#could lead to an amazing array of mixed awarenesses

[bitterseaproduction]

Variant idea on the Soulmarks trope: It’s not the first thing your soulmate says to you written on you somewhere, but the first thing they think about you.

#could lead to an amazing array of mixed awarenesses #more frank or honest people making themselves clear to their soulmate instantly #while more reticent or shy or deceptive peeps doom themselves to being unknown #delayed effects when people admit to their first impressions later on #and ohboy the mess if you mix it with childhood friends??? #i was thinking about polin with this but akeshu and merik are also golden options

[rubberduckyrye]

Sorry that it took me a while to get to these; I’ve been very low energy and am still low energy so apologies for that!

As for Marie, her real name is Olivia (her stage name is Marie Annette) and yes, it’s a pun, because she is the Ultimate Marionettist. You can ask more about her @aroseandapen since she is L’s muse.

However, Marie’s plot wasn’t created so she could run away from the consequences of her actions--in actuality, they’re much more sinister. You see, the basic idea we have right now is that a certain someone knew about the chapter 3 blackened before they murdered the second victim, but was being blackmailed into silence--because they had a secret they would rather die for than let get loose. However, this lead to Marie’s friend/lover/family/whatever idk we haven’t decided that part yet, get killed as the second victim. After learning about that person’s involvement, Marie gets furious and blames them, but everyone pretty much forgives them once they understand. All but Jaden, who while he does understand their motives, also understands that Marie is still hurt by them and it did cause the death of someone else, and at least had mixed feelings about it and made the mistake of expressing this to Marie.

That was a huge mistake, because Marie then decided that everyone but Jaden should live, and then she was presented with the opportunity to force Jaden into a blackened role. She then makes sure he couldn’t communicate the fact that he was he blackened (as he tried to leave evidence in the form of his glasses at the crime scene, but Marie figured him out quickly and ordered him not to be sneaky about it and not let anyone know) and yeah. Marie basically made Jaden into a blackened not to escape from punishment, but to punish everyone (including herself) and let Jaden go free.

This, of course, backfires, but that’s probably why Marie had Jaden kill that specific classmate. Because at least that person would be dead if her plan failed.

The worst part is that Marie is a pretty good person before this, too, which makes the betrayal so much more impactful.

I can give you a little backstory on Adrian, Jaden, and Irene if you like! I have those written out, so;

Adrian Blanc, the Ultimate Dilettante;

Adrian’s life was pretty mundane and average. They grew up in the middle class, had a normal life with their normal family and normal friends. There was nothing extra ordinary about them, nothing to report. The only thing that caught anyone’s attention, in fact, was how intelligent and sharp Adrian was.

Adrian has the Ultimate Analysis ability, and with their ADHD, tend to hyperfixate on different subjects of all kinds (I.E. Art, music, writing, math, science, mechanics, you name it)  but before they could master any skill, Adrian would always give up, claiming that they had grown too bored of the trade to continue. Adrian became known in their little town as “the renaissance child” or “the jack of all trades,” and would often take on small jobs and favors from neighbors to complete a mundane task. However, they were never talented enough to get a stable job from professionals of the craft, being told that their mediocre skills weren’t enough to qualify for anything.

One day, Adrian’s popularity in their hometown got out to the bigger name cities, and they were asked to star on a talk show and display their many mediocre talents.

Impressed by their wide array of skills, the American Ultimate Initiative contacted Adrian to ask them if they wanted to attend the American Hope’s Peak Academy as “The Ultimate Dilettante.” Hesitantly, Adrian agreed, though is uncomfortable with their title.

Adrian is insecure over their lack of mastering any single talent, and feels as if their “Ultimate Title” can feel like someone was mocking them for it. After all, in the modern professional world, a “Jack of all trades” was pretty useless.

