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I need to preface this by saying I mean no ill woll to absolutely anyone or anything. I just wanna talk about my interpretation of one of gaming's most crpytic characters. However...

Every popular interpretation of Gaster is wrong and right. I've seen people claim certain things as facts that are less than theories. Let's start with his appearance. Practically everyone thinks that Gaster looks like this:

But the only real correlation to Gaster this sprite has is the cryptic nature of finding it and the use of fun values, which I think is very limited evidence. I think it's far more likely that this is his real, or at least one of his, appearances:

This character, who I'll be calling Redacted, speaks in wingdings, the font linked to Gaster, and who's room exits to the sound test menu, where Gaster's Theme can be played. Another thing, the link to wingdings is also only speculation. The name W. D. Gaster being shorthand for Wingdings Gaster is. Okay it makes sense i guess. And Entry 17 does seem to link to Gaster. Speaking of Entry 17, it concludes with "WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?" and most people assume that's Sans and Papyrus. I strongly disagree. Yes, all three relating back to a font is evidence, but I don't think it's Papyrus. Sans has his Gaster Blaster sprites in attacks, and can teleport and break the fourth wall as if he's beyond space and time, so I think that Sans is one of the two Gaster is talking to. But we have absolutely no evidence on who the second one is, and I think it's more likely a character we've never met. But you also have to remember that Entry 17 isn't even accessible in game, so is it even a canon source of lore? The Redacted sprite is also unaccessible. If Game Theory doesn't use removed content for theories I won't either.

Here's what we definitively know about Gaster: He was a royal scientist long ago who fell into the Core and was shattered across space and time. He has some relation to Sans, and that's about all of the conclusive evidence. Therefore every interpretation is bound to be wrong since there's so little real canon accessible ingame facts. So get sillay with it! None of it matters! Gaster is more of an idea, a theory, a concept than a character. And I love him for that.

But that brings me to my real point. Gaster should NOT appear in Deltarune as more than an allusion or an easter egg. If he appears as a boss or a character like I've seen some people say should/will happen, that would completely destroy his entire purpose. I would absolutely hate that so so much.

Tl;dr: Gaster isn't a real character so every interpretation is wrong and correct, and Gaster shouldn't appear in Deltarune.

Sorry this was a bit unfocused and incoherent

How does someone set up a roleplay page on Tumblr? I've never roleplayed here and I don't know the typical setup of someone’s page should look

I hope it's ok to answer this instead of making it a confession, but I figure that it's such a broad concept of what involves a blog, this would be a great opportunity for our followers to throw some suggestions your way! There is no real right or wrong way to set up a blog, really. Sure, there's some things that would likely be highly not recommended (such as themes with tiny tiny fonts or colour schemes which both make blogs very inaccessible to anyone without perfect eyesight). But at the end of the day, there is no official 'way' that a blog should look. Most people use custom themes, just because the default ones aren't always the most exciting, but at the same time, there is nothing inherently wrong with them, so if you are not sure about html and coding (at least a small amount will be required to edit a custom theme), then just go with a default theme. Just make sure that your links to any other pages are easy to find too. Some musts would be having a rules page clearly accessible, as well as a page with your muse(s) bio for people to read. They are the two most important parts of a blog, to make sure that people know who your muse is and what your requirements are. People definitely need to know what your limits are, what your triggers might be, what topics you are comfortable writing or the kind of muns/muses you aren't comfortable writing with. And while some people might debate on whether a full bio is required for your muse(s), at the very least, having some basic information would be great. Things like their age/age range, shipping info, occupation etc are the bare minimum but if you can, put some time into at least a small bio to give people an idea of what your muse is like. When putting yourself out there, the main tag that would be useful to check out would be the 'indie rp' tag, as this is where most rpers post their open starters/starter calls etc, so use that to find people to write with. Just be aware that brand new blogs often won't show up in the tags for at least a few days. My final bit of advice would be to ensure that all of your pages/rules/about etc are ready before you start engaging with other writers. I can't speak for everyone, but it can be a little exhausting if someone approaches you and they have no information readily available to read. I'll put this out to our followers now, so please let the anon know if you have any suggestions for getting started with a new rp blog.

