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anghraine · 2 years

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This is really a meandering headcanon thing, but a P&P detail that I’ve been thinking about since ... approximately forever is the 12-year age gap between Darcy and Georgiana, and specifically: a) the reason for the age gap and b) the effect of that reason on the family.

It’s one thing to have a large age gap like that with a big sibling group, but it’s just the two of them, and Darcy emphasizes that he was an only child for a long time, so it doesn’t seem that there were other siblings between them who died in childhood, say.

The most obvious, and I think most common, explanation is that one of their parents had some sort of reproductive issue. Given that Lady Anne’s sister only has one child and these things can run in families, she’s the usual candidate. Maybe the problem had to do with conception, or maybe with carrying a fetus to term, who knows.

In either case, it could be that Darcy was born early in the senior Darcys’ marriage and they thought everything was fine at the time, and only realized afterwards that they’d been very lucky with him (but still, kept trying). Alternately, he might have been born after several increasingly anxious years and was welcomed with immense relief, and the lack of children for over ten years afterwards would only confirm how special his existence was.

I think the dynamic might be different depending on what the actual problem was. If the difficulty was in gestation rather than conception, Lady Anne probably had miscarriages—potentially one or more before Darcy’s birth, but almost certainly some (and quite possibly many) after it. If there were pregnancies before the one that resulted in him, then it’s possible that they didn’t actually expect that pregnancy to turn out any better, until it did.

This also makes the “engagement” between baby Darcy and baby Anne kind of interesting. Since they were in their cradles at the same time, they’re likely around the same age (one of Lady Catherine’s remarks implies IMO that Anne is slightly older, but it doesn’t really matter). That’s normally a minor detail. But if both Lady Catherine and Lady Anne had reproductive problems, then the births of two live children, at around the same time, might well have seemed pretty miraculous, and on top of that, it turns out that one is a boy and one is a girl. In this scenario, a lot of stars had to come into alignment to make that engagement happen at all.

And if the goal always was to unite the estates through Darcy and Anne’s marriage, that suggests that by this point, Lady Catherine did not expect to ever have a son, and possibly to ever have any children other than Anne. I mean, maybe she went through eighteenth-century childbirth once and was like “NEVER AGAIN” and Sir Lewis just went along with it. But I think it’s also possible that Anne was this miracle baby for Lady Catherine, that Darcy was the same for Lady Anne, and this deepened their conviction that it was Meant To Be.

(Note: Wickham mentions the rumors about Darcy and Anne marrying to prop up his Pemberley bona fides, which I think does suggest that it’s not all in Lady Catherine’s head, as is often suggested.)

Apart from that, I think the effect on Darcy himself is potentially intriguing and could vary depending on the particulars of what’s going on with Lady Anne. He wasn’t just the precious male heir, he was the precious only child, despite his father’s possible preference for young Wickham. If the trouble was with conception, it might well have seemed to Darcy like his mother’s pregnancy with Georgiana came out of nowhere and her entrance into his life was incredible.

On the other hand, if Lady Anne has had a bunch of miscarriages through his early childhood and possibly before it, by the time he’s twelve, he’s probably not expecting that this is going to end well, either, but then he has an actual living sister. For Darcy, the miracle baby is Georgiana.

Because Lady Anne is dead by P&P, seems to have been dead for awhile, and it seems likely enough that she had some vague health issue, it used to be pretty widely accepted that she died giving birth to Georgiana. We don’t actually know this and there were a lot of ways to die young or in middle age at the time, but it’s perfectly possible. However it happened, it does seem like Georgiana’s arrival into the family would have been a very big deal in the circumstances and that all this could contribute to Darcy’s immense affection for her.

(Of course, he could easily have resented her after being a coddled only child for 12 years and then having a new baby in the picture, esp if her birth also led to their mother’s death, but that’s not the kind of person he is.)

All of this is speculation, of course. I’ve also seen it suggested that the reason for the age gap is that Lady Anne and Mr Darcy simply stopped having sex after Darcy was born, and Georgiana is the result of an affair Lady Anne had much later. This is technically also consistent with canon and I do prefer an imperfect Lady Anne to an idealized maternal figure (esp since one of the only things we hear about her personality is Darcy’s implication that she was basically a good person but less amiable than his father). Once upon a time, I even wrote a Georgiana fic (unfinished, of course, and it’s not at AO3 iirc) with that premise.

There are other possibilities, too. That said, “Lady Anne and Lady Catherine had some genetically-linked health problem that interfered with pregnancy in some way” does make the most intuitive sense to me and I think is a more compelling story for Austen characters.

#someone on ao3 once said i obviously dislike lady anne bc i always write her as seriously flawed #ON THE CONTRARY this is an expression of my irrationally great love for her #whenever it was that she died i hope she lived long enough to see 12-y-o darcy holding baby georgiana ... ;_;#anghraine babbles #anghraine's headcanons #austen blogging #austen fanwank #lady anne blogging #literally and metaphorically!#fitzwilliam darcy #georgiana darcy #lady anne darcy #lady catherine de bourgh #mr darcy senior #anne de bourgh #long post #but it would have been longer if i got into all my headcanons about this >_>

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sgiandubh · 11 months

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Jottings: Season 7, episode 6. A woman is... possibility

Contrary to what I usually do in here, just jotting down spontaneous impressions of the episodes, with no great pretension to anything, I had to re-watch Where The Waters Meet three times over last week. And it was all my fault, because this is truly a good and dense episode, that could have very well ended this half-season.

It also becomes more and more clear that my decision of not reading these damn books was a very poor choice. Probably because the storyline seems cramped, at times, I find myself gliding through moments and scenes with the very unpalatable sensation of bagging a munro without the right equipment. Not a good picture, I know. But bear in mind I just started Drums of Autumn and it already reads like a root canal intervention - sorry for the book purists. I should, however, hope to somehow catch up before part B of the season: no promises, though. If, by any stretch of my vivid imagination, I start to hear Herself's screechy voice in my head while reading, it immediately goes down the drain, despite my best intentions & effort.

But I digress. While Fort Ticonderoga is being evacuated with the help of the friendly Cherokees and their lightweight canoes, in Lallybroch there is a bit of fussing over Jemmy's cursing in Gaelic at school. Which leads to Roger being invited to give a wee lecture on the topic by a very enthusiastic Headmaster and yet another (Lord in heaven and all His cherubs) constipated domestic conversation with SS. The only cheerful thing about her is that self-assertive fringe, so 80s I could cry (I hate the Eighties with the passion I worship the Sixties, heh). And her grabbing me by the sleeve (Hello, people! Lookie here! I can haz acting! I am acting! ) every single time she has more than three lines on air is distracting and, again, annoying.

Walter Woodcock's demise instantly took me to Season 1, when that proud Scot was killed by the boar and Claire helped give him the good death he deserved. Not surprising at all, since the whole OL dynamic is a pendulum between loves, timelines and worlds.

The new Rollo dog looks less direwolfish than Rollo 1. #GoT, stopped watching upon Khaleesi's arrival at King's Landing. Never looked back.

Rob Cameron, you antagonist, you. That new acquaintance you instantly find too pushy not to feel suspicious about, and yet you can't afford to be irrationally rude to. Also, with no SS in sight, RR is pulling off his scenes quite fine & dandy, and with ease. What is that woman's dark secret? How can that be? Court is still in session, on this one. But give me more Hunters and less #Broger, dear God. I would take it any day, any way you see fit. I will be nice to everyone and take my vitamins. I will even consider jogging. But get them off my back, for Christ's sake!

