#with each tweet maxed out to character limit...

[apopcornkernel]

trust me when i say u dont want to ask me about brothers in blood especislly in relation to tt #29 and ga #72

[odusseus-xvi]

Pomme's paranoïa

Because aparently I can't stop talking about this little egg. I wanted to touch this subject because it is something CRUCIAL to her character, and from what I've seen Richas, in his letter to Forever, has actually talked about that and how he is worried for her.

I want to talk here about WHERE that paranoïa might come from idea by idea (more in depth than my post about Pomme as a whole) :

Bobby died THE DAY after her arrival, that probably didn't help. That also caused a startle in everyone on the island making everyone a lot more paranoïd that they already were at Pomme's arrival, she then had the realization that life was EXTREMELY dangerous and limited on the island VERY early on, in a way a bit similar to Richas if we think about it, though Richas experienced it and so processed it wildly diferently, she got a dreadful suspense ; when is it coming to me ? To the others ? Because that's the thing, she is not as scared of losing her lives as she is scared of losing the others and the others losing her.

Not long after Dapper lost his first life to the code, that not only added to the already constant background aprehension, but that also made her the LAST egg with two lives, and from now on, everytime people talked about her was about how she was the next target of the code.

And then she WAS : Targeted by the code next to Ninho after everyone was worried of the tweet from Quackity Studios, and after she was saved THREE times from the codes she saw the people she cared about turn against each other because she had been not careful (Her french dads becoming suspicious of Forever, and therefore of Baghera.) (she was in fact "mind controlled" to come outside but from her POV it was still her fault.) From now on SHE CANNO'T let her guard down, this is both too dangerous for her and the people she loves.

A bit later was the attack that was then considered not canon by the admins because the attack was WAY too powerful : It broke a lot of totems at once and broke all of her armor. Though her death was not considered canon by the admins at first, Pomme (and the admin) played it as actually existing, not as a nightmare, not as non existant, but as an actual event she was saved from by someone or something : She talks about it from time to time, she truly died a bit that day.

(a little quote from that event from her diary because it's Heartbreaking)

"The pain was excruciating. It pierced my body, and with each hit, I felt the life leave my body a little more. The noise of the totems was deafening, the pain prevented me from running to escape. Just a few seconds later, I felt intense pain, even more intense than the previous blows. He had just finished me off. I no longer saw anything, I no longer felt anything. The pain had vanished in an instant. It was cold, I was scared. [...] While I was sleeping. something strange happened. As if the missing part of my soul was repairing itself. When I woke up, I no longer had any pain anywhere. But I'm still scared, more scared than ever. I'm terrified. [...] I never want to suffer so much again. I never want anyone to suffer so much again. I have no other choice; I have to get stronger. I'm going to have to live with this fear from now on, so I might as well put it to good use."

She then starts to actually show her paranoïa in a lot of aspects of her personality :

She is INCREDIBLY quick at trading her butterfly wings for her chestplate at any potential danger. She has also shown multiple times and SAID on her sign that her inventory hotbar is the most paranoïd thing ever : Filled with totems, her weapons, regeneration 2 splash potions (that are also very likely refilled with the backpack upgrade knowing her parents)

She, after learning the codes could imperssionate them now, immediatly figured out a code to make sure she was truly herself.

The day after ElQuackity was exploded by BBH and Max and that he threatened them, Pomme asked Baghera to build another safe room 200k away from spawn as she was not feeling safe in Ninho anymore.

One other interesting thing : She is not just the only egg with two lives, she is the egg that survived the LONGEST with two lives. And two things comes out of that : The fear of losing her first life because it would cause suffering to her AND her loved ones, but ironically also that SHE would be the one that could sacrifice a life to one of her siblings, she would feel terrible if one of her siblings died instead of her "simply" losing a life and she did nothing because she was scared.

A fun (not fun) little fact is that recently this paranoïa for the other's safety has started to transform into anger : She was first scared of ElQuackity, but the second she learned that Dapper was captured by him, she was FURIOUS, Baghera had to tell her multiple times to not go after ElQuackity, and though she is most of the time very empathetic of someone's situation, she has only expressed disgust and hate towards ElQuackity since then, talking multiple times how much she wants to kill him herself. (if that's how she loses her first life : dying trying to kill ElQuackity... I don't what I would do (probably cry))

I could probably find 100 more things to say but I'm writing that in the middle of doing something else and I'm getting a headache so I'll stop there. If you can't tell this was just an excuse to talk about the egg of all time. Let's finish by the quote (that I really like) that crowns her wiki page :

"J'ai beaucoup de questions mais je suis pas sûre de vouloir connaître les réponses"

"I have many questions but I'm not sure I want to know the answers"

[inspired-lesson-plans]

Revisited & Revised

Library (or ELA), Grade 6, Discussion Questions RL.CT.6.8. Compare and contrast literary texts in different forms, by different authors, or from different genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and primary source documents, scientific journals and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Do Now (3 min):

Turn and Talk.

What stories have you consumed in more than one format? Formats include, but are not limited to:

Book, audio book, graphic novel, movie, TV series, video game, stage play, songs.

Class Discussion (10 min):

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a story existing in more than one format?

Examples:

The Giver by Lois Lowry as a graphic novel shows the role of color in the story much better than the text is able to, without losing the intimate, personal feel the way that the movie did.

The Lightning Thief is a good book and a great TV series, but failed as a movie because Rick Riordan was left out of the writing process for some reason the story is so episodic that it loses the "this happened then this happened" storytelling that makes it charming. Arguably, it would also work as a video game, too.

Direct Instruction (10 min):

Talk students through the Twitter thread started by Randi Jo Dalton. Explain the following key terms when they come up.

Mohawk (members of the Haudenosaunee)

Settler-Colonial Mindset ("European traditions as inherently superior")

Classist (Preferential to wealthy people over poor people)

Ableist (Preferential to people without disabilities)

Virtue Signaling (Loudly performing popular moral values)

Higher Order Learning (remaining time):

Students compose responses to the tweet thread in the form of a tweet thread of their own. They must state whether they agree or disagree with Randi Jo Dalton and Little Lorrie Loo, then explain why and add their own opinions backed up by examples. They must write at least 3 tweets (280 characters max each).

[thegentlefolks]

ⓘ REGULATIONS,

1. We welcome all roleplay characters of any ages.

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7. New accounts must have a minimum of 50 followers and 100 tweets.

8. Twins are not accepted unless your muse has a real-life twin.

9. Refrain from using prohibited roleplay characters.

10. You may join 3 open agencies and 2 squads, including us.

11. Only squads with scheduled activities count towards this limit.

12. Ensure that the number of accounts you follow does not exceed 580.

13. Limit out-of-character content and avoid reposting any fansite or fanbase accounts.

14. Refrain from forming inner circles or participating in any kind of unnecessary drama.

“ To maintain a positive atmosphere in The GentleFolks, be respectful and mindful of your words and obey the rules and treat everyone with kindness. ”

💥 AN EXCUSE,

Hiatus : You may take a break from The GentleFolks activities for 3 days, considered a regular hiatus, or 5 days maybe more, considered a long hiatus.

Move & Change : You may change your muse, move to another account, or change your username/muse only with The Spectry approval.

Temporary Swap : You can temporarily swap your characters for up to 3 days. To avoid confusion, please do not use the same character as your fellow OA members.

ⓘ UNVERIFICATION,

Here are reasons that may lead to unverification from The GentleFolks after owning minimal 3 and max 4 red–notice from us, The Spectry :

1. Being inactive for 24 hours after verification.

2. Selling/Suspended/Locked/Changing your account without informing The Spectry about the new account.

3. Inactivity for 3 days without notifying The Spectry.

4. Inactivity for 24 hours following the completion of your hiatus period.

5. Repeatedly violating our regulations.

[certifetch]

I. Terms and Condition.

All star is welcome, and only accounts dedicated to general roleplay characters will be permitted. Therefore, usernames and display names must directly correspond to your character (Utilizing your idol's Instagram for inspiration is acceptable). Avoid using nicknames or any unrelated identifiers.

While it's preferable to join using your main account, using side account is also permissible as long as you actively engage in our future activities.

New accounts with a minimum of 50 active followers, 50 active followings, and 300 tweets will be granted acceptance.

Each member is limited to possessing three active agencies, including ours, and two squads with a Base. Squad groups do not contribute to this count. Additionally, please ensure that your following count remains below 600.

Twins are strictly prohibited unless your character has a genuine twin.

Maintain your activity levels by either retweeting or manually tweeting. Updating your character's status is encouraged, but retweeting fan accounts is not allowed. Engage in conversations with your mutuals and fellow Certifetch Members to demonstrate your activity.

Engaging in discussions, retweeting contentious content, inciting real-life conflicts, drama, or other negative behavior is strictly forbidden. Furthermore, be mindful of excessively sharing out-of-character (OOC) content and refrain from posting Not Safe for Work (NSFW) material before 11 PM and after 5 AM to ensure the comfort of our younger members. Please also show respect towards your fellow members and housemates.

II. Regulations.

We encourage active participation in our activities. Should you be unable to join, please courteously notify the Fetchers of your absence and provide your reason.

Should you intend to take a temporary break, hiatus, or desire to change your character, please inform the Fetchers accordingly. Temporary hiatus is limited to a maximum of 4 days, while extended hiatus can be up to 7 days.

Should you encounter any issues or difficulties during your time on Certifetch, please notify the Fetchers promptly, whether it be related to your situation or any challenges you may be facing.

While there is no requirement for a minimum number of daily tweets, it is important to engage in conversation with other members regularly.

There will be two group direct message dedicated to our activities. One is solely for information and tweet sharing without conversations, exclusive to The Fetchers. The other is designated for on-topic discussions, where members may share up max 3 tweets per day on convo.

[endlessdreamerxoxo]

Joe Quinn was Right (kinda) pt.2.

