader #general manager!reader #Road to WrestleMania #ambrose angst #wrestling angst #sassy Elias #elias samson #renee young #riott squad #natalya hart #rhonda rousey #finn balor #dolph ziggler #drew mcintyre

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 25th August 2019

Top 10

On the US Billboard Hot 100, after “Old Town Road” dissipated, they’ve been treated with a couple #1s switching in and out. “bad guy”, “Senorita” and probably “Truth Hurts” and unfortunately “Ransom” soon enough... while here in the UK, “Old Town Road” was only at the top spot for a week, and instead we’ve just had “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello for six straight weeks... Nice.

“Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran featuring Khalid is at number-two still, and we actually have a pretty busy week that did not translate to the Top 10 – it never does.

“3 Nights” by Dominic Fike is steady at number-three but I’m not complaining; this song is great.

I’m not upset about the one-space boost for Kygo and the late Whitney Houston’s “Higher Love” either at number-four, it’s not a bad song and if anything I’m just excited to see Houston on the charts again.

AJ Tracey returns back to the top five with “Ladbroke Grove” up a spot to number-five.

Aitch’s newest major single, “Taste (Make it Shake)”, is down two spaces to number-six, but that’s still way too high. I honestly do not understand the appeal in this one, it’s not quirky or interesting, it’s over-long, it’s barely got a chorus. Out of all UK rap singles to hit the top 10, this is easily the most puzzling hit.

I’m also not exactly pleased about “Ransom” by Lil Tecca zooming up six spaces to become his first top 10 hit here in the UK... why?

Unfortunately, this means “How Do You Sleep?” by Sam Smith is down a spot to number-eight, and honestly this song is just growing on me.

Speaking of unfortunate, at number-nine is “So High” by MIST and Fredo, also down one space, and while I’m not that big of a fan of this song (Yet) or the discography in general, MIST has recently been stabbed, and he says he’s been recovering well, which is good, I just wanted to note that these things do happen to people who seem like they can’t be touched due to fame and success, especially recently. I hope he’s okay.

To elevate the mood, there is quite literally a Love Island anthem in the top 10, as Joel Corry and Hayley May get their first ever UK Top 10 hit with “Sorry” up six positions to #10. It’s not a bad song, but come on, guys, really?

Climbers

Outside of the Top 10, we have one climber and it’s not exactly notable either... Jax Jones and Bebe Rexha’s radio fodder “Harder” is up five spots to #25. I mean, when so much of the Top 40 is rap, I guess the radio’s got to have something to safely play without having their audience hear a bunch of censor bleeps every ten seconds.

Fallers

Now, we don’t exactly have many fallers, but a lot of them are very notable as these are massive hits dropping incredibly low, starting with #40 which is the top five hit “Location” by Dave featuring Burna Boy down a whopping twenty-three spaces and barely gripping onto that last spot in the chart, after having a brief rebound thanks to the video. While I prefer “Disaster”, “Streatham”, “Black” and pretty much all the songs on PSYCHODRAMA, I’m so happy that Dave and his album have had so much longevity and chart success considering how great this album is (Since this does seem to be the end of the album cycle). This year’s been very kind to British rap both mainstream and underground (Check out Little Simz, she’s mind-blowing) and this is definitely one of the achievements the genre can display proudly. Other than that, we have another top 10 hit in Sigala’s “Wish You Well” featuring Becky Hill dropping down 14 spaces to #38, as well as the faller I’m obviously the happiest about. Despite the fact there might be a rebound due to a video release, I’m going to live in blissful ignorance about that, since “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi, which has been the worst song in the top 20 for like three straight months, is out of the top 20, falling 17 positions to #26. It’s not out of the chart entirely, but I’ll take it. Oh, and “Panini” by Lil Nas X is down five spaces to #36 but Thog don’t caare

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There aren’t any returning entries this week but since there are five new arrivals, there are obviously quite a lot of drop-outs. “Find U Again” by Mark Ronson featuring Camila Cabello is one of them, dropping out of the charts entirely from #37, which really sucks because that song is amazing. Otherwise, we have some notable but very much expected drop outs for “SOS” by the late Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc and its impressive chart run from #32, “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift out from #38 (God, what an awful song), “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy finally out from #39 (Although I think that song is great actually) and off of the sole debut last week, we have “Hot Girl Summer” by Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign out from #40. I know American female rappers haven’t exactly crossed over here yet but I thought this would have least lasted a week, and it is a pretty damn good song, it’s got a video coming soon though so we’ll see what that’ll do.

