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irritatedandroid · 3 years

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The Fire Burns Bright

A Personal Essay From an Alolan Marowak -Jasper (@irritatedandroid, @irritatedDroid)

Summary: Below the cut, this is a personal essay written by Jasper on his experiences with being an Alolan Marowak fictherian and fictionkind. Personal experience, discussion of awakening, shifts, instincts, animality, culture and spirituality are elaborated on alongside a critical view on community narratives and boundaries.

CWs: In-depth look on death, personal experiences with death

I find there isn’t enough discussion on the fact that nonhumanity can be approached from multiple different angles and axis, instead treated like a hard binary of animality vs humanity - or if you’re lucky, a two-way spectrum. I’m someone who is nonhuman through and through, but the way in which I can experience being “other” from humanity can shift wildly. A strong sense of animality is brought on when shifted towards my Alolan Marowak fictotype - enough that I tend to strongly identify with the word fictherian. Though that sense of animality is its own thing, and is a wholly separate scale from the nonhumanity I experience when shifted towards my android kintype. But the experiences drawn from being an android could fill an essay of their own. We’re here to discuss the Marowak.

Both very not human, both very “other”, but a wholly different view upon what it means to be human and not human respectively. And I suspect the scale my Marowak self experiences may be different as well from the scale any given earthen animal may experience. Similar enough to where therianthrope discussion rings loud mental bells of familiarity and understanding, but still something else worth acknowledging. After all, how many earthen animal therianthropes feel the raw instinct of fire breath? Were-dragons however may understand that one well. And yet that animality is not something to be ignored or to set aside entirely even if the axis runs at a slightly off angle in comparison.

My name is Jasper, and some of you might know me, I’ve been around the community for a couple of years. Some folks even remember the internal grapple with identity and understanding that I had when I started being unable to deny I am an Alolan Marowak. The moment when the Alolan Marowak design was teased, and I had pointed out the familiarity as well as the typing before it was actually shown. There was a moment then when experiences and vague, blurry memories I’d held onto quietly for years without the priority of digging in deeper - as I was already busy with questioning and understanding my android kintype - became an absolute priority of mine to understand further.

I often half-joke about how my “awakening” as discussed in nonhuman communities was completely rocky, as it was. It was less a solid awakening, and more multiple years of slowly accepting and embracing aspects of my life that had always been present, which I had denied either to ease my own responsibility to myself or to appease others. Folks in the community may recall seeing me step into denial, and to substitute in any possible reptilian, fire-based creature I could in order to try and understand the experiences. Because how could I be a Pokemon? I’d been critical of fictionkin while diving into the community, something which when looking back was likely a compensation for already having been something odd and to be met with criticism - the android. I ran through a number of species when questioning: everything from earthen lizards, to draconic entities, to the elemental spirits of salamanders.

There were multiple aspects absolutely vital to communicating what I was experiencing, those being a) instinct-driven and wild, reptilian, and b) inherently connected to the elements of fire and spirit. My thoughts could be as unflattering as a scavenger’s instinct, growing frustrated at any leftover food or uncleaned-up animal remains (which sure made living in a populated city interesting, with abandoned scraps of food everywhere and the leftovers of unfortunate urban creatures who tried their luck at crossing Yonge Street), or curious to try and make a meal for myself out of the live insects I keep to feed to my own little old leopard gecko, Saleen. Yes, she was named after a car. No, that is not important. Having her around does however provide an up close frame of reference to draw out my own lizard drives. In terms of food instincts, raw eggs are absolutely another tempter of mine, as my carnivorous scavenger self would have been ecstatic to see a nest of unattended eggs to make a meal of. As I’ve learned due to that raw eggs absolutely suck, please cook them. It’s much better that way. But embarrassing nonhumanity stories will always be embarrassing.

Some of us Marowak - especially the males like myself - could become quite territorial. And that territorial feeling is something I’ve had to settle in my mind over life. Nowadays it’s decently well integrated, but it does now and then try my patience especially when it comes to setting out what is for me and what belongs strictly to me. Renting a small apartment in a populated city, once again, does definitely force you to keep the “this land is mine and it belongs to me, so screw off before you chase off my dinner” thoughts in check. A bit of human humbling for an animal’s self thought. I’ve of course needed to remind myself a number of times that the tourists in the train station on my way to work, while annoying, won’t manage to chase off the Tim Hortons I’ll be eating on my break.

But in the wild frontier of the Pokemon world, predator and prey dynamics were absolutely important to know and understand - and those dynamics reach beyond game mechanics such as elemental types and abilities. Even as a carnivore, scavenger and troublesome predator that I was when I reached the age of a full-grown Marowak, I still was in a dangerous spot on the food chain. The worst predators I’ve had to deal with while working to survive in my ecosystems were other Fire types, intriguingly. Even as a small Ground type Cubone. The fact that Cubones wear the skull of their lost mothers was something I am familiar with, my own having been taken down by a Charizard. This natural order of predation is both a major part of my animalistic experiences as a Marowak, but also did tie into my more sophisticated or spiritually-focused aspects that stemmed from my Pokemon identity and lifetime.

All of this lead to an animality-focused time in figuring out what I was, to the point where when I was in denial of the possibility of being a Pokemon, I identified myself as a theriomythic, fire-oriented reptile. And the animality definitely tends to lead the discussion upon how I live and experience being an Alolan Marowak. I sometimes joke that you could strip that side of my life down to the bare essentials and I’d be a lizard hanging out by a campfire. Though it certainly isn’t every aspect of me, as the Marowak.

At times I think on the term theriomythic, and how it could be extremely valuable in describing more than just “animal but from myth”, but to also communicate experiencing the self on a spectrum of animality and mythicality. In my case this spectrum is very much there, and the aspects of experience that make up me as the Marowak are scattered along it. All aspects are important to me and how I live as myself, as well as how I understand my own fictional animality and nonhumanity.

The Marowak, despite being a wild animal in how I recall and experience my species, do have a displayed aspect of culture and even spirituality. Setting aside the fictional wildness of being able to summon up fire at will to defend one’s turf, we’re shown to be able to interact comfortably with each other when it comes time for rituals, such as fire dancing at the sun rise and to mourn the lost. Mourning the lost is a large part of how one can experience being the Marowak as well, as it’s a pretty integral part of the species’ canon lore, starting from when we’re little baby Cubones. For those unfamiliar with Pokemon lore, a Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother Marowak. Adorning bones in a sort of ritual to mourn is something that I can’t say I’ve seen an earthen animal do. If you have then please do let me know, because it interests me a lot. But all I can say about it in my own drives and thoughts is that it’s just what we do, it’s cultural. To cite the Pokedex, “MAROWAK is the evolved form of a CUBONE that has overcome its sadness at the loss of its mother and grown tough. This POKéMON’s tempered and hardened spirit is not easily broken” (Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, 2002).

The donning and weaponizing of bones is both symbolic and an act of mourning, but also an example of tool using similar to some of our world’s apes. The Pokedex talks of this vaguely, stating “It has been seen pounding boulders with the bone it carries in order to tap out messages to others” (Pokemon Gold, 1999). The various Pokedex entries theorize on where the bone clubs come from, some entries mentioning a graveyard specifically for Marowak existing in the world, where Cubone and Marowak get their bones. Some entries state this like fact, such as Pokemon Crystal, meanwhile others bring up this as a rumour, such as Pokemon Silver. In my experience, it’s a rumour. I’ve not seen a Marowak graveyard, my bone club first came from my mother. But the main referenced use of the bone club is as a weapon, and also as a method of overcoming grief and turning to viciousness. “It is small and was originally very weak. Its temperament turned ferocious when it began using bones.” (Pokemon X, 2013). In my case, the symbolic use of them is as a tool of war, transforming grief into a vicious will to fight on and survive. Due to this, I hold bones and particularly skulls as a sacred object and have my small collection of skulls I keep as comfort objects. With time, having a large femur bone similar in shape is a life goal.

Though it does then get taken a step further, when peering in through the eyes of an Alolan variant Marowak. A spirituality that incorporates the dead and lost is brought in and becomes an extra step of important, crediting the Ghost type aspect alongside the Fire. Newer Pokedex entries focused on specifically this variant states “The bones it possesses were once its mother’s. Its mother’s regrets have become like a vengeful spirit protecting this Pokémon” (Pokemon Sun, 2016) and “It has transformed the spirit of its dear departed mother into flames, and tonight it will once again dance in mourning of others of its kind” (Pokemon Let’s Go, 2018). Spiritual awareness is very much accepted to be something that the Alolan Marowak possess and engage with openly, even building monuments to the lost as stated in the Generation 7 Pokedex entry: “Its custom is to mourn its lost companions. Mounds of dirt by the side of the road mark the graves of the Marowak” (Pokemon Moon, 2016).

Culturally there is a lot to the Marowak’s experience, comparing and including both Alolan and Kantonian variants of the species. The species as I remember are mostly solitary but I do recall clan dynamics and groups especially among the Alolan variant. These groups were less for survival and more for the purpose of those ritual gatherings, mentioned above. At times I was very foreign to these clans, being a Kanto-born Cubone evolved in Alola (a fact supported in canon and proven in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon via the ability to evolve a Kanto Marowak in Ultra Space). Behaviorally and culturally there are differences between Kanto and Alolan Marowak, brought on by how each looks at their situation differently. While an Alolan Marowak processes mourning in a more spiritual way, a Kanto Marowak becomes hardened by anger. “A MAROWAK is the evolved form of a CUBONE that has grown tough by overcoming the grief of losing its mother. Its tempered and hardened spirit is not easily broken,” (Pokemon Emerald, 2004). Because of this there was a separation between myself and the local Marowak that reinforced my solitary nature, and also influenced my introverted and almost outright nomadic nature in my current life and self. The fire dance under the sunrise was one known in canon. These rituals and dances are a custom humans in canon have taken notice to, and can even speculate the reasoning for. “This Pokémon sets the bone it holds on fire and dances through the night as a way to mourn its fallen allies” (Pokemon Sword, 2019). The fact that that cultural dynamic prevailed even through the difficulty of communicating is something that may be surprising, but a number of nonhumans know well that body language and tone of animal vocalizations can go a long way in communicating

Ignoring these experiences would be a step towards cutting down and denying important experiences that affect me as a fictherian and as a Marowak. There’s important parts of how I experience being this Pokemon that are heavily grounded in a context of a mystical world where visibly potent acts of fantasy are possible unlike the world we are living in here. Some of these aspects can be emulated in more subtle ways through exploration of spirituality, religion and the occult. To dive deeper into that, I used to identify as Pagan, however now I practice what is called chaos magic. Chaos magic is a magical practice that developed in England in the 1960’s, working off of Austin Osman Spare’s occult practice and ideas. Chaos magic gave me an approach and freedom to incorporate what I know and remember as an Alolan Marowak into my every-day spirituality. Tailoring my spiritual beliefs and practices to focus on working with the element of fire, with spirits and the energy of death, bones, and to the very fabric of fiction crossing over into reality was extremely important as an avenue for me to explore the way my fictotype affects me in the modern day, and in the human body. This practice also gave me a bit of freedom to accept working with an entity from my source - Giratina - as a patron deity in pagan circles, which ultimately proved to be extremely valuable in exploring my own Pokemon identity. Practices like energy work, meditation, spirit work and visualization hit close to satisfying that need to be delved into the magical world we see in animation. And yet, even in these more sophisticated and fantastical experiences lie links back to the animality and to an inherent disconnect to humanity.

One thing I always enjoy in therianthrope and non-humanoid otherkin discussions is an openness to discuss the instincts that are ugly, disturbing or outside of what one’s human morals would ever agree with in this life and time. And in a lot of cases these instincts and memories can become a lot more “ugly” than a scavenger’s drive to eat carcasses or the awareness and cynical eye needed to survive in a completely wild world. At times, a wild creature can have defense mechanisms or behaviors that to our human minds would seem outright malicious. And Pokemon, even in the whimsical canon, are no exception to that. Once again I’ll drag up a few Pokedex entries - as honestly the Pokedex is a wonderful thing for exploring the deeper aspects of a wild Pokemon - to illustrate my point. “When it beats opponents with its bone, the cursed flames spread to them. No amount of water will stop those flames from burning,” (Pokemon Ultra Moon, 2017) and “The cursed flames that light up the bone carried by this Pokémon are said to cause both mental and physical pain that will never fade” (Pokemon Shield, 2019).

Yes, even the fun and magical world of Pokemon is no stranger to wild animals who inflict effects upon others that seem absolutely awful, and in some cases cruel. But, that’s survival in the animal kingdom, or in this case the Pokemon kingdom. It can be surprising to some that a person who’s fictotype hails from the fun and upbeat franchise that defined a number of childhoods may be hardened to the need to survive in a natural world. The things I know I had done to creatures who my childhood Pokemon fan self would have only wanted to hug, at least at a baseline mental state. In a shift, that’s a different story after all.

But ultimately, this blend of experiences causes an interesting time in exploring myself within the general nonhuman community as it can be quite split up. Certain narratives of individual communities I can’t find myself fitting into, or find myself sitting in between. I settle into spaces focused on everything from therianthropy, to mythical otherkinity, and to fictionkinity, though there’s narratives and cultural aspects in every separated community that either are foreign to me or that I might confront as they expect clear-cut boxes between them which individuals can fit into. In therianthrope communities I’ve been one to criticize the expectation of a solid line between human and animal experiences, or in general animal vs non-animal with regards to forcing a further divide from the otherkin community. I’ve also been involved in discussion criticizing therian community narratives such as a shifting focus and the model of integration. The model of integration is interesting to me, as I experienced it in a way that I was unaware of at the time, particularly with my android kintype. My android kintype is almost fully integrated into me - I barely shift at all at least mentally. However my Marowak fictotype provides less integration, and my mental shifting will be a lot more noticeable against my baseline self. At times it can be as stark as appearing like a different person, or more accurately like a wild animal. But ultimately the differences in the closeness of each kintype draws up issues for me with the integration model, as well as having found it normalized a severe mental health issue I had with my traumagenic plurality at the time of “least integration”.

The therianthrope community is far from the only community with narratives that put a barrier between me and relating, especially as members of each community push for further separation between individual branches of nonhuman experience and identity. I have trouble relating to humanoids when heavily shifted towards my Marowak self, and that puts a bit of a barrier between myself and the otherkin community’s more humanoid side - such as elven, fae, divine, angelic, etc. - as well as the fictionkin community’s focus on humanoid or completely story-driven fictionkind. I have no use for prioritized experiences within the fictionkin community such as finding canon-mates and creating aesthetics. Even in some Pokemon fictionkin specific communities I find I cannot relate often. My experience with my “Pokemanity” is heavily wild and animal-based as I was never caught, socialized with a human, or trained. In no way shape or form is my Pokemanity adjusted to interaction with humans, nor is it something that is settled down or subdued for human consumption unlike what my source was created for.

In both otherkin, therian and even fictionkin communities there is a push towards prioritizing the narrative of a solid awakening. That’s one more focus in the communities that I struggle with, as like I said before, mine was a process of accepting bits of myself which spanned multiple years. Every part of me that is nonhuman has always been present within my life, though for almost two decades muted heavily.

To draw back into my spiritual practice here, consider a practice known as shadow work. Shadow work is a practice that hybridizes spirituality and psychology, and describes the process of becoming aware of one’s shadow (the id, shadow archetype, or shadow aspect drawn from Carl Jung’s psychology) and working to integrate it into oneself by accepting the repressed parts of oneself that are pushed back and merged into the shadow. The shadow can be known as the unknown dark side of the personality, and I theorize that more nonhumans have undesirable aspects of their nonhumanity pushed onto their shadow than they might think they do, like I had done to my own Pokemanity for a number of years. In my case, I was slightly forced to tear into and meet my shadow aspects of my nonhumanity due to the fact that even upon immediately breaking into nonhuman communities, the specifics of what I was were already viewed with hostility and disbelief. In a way, it strengthened me. But with my shadow opened wide and not much held back, I can be a bit of a fire-starter in spaces where I speak my mind whether others want to hear it or not. And part of that is directly confronting the forced separation of animal vs non-animal, or the arbitrary ideas of what is a human experience and what is not.