Vandervaart. Consistent. Present. Owns his game. Elegant. Loved every single moment (Your servant, Madam - especially and for obvious reasons). A very, very good cast honoring both J and LJG. I can only fawn and paeans are not really my specialty. But I continue to be impressed and confident and I see great things for this talented kid.

Spoiler: I said yes, Claire. And just like that, with the click of the rifle's hammer, he tells her their whole world is yet again thrown upside down. Theirs is a dense scene, clearly dominated by S, whose mastery of voice and expression is once again flawless and thoroughly appreciated. She follows, at a - by now - completely symbiotic pace, but make no mistake: he gives her the cues. And I would take that subtle, unspeakable tenderness any day, gladly, if the writer's final choice was not to insist on what might be - perhaps unjustly - construed by some as geriatric porn. He still looks at her like that.

For that only, if not for all the rest, I will continue to watch it until the end. Because I feel you morally lose the right to criticize the moment you throw the towel and your opinion suddenly turns into bitching. Something I will most probably never do, as far as OL is concerned.

Onwards to Dreaded Seven. Let's see if I can be properly disgusted by poor acting yet again.

Credit given to @flllk. B&W is a great idea - the right kind of depth

#jottings

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randomnessunicorn-imagine · 5 years

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Hello there! I don’t know if you write for all characters in Star Trek TNG? But if you do can I please get a Captain Picard x reader, where she’s a bit younger than him (20s) and feisty and he falls helplessly in love with her, just general fluff? Maybe funny bits where Deanna teases the Captain about his feelings and makes him admit them to the reader? Sorry if you don’t write for this character, but I hope you have a great day either way!

{ Picard is my favourite in TNG so I’m always glad writing about him!

This thing came out longer than I thought, hope you like it, let meknow.

Like and reblog if you appreciate my fanfictions, that’’d make me glad! }

🍵 JEAN-LUC PICARD 🍵

Love was not one of the captain’s priorities.

The very thought of loving someone terrified him, made him nervous andworried.

The only thing he had to be in love with was his ship, his job and hiscrew. Nothing else. Picard would not have been so selfish to put a single personabove all these things. For this reason, he had chosen to be a severe, reservedand cold captain. His mind had to be lucid and detached from every humanfeeling that could compromise his mind and his performance at work.

The wise words of an old Vulcan friend came into his mind, the Vulcansaid that every emotion had to be suppressed from the very start. Because theheart always lied, emotions were liars and fickle and only the mind said thetruth. Only logic was honest, objective and real.

It would have been easier if he was a Vulcan but maybe then, Picard wouldnot have been a good captain. It was thank to those human qualities, hisindecisions and emotions that he became the proud and valiant man he was. Thequalities that had earned him the respect of his crew and friends. Qualities hecould not give it up and they were beyond every kind of logic.

Other times, the captain had fallen in love but it was never meant tolast. The woman he loved had betrayed him. If it was not enough, she hadbetrayed him with that crazy man named Q. Although he was not even a man but amalevolent, lunatic, manipulative entity who enjoyed tormenting him, since Qkept using the poor Picard as his toy and marionette. After that unpleasantepisode, Picard started losing faith in love.

Maybe he just met the wrong people. The umpteenth proof that he was not builtfor this sentiment and therefore he had to let go and ignore the desires of hislying heart and listen only to his mind, bearer of truth and rationality.Nothing mattered more than his integrity and professionalism.

After all, Picard was not like Shakespeare and this epoch was different.Picard was not a poet and could not afford the luxury of romance because of thepath he had chosen.

However, Picard could not imagine that his heart could be so stubborn,cruel and mocking because it had taken him by surprise and started beatingfaster than usual. This happened when he saw you for the first time, his heartskipped a beat and he forgot his name instantly. The meeting didn’t last longbecause he hadn’t had the chance to talk to you. You had just came here and soyou didn’t know anything about the world around you or what this life meant.

You were still innocent, full of dreams and hopes, so young in thatuniform of yours, your collar almost nude of pins but your smile shone withenthusiasm. Your smile made him fall irrationally and stupidly in love.

You reminded him of one of his past loves, when he was a carefree rebeland didn’t torment himself like now. When he did not fear love, on thecontrary, he searched for it and he was used to break hearts and fall in lovewith ease.

A melancholy smile appeared on his face as he dusted the memories of thepast, sitting in his office and sipping his delicious earl grey tea.

Time passed and the meetings between you and the captain became morefrequent, even if dictated by mere coincidence and no pleasure, they wereprofessional meetings during missions and explorations. Not that he intended todeepen this relationship, his work was his most important priority but otherpeople had noticed his feelings in his place. Because he could deceive himselfbut not the friends who surrounded him especially when the said friend was anempathetic woman who was able to perceive emotions. It was hard for Picard tohide or disguise his feelings.

One day Deanna approached him to talk about the feelings he keptignoring.

“Do you still think of them, Captain?” she asked, smirking amused,because she knew more than Picard thought.

“What do you mean, counsellor?” he asked absently, he pretendednot to have understood.

“Lately, I see you lost in your thoughts, almost nervous, issomething bothering you? Maybe a person?” she said and then sat in the chairin front of his desk.

“The usual worries, nothing serious. Thanks for your interest, counsellor.”he did not lie but was not completely honest and from the confident smile heshowed, anyone would have said that no grey thought was crossing the captain’smind.

“Are you sure, Captain? I’m talking about Y/N.” Deanna pronounced yourname and Picard’s eyes went wide, his expression became serious but curious,maybe Deanna was right and, in fact, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

“How does ensign Y/N fit in this conversation?” Picard asked, seriously.

“I’ve the feeling you are very interested in them, I see youparticularly radiant every time you approach each other and you can’t stopsmiling like a child.” Her tone of voice was almost energetic, playful becauseDeanna was actually glad seeing her Captain so cheerful even though he did notwant to admit it.

“Well, maybe a little…” Picard smiled, finally, unable to hide the truthto Deanna, “But they’re younger than me. I can’t, I have responsibilities andduties, I can’t think about these youth affairs.” He said with severity andDeanna sighed.

“Interacting with your crew is your duty as well. Why don’t you invitethem to dinner?” Deanna suggested and the Captain shrugged his shoulders.

“Not that kind of duty.” Picard did not want to give up or maybe he wasnot ready, it was so hard, he could not lose himself again.

“Give them a chance and, before being a Captain, you’re a human and I thinkyou need that. You need some warm and relax, the company of someone. It doesn’thave to be a romance. You don’t have to marry them but only meet them and spendsome good time in complete comfort.” Deanna explained and Picard had no reasonto refuse it because her words made sense. He truly needed a rest and so hesighed and he agreed to her proposition.

After the conversation he had with Deanna, her mind was clearer and heunderstood that some time a man had to face the desires of his heart without betrayinghis mind and he could still be a great Captain without renouncing to his humanside, the things he craved in his heart.