Mod Louise

Hi Blue! I was wondering, do you by chance have any thoughts on meme accessibility? More specifically, I'm talking about the format of memes being accessible to people who possibly struggle to read certain formatting or that kind of thing. For example, I find that your meme lists are VERY accessible, but I find so many of these meme/resource/rph blogs are not (they use multiple spaces between words that make it harder to read, use too many fancy fonts that are difficult to read and don't show up on screenreaders, etc). What are your thoughts/feeling on memes being inaccessible in this way, and how have you had to adjust your meme formatting to ensure you've got accessibility for your own memes (whether here or on soulprompts)?

i have some thoughts, my light! although, fair warning, my thoughts are actually fairly ?? like, middle-of-the-field, i think? so i'll list a few of them here, and you'll understand what i mean by that in a moment!

accessibility is, in my opinion, a unique thing to each person. so, a while ago i tried to use the blue font on my posts for this blog, bc my name is blue, the colour theme for this blog is blue, it just felt like a very cute idea, and at the time i was using the dark tumblr background, so it stood out very clearly! all was well! all was happy! but then i got a new laptop two days later, and the default is the blue and white background for tumblr, right? so i was looking at the posts and it dawned on me that the light blue font is actually pretty difficult to see on the default screen, and i made a post asking if people would be happier for me to just not use the light blue font anymore, and one person said yes, so i just keep using black font now! mainly because the light blue is more of a pretty aesthetic thing; the black on white contrast is clearer for everyone, and if people need to lower the contrast, their personal computer settings would more than likely accommodate that!

however, the reason i think accessibility is more of a personally unique and tailored thing is because of a recent debate surrounding spacing in a formatted post. now, me, personally? i can read and follow just about any format there is. purple prose is an exception to the rule, and only because i feel like i have to sit down and translate it WHILE forming a reply to the thread, you know? but single spacing, double spacing, triple, etc? it doesn't bother me. i'm very fortunate that way, but i digress!

i have some friends who need single spacing in their responses, and i have others who require the additional spaces to separate the words more distinctly. something that's been more present on rules pages lately is that many people are happy to accommodate the personal preferences and needs of their writing partners; likewise, many people are very aware that we're all only human, we will forget things, we will make mistakes in our formatting, and steps are generally being taken to ensure that we, as a community, are hospitable enough to allow people to speak up and say "actually i can't read the double spacing very well" or "would you mind making the font just regular from now on?" and we'll be able to communicate these things more clearly and comfortably!

i feel like i'm rambling and not answering the question, so i'm gonna make the rest of my points shorter and more concise!

many of the meme blogs which i frequently rely on are run by compassionate and lovely people who happily change their formatting to suit their followers. this is a stark change from 5+ years ago, when these requests could have been responded to with indignant tones of "well why don't you use a different blog?" or "it's not MY responsibility to make YOUR experience a good one". i have a frighteningly but wonderfully large number of followers on this blog, and i actually consider it a privilege when people make these requests, because it tells me that i'm doing something right that people are comfortable enough to ask me these things!

as for how i format things on my blogs, i admit that i do use the fancy fonts for the titles of the memes (although i'm very VERY happy to change that to a regular font if it's something ye want!) and as far as spacing is concerned, i like to leave a few spaces for the action prompts, but it's always single spacing after that! so like:

[ ANSWER ]: receiver answers the lovely sender's question.

and that's only because i think it's a little easier to read, but again, i'm happy to change that if people want me to!

i hope this answered your question my angel! thank you for asking! if you want more input on this, @leneemusing has several very informative and insightful posts made on the subject of accessibility in the rpc!

1, 8 , 22 and another of your choice

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Calibri 11pt. I do actually care. Any other font looks fucking weird. I used to write exclusively in Times New Roman and anytime I open an older doc I'm like WHAT. IS. THIS.