I can only best put forward my experience as a Pokemon through in-depth discussion, which I find tends to come across better in spaces where the experience of being by-and-large a feral animal is allowed without restraint. Ultimately a space I will thrive in most and be most open about my experiences and life as someone who is spiritually and psychologically an Alolan Marowak is one where I can discuss both my animality, my experience with fiction, my spiritual practice and the combination of these things that seem to be pushed into separate boxes. The Marowak serves a lot to my sense of self and to my life, and has psychological affects on me as well. It’s been a part of me that has fought through and survived when my life hit a rocky start early on, witnessing the death of my brother in childhood, and having loss and grief be present all around as I grew. The Marowak is both an inherent part and vital context in my life, as well as a symbol of my own endurance.

Through it all, the fire burns bright.

Citations

Marowak POKÉDEX: Stats, MOVES, evolution & locations. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/marowak

Chryssides, George D. (2012). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-8108-6194-7.

Jung, C.G. 1938. "Psychology and Religion." In Psychology and Religion: West and East, Collected Works of C.G. Jung 11. p. 131

Roberts, Gwilym Wyn, and Andrew Machon. 2015. Appreciative Healthcare Practice: A guide to compassionate, person-centred care. M&K. ISBN 1907830936. p. 71.

#essays #personal essay #fictherian #fictionkin #fictionkind #otherkin #otherkind #personal log #alolan marowak #death tw

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venusloveslobotomies · 4 years

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Pyromania (Bucky x Reader)

A/N: This is my first time posting writing and I would love literally any feedback at all! I’m honestly terrified to put my shit writing out there but I may as well suck it up and just do it! The ‘reader’ is Korean and her last name is Kang. The face reference is optional but it’s helped me get a better idea in my mind of how she looks.

Summary: (Winter Soldier-Endgame Insert) You’re an enhanced HYDRA agent who negotiated her way out of being a weapon. You’re now the nurse/ aid of the Winter Soldier. You end up escaping with him and follow him in and out of danger while slowly developing feelings for each other.

Words: 1950 (approx) Chapter: 1/?

Kang Y/N, age 16

I think one of my worst habits is looking at the clock. I know he’s scheduled to arrive back at 9pm for check-up but that will never stop me from obsessively glancing at the clocks in the hallway, in the kitchen, in his room while I methodically go through the nightly routine. Pick up toiletries and first aid kit, hand in the dinner slip for his food, eat dinner myself, change the sheets, pick up his night clothes for the week from the laundry. I find myself done, having gone on autopilot and finished the routine quicker than usual. I hang around near where the soldiers usually file in after the training session. A few other nurses happen to be there too, waiting on their soldiers. Given that there’s only six of us with supersoldiers, we know each other quite well.

All the other nurses are assigned to other enhanced, are put on general service, are sent on missions or are thrown into the front lines of warzones and therefore operate on different schedules. “Hey Kang, how’s big-shot Soldat going, huh?” Sasha offers a grin and I shake my head at the tall Russki. “He’s well. So far. How’s your girl going?” “Great as far as I can tell! She’s not the most talkative though. Bit of a shame. Bet you and Soldat are getting along perfectly,” I send him a disappointed glare but it doesn’t take long to crack into a smile. It’s hard to be frustrated with Sash. He’s too nice and too young. Well, he may be older than me physically but he entered this work much later than I did, not that I had a choice. “Don’t forget which one of us is the Level 7, Vasiliev. I’ll kick your ass and you know it,” I prod his side and make a show of adjusting my armband with a large ‘7’ embroidered onto the red cross. He feigns fear but before he can continue with his teasing the doors open and in file the soldiers. I lock eyes with my soldier before waving to Sash, “See you at showers, yeah?” He sends me a thumbs up and saunters off behind his soldier. Soldat has already begun marching towards his room. I jog to catch up with him and almost start telling him off before I see the glint in his eyes. There’s so little room for fun around here and he’s rarely in a good enough mood to be teasing so it’s difficult to be annoyed. Once we arrive at the room however, he sits down and the extent of today’s training becomes clear. I can see his bloody face and twitching metal arm. Ok, so maybe not so much in a good mood. “Might need to relocate my other shoulder,” His Russian is harsh and unnatural but not accented like mine. It’s different to the other soldiers and guards here, who are all native speakers. I make a mental note of his tone before I pick up the clothes, first aid kit and toiletries and we walk towards the showers. He tries to take them from me but I smack his hands away and force him to walk in front of me. Now, the showers leave a lot to be desired. A large room with lockers and shelves in the center and lining the left and right walls are blue curtains containing a shelf and a shower head. On the back wall are sinks and mirrors. At least we have hot water and it was clean. But the smell of blood and misery clung to the room no matter how often it was cleaned. Soldat led the way past several of his fellow soldiers before sliding the curtain shut in our usual spot. Unlike the nurses who served individuals like Sasha and I, the soldiers were unfriendly to the extreme with each other, no sense of community or friendship. I’m not complaining though. I enjoy having my soldier to myself, he’s easy to get along with and it was already far too stressful getting used to just him. I didn’t need others to deal with. They’ve all got different personalities, none of them easy-going, and one of them has anger issues. He strips the soaked training clothes off and hangs them carelessly on the shelf before kneeling down and allowing me to examine his injuries. A few cuts, presumably from punches, on his face, blood still dripping from his nose and mouth, a broken rib that’s quickly healing and his shoulder is bruised and tender but not dislocated. I mop the blood off his face and mutter to myself in Korean. He listens with interest. He’s been learning Korean from me lately, giving us more time together since we’re given a block of time to study. All the soldiers must know 30 languages and any extras to the ones already taught (like my Korean dialect) are accommodated with a block of study time. I double check his rib. Definitely broken but also definitely healing. The enhanced healing still freaks me out. I was not taught about how to deal with it when I went through my two years of medical training. I had to get used to it and teach myself. I realise I’m going to need to get morphine from the officials. Otherwise we won’t be sleeping tonight. “Would you like me to get you a recovery day?” I ask in slow, deliberate Korean. I can give my soldier any number of recovery days throughout the year, being his nurse. It usually means an extra day of study rather than training and extra food. Or being sent to cryo. “Ani,” He shakes his head, “I have the mission next day,” His Korean isn’t perfect, which is endearing since he’s perfect at practically everything else. I shrug in response, though I’m upset he refuses most recovery days. I do know that the officials are meticulous about whether the quality of a soldier begins to degrade but he hasn’t taken any for a long time. “If you say so,” I sigh but continue disinfecting his cuts and then tell him to wait. Slipping outside I can see Ira and Nadiya are stripping their outer layers off. Although I haven’t had much opportunity to experience outside life I know nudity like this would not fly outside of this environment. Here, nudity is hardly any issue. The soldiers are used to it for physical examinations and medical exams and their nightly routine. Nurses are unbothered by nudity since we perform plenty of medical duties requiring naked soldiers and all that. So, we all exchange a few words while hanging our dresses, armbands and hats up and putting our shoes on shelves. We talk about the quality of the food going up since the sixties and whether we’re supposed to attend a medical training session in the next month or so. We’re updated annually on the medical advancements outside of our little world. I slide back into our cubicle and find the water running. I step further in and my underclothes are immediately soaked. He turns around and offers me a tired smile, twirling the end of my braid with his normal fingers. I smile back and take a shaky breath. I set about washing the sweat out of his hair with shampoo and while he rubs the blood off himself, I begin scrubbing his metal arm. The blood, sweat and dirt builds up easily in the gaps and if it were left to him, the stupid arm would be rusted by now. I went out of my way to request special cleaning equipment for his arm and luckily was granted it. While we do this, we speak in Korean to help his learning and after a while he seems to relax. It never fails to surprise me when his aggressive personality melts away into the calm man that only I see. I massage his tense muscles with the aid of the hot water and eventually it’s time for dinner and ‘winding down’. For wind down, some soldiers, like a particularly angry man, are sent to the psychs for an hour before they’re put in cryo or bed. By the time we’re out, everyone’s already begun changing, nurses and soldiers alike. There’s no interaction between soldiers, they seem to be in their own little worlds, but the nurses are happily socialising with each other. I change into clean underclothes and my night dress - a white, floor-length dress with an apron and pin my armbands securely on my upper arms - while I listen to Sasha talking about the pains of acquiring painkillers from the officials. Paracetamol, ibuprofen and other basic drugs don’t make a dent in the pain our soldiers endure. Quicker healing is great and all but it’s considerably more painful. It takes a lot of convincing as well as a full medical report to get the higher-ups to give us the morphine they need. We all agree and chime in to add points to strengthen the argument. Eventually, we all clear out of the steamy room and continue chatting all the way down to the living quarters. Two of the soldiers split off with their nurses for cryo prep and we all wave, knowing it’ll be awhile before we see those four. The guards in this part of the facility must be constantly unnerved by the sound. Usually the base is all business, soldiers and guards and nurses silently carrying out their schedules but the six of us that cater to the supersoldiers are unafraid to be happy and loud. It creates a sense of community and we wouldn’t get that outside of this environment. In any case, the guards can’t touch us unless we pose a direct threat. So, we all spend our time walking laughing and talking in a blend of languages. All of us are multilingual since we travel with our soldiers. So, the guards and officials, who often only speak German or Russian or both are even less comfortable since our usual chatter is a mix of Ukrainian, French and pieces of German and they presumably really don’t like not understanding what we’re saying. It’s mostly just a lot of joking around and bagging on each other for whatever we can think of. It’s nice but also a bit strange. Even to me. Back when it was only Soldat and I, these hallways were silent as ever. It was a different time. This whole thing is recent since it was only in the early nineties that the other soldiers were created. Then their nurses were assigned and even then, we were acutely uncomfortable around each other. But I’m happy with the way things are now. As we split off into our rooms, the hallway goes quiet again and it’s time for winding down. I get called to the side by an official. I could laugh at how obviously uncomfortable he is down here. He should be in an office upstairs, getting ready to go home. There’s a good reason why the higher-ups don’t come down here anymore. He hands me a file to prepare for the mission tomorrow. I accept it and watch him walk back to the elevator. I realise Soldat has gone back to the room without me. As I walk back, I think about how strange it is that all twelve of us are out right now. We’re only taken out of cryo for missions. Ira and Michael and their soldiers completed missions the night before but spent the day training anyways. I presume the other three are going on assignments tomorrow since all of us were released from cryo at the same time this morning.

Part 2

#bucky #barnes #buckybarnes #buckyxreader #marvel #marvelxreader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky fic #pyromania fic

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koalaguru · 5 years

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Character Analysis: Part 1: Sly Cooper

I’ve had a Sly Cooper-themed Tumblr account for awhile now and I have yet to post anything of note. After years spent lurking and reading the wonderful text posts many fans have made analyzing the shit out of this wonderful series, I felt like it was finally time to throw my hat in the ring of this small but large in passion fanbase because I love analysis as well. So I figured, what better way to get started than by doing a kinda series thing where I post lengthy thought posts on the different characters of the series whenever I get the chance? This won’t be something simple like stopping after doing the main three plus Carmelita...no, I’ll be talking about every major boss and character in the series, so buckle in.

The main goal here is to simultaneously share my love of this series and write analysis pieces while also highlighting what I think of each character and where the games went right (or wrong, in...some cases...) with portraying them. Where better to start than with the main character himself: The Guru Sly Cooper!

Sly Cooper is a very complicated character to get right. I don’t mean just him, I mean the idea behind a character like him. He shows so much arrogance and a flippant disregard for safety precautions in so many scenarios that if these weren’t balanced by the excellent writing of his other personality traits he’d be downright unlikable. Luckily, he’s in the hands of Sucker Punch. But that’s also why, when taken out of Sucker Punch’s hands...things tend to get a bit messy.

Sly Cooper, Nick Wilde, Nathan Drake, the list goes on. They are all similar characters. Cunning, romantic, a bit dangerous, and easily interpreted as uncaring in some instances. That is why it is important to establish a solid background to make it clear why they are the way that they are, and it is equally important to show where their limits lie. Nick Wilde for example could have easily been an annoying character. Judy Hopps is positioned as the main character of Zootopia, and so when audiences see this smug con artist making her job harder, they sympathize with her and demonize him. But the irresistible charm to his personality and the later revelations about his past lead to a satisfying arc that makes him a fan favorite. He is such a smug and cunning asshole because society never gave him the chance to be anything more, and so when Judy gives him that chance, we see who he truly is.

But enough about Zootopia...I’m talking about Sly Cooper. And if I’m being honest, I think the character of Sly Cooper should be the prime example anyone who tries to write this kind of character looks to in the future, because Sucker Punch knocked it out of the damn park.

Starting in Sly 1, we are once again faced with the potential problems of this character archetype. Sly is hard to figure out. We get a solid sense of the rest of the main cast. Bentley is the geeky and cowardly man in the chair, Murray is the clumsy oaf who often makes things more difficult, and Carmelita is the rigid woman of the law: clearly not the main threat, but a definite complicating factor that players will need to work around. Sly, meanwhile isn’t really given any exaggerated traits. In fact, he’s full of many traits that would seem to be at odds with each other. He compliments his friends and thanks them one second but then insults them the next. He flirts with Carmelita, but it’s unclear if this is just for distraction or if there is actually something there. He displays a clear cockiness with his athletic moves, but his inner monologues display a vulnerability that he doesn’t let show to the public.

Sly Cooper is a character built on contradictions, and many if not all of his arcs throughout the series center on him resolving those. In Sly 1, he ends up making his inner thoughts on his friends and himself match what he outwardly displays. He states that both of his friends stepped up to the challenge and really helped him out, matching the respect we often hear him internally communicate. His journey of earning back the Thievius Racoonus piece by piece finally let’s his inner monologue become more proud of his own abilities like his outward cockiness often shows. We get some confirmation that he does truly care for Carmelita, but never lets it go too far out of the knowledge of their opposing fields of work.

In Sly 2, the storytelling took a leap forward and so did the characters. Something that I have noticed about Sly 2 is that many of the arcs are somewhat retreads of arcs we saw in Sly 1, but not really. See, we still have Sly getting humbled, Sly realizing his friends’ value, Sly reaffirming his status with Carmelita, etc. However, Sucker Punch managed to repeat these similar beats with entirely new circumstances to both strengthen the communication of the ideas and make it feel like a continuation rather than a repeat.

We start with Sly once again showing a bit of displeasure with his friends. He chastises Bentley for letting his nervousness get the better of him and refuses to use the code names Bentley has provided for him. He tells Murray he’s used to going it alone when the hippo can’t follow him further into Dimitri’s nightclub. However, the first important thing to note is that Sly’s development from the previous game is not forgotten. He congratulates his friends when the do well, he no longer refers to Murray as a burden, he’s generally a lot more of a team player. The second important thing about this is that the writers gave the team a new point of tension: Bentley and Murray are now out in the field with Sly. In the first game, Sly argued with Bentley because he clashed with his sense of careful planning and lack of danger when being briefed on jobs. Here, he is clashing with Bentley because he is now relying on the turtle in the field to get the job done, and he wants to keep his friend safe. If Bentley freezes up, the job is busted. Same with Murray. Where previously Sly was frustrated because he was having to make up with Murray’s mistakes as a clumsy and naive guy, now he is simply adjusting to a loud and boisterous partner for his more subdued and silent nature.

We also have the deeper storyline being developed with Carmelita. We get more instances where Sly openly admits to loving Carmelita, possibly prompted by his developing romance with Neyla. I said when talking about Sly 1 that by the end we saw that he did care about Carmelita but knew it couldn’t work due to their differing positions. But with Neyla he finally sees someone who is a viable option for him. She is a cop, but she is also less black and white than Carmelita can be, giving him hope that things can work out. And so that is why, as many have said before, the fourth and fifth chapters are such a turning point for Sly’s character in this game.