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transjinako · 5 years

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Olga Marie as a demi servant

Shes fused with Athena so thats cool also it ended up pretty fuckin long

Class: Shielder

Name: Athena/Olga Marie

Parameters:

Strength: A

Agility: B

Luck: B

Endurance: A-EX

Mana: A

NP: EX

Traits:Independent Action A Goddess Essence EX Riding EX Magic Resistance A+

Skills:

Goddess Of Wisdom EX: Athena is able to deduce and predict events with extreme clarity, it’s no true precognition but its very close to that, and works best while planning ahead for battles. It also makes it so that she is unaffected by charms, spells, illusions or anything that might make her act “Irrationally”

Hero Creation EX: Being responsible for the success and fame of many greek hero’s she can influence and greatly increase the power of just about anyone with the ability to become a hero.

Goddess Of Guidance EX: A form of Charisma that works best on Hero’s that helps guide them toward the best path in their journeys

Olive Branch A: She is able to create a zone of sorts in which battle becomes Nearly Impossible and rational thinking reigns, only those stoked deep within their own madness, or simple see a fight as the only rational thing to do can escape these effects

Mastery of Eternal Arms B++: Being the goddess of Strategic Warfare, Athena isn’t the complete peak of weapon mastery, however if she is put onto the defensive, she will most likely be the one who comes out the victor. Athena never starts wars, but will always end them.

Noble Phantasm(s):

The Aegis: A Symbol of Athena’s power that can be both a piece of armor or a shield, what makes her a Shielder. Its defense is nigh impregnable by any weapon, even the Durindana would not be able to piece through this shield. It can be given to others to use which will instantly boost their defensive capabilities to large degrees. It can produce noise equal to that of a dragon to disorient the enemy and summon thunder and lighting down.

Releasing it’s power in full causes an effect where all those who are under the protection of the Aegis will not receive damage, and instead, reflect damage back onto the attacker. As a goddess, this would be unstoppable, but because her body is borrowed for the time being, she cannot use this as she pleases.

Pallas: She summons the phantom spirits of Pallas the Giant, and Pallas her childhood friend and forms them both into a cloaked Stone Giant with Pallas Her friend’s personality taking full control. Pallas can act as she likes but will usually do as Athena says.

Personality: Athena is an unwavering pillar of leadership and steadfast guidance, one would be lucky to have her as a servant. It should be noted that you cannot simply command Athena, she is a genius above all other Geniuses and, of course, a Goddess. She has her own pride and that will almost never waver, almost, if you are able to get close to her as a friend or student she might be willing to give you leeway. She holds a great amount of love for the heroic spirits, the actually heroic ones.

On Olga Marie: Olga Marie, amidst her burning, was suddenly saved by the Goddess of Wisdom Athena, who sensed she would need to offer her own help at some point, but couldn’t simply show as her true goddess self. So, she formed a contract with Olga Marie and made her into a Demi Servant. Olga Marie was able to live again yet her heart was heavy with regrets as she was able to learn more and more. Athena nearly believed it was a mistake to choose Olga until the woman showed off her determination to be summoned by Guda and return to Chaldea, maybe not as their leader, but as their friend and helper instead.

Personality 2: Olga Marie was always the type to be endlessly determined wanting to do her very best for the greater good, though was convinced of the sort of Ends Justifies the means mentality of the Magus. There’s no more of that with this Marie, she leaves all the morality to Guda, as she believes in her heart that their own is much greater than her own. It's not something that she feels bad about, on the contrary its why she can now see them as reliable. She has taken some form of leadership in Chaldea however, now even more suited to lead than ever with the Goddess Athena to help guide her. She hopes to live this second chance at life to its fullest.

Relations with other servants(Olga)

Mash: Although she still feels like Mash is entitled to being angry with her, she knows there's no point in arguing it with her. They became friends very quickly and the tension of Mash’s birth was put to a close.

Da Vinci: Olga extended her sincere gratitude to Da Vinci for her diligence, and her sincere regret over inadvertently causing Roman’s death. Da Vinci was forgiving and even offered to let her take leadership back but Olga refused, at least initially. The two were able to forge a friendship as well.

Greek Heroes:

“I truly don’t know what she sees in you all, but I suppose I’ll be helping to lead you too now.”

Jeanne D’arc Alter:

“It's an understanding! An Understanding between two people who’ve been Burned in both senses!”

Relationship with Servants (Athena):

Mash: Athena quickly fell into a mentorship role with Mash, particularly on how to swing her sword rather than swing her shield, though Athena is a bit guilty of that too.

Artemis/Orion:

“.....” *A look a confusion, disappointment, and loathing toward Orion*

Atalante:

“I’ll...try to knock some sense back into my sister for you, ok?”

Scathatch: They’re very good friends, both happen to fall under the “Motherly Mentor” role as well as having Similar personalities.

Merlin: Respects what hes done, not him.

Hercules: She doesn’t often interact with him, often times she’ll simply regard him with a sad expression from a far.

Gorgon/Medusa/Medusa Lily: She’s ashamed of what she’s done to Medusa and will outright reject any theory of her somehow protecting Medusa. She considers it one of the only mistakes she’s made.

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mirrorofliterature · 6 years

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teach me (but I already know)

chapter 1: how do you hold this?

A story from a while ago centred around pining, stupidity and the odd game of tennis. Enjoy the journey best friends Magnus and Alec will take. Inspired by a prompt I asked @magnusbicon for. Read on AO3.

The sun-dappled their kitchen, the lack of curtains apparent; it was beautiful, but its brightness was unwanted by both of them.

"Alexander," Magnus moaned, striding into their kitchen in his worn dressing gown, "turn the sun off."

Alec stifled a snort. "Can't, Magnus."

"It's 7 o'clock. Why didn't we choose easy professions?" Magnus collapsed on a stool and leaned against the kitchen bench - a thin layer of 'marble' - his hair falling into his eyes.

It had been quite the something getting used to morning Magnus, but it had made the most sense to move in together after college.

Their respective jobs were gruelling, but the pay was decent enough together that they could afford a - whilst small - nice, two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, though the view wasn't that great, just of the grey industrial buildings next door.

Alec looked at Magnus in exasperation before moving behind the counter to pour out their coffee from the stewing pot. "Because we're passionate people, Magnus, and 'I want a vocation, not a soulless job!'"

"Why do you know me so well?" Magnus complained, though the warm glint in his eyes underlining it said otherwise.

"Because we're best friends. Now," Alec said, shoving a coffee towards Magnus with a little more force than necessary, "drink this before you say something you will regret. I'll make some pancakes, we've got enough time."

At this, Magnus' eyes widened and he nearly spat his coffee out. "The last time you tried to cook pancakes, I think my tongue wanted to commit suicide." Fatigue forgotten, Magnus walked into the kitchen quickly, almost tripping over the tiles. "Shoo!"

"Alright," Alec said, grinning, walking out. "Now, pancakes?"

"Fine," Magnus relented, pulling out the frying pan. "I don't have to leave for another hour. You?"

"Because I had that night shift last night," Alec replied, stifling a yawn, "I don't have to come in till ten so I thought I'd do the laundry and maybe read a little."

Magnus froze from where he was getting the milk out of the fridge. "The laundry?"

Alec laughed, shaking his head. "Magnus, it's not going to explode. Don't you trust me?"

"Yes," Magnus replied indignantly, placing the eggs on the counter, "but my clothes are delicate!"

Alec rolled his eyes. "I know how to take care of your clothes, Magnus - because I know how to take care of you."

"Hm," Magnus said, surveying Alec as his face softened. "I guess you do. D'you want chocolate?"