NEW ARRIVALS

#34 – “Post Malone” – Sam Feldt featuring Rani

Produced by Sam Feldt – Peaked at #7 in Ireland

Sam Feldt is an irrelevant Dutch DJ, to put it bluntly. Two years ago, he made a song with Akon and that was his second biggest hit until 2019, second to his only actual hit, may I add. So, what better way to make a name for yourself in America than to go viral with a meme song that references pop culture and has a drop expressive enough for TikTok. Indeed, it worked, he was on the top of the Spotify Viral 50 with “Post Malone”, because if you want to keep your target white audience as an EDM-pop or rock artist, the only hip-hop artist you can seemingly admit to liking is Post Malone. Even the Jonas Brothers are shouting them out in (Absolutely dreadful) hit songs like “Cool”. It didn’t even work, by the way, it barely peaked in the top 10 of the American dance charts but it worked on like all of Europe, especially on the chart that isn’t actually in the EU, technically, maybe. Funnily enough, it’s not that big of a hit in his home country of the Netherlands, peaking at #85. I don’t know who RANI is, do you? Listen, it’s Feldt’s second UK Top 40 hit, his first since 2015, and it’s from his Magnets EP. RANI is a female singer who seems to specialise in being a puppet for EDM DJs, and had a minor hit doing so with “Crying with the Sun” last year, but this is her first appearance on the UK Top 40. Hiring RANI seems to be the cheap option compared to an actual celebrity, the girl doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, and the whole song in fact is really cheap, with a couple 2014-esque synths carrying a flat, tinny EDM beat until that chorus hits, and Jesus, this song was not meant to ever have “Post Malone” in the lyrics. It’s lodged in that chorus with all the care of a bull in a china shop with crowd cheering in the background before the generic build-up of hi-hats until a pretty simple vocaloid drop and yeah, I question why anyone thinks this song is worth listening to. The drop ends abruptly with literal silence instead of even transitioning into the verse all that well, which is lazy and nonsensical on his part because he’s going to have to transition this into other songs in a DJ set, he wants that to be smooth. Yeah, skip this, it’s trash, which is exactly what I expected.

#30 – “Motivation” – Normani featuring uncredited vocals by Ariana Grande

Produced by ILYA – Peaked at #20 in Belgium and Scotland, and #33 in the US

Fifth Harmony’s disbandment let one star really get a lot of shine, and that was Camila Cabello, who is still gathering a lot of success to this day, but what I didn’t expect is a push towards another pop girl with Normani, whose debut solo single has been racking up a lot of streams and chart success pretty much worldwide. It’s not that massive yet but it does have the potential to be, especially with the high-profile collaborations like Khalid and Sam Smith that Normani has been greeted with this past year by her label, so it seemed inevitable. I fully expected Normani to go the R&B route, probably a more throwback 90s style, and yeah, I was right, but I really didn’t expect a song this good. Written by Normani herself with Ariana Grande, ILYA and Max freaking Martin, this song is an earworm determined for success, and has hence become Normani’s third UK Top 40 single. Starting with an intriguing Ariana Grande-esque voice memo of some sort, it immediately lands into the bass-lead R&B beat that feels 90s and 2000s at the same time yet definitely modern due to Normani’s sultry vocals, but in the chorus, the kiss-off lead by harmonies and subtle background vocal samples from Grande feels very anthemic and almost sarcastic. I do feel like maybe it’s a bit too minimalistic of a debut single, but there are a lot of little quirks, including the eerie Caribbean vocal sample in the bridge coupled with a smooth horn section, and I don’t have much to say about this one evidently, but it succeeds on every level at just being a pretty perfect pop song. The idea of Normani telling her ex to “Think about it” afterwards isn’t a pledge from Normani here, though, it seems very much like she’s bragging and telling this guy to re-consider the fact that he dumped someone with a net worth more than his lifetime salary, it’s almost kind of hilarious how she sasses this guy around, especially in the verses. The title seems to be based around the fact that the guy ever had a girl as good as her... which is considered “motivation”. Well, that’s just pretty epic. Yeah, great song, and I’m really excited for whatever Normani does next.