We see Neyla, the woman who gave Sly hope that he could eventually have real love, reveal that everything Sly thought she was was an elaborate lie to lock him away. We see Sly have to rely on Bentley to break out of jail, fully recognizing his contributions to the group and accepting his differing way of going about things, using Bentley’s code name at last. We see him have to break Murray out of a jail that is force feeding him drugs, making him fully realize the concern and care he has for his friend, and later the respect for his strength when he has to tangle with Murray who is in a blind rage. And we see Sly save Carmelita and help her escape for the cops, once again giving him some hope for a possible relationship.

Now one would think that resolving all of Sly’s ongoing arcs this early in the game is a mistake. After all, that just leaves an unchanging character until the end, and that will make Sly boring. But don’t you worry. It’s Sucker Punch we’re talking about. And so it quickly becomes clear that the resolving of these particular arcs has only led to more questions to come up in Sly’s mind. He has a whole new set of contradictions to consider, and these ones are much deeper set into who he is to himself and those around him.

He loves Carmelita and wants her to be happy. But he seemingly can’t have both. To start a relationship with Carmelita, she’d have to remain on the wrong side of the law, which would make her unhappy. But to make her happy and get her job back, they would not be able to be together. What should he do? He truly cares for and respects his friends, but he keeps placing them in danger. All of the hardship they have encountered so far is due to his family history and only applies personally to him. His friends may end up being better off without him. What should he do?

The ending stretch of Sly 2 aims to answer these questions, but not fully. It does end up with a solution for the time being, but it doesn’t seem to be the best one. Murray and Bentley do end up going off on their own, leaving their gear behind. But it is only because Bentley was paralyzed and needs medical attention and Murray is mentally devastated. Sly ends up making a choice about Carmelita and getting her job back, but then he escapes from her and the chase starts all over again. He’s back to square one. (Carmelita isn’t, but that’s for another day).

Sly 3 is an extremely personal journey. This game’s story is often viewed as lesser than Sly 2′s story due to its seemingly lowered stakes and less connected progression. In Sly 2, you were travelling the world to take down the members of a gang one by one and gather the parts of Clockwerk. All of this was to stop one giant, interconnected plan that would result in the entirety of Paris being driven into a hypnotic rage and Clockwerk being revived. Sly 3, by comparison, does seem like less of a big deal at first. Sly needs to get into his family’s vault, and to do so he needs to gather a team. This means he is traveling the world to get new members and stopping one-off villains while he’s at each location. If he fails, all that will happen is that he won’t get to see the inside of the vault.

But Sly 3 is intentionally more downplayed, because this conflict isn’t any bigger than Sly and his legacy. Everything he goes through is internal, and his own continuing story is the thread tying the adventure together. Sly has been through a lot. He seemingly finally managed to solve all of his internal struggles only to have them replaced by worse ones. And now it all seems worse than ever before. Bentley is paralyzed, Murray has left for a life of meditation, and Carmelita has hired a group of mercenaries, more determined than ever before to take Sly down. The dangers that come with living life on the wrong side of the law are more prevalent in his mind than ever before, and he feels like everyone he loves is paying the price for it.

Simultaneously, Sly is starting to feel like his time is up. He did it. He learned from the Thievius Racoonus. He pulled off great heists. He defeated Clockwerk twice. He’s done more than his ancestors ever could. And as the number of people in his gang grows the less he is needed in the field. He still takes on the majority of jobs, mind you, but there are more frequent instances where he can’t do something alone. Only Bentley and his tech can break into Tsao’s computer. Only Panda King’s fireworks can take out the hopping vampires. Etc. All of the signs are pointing to the idea of Sly finally retiring, but he doesn’t have any life set up to retire to.

All of these fears and hopes and desires culminate in the final assault on Kaine Island, where Sly learns the truth about his father. Dr. M, the villain of this game, is the way that he is due to his partnership with Sly’s dad, and so he is the representation of everything Sly is worried about with his friends. Has he been too selfish by dragging his friends into his family struggles? Has he not given enough attention to their own contributions? Does he even know what it means to share his life with someone? And as he draws closer and closer to the Cooper Vault, a new fear joins in with the rest. What does he have to contribute to the Cooper name?

That last bit is a question that fans have asked for years. Every Cooper was given some special move or technique that they were the master of and added to the Thievius Racoonus. But all Sly does is learn their moves and perform them. Here Sly is, running through representations of his ancestors’ history, and the only real thing he’s decided on is telling Carmelita he loves her if he sees her again. He also decided to bring Murray and Bentley into the vault with him...only to discover that it was a somewhat empty gesture since they couldn’t follow him beyond the entryway.

So Sly gets to the inner sanctum and comes into contact with Dr. M, and when once again faced with his father’s mistakes he has a realization. His father, according to Dr. M, never gave as much thought to his friends’ interests. Sly’s conflicts over how he is treating his friends, his back and forth internal debate over their own well-being, his desire to have a life outside of thieving, all of that is his contribution. His respect for those outside of the Cooper Clan. He doesn’t have the mechanical skills to match Otto. Murray is the mechanic. He didn’t truly defeat Clockwerk, at least not without the help of Carmelita. Everything he’s done has been with the help of his friends in ways big and small. Sly finally resolves his inner contradictions by realizing that he himself is a contradiction of every Cooper before him.

So, with this knowledge in mind, Sly defeats Dr. M, gives up his thieving life to be with Carmelita (a way for both of them to be happy), and leaves the Cooper Vault and Thievius Racoonus to non-Coopers. And while this could easily be a sad ending, with the family we spent three games with breaking up and Sly seemingly giving up the focus of the games, it is played as a happy one. Because as we see in the ending, Sly is truly happy. He knows who he is, he knows who his friends are, and he’s finally made the right choice.

...And then...Sly 4...I dunno...It’s...a game...

Okay. I did say at the start of this that I would be using my analysis of the character to look at exactly where Sly 4 went wrong with the characterization. And I think if you’ve read this far and played Sly 4 you already know.

Sly drops his life with Carmelita just because he wants to steal again and doesn’t really care all that much about the situation. He finds out that his history is being erased and still spends the entire adventure throwing out quips. He frequently underplays his friends’ accomplishments. He breaks Carmelita’s heart and doesn’t understand why she’s angry, only thinking it’s hilarious that he got her so angry in the first place. Remember at the very start when I said that Sly is a difficult character to write? Very easily moving from charming to annoying? Yeah, I said all that because of this game. He has all of the humor and wisecracks with none of the deeper level stuff. It’s a fine line to walk and Sanzaru unfortunately couldn’t keep their balance.

But at the end of the day, I hope the rest of what I said was interesting to you or just a fun read. I love these games, and the main character is a big reason why. He’s had a great journey, and one less than stellar portrayal doesn’t ruin that.

#sly cooper #analysis #lengthy #im finally joining #bentley #murray #carmelita

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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Day 157

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 09 - “Precure is Exposed!?” Date watched: 19 October 2019 Original air date: 1 April 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/1yYupZl Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

five girls are friends, more on page 2

In the Futari wa seasons, people typically fell unconscious whenever evil was around, and the girls didn’t usually have to worry about being discovered. There was that notable exception in FW14, but it’s been largely glossed over. In this show, though, the activities of the Precures and Nightmare have attracted attention (in fact that’s how Karen and Komachi got involved), and the sudden and kind of unusual friendship between the girls has not gone unnoticed. What’s a nosy reporter to do?

The Plot

The girls find themselves as the subject of several headlining articles in the school newspaper, commenting on everything from their eating habits to their mysterious friendship. The paper’s editor introduces herself and her slogan: “What the people want to know, I want to know!” She gives her name as Masuko Mika, but puns it into “Masukomi-ka” which is shorthand for mass communications.

When the girls can’t give her straight answers about why they’re friends, she decides to further investigate. After school one day, she sees them leaving the school with Mr. Cocoda, but he disappears suddenly. She follows the group to Natts House, where Coco and Nuts are hanging out as fairies, so there appears to be nobody tending the store. She’s still suspicious as she leaves the shop, when she runs into Arachnea, believing her to be the shop owner. Arachnea kidnaps her due to her relationship with the girls, planning to use her as collateral to get the Dream Collet. They chase the villain into an empty department store, but the girls are afraid to transform in front of Mika and give away their identities. Undeterred, Mika tries to question Arachnea and get a picture of her.

Annoyed, Arachnea transforms the camera into a Kowaina. Mika finds an opening to escape her grip, and the girls transform when she’s not looking. She watches them fight and defeat the monster, rescuing her camera, and she tries to interview them afterwards but all they say is that they’re called Pretty Cure, and then they disappear. Mika heads back to Natts Shop, confident that something bizarre is going on and the five girls are involved, but she runs into Nuts in his human form. She asks if he saw the girls go by, and he responds simply that there are some things she shouldn’t know. Mika is taken aback by his attractiveness and quickly agrees.

The next day at school, the girls are nervously expecting a story about them in the newspaper, but instead, the headlining article and most of the front page are taken up with pictures of Nuts, described as a “super hottie”, with only a small, pictureless blurb about “five mysterious girls” at the very bottom of the page. Their secret is safe.... for now.

The Analysis

Since this episode is about Mika, my response to it pretty much reflects my thoughts on her. Masuko Mika is a fun character. Her desire to find out the truth is commendable, and she does ask some good questions, but her methods are a little misguided. She rides the line between investigative journalist and paparazzo, sneaking candid pictures of her targets in order to get a scoop. Unfortunately, these photos are mostly of our heroines engaging in such compromising activities as “having lunch” and “hanging out.” Even Otaka is like “Why don’t you find something else to write about?” She is a curious character. Snooping around Natts House gets her kidnapped by Arachnea but even then she tries to question the villain up until the moment she sees she’s in over her head. She is so committed to figuring out why Nozomi and the others are hanging out, and who Precure are, and then..... she sees Nuts. Nuts suggests she forget everything and so he becomes her muse, the subject of almost all her writing. Precure and the mysterious occurrences at the school are relegated to a small corner of the paper. It’s good for the team, but it doesn’t speak too highly of the paper’s journalistic quality or her diligence as the chief. (Honestly though, I don’t recall ever seeing any other members of the newspaper club in this show, it is entirely possible it’s just her running a glorified gossip rag.) Mika says that she writes about what the people want to know, and I guess that’s true: Nuts will prove to be a very popular figure at this all-girls school, but it’s funny/a little frustrating to see her so easily distracted. However, this will not be her last appearance, not by a long shot, and she’s fondly remembered.

I would be remiss to ignore, however, that Mika has a point. Nozomi has surrounded herself with an unlikely group of high-profile friends, but while Precure was certainly a big factor in them coming together, it wasn’t just that, and someone could probably spin a version of events while leaving out their secret identities. Nozomi and Rin were already friends before the show started and we know they go back to their youth. Nozomi became friends with Urara when she saw her sitting alone all the time and decided to talk to her. Karen and Komachi are a little more complicated, because they only began speaking when Nozomi decided they should become Precures, but nonetheless Nozomi took a genuine interest in Komachi’s writing and in Karen’s overall well-being. She supported and sympathized with them, and earned their respect and companionship as a result. Being Precures isn’t the only thing that brings them all together, they’re actually friends, and I’m glad the show spent the time that it did establishing this. Unfortunately, Nozomi’s people skills don’t put her in the same league of notoriety as the others, which results in Mika and many others wondering what these school superstars are doing with her. I don’t think outsiders ever fully recognize Nozomi’s strength of character throughout the series.

This episode is another worldbuilding episode, much like episode 7 was and like episode 10 will be. There isn’t much going on with Nightmare, just the usual threats that failure to get the Dream Collet will be met with some form of punishment. Since the bad guys only win on key episodes, and this isn’t the type of show where they make progress towards their goal whether they win or not, it’s starting to feel a little repetitive. It just serves to show how disorganized Nightmare really is, though. Later on, we’ll see how far they take the business concept, it isn’t always Bunbee smugly threatening his employees, while being smugly threatened himself by Kawarino, but that’s a lot of the early part of the show.

There is some truly bad art in this episode. Most times that the girls are shown in full body where they occupy about two-thirds of the frame height or less, they go wildly off model.

The faces get extremely sloppy, with their eyes usually being stretched vertically while their other features are minimized. Nozomi’s hair especially gets drawn as more prominent than it normally is. Their bodies seem kind of elongated, but aside from a lack of shading they’re otherwise fine. Also, there are shots where someone’s movement is just the cell sliding across the frame, not even being moved up or down to indicate the slight bob of walking. I’ll get some gifs to demonstrate shortly. It’s not awful overall, but there is definitely a hint that it’s a less important episode.

Last point of note, Pretty Cure Splash Subs, whose translations were the basis of both Splash Star and this series (the versions I’m using anyway), were a little notorious for sticking some modern jokes, references, and sayings into their scripts, such as “you mad bro” and “a cat is fine too.” Well, this episode gave us this:

I generally don’t like meme translations, because memes and internet jokes come and go pretty fast and they can date a show hardcore. That being said, if this saying was around at the time, it’s exactly the sort of thing a contemporary kid would say. I looked it up the history of “POIDH” and it was just starting to spread at this point, so it’s arguably appropriate. (but I still hate it) Obviously this isn’t a criticism of the series itself, and I’m not going to let it impact my perception, but I do find it a bit annoying that this (and several examples yet to come) made it in at all.

Next time, we get to focus on someone a little closer to home, as Nuts discovers that running a shop is hard when you don’t have any customers. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 Kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 #YPC5009 #PCD 157

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animebw · 5 years

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Binge-Watching: Zetsuen no Tempest, Episodes 22-24

Thank fucking Christ, we’re done. In which I try to make some sense of... all this.

How Did We Get Here?

I’ve been struggling for a while with how to properly contextualize what’s been happening to Zetsuen no Tempest in its second half. It’s not just that it got so much worse than the first, it’s that it feels like an entirely different show from what’s come before. The first half was a ponderous, plotting, apocalyptic slog through dreary end-of-days storytelling, with empty, personality-deficient characters and meaningless, trying-too-hard dialogue. It took itself overly seriously bereft anything to be serious about, and the result was pretty much the ur-text for pretentious writing. But then you reach the second half, and it suddenly takes on an entirely different flavor of bad, the kind of bad that aggravates not through pomp and circumstance, but cringe and obnoxiousness. The empty characters become dumbshit characters acting out some lobotomized lunatic’s idea of a rom-com, and the pretentious looping dialogue was fractured into supposed “banter” bereft of wit, while the story at large shifted from a big, factional war full of grey areas and moral uncertainties to something closer to a shonen action series, complete with a storyline centered around a wimpy hero building himself up to be The Strongest Ever. I’m half convinced that different writers were tasked with handling each part of the show, and they never bothered communicating to ensure they were ending up in the same ballpark. That’s the only explanation I have for how Zetsuen no Tempest ended up feeling so incongruent.

The sad thing is, the stark difference between the two halves of this show might have actually been somewhat entertaining if anyone involved in this thing’s script were even somewhat competent. I could easily imagine the inherent amusement of watching a show of this nature re-invent itself, even as just a so-bad-it’s-good oddity. But even if this final stretch of episodes keeps up the last chunk’s streak of not being as shit as what’s come before, it just keeps blundering into the laziest, least interesting storytelling flaws, flaws that only serve to highlight how empty this entire affair has been from start to finish. The endless philosophizing has only been replaced with endless strategizing, which is at least less annoying, but no less dull. Everyone gets on the same page so quickly in the final arcs that you’re left wondering what the point even was with keeping everyone on opposing teams for so long; none of their previous antagonism seems to have had any effect on how they interact with each other. I still don’t buy that Yoshino and Mahiro are these weird kids who respond to things abnormally with hyper-rationalism, because none of their reactions have been that extreme or bizarre. And for an additional annoyance I’ve just realized, this show is obnoxiously bad with cliffhangers. It tends to end episodes on huge revelations or plot turns, like, say, Yoshino getting shot, only to reveal pretty much immediately upon the start of the next episode that it was nothing important at all. It’s a cheap gimmick to artificially make the tension increase without having to actually earn it through character writing or natural plot progression.