"God, yes," Alec groaned, "tomorrow's Friday, but I think I need something to keep me going."

"You always have me," Magnus said casually, whilst his head was buried in the cupboard, searching for the chocolate sauce. The pantry was a tad cluttered.

"Yeah," Alec replied, momentarily checking Magnus out, "I do. As do you me."

Just not in the way I want to, he thought, resigned yet still looking forward to the hour of playful banter stretched out before him.

...

“Are you sure, Madzie?”

Madzie nodded, determination sparkling in her dark brown eyes along with intelligence. "Do it. There are more positions than just D Major."

Magnus slowly peeled off the white lines that he had only put on Madzie's tiny violin last year - a 1/2 violin. "Why don't we start with A Major, then?" he asked, handing her the violin.

The violin was cheap - plastic, and pathetically obvious in contrast to Magnus' treasured, ancient yet highly expensive violin - but it was clear that it was well loved with the way it shone under the fluorescent lighting.

Madzie groaned. "I don't like scales," she muttered. "Are there any songs in A Major that I can play?"

No one likes scales, Magnus thought idly. Even though the elementary school he worked at was the lowest paid out of all of his four jobs - being an in school violin teacher was certainly a chaotic profession - it was the enthusiasm and innocence of the students who he worked with here that made it his favourite.

Madzie was an extremely prolific violinist for a seven-year-old, especially for one who had only picked up the instrument a year ago. She was probably going to do her Grade 1 Exam early next year at this rate.

Magnus ruffled around with some of the loose music sheets in his briefcase. "How about," he said, pausing at a piece and humming in appreciation, "do you like Harry Potter, Madzie?"

Madzie blinked, a small smile gracing her face. "It's alright, I guess. Don't know much about it. Why?" she asked, frowning.

"There's a piece called Leaving Hogwarts that's quite nice. You know your friend, Zoe?" Madzie nodded. "I've been talking with Mr Fell, and he thinks that both of you are around the same level in your respective instruments. How would you like to do a duet with her?"

Madzie's face lit up. "That'd be nice," she said, which for her was basically a squeal of excitement, for she used her words sparingly yet effectively, "I've heard Zoe, she's quite good at the piano. Can I at least see the piece first though, Mr Bane, please?"

Magnus smiled and slid the sheet onto the music stand - again, it was flimsy and dull, had almost broken more times than Magnus could count. "Do you want me to play it first, together or do you want to try it alone?"

"Together," Madzie ordered solemnly, picking up her carbon bow.

As Magnus picked up his own bow - dark cherry wood - and though he looked massive in comparison to Madzie, they fit well together as he let the music flow through him.

His vibrato was soft; he was playing pp because this was Madzie's time to shine; and shine she did, as she was sight reading and this was only her second year playing, her mistakes clumsy yet fixed almost instantly, and all in all, Magnus was proud of Madzie.

However, Madzie wasn't just a student - she was also almost like a niece to him, the adopted daughter of his dear friend Catarina, but she still insisted on calling him Mr Bane in school. He had only known her for a few years, after all.

Being a teacher wasn't the most rewarding job, and having multiple jobs, and therefore multiple bosses, to please made it even harder - but at the end of the day, at least Magnus knew he could return to his best friend Alec at their home, who understood, as his job as a police officer wasn't exactly the most forgiving either.

And he was happy with that.

Even if his heart secretly yearned for more.

...

Alec sighed, signing off on another cold case. There seemed to be an endless amount of criminals whose faces would be hidden for eternity; Alec got irrationally pissed off at every one like nothing else.

Well, maybe his own unrequited love for his best friend stung a little bit more.

However, that was irrelevant now. Alec had joined his current precinct fresh out of Police Academy at 21, after also having completed a degree in Criminal Justice as his college major at NYU - which co-incidentally was where he had met Magnus, even though they had not been doing the same courses - with Law as his minor. So, therefore, he had more than completed the three years prerequisite to being promoted to a detective.

Which was his dream. Whilst he enjoyed being a police officer, the thought of being a detective was just so much more enticing. In preparation for his potential promotion, he was about to undertake a part-time Computer Forensics degree - again at NYU. But he would never become a detective if he didn't speak up about his wishes.

Which brought him to this moment. Standing outside Santiago's office with bated breath, having just knocked on the door and now simply waiting for the anticipated 'come in' in cold dread.

There it was.

Raphael Santiago was a man a few years older than Alec who had climbed the ranks to Captain in record-breaking speed. He was prone to wearing sharp suits with bleached ties when not in action and today was no exception.

"Lightwood?" Raphael said, putting down his pen, "what is it that you need?"

Raphael was also an impeccably formal man. Though they had known each other for years, as Raphael's mother Guadapale had adopted Magnus when he was 14 and Raphael 17 - they were brothers - he still referred to Alec as his last name at work.

"Santiago." Alec remained standing. "I would like to express my interest in becoming a detective and to be further considered for any future detective promotions."

Raphael simply nodded, pulling out a notebook and his discarded pen. He jotted something down. "Thank you, Lightwood. I will take this into consideration."

Alec's ambition was no secret to those who even remotely knew him. He closed the door quietly, his shoulders slumping a little as he walked back to his desk to sign off on some more cold cases. Contrary to the stereotypes, Alec found the completion of paperwork satisfying and even somewhat enjoyable, which Magnus liked to tease him about.

"How'd you go?" asked Simon, not bothering to lower his voice, as soon as Alec sat down.

Simon had been a recently turned music from accounting major when Alec had first met him, though his minor had surprisingly been consistently Law. In an interesting turn of events, Simon had ended up following Alec to Police Academy.

He also was proud of the fact that he had introduced Alec and Magnus.

Anyway, Alec had tolerated Simon for years now and grudgingly had admitted that the boy was like another (annoying) younger brother that he felt obligated to take care of. Simon had shed many a tear that day.

"Fine," said Alec, flipping open a case. "Now, be quiet."

...

"You're not cooking, Alexander, unless you can show me a certificate for a cooking class by a certified professional. Whilst you're at that, take Izzy with you."

Alec pouted. You mistook salt for sugar only five times and then you weren't allowed to cook in your own home. "Fine. Take away?"

Magnus sighed and burrowed further into his mountain of blankets on the couch. "Please."

Alec opened up a drawer, got out their collection of menus and started to idly flip through them. "Pizza?"

Magnus scrunched his nose up in a way that Alec tried to not think as adorable. "Not feeling it."

"Hm..." Alec continued to flip, "Burger King?"

Magnus' eyes lit up. "You know me too well. Do they order in, 'cause I'm not going anywhere."

"It's really not that cold, Magnus," Alec muttered, putting the rest of the brochures away and jumping up to sit on the counter.

"The heater isn't working and we're in New York and it's nearly winter, I think I'm entitled to think that it's that cold, Alexander."

"But they do. Order in, that is." Alec got off the counter to pick up his phone, brushing off Magnus' complaint. "The usual?"

"Of course," Magnus scoffed, "I can't betray my onion rings like that."

...

They were lounging on their couches - plural, as they were both couch hogs - eating chips and trying not to get grease onto them.

"You know," Magnus said, his voice slightly muffled by all of the blankets surrounding him, "Madzie is quite talented."

"Is she?" asked Alec, looking over his glass of water. "So no parents have come in and roasted you yet?"