Jaden Holland, the Ultimate Digital Artist;

The Holland family is a black, progressive family that consists of Jaden’s mother (Agatha), Jaden’s elder sister (Jayleen), Jaden’s elder brother (Glenn) and Jaden himself, and a small dog named Juniper. (You can ask L more about Jayleen and Glenn)

Jaden’s father left their family when Jaden was just born, so his mother and his elder sister were the ones who mostly raised Glenn and Jaden. With Agatha working in the police force and their overall family ideals being liberal, Jaden grew up more socially aware and expressive early on. However, when he was a young child, Jaden was attacked by a large mixed breed stray dog, which left grotesque scars on his neck and unable to use his vocal chords. Ever since, he has been wearing high-collared shirts and turtle necks to hide them, embarrassed and ashamed of the scars. He also found that whispering could be painful at times, so he and his family learned sign language.

Aside from that traumatic event, Jaden lived a relatively calm life, and he took interest in digital art soon after the attack. He begged his mother for a pen tablet, and kick started his talent in the digital arts. Jaden has posted over one-thousand pieces of art under the user “Silenced-Arts.” He became quite a popular artist over time, and soon, he was written about in newspapers and online articles as “the boy who can paint a photo,” which was a reference to Jaden’s typical art style being hyper-realistic paintings of surreal scenes that people often would often mistake as photos or edited photos. This caused a bit of controversy until Jaden learned how to use Hypercam and other screen-recording software, and posted various drawing videos that immediately made him an even more popular artist on youtube and all over the web.

Jaden expanded his skills to different forms of digital art, such as 3D modeling and 2D/3D animation. However, he is most comfortable and skilled with painting and drawing.

His skills and talent grew until finally, just before his second year of high school, Jaden was scouted by the American Hopes Peak Academy as the Ultimate Digital Artist for a student film that was all animated but was 100% painted and hyper realistic.

Jaden has a special pair of gloves made by “A friend of a friend” (hint: It Miu) that has special sensors that can translate his signing to American English, and has a speaker that projects a voice resting in his breast pocket. This idea is loosely based off of this amazing keyboard “glove” where each unique hand gesture represents a unique letter. It relies on the same principle, except using ASL gestures and a blue tooth “text to speech” speaker. The speaker sounds as fluid and human as K1-B0’s voice, and the gloves have sensors to change the “tone” of his voice and mimic the emotion he wants to convey. (Jaden has the bonus of being able to manually select an emotion with gestures that are unique but do not mean anything in ASL, such as double tapping your thumb and index finger together... well unless that is a thing in sign language, I’m not sure.)

Jaden’s older brother, Glenn, is a member of D.I.C.E. as a fire dancer.

Irene Foster, the Ultimate Street Fighter;

Irene was a runaway orphan, originally born into a wealthy family. Her parents were always busy with work, so Irene was typically left to her own devices or kept busy with random lessons that varied from piano lessons to fencing. However, her parents were assassinated due to her father’s business company making enemies in the wrong places. The assassin didn’t kill Irene, only because of the guilt that he pretty much just made this girl into an orphan. (He wasn’t very good at being an assassin.)

Irene then ran away from Britain to New York City by stowing away on an airplane, and ran away from foster homes that took her in until she started getting into fights. Eventually, underground criminal rings for street fighting took an interest in her, and this earned her access to an underground street fighting ring. She was a natural fighter (though often feeling like she was fighting for her very life) and quickly earned a living off of her matches.

Eventually, she came across a house just outside of the city that had caught on fire. Among the flames was a little girl named Erin Rider, holding a teddy bear in one hand and a lighter in the other. After a little prying, Irene learned that Erin was a victim of constant abuse from her parents, and she thought she could burn the house down and run away. Erin is unaware that she killed her parents in the house fire and assumes they thought she died and never looked for her. Irene never had the heart to tell Erin that she killed her own parents, and instead, decided to take care of the little girl as her own sister. She decided it would be a secret she took with her to her grave.

With another mouth to feed, however, Irene had to take on more challenges to earn money enough for both her and Erin to eat, and eventually, Irene became known in the underground ring as “The Girl of Iron.” This caught the attention of the American Ultimate Initiative, and Irene earned her title as the “Ultimate Street Fighter.”