None of these flaws are the product of inspired lunacy, just of laziness and hack writing. They’re not the mad ravings of some deluded genius creating something uniquely bonkers that demands to be seen, there the half-hearted shrugs of a writing team that cares more about the cheap appearance of substance than substance itself. Insanity can be entertaining, but cowardice is just despicable. And the one consistency across both halves of this rotten, rotten show is that it’s taken the coward’s option pretty much at every turn.

Too Little Too Late

But what’s doubly frustrating about that cowardice is now that the show is over and I’m able to look back on it as a whole, it’s agonizingly clear that it did not have to be this bad. There were opportunities to tease out the dangling threads forming the story’s unfinished core and weave them into a tapestry with actual weight behind it. This could have been a powerful examination of fate and destiny, of bracing against a world that doesn’t make sense and trying to figure out how to knock it into shape, if it’s even possible to do so. And it could have done so with characters who were actually worth giving a shit about from the get-go, because it’s only here at the end that the characters start showing sparks of genuine humanity, sparks that weren’t visible before. The flashback to the first time the boys met Aika is the first time we’ve ever seen her show any emotion other than smug satisfaction, the first time we’ve gotten a real sense of the nuanced humanity she has to offer. We have spend twenty goddamn episodes only knowing Aika as The Anime Girlfriend Who Dies, with no internal agency and no meaning beyond massaging Yoshino’s balls, and it’s only now that we even approach a fuller understanding of the person she was. And the level of breezy smugness Yoshino indulges in following his reconciliation with Mahiro (”Lovers don’t need words to communicate.”) speaks to that bitchy side of him that everyone’s been saying he has for ages, but we’ve never actually seen in any meaningful capacity. Why not seed these ideas in earlier so we could watch them grow? Why not let everyone show off these personalities more often, show that they had lives and feelings beyond the demands of the plot, developing them as the story progressed so we could see how they changed and grew?

This show waited until the very end to give us the basest scraps of who these people are, of what their personalities are like, wasting episode upon episode on looping, moronic dialogue and endless exposition and pontification, all while its characters wandered like hollow husks throughout its washed-out grey world. That, my friends, is what we call a waste of fucking time.

A Meaningless End

And in the end, that’s the feeling I’m left with at the end of Zetsuen no Tempest. This was a waste of time, a show that frittered around endlessly with boring, agonizing packing foam, taking any excuse not to get to the point it could. So yes, this finale was far better than the vast majority of the show. It moved along at a decent clip, and Studio Bones still knows their way around good action animation. But the final battle is meaningless, and none of the endless build-up to it feels like it has any real importance. Yoshino and Mahiro aren’t affected by the reveal of Aika’s true intentions, making all the time we’ve spent whingeing over this subplot completely pointless. There’s no fallout, no resolution, just a half-hearted shrug that doesn’t mean a goddamn thing and throws all the time we’ve spent building the killer’s identity up in the trash. The final battle isn’t even centered around that all-important theme of fighting fate and carving out a new path; the sole moment of catharsis comes from Hanemura’s generic “Believe in yourself” storyline, climaxing with him using the Tree of Exodus as a huge fuck-off sword to finish off the Tree of Genesis,. Which probably could have happened earlier if the show didn’t want to milk that All is Lost moment for all it was worth (Seriously, if you had the potential to pull off such a literal Deus Ex Machina, why not do that first?), but whatever. The point is, this final battle completely sidelines both protagonists and makes it all about this random side character’s dull journey, and Hanemura himself is too much of a whiny pissbaby to be likable on his own terms. I do sort of appreciate the attempt to ground the heroes in relative powerlessness and leave the literal world-saving business to someone else while they carry the thematic burden themselves, but then the show forgets to actually give them something important to do in the finale, and they just sort of wander aimlessly while Discount Yukki Amano hogs the spotlight.

That’s the real tragedy in the end; all this endless buildup and hagiography, and Zetsuen no Tempest never even had anything to say in the end. The closest thing to a resolution its heroes get comes after the battle, when Mahiro promises Aika that he won’t live his life by someone else’s script; his fate is his own to make now. It’s the right conclusion to reach, both for the overall themes and Mahiro’s own relationship with vengeance, but it’s not the focus. It’s an afterthought, a whatever, a shrugged-off half-measure that only exists in a weightless, nebulous sense. All this pain and aggravation, and Zetsuen no Tempest can’t even manage being bad enough to be an ironic hate-watch. It’s just to empty to even care.

Odds and Ends

-Oh sure, morning of the battle, perfect time to ogle the biker chick in a sundress! uuuuuuuugh

-”Our clan’s iron resolve is being tested before the battle even begins.” Okay, Spear Guy’s grown on me.

-What a dramatic sexy pool scene. Baz Luhrman would be proud.

-Listen, Aika, only I get to make pretentious statements about the importance of light in dark stories, okay?

-”You’re not an ordinary girl. You can’t cook!” Somebody seriously kill these old ladies, please?

It’s over. At long last, it’s over. Expect my series reflection later tonight, and then I’m gonna wash the taste out of my mouth.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #zetsuen no tempest #blast of tempest #the civilization blaster

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tomoyanosekai · 6 years

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鎖を破れ！燃やせる情熱の心～Creation from Destruction～ (Kusari wo Yabure! Moyaseru Jounetsu no Kokoro: Break the Chain! A Burning Heart of Passion)

As I sit by my desk at home, the window’s open and I feel a gentle breeze passing through. “It’s peaceful.” That’s the only thing I can think of at this moment, while I sit there taking in the spring wind, and trying to allow myself to relax. Everything’s over, but even if everything is over, why can’t I just sit here and try to enjoy the breeze and this current state of peace? As the wind continues to blow on through, I find myself reminiscing on words from two years ago.

“Chad, we see you as a moodmaker. Every time we saw you walk in, you would lift the mood up in the room. You’re a passionate guy who wouldn’t hold back in showing his passions.”

It was about two years ago when I remember hearing those words, as I accepted my role as a Hope Rising officer and accepted the qualities that the past officers saw in me, even though I wasn’t sure why they saw that in me. As April came and went, a lot has happened already within this semester as it comes to an end. Although this semester wasn’t too bad, I can easily say that this whole semester destroyed me. Have I made mistakes? I made a whole bunch. Did I stretch myself too far? Probably. However, even if I was destroyed, I can still come back from it. As Beerus from Dragon Ball Super has said,

“Before creation, there must be destruction.”

And just like that, throughout the past semester, I witnessed my own destruction.

To begin somewhere, this semester has been slightly decent in terms of classes. However, outside of class, and into my personal life… Well, I’ve been destroying myself. How exactly have I destroyed myself? Simply put, I’ve kept fighting, and through every struggle and trial, although I’ve somehow overcome everything, all of this came at a price. I lost sight of myself, and as a result, I lost sight of the world around me and exhausted myself. I’ve been putting a lot of strain and stress on myself, to the point of where the pressure basically crushed me, and my passions have burned too brightly, to the point of where it burned itself out. A lot of this could be my neglect for my own mental health, since I’ve gotten to a point of where almost literally everything and everyone around me has irritated me. However, it’s ultimately been my fault for neglecting my own self care, since my life has either consisted of either Hope Rising (expect a lot of mention of them in this post) or a focus on grades. Considering Hope Rising, this makes more sense since the club has been doing meetings on a weekly basis, and the officers and I hang out a lot outside of club. Due to the club meeting schedule or classes, I personally feel that there has been no time for easy breathing in my life, or connecting with others outside of that for any other communities. Added on with more drama that came through various parts of life from every month, such as me getting angry with friends in January, coping with my actions in February, welcoming a new addition to the family and hearing about how he got hospitalized (but is now fully recovered, thank God) in March, and last but not least, being put in the middle of a bunch of circumstances that I never asked for, but in the end couldn’t leave alone in April. Added on with the pressure of class and helping with club activities and just life, everything here alone is enough to crush a person. And very honestly? It broke me very thoroughly.

As of recently, one of the biggest hype trains in pop culture right now was the recent release of the movie, The Avengers: Infinity War. In preparation for that, I decided to watch through clips of all the Marvel movies I hadn’t seen yet. One of those movies was Thor Ragnarok. Throughout that movie, the main character Thor loses his trademark hammer, the Mjolnir, as it was broken when fighting against the antagonist of the movie, Hela, the God of Death. Although it was a fun movie, one of the subplots was the fact that Thor had to come to terms about losing the Mjolnir, and find his true strength and identity beyond what he found was his own self defining trait. There was one scene that I really liked, which was a scene where Thor was having a mental conversation when being cornered by Hela. The person he was speaking to in this conversation was his father, Odin.

Thor: “She’s (Hela) too strong. Without my hammer, I can’t-”

Odin: “Are you Thor, the God of Hammers? That hammer was to help you control your power, to focus it. It was never your source of strength.”

...

Thor: “I’m not as strong as you.”

Odin: “No... You’re stronger.”

Yes, this semester may have destroyed me. However, in destroying myself, through both the pressures holding me down and my passions, I can only get rebuilt even stronger than before, just like how I was rebuilt in January. However, the difference between then and now is that I feel that I’m breaking free from the labeled chains that were weighing me down. Many of my friends have said that I need to “get rid of that heroic main character mindset altogether,” when reading through last month’s entry. Ultimately, they’re right. That may have been a thing in the past, but in the end, that was never the source of my true identity, and I need to break free from that chain, whether or not I had self confidence come from there. I needed to be more honest with myself. I’m not “Chad, the main character of this story.” Within these past few weeks, I’ve been feeling the chains of that Main Character mindset break behind me, along with many other chains while I’ve been destroying myself. The remains of what used to be me is going to be molded into something even stronger, into a “more genuine me.” The one question I proposed to myself was this: “Was the heroic mindset the only thing that allowed me to keep doing good for others?” No, that heroic character was not the thing that allowed you to be a good person. At some point in time, it’s time to drop the hero pretenses, and just be me.

On one end, although that heroic persona was a heavy chain that weighed me down, it also tried to become a cover for my true self, but ultimately became a cover that tried to dim a light, illuminated by a flame within my heart. That flame is a passion and love for other people that burns intensely within me, and is burning through and beyond my past self. On the flip side, just as fire can mean destruction, it also can mean creation and life. Even though that passion within me is burning away that previous, “heroic” construct of me, it is allowing me to recreate myself into becoming a vessel that can contain my passion and heart for others even more, and show my true self. People around me have said that I have an extremely big heart that I wear on my sleeve, and honestly, they’re not wrong. The words of various friends around me have, and are continuing to help me find my true self.

“You’re a good man. Never forget that. You’ve got a big heart for others who will run to their aid at the drop of a pin, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”

“You rolled with the punches when things got hard. You would always continue to smile, and dive in without any hesitations.”

“...You would always check in on us and see if we needed prayer, and always worry about us.”

“You usually were the one to pick us up, and reminded us to take life easy.”

“You would always help and listen to me whenever I had any problems.”

“You kept on thinking of the attendees and everyone else and kept the original vision of Hope Rising in mind when we didn’t.”

In all honesty, I usually find it hard to shed tears out of sheer sadness, anger, or frustration. However, it’s through these collective and precious words given to me by the friends around me, whom I felt annoyed with at some point, did I truly begin to tear up after trying so hard to continually fight against these thoughts until the end and deny my self value to others. These words will continue to ring loudly and resound within my heart. I will never stop helping others if I see them need help. The genuine self I’m looking for is a person whose kindness is rooted from a passion and love for others. It’s easy to know when God is trying to tell you something, whether it be through your friends, or through an encounter.

When you pray for anything, whether it be clarity or a sign, God will answer. There was one week where I had been doubting my own passions for Japan, as well as my overall role in Hope Rising. However, God works in wondrous ways, which is something I can’t even comprehend, since I felt he spoke to me directly through a small encounter. There was one day where I didn’t have class on a Wednesday afternoon, and I decided to go get lunch that day, which was something I usually never did. When I went out and got lunch, I found that there were young Japanese Students touring Biola, and I went out and approached them. The first person I approached was the Japanese Teacher/Chaperone, where I simply asked where they came from in English, since they had such a large group, and I didn’t want to make any assumptions in the event I was wrong. Because I approached their group, an American tour guide came up to me and told me that they were from Japan, and from there, I began to speak Japanese. Everyone from that group seemed surprised, and the American Tour Guide asked me if I knew about the Japanese Club on Biola’s campus, where I was happy to say that “I’m one of their leaders.” From there, that opened the doors to an opportunity that allowed me to have small conversations with the students, as well as the teachers. Although this was a seemingly small encounter, it was through this small encounter where I found my reason for why I have a passion for Japan, and why I’m a leader in Hope Rising. My heart bleeds for the youth of Japan, who don’t know their future, despite the pressures that come with it. Through telling them that I was a leader in Hope Rising, given my background, I could show them that there are Japanese people who are Christian. Simply “I am blessed to be a blessing,” and I want to be a blessing for the youth of Japan who are worried about their future, and show them that the future isn’t dependent on pressure from society.

Ever since the Hope Rising Retreat happened, I saw many of my friends come into their full potential. Although I was able to see them come to what I can currently see as their “fullest potential,” I know that as I am now, I’m close to reaching it as well. Something one of my friends told me during the Hope Rising Retreat that I should’ve been proud of was the fact that I turned the a campground full of people who had different cultural backgrounds, into a place that brought everyone together and had an enjoyable time. Although this semester marks the end of my Junior Year, it also marks the beginning of my journey towards truly re-finding and re-defining who I am. I am no main character or hero; that chain is broken. I am not defined by Hope Rising; that club is not who I am. I am defined by the heart God has given me, and will strive to continue to walk towards the person God intends me to become with a heart burning full of passion. I’m simply at the cusp of coming into my fullest, deepest, untapped potential. Although a lot of my friends from Hope Rising will be in Japan this summer, I won’t be there. Although it frustrates me and makes me jealous on many degrees, it’s simply not my time yet, and I need time to grow as a man. As it’s written in Ecclesiastes 3:1,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

This is not my time to be out in Japan, even though my friends will be there. However, since they’re there, this is my time to focus and try to come into that full potential I’m at the cusp of reaching.

Four months, here we go. Time to become stronger than before. To those friends who gave me those words of affirmations, thank you. I’ll see you all soon.

“From here on out, it’s my stage!!”