I do have a fantasy novel I'm working on that is in Adobe Garamond Pro, because it just...fits. I'm a very aesthetic individual.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

I'd choose action of dialogue because actions speak louder than words. It would actually make a great tiny oneshot. A little snapshot of what love looks like in mundane moments or something like that.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Depends on the story. One shots, under 5 or 6 chapters: no organization. We just rolling with it, baby. Multi-chaps or a series: so. much. organization. I usually write out the plot line multiple times, evolving as the story evolves during the writing process. I also have a master page, which has to do boxes for every single chapter (start, finish, edit, post), plus fic addendums, like creating, finishing, and organizing the playlist, making a masterpost on tumblr, etc. I even schedule when to answer tumblr posts and AO3 comments. As far as tools: Evernote for keeping track of resources/articles for any technical details, Lightroom and Photoshop for playlist/masterpost graphics, pen and paper for outlining whole fic and each single chapter, the notes app on my phone for brief bits of dialogue, Word for writing and the Word mobile app on my phone for writing on the go (obviously I save on the cloud for access purposes). Google docs for when I want to share previews. Spotify for motivation music (seriously, ALWAYS play a videogame soundtrack when you need to concentrate on writing--it's literally designed to help you focus!!!).

3. Dealer's Choice (fitting, given our cursed correspondence): What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

My writing ritual is to write first thing in the morning, before life and everyone else barges in. This is cursed for numerous reasons: if I'm not actually awake enough, I make RIDICULOUS typos and grammatical errors, it's embarrassing. If I don't wake up in enough time before work/other activities, I generally don't write. So if I don't get to bed at a certain time, no writing will happen the next day. If I start writing on a weekend morning, I may spend 6+hours just sitting in bed, writing. My joints HATE this (as does the rest of my weekend to-do list). Sometimes I end up a bit late to work bc I start writing and I absolutely have to finish this thought/scene/whatever so I keep going and then it's like oh. Whoops. We'll just blame Los Angeles traffic.

Ask me a Weird Writer Question.

hey i was wondering if you could speak out about the inaccessibility trend in the rpc? the pinned posts & formatting i see with lots of different font types, colors, sizes, symbols, etc. are very very difficult to read - the graphics that are too busy, grainy, etc. are very difficult to see and i know i myself as a disabled person & several others have spoken about it publicly with no response or platform. this is an issue that's been happening for years and it's baffling to me that we've somehow gone backwards from accessible to very very inaccessible in such a short time, while disabled voices are being pushed under the rug and ignored for "aesthetic". thank you!

well, I can only speak for my experience and what i'm trying to improve myself. my own style through roleplay has changed a lot and stopped being a trend follower, for the most part, only half a year ago. I don't really have a platform that big to create nothing but an echo but those who roleplay with me are aware that I'm very much changing my ways. I stopped using small text, and i'm trying not to do use a lot of colors when writing (i only use it to highlight the first line of dialogue really, and even then, use a color that won't make your eyes pop).

i'm short sighted and i have eye strain a lot. i work on my computer as my main source of income almost 24/7 so i'm improving on that regard. I make templates and psds that feel right to me, if they bother me too much i won't even bother making them.

I think it's also a complicated matter, what it's inaccessible to me (like super small text and purple prose and too many colors, small icons), I have been changing it. I'm making icons that are bigger so you can see and my psds are starting to be clearer than what they were when i began making them a year ago. I been evolving when it comes to that. I'm trying to find a middle ground that will please both sides of the discourse.

aesthetic does not mean inaccessible. just like with the beta editor. I understand that people do not like it and it's messy as it's being worked on but it is better than legacy editor for folks like me. tumblr is working toward something more accessible so i feel it's fair that we start working toward that as well.

i am guilty of also going for the aesthetic because it's pretty and nice. like I said before, I don't think i'm a trend setter or a voice loud enough to create a ripple effect but what I do know is that i'm trying to make things more accesible for everyone as i' am myself someone who suffer through it.