I am going to clarify my feelings before I get some kind of hate from people. Why I made my pseudo-rant is that I like shipping, but I hate how people take it too far. I hate by all account that people can’t act nice online and just enjoy the things they like.  In the case of Edssy,  I really hate this for a couple reasons

1. This reason is personal so I may not get into the details. But my family has worked in films & tv for a long time. Thefore I know about production, sets, and the bts of the entertainment industry.  There are like 50 to a 100 people working on a project at once. There are always going to be mistakes in the minute details, especially for background props like documents because there're changes being  made to the script every day, or actors improvising lines on the spot. The crew may not have time to update everything for production, but you can’t hull the schedule for filming (it cost thousands of dollars for the penalties).  

Marvel and Pixar spends a lot of time on easter eggs because they are known for it and they know that people are going to look.  No one ever thought that people are going to pause and read a dead girl’s file, while Max is literally about to die herself.

2. The Math doesn’t Math. Whatever way you cut it, it doesn’t makes sense.

A. Let’s just say that Eddie actually graduating on time in 84′, and we took his bandmates’ word that he got held back twice.  Then, if he was smart enough to go to college, he would be a sophomore in 86′.  In the US,  the majority of students graduates from college at 22.  Sophomore year is 2 years earlier and most people has a birthday within a school year.  So coming out of his freshman year in 85′, Eddie would be 19. By the spring of 86′, Eddie would be 20.

B. if we take Eddie at his word that they met at the middle school’s talent show (and high schoolers wasn’t permit to perform) then Eddie had to attend the junior high school at the same time as Chrissy.  We know that Erica told Eddie at the Hellfire meeting she was 11 (and corrected Murray last season that she was 10) and she goes to the junior high school. So it is not unlikely that Chrissy might’ve been 11/12 and Eddie was 13/14. So Chrissy, at least, has to be 17 turning 18 in 86′ as there is enough hints that Chrissy is a senior.

3. I really hate the harassment of Grace for loving her own character, her love for her co-star Joseph Quinn and the magic that they were able to create with each other,  and her love for the role she was able to portray even for one ep.

A.  it is a shame that Grace is getting slam for her own character and her emotional desire to see a character that she is attached to, get the happy ending she deserves. If you are poking holes and harasses the actress over twitter claiming that she doesn’t know her own character’s age because Eddie and Chrissy shouldn’t be together  solely because of the age gap until she is forced to delete a tweet.  You are not a fan of Eddie Munson or Chrissy Cunningham. Grace’s acting in the wood scene is why you loved Chrissy. Her sweet and giddy personality made  us love Chrissy and want her to have a happy ending.  Eddie wouldn’t be the boy we love without Grace’s acting.  Many of us started to love Eddie because of that wood scene. Joe even say that he enjoyed that scene because of Grace and her natural reactions, thus he was able to peel the layers of Eddie off.

B.  And can we talk about the misogynistic undertones of the harassment at Grace because I haven’t seen people harassing Joe for shipping them (because he does, just not as openly as Grace) or the Duffer Brothers? 

*or Joe is off limits because we think Eddie is hot?

[ginjointsintheworld]

You know, I was just thinking. If Helen didn't ask about how Lauren was doing at that moment, she'd have probably taken those drugs. This is why a simple "How are you doing" you say to people can be very significant and life-saving. And it's why I'm pissed at the writers for giving us crumbs with this friendship, it's so much more than they are showing. Helen knew instantly that Lauren was not okay she walked in and I suspect she knew Lauren had done something wrong. She had this knowing look.

Let's see where the story goes from here, maybe we'd meet Bloom's sponsor, see her in NA meetings where she can probably voice out her thoughts and realize why she made that donation. Seeing Vanessa this season would be a bonus.

Watch these writers gloss over what Floyd did but they want to damn Lauren to hell.

Watch the GA understand that he did it for the greater good, even though to me, it was a selfish thing to do, but they keep on insisting Lauren is this controlling and manipulative woman.

Double standards, it's like they've condemned Lauren to perpetual suffering. They've made her the designated punching bag.

one of the things i was most annoyed about with s3 was how isolated the writers ended up making helen. it felt like her entire existence was limited to max and mina but only because she was part of helen's over arching s3 plot. even though lauren's was her blossoming relationship with leyla, we still got to see her talk and connect with iggy and floyd. helen and lauren used to confide in each other so much in s1&2 and i'm sad it was shelved for the majority of s3&4 until this week.

janet tweeted during 4x14

plus iggy's mention of her sponsor in 4x04 👀👀👀 it'd basically be the closest we'd ever get to a character going to therapy that's not with iggy so i'm here for it. make it happen demon man. janet also mentioned in the ig live before the episode that she'd been lobbying for vanessa to get introduced and i've been chomping at the bits forever to see lauren and her baby sister so i might actually pass away if that ever becomes a reality. plus they'd be such fascinating characters to explore deeper into lauren's story with. we've only just scratched the surface of the bloom family history and good god is there so much more to know. actually these writers have given all the main characters some level of tragic backstory yet in 4 seasons have only barely scratched the surface of them lmao.

it's funny that you say that about floyd because i was just scrolling through some comments on the official NA IG account and floyd is getting KILLLLLLLLED for what he did. tbh i think there's actually less sympathy for his actions among the true GA than for lauren and the donation. heck even among the fandom people, floyd's got very little support right now. in universe wise it'll be interesting to see how the other characters react to what he's done. whether we'll see them angry and icing him out or understanding but hurt.

[popcornbutterflymedia]

the teen show genre is back. that it had announced it’s grand return at such a time of deep uncertainty and unimaginable loss, especially for an entire generation of teenagers, is relief, respite, and a necessary and urgent gain. there is nothing but gratitude for this...for its intended audience and for those of us who will live vicariously through the lives of the kids, for those of us who will watch, and walk with the kids. for someone like me who longs to feel strongly about a story enough to write again.

despite my ‘desperate begging’ for the return of the youth oriented show. i did not picture this. in my defense, i did not know about this story at all. now, when i did learn the gist of the story, i did not expect much. it is, after all, a trope we’ve repeatedly seen in practically every language. in my defense, again, i would have found this show, and watched it anyway, in support of the network, probably be mildly entertained, slightly amused, and successfully distracted. and that would have been enough. i was bound to find this show, though during a deep dive into the youtube rabbit hole, chancing upon a japanese doll and an american cutie, realizing the creative team for this show is that creative team. my favorite creative team. i was sold.

i knew i was going to love this show enough to write. the question is, how? do i live tweet, take notes, and write a post for every episode, or do i live tweet take notes, listen, take notes and write one big post at the end of the series? judging by how much detail i know this team puts into a story in the form of metaphors, seeds, pay offs, connection and clues, clearly obvious in this first episode alone, this calls for an episodic post, for the peace of my own nerdy, detailed obsessed mind.

it is worth repeating that i haven’t read the book. this focuses on the series alone. no references, no comparison to its source material.

and it begins. oddly so.

first, a note on the casting: my attachment to a show is dependent on my attachment to the cast of the show. i spent the weeks and months leading up the pilot episode learning as much as i can about this refreshing cast of newbies. i’d been watching rise since it began, and so it wasn’t difficult to develop a soft spot for the five rise kids who are part of the show. as for the rest of the cast, their interviews and streams are all surprisingly impressive. i always like to say ‘walang patapon sa mga batang ito.’ none at all. they are all so special that i am in awe of how many gifted children are in one batch at one time, in time for a show like this. the teen show slot was vacant because it was waiting for these specific kids. 

everyone who was given moments on this episode made the most of their moments. episode one’s surprises were criza, who is a natural. i am just grateful naih was able to use all of criza’s kulit energy. gelo, i’ve known is funny, but it wasn’t until i saw him in character that i realized just how hysterical he is. i enjoyed his interaction with ysay, i am wondering if there is more of that. v no longer surprises. i find that she is incredibly underrated still. i love that girl. fictional life sometimes clouds my judgement, ever so slightly, but these mean girls, are the mean girls i would cheer for. i’ve just been enjoying the girls’ junket interviews so much that it is also a joy to watch them in character. aimee is spunky, sophie is incredibly poised. khloe is a joy to watch, and ash just fits in, dalia...i have never seen a girl with such strong presence and beauty since hopie. i have never enjoyed watching a local queen bee as much as i feel i would enjoy, and hate to watch kim. dalia is amusing to watch too, so there’s that. joao, you know i have always found reliable and competent. limer, i am just happy an actor like him is in a show as big as this. kaorys is my in on this show. they are favorites. i adore them. she registers well on camera, and rhys is music to my ears, and has such an animated, expressive face. i cannot wait to watch their subplot and write about them in detail. i am attached to these kids. i know they are going to be a joy to watch.

melizza, melizza deserves her own paragraph. i first paid attention to when she was answering those miss universe questions on rise, and my jaw literally dripped at how intelligent she is. that intelligence shines through in her portrayal of elle. she is self-aware, and aware of her co-stars in a scene. she is conscious of where she is in a scene. she does she is a realiable actress in that there is no fear that she will break character it doesn’t have to be her scene, but i cannot help but watch her. she isn’t a scene stealer, but she is always acting, always reacting. she gets the assignment: from speaking french to playing a nuanced mean girl whose meanness, is as she understands and plays elle, stems from fear, from being threatened. i actually love that. there is no real villain in this story, just kids navigating unfamiliar, ugly, strange feelings, with limited ways to express these feelings. melizza gets it. i said i am a melizza fan now. i mean it.

donny and belle individually: i had known of donny, watched him long enough to know him, and who his family is. since he started mostly on social media, this ate didn’t quite get the appeal. no offense, it’s just a generational thing. haha! when he started acting, he was like most greenhorns to me, appeal understandable, charming to an extent, but with still so much to learn. i missed his last acting stint before this show. i did not watch jpd.

belle is a going bulilit alum. that’s all i really need to know to trust the casting. i wasn’t a fan yet. i had no clue about the story so i did not know just how much weight the character carried, but by virtue of the fact that she’s been acting the longest out of the ensemble, i knew she knew what she would be doing. i knew the management knew what they were doing when they casted her. belle as the focal point of the story lends such an air of confidence that the story will be told well and that the necessary intimacies will be handled with care. belle’s ability to transform would make max’s arc effective. i did not watch jpd. i had heard about it.i had heard it was surprise. ‘the ending part...’ it was all too familiar: lizquen, circa 2012, must be love: ‘the ending...’

it was completely blind, complete trust.