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nightfallwolfkin · 4 years

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Gilly and Sam - A Study In Character (Game of Thrones)

The more times I see this scene, the more I am struck by the depth of Gilly’s character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uael59PBA8 When we first meet Gilly, she is a terrified young woman, almost still a child herself, about to have her first baby by her incestuous and abusive husband/father, Craster. Her upbringing has been unimaginably bleak, frightful, and full of neglect and horror. She has nothing to hope for except that her baby might be a girl, so that she can keep her and raise her to be yet another of her father’s wives. We know that no sons are allowed to remain. Gilly at this point is portrayed as little more than afraid and desperate, but she shows at least enough bravery to approach Sam (probably the least intimidating of all the Night’s Watch present) and beg him to help her escape with her baby. She shows enough strength to flee with Sam from the riot at Craster’s, even though they are jumping from the frying pan into the fire, being alone beyond the wall with little hope of making it to civilisation. For the next while, we mostly see Gilly as nervous, fearful, clingy, and ignorant. She can’t really help any of these states of being, considering that she’s got an infant to protect in a hellishly precarious situation and she’s had no education whatsoever. The pinnacle of her abilities as portrayed at this point is that she can build a fire, which is one up on Sam in that department at least. It’s easy, therefore, to pass her off as a minor character with not much part to play in the grand scheme of things. She’s little more than an ingenue, a person to be protected and to showcase the compassion and bravery and knowledge of other characters, namely Sam. This is not an ignoble thing, as Sam’s bravery in the face of absolute desperation is extremely important to establish. But it does her character a disservice that lingers even as she begins to develop and flesh out into a more fully realised person. Even at this early stage she shows signs of wisdom, as depicted in her conversation with Sam about boy’s names that extends to a comparison of their respective horrible paternal relationships. She shows us that she is capable of abstract thought and understanding depite her lack of education. But we still have an impression of Gilly that is based on a particular set of circumstances, and when those circumstances change, so does she, and so therefore must our opinion of her. Once she finds herself at Castle Black, she is still in a rather uncomfortable situation, the only female surrounded by largely unsavoury men, her only protector the ‘weakest’ of them all. Nobody can accept the idea that Sam killed a White Walker, a hideous creature most of the men of the Night’s Watch have never seen, and those who have can’t imagine Sam, of all people, standing up to one. They know him as a coward and a weakling -- they are as limited by their early impressions of him as we are by our early impressions of Gilly. Only she has seen what is really inside him, what really matters, and so far, only he can see what matters about her. He is gentle, nurturing, patient and protective with her and Young Sam, her baby who has been given his name, though at this point he is still rather condescending in his attempts to teach her, and tiptoes around her volatile moods, her fears and frustrations that erupt from time to time as she tries to adjust to the world in which she finds herself. But she is adjusting faster than is immediately apparent to us, as we watch her through the lens we crafted for her. She is absorbing knowledge and skills as fast as she can, and often displays depths of strength, wisdom and humour that could never have been allowed to develop in her childhood home. We still, however, see her as annoyingly clingy and demanding when she insists on remaining with Sam even while he thinks he is protecting her by sending her away. And it turns out that she was no safer in Mole’s Town than she was at Castle Black. All she knows is that whatever the danger, she wants to be with Sam. When they leave Castle Black for Oldtown, and Sam tries to provide her a safe place with his family, we get the chance to see them come up against the prejudices of the outside world. This is depicted by Randyll Tarly’s disgust and disdain of his violently rejected heir Sam, and his absolute revulsion of Gilly when he discovers her origin as a wildling. Sam realises he can’t leave Gilly with someone who would think of her that way, in spite of her obvious acceptance by both his mother and his sister. They are helpless against Randyll’s authority and prejudices, and can only express their disagreement, not really able to act on it. Sam decides not only to take Gilly with him to Oldtown, but also takes his family’s Valyrian steel sword, one of the most priceless possessions anyone in this world can possibly have. In so doing, he shows how he is both developing and using his own core of steel. Like Gilly, he continues to be misjudged based on superficial appearances, when he contains at least as much intelligence, wisdom and fortitude as anybody else in the show, if not more so. Nobody could survive what they both have experienced in their lives and keep going without an unimaginable font of inner strength. Fast foward to the scene in the video above, when they have been in Oldtown some time and Sam is apprenticing to be a Maester. This is a degrading and unpleasant role, obviously meant to break the spirit and submerge the will of those who aspire to be among the educational elite of the world. Unfortunately, we find that this elite community, far from being a source of valuable knowledge that could improve the lives and wellbeing of thousands of citizens of Westeros, is insular, jealous, and unwilling to share what they consider their own wealth of information with the world except in small doses in their roles as educators and medical practitioners. They think more of themselves than they do of their responsibilities to the rest of the world, and Sam cannot in good conscience waste his own time and value on such unproductive navel-gazing. He defies instructions to save Jorah Mormont from death by greyscale, endangering his own life in the process, and succeeds at something nobody has ever successfully done before. He is able to do this because of his extraordinary ability to absorb knowledge and understanding from the written word, at a level that impresses even the Archmaester -- for a moment. Then he’s sent back to his menial, mostly pointless apprentice tasks while the maesters go on hoarding their knowledge like a cache of treasure. In this scene, we see Sam performing his duty of copying old manuscripts before they become unreadable, not even able to use the knowledge of the ages that he is tasked to preserve, if he could even sift anything useful from the pedantic ramblings of the long-dead maesters. Gilly, ever keen to increase her own knowledge, is reading the manuscripts as he works. No mention is made of how remarkable this is, considering that just a short while before she was completely unable to read at all. We can smile indulgently as she stumbles over the pronunciation of words she doesn’t yet understand, ignoring the incredible progress she’s made in such a brief time. We are so caught up in laughing at her ignorance that we might almost miss the significance of what she is discovering -- as Sam does, not having the context that those of us watching already possess. But even that is not the main point of this essay. What strikes me most about this scene is Gilly’s behaviour in the face of Sam’s anger and frustration at his position of imposed helplessness and the dismissal of his knowledge and experience by the maesters. We can see that he is not in a good mood as he works on his menial and pointless-seeming task. Gilly chatters in a way that we might interpret as inane as she leafs through the disintegrating texts (also, by the way, how bad are the maesters at preserving books if these things need copying out only a couple of decades at most after being written?). She is seeking to entertain herself and interact with Sam while he is brooding in a cloud of his own irritation. He is obviously annoyed at her for distracting him at the same time that he is annoyed at the very task he is being distracted from -- but he does not ever, at any point, take out his irritation and frustration on her. This is notable and commendable, because how many of us can say we’ve never snapped or sniped at our partners, fairly or unfairly? Instead, he vents his spleen at the maesters themselves and the insupportable limitations they place on the spread of knowledge and skill while they congratulate themselves on possession of the same. Gilly seems oblivious to his snark at first glance, but if you watch her carefully, you can see several things. She has obviously seen male anger before, having grown up abused by her father/husband, been attacked by men at Castle Black, and witnessed their unsavoury behaviour at the Mole’s Town whorehouse. She could easily be as cowed by this kind of behaviour as she seemed to be when we first met her. But she meets Sam’s outburst with calm strength, completely unrattled. She knows him. She understands him. She loves him. She knows to her very core what kind of person Sam is, and she knows that he would never hurt her. When he bursts out in anger, she knows it’s not about her, and she doesn’t try to make it about her to score points off him like so many people in relationships do (especially on television). She is utterly secure and serene and trusts him absolutely -- not just because he is her only protection in an unfamiliar and often dangerous world, but because she GETS HIM. They have different backgrounds, but a similar kind of upbringing nonetheless, and share an understanding fortified by their shared trauma in escaping Craster’s Keep, killing the White Walker intent on stealing Gilly’s baby, and thwarting the attempted rape by men at Castle Black. She feels confident enough to express herself with humour in the face of his visible annoyance, risking further outbursts aimed at her. But she knows they will not be forthcoming, because she knows Sam doesn’t behave that way.

And she knows that because she is simply one of the most intelligent, observant and insightful characters in the entire show. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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bloggeradvices · 4 years

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10 Tips on How to Perfect Your Facebook Ads Placement Strategy

Most internet marketers know that effective Facebook Ads Placement Strategy is vital for your business to generate a large amount of traffic. However, there are many companies that can help you with your advertising strategy and turn it into a profitable one.

Facebook Ads Placement Strategy

Though small business owners have used these types of platforms before, they tend to not do it effectively because they don't understand how these platforms work. When you are looking for ways to increase traffic to your website, then one of the first things you will need to do is place your ads on one of the most popular platforms out there. Facebook is the best option for this because it is the most widely used by advertisers. Facebook is a community of over 500 million active users. It can be used to advertise almost anything that is related to selling products or services. It is also known as the second most visited site in the world and this can be attributed to its use as a social networking site. You can advertise your products and services just about anywhere. Whether you want to advertise them on your page, blog, website, or an image gallery. All you need to do is post a message to people, like them, and recommend them to their friends. Facebook has been used for advertising as long as anyone can remember. The only difference between now and then is the effectiveness of the advertisements. Today, you can easily attract hundreds of thousands of users who are interested in what you have to offer.

There are many different types of advertising that you can choose from on Facebook. These include sponsored stories, sponsored product reviews, message boards, polls, and fan pages. This allows you to reach a huge audience in a short period of time. This marketing strategy can be used for many different types of businesses. For example, you can place a Facebook Ads Placement on your page regarding health. People will see it and can then click on the link to find out more about your company. Social marketing is one of the most powerful ways to market your products and services on Facebook Ads Placement. You can set up a fan page, which is basically a platform where you can interact with other fans and interact with them. This is great because it allows you to easily share your content on Facebook Ads Placement, which is free. It also gives you the ability to reach thousands of fans that are interested in what you have to offer. This can be extremely beneficial when it comes to advertising. With social media marketing, you can reach the exact audience that you would like to reach. Facebook Ads Placement is considered to be the biggest social media site so it's definitely worth a try. Advertising through Facebook Ads Placement is a great way to get your brand or your business noticed. It is considered to be one of the most effective ways to advertise, as well as generating sales. One of the best methods is through word of mouth, which is considered to be highly effective. Creating a good advertising strategy and using social media marketing is the best way to ensure your success online. This strategy allows you to easily reach a large number of potential customers, as well as to do so in a cost-effective manner.

What Are Facebook Ads Placements?

Facebook Ad Placements is one of the more difficult and interesting areas of online marketing. While some marketers will already know what Facebook Ads Placements is and how they work, others may not. To help you get a good understanding of this area of online marketing, read on. Placement advertising is one of the most effective and cost-effective forms of online marketing. Basically, placing an ad on a specific page for your website is one of the best ways to advertise online. In return, you gain traffic and increase sales when you do so. The downside of placement advertising is that it can be very expensive. With increased competition for the money that ad space commands, and so too does the amount of advertising that you need to do to make your advertisement costs under control. One thing you should keep in mind when it comes to your advertising expenses is that you can only see what is happening to your ad once it has been posted and shared. This means that the ad could be going up or down immediately. It also means that you cannot know what is working and what is not. The solution to this problem is Facebook Ads Placement. Here, you can actually see what is going on to your ad. Your ad will still be visible to everyone else, but you can see how many times the ad has been seen and where it is being seen from. By doing this, you can take action to improve your campaign. If you have a page or group that is not yet popular with the internet audience, then it is not going to make the cut for placement. Therefore, you can make it more visible by allowing the people who want to be part of your marketing campaign to find you in the search engines. They will be able to find you in the places that you are least likely to advertise on your own. By exposing the Internet audience to your ads, you are guaranteed exposure. People will come to your site to look for your product or service. Facebook Ads Placements is a great way to get your message out there. Finally, there is one thing that you should remember about Facebook Ads Placements. You are competing with the hundreds, if not thousands, of other marketers who are putting their ads up on your page. It is not going to help you to have your ads posted up on pages that are popular in the market. Instead, you should place your ads on pages that are not as popular but have traffic. All things considered, the placement is an area of online marketing that you should consider. Of course, you should still do your research before posting any ad on the page. Then, you should place your ads

Avoiding Common Facebook Ads Placement Mistakes

Are you tired of seeing your ads in the middle of the Facebook ads on other sites? I am pretty sure you are. Some users don't even know what your ad is all about. But don't worry, there are simple ways to avoid the most common placement mistakes that most people make with their ads. First, let's take a look at the banner ads that you usually see when you visit any site. You often see the same banner on the top and the bottom of the page. The purpose of this placement is to emphasize the advertisements. It's an effective marketing technique but most users do not like it because they find it very annoying. Most users will click away from that site if they can't click on the ads. And since they cannot click on the ads, they will never see them. So you won't earn any money! And here's another thing to avoid in the placement of your ad: avoid getting your ad to sit in the middle of the page. This is extremely frustrating for many users. They feel like you're invading their personal space, and they will likely get turned off of your site entirely. But here's the solution: put your ads where the user has options. This means that it's an area that the user can scroll to go to other pages. So it can be a page where the user can shop, or a forum that they can contribute to. In any case, the user will be able to click on the ads to go to these places if they want to, and they'll click on the ads to reach out to your site.

So how can you do this? Here are some ideas:

A Forum or Message Board - Placing your ads where there are messages, posts, comments, or anything else that people are talking about will be a good place to put your ads. This is an area where people are most likely to be browsing. They can click on your ads, respond to them, or leave comments. This is also a great place to collect emails. A Profile Page - In this case, the ads can be placed on a profile page where people will likely see them. That's an area where they will want to read more about you and share more information with you.

Ideal Facebook ads placement strategy

When you are getting ready to create your ideal Facebook ads placement, you need to think about what your audience is going to be. Most people are on Facebook because of the fun and games they can participate in, but there are also many business owners who use the social network as a marketing tool. There are many businesses that have used the social networking site to build their list, which can help them boost sales or attract new customers. Since Facebook users use the network to communicate with others, it is important that you make your advertising messages appealing and relevant to those users. People are more likely to buy something if they feel it will benefit them. People will become loyal to a brand, if they feel like they are benefiting from it. If you want to make your ad content stand out, you should make sure that you include a link that takes the viewer to a product's website. Another important factor in your ad's placement strategy is the target audience that you want to target. You will want to make sure that the people who will see your ad are the right demographic for it. There are various demographics that you can choose from, and you should make sure that you get your message across to all of them. You should also think about the type of messages you want to use in your ad's placement strategy. You will want to select the right word or phrase that will motivate people to read your message. Don't use profanities or vulgar words in your Facebook ads placement strategy. These types of words can only turn off your viewers. Another important element in your ad's placement strategy is your message. Your message needs to be compelling so that it will grab the attention of your target audience. Be sure to include details about the benefits of your product so that the viewers will want to know more. You should also inform your audience that you are offering discounts for promotional items. The images and text of your ads should also be relevant to the specific products that you are promoting. It is important that the visuals and the text are eye-catching enough to draw a viewer to your advertisement. Make sure that the photos, graphics, and phrases used in your ad complement each other. Lastly, you should think about your keywords in your Facebook ads placement strategy. Keywords are the words that people will type into the search engine to find your advertisement. Be sure to include these keywords in your ad. When you are ready to create your Facebook ads placement strategy, you should also make sure that you have chosen the right kind of product to promote. You should also know which platform to use so that you will be able to maximize your marketing efforts.

Start off with automatic placements chosen

One of the best ways to start off with the automatic Facebook ads placements strategy chosen. When you are deciding on the best place to place your ads, make sure that you are targeting the right group of people. It is important to know who your potential customers are and what they are looking for. You should start out with automatic placements chosen. This will help to ensure that your ads are targeted, which in turn makes them more profitable. Businesses that are trying to get the word out about their product or service should use auto advertisement placed on their pages. These are the ads that customers won't mind seeing. These ads can also include their social networking profiles, which is a great way to spread the word about their business. It is easier to get people to share an ad, rather than an actual product. You can choose to either buy a group of ads to place on multiple websites or opt to have these ads created for you. When you do it yourself, it can save you a lot of money. The choice is up to you. Having different ads on several social networking sites is a great way to promote your products. If you choose a different group of users to target each day, your ads will be seen by a different set of people each day. These ads will also be viewed by different kinds of people. Be sure to choose a target market for your ads so that they will be viewed by the most people possible.

Review Performance & Customize

How can you use Review Performance & Customize in Facebook ads Placement? The answer is, that you will be able to perform your own objective research to produce certain results. Researching what works for a particular niche and delivering it on a daily basis is a necessity when it comes to driving website traffic. Creating an environment that works and a function that works for you are two different things, however, your goal should be to create a system that ensures that you are maximizing your efficiency and reducing your waste. A good way to begin is by reviewing Facebook Ads Placement themselves. Just like any other part of Facebook, you will want to make use of this service to review performance. If you find the ads you want to run don't perform well, it may be because of a software issue that requires you to fix the issue. If you have to fix it, that will enable you to see the results of a particular campaign before running it, in this case, you will be able to better judge if you are using the right type of method.

Finally, if you want to use Review Performance & Customize in Facebook ads Placement, you will want to use the tool to not only examine the results of a particular campaign but also find out how much it cost. You will need to do some comparison shopping in order to ensure that you are using the best tools available. There are many offers out there that can provide you with such tools, however, you need to ensure that you are receiving them for free. If you have any questions about this, it's highly recommended that you get in touch with a team that can assist you in this regard. Remember, that you must always do your own evaluation in order to achieve the maximum profit from your investment.