681189287211958272 Hell no. I'm not sitting back and letting you post that shit without consequences, and I'm in a big mood, so you're going to get the full lecture from me, congratulations. Listen here: asking someone to change their threads with me to simpler formatting might be fine if I didn’t follow them, but many roleplayers want to follow their rp partners. What the hell do you expect me to do about all their other posts with overformatting? Every overformatted PSA and meme? Every thread with their partners who overformat? Do you expect my partners to tag every single post for me? Do you expect me to blacklist every new url they start threading with? Do you expect me to constantly be on edge because maybe, just maybe, they'll forget to tag something one time, and I'll see something, and it will trigger an attack that leaves me out of commission for weeks? Unable to work? Can you imagine how massive my blacklist would need to be, and how often I would need to keep updating it? And even if I was okay with not following someone, what happens if I want to catch up on their new headcanons? I guess I'll have to bug them to paste all their posts for me on discord? What a mess! I'm always out of the loop, and that feels horrible. Sure, Jan, that’s not stressful or demoralizing at all.

I’ve asked people to tag everything before, because assholes like you have goaded me into thinking I should suck it up and communicate, and nobody wanted to honor it, because virtually every single post needed to be tagged. One mistake and it was migraine hell for me. I didn’t want to risk people forgetting, and they didn’t want to risk forgetting and being responsible for my attack. And what about all the blogs I see when I browse tumblr like normal? How many people have you seen actually tag for eye strain on their overformatted posts so someone can blacklist it? I count one blog, out of hundreds. I can’t even look at unknown blogs unless I have someone confirm that it's safe for me. I’ve had migraine from gifs people don’t think to tag, from fonts people don’t think to tag, from people I don’t even follow, even though I've taken every precaution tag-wise. Gee, you wonder why people are frustrated with the formatting bullshit, and now only follow people who, like them, couldn't ever imagine formatting like that, or having it on their blog at all. Asking someone to only change my threads with them does dick. And you know how frustrating it is to constantly be reminded that almost everyone in the RPC doesn't give a rat's ass about you, because if they did, they would at least put an eye strain tw at the top of their blog for people like me? "Not many people have migraine", you might say. Guess what? 30% or more of the American population is estimated to have migraine, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 6 men, and that's only the people who have come forward about it. 148 million people worldwide.

Great, you have a sight impairment, you can’t fucking see things well. Maybe you can risk seeing a post because the biggest consequence for you is sore eyes and a headache if you force yourself to stare at it and strain to read. You're not the universal example of accessibility or disability. I’m not going to risk feeling like I’m dying and wanting to take a jackhammer to my skull when I see a post briefly. Migraines aren't "just headaches" either, so if you think I can just pop off an Advil to get rid of it, do I have fucking news for you. There are support lines for people with migraine because depression (and worse) is sky high, they are hard to treat if not impossible, and the management options suck. Half the time, they don't even work. You clearly don’t realize how little it takes to set off a debilitating attack that can leave me in pain for days, if not months. An attack that can leave someone in severe pain (icepick headache), unable to move (hemiplegia), unable to see (visual aura), unable to speak or communicate (aphasia, like what is happening to Bruce Willis), unable to be in light areas (photophobia), with ringing ears (tinnitus), nauseous out of their damn mind, with digestive issues, and almost useless from brain exhaustion and fatigue for weeks after the initial attack (postdrome), and I guarantee it can take a lot less effort to trigger that, than whatever happens to you because you're "losing your vision". You don't know what it's like to be in public, see some flashing shit on your phone, start getting aura, and realizing you have about thirty minutes to get your ass home or else you're in deep shit. I know for a fact if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't be such a prick. The amount of ableism and ignorance in your post made my eyes roll right out of my head, and I don't think they're coming back, they're in outer space now. I say this with great feeling: sit your ass down and shut up.

In response to this submission.

Blog Post 11: Summary

How we design reflects how we think, and the current state of accessibility in the design industry shows neglect for the future.

It is a common practice to attribute accessibility solely to disability and, by extension, old age as well. Don Norman challenges this approach to design thinking in his article when he talks about the large numbers of active and healthy (despite naturally diminished physical senses) elderly individuals who make up the current market and get overlooked by big businesses designing unintuitive products that "defeat their ability to function."

Norman also points out that no one is immune to the deterioration of physical senses through ageing. Everyone will be part of the "old" demographic at some point, and so what's best for the elderly (in terms of design) eventually benefits everyone.