Now just for you, I’ll go ahead and type out Leah’s back story to the best of my ability because why not:

Leah Welsh, the Ultimate Hunter/Huntress;

Leah was disowned by her parents at the age of 13, once she finally confessed to them that their son, Orlando, didn’t exist anymore and wanted to be a girl named Leah. The transphobic backlash from her parents came as a genuine, horrifying shock to Leah, and she immediately ran away to her grandfather Orrin’s house to explain what happened. Being a far more open minded man and far more liberal, he disowned his own child and took Leah in as his own, and decided to move from Ireland to the United States to further distance them from the horrible people that were Leah’s parents.

Orrin was a skilled hunter, and not being able to leave a young Leah by herself, he decided to take her with him. Leah took an interest in hunting, and Orrin started teaching her--and much to his surprise, Leah took the lessons extremely well, and within just a few years, was a master hunter that surpassed even his own skills. They even traveled to Australia and Africa for some legal hunting.

However, Orrin was old, and he eventually passed away from old age when Leah was sixteen. Saddened but not discouraged, Leah started hunting game to make a profit as a survival tactic.

Eventually, Leah was called by a secret service of the government and taken into custody to be given an offer. A huge sum of money for using her hunting skills for an assassination--a very corrupt man who dealt with human trafficking, terrorism, and other criminal activities that made him too dangerous. However, every previous assassination attempt lead to failure due to the men and woman being official government figures and there being a rat in the government. They needed someone who could pull off the assassination who was unsuspecting and didn’t have a face int he underground criminal ring. Leah hesitantly accepted the offer.

She was sent to Australia for her target, since he was on a vacation there with his family. It was a very simple job, in actuality, and she used a sniper rifle in the wilderness to kill her target when he was having a picnic break with his family after stalking him for several nights. Unfortunately, Leah may have mentally prepared for his death and telling herself he deserved it for being such a monster, but she didn’t mentally prepare herself for the family’s reaction to his assassination. Leah went home that very same night with the screams still ringing in her ears.

A few months later, Leah learned that the wife of the corrupted man had killed her two children and then herself. As much as Leah tried, she couldn’t get the incident out of her head, and she decided to hunt some deer to distract herself from it, only to shoot a deer and it’s cry immediately triggering her. Immediately after the incident with the deer, Leah realized all at once that she was ending lives, killing creatures with families and futures that she stole away, and in her grief and trauma, Leah became completely vegan and vouched to never hunt again, nor kill any living, breathing creature.

A month later, Leah received an invitation from the American Hope’s Peak to be “The Ultimate Hunter”. With no job or any way to make money, Leah had no choice but to accept, but the title was more like a huge slap in the face than an honor to have.

#The 49th Killing Game #Leah Welsh #Jaden Holland #Adrian Blanc #Irene Foster

[baneofloslorien5384]

A (hopefully) Unique Robcina Headcanon

As some of you may be aware, I am very much a fan of the M!RobinxLucina pairing from Fire Emblem Awakening. Have been since I was reading spoilers in fanfics before I even played the game. Bad Bane, bad! Anyhow, I’ve seen Robcina fics in all shapes and sizes, but one factor that’s largely absent is this: how would things be affected if Lucina’s present day counterpart, the one who’s born just before your first brouhaha with Valm, knows and understands just who her counterpart from the future is? Well, here is my interpretation. Enjoy!

-          At times, living with her younger self could prove quite confounding when Lucina tries to say…well, anything, really. For instance, when regarding her then-infant younger self, she would start by saying “Isn’t she” and then fumble before beginning again by saying “I mean, me, adorable?”.

-          Robin, who’s never one to let such an opportunity for a good laugh go to waste, slyly replies “Yes, you really are cute, Lucina”. This prompts the older Lucina to blush adorably and run out of the room in embarrassment, all the while trying to convince herself that her younger self giggling is just a mildly sinister coincidence.