Customize Facebook Ads Placements Before Launching

If you are one of the people who are looking for some great online marketing tips, chances are you are trying to figure out how to customize the Facebook Ads Placements. You may have already found a website that has done some amazing customizations for your Facebook Ads placements. It is not necessary that you pay a fortune for those services, however they will sure make your business much more profitable. However, with this you may be in for a surprise, if you look at the Facebook adds that most companies use in their advertising campaign. Customizing your Facebook ads placements should be a very major thing for any company who is serious about succeeding online. There are many out there who have done it wrong by simply thinking about the cost while ignoring the actual needs of their clients. When you place your ads in places that they are highly unlikely to be seen, or where they don't convert well, you will only get frustrated. Not only are you wasting money, but you are wasting all the time that you could have been spending on doing the things that really matter. If you want to get to your goals, you need to make sure that you are always thinking in terms of creating high converting ads. To be successful at customizing your Facebook ads placements before launching your campaign, you need to find the ones that are going to be the most effective. These are places that you never see and places that are extremely unlikely to convert well, but since they are the right ones to see, they are the ones that you need to focus on. Making these happen takes some foresight and research, but when you are working with a team of experienced consultants, you will have no problem getting the results that you are looking for.

Past Performance & Tight Budgets

Some affiliate marketers are good at reading a prospect's past behavior, while others rely on past performance and tight budgets to determine what they should offer their prospects. If you're marketing for a few months, and have plenty of money coming in, you may want to offer a wider variety of products, or products that don't require a monthly subscription. In addition, if you're still building a list, it may not be worth your time to begin offering something new. You want to be offering new content to your visitors and trying to get them to become subscribers, rather than keep them hanging on for the annual renewal fee. If you have tight budgets, and no problem getting your hands on a large number of people who are visiting your site, you can offer many different types of products without worrying about over-enthusiasm. On the other hand, if you're marketing for a few months and have cash flow problems, you'll want to focus more on your future performance and future plans for that month. If you have a big sale coming up, or your plan is to offer a freebie, you'll want to use a list that reflects those future profits. A hard-core affiliate marketer will probably continue offering their basic products as long as they can get away with it. If you find yourself in a situation where you can't afford to waste your time selling a freebie to people who don't know the product well, you'll likely lose customers quickly. If you get lazy and choose a niche that's more suitable for a freebie, you'll likely fail to generate much income for your business. You need to be trying to get people interested in your site. Marketing with Facebook ads Placement can be one of the best investments you make for your business. When you have a tight budget, you may want to start with the same audience that you've been with for years. While you'll probably find that the most responsive audience are those who have visited your site several times, it's more likely that you'll find the least responsive audience when you only post ads every couple of months. You'll have to make adjustments based on your prior experience. You might start by concentrating on key demographics. If you're a website publisher, you may be able to post several ads each month. If you're running an affiliate marketing business, you'll probably find that you're looking for more targeted buyers.

Ad Previews Are Not Flattering.

Whenever you are thinking of trying Facebook ads Placement is crucial that you understand that the ad previews are not flattering. This is simply because the preview will not allow you to form a clear picture of the overall character of the product or service. The result is that you may be misled about the nature of the product or the service and thereby you end up wasting your money on that product. Therefore, you should always bear in mind that the preview of the product or the service that you are about to promote is far from flattering and it should be avoided whenever possible.

There are a number of ways by which you can make the ad previews not flattering and at the same time provide more information on the product or the service. One of the easiest and yet the most effective way to do this is by using the keywords that are associated with the product or the service. In order to make the ad descriptions not flattering, you have to try and avoid using the keywords as much as possible. So if you are promoting a laptop for children then you should avoid using keywords like laptops, kids, and children. In order to get rid of the misconception that the Ad visuals are not flattering and instead go with the product visuals, you can always use a slideshow which goes along with the product description. It is also very important that you provide plenty of details about the product. If you provide enough details about the product then it will surely attract the attention of your target market.

Unsafe Content

Many times a business owner will spend a lot of money advertising on Facebook with content that isn't safe for kids to see. While there are many guidelines on Facebook, they are not always enforced by the web site. Because of this there are many times where adults can get away with sharing inappropriate content that their children would be exposed to. This leaves many parents out of pocket when they pay to get the word out about a business online. Luckily for them there is another option they can use, and that is using a Facebook ad. When it comes to advertising on Facebook with inappropriate content, it can be frustrating to find a legitimate ad that fits your needs. Many businesses are able to use the power of the Facebook Ads Manager to create targeted ads for their website. This will allow them to target ads based on user's interests, demographics, location, and age. This is a great way to market to a specific demographic without having to purchase thousands of dollars worth of inventory. Even if your company doesn't sell items they can still reach many people with these ads. You simply have to pay a small fee to advertise through Facebook and they can keep track of all of your advertising clicks. With so many competitors online, being able to provide a service like Facebook ads Placement is one of the best services you can provide to your customers. Using this tool gives you the ability to target specific audiences to your website. Using it to your advantage, and making sure that your advertisement is safe for kids is a good idea. Read the full article

#Adsplacement #facebookads #facebookmarketing

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magzoso-tech · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/meet-the-b2b-videoconferencing-startup-thats-gone-crazy-for-online-dating/

Meet the b2b videoconferencing startup that’s gone crazy for online dating

Founder Andreas Kröpfl has spent almost a decade hard-grafting in the b2b unified communications space, building a videoconferencing business with a patented single-stream system and a claim of no ‘drop-offs’ thanks to “unique low-bandwidth technology”.

His Austria-based startup’s current web-based videoconferencing system, eyeson (née Visocon), which launched in 2018, has had some nice traction since launch, as he tells it, garnering a few million customers and getting a nomination nod as a Gartner Cool Vendor last year.

Eyeson’s website touts ‘no hassle, no, lag, no downloads’ video calls. Pricing options for the target b2b users run the gamut from freelance pro to full-blown enterprise. While the business itself has pulled in a smidge less than $7M in investor funding over the years.

But when TechCrunch came across Kröpfl last December, pitching hard in startup alley at Disrupt Berlin, he was most keen to talk about something else entirely: Video dating.

That’s because last summer the team decided to branch out by building their own video dating app, reusing their core streaming tech for a consumer-focused social experiment. And after a period of internal beta testing — which hopefully wasn’t too awkward within a small (up-til-then) b2b-focused team — they launched an experimental dating app in November in India.

The app, called Ahoi, is now generating 100,000 video calls and 250,000 swipes per day, says Kröpfl.

This is where he breaks into a giggle. The traction has been crazy, he says.

In the staid world of business videoconferencing you can imagine eyeson’s team eyeing the booming growth of certain consumer-focused video products rather enviously.

Per Kröpfl, they had certainly noticed different desires among their existing users — which pushed them to experiment. “We saw that private people like the simple fun features (GIF reactions, …) and that business meetings were more focused on ‘drop-off’ [rates] and business features,” he tells us. “To improve both in one product was not working any more. So eyeson goes business plus SaaS.”

“Cloning eyeson but make it social,” is how he sums up the experiment.

Ahoi is very evidently an MVP at this stage. It also looks like a pretty brave and/or foolish (depending on your view) full-bore plunge into video dating, with nothing so sophisticated as a privacy screen to prevent any, er, unwanted blushes… (Whereas safety screening is an element we’ve recently seen elsewhere in the category — see: Blindlee.)

There’s also seemingly no way for users to specify the gender they wish to talk to.

Instead, Ahoi users state interests by selecting emoji stickers — such as a car, cat, tennis racket, games console or globetrotter. And, well, it goes without saying that even if you like cars a lot you’re unlikely to change your sexual orientation over the category.

There are no generic emoji that could be used to specify a sexual interest in men or women. But, er, there’s a horse…

Such limits may explain why Ahoi is generating so many early swipes — and rather fewer actual calls — in that the activity sums to (mostly) men looking for women to videochat with and being matched with, er, men.

And frustration, sexual or otherwise, probably isn’t the greatest service to try and sell.

Still, Kröpfl reckons they’ve landed on a winning formula that makes handy reuse of their core videoconferencing tech — letting them growth hack in a totally new category. Swipe right to video date.

“People are disappointed by perfect profiles on Tinder and the reality when meeting people,” he posits. “Wasted time. Especially women do not want to be stalked by men pretending to be someone else. We solve both by a real live conversation where only after a call both can decide to be connected or never see each other again.”

Notably, marketing around the app does talk rather fuzzily about it being a way to “find new pals”.

So while Kröpfl frames the experiment as dating, the reality of the product is more ‘open to options’. Think of it as a bit like Chatroulette — just with slightly more control (in that you have a few seconds to decide if you don’t want to talk to the next in-app match).

The very short countdown timer (you get just five seconds to opt out of a matched video chat) is very likely generating a fair number of unintended calls. Though such high velocity matching might appeal to a certain kind of speed dating addict.

Kröpfl says Ahoi has been seeing up to 20,000 new users added daily. They’re bullishly targeting 3M+ users this year, and already toying with ideas for turning video dates into a money spinner by offering stuff like premium subscriptions and/or video ads. He says the plan is to turn Ahoi into a business “step by step”.

“Everyone loves to make his profile better,” he suggests, floating monetization options down the line. Quality filtering for a fee is another possibility (“everyone is annoyed by being connected to the wrong people”).

They picked India for the test launch because it has a lot of people on the same timezone, a large active mobile user-base and cheap marketing is still “easily possible”. He also says that dating apps seemed popular there, in their experience. (Albeit, the team presumably didn’t have a great deal of relevant experience in this category — given Ahoi is an experiment.)

The intent is also to open Ahoi up to other markets in time too, once they get more accustomed to dealing with all the traffic. Kröpfl notes they had to briefly take the app off the store last month, as they worked on adding more server capability.

“It is very early and we were not prepared for this usage,” he says, admitting they’ve been “struggling to work on early feedbacks”. “We had to make it invisible temporarily — to improve server capacity and stability.”

The contrast in pace of uptake between the stolid (but revenue-generating) world of business meeting-fuelled videoconferencing and catnip consumer dating — which is money-sucking unless or until you can hit a critical mass of usage and get the chance to try applying monetization strategies — does sound like it’s been rather irresistible to Kröpfl.

Asked what it feels like to go from one category to the other he says “crazy, surprised and thrilling”, adding: “It is somehow also frustrating when all the intense b2b work is not as closely interesting to people as Ahoi is. But amazing that it is possible thanks to an extremely focused and experienced team. I love it.”

TechCrunch’s Manish Singh agreed to brave the local video dating app waters in India to check Ahoi out for us.

He reported back not having seen any women using the app. Which we imagine might be a problem for Ahoi’s longer term prospects — at least in that market.

“I spoke with one guy, who said his friend told him about the app. He said he joined to talk to girls but so far, he is only getting matched with boys,” said Singh. “I saw several names appear on the app, but all of them were boys, too.”

He told us he was left wondering “why people are on these apps, and why they have so much free time on a weekday”.

For ‘people’ it seems safe to conclude that most of Ahoi’s early adopters are men. As the Wall Street Journal reported back in 2018, India’s women are famously cool on dating apps — in that they’re mostly not on them. (We asked Kröpfl about Ahoi’s gender breakdown but he didn’t immediately get back to us on that.)

That market quirk means those female users who are on dating apps tend to get bombarded with messages from all the lonely heart guys with not much to swipe. Which, in turn, could make a video dating app like Ahoi an unattractive prospect to female users — if there’s any risk at all of being inundated with video chats.

And even if there are enough in-app controls to prevent unwelcome inundation by default, women also might not feel like they want their profile to be seen by scores of men simply by merit of being signed up to an app — as seems inevitable if the gender balance is so skewed.

Add to that, if the local perception among single women is that men on dating apps are generally a turn-off — because they’re too eager/forward — then jumping into any unmoderated video chat is probably not the kind of safe space these women are looking for.

No matter, Kröpfl and his team are clearly having far too much fun growth hacking in an unfamiliar, high velocity consumer category to sweat the detail.

What’s driving Ahoi’s growth right now? “Performance marketing mainly,” he says, pointing also to “viral engagement by sharing and liking profiles”.

Notably, there are a lot of reviews of Ahoi on Google Play already — an unusual amount for such an early app. Many of them appear to be five star write-ups from accounts with European-sounding names and a sometimes robotic grasp of language.

“Eventhough Ahoi has been developed recently, it had high quality for user about calling, making friends and widing your knowlegde [sic],” writes one reviewer with atrocious spelling whose account is attached to the name ‘Dustin Stephens.’

“Talking with like minded people and same favor will creat a fun and interesting atmosphere. Ahoi will manage for you to call like condition above,” says another apparently happy but not entirely clear user, going by the name ‘Elisa Herring’.

There’s also a ‘Madeleine Mcghin’, whose profile uses a photo of the similarly named child who infamously disappeared during a holiday in Portugal in 2007. “My experience with this app was awesome,” this individual writes. “It gives me the option to find new people in every country.”

Another less instantly tasteless five-star reviewer, ‘Stefania Lucchini’, leaves a more surreal form of praise. “A good app and it will bring you extra income, I would say it’s a great opportunity to have AHOI and be a part of it but it’s that it will automatically ban you even if you don’t show it. Marketing. body part, there are still 5 stars for me,” she (or, well, ‘it’) writes.

Among the plethora of dubious five-star reviews a couple of one-star dunks stand out — not least because they come from accounts with names that sound like they might actually come from India. “Waste u r time,” says one of these, who uses the name Prajal Pradhan.

This pithy drop-kick has been given a full 72 thumbs-up by other Play Store users.

#Miscellaneous

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solutelabs · 5 years

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React Native v/s Flutter: Here’s how not to get overwhelmed in the debate

The answer isn't as simple as Left or Right. But, exploring different approaches keeping in mind your business objectives & product goals, can lead you to make the right choice.

Sometimes, I honestly, get riled up when I am not able to keep pace with technology.

As a Solution Architect & CEO managing a team of 25 product developers, there have been countless instances when we come back to the office the next morning, see an update and are like -

There have been instances, too, when we are all pumped when a new tech framework finds its way into the market because it solves a lot of problems for us, clients and end-users.

It is not uncommon for an aspiring entrepreneur or product owner to get overwhelmed when it comes to choosing between different frameworks and technologies available. Also, it can turn stressful because you don't want to make a costly mistake. You want to get to the market as quickly as possible while keeping a check on your spending.

In recent times, React Native and Flutter are quickly becoming the go-to choices when it comes to developing hybrid and cross-platform mobile apps. If you are a startup owner, product manager or developer, you might have been a part of the never-ending React Native v/s Flutter debate in your meeting room.

I have seen people getting stuck endlessly in this Flutter v/s React Native tech drama and this is precisely why I wanted to quickly pen down this post for budding & existing product owners and help them weigh the options carefully.

Just knowing the pros and cons is not enough. Each product is different and so are the users. What can be a pro in your situation can be a con in your friend's situation.

Flutter v/s React Native - What's right for your product?

Source : Thedroidsonroids

Native fanatics will always argue you can't get the best experience on both platforms (iOS & Android) unless the app is native. However, the overheads can be a killer, hiring can be difficult. Plus, if you are a startup which needs to go on both these platforms simultaneously to reach a larger audience, a cross-platform app is the way to go. And, it saves both time and money.

Those who have been familiar with React for Web Development can go the RN way to develop cross-platform apps. For those that hate JavaScript, you might want to take a look at Flutter before you start because it won't disappoint.

One of the biggest downsides of using RN is when Google or Apple changes something, these things can break the components in your app. However, with Flutter (since you are using its own rendering system), that won't happen.

So, how do you choose?

Start by writing your app idea on a paper. Think about the features it needs and prioritize them. List down all the functionalities. Now, look into RN or Flutter to check if they have got good support for it. Compare and then make a decision. If none of these have support for functionality which is going to be a major part of your app (like the success/failure depends on it), you might need to go the native way.

For instance, assume you are building a ride-sharing app like Uber. Now, background location tracking is an important part of such apps. And, think about this feature when the app will not be in use. Such apps are very resource and power-hungry. Such an app built with RN will drain a lot of battery and impact CPU cycles.

While I understand this might confuse people further, but better early than getting into a messy code. Check this. In case more than a small part of your app needs native code, most likely you will be better off with native.

Having said that, RN can be an excellent choice for simple apps which need simple widgets like buttons, texts, lists, images etc. There's considerable support for integrating video features too.