Speaking of things that affect everyone, the horrid Florida ballot design was an eye-opener because I didn't realize how unaware the general populace is about the importance of good, functional design in political infrastructure. Voting systems and government (sensitive) documentation are domains where mistakes can have massive repercussions and, therefore, should pay close attention to accessibility in their design.

If you thought Target's prescription packaging design was bad, here's something worse:

I've always detested this type of metallic tablet packaging.

Everything except for the name of the drug is printed in extremely small and illegible type.

On a reflective surface that is also partly textured, the directions of use are impossible to read without straining your eyes. I'd start by changing the material of the packaging to something non-reflective and keep my colour palette limited to purple and white. I'd also increase the size and weight of the fonts for easier reading.

Take away statements:

Design for everyone.

Aesthetic doesn't mean exclusive.

Inclusivity helps all of us.

Don't forget the "Human" part of designing.

Get educated about accessibility.

So. Deltarune happened. (SPOILERS)

Or more specifically, the end of Deltarune happened.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this new world and there is no doubt a deeper story to be uncovered from it (like, who is that Knight that everyone keeps talking about? Will we ever destroy that Darkness Geyser? Why was my sweet fluffy soft goat(?!) boy Ralsei in that get up the whole time? TOby pLS), but I’ll be focusing more on the more “UnderTale” side of the story.

I believe that Deltarune is set in an alternate universe. Not a different timeline, but a different universe altogether. Many of us assumed at the start of the game that Deltarune is the Post Pacifist Route world, because we’re shown to be living on the surface with Goat Mom. But a lot of stuff in the game doesn't add up according to the UT universe that we're familiar with. 

My main evidence is Asriel. When the game first mentions him I gasped out loud because how in the world is Asriel supposed to be himself and alive Post-Pacifist Run??? isn't he supposed to be Underground as Flowey? The way they talk about him in the game suggests that our character Kris, Asriel, Toriel and Asgore were a family and that us and Azzy grew up together on the surface, which shouldn't be possible Post-Pacifist run.

You could say that Deltarune was meant to be a prequel to UT rather than a sequel, but then how would Asriel be grown up and in college if that was the case? 

Furthermore, Undyne and Alphys dont even know each other (my poor Alphyne heart), which is a stark contrast to how they were Post-Pacifist, and Catty and Bratty hate each other, as opposed to their strong friendship we see in UT. There's more evidence than that of course, such as how the Underground isn't even hinted at or mentioned in the game as part of the monsters' past.

Deltarune is most certainly not set in the same universe as UnderTale, much less the same timeline.

This brings me to my next point, regarding our favourite first fallen human, Chara.

I think its safe to say that most of us assumed that Gaster was speaking to us at the start of the game, given the Gaster references and hype Toby gave us on twitter 24 hours prior to Deltarune's release. But if we were really speaking with Gaster, we would be seeing Wing Dings text, like in Entry Number 17:

However we see only see English text against a black background, which means that the one speaking to us must be Chara. No other character (other than Flowey, but his text font is different) has spoken to us directly in the manner Chara has.

Chara asks if we are connected with them, and a soul appears on screen.

This is OUR soul, not Frisk's, not Kris', but OUR, the PLAYER'S, soul. We can infer this from undertale's genocide ending:

and the fact that when we SAVE in Deltarune, it saves under the name we gave ourselves as the player.

So now chara is connected to our soul, and they want to create an in-universe "vessel" for the soul to inhabit. One that they can control in the game itself. They don't control it for majority of the game however, they only control it at the end of the game, when- well.

When they rip OUR soul out of the vessel. I can only assume that they were able to transform the vessel that we created into their old human form through determination or something like that, I'm not sure. But how were they even able to access and control our soul so freely in the first place?

We gave it to them at the end of the Genocide Run. And the reason why they are in this Deltarune alternate universe is this:

"and move on to the next.”

I assume that with our soul that they obtained from our Genocide Run endings, they are now hopping from universe to universe, from world to world,  creating “vessels” they can control in universe to continue their genocidal agenda. 