"No," Magnus scoffed, "I am a reputable teacher. Though," he admitted, "Raphael hasn't told me anything shocking about your performance yet."

Alec sighed. "Magnus, please. You know three other people in my precinct and all of them have passed on several messages from you at some point in the last four years; it's quite disconcerting."

Magnus sat up, his brown eyes narrowed. "It's a dangerous profession and you, sir," he said, pulling his other hand out of his blankets to point an accusing finger at Alec, "don't know the meaning of the word break."

"Like you're one to talk. And you're cleaning up your mess," Alec added, watching Magnus' fries teeter frighteningly close to the ground.

"Hmph," said Magnus, pulling out the offenders and eating them. "That reminds me, I don't have anything to drink!"

Magnus started to struggle out of his blankets and Alec rolled his eyes. "I offered."

"I don't want water," Magnus muttered, slumping back into the couch, "I want something proper-"

"I thought we agreed on no alcohol on school nights because someone can't control themselves," Alec said, raising his eyebrow.

"We did," Magnus muttered dejectedly. Then he blinked, an uncannily conniving smile spreading across his face. "Dear Alexander," he almost purred.

"Yes?"

"Could you pretty please get me one glass of champagne and I promise we get to watch whatever you want tonight and I won't be judgemental," Magnus said, pouting.

So Alec relented. He was only a man, after all, and - "Fine. But the cheap stuff and if you spill it you're paying for the dry-cleaning."

...

"You want to watch what?"

"Magnus, just because it's Hallmark, doesn't mean that it is sappy. Or only suitable for saps. Also," Alec added, shuffling around the kitchen - after extensive training, he was permitted to make microwave popcorn, "I thought we agreed on no judgement."

"Fine," Magnus said, sulking. "Why are we watching the latest episode though?"

"Because I want to." Alec slipped in the bag of popcorn and put the microwave on.

Magnus swivelled around and glared at him, though there was more concern than heat in his gaze. "ALEXANDER! Step away from the microwave now, it's bad for you."

"Sure, mum," Alec muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Magnus asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Something true," Alec replied innocently. "Anyway, we're watching the latest episode of Murder, She Baked because I've seen all of the others. With Izzy," he added at Magnus' oddly crestfallen look, "which I probably should've done this time, but she's swamped with work at the moment, and she practically forced me to go ahead."

The microwave dinged and Alec instantly retrieved it, having neglected to follow through with his best friend's nagging. "Now. Popcorn and let's hope Hannah doesn't get herself killed this time. The cat is adorable, though."

As the credits rolled, Magnus threw Alec a slightly guilty look over the couch. "I've read the books and I'm hoping they don't follow with the love triangle, didn't even end well."

"And I'm the sap here," Alec sniped, pouring the popcorn into a large bowl and wincing at the larger than average amount of kernels as well as blackened pieces. "Now," he said, "budge over."

Magnus looked at him imperiously. "Why?"

"Because it's cold and you're hogging all of the blankets." Alec placed the popcorn onto Magnus' lap and slid onto the couch. "Now, no talking or no popcorn."

This kind of casual physical contact with Magnus was ordinary, comfortable almost.

But it wasn't in the way Alec secretly wanted.

...

"Promise me that you will never run towards the person with the gun, Magnus."

"What," Magnus gasped. "How dare you insinuate - ok, fair warning. But it's him?"

"I called it," said Alec smugly. "Now, shut up."

And so Magnus remained in relative quiet - except for the stifled laughs and a shocked - "ok, then" - before the credits started to roll.

"It was good," Magnus admitted reluctantly. "What time is it?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

Alec didn't even bother looking at the clock. "For bed. You've got the snooty school tomorrow, remember?"

Magnus groaned, pulling the blankets closer towards himself and further away from Alec. "Don't remind me. Fine, I'll go to bed."

As Magnus shuffled off to his room, Alec ran after him. "You can't steal all of the blankets. Give me one before you disappear."

Magnus peeled the outer one - the fluffiest one - off reluctantly. "Fine. I guess something that pretty shouldn't freeze to death."

Alec sighed and grabbed the blanket, ignoring Magnus' casual flirting. "What are you doing after work tomorrow?"

"Not much," Magnus admitted, yawning.

"Me neither. See you tomorrow," Alec said, patting Magnus on the shoulder before padding off to his bedroom.

Living with your best friend was pretty good. It only had some minor drawbacks, such as it was even harder to not spill out your heart and soul accidentally to them.

"G'night, Alexander."

"Goodnight. Don't stay up on your phone," he added sternly. "You need your sleep."

"So do you. I'll call the electrician after work tomorrow." And then Magnus slipped into his room, because another undeniable drawback about living with your best friend was that it was too easy to chat until the next day.

...

"Are you sure?"

Alec shrugged. "I haven't played in years, but it couldn't be that hard."

Magnus narrowed his eyes before taking his violin out of his case, caressing the instrument with extreme care. "Be careful."

"Of course I will be," Alec said reassuringly.

He picked up the violin, tucked it under his left chin and winced. Had it always been this uncomfortable?

"Alexander, darling, you have to put this on first." Magnus handed Alec his shoulder rest - a cushion of sorts between his shoulder and the hard wood of the violin.

"Oh," Alec said, annoyed. "I forgot." And then he picked up the bow and roughly pulled it across one of the middle strings. Or maybe both.

“Alexander,” Magnus laughed, shaking his head and wincing a little, “that was abysmal.”

“Yeah,” Alec said, continuing to glide his bow over the strings in a particularly ugly way, producing an ear-splitting screech, even though his lessons were now flooding back to him, “I’ve never done this before.”

Which was, strictly speaking, true. He hadn’t ever played this badly on purpose before.

“Hm,” Magnus said, tsking at the careless way Alec was holding the violin, his back slouched and palm pressed up against its neck, “d’you want some lessons, darling? Your last ones clearly weren't any good."

“Sure,” Alec replied, itching to stand up straight and take care of the violin properly, “if you’re willing, if it isn’t too much for you,” he added hurriedly.

Magnus paused. “Darling, we’ve been best friends for seven years and we live in the same apartment. I think I can find the time to teach you how to play this beautiful instrument. You’re treating it dreadfully,” Magnus suddenly added, swooping it from under Alec’s chin and hugging it, “it was making me dreadfully anxious.”

Well. This was going to be interesting.

Maybe he should have admitted to Magnus that he had only been rusty and he did, genuinely, know how to adequately play the instrument, but the prospect of Magnus teaching him how to play the violin, in the gentle and caring way he did, was simply too tempting.

"We can have a hit tomorrow, if you want," Alec offered, "of, you know, tennis. Izzy offered."

Magnus raised his eyebrows as he slipped his violin back securely into his case. "Izzy plays?"

"She dragged me and Jace off for a year of lessons when we were 15," Alec said, rubbing the back of his neck. "As well as a season of local competition. It was... interesting. I prefer Archery, but it should be fun. And you said you played a while back..."

"I did," Magnus confirmed, swinging his vibrant violin case up onto his back to put it away, "that should be fun."

…

After about the fifth time Magnus volleyed the ball over the fence, Alec sighed and jogged down to the other side of the court.

“Magnus,” he said, the wind ripping through his hair, “that was horrible. I thought you said you had played before?”

Izzy looked up from where she was sprawled on a bench, flicking through a magazine and gave Magnus a look.

“It’s been a while,” Magnus muttered, reaching up to fix his dragon ear cuff.