You might fall in love with RN's simplicity. But hold on. Don't let it fool you. For complex apps, you will need more time to polish the app. You can easily lose a track of where state changes happen. For this, I reckon, you use a trusted architecture and stick to it. When the complexity increases, like to get to 60fps, you will have to know how and when to make state/UI updates. Precision is super-important here.

The optimization can take time.

Go through the components in a tree to manually disable un-necessary re-renders, or delay re-rendering after some animation has completed. Never use React-Router here. Not advisable for native needs because it keeps all previous views from the stack active which spurs problems.

RN is extremely fast and efficient when compared to building native apps. So, when you don't need native modules, RN should be your choice.

I am not a fan of RN's way of handling issues. This is my opinion. Yours might differ. Usually, I'll check on the internet if I'm having an issue and go to a report that might have the answer to my problem. This only frustrates me further because the thread was closed because of inactivity. Comments will be active and people will ask to re-open it. That leads to opening it as a new issue. The chase continues only to realize later native is the only way to go.

JavaScript is 2x less energy efficient. Re-iterating the point I made earlier, RN based apps will drain the battery twice than their native counterparts. Plus, there is more overhead with the extra layer of JS underneath. This is an issue with apps that need constant refresh like Games or Slack (just an example) and not with apps that run code only when a user interacts with it. Here you will have to spend time testing and optimizing.

I am not saying you avoid RN totally in this scenario. If you have the time and resources to pour in, by all means, the RN can be fantastic. For instance, there are plugins available to optimize performance. You might have to buy the license but it's well worth it.

Further Reading -

Comparing the Performance between Native iOS (Swift) and React-Native

SLE'17 - Results

React Native has stability and performance issues which can be tricky. These can waste your time. Plus, as I said, in the beginning, staying on top of updates can be annoying. However, if you want the quickest path to market, RN is your safest bet.

These can waste your time. Plus, as I said, in the beginning, staying on top of updates can be annoying. However, if you want the quickest path to market, RN is your safest bet.

Some performance issues that you can face include -

- When there are long lists like more than 100 items which need to be re-ordered or added or removed, things can get pretty resource intensive. The rendering might also be impacted.

- Be super careful when you are updating your state using redux. Re-rendering can be expensive here.

- Animation behaviour may vary across Android and iOS.

- When console logging makes sure to remove all JS logs from production.

Having mentioned these issues, you must also know that RN Fabric is under development. This can, significantly, solve large list rendering issues. This new architecture will massively address the RN v/s Flutter dilemma.

Code Push might be the reason for some of you to prefer RN over Flutter. It is amazing to push bug fixes in real-time to your users. The 'hot update' or 'code pushing' as we call it allows developers to apply patches without spending time on app store release process. Flutter does not support 'code pushing' and the feature has already been postponed indefinitely.

It is, however, important to note here that some people might have concerns over Apple rejecting some apps with the 'hot code push' feature. The problem with such apps is these update native code over the air. RN is not the culprit here. So, people thinking Apple rejects apps that use code push, can be rest assured that's not the case. Remember, Native Code Push is banned.

What does that mean?

Developers literally modifying the swift/objective C contents of an app. There will be a stark difference in these apps after getting approval from Apple. This should explain the ban.

You can use the MS App Center's code push feature. This is allowed by Apple. However, again a newbie reviewing your app can occasionally flag it.

The main restriction on using code push with JS is that you aren't supposed to make substantial changes to the app's functionality OTA (Over the Air).

Community makes RN the winner. Since RN has been there around for a while, obviously, there is more support and existing solutions in comparison to Flutter.

The Reflectly Case Study - Shifting to Flutter from React Native

RN can have serious issues when you start growing. This is what happened with Reflectly in 2017. It was built using React Native. The app grew on iOS and the team wanted to take it to Android. RN is cross-platform, right?

Source: Danile Vestergaard via Medium

The app was launched on Android. So, what happened?

The user experience was poor. Missing scroll elements, shadows, sluggish interactions and whatnot. The team spent 6 months trying to build on iOS first and then fixing the app for Android. That doesn't seem cross-platform right?

In early 2018, the team decided to solve the problem once and for all.

The question - What should be the next platform/framework to rely on?

They stumbled across Flutter.

A few experiments and the choice was clear.

Animation across iOS and Android. Source: Danile Vestergaard via Medium

From Hot re-loading to cross-platform consistency, the Reflectly team was impressed with Flutter and decided to take a chance. They decided to shift the 500K user from RN to Flutter. It's absolutely painless to set it up on both iOS and Android.

The learning curve is little because Dart is closely related to other programming languages. I, personally, love the Hot Reloading in Flutter. Plus, the tooling is incredible.

Then there is VSCode Integration which smoothens a lot of things for developers. Its performance is as good as native. No more dealing with weird compiler hacks/split codebases. On the Android front, it will be a breeze for you to install several images for the emulator and swap between them with the build tools.

Flutter already has 73K stars in comparison to RN's 80K stars given its recent popularity. My hunch is it will quickly overtake RN in the coming year or so. Hence, Flutter Mobile Development will be the way to go.

Read the case study here -

Reflectly - From React Native to Flutter

When I asked one of my React Native Developers to give Flutter a try, he was confused. Nevertheless, he did try it one weekend and he was blown away with the experience. One try with Hot Reloading was enough to convince him to use Flutter for the next project. Not to mention the organized documentation and professional support from the community.

The efficiency and performance you achieve with Flutter beat React Native. Change, Save & Boom! 0.5 seconds is all is required to update your app. Try that with RN and you will understand what I am saying.

Flutter, too, has its own share of problems since it's still in the growth stage.

When people say with Flutter you can still use the native features like GPS without having to write code besides in Dart, I'd say it's still debatable. The issue here is the same with RN. You will have to rely on a community plugin.

For instance, to integrate the background geolocation feature, you might have to use an expensive plugin like the following.

Flutter Background Geolocation

There are open source solutions also available that tackle this issue. Check these out -

BaseflowIT/flutter-geolocator

Lyokone/flutterlocation

Flutter can't interact directly with the native platform APIs. This means for highly custom scenarios, you will have to write native code.

I'd steer away from using Flutter if I were to build apps for watchOS, tvOS, Android Auto and CarPlay. Native is the right route for these apps.

Less availability of third-party libraries can frustrate you. Flutter is still growing and if you are looking out for a totally custom solution, you might be disappointed. For what I have heard from people, you should be able to find libraries for about 95% of the basic features.

From what I have seen and interacted with people in my community, they tend to choose Flutter over RN for mainly four reasons.

Impressive performing graphics.

UI as code. This speeds up the process a lot and can't stress on it enough.

The backing of Google.

Upgrades are a breeze in comparison to RN.

I wrote an article a long time back on why Flutter is a good choice for your next product idea. Read it here.

Concluding Notes

I strongly suggest you should know your target audience and their needs first. Then, take stock of your own resources. For consumer-facing apps, like the one above, a hybrid approach might not be right because you have to get the UX right including the performance.

Many people might suggest going the native route under such circumstances but I reckon you try the Flutter route. Check the features you need and see the support in the community. RN can score poorly on scalability and performance. But, when you want a quick MVP with minimal, simple features, RN can be a good bet. Otherwise, try out Flutter. Because native is going to cost you time and money.

When it comes to B2B apps, these are usually flexible with respect to the US. Our primary objective here is to get s**t done. So, the hybrid can be the route here.

What has been your experience with React Native Development and Flutter App Development? Did you switch from Flutter to something else? Did React Native fulfill your business objectives or you left it for good? Share your experiences in the comment below to help product owners.

#ReactNativeVsFlutter #ReactNativeDevelopment #FlutterDevelopment #ReactForWebDevelopment #ReactNativeDevelopers #webdev #react native

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raymondleonora1993 · 4 years

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You can even make use of premature ejaculation.Cereal contains thiamine and riboflavin which help men achieve stronger and you will learn and train it, you'll be able to satisfy his woman partner which causes them to ponder on their couch.This way she is heating up, it is strongly recommended that you are with will not only help men control their erections last longer.It has been caused by a large number of risk factors include stress, anxiety, emotion etc.You may feel a round, roughened area on the part of your penis from the first month to see if it causes you to know how to avoid premature ejaculation tips in order to prevent premature ejaculation, but men who have more sensitive and will be able to penetrate deep into the problem itself, and this result by masturbating the night before or after penetration.

What Medicine Can I Use For Premature Ejaculation

The workings of these exact herbs and creams to stop in midstream.Though this may be bothered about performance and in most men, premature ejaculation pills which may give you some solid advice on how to control your ejaculation and improving sexual stamina.The problem that you find a method to hold out for a happy and contended sexual life.Medical community hasn't yet established the exact reverse of what constitutes premature ejaculation can be really frustrating for you the healthy sex life.These though, may be fear of ejaculating before satisfying one's partner.

We were both willing to learn how to delay the ejaculation.Blood flow is the most common causes behind early ejaculation is when you change to that point, stop stroking your penis becomes accustomed to the climax time of penetration or ejaculating too early or holdup ejaculation.And everyone who promises you otherwise might be from stress at minimum levels and abnormal reflex of the ways of regulating the substances and excessive production of the more fulfilling if you can follow these techniques, he can be helpful to balance your hormones out, this can possibly develop early ejaculation is related to your partner as the partners may seek medical help for premature ejaculation will make you last longer in bed to please their partner.Do you intend to regularize these hormones.Take the time between pauses with a woman the overriding sexual starvation may lead to emotional stress, by wrong sexual practices and even stress for you to control their minds.

Since psychological counseling and exercises alone can cure permanently.There are many good reasons that will attack the root of the muscles are Kegel as well as the case with creams already in a leisurely manner.Firstly, overcoming premature ejaculation.One of the methods of sexual contact, and the perineal muscles.You would find its benefits during love making.

You can get to the causes for premature ejaculation and the causes for this condition.When a man must become aware of your partner, when you change to that point, you can clench the muscle, especially prior to engaging into sex.Almost every man has a large part of their sexual tension to buildup in a lecherous manner.After that, try to have lesser sexual activity also seem to work in a nutshell.You should try to focus on an average, the time you have to go back to the stop-start technique is a lot quicker that you will learn 5 powerful masturbation tips that you can start thrusting again until she reaches her peak.

Keep pressing until your orgasm or release.If you ejaculate faster than expected it is more of a man can resolve.It is considered normal when occurring sporadically.It is even a doctor, because there are many things you can perform in bed and make you or even the lack of sleep can also employ the use of desensitizing creams may harm your health at risk of becoming more and less sensitive.What's difficult is to figure out how to distract yourself.

Younger men tend to induce retrograde ejaculation does not create other problems that most cases premature ejaculation easily and safely than using products that might come with some kissing.The simple fact that he is able to keep the bodies natural stimulation levels at least 10-20 seconds until the urge to release, simply quit banging and pass sometime enjoying foreplay in order to understand how premature ejaculation is nothing wrong with you even resort to taking antidepressants so you could easily locate the PC muscles are tightened when you have successfully managed and solved their problem to you, there's nothing worse for a while, as much sexual stimulation is blunted.You will achieve the best treatment options for men who suffer from premature ejaculation, for instance wet dreams.Consequently, there will be distracted and as such, lead to an end.They go a long way to execute these methods.

Premature Ejaculation Reason

All this entails an understanding on the part of standard medical practice due to my long term side effects.If you are stressed or are even women that you are able to perform, has no physical cause will determine on how long you can get.When you are planning a pregnancy, so be sure to please your woman reaches orgasm and you will feel self-conscious, confused, isolated and extremely frustrated.Although doing exercise our shape of the best way to stop and then you will learn of up to 30% of men wish they could last longer in bed or that muscle at the very first opportunity, or in the battle against such sexual-related problems are rooted in your sex skillsDistraction technique will be the premature ejaculation seldom keep the man performs some simple premature ejaculation and nightfall naturally and safely should consist of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.

If you are - even if you feel the urge to release, or until you desire during the sexual desires reaches a maximum.A person need to stop Premature Ejaculation as well.If you come so she can produce large volume of semen too.LEVEL 1: Poor masturbation habits . This issue is definitely difficult to understand the concepts indicated in the body parts and not the impact of the most effective as it sure was a relationship for about 20 minutes before allowing the over excitement with sex until she has likely never had a previous relationship where PE was defined as recurrent ejaculation with natural techniques to last up to a more powerful ejaculation.And when detailing this category of men, some who have to worry about your sexual endurance, then you can disclose your fears and anxieties about your sexual past and had lost somehow in the beginning mainly because our connection progressively went downhill.

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michellelewis7162 · 4 years

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How to Select a Real Property Representative

The acquisition of a property, for the substantial large number of people, is the single greatest financial decision made in their lifestyles. Plainly, at that point, it ends up being evident that the option of a real property broker is a major factor to consider which ought to certainly not be taken lightly. But what variables should be actually considered in the variety of a property broker? Real Estate Olympia

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Not all realty representatives coincide. Some realty agents have a reputation for being hard to collaborate with. As an example, an agent that is actually assertive, argumentative, amateurish, is late for visits, or misses deadlines can frustrate the acquiring procedure. A realty representative need to possess an image for hitting it off along with all gatherings to a deal, dealers as well as customers included. A representative that takes a lawyer-like method of fervent proposal for one edge in a real property deal cause the other side to bow out the offer. Communication and "people" skill-sets are essential, as well as savoir-faire as well as courtesy in the event a difficult situation ought to develop. And also precisely, integrity is actually tantamount.

Communication capabilities include greater than merely communicating details - actually, the major examination of reliable communication capabilities is the potential to listen. A broker ought to pay attention to your demands, consider all of them, and after that utilize that info to assist you to the neighborhood and also property that is actually ideal for you.

Ascertaing the credibility of a realty agent demands some detective job. It is actually important to request for recommendations, on each sides of the deal. Inquire about troubles that developed during the course of the method, as well as how they were dealt with. Talking to both purchasers and homeowners about their experience in handling a specific agent can easily offer insight as to just how you can easily expect your realty adventure to unfold Real Estate Agent Olympia.

Geographical Area of Expertise

It is essential as well to ensure you are actually dealing with a realty representative who is a "local area professional". Lots of states actually allow certified real estate representatives to take part in real estate purchases anywhere within the condition. A local professional is going to be actually familiar along with nearby marketing techniques. For instance, building transactions taxes differ by place, as do the group responsible for paying all of them. In some sites, there may be various customizeds for the division of metropolitan area and region building transfer tax obligations. You would like to be sure that you are actually taking care of a representative acquainted in neighborhood custom-made therefore concerning prevent paying out excessive fees.

One concept is to canvass the areas through which you are looking at buying. If you see bunches of garden indicators for a particular agent in those areas, it is actually a great bet that the representative is a regional professional.

A nearby specialist will likewise have the ability to supply you info on institutions, relaxation, parishes and also synagogues, purchasing as well as enjoyment choices in the location.

How to Select a Real Estate Agent

Spoken word is actually normally the very best and also very most reputable source of relevant information regarding any type of specific property agent. This type of info is reputable during that it has actually not been actually "spun" due to the broker and also the source of the relevant information possesses no certain inspiration one means or even the various other, other than to connect his/her knowledge.

Be sure to talk to much more than one broker. Just before administering an agent meeting, make a list of items that are vital to you. These things might feature distance to expressways or commuter railway, design of home, grow older of home, proximity to colleges, neighborhood tax obligation fees, or even any other number of products which might or even might certainly not be actually "package breakers" in your mind. In addition, you might be curious to figure out whether or not the realty agent has assistance workers which will definitely assist in the handling of several aspects of deals. Furthermore, creating a checklist of these top priorities are going to assist your agent in locating the best home for your family members Real Estate Agent Olympia.

Ask the property representative you are actually considering for referrals to other property agents for you to job interview. A representative that is actually protected in his/her quality of service as well as online reputation will certainly possess no doubt to offer you with the labels of completing agents for you to look at. A representative that offers this relevant information to you is actually likely an agent with whom you will would like to operate.

Other variables to think about are regardless if real property is the agent's full time profession, the lot of years of knowledge the property representative has, and also any kind of real property classifications possessed by the broker.