A genocidal agenda that we enabled. We’ve been over this countless of times for the past 3 years though, so I'm not gonna talk more on that.

They have now hopped into the Deltarune alternate universe, and I cant wait to see what they do next.

 I wonder how they would react if they saw university-aged Asriel in the Deltarune universe.

A thing of interest I just thought of: there are many instances in the game where our choices are openly dismissed. The most notable instance is in the starting of the game itself, when Chara discards the characterisation and name we gave to our vessel.

which, of course, reminds me of:

We are truly facing the consequences of our actions, huh. Good on you, Toby. 

There is probably going to be more content from which we get to see more of Chara’s action and motivations (and more of their CHARActer!!111!!!!11!1! //slapped) and i eagerly look forward to it.

Anyway, this is just my two cents on the matter uwu sory if i got sometuings wrong i only got back into undertale liek... a few days ago so im probably rusty as fuck. uwu + this is my first meta theory post so its prob shitty asf lol

i cant wait the next chapter, lesgeddit 🤠🤙

thanks for reading!

Dirk: ==> update your BBF(best bro friend)

TT: It's so incredibly inconvenient that you're deleting. How am I supposed to tag you in horrible fashion choices and pro-arson-anti-establishment moodboards slash aesthetics? Actually send them to you, like some sort of mad man? How am I supposed to send you horrible anonymous messages meant to do nothing but make you question who the fuck has enough time on their hands to think of that shit? TT: And this? Body horror cw, but how can I possibly be sure you'll see this and understand it's for you? There's literally no possible way to be sure it'll reach you in any other form, even though I'm sending it to you directly right now. [TT] is sending the image(s) https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/526894347430527000/575448556949995543/SPOILER_tumblr_p4nd82yl6e1t5zyeuo1_1280.png ! TT: Actually, it's mostly just poor fashion choices and cat gifs that end up in your tag, but there's a good few aesthetic pieces sprinkled in for flavour. There's a neon "Cherry Bomb" sign in this funky ass font that's recent, if nothing else. An elaborate :ok_hand: prank, too.