Why he was wearing that whilst playing tennis, Alec had no clue. Or his multitude of necklaces and rings.

“Well,” Alec said, raising his eyebrow, “perhaps we should start off with what you’re wearing.”

Magnus pouted, continuing to fiddle with his ear cuff.

“It’s inappropriate. The ear cuff can stay, but everything else – shoo!”

Magnus reluctantly, but slowly, took off the offending jewellery.

He does look good in them, Alec thought idly. “We’re going home.”

Alec ignored Magnus’ protest of ‘but we only just got here!’ and started to run off to collect the poor balls from the bushes Magnus had sent them into.

…

Catarina sighed. "What is it?"

Magnus walked up to his bedroom's window, peering through it to make sure that Alec was still occupied with talking to Isabelle.

"Alexander," he said mournfully, "he offered to teach me how to play tennis and I accepted like the fool I am!"

"But you know how to play tennis," Catarina replied, clearly confused.

"Beside the point," Magnus said, dismissing Catarina's perfectly reasonable remark. He put his phone on speaker, threw it onto his bed and collapsed dramatically next to it. "How am I supposed to survive?"

"Finally tell him how you feel? It has been literal years, Magnus, and we're all sick of your pining."

Magnus gasped as if he had been mortally wounded. "Confess? Are you out of your mind? Catarina, you of all people know that I cannot risk my friendship with Alexander for something as silly as feelings."

Magnus could feel Catarina's eye roll vibrating through the phone. "Magnus, they're not just 'feelings' or a silly crush. You're in love with him, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about you."

"Don't get my hopes up," Magnus said sorrowfully, "he doesn't. That is preposterous. Anyway, back to the matter at hand; the tennis lessons. It's going to be torture."

"Magnus," Catarina started patiently.

"I'm going to die a glorious death!" Magnus moaned, burying his head into his pillow.

"Shut up, idiot," she finished. "You're going to be fine."

"I'm also going to be giving Alec violin lessons," Magnus added in a much more relaxed manner. "He apparently already had lessons years ago, but the darling was terrible."

There was a long stretch of silence in which Magnus only knew Catarina hadn't hung up due to the lack of a beep.

"You've got this, Magnus," Catarina said in a softer voice. "You're 25, you're successful in your career, I think you can handle seeing Alec's muscles for a few hours. Ok?"

"Ok," Magnus replied slowly, playing with the fringes of one of his blankets. "Thank you, Catarina. Love you."

"Love you too," she said before hanging up.

Magnus could hear the rhythmical, even thumps of Alec's footsteps approaching and sat up, placing his phone on charge.

The front door creaked open and Magnus padded up to meet Alec.

"Hi," Alec panted, "Izzy wouldn't stop talking." His dark hair was sticking up, uncharacteristically all over the place. "I'll have a shower, then Brooklyn 99?"

Magnus nodded, rubbing his fingers together. "Sounds good."

Magnus shuffled off into the kitchen in his grey slacks and started on the popcorn.

On the stove. Because it tasted better and it was considerably healthier; he could also be trusted with it.

But certainly not with anybody's heart.

#my writing #malec fic #mutual pining #tmbiak #best friends to lovers #oblivious idiots #roomates

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sanchezashton1992 · 4 years

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How To Stop Your Husband From Wanting A Divorce Portentous Cool Ideas

And like most people won't try them, not even have insurance?Different individual have different opinions from both parties.For instance, if you were that someone cares.Be grateful if your partner and get the bigger picture.

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Can A Postnuptial Agreement Save A Marriage

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Save Marriage Poems

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#How To Stop Your Husband From Wanting A Divorce Portentous Cool Ideas #How To Save A 30 Year Marriage

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johnjankovic · 7 years

Audio

BLITZKRIEG

Then there will issue from the stock which had remained barren for so long, proceeding from the 50th degree, one who will renew the whole Christian Church. A great place will be established, with union and concord between some of the children of opposite ideas, who have been separated by diverse realms. And such will be the peace that the instigator and promoter of military factions, born of the diversity of religions, will remain chained to the deepest pit. And the kingdom of the Furious One, who counterfeits the sage, will be united.

Nostradamus, Epistle to King Henry II

A luminary’s life as in narratology presupposes an ending worthy of himself or of a protagonist, amnesia issues from an anemic ending, memorability from the opposite, an otherwise good story fails should its coda be infelicitous to the mythos’ style, or be it that its banality dulls the senses enough to swiftly forget what was written in spite of what perhaps may have been authored with assiduous thought. In the main, an epilogue in real life or not must jar the witness or reader lest she neither think on nor talk of, if unworthy of remembrance, the ending itself. For example, a really fine book converts an ending into some climacteric which edifies the reader as in Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame where he writes, evoking love’s transcendence beyond mortality, ‘Quand on voulut le détacher du squelette qu’il embrassait il tomba en poussière’. Playwright William Shakespeare discovers tragedy alone to be the single panacea for a vendetta between two houses fraught with bloodshed, ‘For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo’. Robert Sherwood’s character Myra in the film noir screenplay of Waterloo Bridge steps into an oncoming truck, years later a bereaved gentleman reads wistfully in a voice-over sequence a missive from his late inamorata, ‘I loved you, I’ve never loved anyone else, that’s the truth Roy, I never shall’.

Seeming ethereal, and something that recalls fatalism whose leitmotif typically expresses an abrupt departure of some kind by a beloved character, endings ought to eclipse their beginnings if only to teach a lesson based upon dramatic loss. Gleaned from another one of the author’s dearest films, Father O’Malley in 1944’s Going My Way shuffles off screen onto his next parish in the dark of Christmas Eve to disappear from the merrymaking and mellifluous sounds of Saint Dominic’s Church after forever changing the lives of its churchgoers for the better. Such it is that in fiction as in life no matter how treasured a person their value typically cannot be ascertained until deprivation reveals it, this is the queerness of the human condition and yet an important one to understand that without loss no lesson worth knowing can ever be learned which is oddly true with many of life’s vicissitudes. Loss epitomizes the genesis of empathy, it is the quintessential impetus to the solicitude for the welfare of others, and the meaning of life generally issues from it, from an acute and sudden emptiness in time and space, from the enigmatic loss of control to disrupt nature’s determinism, and from where the dialectic between love and loss is finally known.

The concept of love must be entertained to fully appreciate this intimation of loss wherein fondness greatly increases only after the fact. To begin, ‘Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love’ (1 John 4:8). The idea is not a panegyric to divinity but a cosmological truth, alas society in its infinite wisdom vulgarizes its usage to indifferently describe eros when its impression upon man or woman beggars description and makes meretricious any sort of explanation behind it. Here the author speaks of courtship, not the love of a parent nor sibling nor even the false kind of an evening’s diversion, for the latter is nothing other than a knee-jerk conquest at variance with the snug feeling from the arousal of ecstasy for another and not at all for oneself whose act binds two persons together ‘so that the two will become one flesh’ (1 Corinthians 6:16). The said emotion can be so remarkably intense, so mysterious, so heady, so otherworldly, that in absentia its toll may provoke suicide as in the literary, thespian, or cinematographic instances of star-crossed lovers above, a fact no less of how humans experience the world much differently than the animal kingdom animated by self-preservation.