their casting made me momentarily forget that there were multiple rounds of auditions, from which the each of the cast were carefully picked. it just seemed so random, that is, in context of say, kaori and rhys that could count kuya’s house as part of their shared history. so much of my acceptance of this new pairing depended on how much i trusted the team, and how i knew they worked. i then consumed any and all donbelle content i could find, which, at that time was painfully lacking. imagine the excitement when that first general assembly officially kicked off the hih junket, from then on, they started to grow on me. 

these are two calm, cool, collected kids, with a kulit side for sure, but they both take their sweet time. there is a formality and wide open space that was begging to be bridged with these two. there were times i would will myself to see it.  theirs isn’t an instant explosion of chemistry, but a sustained afterglow. once that was clear, the goal of sustaining this partnership for however long, how many other stories they can tell together, also became clearer.

it was the tv patrol interview by the lockers that had me sold. it was him joking that they were already married with three kids. it was the way he looked at her in that interview, the way he still does, with donbelle, it’s all the little, quiet things. i don’t know how to explain it, but if they were to jump into the emotional deep end together, i have no fear.

now, back to the beginning which i thought was strange. a recap of what i imagine is the entire first season, artistic as it may be, is one huge spoiler. i realized, this is based on a book. those who’ve read it obviously know what’s going to happen. such opening is meant to set the mood. it’s an invitation to emotionally invest. it’s safe to say, it accomplished those two goals, but i feel as though there is more to that opening. as someone who is clueless about the source material, it reassures that it doesn’t matter what we know, or don’t know, because this is less a story of ‘what?’ and more a story of ‘whys?’ and ‘hows?’this takes me back to the first general assembly when comparisons to the meteor garden, boys over flowers were brought up. i understand the comparisons, but now that the first episode has aired, i feel so strongly against it.  

this introductory montage is proof that it is not about the pieces of the story, but how the pieces are moved around to tell a story, to give us a fresh new perspective of a trope, starring stereotypical characters. the story is told in retrospect, with our lead looking back, taking all the pieces of the whole apart, rather than building the story as she goes along (which is incidentally how i like to take in stories).

the introductory montage is a device that allows a more expanded storytelling. the story is told from max’s point of view. it’s a story of how she sees things, this makes her an unreliable narrator due to her blind spots and clouded judgement. as the story goes along, the audience sees that it is not only max’s story, it is deib’s as well, and the rest of the characters’ stories, max only sees the bigger picture in retrospect. because i am such a nerd, imagine my kilig when i realize why that choice for an opening was made? i may have screamed.

notes, questions, favorite moments.

belle’s ‘sigurado,’ the first 4-5 notes of the hooked sprinkled throughout the episode.

on the road: the transition from max on the trike and deib, in his car rushing through a countryside road, if that was clean editing, i’d celebrate it...that the two people were on the same road at the same time travelling different directions is the most clever storytelling moment thus far. i love when seeds are planted and pay offs are grand. it was hardly a meet cute, but it was some intense head on collision. okay, i got it just then, the accident was a literal representation of their metaphorical colliding. it was a lot of things for her: irritation, wonder, disturbance, fascination, disruption. it was a complicated mix for him too, except clouded by the rush of having to be somewhere else other than that moment. charged. electric. spark. lightning that escaped him. (yup. more on that later).

this encounter begs the question: what was deib doing there? why was he in a rush?

the airport scene: ‘hinihintay ka na ng kapalaran mo.’ a beautiful verbal sign of things to come.

meeting daddy: it’s what uncertainty does to max that i find so disarming her fidgeting the heart shaped pendant close to her chest, summoning said heart for strength, and grace, counting on the assurance of its familiarity.

the car conversation with dad: still disarming. charming. curious. that the necklace from which hangs her heart shaped confidante was actually her dad’s gift to her mom. how heartwarming is the thought that the one thing that makes her feel close to her mom is actually from her dad who she is meeting for what i assume is the first time? i think it’s a beautiful irony.

the dinner table scene. the family dynamic it established. elle’s french, max wrestling with the chopsticks on the side.

sleepless max. her hidden vulnerability, and with whom that vulnerability finds comfort. who is babu?

max’s fist at the school entrance, and elle calling her out on it.

the cafeteria scene, and how that whole moment is the selling point of the story - brave max who does not care for the social rules of her new school standing up to the bully who happens to look the way he does. i won’t say she’s unaffected, but at that point  her view is clouded with the injustice she just witnessed, that is until they recognize each other. as a side note: ysay and lorde’s interaction made me smile.

the aftermath. max has now caught the attention of the whole school, she has caught the attention of the mean girls so much so that walking down the halls is social suicide. when aimee confronted her, (sophie did so well!) my eyes looked for elle’s eyes. there were layers upon layers of emotion there: shame, hesitation, confusion, fear, maybe anger, there was a flash of her wanting to connect too, or did i just imagine it?

the gym scene with all the boys. it’s probably my favorite...not really, but it’s the scene that gave me so much, the scene that proved to me that this is more than just a simple, one dimensional teen show. this one moment spawned so many fan theories online that i have yet to read. it’s interesting when we cross that bridge, but to me for now, it is from this point up to the debate that kind of turned the tables, and gave the story a sudden depth that’s unexpected. it made the audience pay attention to deib as well, that this is as much his story too. and on the aspect of change, in one interview (i can’t remember which one), i remember belle describing max as someone who wants to change the people around her, and through that, she is changed as well. i did not understand what she meant at that time, until this. and the debate.

the debate: i just love the debate, simply because i love words, but long-winded dialogue like that is risky especially on a show like this. i loved it. i loved the rhythm, poetry, and point of it. i love how layered it is. i loved how comfortable was delivering his lines. i did not cringe, which just means he has gotten better at this whole acting thing, and it’s always a joy to watch someone breakthrough. this moment was necessary as a springboard to the next scene, to show that the rivalry isn’t just a physical one, but a rivalry of the minds too. (i enjoyed that that was pointed out in one of the kumu lives)  this is also one of the scenes that proved what the introductory montage was trying to establish: that max is an unreliable narrator, that there are things she doesn’t see. i would say the tables have turned, and it has, but we also discovered that deib has always been the romantic, and max the realist. at that moment we know that max will be changed irrevocably. that ending took the wind out of me. that hurt, but it was thrilling too, made me excited for things to come.

 ‘love is like lightning.’ poor deib doesn’t know he has been struck by lightning, and is prone to the electricity of one. he doesn’t know it yet because of the gray sky gloom of his shattered heart.

the kiss is everything, it was shocking, kilig and all that, but in context of the story, it is more appealing more kilig to think of all the interactions that lead up to that accidental kiss, all the pent up tension in those interactions that is channeled into that meeting of lips. oh gosh! it just occurred to me, this kiss was predicated by such a verbose exchange just to prove a point, to win. it only took this kiss to shut both max and deib up. i would say there are no winners here. they are both losers to love. except. it’s still to early to call it, right?

in terms of the team up: implied as it is, this is what i mean when i say, i am unafraid for these two to go there, when necessary. there is such a safety i sense between donny and belle, in the way they care for each other. it’s beautiful.

to say that this show only promotes bullying to its young, impressionable target demographic, could not be more wrong. this show matters because it gives its characters (who are representative of today’s teen generation), complete arcs, and safe spaces for feelings no matter how ugly they are. it’s a show that allows teens to be teens, allows them to figure things out for themselves, a show that allows them to relate with one another, as they should. and the usual byproduct of emotional teens relating with one another is bullying. it’s not the best thing ever, but it is what it is. see, we can only pray and hope that the kids turn out to be good ones, but to expect kids to be perfect is out of the question. this is a work of fiction, of course there is a tinge of exaggeration. now, if you all are that bothered by the bullying, i hope there are adults watching with you. be kilig. have fun with the show, but always look deeper.

why do you think i needed three re-watches and few days for a post this long?

i am excited for the next episodes.

__

(if i think to add more, this will be edited).

[angrycowboy]

“It’s just him, you know. Screws me up.”

In 1x07, we see two really great interactions between Max and Michael. When the episode first aired, I was very defensive of Michael (and I probably still am), but these days I’m more sympathetic toward Max, which has changed how I view these scenes (aka I’m not quite as angry at Max). And these two scenes between them are some of my favorite, especially on the heels of the previous episode with the flashbacks to both 2004 and 2008.

Max learned in 1x05 that after Rosa’s death, Michael and Isobel made the decision to send Liz away, convinced that Max would break under the pressure. We know from the previous episodes that the three of them have basically had a pact to not ask questions, to blend in, and to do whatever it takes to protect their secret. We see this with both Max & Michael and the cover-up of Rosa’s death AND Michael & Isobel making the decision to send Liz away from Roswell (and away from Max).

So, Max is hurting, and he lashes out at Michael in a way he knows will hurt.

And hurt it does. Michael’s face crumples. Because as I talked about here, Max has known (or at least heavily suspected) since Prom about Michael’s feelings for Alex. And while yes, the scene definitely stings, Max is trying to show Michael just why it hurt that he and Isobel made the decision to send Liz away.

And it works.

Michael shuts down. Talking about Max’s feelings for Liz, and how they were a potential for exposure? Michael has no problem with that. But when being confronted with someone else bringing up his own feelings? And using them against him to make a point? Michael doesn’t want to deal with that.

He already knows on some level, that Liz Ortecho is Max’s weakness. But what he’s never done is compare his feelings for Alex to Max’s for Liz. At least, not until this moment when Max brings it up. Because Michael is a man of logic, and feelings, and what he feels for Alex - they’re not exactly logical (it’s why he lands on COSMIC to describe his connection to Alex) so he views them as a weakness. And weakness can be exploited.

And Michael believes that he’s done a much better job at not letting his feelings for Alex dictate his actions.

We also know that at this point, Michael still has his backup plan in place. The Airstream is covered in research and drawings, and though we don’t know it upon initial viewing of this episode, Michael’s been working on reassembling the ship console, which he believes is vital in being able to return to the planet they’re originally from.

(This also makes me wonder when Michael stopped waiting like he told Isobel in 1x02, and started building. Because by age 17, as we see in the moment in the shed in 1x06, he was keeping a composition notebook with sketches and calculations, and clearly already trying to plan the how he could get off the planet.)