CA: Sorry, bud. You knowv howv it is. CA:Actually, you don’t, because you’re still there. Tumblr sucks so much chute. Can’t stand it anymore. Plus, I’vwe been so busy vwith my actual life. CA: But you can alvways just spam random shit at me on here. Just like that! CA: That’s perfect. TT: Yeah, well, you know me. No life, and loving to suffer. That's the Strider aesthetic and brand. We're all about putting up with things for the sheer sake of it(slash spite) and literally nothing else. Surely you must have picked up on that just a little. CA: Hmm, maybe a little. CA: Howv you been? Sorry I havwen’t been around. [TT] is sending the link(s) https://orangeccreamsicles.tumblr.com/post/182819433708 https://orangeccreamsicles.tumblr.com/post/183585507085/daggers-drawn-audacityinblack ! TT: These two are also very important. What's your Tshirt size? TT: Not super fantastic, but you know. The world keeps turning, nobody's died yet. It's cool man, you've got irons in the fire, balls in the air, etc etc etc. CA: Uh, small. CA: Not super fantastic? You vwannaaaaaa. CA: Talk about that? TT: Hahah, twink. CA: Shut up. TT: Ehhhhhhhh. It's all boring interpersonal shit that I'm not sure is even resolved yet or not. I got magicked into a mermaid for a couple days a while ago, so that's something. TT: I'm not really. On speaking terms with Bo anymore, that's another one. CA: Oh. CA: Damn. I’m sorry, man. CA: VWhat happened?? TT: Did I ever mention that he and Sock are rails now? CA: VWhaaaaat. CA: You mentioned Sock has a moirail but I didn’t think it vwas him. CA: That’s. CA: VWeird. CA: I don’t see it. TT: I didn't either, LMAO! TT: But it happened, guess I wasn't really paying attention. Seemed like Bo'd been more distant for a bit but I thought that was my fault for not asking how he was doing or initiating shit more often. TT: Anyway. Turns out I'm a jealous piece of shit. I lashed out at Sock, said a lot of shit I very much regret, and now. TT: I'm pretty much positive Bo wants me dead. As in like, he's mentioned killing me. Which is a cool thing. Sock says he doesn't hate me flat out but the trust is gone. I have done an absolutely piss poor job of rekindling any kind of friendship there. CA: Tch. That guy. CA: Not gonna get into it. CA: I’m not gonna talk shit. Gonna be mature about this. TT: Hah. CA: I’m just really sorry. I knowv you liked him a lot. CA: Howv you liked him, I don’t knowv. But. TT: I liked him so much. TT: He was so straight up about shit. That's a problem I have for sure, everything's gotta be behind seventeen layers of irony, but he just said whatever without thinking. It got him in trouble a fair amount, maybe he tripped over his words, but he said it. And he was trying so hard to be good; to help his kids and his crew and himself, to recover from [redacted]. And he was nice. Not to everyone, I know, but TT: Hm. We are now over the line of things I can just let air out on their own. That particular train of thought is being halted at the station, please reschedule all flights. TT: It's cancellations and delays all across the board. CA: Mmhm. CA: No going back on it, huh. CA: Yeahh. It happens. CA: I knowv. It really sucks. CA: It sucks.. losing someone you really cared about. Like fucking up so bad you can nevwer evwer recovwer vwhat you had. CA: You knowv I knowv vwhat that’s like. TT: Ughhhhhhh. CA: I’m not good at making people feel better. CA: I’m a realist and I’m telling you like it is. TT: That's probably for the best. At least in this case. TT: He knows so much shit about me. I know a whole load about him. What do I do with it now? I can't just toss all that information aside. Does it mean anything? TT: I don't know how to word what I'm feeling. TT: I willingly gave him information about myself, which is something very few people including yourself get access to, and now that we're nothing, what is he going to do with it? I hate it when people know things about me but I let him and the reasoning is gone but he still knows. It's like he's got this chunk of me with him and vise versa that we can't give back and I don't know what the fuck to do with it now! Especially because I still like him, and I can see when he gets bad, but I can't do shit about it, even if he wanted me to. TT: And he sure as fuck doesn't want me to, because he wants me dead! TT: God, this is fucking gay. CA: I dunno vwhat to tell you. I really don’t. CA: The best you can hope for is. Uh.. CA: Somethingbadhappenstohimcausinghimtoforget. TT: Har har. CA: I vwish I vwas kidding. TT: I don't want anything bad to happen to him. TT: I want only good things to go his way and for him to be unbelievably, unabashedly happy because I'm fucking stupid and gay. TT: (Imagine me hitting my head on a desk and doing the verbal equivalent of a keysmash here.) CA: I’m imagining it. CA: I’m sorry, man.