-          Robin, who’s much easier to slap with a “Guilty” verdict, then slips Little Lucina a cup of tasty fruit juice, saying “Here’s my end of the deal”.

-          Lucina is not the only one to end up confounded when talking about this subject. When Robin encourages Lucina to spend time with her younger self, he gets discombobulated in midsentence as he splutters out “You were…are…is…a cute kid?”.

-          Following the end of the Valmese War, when the Shepherds regrouped at Ylisse prior to heading to Plegia, Lucina was more-or-less gang pressed into spending time with her younger self. Eerily, Little Lucina did not seem at all nervous when confronted with a stranger and even seemed to get fussy if Lucina tried to leave the room while Little Lucina was still awake.

-          As Lucina has stated several times, her original plan is to leave Ylisse once Grima is vanquished. This goal becomes increasingly difficult to follow-through on as she falls in love with Robin and reconnects with her parents, but hints are dropped that she still intends to go through with it.

-          Though Robin would resign from the Shepherds in a heartbeat if he had to choose between that and Lucina, he rather dislikes having to make such a choice at all, especially since he can see how kinda-sorta having her family back has helped Lucina to open up and become happier.

-          Deciding that this dilemma calls for not the tipping of the scales, but for the scales to be tipped over and smashed into itty bitty pieces, Robin goes to Chrom, tells him of the situation, and suggests that the Exalt “do something ham-fisted”.

-          Chrom apparently obliges…and handily. For, within days, the story of the Warriors from the Future leaks out. With the public now aware of Big Lucina’s true origins, which are backed up by her Brand and the existence of a second Falchion, her plans to leave are rendered utterly pointless.

-          After Lucina shoots Robin and Chrom any array of blistering and yet strangely ineffective death glares, she resigns herself to her secret being out and ponders how her life will proceed from here. Ultimately, she takes the post of Captain of the Castle Guard (to be clear, Frederick is Chrom and the royal family’s personal bodyguard…slash-unofficial-butler, while Lucina handles the security of the castle) while Robin becomes Chrom’s chief advisor.

-          As Little Lucina grows from a baby to a toddler, she picks up on Big Lucina’s true identity with downright creepy speed, and promptly develops a unique blend of hero worship and self-aggrandizing.

-          Ascribing to the, technically correct, belief that the two of them are the same person, Little Lucina greets Big Lucina by saying “Hello, Me”. Big Lucina, who just can’t ignore that particular bait, replies “You are not me and I am not you. You are you, and I am me”.

-          Little Lucina, who still isn’t deterred after, literally, hearing this at least once a day, minimum, always answers “You were me, and I will be you”.

-          Considering how much Big Lucina does NOT want Little Lucina growing up like she did, combined with her tendency to take things too literally, Big Lucina finds this assertion annoying at best and outright alarming at worst.

-          For a time, Big Lucina was kept much too busy to agonize over her younger self’s unique quest for an identity, given that she now had to police the castle on top of being a good wife to Robin and a good mother to Morgan.

-          Of course, even that doesn’t go off without a hitch since, when Lucina is fitted with new armor to denote her rank, Robin’s belting out “HOLY CRAAAAAAP!!!!” is heard echoing through the castle, causing everyone who can fight to come running…only to discover Robin’s amazement that Lucina isn’t flat after all, but wore bindings over her chest to make her masculine disguise more convincing.

-          In a rare show of volatile temper, Lucina loses it and, in order to get back into her good graces, Robin must brave the direst of perils, venture into the darkest depths, and steel his nerves against abominations that defy explanation even as they turn the stomach and scar the soul…by which, I mean he has to go to the boutique and splurge on the clothing that Lucina prefers.

-          After getting over the sheer weirdness of there being two Princess Lucinas, one of which is supervising her own home security, the castle guard grows quite fond of their unlikely captain, even following her unspoken orders to treat her like their captain rather than their princess.