Because it’s harder to leave when there are people that you care about, that care about you. And though we know that Max and Isobel care for Michael and wouldn’t want him to leave, it’s Michael that believes that they would be okay if he left. And with the history we know of, that Alex is the one walking away, is it any wonder Michael has some belief that Alex won’t miss him if he leaves? (How could he if he keeps leaving, right?) 

Those walls he’s built up are high, and they’ve allowed him the ability to lie to himself for the past decade (or perhaps even the past two decades) and not believe that people could care about him the way he cares about them.

But here something changes. Max shows up at the junkyard and apologizes.

This is Michael admitting that Alex is his weakness. Alex is that person who can keep him here on this planet, who can disrupt those plans he’s made, is the one human being who made him believe Earth could be home (this goes right along with what Michael tells Max in the bunker in 1x11: “Alex made me believe there was a place for me here.”).

So in a way, it’s Michael finishing their earlier conversation - it’s Michael admitting that Alex is to him what Liz is to Max. This is about these two stubborn assholes relating in their own exhaustive way about how they each have a human being in their life that has, and will forever, be turning their world upside down.

And this isn’t Max dismissing what Michael has just told him. At least, not in regards to Michael’s feelings for Alex. It’s Max saying that he doesn’t care that Michael loves someone, has feelings for someone, and he certainly doesn’t care that it’s someone who’s male. These two interactions feel very much like a prelude to the bigger, more emotional interactions they have later on in 1x11.

So with that, I bring up: 

Twitter is the worst medium to try and explain anything, and it’s truly awful when you’re trying to have any kind of discussion. There’s a character limit, and so you’re forced to paraphrase, and while I think this tweet could have been worded better, I’m not sure it’s the big deal it’s made out to be.

Because Michael doesn’t want to talk about it -  though I think that comes across much clearer in regards to Max & Michael’s strained dynamic during their bunker talk in 1x11. Michael has enough trouble admitting his feelings for Alex to Alex, so talking about them with Max? EXHAUSTING.

(When Liz finally gets to Max & Michael in 1x11 she asks, “Max! Michael! You guys okay?” And Michael replies, “Not really.” Because he’s been stuck in a locked bunker with Max. Who made him talk about his feelings and Alex. Michael, for as much as I love him, is not great at opening up to people which is why Max essentially had to poke the bear to get Michael to talk to him at all.)

Moving on to “… as if Alex is some glitch in his otherwise straightness, as if his feelings are just a broken part.” Because like I’ve already stated, Michael does think feelings are a weakness, it’s feelings that made him and Isobel send Liz away from Max. It’s feelings that had Max almost cracking under pressure. It’s feelings that led to his hand being broken.

Now, don’t take that as Michael blaming Alex, because that is not true at all. But in 1x11, Michael tells Max, “I needed evidence of what could happen when you believe humanity could be good,” in regards to why Max was never allowed to heal his hand, why he kept the scars, the broken bones, dealt with the spasms and the cramps. Alex is the exception - it’s the rest of humanity that is the problem. 

“…that self-hatred and self-dismissal is what Max didn’t need to hear.” This is absolutely true. It’s not self-hatred toward his sexuality - the show makes that clear that Michael has no qualms about the fact that he’s attracted to both men and women - but the depth of those feelings. Michael is having trouble reconciling that there is someone on this planet (this planet that we know he would love to leave at the first available opportunity) who makes him want to stay.

[msjr0119]

Hold On

Part 24 - A little ceremony amongst friends.

Nobody got injured at the Homecoming ball, they all get separated into different safe houses- for safety.

Riley and Drake had confirmed that they had feelings for each other, however Drake believed Riley should be with Liam. Heartbroken, she moves back to New York. Only keeping in touch with Hana, Maxwell and Olivia.

Riley meets lawyer, Nate Cooper and begins a relationship with him. In Cordonia, Drake begins to court Kiara.

Nine months after Riley had left Cordonia- there is a reunion, but not the reunion the friends had hoped for.

*Characters belong to Pixelberry*

If you are under 18 please do not read this series. If you do you are consenting that you are over the age.

Series warnings: Suicide, domestic abuse, swearing, stabbing, smut🍋 If any of these triggers affect you do not read!

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415

******

We look forward to seeing Lady Riley as our new Queen....

Queen. Queen. Queen. I’m going to be Queen. I’m carrying the heir. I’m marrying King Liam of Cordonia. Is this a dream of reality?

Riley woken up dazed from her reoccurring thoughts. Streaks of sunlight penetrated through the window and blinds, blocking her vision. Hearing Maxwell’s snoring, she laughed. She had asked Max and Hana to stay over with her, obviously she wished that Liam could have stayed the night- but it is after all bad luck to see the bride on your wedding day. Knowing it was only a little ceremony- she was still nervous as hell. Liam’s mothers engagement ring mimicked the suns shine. Slowly sitting up, she rubbed her knuckles over her eyes, removing the remainder of sleep. Stretching her arms, Riley couldn’t prevent the large yawn, that was slowly yet gradually occurring. Making herself a cup of steaming coffee, she went to sit on the balcony- she had limited herself to one cup of coffee a day due to the pregnancy. The sky was a clear blue, the sunshine on this day brought a healthy glow to the foliage, the grass, to every exotic bloom. Birds were tweeting in a rhythmic melody. Today was the day.

******

It was early morning, Liam and Leo were already dressed in their regal wear. Leo could tell that Liam was nervous, the pacing up and down the study began to annoy him slightly- so he offered him a scotch.

“Sit down please, Li. Here, this will help with the nerves little brother.”

Liam forced a smile, grateful that his older brother knew exactly what was needed.

“I love her Leo, more than words could possibly explain. But I have this reoccurring subconscious thought that she may change her mind.”

“Don’t be silly. She’s wearing Eleanor’s ring. She’s yours. She’s carrying our heir. Why would she change her mind?”

“Everything that we’ve been through... Madeleine. Drake. Kiara. Nate. The baby she lost. I don’t know...”

“That’s all in the past, Li. The future is you and Riley and my nephew or niece, today is going to be the best day of your lives. Then when the heir is born, you will have a second wedding including the baby and the country. Cordonia is thrilled. Why did you chose the maze by the way?”

“Well I proposed there. The first night she came to Cordonia we had a moment in the maze. It’s now like our place. It just feels right. Thank you looking after her in New York by the way.”

“Ah I see. Let’s get going then, Beth is going to deliver your gift. Then it’ll be time to see your beautiful bride. No problem. It was hard, but shes your responsibility now- your responsibility to protect her.” Leo pat his brother on the shoulder, he had never seen Liam this nerve wrecked. Maybe it was due to the past rejection- but now everything was different.

*******

Between Maxwell and Hana they made Riley look fit for a Queen. Hana styled her hair, in a neat chignon with some stray curls elegantly leaned against her ears. They kept her make up neutral- with waterproof mascara just in case, she broke down emotionally. Hormones were coming in thick and fast, one minute Riley was emotional, the next minute she believed she didn’t look beautiful enough and was frustrated.

“You are so beautiful Little blossom, I’m so proud of you.” Maxwell pulled his ‘sister’ in for a tight hug- he admired how elegant she was looking on this special day.

“Thanks Maxwell. I just feel fat. And I don’t know if I can do this? What if Liam realises this is a huge mistake? I haven’t exactly been Queen material recently have I? Court case. Abused. Suicidal. What does he see in me?”

Riley replied with a defeated tone of voice- feeling unworthy. Tears began spilling down her face, her lip uncontrollably trembling. Maxwell wrapped his arms around her, with sorrow in his eyes. He didn’t like to see his sister feel this way- she meant the world to him, and everyone else for that matter.

“Good morning!”

Beth said in a cheery voice before running over to Riley who was crying in Maxwell’s arms. Confused as to why she would be this emotional- it was supposed to be a happy day.

“Ri, we all make mistakes. We all have our down days. But Liam has always loved you. Always. And he will continue that for the rest of his life. You didn’t see him at the hospital, in New York. The way he spoke to you....it was love at first sight when we first met you.”

“Max is right. I’ve got a gift from the groom. He’s waiting for you- don’t keep him too long babe. I’ll leave you to finish getting ready. Love you, Ri. See you soon Mrs Rhys/ Queen of Cordonia.”

Good morning beautiful. I missed holding you last night. After all this time, I still can’t believe that we’ve finally made it. I have loved you since the night I laid my eyes on you- I know all this time it hasn’t been easy. But I promise you now, I am going to protect you and love you unconditionally for the rest of my life as well as our child. You mean everything to me Riley Brooks. We are now a family. Don’t keep me waiting. I can’t wait to call you my wife. I hope you love the gifts, I have given you. If I could give you the world I would...

I love you, Li xo

Riley began sobbing again, at Liam’s words. Feeling her stomach churning - she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or morning sickness returning with vengeance. Opening the velvet box, there was a diamanté tiara along with a necklace.

Maxwell gently placed the necklace around her neck, Riley’s fingers gently hovered over it. He then delicately placed the tiara on her head, trying not to ruin Hana’s masterpiece chignon. Beautiful, he whispered.

*******

The palace staff had decorated the maze, there was a riot of colours from the bouquets that were placed surrounding the area. In the middle of the maze, near the swing- there were flower covered arches proving the sweet aroma of roses. Liam knew it would be a tight squeeze, but he wanted to do his nuptials here. As it was a quick ceremony the guests would stand throughout.

Liam stood nervously next to Drake, his best man. When he asked Drake to do this honour he felt awkward, due to the previous love triangle. But he knew deep down he couldn’t ask anyone else- Drake was his best childhood friend, his brother.

“Li, if you ever needed to use a stoic expression that time would be now.” Drake sarcastically said, trying to calm down the King.

“Im sorry. I’m trying, I truly am....”

“Liam, she chose you. This is your special day and we are all so happy for you both. She will be here soon.”

“Thank you for being so supportive. I hope she will be.”

“No problems. She always deserved you and you deserved her.”

Leo interrupted the two gentlemen, with a smirk on his face.

“Li, your bride is on her way. Hana’s just arrived.” Leo handed the men his flask filled with whiskey, before whispering- To calm the last nerves.

******

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d please rise for your bride.”