In the chronicle of time has loss been wed to love in legends, tales, and folklore from which the epitome in some form or another entails sacrifice. ‘Greater love has no one than this’, Jesus imparted to the Apostles the night of his seizure, ‘that he lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13). The modest imitation of such selflessness in the vineyard of life includes austerity of a husband foregoing his wants and needs to pleasure and please his wife or vice versa, the asceticism of a mother to nurture her child’s growth, the stoicism from a suitor apostatizing love if it means his soulmate shall be better for it, or the repudiation of material things to serve the needy. The eudaemonism of sacrifice, to do for others more than for thyself, carries with it great weight in Christian theology, an attribute so contrary to the ethics of atheists and agnostics who confound humans with primates in their defence of sin and vice. The loss of self becomes the loftiest reaches of enlightenment as Jesus sermonizes, ‘For whoever would save his life would lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it’ (Matthew 16:24-25). Saint Augustine who enlarges upon this sacrifice of incurvatus in se observes how it outwardly manifests through the appearance of unalloyed love for a wife, husband, offspring, sibling, parent, friend, or neighbour.

For the Apostles their discipleship ended with the literal imitation of Jesus’ sacrifice whose act colours the identity of a true Christian for it is anticipated our pain shall heal rather than victimize another. The irrationality of it, far different than paganism’s cultic or ritual offerings to appease a deity as ransom, testifies to the superiority of a principled man versus the hedonism of the uncouth, to the reason why humans are not merely animals, or to the fact his self originates in the image of Father. What escapes Christian dilettantes is how, on the subject of the Crucifixion and persecution of the apostles thereafter, the crux of the doctrine pivots on sufferance. ‘If any man would come after me’, Jesus said, ‘let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34; Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27; Matthew 16:24). A fellowship of twelve brothers, however agonizing it would later be, bespoke this omnipotent truth that the Church woefully communicates to its patrons today.

The word ‘sacrifice’, antagonistic to if not obsolete verbiage in a liberal culture of instant sexual gratification and material consumption which paints Jesus as a puritanical killjoy, occurs 271 times in the bible as a thanksgiving to Father, an atonement, or disavowal of selfish pleasure. The term has fallen into disuse or worse has become anathema, stigmatized by the egocentrism of the stupid, by the profligacy of spendthrifts, or by the superficiality of glamorous lifestyles hawked by tabloids, even war sacrifice from patriotism grates on the vox populi. Society derides the virtues of self-denial and abstinence, these are not only absurd by normative groupthink but commonly accepted as wrong, a true microcosm of how estranged people are from goodness. Jesus died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), as much as he laid down a messianic template (John 13:14-15), however a great many Christians sensationalize the former believing themselves inoculated against comeuppance from sin if they partake in churchgoing, and belittle the latter in virtue of their arrogance and cupidity.

Widespread aversion to pain abreast of freewheeling promiscuity and gluttony have transformed sacrifice to embody the meekness of a hapless fool, a characteristic more craven than intrepid. This same narrative idolizes the Resurrection with passing regard for the Passion and Crucifixion as the theological ascendency of patripassianism suggests Jesus was not crucified at all but instead it was God. No man could be brutally scourged, disfigured, crucified, and skewered nor should any semblance of it be expected from armchair Christians, hitherto their cowardice remains unbecoming of our family. Were it not for the bloodletting and bloodsport by the Pharisees, for a memorable ending, for such ghastly torture, for an unforeseen departure, the world would believe Jesus an agitator and charlatan insofar as nothing would be reaped if it were unsown and such that the Son spoke to his disciples, ‘[U]nless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’ (John 12:24). It is said 53 minutes from where there rings 53 bells such a seed shall be planted once more.

#Son #Father

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teritcrawfordca · 7 years

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How to Really Differentiate Your Product or Service

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Deb Gabor @Sol_Marketing. Deb Gabor is the CEO of Sol Marketing and author of Branding is Sex. This brand dominatrix and investor pitch whisperer with legendarily bad travel karma is also an empty nester, Midwest transplant, winter sports fanatic, an obsessed pet owner.

SmallBizLady: WHAT IS A BRAND – AND WHY DO YOU NEED ONE?

Deb Gabor: Branding is so much more than just a logo and a color scheme. Branding is the sum-total of all of your relationships, emotional connections, and promises you make to your customers. Branding happens in 360 degrees and at all touch points. Your customers define your brand, but you own it.

If you don’t control it yourself, your brand will take on a life of its own. Disaster happens when you let your audience own your brand. Do you want the media, social media followers, or dissatisfied customers owning your brand?

SmallBizLady: HOW IS A BRAND MORE THAN JUST DIFFERENTIATION FOR YOUR COMPANY, SERVICE, OR PRODUCT?

Deb Gabor: Branding is so much more than just being different for the sake of being different. It is about building strong emotional connections with customers. That’s a seriously smart business move that will have an enormous impact on growth and profitability.

It is not enough to brand yourself on the basis of what you do differently or better or faster or cheaper than anybody else, because those are things that other companies can imitate. As soon as they see you out there in the marketplace doing it and customers gravitating towards you, they’re going to start doing it too. That is just the nature of what happens in markets. It’s the swarm mentality. Soon your differentiating feature is no longer different. So all the brand capital you’ve built up promoting how you’re different is wasted. You’ll have to start over building your brand on something else.

The brands that win are the ones that create an enduring story and bond with customers in a truly emotional way; they make themselves indispensable to their customers.

SmallBizLady: HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE A BRANDING “PROBLEM?”

Deb Gabor: Here are 10 indications you may be having a branding problem:

Your company’s sales people each use a different “pitch” to potential customers

Your employees can’t explain in casual conversation why your company exists or what it does

Your revenues are tanking, or growth is stalled

“Me too” brands have entered the market and are stealing share

Your desired brand identity and image don’t match

You can’t answer the question: “what does our customer actually think of us?”

You can’t answer the question: “how does our brand elevate our customers’ self-concept?

You are unable to express a singular benefit your brand provides (one that NO other brand can)

You feel a consistent negative vibe throughout your entire brand ecosystem

You don’t know how your brand gets customers laid

SmallBizLady: WHAT IS THE CONDITION OF “IRRATIONAL LOYALTY,” AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO CREATE THAT CONDITION FOR YOUR BRAND, REGARDLESS OF THE SIZE OF YOUR COMPANY?

Deb Gabor: The ultimate goal of branding is to create a condition of irrational loyalty. When your customers consider using a competitor’s brand but ultimately feel like they’re cheating on yours, THAT’S irrational loyalty. You are so into a brand that, no matter what it did to you, you have so much positive juju built up in your emotional bank account for this brand you’d still go back and buy from them.

Irrational loyalty for a brand is like the love a parent has for a child or you have for a pet. No matter what they do, you love them to their very core. Irrationally loyal customers say things such as, “I love the whole experience,” or, “I like how it makes me feel,” or, “I like what that brand says about me.”

SmallBizLady: WHOSE JOB IS BRANDING?

Deb Gabor: This question is one of the main issues that stand between a company and a powerful brand. It doesn’t matter if you are a small business owner with five employees, or you’re the CEO of a billion-dollar company, the answer is the same…Branding is everybody’s responsibility.

Contrary to commonly held beliefs, it is not the responsibility of some marketing manager or the person in charge of campaigns or the person with “brand” in his or her title. Organizations that benefit most from branding are those where everyone in the company is a steward of their brand.