-          During one particularly memorable instance, Big Lucina was marching through the castle on an inspection of the guard and the castle’s defenses, straight and brisk, hand on hilt, shoulders squared, and back straight. Much to her surprise, she realizes that everyone was snickering at her when they thought she was out of earshot. Only after nearly an hour did Big Lucina realize that this was because Little Lucina was marching alongside her, mimicking her marching style flawlessly.

-          Robin treats Little Lucina much the same way as he, later, treats Little Morgan. That is, like a daughter or a favorite niece. When Big Lucina was elsewhere, and Chrom and Sumia were busy, Robin would read stories to Little Lucina, play Hide-and-Seek with her, and such.

-          At first, Robin is bewildered that Big Lucina seems so alarmed by these seemingly harmless moments…until he realizes that Big Lucina and Little Lucina have a very important commonality: both of them grew up having a crush on Robin.

-          This is illustrated by, for example, Robin taking a day off to have a family picnic with Big Lucina, only for Little Lucina to snatch his hand and ask him to play with her. This leads to a tug-a-war between the two Lucinas while Robin contemplates the existential weirdness of not only having the same woman on either arm but the impact that a nigh-literal duplicate of oneself can have upon one’s sense of uniqueness in the universe…okay, he instead contemplates how many terrible puns he can make about “having arguments with yourself” he can milk out of this situation. So, sue me!

-          Though Robin never, EVER passes up the chance to rile up Chrom after he becomes the world’s youngest grandpa, his ability to be mean is actually rather limited. Thus, he is constantly hard pressed to do anything other than melt submissively in the face of Little Lucina’s adorable smile and ten syllable version of the word “Please”.

-          The matter is not helped when Little Lucina decides that, since she and Big Lucina are technically the same person, that that makes Robin THEIR husband. Being the softy that he is, Robin does too little to disabuse her of the notion whereas Big Lucina, upon hearing Little Lucina ask that Robin address her as “my little bluebird” (Robin’s nickname to Big Lucina), straight up loses it.

-          Robin has to talk fast, and mightily strain his thinking muscles, in order to convince Big Lucina that he isn’t going to trade her in for a younger model somewhere down the line. And, though she eventually comes around, tensions between her and Little Lucina persist.

-          Morgan, being Morgan, merrily pours gas on this particular bonfire by greeting Little Lucina with “Hi, Mom!” And Little Lucina, not to be outdone, replies by saying “When I grow up, I’m going to have you!”

-          Robin then makes the truly grave mistake of dissecting that particular statement. If he were to abandon all sense of fidelity, morality, decency, common sense, self-preservation, and proper hero archetypes, and did, in fact, have a baby with Little Lucina, then would that child essentially be a third Morgan? For that matter, when Little Lucina does grow up and marry (hopefully) someone else and have children, then would those children be half-siblings to Morgan and…Morgan? And, just how would that look on a genealogy chart? Would Big Lucina and Little Lucina share an entry line they’re technically the same person? If so, how would the genealogist get across that these are two ladies from different points in time rather than one woman with two husbands? How could the genealogist illustrate that Big Lucina’s children and Little Lucina’s children are half-siblings, assuming that’s the case. And…and Robin decides he could really use a drink right about now.

-          Despite Morgan’s insistence on addressing Little Lucina as “Mom” whenever she thinks it’s funny, she typically treats her more like a little sister or a favorite niece and the two become fast friends. Later, Morgan begins instructing Little Lucina in the fine art of pranking.

-          As Little Lucina is still quite young, most of these pranks involve myriad ways to get out of taking her afternoon naps. These include, but are not limited to, arranging stuffed animals beneath the sheets to create the appearance that she’s under the covers, mixing up smoke bombs to distract the guards, setting up buckets of round nuts to trip people up, ropes and pulleys arranged to bury entire rooms in flower petals, and other brain aneurysm-inducing nonsense.

-          Big Lucina, who’s near to a tantrum over these shenanigans, adamantly and hotly insists that she was nothing like that as a child and takes Morgan to task for meddling with the “purity” of her younger self.