I wandered through the maze, Bertrand on my left side, Maxwell on the right. I couldn’t decide which of the brothers should walk me down the ‘aisle’. Maxwell instigated this fairytale becoming reality and Bertrand was an arsehole to me at the beginning. But they welcomed me into their house- I will always be grateful for everything they have helped me achieve. I was still feeling nauseous- but I am pregnant, a good excuse I kept telling myself. I am now marrying Liam- the love of my life. It hasn’t been easy, but we have come full circle and I couldn’t be any happier. I am grateful that he has so much love for me even with my past flaws and mistakes. I am truly, one lucky girl.

Slowly the three of us, walked down the ‘aisle’- both men in my arms were emotional even if they deny it. They looked overjoyed. I am glad that I have done them proud eventually. They deserve the positive reputation for their house. Our tiny group of close friends are waving and smiling at us.

My eyes fixated on Liam as we arrived at the end of the ‘aisle’. I softly smile at Drake- who returns the gesture. I’m glad he agreed to be Liam’s best man considering our past situation. Even if mine and Drake’s love story didn’t work out- I am still happy to have him in my life as my best friend. Liam’s eyes began to glisten. This is it, I’m becoming Queen.

******

Why am I so nervous? It’s just Riley- the Queen of my heart. She always has been, ever since the night I met her. Her adventurous spirit, her fearless spirit, her attitude to life, her natural beauty made me fall in love instantly.

After all that she has been through, I still see that old Riley- showing us how strong she truly is. My country will love her as Queen, she is friendly and caring. I hope they don’t love her more than me- although that probably would become reality. She had won over so many hearts in the time she spent here in Cordonia.

The Beaumont’s look as if they are going to emotionally break down- she has become like their sister. I know they must be feeling over the moon right now.

I must thank Hana and Max for making her look incredible and beautiful just like a goddess. I wipe a tear away- I hope I can contain my emotions. She is beautiful. She is going to become my wife. She is going to become Queen. I am so relieved and lucky that she chose me.

*****

“Riley, you are so beautiful.”

“Thank you my King. You look handsome as always.”

Liam cupped her cheek and kissed her gently, before moving down to her stomach mimicking his previous gesture. This was his way of informing Ana and Donnie that the Queen to be was carrying their heir. Leo coughed, ending the sentimental moment. Liam stood up slowly, gently holding his fiancées hands, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Their sparkly matching baby blues fixated on each other lovingly.

“So because this is basically a ‘shot gun wedding’- sorry guys. I’m not going to go through the usual Cordonian nuptial introduction- we will save that for the cathedral wedding.”

Everyone began laughing- Leo really had no filter. Ana and Donnie nodded politely towards Liam and Riley now having their suspicions confirmed.

“In my time in New York, I became close to Riley and I classed her as my little sister. Secretly I was hoping that these two stubborn ass’s would reunite. I know the circumstances weren’t really what we imagined- but you both found love and happiness again. And I for one, are so thrilled to now officially call you my sister- unless you run off. But please don’t run off.”

“Don’t worry Li, I’m not running anywhere. Leo’s just being Leo.”

Riley whispered, whilst squeezing his hands tighter- feeling him become less tense and seeing his lips curl upwards.

“So, we will begin the vows and start with you, your Majesty.” Leo gestured for Liam to begin. Liam gulped hard, before beginning his speech.

“Riley, what can I say? Without you I am nothing- with you I am more myself. Our love is unique. Together you and I make something that has never been seen before. I will always protect you from harm to stand against your troubles. If you grow weak, I’ll be there to fight your battles for you. I’ll help you with your responsibilities and make your problems my own in order to spread the weight a bit more evenly. I love and cherish you, secure in the knowledge that you are my best friend, my love, my kind and adoring wife, Queen and mother to my child. You look so beautiful to me today, you always look beautiful to me and will always be this beautiful to me, tomorrow, and the next day and the next. I will only love you more and more each day of our marriage. There is still a part of me today that cannot believe that I’m the one who gets to marry you. You make me a better man, and a better King. I love you, Riley Brooks.”

Liam felt relieved that he had finally confessed how much love he had for Riley. Smiling at his fiancée, he took another moment to drink in the sight of her. He noticed tears running down her cheeks, softly caressing her cheeks- wiping away the tears, she was still gorgeous.

“Thank you Liam, Riley I believe it’s your turn now...”

“You have made me feel more loved than I ever thought was possible, even with my past decisions. I am so grateful that we have come full circle and are in each other’s arms again. Today, I give you all that I am, and all that I have. Just as I give you my hand to hold today, I give you my heart- my whole life. I choose you today. And I would choose you again tomorrow. I would go on choosing you the day after, and every day for the rest of our lives. You are my life. I love you and I will always carry you in my heart, as I’ve always done. Thank you for all your support and love you have provided me, I feel so lucky that myself and our baby have you in our lives. I love you Liam, my King.”

“Do you, King Liam Rhys of Cordonia take Riley Brooks to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through the good times and the bad, until death do you part?"

“I do.”

"Do you, Riley Brooks take King Liam Rhys of Cordonia to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through the good times and the bad, until death do you part?"

“I do.”

“By the power vested in me by the kingdom of Cordonia, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. The King and Queen Of Cordonia. May this blessed union be sealed with a kiss.”

Liam cupped Riley’s cheeks, placing a soft kiss on her lips- hearing the cheers from their friends encouraged Liam to deepen it into a more passionate kiss.

“You’re my wife!”

“You’re my husband! We both love you...”

“I love you both too. Mrs Rhys, My Queen. And you too my little Prince or Princess.”

Intertwining their fingers together, they joined their friends. Congratulations echoed throughout the maze. Ana and Donnie, had taken some picturesque photos of the newlyweds, before they bid their goodbyes.

“So after brunch, I assume the King and Queen will want some aloneeee time.... But who’s ready for the real party? As it’s a Beaumont wedding- well sort of. You’re all cordially invited to the after party at House Beaumont later tonight, to celebrate our sister getting married!”

[cfslugclub]

Janna L. Miller @tyjannasaurus

September 1st holds a special place in the heart of Harry Potter fans…this is the day that the students of Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy-warty Hogwarts return to school! Universal Studios Orlando celebrated this by hosting an exclusive social media meet-up to celebrate #backtohogwarts! They limited the number of available tickets to 40, and needless to say, they were gone in seconds…but I, and a few other Slug Club members must have finally gotten our Felix Felicis potion right, because we got our letter to Hogwarts!

The event’s check-in started at 8:45pm on Saturday night and my hubby, as my plus-one, and I arrived at around 8:30pm only to find that we were not the first ones there! As we chatted with our new HP friend, who also happened to be in the Slug Club our eyes were drawn to the check in table where we saw boxes upon boxes of Ollivander wands! As more people queued up, we all were trying to get additional information out of the Universal VIP Staff, but all they did was smile and tell us that we had such a great night ahead…and they were right!

So we started to get checked in and received our lanyard…AND A WAND! While they were not “character” wands, like Harry’s or Hermione’s, they were interactive wands! They also gave each of us a large Wizarding World merchandise bag…I let the staff member know that I could put both my wand box and my hubby’s wand box in the same bag to cut down on waste…she leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial tone, “Take both bags. You are going to need them.”

They then walked us back through the park in groups to the London Waterfront area near the Eros Fountain and Knight Bus where we chatted and checked out our new wands. After a short wait, the Universal event staff gathered us around to tell us that for the next hour, we had the run of Diagon Alley…plus free butterbeer…plus we would be the first to play the new ‘choose your journey’ twitter scavenger hunt: Back to Hogwarts! We all got a very nice hand out for the scavenger hunt (which has a map of Diagon Alley on one side and Hogsmeade on the other) and we set off at a run!

How the game works…The hunt proposes questions like, “where is the fountain that you can practice your wand skills?”, then you go to that spot in the Wizarding World, take a picture and then post it as a tweet to reply to that step in the hunt! You don’t have to have a twitter handle to play, you can just play on twitter through a web browser on your phone.

The shops were open, Escape from Gringotts had zero wait, and even always spectacular Celestina Warbek was on hand to serenade us! But alas, the hour we had in Diagon Alley was up and we went back to London to get to Kings Cross Station!

Before we were able to board the train, the wonderful folks at Universal had to give us a couple of more things to help us on our way…tickets to Hogwarts (and one back to London) and candy! I chose chocolate, because,  you know, dementors! The Kings Cross Porters, muggles to the core, asked us why were taking the train so late and why one of us was wearing a bathrobe…but that didn’t stop one from agreeing to a selfie with me!

After navigating our way to Platform 9 ¾ we were seated in our Hogwarts Express compartment and whisked away to Hogsmeade where we were greeted outside the station and told what our activities on this side of the park were: VIP tour of Hogwarts Castle and no waiting for the ride; Class Pictures; Food & Drink at the Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head Pub.

We went through the empty, winding streets of Hogsmeade and, as Hogwarts Castle came in to view, we were all stunned by how it was lit up for the evening – just for us! In front of the entrance to the castle, one more table was set up…this time we had our choice of House scarves and notebooks (Slytherin for me; Gryffindor for my hubby – we balance each other out well)!! We were as giddy as first years at the start-of-term feast!

Then Kelly gave us our VIP tour of the castle, asking us trivia questions (which our groups’ Ravenclaw inevitably knew), giving us facts (did you know that the name of Hogwarts architect is unknown?), and pointing out the small details one might miss if you were just standing in line (I now know where Snapes’ office is)!

After the tour, we decided to go get our Wizarding World moving class pictures taken and because we couldn’t conjure any food or drink (remember the five exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration?)…we apparated over to Three Broomsticks and the Hog’s Head Pub.

We all were provided a drink ticket for something a little stronger than Butterbeer and then had a wonderful appetizer buffet that included pumpkin tarts! It was a great time to chat with other Harry Potter super fans and relax a bit as quite a few of us had spent the majority of the day in the parks and it was about midnight!

Soon our generous hosts came though the pub inviting us all to head back to Hogwarts Castle for a class picture to further commemorate our night. After the picture was taken, we all walked out of Hogsmeade full of Wizarding World love! It truly was a magical event and if I could wave my magic wand and give everyone reading this the same experience that we were lucky enough to have that night, I certainly would!