#23 – “Lover” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift – Peaked at #4 in Malaysia and #19 in the US

Ah, Taylor Swift and the messy roll-out of her newest album, Lover, which I have yet to really form an opinion on but it’s gotten a lot of positive reviews which I didn’t expect because of the absolute trainwrecks that were released as singles, such as “ME!” which the general public soon showed their distaste for, so much so that Swift had to edit out the most cringeworthy lyrics, “You Need to Calm Down” which had a very polarising reception mostly because of how people believed she was pandering to the LGBTQ+ community with the music video, and had some cringeworthy lyrics there too, but it was a bit more positive. Then things took a large turn for the better with the release of the promotional single “The Archer”, which a lot of people loved and seemed to think was a return to form, but I wasn’t impressed. It was boring, and while the songwriting is good, when there’s not a musical climax, it feels like a lot of wasted time and overall, the song feels like an overproduced synth-mush and I was really not a fan of that one, but it wasn’t awful... and it only peaked at #43 here. Then she released this song, which seemed to have shifted the public opinion on the album entirely, even among critics, because it’s a Jack Antonoff-produced return to the country pop sound of her previous work, and while “You Need to Calm Down” might have been pandering to LGBTQ+, I think this should be clowned more for pandering to Pitchfork, but I digress. Is the song any good? Well, it’s her 27th(!) UK Top 40 hit, and it might as well have convinced me too... mostly because this is a Christmas song – albeit a bit more of a intimate, downbeat, guitar-lead country ballad of a Christmas song, but with a direct reference to the holiday, I know what she’s going for. She sounds a lot better on the song than usual, I’m not a fan of Swift’s voice in general but she definitely uses it to her advantage here, staying mostly subdued on the verses until an admittedly janky pre-chorus, until that title drop, which is fantastic, especially with the bells and guitar that follows but honestly, the star here isn’t Swift. It’s the string section and the choir, who elevate that pre-chorus with a lot of cheery vocals and the plucky strings in both the bridge and the brief burst of violins in the second verse, really emphasise the lyrical theme of devotion. While I dispute the fact that Taylor Swift has ever heard a dirty joke in her life that wasn’t made by Kanye West, that bridge is incredible, and honestly this whole song is pretty great, and I think THIS is the return to form she needed. There’s a lot of genuine groove and swing to this ballad and the chorus is heavenly, and may I say that the cover art fits perfectly. This is good, check it out, next.

#22 – “Both” – Headie One

Produced by Nastylgia and PJ Pipe it Up

I’m going to be honest here; from what I’ve heard from Headie One, I don’t really like the guy. I don’t think he’s as witty or entertaining as his peers and more often than not, he’s just a tad dull, but with his seventh mixtape release, Music x Road, I have been somewhat intrigued to check it out since NME described it as “far from drill”, which means he is branching out and this could either be a surprise success or complete wretched failure. I believe this is Headie’s third UKTop 40 hit and, well, to be honest, it’s not that bad. I love that guitar loop, it sounds straight out of the intro to a metal song, and the way it’s pitch-shifted to act as an eerie synth is pretty cool when it gets to the verse; if I’m honest this trap beat is pretty great... and so is Headie. To say he doesn’t ride this beat would be a lie, I don’t like the guy that much but he bodies this, not with much wordplay obviously but his delivery is tough and very straight to the point, no-nonsense, which is interesting when being put against the gospel choir sample which is absolutely mangled and just kind of placed every couple bars, and it sounds great, really intense. I’m not sure how I feel about that bridge though, the subdued, mumbling flow with the distortion and Auto-Tune sounds cool but it kills the momentum and doesn’t really fit with the guitar-lead trap beat. I’d prefer maybe to get rid of that part entirely and just have the beat cut out for the start of the chorus without the transition, or have Headie harmonise with the sample from “Free” by Ultra Nate, that could have sounded pretty cool. As it is, it still bangs, and looking at the lyrics there’s a lot of detail I don’t usually see, and somehow he made peanut butter on oats sound cool, so you know what, Headie, I like this one. Check it out.