-          Morgan, characteristically, begins to gush about how maternal Big Lucina sounds when giving a scolding, which causes Big Lucina to relent a little…until Morgan tells her that Little Lucina is a “brilliant prodigy of pranking who comes up with brilliant pranks”, and that nearly all of Little Lucina’s shenanigans were ones she thought of herself. At this, Big Lucina loses it and lets out one of those she-could-break-glass screams, which has Chrom and half the castle guard breaking down her door before they realize it’s a false alarm.

-          A horrified castle functionary (i.e. useless bureaucrat) then sees the damage and, after a long moment of abject horror, says that that door was over six hundred years old. This triggers an amusing, and irreverent, discussion about just who the hell keeps track of those sorts of things.

-          Robin, being Robin, is about to throw his bit of gasoline on the bonfire by saying that Big Lucina puts a whole new spin on the phrase “you’re too hard on yourself”. When he notices that Big Lucina looks like she’ll dismember and eat him alive if he tries it, he instead asks if she’d like a trip to the Bathrealm.

-          Although Little Lucina’s prankishness tapers off enough that the castle is not poised to explode, her nursemaids and governesses, even years later, will insist that Morgan and Little Lucina’s pranks were the stuff of legends. And that they have the gastric ulcers to prove it.

-          Given that Robin has dodged many of Morgan’s pitfalls and snares, sometimes by tricking her into setting them off herself, it’s no surprise that Robin is sometimes called in to diffuse suspected traps set by Morgan and Little Lucina.

-          Since Morgan is well aware that Robin is her toughest quarry to prank, she, Little Lucina, and sometimes Lissa and Big Cynthia as well, will sometimes arrange massive arrays of double-bluffs. Or triple-bluffs, quadruple-bluffs, quintuple-bluffs, sextuple-bluffs (and, yes, that’s a real word), etc.

-          In these instances, lots and lots and lots of pitfalls, snares, etc. would be laid out in the hopes that Robin, in his efforts to avoid as many of them as he could, would get got simply by virtue of the law of averages. Remarkably, this strategy did not work…because other people, including the pranksters themselves, got caught in them before Robin even arrived. This explains the forest of people dangling by their ankles all pointing, in a very disgruntled manner, in Morgan’s general direction. It also explains the cardiac arrythmia Frederick has at such hazardous untidiness and the urge Chrom has to buy a wyvern when people start complaining to him about his granddaughter.

-          Curiously, Morgan hardly ever pranks Big Lucina, partly because Big Lucina is quick to learn the fine art of maternal scolding and partly because, due to Morgan’s memories of Big Lucina being so fractured and hazy, Morgan is worried about turning what memories she does have of her mother into bad ones. Little Lucina, by contrast, will prank Big Lucina at the drop of a hat, usually to get her older counterpart to loosen up and have fun. As with more than a few convoluted concepts, Big Lucina finds this quite baffling.

-          At some point, either consciously or otherwise, Big Lucina finds herself laughing at Little Lucina’s shenanigans, prompting the latter to, literally, jump for joy and give Big Lucina an impressive tackle hug. Knowing her original plan to leave Little Lucina to live her own life, and that staying with her is throwing that life out of whack, but also knowing she’d long since stopped wanted to leave her younger self, Lucina says aloud “Sometimes, I just don’t understand myself.”

-          Robin, being Robin, gets a kick out of this choice of words and, since seeing Big Lucina smile is one of his greatest, and hardest fought, pleasures in life, promptly adds Little Lucina to his arsenal of “secret weapons”.

-          Big Lucina, who we already know is quite capable of envying herself, gradually finds it becoming harder and harder to watch her younger self have the childhood she lost, from such things as Chrom reading Little Lucina a story to Sumia giving her a simple run down of how to bake. Big Lucina’s own recollections of these are few, distant, and tarnished since, even back then, Grima was known to be lurking on the horizon. Watching Little Lucina live the life Big Lucina wanted her to live thus, paradoxically, heals one old wound and creates a new one for Big Lucina.