Don't Scare People Off Your Blog by Making These Gaffes

Stop Sabotaging Your Blogging Effort

  We've all heard the chatter focused on blogging.  Many marketers have found that blogging is a great way to attract visitors to their business.  Providing interesting and informative content is a great way to engage and educate your audience.  And turning your visitors into the customers that your business needs. Posting on your blog is a great way to engage your audience while building your credibility and your brand. However, a blog won't do that if your visitors quickly click away to escape your blogging gaffes.  For your blog to be effective, it must be easy to find and actually read.   You need to be sure that you aren’t sabotaging your digital marketing strategy by committing these six blogging gaffes that send your readers running.   Don't Play Music or Videos Automatically   Please, no, just don’t do it.  There are few things that will make someone close out of a tab faster than the unpleasant surprise of blaring site music or the sound from a video they can’t find.  Ultimately, your blog simply should be a place where your audience enjoys visiting and wants to spend time.  If you really, really enjoy annoying videos I've included a doozy below for your enjoyment.  It's your choice whether you want to watch the video if you feel the need to be annoyed click and watch.   You invested a lot of time and effort into attracting visitors to your content.  Once they've arrived, the more time your visitors spend with your brand the better.  It's also much more likely that they’ll return to you when they need a service or product you offer if they have been engaged and informed.  That's why you need to create a useful, information-rich blog.  Your blog must also be welcoming, friendly and comfortable for your audience.  Your goal should always be to attract, rather than repel, your valuable readers.  Don't Over-promote Your Business   Your business blog isn’t just for you to share news about your business.  You can also tell about any promotions you’re running and about the products and services that you offer.  It's also a great time to include some business promotion.   Just don't overdo it.  The majority of your blog post should be about engaging your audience while entertaining or educating them.   Personally, I like to use the 80/20 Rule.  80 percent of your content should be written to engage your audience.  You can use the other 20 percent to promote or talk about your business.   Tell Your Story, Just Do it Subtely   I love 60's rock music and blasting it out of my huge stereo speakers.  But sometimes I just want to relax and enjoy some folk music.  Formatting your blog posts needs to be done with the same discretion.  You need to use punctuation, underlining and bold type appropriately.   Used judiciously it can enhance your blog and help engage and grow your readership.  When it is abused and overused, formatting will send your audience running before they make it through the first sentence.   You should never overuse these formatting elements: exclamation points capitalization underlining colored fonts font styles   I understand that you want to get your point across. But NO ONE LIKES TO READ a sentence like this!!!!!!!!!! Your message is actually more easily understood when there are fewer distractions around your words.   Make Your Blog Posts a Conversation   It's only natural to look to your past writing experience when you start blogging.  For most people that's going to take them back to the writing they did while they were in school.  Your academic writing roots may not serve you well when it comes to writing your business blog.   Using the same academic style will have you coming across as formal in your writing.  That's not what your blog needs. Or what your readers want. Blog writing should be less conventional than traditional professional writing, so it’s better if you: Writing for your blog needs to be conversational.  You need to write as if you were talking to a friend. You need to write in the first and second person.  You should use words like “I,” “we,” and “you.” It's OK to break some rules.  You don't want to completely ignore grammar and syntax while writing.  But it's important to that you remember that you’re not bound by all of the rules.  It’s OK to start a sentence with a conjunction or use a phrase or sentence fragment sometimes. Use contractions.  It’ll make your writing sound more natural, it's how we talk to our friends. Use simple terminology.  Keep your writing as simple.  Don’t use unnecessary adjectives or big words to sound smarter.  Keep it simple and write for a reading level of about eighth grade.  You can use an online tool like Readability-Score.com to see where your writing stands.   Again, you need to always know your audience. If you’re writing to attract and engage upper-level management, you may need to kick it up a notch.  However, blogging isn’t like academic writing so you need to relax.  You'll accomplish more and engage your readers better if you loosen up and reign in your desire to write an “A” paper.   Narrowly Target Your Audience   The internet has revolutionized marketing, and sometimes we get hung up on trying to speak to everyone.  We forget that people enjoy feeling special and personal.  We don't care for things that are generalized, generic, or inauthentic.  By trying to talk to everyone through your blog it will likely lead you to talk to noone.   Sometimes You're Just Trying to Convince the Teddy Bear   When you write your blog posts, you need an image of one imaginary reader in your mind.  You're writing directly to that reader.  Imagine you're talking to an auditorium full of prospects.   You know that your message resonates with teddy bears, and it's something teddy bears need.  Your job is to convince the teddy bear to act. Doing this helps you develop the appropriate and consistent voice that you need.  It will convince your target audience because it is natural, authentic and relatable.   Visit Our Web Accessibility Blog Visit Our Business Sustainability Blog Don't be Afraid to Share Using a Blog   It may seem to be a huge task to write your own blog.  It's not as difficult as you assume it is, and the benefits far outweigh the pain.  However many people are reluctant to even attempt it.   Their most common excuse is usually, "I don't know what to write about!"  I'll admit it may seem to be difficult to select a topic.  The best place to start is to write about something you know.  Or write about something that "bugs" you.   You might begin by writing about something you like to do, or a place you like to go to.  You may be surprised at the response of others to what you write.  The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to engage and inform your readers.   You never want to come across as preaching.  Just tell your story.  Make people feel like they're having a conversation with you about something that interests them too. If you're a business owner, give blogging a try.  You might find that you enjoy doing it and there may be an audience that appreciates the thoughts that you share.  Happy Blogging!    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Read the full article