Read a member recap of the Universal Orlando’s #backtohogwarts Social Media Meet-Up Janna L. Miller @tyjannasaurus September 1st holds a special place in the heart of Harry Potter fans…this is the day that the students of Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy-warty Hogwarts return to school!

[aion-rsa]

Upcoming Jason Momoa Movies and TV Shows to Watch Out For

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Jason Momoa is everywhere. The former Game of Thrones actor is riding high after starring in the popular film Sweet Girl on Netflix, with Season 2 of his Apple TV+ series See set to start streaming this weekend and a key role in Denis Villeneuve’s hotly anticipated Dune adaptation on deck. Oh, and as the DCEU continues to shift and change, he’s still the only Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, in sight. Not bad for a guy who got his start on Baywatch: Hawaii.

Things aren’t slowing down any time soon for Momoa. Besides the projects listed above, the actor has a few other big things planned down the road. If you just finished Netflix’s Sweet Girl and you’re looking for more Momoa in your life, here’s where you can expect to see the King of Atlantis next.

See Season 2

Streaming August 26

Apple TV+’s sci-fi dystopian series is set in a far-off future in which humanity collectively lost the sense of sight. Season 1 found Momoa’s Baba Voss reuniting with his sighted stepson Kofun (Archie Madekwe) after defeating Jerlamarel (Joshua Henry), another sighted man who had fathered kids like Kofun all while having a weird messiah complex.

In season 2, Momoa’s Baba will have to go toe-to-toe with another big bad preoccupied with the possibility of returning sight to the world, his brother Edo Voss, played by Dave Bautista. It’s clear from early looks of season 2 that there’s some bad blood between the hulking brothers, and with season 2 bringing in a new showrunner, Warrior‘s Jonathan Tropper, we can expect the action scenes to be even more explosive in year two.

Dune

In theaters and on HBO Max on Oct. 22

After a failed Alejandro Jodorowsky adaptation, and a polarizing one from David Lynch, Frank Herbert’s “unfilmable” science fiction classic, Dune, will once again hit theaters and streaming this October. Once slated for a Christmas time release, Denis Villenuve’s Dune aims to capture the scale of the epic novel, with huge battles and even larger sand worms.

In a packed cast that also includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, and many more A-listers, Jason Momoa is playing Duncan Idaho, the swordmaster of House Atreides. Loyal to protagonist Paul, the ducal heir of House Atreides, Duncan is a mentor to Paul and an ambassador to the Fremen, the inhabitants of the the planet Arrakis.

There’s no telling if Villenuve’s Dune will make the hard science fiction of its source material palatable for a wide audience, but Momoa has had success in parts tied to beloved novels before, and there’s no doubt he’ll make Duncan Idaho into something memorable on screen.

Aquaman and the Last Kingdom

In theaters Dec. 16, 2022

Production has begun on the second Aquaman film, but the plot of the Jason Momoa-starrer mostly remains obscured in murky water. However, returning director James Wan has provided an intriguing update that references a cult classic 1960s Italian horror film as its main source of inspiration.

“Aquaman 2 is very heavily inspired by Planet of the Vampires,” Wan recently told Total Film. “You can take the boy out of horror but you can never take the horror out the boy.” 

But does the cult-classic Mario Bava sci-fi film about spaceships haunted by mysterious alien lifeforms fit into the underwater superhero aesthetic of Aquaman? Wan thinks the fans will roll with it.

“Well, the first movie took a lot of people by surprise, right?” Wan said. “And that’s partially because they were not familiar with the comic book, which deals in this very lurid, strange world. People were taken aback that I didn’t throw all that stuff away and make a dark, heavy film. But I didn’t feel that would have been right for it. So, with the second film, I feel it will be easier for people to accept where we go because I’ve already laid the foundation.”

We’ll see exactly where Wan, Momoa, and company will go when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom hits theaters on Dec. 16, 2022.

The Last Manhunt

Release Date TBD

Filming on this Western has been completed for some time, and the movie was set to premiere Aug. 27 at Pioneertown International Film Festival before the event was delayed by the surging COVID-19 Delta variant.

Jason Momoa exec produced and has a story credit on The Last Manhunt, which is based on true events. According to the synopsis, the film follows a Native American cowboy known as Willie Boy, who was chased into the hills by a sheriff’s posse in 1909 after Willie Boy fell in love with a woman named Carlota. Carlota’s father, a Chemehuevi shaman and local tribal leader, refused to let the young couple be together, and in a fatal confrontation, Carlota’s father was killed by an accidental gun shot and the young lovers fled to the sun enslaved Mohave desert.

The film was shot near where the actual events took place and local tribes were recruited to appear in the movie as extras or stand-ins. Momoa, who was originally onboard to direct but had to back out due to other commitment, was said to have fallen in love with the story and was insistent on getting the input of tribal members. The story was adapted to film once before in Robert Redford’s Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.

The film stars Martin Sensmeier as Willie Boy, Mainei Kinimaka as Carlota, and Momoa appears In a brief role as Big Jim. Directed by Momoa’s See costar Christian Camargo, The Last Manhunt currently does not have a scheduled release date.

Slumberland

TBD 2022

From Hunger Games franchise director Francis Lawrence, Slumberland is a live-action adaptation of the comic book series Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay. Taking a gender-flipped approach to the source material, Slumberland tells the story of a young girl (Marlow Barkley) who discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses through dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will see her late father again. Guess who will be playing that eccentric outlaw.

No, you’re not dreaming—that’s Jason Momoa with a full set of horns. Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenes at SLUMBERLAND, a new adventure story about an eccentric outlaw (Momoa) who guides a young hero (Marlow Barkley) through a secret dreamworld. Coming to Netflix in 2022. pic.twitter.com/QZIaQbk7HM

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) April 6, 2021

Momoa looks wonderful sporting big horns and extravagant outfit. His character, Flip, is described as a “nine-foot-tall creature that is half-man, half-beast, has shaggy fur, and long curved tusks.” They’ve certainly have got the man for the job.

Slumberland will also feature Weruche Opia, India de Beaufort, Kyle Chandler, and Chris O’Dowd rounding out the ensemble cast.

Cliffhanger

(TBD)

A female-led reboot of Sylvester Stallone’s Cliffhanger is in the works from director Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour.

Speaking to Deadline, Amirpour said, “I instantly knew the elements of the story I wanted to tell. There’s a special place in my heart for an action-survival movie. I’ve always been attracted to the theme of mountain climbers who, like filmmakers, have a certain madness to them. I love genre and fantasy and in this type of survival film you’re playing with real fear.”

“We are setting out to create a thrill-ride on the mountain which taps into the primal side of an action movie, where you see what a person is capable of doing to survive in the most extreme situations, pushed to the limits,” she continued. “Add to that some high-stakes espionage and a badass female mountain climber as the lead and it becomes a truly epic reinvention of what made the original Cliffhanger movie so fun and so thrilling.”

There’s no word on casting for the female lead, but Momoa is said to be involved in the film, with at least a cameo planned for the actor. Momoa confirmed as much with a post on his Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies)

Untitled Momoa-Dave Bautista Buddy Cop Movie

TBD

What started as a text exchange between two frequent co-stars has now become a public promise: we are going to get a Jason Momoa/Dave Bautista buddy cop film at some point.

After Bautista tweeted about the idea, Momoa took things even further by going on The Late Late Show with James Corden and expanding on the idea.

“[Bautista] literally texted me four days ago, going, ‘We need to do a buddy cop film,’” Momoa told Corden. “We love each other. We are on See and Dune together. And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And he said, ‘Let’s do it in Hawaii.’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it. I have an idea.’ So it’s off to the races now. We’re doing it.”

“It sells itself, bro,” he continued. “Dave loves wearing Speedos. I love wearing board shorts. And both of us with our shirts off. He’ll be grumpy and I’ll be charming. Boom. It sells itself, bro. I have the hair. He doesn’t have hair. We cover all the demographics.”

Obviously this project is in a very early stage, but Momoa is right — this thing sells itself. Sign us up for opening day tickets, please!

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

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[newdirectionshq]

• NDHQ VIEWS REQUIREMENT GUIDE •

Jess and I have mentioned bringing in a guide to ensure that every member is aware of what we are looking for in assigning views each week. To ensure we are all on the same page, we’ve listed what is required to meet the view threshold for each item on the VIEWS PAGE. Please be sure you’re reading this post to the end - this is very important, and moving forward there will be an expectation that you have read and understand the contents. 

I would also like to offer a reminder that the requirements for tasks and events will be explained in the task and event posts. 

As always, please message us if you have any questions.

Before we get into the guide, however, we do want to address something in a more general sense. We are blown away with the content that is being produced for the game, however we want to ensure that everything that is being produced for the game is and continues to be mindful. Everything should contribute to the character development or plot for your character. Please be conscious of what you are putting out and ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward and continuing to contribute meaningful content.

DO ( ✔ ) / DON’T ( ✖ )

The requirements for each of the options are as follows:

POSTING A DASH STARTER

✔ A dash starter posted in the "NDHQSTARTER" tag which all other players in the game can respond to [ example, example ]; 

✖ Open texts; 

✖ Replies to post replies; 

✖ Social media comments.

50+ NOTES ON A DASH STARTER

✔ A dash starter posted in the “NDHQSTARTER” tag that reached 50 notes in the week it was posted (Sunday to Saturday);

✖ Texts

100+ NOTES ON A DASH STARTER

✔ A dash starter posted in the “NDHQSTARTER” tag that reached 100 notes in the week it was posted (Sunday to Saturday);

✖ Texts

REPLYING TO ALL STARTERS POSTED IN A WEEK

✔ Replying to all dash starters posted in the “NDHQSTARTER” tag that are posted between Sunday and Saturday.

POSTING A TEXT MESSAGE STARTER (OPEN OR CLOSED)

✔ Mobile text messages formatted as Tumblr chat posts open to anyone in the game, or to specific members [ example, example ];

✖ Social media comments.

POSTING A F2F/PARA STARTER (OPEN OR CLOSED)

✔ An on-dash para or f2f interaction open to anyone in the game, or to specific members;

✔ Including the header as indicated below:

✖ Online/dash conversations.