-          Jealousy, in this case, works both ways, as Little Lucina clearly sees that Robin doesn’t look at her the way he looks at Big Lucina. And, this is further accentuated by Big Lucina being bigger, stronger, and prettier than Little Lucina.

-          Though Chrom is definitely not as bright as Robin, he’s no dolt. He can clearly sense that something is very wrong with his daughter…his two daughters…his two Lucinas…whatever. And, having about as much subtlety as Ike when someone is serving vegan cuisine, he decides upon a ham-fisted intervention (i.e. tricking them into going the same room, locking them in, and waiting until they make up before letting them back out).

-          After a rather lengthy period of trying to break the door down, yelling at each other, and then ignoring each other, the ice begins to crack. Eventually, recalling her chat with Severa at the Bathrealm, Big Lucina tells Little Lucina her reasons for not wanting her to grow up the same way Big Lucina did. ALL of them.

-          Hearing that Big Lucina’s being such a strong warrior came at the cost of her parents, her home, and most of her countrymen, Little Lucina is able to put much of Big Lucina’s reactions into context. The two also have a more civilized conversation about their reasons for envying each other.

-          Little Lucina, quite possibly recalling something she overheard between Big Lucina and Robin (or even acting on something Robin told her) tells her that she knows Big Lucina is just as welcome to spend time with her…their…whatever…parents as Little Lucina is. She even relays how proud Chrom is of how strong and brave Big Lucina is, and how much Sumia’s face lit up when Big Lucina was cooing over a Pegasus foal.

-          One thing that astonishes Little Lucina is that Big Lucina envies the former’s time with her tutors. Being a little kid, Little Lucina finds this utterly incomprehensible…until Big Lucina admits that her own education (reading, writing, maths, dancing, etiquette, etc.) was cut short by the rise of Grima. Indeed, Big Lucina can barely read and hasn’t written since before her parents’ deaths. This resonates with Little Lucina, since she loves reading, not-so-coincidentally because it’s one of her favorite pastimes with Chrom and Robin (she might leave out that second one).

-          Little Lucina, in turn, admits that even though she’s happy enough being a princess and all that entails, she wants to be strong enough to keep her people safe, especially her family, which is something Big Lucina can’t readily ignore.

-          Ultimately, the two reach an accord: Big Lucina will teach Little Lucina how to fight and Little Lucina will teach Big Lucina the same lessons Little Lucina herself is learning from her tutors.

-          After Chrom the Ham-Fisted lets them out, it quickly becomes apparent that the two have reconciled their differences. In one particular instance, Little Lucina, upon hearing that Big Lucina wanted to learn how to dance in time for her and Robin’s wedding anniversary, decides to teach Big Lucina the waltz. Given the height differences, however, some…out-of-the-box teaching techniques were called for.

-          By that same token, Big Lucina allowed Little Lucina to accompany her on her inspections in order to learn the layout of the castle, as well as the names and faces of the guards, since a would-be intruder just might be wearing the same armor as them.

-          Though Robin didn’t say anything, it wasn’t hard for him to guess that Big Lucina could barely read. He did, however, step in it when he discovered, the hard way, that Big Lucina’s handwriting hadn’t changed much from her childhood dabblings, right down to how she used the Brand of the Exalt to dot the i in her name. When he saw some of Big Lucina’s attempts to write out some “homework”, he assumed that the author was Little Lucina…which led to some awkwardness.

-          At both Robin and Little Lucina’s insistence, Big Lucina puts her penmanship lessons into practice by writing letters to Robin that he can read when he’s busy and/or away. She would tell him about her day, ask how he’s been, and, somewhat unconsciously, allow a clearer view into her thoughts and feelings than most are likely to get from her in-person.

-          BIg Lucina’s handwriting improves quickly and, although Robin sometimes misses the cuteness of his wife’s childlike handwriting, he does manage to talk her into continuing to dot the i in her name with the Brand.

-          As Big Lucina’s reading improves, she, Robin, and Morgan make a point of reading together late at night. When Little Morgan comes along, Big Lucina is seemingly chomping at the bit to read the baby a story before bed.