The companies that do the best are the ones in which the people at the top of the organization lead the charge for branding. In those companies, it’s often the CEO, but it’s also the COO and the CFO and the CTO and basically anybody with a “C” in their title who takes up the cause and drives the strategy through the entire organization. In order for it to work, however, every single person must feel ownership and responsibility for the brand.

SmallBizLady: IN CREATING A BRAND, WHY IS THE CUSTOMER MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU?

Deb Gabor: Your brand isn’t about you; it’s about “them”. When people imagine my job as a brand strategist, they usually picture a marketing whiz sitting in a closed off boardroom, brainstorming and crafting a perfect brand. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

The reality is, branding doesn’t come from your company or from a person or agency you hire. Branding comes from your customers. Your brand lives in your customers’ needs and desires, as well as their perceptions of and connection to you. Branding is not an inside-out activity; it’s an outside-in activity.

In other words, real branding comes down to getting inside your customers’ heads and then working inward from there. What do your customers think? How do they behave? What do they need? Where do they go to get it? Where do they shop? How much are they going to spend? What’s important to them? How does it make them feel? And how does it advance them in the goals that they have for their own lives?

SmallBizLady: HOW CAN CREATING A BRAND FOR A SINGLE IDEAL, “UNICORN” CUSTOMER HELP YOU EDGE OUT THE COMPETITION?

Deb Gabor: Great brands know that creating a brand with a singular unicorn customer in mind leads them to relentless competition-killing focus. The one thing that needs to be at the center of your brand is your customer. Some business owners have a hard time understanding this, but your brand isn’t about you. Your brand exists to bolster your customer’s self-image, lead them to achieve their goals, and help them become the kind of person they want to be.

Accomplishing this requires you to think carefully about your ideal customer. The ideal customer archetype is something that serves as a guiding principle for everything you do in branding and gives you a singular, highly identifiable customer persona toward which to point your brand’s story. You brand to an ideal customer; you market and sell to individual customer segments. I’m not against segmentation; I am for focus. The ideal customer archetype is a fleshed out, detailed, hypothetical profile of your ABSOLUTE ideal customer. This doesn’t need to encompass everyone who might engage with your brand. The ideal customer is the single customer who will spend the most money with you over the longest time because he or she has so strongly bought-in to your brand experience.

SmallBizLady: HOW WAS MASLOW A MARKETER, AND WHAT IS THE BRAND VALUES PYRAMID?

Deb Gabor: In Marketing 101, professors taught us that customers make rational purchase decisions. However, as a student of branding and marketing over the past 25 or so years, I’ve learned that reason informs, but emotion persuades. The practice of branding requires digging a lot deeper into your customers’ needs, wants, and desires and then trying to uncover the inner stories customers tell themselves. To really understand branding, we need to understand basic human needs.

If you think back to Psychology 101 class in college, you probably remember studying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow shaped his hierarchy like a pyramid, with the most basic human needs—food, water, shelter, air—at the base and loftier, more emotional needs at the top. The theory is that all humans must first solve for the lower levels of the pyramid before moving to the upper levels. Just as Maslow’s hierarchy explains human motivation, the brand values pyramid illustrates the idea that, when a person makes a decision to purchase or use a brand, they are motivated to achieve certain needs. As customers move up the pyramid, brands must meet more of their customers’ emotional needs, and as those emotional needs are met by more and more companies, the best brands must support customers’ process of becoming self-actualized.

SMALLBIZLADY: HOW IS BRANDING LIKE SEX?

Deb Gabor: When clients struggle with understanding the story their brand tells about their customer, my favorite shortcut is to ask, “How does your product or service get your customer laid?” And it works. Strong brands help their customers solve problems, present a positive image to the world, feel empowered, feel accomplished, and feel like the hero in their own personal stories.

Think about what happens when you’re feeling like you’re on top of the world and that everything is working out the way you hoped it would. No matter how you describe that feeling, it puts you in the mood for having sex. When I say having sex, it may mean literally jumping into bed naked with your partner. But it may also have a more figurative meaning: experiencing the exhilaration of neighbors or other moms in the carpool complimenting, fawning over, and praising you, as well as having your ego stroked and being appreciated your husband and children. All of these things feel great, too. Branding is about making people feel so good that they want to take a roll in the hay. That’s it.

SmallBizLady: HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT THE PROCESS OF CREATING A BRAND?

Deb Gabor: We all know that many companies have a hard time getting their branding right.

Many companies see branding as writing the perfect copy, choosing the perfect color scheme, and writing up a perfect brand message. These things might be the output of branding, but branding is one thing: understanding your customer.

From my experience helping companies understand their customers, there are three core questions that really get to the root of how the brand and customer interact. If you can answer these three questions, you’ll be in a much better place to start your branding process.

1) What does your brand say about your customers?

The first question for brands to answer is what it says about a person that he or she uses this brand. What does it communicate both to the outside world and to the customer him or herself? This is important because, at its core, this is what a brand is. It’s a statement about the customer, and it’s crucial that, as a business, you know what that statement is. Answering this question requires you to really get inside your customers’ heads and understand what they want to achieve in their lives, how they measure their success in achieving those goals, what they care most deeply about, and, ultimately, how the brand must deliver.

2) What is the singular thing your brand delivers that customers can’t get from anyone else?

The second question to understand is what the singular thing is that a person using this brand gets from it that they can’t get from any other brand. In other words, what makes your brand singular and indispensable?

What you’ll find, as you dig into this question, is that most of the answers aren’t tangible. It’s unlikely that your product has a feature that no competitors can provide. Instead, what commonly comes up are intangible benefits, like the ways the company makes them feel or the story it tells them about themselves.

3) How do you make your customer a hero in the story of his or her own life?

The third question requires an understanding of how your brand makes the customer a hero in his or her own life story. Everybody wants to be the hero in his or her own story. Everybody wants to be the protagonist. Some brands may achieve that in an obvious way (like a fashion brand making the customer stand out from the crowd), whereas others might be more subtle (like an IT brand making the purchasing manager look good in front of their colleagues). No matter what the case, if you can answer this question, you’ll have loyal customers for life.

SmallBizLady: I’M TRYING TO GROW MY COMPANY. HOW CAN A BRAND HELP ME GROW AND MAKE MORE MONEY?

Deb Gabor: Brands that have bonded emotionally with their customers are among the strongest. Their brands contribute significantly to the overall financial value of their companies. Those companies that have gone through the process of creating a powerful brand distinguish themselves in their customers’ minds, not just now, but into the future. They’ve effectively differentiated from the competition. They’ve created conditions of irrational loyalty. That makes them resilient during market fluctuations and able to weather marketplace storms. Additionally, the loyalty that those brands engender increase their customers’ lifetime value and their companies’ customer acquisition costs on the lower side, contributing to a healthy bottom line.

SmallBizLady: WHERE THE #### DO I START?

Deb Gabor: My book is a great resource for getting started on the path to creating your brand. I give away the entire methodology and explain step-by-step how to go through the process of creating a powerful brand that wins. Start first with the ideal customer archetype exercise; then do the brand values pyramid exercise; and then pursue the more creatively oriented exercises to create the strategic underpinnings of your brand. You’ll be happy you did!

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The post How to Really Differentiate Your Product or Service appeared first on Succeed As Your Own Boss.

from Teri Crawford Business Tips http://succeedasyourownboss.com/really-differentiate-product-service/

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