5+ NOTES ON A F2F/PARA

✔ A f2f or para that reached 5+ notes in the week it was posted (Sunday to Saturday);

✖ Reaching 5+ notes in a subsequent week;

✖ Likes that the post may receive do not count for notes.

10+ NOTES ON A F2F/PARA

✔ A f2f or para that reached 10+ notes in the week it was posted (Sunday to Saturday);

✖ Reaching 10+ notes in a subsequent week;

✖ Likes that the post may receive do not count for notes.

POSTING A COMPLETED CHATZY/DISCORD THREAD

✔ A f2f or para interaction written on Discord or Chatzy that is posted when it is 100% complete;

✔ Points will be available only when it is finished regardless of when it was started;

✖ Anything not totally complete.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

✔ Tweets, Snapchat, instagrams, Facebook statuses or Youtube uploads to your characters social media;

✔ Each of the above requires a username for your character and in-character caption;

✔ FOR INSTAGRAM: a photo, an indication of number likes and comments on the photo;

✔ FOR SNAPCHAT: a photo or graphic, and whether it was sent to an individual or posted to a public story.

✔ FOR TWITTER: a minimum of 2 tweets per post, either in graphic form or posted directly to the dash, an inclusion of at least one mention (@) or hashtag (#) per set;

✔ FOR YOUTUBE: an image (either an existing video with credit, or a graphic of your own), an indication of the length of the video, the views of the video, and the number of thumbs up or thumbs down.

✖ Reblogged quotes or images;

✖ Reposted gifs or images without credit. If you are using someone else’s gifs, please credit in the tags or post.

✖ Gif sets or photosets with replaced captions;

MOODBOARD

✔ A 9-image gif board depicting a certain aspect of your muse or a relationship;

✔ A caption indicating what the moodboard is to represent;

✖ Reblogging or reposting entire gifsets which are not made by you. 

CHARACTER/AESTHETIC EDIT

✔ A visual depiction of some aspect of your muse formatted as a photoset with a theme, or created in photoshop.

✔ A caption indicating what the aesthetic is to represent

✖ Reblogging or reposting aesthetics made for characters or tropes which are not made by you. 

HEAD CANON OF 150+ WORDS

✔ 150+ words of meta describing a headcanon or biographical point for your character;

PLAYLIST OF 5+ SONGS

✔ 5+ songs; 

✔ With an image or other type of cover art;

✔ Links to songs on Spotify or YouTube are required to get views for creating a playlist; 

✖ Links to online playlists not made by you.

SELF PARA OF 300+ WORDS

✔ A scene written by you of 300+ words, either solo or incorporating non-playable characters;

✔ An indication of the word count in the post;

✖ Meta.

SELF PARA OF 500+ WORDS

✔ A scene written by you of 500+ words, either solo or incorporating non-playable characters;

✔ An indication of the word count in the post;

✖ Meta.

REBLOGGED MUSINGS (MAX OF 10 PER WEEK)

✔ Reblogged photos, music, quotes, photosets or pre-made content;

✖ Reposted images without credit.

HITTING ASK LIMIT

✔ Hitting ask limit outside of Sinful Sunday;

✔ Providing proof in the form of a screenshot at submission time.

✔ A maximum of once per week.

EVERY 100 POSTS MADE ON YOUR BLOG

✔ Every 100 posts made on your blog when the total post count reaches the round number.

SUGGESTING A CHALLENGE OR PROMPT

✔ A challenge or prompt suggestion sent in during points submission; 

✔ If you’re an existing member that has read to the end of this post, send an ask to the main acknowledging you’ve done so;

✖ Links to rebloggable memes. 

[cardsvistas]

12 Important Facts That You Should Know About Credit Card Statement Example | credit card statement example

Getting a acclaim agenda has its advantages. Acclaim cards are acceptable for authoritative purchases, and some alike action rewards on what you spend. What’s more, a acclaim agenda can be a accessible apparatus for architecture a absolute acclaim history. If you’re attractive for your aboriginal acclaim card, it’s important to accept how they assignment and how to use them to your advantage.

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A acclaim agenda allows you to accomplish purchases and pay for them later. In that sense, it’s like a concise loan.

When you use a acclaim agenda to accomplish a purchase, you’re about application the acclaim agenda company’s money. You afresh pay that money aback to the acclaim agenda company, with or afterwards interest, depending on the timing of your payment.

Your acclaim agenda aggregation gives you a acclaim absolute you can accomplish purchases against. This absolute will be based on things like your acclaim score, income, and anniversary history. As you allegation purchases to your card, your accessible acclaim shrinks. As you accomplish payments adjoin your balance, you chargeless up accessible acclaim again.

Each month, you’ll accept a anniversary assuming your anniversary activity. This anniversary includes:

The minimum acquittal due is the aboriginal bulk you accept to pay for that month. But it’s consistently a acceptable abstraction to pay added than the minimum if you can.

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Your agenda anniversary will additionally acquaint you how abundant it will bulk you to pay off the antithesis over time with interest. You can abstain absorption accuse on acclaim agenda balances by advantageous your bill in abounding during the adroitness period. A acclaim agenda adroitness aeon is a set time period, about 20 to 30 days, that you accept to pay off contempo purchases afore absorption starts accruing.

If you don’t pay in full, absorption begins to accrue. The bulk of absorption you pay is bent by your card’s anniversary allotment rate, or APR. The APR reflects the absorption amount for the card, forth with any fees the agenda charges, annualized as a percentage.

Credit cards can accept added than one APR. For example, your agenda may accept one APR for purchases, addition for antithesis transfers, and still addition for banknote advances. Some cards additionally action promotional APRs that administer to purchases and/or antithesis transfers for a bound aeon of time afterwards you accessible your agenda account.

Credit cards are accessible to use. If you go into a store, for instance, you may be prompted to admit your agenda in a dent clairvoyant or bash it at the checkout. You can additionally add your agenda to agenda wallet apps for contactless payments in stores. When arcade online, application your acclaim agenda is a amount of entering your agenda information, including:

When you use your agenda to accomplish a purchase, the merchant, the acclaim agenda company, and the agenda arrangement (such as Visa or Mastercard) alike to accredit and action the payment. All of this is done electronically and about instantaneously.

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It’s additionally important to use your acclaim agenda in agency that will advice addition your acclaim score, while not costing you added than all-important in acceding of absorption and fees. For example:

Credit array are based on a array of factors, but your acquittal history is the best important one. Advantageous your bills on time can advice your acclaim score, while advantageous backward or missing payments altogether can acutely accident it. So the aboriginal tip for how to use a acclaim agenda is to be abiding you accomplish payments on or afore the due date every month.

You can agenda automated payments from your coffer anniversary or set up due date reminders through your acclaim agenda anniversary to abbreviate the accident of advantageous late.

Interest accuse can accomplish aggregate you buy with your agenda added big-ticket if you backpack a antithesis from ages to month. When you accessible a acclaim agenda account, be abiding you accept what the APR is and how absorption accrues on purchases.

Remember, you can pay off purchases interest-free during the adroitness period. Also, be acquainted that if you accept balances with altered absorption rates, your payments may be activated differently. For example, say you accept one antithesis at a promotional 0% APR and addition at the approved acquirement APR. Anything you pay over the minimum would be activated to the antithesis with the accomplished APR first.

What To Do If You Have A Negative Balance On Your Credit Card – credit card statement example | credit card statement example

Cards with promotional offers may allegation 0% absorption on purchases and/or antithesis transfers, but these ante don’t aftermost forever. Any actual antithesis you owe afterwards the promotional aeon ends will be accountable to the card’s approved APR.

Credit cards can allegation abundant fees, which additionally add to the bulk of application them. Some of the best accepted fees you may appointment are:

All of these fees, as able-bodied as the card’s APRs, should be listed in your agenda agreement. You can additionally acquisition them online afore you apply. If you’re because a agenda with an anniversary fee, counterbalance that adjoin any amount the agenda ability action via a rewards affairs or added benefits. Many cards are accessible afterwards anniversary fees.

Similarly, if you plan to absorb time abroad, you ability appetite to opt for a agenda that doesn’t allegation adopted transaction fees.

After your acquittal history, the additional best important agency that affects your acclaim anniversary is your acclaim appliance ratio. It measures how abundant of your accessible acclaim you’re application at any accustomed time. Generally, it’s bigger to accumulate your agenda antithesis low about to your acclaim limit. Maxing out your acclaim cards can annual your acclaim anniversary to bead and additionally accelerate a arresting to lenders that you may be a college accident borrower.

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A accepted acclaim agenda allegory is that accustomed a antithesis will advance your acclaim score. On the contrary, accustomed a antithesis can potentially aching your anniversary if it agency you’re application added of your accessible credit. You can advice your score—and save money at the aforementioned time—by charging no added than you can allow to pay in abounding anniversary month.

Credit cards can advice you body credit, but they can additionally assignment adjoin you if you use them incorrectly. When comparing cards, be abiding you accept what you’ll pay in absorption and fees, as able-bodied as what you angle to accretion from any rewards and added agenda benefits. Once you activate application a acclaim card, analysis your chargeless acclaim letters periodically to accomplish abiding your anniversary action is actuality appear correctly. That can additionally be a acceptable way to atom abeyant artifice or character annexation if your agenda is anytime absent or stolen.

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[darthcontusion]

I HAVE DECODED A SMALL PORTION OF TUNGLE.HELL’S SUCKITUDE

okay so i’m taking a server side scripting class, right, and today the teacher pulled up my proposed database structure on the board to talk about how sometimes you’ll make information redundant and “denormalize” a database for the sake of efficiency even though it’s not best practice.

This is because while a client only talks to one server, a server is talking to many different clients and pushing enormous amounts of data to them at all times. This would be fine on its own, but when you bring a database into the picture, you’re constantly calling data from it, and that eats not just bandwidth but also processing power.

So from a strict storage standpoint, you want to have one copy of a piece of information and just call it a whole bunch of times as needed. 

So this was my initial estimate of tumblr, right? its means of storing information is hilariously inefficient. every reblogged post spawns a unique version of the post every time a user reblogs it. why? that’s dumb.