#18 – “Be Honest” – Jorja Smith featuring Burna Boy

Produced by Cadenza and IzyBeats

Jorja Smith has had a pretty quiet 2019. After 2018 and her BRIT Award wins and impressive performance, she’s understandably laid low with only a couple of features including one on my favourite British rapper Loyle Carner’s second album, but this seems to be the birth of the roll-out for her sophomore effort, or at least a standalone single. I didn’t really like Jorja Smith because I knew her for her EDM collaborations but after listening to Lost & Found, I’m not going to lie, I really enjoyed her UK garage and trip hop-infused brand of R&B, especially the single “Blue Lights” and her sample on AJ Tracey’s banger “Ladbroke Grove”, which added to the song immensely. A new song from Jorja won’t connect with me at first, they never do, she’s one of the artists who has to grow on me, but I like Burna Boy to an extent so I doubt this’ll be any less than decent... and yeah, it’s not bad. I like the sweet guitar and synths/flute(?) that start off the song as the primary melody (which I believe is a sample) and the steady drum beat adds to the tropical, summery feeling of the track. Jorja sounds great as always, with a pretty sensual performance she can do pretty well, but the chorus is pretty weak and I feel a tad underwritten. Burna Boy’s verse is pretty fun and bouncy but this isn’t standing out to me as anything that great initially. It’s definitely not bad, but underwritten and a tad sub-par perhaps. Also, I like the horns in the final chorus but it’s too little too late at that point.

Conclusion

Honestly, this is a pretty great week on the chart, with four out of five new arrivals that I quite enjoy, and the Summer-Autumn transition is looking good. Best of the Week is tough but I’ll give it to Taylor Swift for “Lover” – hey, I’m a sucker for Christmas songs – and a tied Honourable Mention to Normani and Headie One for “Motivation” and “Both”, while there’s nothing worth a Dishonourable Mention here other than our Worst of the Week, going to Sam Feldt and RAMI for whatever “Post Malone” is. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and I’ll see you next week!

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anthonykrierion · 7 years

Text

Facebook News Feed Experiments: Threat or Opportunity?

As Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed at Facebook noted in a post on Monday “There have been a number of reports about a test we’re running in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala, and Cambodia.” The test he is referring to is that of moving all content posted by brand pages (not content shared by friends) from the main user News Feed into a separate tab named “Explore”.

What’s changed?

One of the first sources to write about the test was Filip Struhárik with the starkly titled “Biggest drop in Facebook organic reach we have ever seen”. The story has since been picked up by The Guardian (Facebook moving non-promoted posts out of News Feed in trial) and the BBC (Facebook explores, publishers panic). As you can tell from the titles, tensions are running high, which is understandable because the very people writing them could stand to be the hardest hit by another step of removal from their core audience. As you may also have gleaned, this trial is applying to organic content only, not promoted posts. It is a matter of time before someone comes up with an “-ageddon” nickname for the event, (Explorageddon sounds like a tourist board advert) but as many have pointed out the potential ramifications could be serious.

Purely from a publisher relations standpoint, this could perhaps have been handled better. As Mosseri mentions in his post “It’s also important to know this test in these six countries is different than the version of Explore that has rolled out to most people”. While it’s understandable that Facebook wouldn’t want to panic publishers by warning them of this planned test in advance, rolling out something so controversial in a limited geography and making it easily confused with something else far more widespread wasn’t a fantastic exercise in concern management. It’s akin to starting annual review day by firing the first few employees you meet and leaving everyone else to stew. It’s also understandable that any new release will come with its bugs, but Struhárik has reported page posts being removed from the main News Feed for users that don’t yet have the Explore section, meaning for those users all page posts are hidden in the Pages Feed section which I certainly hadn’t visited before today.

Change isn’t always a bad thing

It’s true that some changes that Facebook implement can make us better writers, marketers, and entertainers. The much-maligned algorithm update which reduced pages’ ability to reach their followers felt like it makes life harder, but it allowed good publishers to get far more for their money by engaging with their communities and learning from what they like, rather than just pumping out 50 posts a day to rack up those juicy clicks. Much like AMP, Instant Articles made us consider what we can pare back and peel away to give visitors only what actually matters with as little wait time as possible, and I’m actually quite interested in some of their plans on monetising chat bots discussed in this podcast, for instance sales messages being blocked if a user hasn’t actually engaged with your messages in the last 24 hours.