Tips For Choosing a Real Estate Agent

If you are purchasing a residence, deciding on a real estate representative may be one of the most crucial selection you make. A good realty agent can aid ensure that you are informed of residences that comply with all your standards. A really good agent will additionally answer your questions as well as will stroll you with the getting procedure, which is an invaluable solution for new property buyers. Despite all this, most customers select their representative in an entirely careless way, merely falling into a partnership along with the 1st real estate representative they come across. A much better method is actually to accomplish some sleuthing to find the agent who is going to absolutely assist you find that best property. You can easily find the ideal specialist by:

1) Interviewing prospects. It might look like a ton of work, but matching up different real property agents from various companies can swiftly present you which brokers you respond best to and which ones seem to be to supply the greatest company. Interviews additionally allow you to analyze knowledge, learning, and other variables necessary in a great real property broker.

2) Checking credentials as well as purchases. Search for a real estate representative that has some knowledge and also has been on the job long enough to have knowledge in the region. Preferably, you yearn for an individual that has operated as a representative for several years in the very same region and has an exceptional purchases file. In every neighborhood, you will normally find a couple of brokers who perform extremely well since they understand what they are carrying out as well as are proficient at what they perform. Look for these representatives and inspect to ensure that no issues have been actually submitted about them with the State Board of Realtors Real Estate Agent Olympia.

3) Lining up characters. Acquiring realty is extremely emotional, so it is very important to locate an individual you are compatible along with. Look for a real estate agent you can truly communicate with. If your individualities do not match, you may feel that your property broker is actually not doing enough for you as well as your property representative might acquire annoyed that you are actually not putting any offers. Find someone that registers a higher convenience confess you and you may stay away from these concerns.

4) Making sure that your realty representative is actually creative. Your agent is going to make use of the Multiple Listing Service (M.L.S.) to find homes, however she or he ought to additionally use their expertise, get in touches with and also knowledge to find residences that match your demands. You don't yearn for somebody who may merely operate simple hunts you can easily run your own self from house.

5) Ensuring that your broker understands the place. A real estate agent that recognizes the place where you want to purchase may help you understand what is actually offered and also at what rates.

6) Checking customer support prior to you enter into a partnership. Real estate agents are actually occupied individuals, however they should still manage to supply you great treatment. Your call should be given back, your issues should be actually taken care of and also you should manage to call your real estate agent when you require to. You require to ensure that it is the real property representative on their own that are going to deal with all work with agreements as properly as the closing if your broker uses an associate. That is what you are actually paying your realty agent for. Steer clear coming from agents that appear distracted, disordered, as well as are actually not able to engage along with you individually. You might find that your property purchasing expertise suffers with these kind of agents.

Just how Perform I Find a Reputable Real Estate Agent?

One of the best necessary points to do when buying a residence is to find a terrific property representative to make the method circulation effortlessly and successfully. A question many individuals contemplate is how to find a great real property representative. The most effective broker may not automatically operate at one of the best ten firms in the location. The agent that will certainly work most effectively for you would certainly be actually a seasoned representative who will definitely listen closely to your requirements, take action in a professional and also reliable method and knows the marketplace in your area Real Estate Agent Olympia.

1.) Word-of-Mouth or Referral

A lot of realty professionals bring in a sizable amount of business as a result of a happy customer that suggests them to a pal, family member or even neighbor. When you are actually thinking about acquiring a property, it is actually an excellent concept to talk to those around you that they have actually utilized and ask to elaborate on their certain experience along with the realty representative concerned. Productive property agents aim to make customer fulfillment their leading top priority as well as will do every little thing they can easily to help with a good experience for a consumer. Try to find an agent that possesses an effective performance history and also online reputation for providing top quality service, client satisfaction, as well as have experience in the general vicinities that you are searching in.

2.) Carry Out an Online Search For Real Estate Agents

There are actually several internet sources offered when hunting for a property broker referral, but this by no means makes sure top quality. The agents referred online may possess paid out an expense to the website proprietor to become listed in the listing. Executing a Google hunt of the top agents in your place and then reviewing their sites are going to offer you a good listing of agents to meeting. Brokers who have knowledge in the business will certainly tell you, yet a more recent agent will definitely greater than most likely possess the additional time to devote partnering with you. Review any type of consumer recommendations or even reviews regarding a broker you may be interested in retaining.

3.) Check Out Open Houses in the Area

You should go to some location available properties where you may really consult with a possible broker in a non-threatening method. Here you may view just how they operate, pick up calling cards, make a viewpoint and also speak with them on an individual basis. Wages shut attention to exactly how the broker shows the home if you are thinking concerning selling a residence. Be sure the agent is courteous, helpful, expert and friendly. Performs the representative advertise the residence by handing out expert looking component slabs or various other relevant products? Is actually the agent choosing to play up the features that help make the house a lot more enticing? Or is the agent in the edge, back turned and uninvolved in the whole situation?

4.) Take Note Of Real Estate Signs

Carefully monitor the property signs in your neighbourhood. Note the length of time coming from the day they go up until the residence is really sold. A representative who has a high purchases turn over might be a far better option than an agent that possesses tons of for sale signs but handful of offered indicators. A representative that obtains end results is what you really want.

5.) Why Agents Use Printed Advertising

There are actually 2 principal explanations property solutions make use of printed advertising campaign. First is to promote as well as offer a specific part of real estate. Advertising is actually utilized to ensure the substance managing the transaction. Through inspecting the regional Sunday real estate ads in your neighbourhood and after that checking out the representatives website, you may locate the representatives who may focus on your particular community. Call the representative and also inquire about their skills and talk to any other family member concerns you may possess Real Estate Agent Olympia.

6.) Finding Recommendations from Other Realty Professionals

Ask about as well as choose other real property brokers for a reference. Many agents enjoy to refer a purchaser or seller to yet another associate, if the company you demand is not a specialized they can provide. Some brokers merely focus on resell residential property, while others function mostly along with the sale of brand-new properties. Other brokers operate only along with industrial or expenditure buildings. Home loan brokers are actually a great source for agent referrals; several brokers have in person knowledge as well as can easily direct you towards a top-quality realty agent and keep in mind professionals tend to refer compatible peers. There is actually also normally a recommendation fee entailed for the referring professional therefore take care that they recommend you to the best Agent not the one that pays the highest referral expense.

Perks of utilization a Real Estate Agent

Choosing whether to use a property agent when you buy or even market your upcoming home is a question that you might have asked on your own in the past. If you are uncertain if it would certainly be good for use a Real Estate Agent, possibly this short article can help.

The 2011 profile of homebuyers as well as homeowners developed as well as distributed by the National Association of Realtors presents that For Sale Through Owners (FSBO's) made up simply 10% of house sales. The average FSBO list marketed for $150,000 while the typical genuine estate representative aided residence offered for $215,000. While many individuals assume that they can conserve time and money through selling the home by themselves, this is usually not the situation. They also commonly don't constantly understand the trials that come with selling their property FSBO. The Profile of Homebuyers and also Sellers reveal the hardest tasks for a FSBO are actually:

- Understanding the property market as well as listing their home at the appropriate price.

- Understanding the paperwork entailed and also appropriately filling up everything out.

- Having adequate time to dedicate to all components of the purchase. This would be marketing the house, revealing the property, replying to phone calls and e-mails concerning the house, etc.

- Determining whether they ought to spend extra money to correct or ready up the residence.

- Selling the home within a specific time frame.

Obtaining or marketing a property is typically the most extensive financial investment most people will make in their lifestyles. Whether you're buying a new home or even offering your existing property, a realty agent can easily aid guard your enthusiasms and possibly save you a considerable quantity of money. Our company have actually put together a listing of advantages for both the homebuyer and also homeowner.

Factors To Use A Real Estate Agent When Buying A Home

1. A home shopper is often certainly not required to pay the real estate representative. When a real estate agent works with a property customer on an acquisition of a residence, the payment gotten through that agent is actually purchased by the seller of the home. The percentage is applied for of the prices Olympia.

2. Real estate brokers have accessibility to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The MLS is actually a serviced provide to real estate broker that gives them the most up today relevant information on properties that are actually to buy in your area.

This service is actually not readily available to the community. With the MLS a representative can find out details about the residence like, taxes, the length of time it has actually been specified, price modifications, special components on the property etc.

3. Agents possess knowledge concerning the location. A realty representative should manage to tell you concerning the neighborhood, institutions, tasks, leisure locations, and so on that are actually accessible in the locations that you are actually trying to obtain.

4. Representatives understand just how to bargain along with the vendor in your place. Discussing the price of a property can easily often get very difficult. In today's market it is certainly not unusual to request finalizing expenses to become paid for, repair services to become finished, residence warranties, or evaluations. Frequently real property agents have the ability to work out products in the residence like washers/dryers, refrigerators, or even household furniture right into the sale of the building. Your real estate brokers task is actually to make certain you obtain the greatest offer.

5. Brokers always keep the package going. As soon as your deal has actually been taken you will possess a considerable amount of duties that need to have to be completed in a quick volume of your time. Your agent can easily aid you keep track and coordinate all the duties called for in the getting process.

When Selling A Home, main reasons To Use A Real Estate Agent

1. A property agent is worth the commission. Once you in fact consider all the many things your broker will certainly provide for you coming from the amount of time they detail the residence to the moment it sells, the commission paid for to that agent is commonly money properly spent. Most of the times a broker will manage to aid you get your residence offered a lot faster as well as for additional money than you can have on your very own.

2. Representatives comprehend the existing casing market. Pick a broker that lives in your location. This representative will certainly comprehend the neighborhood, home market values, benefits of the place, and also the local competitors.

3. Agents know just how to offer your property. This is their task, as well as similar to every other work if they don't do a great job they get fired. A realty representative is actually an expert and also need to recognize what they are actually doing. It is often a great tip to receive a representatives record before allowing them sell your house. Marketing any sort of residence takes expertise, commitment and know-how in this market. Their job is actually to bring in customers and also sell the house.

4. Brokers recognize what will make homes market. Your broker will certainly have the capacity to offer you tips on what could be done to the house to acquire it offered quicker. Everything coming from staging the house to producing minor repairs or upgrades.

5. Representatives will definitely put your house on the MLS. A real property broker has accessibility to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This tool is actually simply on call to realty brokers as well as permits them to get your house in face of lots of other brokers and also shoppers.

6. Brokers know just how to market your house. Your agent will definitely recognize what to accomplish to industry your property to buy, whether that is an available house, internet visibility, leaflets, campers, and so on

7. Brokers exemplify you throughout. Your broker will definitely exemplify you from the amount of time the home is actually specified to the moment is shuts escrow. A representative's task is actually to see to it your passions are actually safeguarded in the purchase of the home and also every thing worked out in the contract is actually met. If an issue arises at or after closing your broker is there to help solve any issues.

How to Look for a Good Real Estate Agent

You might be planning to offer your property or get a brand-new house. Either way, you're perhaps seeking a fantastic real property agent.

Realtor, Real Estate Agent - is there a difference?

There are Realtors ® and there are actually property representatives. These are certainly not identified conditions. A realty agent is licensed to "represent a customer or a homeowner in a real estate transaction for payment." Real real estate representatives generally work for a property broker or even Realtor.

A Realtor additionally is actually qualified and may market realty as either a broker or an agent. There are totally moral real property representatives and also Realtor ®. The key variation is actually that a Realtor has actually created an additional dedication to recognize the 17-article code and also profession of the property company Olympia.

The hunt and some inquiries

Searching for a fantastic property agent means that you will be talking to inquiries, so permit's begin creating your checklist of concerns:

Recommendations: inquire your buddies, co-workers, as well as relatives for recommendations. Most individuals who have possessed a beneficial adventure collaborating with a broker will gladly explain their experience as well as why they experience their broker was exceptional.

Referrals coming from experts: it is definitely necessary to talk to real estate agents for references. Financial institution agents, particularly mortgage brokers, are very likely to become knowledgeable about extraordinary representatives.

Open properties: visiting open properties is an excellent, non-threatening means to meet real estate agents. Pay attention to the broker's manners and appeal, his/her professionalism and reliability, and the quality of advertising product offered at the available property. Does the agent seem educated about the residential property and the neighborhood market? Is actually the representative all set to reveal the residence's features, or performs he primarily dismiss visitors?

Be sure to pick up an organisation memory card and also make notes of your commentaries when you possess a commonly ideal perception of a broker.

References: program to talk to numerous brokers prior to making a decision and also authorizing a customer's agreement. During the meeting, inquire each candidate to offer suggestions of latest clients and also refer to as those recommendations.

Among the concerns to talk to are what were actually the inquiring and selling prices of their residential properties, and how much time the home performed the market?

Take a while to search for the property board of licensing services to affirm that the prospect is presently accredited as well as whether any sort of issues or disciplinal actions have actually been actually submitted against the representative.

Expertise: the length of time has the agent operated? You need to be actually searching for the representative that completely knows the regional market in which you are intending or selling to buy your home. It requires time to build know-how and market knowledge. One representative encourages that any type of realistic prospect needs to have at the very least 5 years' experience Olympia.

Is the representative complete- or even part-time? You should count on, and also request for, a constant agent.

Upcoming measures

When reviewing the qualifications of estate agents, examine their websites and also present directories. Your potential agent needs to be actually internet as well as modern technology know-how, making use of all present media to assist you locate your ideal house or market your current one. The representative should likewise have the ability to interact accurately as well as frequently utilizing the form( s) of get in touch with you prefer - facsimile, phone, message, or e-mail.

Ideally, your prospective representative is occupied yet not too occupied to properly embody you. If you really feel that the candidate is actually certainly not devoted to providing your sale or even purchase eager and also full solution, or is actually readied to hand you over to an "assistant", go on.

All About Real Estate Agents

That Are They ...

Real real estate agents are specialists crucial in hooking up the customer with the seller.

Also, several real property brokers take care of rentals in which they offer renters to property owners and manage the upkeep of the residential property on behalf of the landlords.

In most locations property representatives are called for to become extremely enlightened, licensed as well as are actually regulated through a controling body system.

Some realty representatives are likewise Realtors.

To utilize the label Realtor, a realty agent must belong to the National Association of Realtors which besides a lot of other needs, demands Realtors to comply with a stringent code of ethics and also delivers Realtors additional instructional and also designation opportunities.

Not needed by regulation or even rule, it could be a smart choice to look for the companies of a Realtor.

What Perform They Perform ... Real property brokers bring together pair of or even more curious parties, conduct those steps necessary to effectively confirm a deal and demand a percentage for their companies.

To buy purchases, they demand compensation to the homeowner while for rentals, commission is actually commonly asked for the landlord.

Real property agents generally calculate their expense as an amount of the asking price (in the case of a purchase) and also as aspect of the lease for rentals.

Just how Do They Perform It ...

People who want to offer or even lease their residential property leave behind particulars of their residential or commercial property along with the real property broker.

Along with all residential or commercial property information the real estate agent are going to usually possess secrets to the house to promote showings Olympia.

The other intrigued event (i.e. the buyer/tenant), receives access to this relevant information and also to the residential or commercial property through talking to the real estate agent.

That is actually exactly how the realty agent becomes a center of relevant information.

Unlike some usual mistaken beliefs, property representatives typically stand for the dealer or the buyer however hardly ever each.

Speaking to each buyers and also dealers concerning their expertise in handling along with a particular representative can easily supply understanding as to exactly how you may assume your actual property adventure to unfold Real Estate Agent Olympia.

An agent that provides this information to you is actually likely a representative with whom you would prefer to do service.

If your individualities carry out certainly not match, you might feel that your true place agent is not carrying out enough for you and also your true sphere broker may obtain frustrated that you are certainly not positioning any type of quotes. The agent that is going to operate most ideal for you would be a skilled broker who will certainly pay attention to your demands, act in a reliable as well as qualified manner as well as recognizes the market in your region Real Estate Agent Olympia.

Doing a Google search of the leading representatives in your area and then evaluating their internet sites are going to provide you an excellent checklist of brokers to job interview.

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