BUT

in order for tumblr to display data on your dashboard, it has to be making frequent calls to its database. so if you’re grabbing a post from a different part of your database, your call has to be more complicated and it starts to bog your server down. Tumblr looks at this big honkin problem and comes up with a solution: fuck normalization, duplicate the post and store it on the same table so we don’t have to make a shit-ton of complicated calls when people start mashing f5.

Tumblr also stands apart from twitter and facebook in its incredible ambitiousness. It isn't just notifying you of posts or displaying lots of small ones, it is a social media site designed to spit out entire blog posts onto your dashboard, lots of them, and with very few limitations. it’s shoving potentially massive amounts of data through its pipes the same way twitter does 280 character tweets with a max of 3 images on them. You can give your hot take instantly, you don’t have to sit down and think out a response. That’s beautiful in a strange way.

it’s also why you can use an extension to edit reblogs. The original post, by the original author isn’t linked or even called in after its placed in your form. you’re just dumping text onto your own blog, so it doesn’t confirm you didn’t change anything because it’d be a waste of time, from an overworked server’s perspective.

In order for posts to reflect the original poster’s edits, tumblr would have to go find the original post and then find and shove in any reblog-added content every time it shows up on someone’s dashboard or blog, so it’s just consolidated into a single static post. You only have to call the database one time instead of an additional time for each comment on the post’s reblog chain. less strain on the server’s aching back.

anyway, i could be wrong. the x kit dudes could probably confirm/deny since they know the back end really well. But based on my current level of understanding, I think i’m right probably?

[ageloire]

How to Use Pinterest Advertising to Promote Products and Attract Customers

Pinterest is often undervalued by social media marketers, and considered an unnecessary component of a marketing strategy -- unfortunately, if this is true for your team, you could be missing out on a major source of traffic and income.

Pinterest offers plenty of unique opportunities for marketers to reach leads and influence consumer purchasing behavior. In fact, 72% of Pinners use Pinterest to decide what to buy offline.

Pins have a much longer lifespan than Tweets or Instagram posts, making them a particularly powerful asset. Pins can show up in a user's feed months after initially posted.

If your content is engaging and valuable, it can be re-pinned again and again to different users' boards and continue to drive consumers back to your website.

All of which is to say -- a paid advertising strategy for Pinterest isn't such a bad idea, and could help bolster your organic presence by gaining traction with potential buyers, and improving brand recognition.

If you're interested in exploring how Pinterest advertising can help you attract customers, keep reading.

Pinterest Advertising

With over 250 million users, Pinterest is a great place for businesses to advertise products.

If you're creating ads on Pinterest, there is a large potential reach for each of your ads -- and, best of all, users are also actively searching the site for products like yours to buy.

90% of Pinterest users say Pinterest helps them decide what to purchase -- meaning your Pinterest ads, or Promoted Pins, are being shown to a remarkably responsive audience.

Pinterest Promoted Pins

There are a few ways to promote your content on Pinterest. To determine which ad format is best for your business, it's important to know the goals of your campaign and the attributes of each Pinterest promotion format.

1. Promoted Pins

At first glance, Promoted Pins look and act just like a regular static Pin, but they have a small "Promoted" label to set them apart. Promoted Pins are boosted and targeted to reach more people. Users can even Pin your Promoted Pins to their boards, share them, and comment on them.

Once a user shares a Promoted Pin, the "Promoted" label disappears, and subsequent re-pins are considered earned media -- meaning, after the first pin, organic exposure to the content is free.

Here are some guidelines to follow when creating a Promoted Pin advertisement:

The file has to be PNG or JPEG.

Your content cannot go over 10 MB.

There is a description copy limit of 500 characters.

Your aspect ratio must be 2:3 and should be vertically oriented.

2. Promoted Video Pins

Promoted Video Pins are exactly like Promoted Pins -- except the static image is replaced with a video.

90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions, and that same percentage of weekly Pinterest users are on the platform to make purchasing decisions. Therefore, Pinterest and video advertising go hand-in-hand.

Pinterest offers two options for video sizing: max width, or standard. Standard videos are the same size as regular Pins and cost less than a max width Pin, which spreads across a user's entire feed.

No matter what size you choose, Pinterest videos auto-play once they're 50 percent in view. Plus, the Promoted Video Pins have a conversion optimization option to better serve advertisers with traffic or conversion goals. This new option brings the user to a landing page on the advertiser's website, as well as a close-up of the video.

Here are some guidelines to follow when creating a Promoted Video Pin advertisement:

The file has to be either an MP4 or MOV.

Your video cannot exceed 2 GB.

The video must meet a minimum of four seconds, and cannot go over 30 minutes.

Your aspect ratio must fall between 1:91:1 and 1:2.

There is a description copy limit of 500 characters.

Make sure to create video that's not dependent on audio for greater accessibility and those who scroll with sound off.

3. Promoted Carousels

Promoted Carousels contain up to five images that users can swipe through. Carousels are used to give a deeper brand story within one Pin.

This feature behaves the same as other Pins, except it will have dots beneath the images that signal additional content. Each carousel image can be different and have a different title, description, and link to another landing page.

Here are some guidelines to follow when creating a Promoted Carousel advertisement:

File type: PNG or JPEG

Ideal aspect ratio: 1:1 or 2:3

File size: Max 10 MB

Title copy: Max 100 characters

Description copy: Max 500 characters

4. Promoted App Pins

Promoted App Pins are mobile-only advertisements that allow users to download your app directly from Pinterest. Since 80 percent of Pinterest traffic comes from mobile devices, these ads are a perfect way to meet your audience where they are.

Available on iOS and Android devices, these ads include an "Install" CTA that allows for a seamless transition from Pinterest to your app.

While most of the guidelines remain the same for these Pins, your copy, image, or video should convey important attributes about your app.

1. Choose your campaign objective.

Each of your Pinterest campaigns starts with an objective. Choosing your campaign goal is what determines what ad formats are available to you. There are three categories to choose from -- Build Awareness, Drive Consideration, and Conversions.

Conversion optimization is a new campaign objective that optimizes your advertisements for specific actions outside of clicks. Now, advertisers have a way to directly inspire people to take action -- like leading a user to an online checkout or newsletter sign-up with no extra steps.

If you want people to discover your business, choose Brand awareness for standard Pins or Video views for Promoted Video Pins as your campaign objective. For these two objectives, you can set a maximum cost for every 1,000 impressions your ad receives.

If your Pinterest goals are to drive qualified leads to your website or improve traffic, choose Traffic or App install for your campaign objective.

For these campaigns, you set a maximum cost-per-click -- which means you are only charged when people click through your Promoted Pin to visit your website.

2. Set your campaign budget.

If you want to spend your campaign money evenly over a specific time period, select lifetime. Select daily to choose the amount spent each day. You'll have to automatically adjust the budgets based on how long you want your ad to deliver.

Next, you'll set a maximum bid. A bid determines the highest amount of money you'd like to pay for an action, like an engagement or click, on Pinterest. Pinterest will recommend an amount for you depending on your target audience, and what competitors are spending.

Make sure your budget for Pinterest ads reflect your overall marketing goals and the importance of the platform for your business.

3. Maximize your SEO efforts.

By adding an interest and keywords to your descriptions, they become more relevant to people who are actively searching for that content. Keep in mind that hashtags don't add any ranking value.

On Pinterest, categories of interest are already sorted and categorized. You should explore the available topics that are relevant to your business and target those queries -- if you need inspiration, check out the seven categories that do exceptionally well on Pinterest.

Your boards also provide an opportunity for SEO. Boards inform Pinterest’s search engine on how to categorize your Pins, which improves visibility. Focusing on both will support your SEO efforts.

4. Choose your target audience.

Targeting allows you to reach people who are searching for your content and who are ready to actively engage. Targeting is an important part of promoted ads because, without it, you'll have less interest.

Pinterest has six targeting options that you can use singularly or combine together for a unique targeting approach.

Audiences combine your customer knowledge with behavioral insights from Pinterest. If someone has recently bought something from your site or engaged with your Pinterest content, this allows you to target that person for an ad.

Keywords show your ad to someone who is searching for that kind of content. If you set specific keywords like "tropical vacation" or "apple pie recipes", your ads will target people searching for those things.

Interests target people based on the types of content they regularly engage with. Your apple pie recipe ads would most likely be served to people who have an interest in baking or preparing for Thanksgiving.

Expanded will provide you with additional interest and keywords based on your ad's content and who you're trying to reach.

Demographics allows you to select a specific location, language, device, or gender.

Placements gives you the option to choose where your ad is delivered. If you don't want your promoted Pins to show up when someone is browsing, and only appear in search results, you can specify that here.

5. Add value.

Endless product promotions on a Pinterest feed aren't the best way to get an audience's attention -- and keep it. More than likely, you'll just become a disruption and get unfollowed. You have to add value to every touchpoint with your customer for them to engage with your content.

To add value on Pinterest, try adding Pins that your audience will want to engage with that don't include your product or business. You might offer added value by showcasing services or interests that compliment your own.

For example, if you sell cars, share content about upkeep or car accessories. Alternatively, if you're running a Pinterest page for a coffee shop, try Pinning playlist ideas for people to listen to while they work. There is plenty of content available to curate for your audience's benefit.

6. Mix up your content.

If you're busy targeting your content to a persona, you'll miss out on the organic connections and interests of your audience. While helpful for first steps, personas don't give you everything you need to know about the people who are interacting with your ads.

Keep your content seasonal and relevant. Yes, it is good to make evergreen content -- but don't miss out on pop culture or holiday opportunities to spark interest. In fact, research has shown Pins featuring holiday copy or images have a 22% increase in online sales.

7. Monitor campaign performance

Finally, you need to keep an eye on your campaign performance to determine the success of your ads, or why they didn't perform as you expected.

When you're in Pinterest Ads Manager, click on Analytics and you'll be shown an overview of all your campaigns and key metrics. These metrics include impressions, total clicks, earned cost-per-impression, effective cost-per-click, and more.

Every campaign has the opportunity to increase brand awareness or inspire purchases. After looking at your analytics, you can determine whether or not you need to widen your audience, increase your budget, or try a different ad format. Pinterest advertisements are not an exact science, so experiments are key to being successful on the platform.

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/pinterest-ads