A step backwards

However, it’s not always the case that these changes improve the content quality. Facebook has also announced in the past that users don’t like reaching the end of their timeline, in response they allowed individual publishers to appear multiple times in a users’ News Feed, whether this improved satisfaction is debatable. In the same announcement, Facebook described users not wanting to see notifications of friends’ likes in their feed - after Facebook removed these notifications low-quality pages just pivoted to “tag a friend who” memes some of which exemplified the worst side of us on social media. More recently Facebook has gathered that users want to see more from friends and family, that is one of the reasons they have given for this latest test.

My concern is that moving this content to a separate (currently quite hidden) section and only allowing paid content into the News Feed won’t make publishers better, it’ll quarantine the terrible content but lump it in with the good. It stands to make Facebook success more like the deep-pockets-or-black-hat game that exists elsewhere and hampers the success of small but genuinely talented content producers. It’ll also mean that publishers have even more inaccurate figures about the value of a follow, making it harder still for community managers to argue the for investing in a community.

What’s more, I still don’t see it reducing the torrent of “Tag a mate who is s**t at golf” posts coming up in my feed because the real low-quality publishers already know how to get their content past Facebook’s net - get my friends to deliver it to me. There is even a host of “Tag a friend to make them open their phone and look at this cucumber for no reason” content - that’s content that is basing its success on mocking Facebook’s aim of showing you only what you want to see.

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Of course, Facebook has to make money but I am far happier with the current system which stands to make companies pay through the nose to distribute uninteresting and unoriginal content. While it’s far from perfect, the current method of checking content popularity leaves more of a gap for the intelligent, well-targeted, human content to run rings around generic uninspired posts, and even gives smaller publishers a better chance. It could be argued that users going to Explore will be primed to read and engage, but the number of times I open the “promotions” tab in Gmail speaks to the contrary, and that’s ignoring the fact that the Explore section currently won’t be limited to pages I subscribed to, but will include any content that Facebook deems appropriate.

The outcome

As Ziad Ramley, former social lead for Al Jazeera, suggests, this could all just be flash-in-the-pan. After the testing period, Facebook could well kill this experiment dead, or it might even roll out and have nothing like the negative impact we’re envisioning. Even though Facebook explicitly prioritises users over publishers, a stance that Techcrunch describes as the reason Facebook has survived so much change, there are certainly reasons why they might want to reverse this course of action. As Struhárikm observed to The Guardian: when we finally get a News Feed that’s just friends we may just find out just how boring our friends are. Maybe we’ll jump into the Explore section when we get sick of hearing about Clea’s “nightmare” mole operation, or maybe we’ll just stop logging in.

One thing's for sure, moving publishers out of the News Feed, even if it is accompanied by a reduction in the quality of experience, is bound to be far more frictionless than attempts to move organic page posts back in. If Facebook makes this change and usage goes down I could imagine the smartest marketers playing News Feed exposure like the stock market, waiting for the drop in interest and investing heavily while Facebook tries to gain back its lost momentum.

Facebook News Feed Experiments: Threat or Opportunity? was originally posted by Video And Blog Marketing

#Video And Blog Marketing

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ronijashworth · 7 years

Text

Facebook News Feed Experiments: Threat or Opportunity?

What’s changed?

Change isn’t always a bad thing

A step backwards

Want more advice like this in your inbox? Join the monthly newsletter.

// <![CDATA[ hbspt.forms.create({ target: '#bottom-of-blog-hubspot-cta-form', css: '', cssRequired: '', errorClass: 'none', errorMessageClass: 'hide', submitButtonClass: 'button orange', portalId: '2124102', formId: '8813300d-507f-42eb-94fe-b6452a7cc124' }); // ]]>

The outcome

from Digital Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/facebook-news-feed-experiments-threat-opportunity/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#digital marketing

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davidrsmithlove · 7 years

Text

Facebook News Feed Experiments: Threat or Opportunity?

What’s changed?

Change isn’t always a bad thing

A step backwards

Want more advice like this in your inbox? Join the monthly newsletter.

The outcome

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