-          Robin, who discovered how exploitable time travel is for those fond of puns, would often use this to jerk around certain people, such as Both Lucinas’ governess and/or Chrom. For example, when asked where Lucina was, Robin would answer “She’s playing with herself”. This would prompt a mad dash to quash lewd and lascivious behavior unbecoming of a princess…only to discover that Big Lucina and Little Lucina are playing chess. This, in turn, led to a mad dash after Robin, who hadn’t counted on his pursuer(s) having ready access to hammers.

-          As a new family tradition to underscore that Big Lucina is considered as much a part of the Ylissean royal family as Little Lucina, Chrom and/or Robin (there’s an ongoing debate about which of them came up with the idea first) have the two Lucinas celebrate their birthdays on the same day, right down to sharing a big cake with ‘Happy Birthday LucinaS’ written on it in icing and with the two Lucinas trying – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – to cut their respective first slices in unison.

-          Although the gifts for each Lucina underscore how the two are similar and yet different, such as Big Lucina getting an eye-melting yukata while Little Lucina gets a similarly hideous hair ribbon, someone (usually Robin) sometimes gets them matching jewelry or other accessories.

-          The two Lucinas also get gifts for each other. In one particularly cute instance, Big Lucina got Little Lucina a rare first edition of the chronicles of the Hero King Marth’s exploits while Little Lucina got Big Lucina an exact duplicate of the butterfly mask she wore while traveling as Marth.

-          As the years go by, Big Lucina and Little Lucina begin to develop more divergent personalities. Big Lucina’s fashion sense is still atrocious whereas Little Lucina’s taste in clothing is much more normal…but she compensates by being fond of terribly gaudy accessories, such as hair ribbons with zebra patterns and jeweled hairpins which are bright enough to act as a substitute for flash grenades. Further, while Big Lucina can sometimes be tightly wound and over-serious, Little Lucina seems able to move from decorous to rambunctious in a heartbeat.

-          Although Big Lucina does not want to rule Ylisse, as she believes that to be Little Lucina’s right, she reluctantly consents to being named third in line for the throne, in the event that Chrom, Sumia, Little Lucina, and Little Cynthia all predecease her.

-          When Big Lucina becomes pregnant with Little Morgan, Little Lucina is delighted. Although by then she no longer considers Little Morgan her daughter simply by virtue of her and Big Lucina being “the same person”, she is nonetheless keen to help her older self.

-          Aside from reining in Sumia, who’s a little too excited at her and Big Lucina being pregnant together, Little Lucina is keen to make sure Big Lucina gets her bed rest, helps read to the unborn baby, and generally proving weirdly effective as a pregnancy coach.

-          In as much as health permits, Big Lucina continues her duties as Captain of the Castle Guard during her pregnancy…I mean, come on, can you picture Owain doing it? Or Cynthia? Or Noire? Or Brady? Or…well, suffice to say, none of the future children are management material.

-          Eventually, swollen ankles force Big Lucina to stop her regular patrols. That and some found her hard to take seriously when she was squeezing a baby bump under her armor. At that point, she not-so-voluntarily assumed the administrative duties of her post while the actual patrolling, inspections, and drills were divvied up between Big Morgan and Little Lucina.

-          At some point into the pregnancy, Little Lucina, and the Big Lucina, sense that Big Morgan, despite putting on airs, is somewhat leery at the prospect of her younger self’s birth. Deciding to play the Big Sister…I mean Mother…I mean…I don’t know what I mean, but Little Lucina tries to talk to Big Morgan, ultimately gleaning that Big Morgan is worried that she’ll be replaced by Little Morgan.

-          After pushing Big Morgan to talk to Big Lucina about her problems, Big Lucina gets some good practice in helping to reassure a child who is in distress. In fact, Big Lucina is uniquely qualified to deal with Big Morgan’s fear of being replaced by…well, herself. Chrom and Sumia promptly join in and, between the three of them, relay some of their interactions and how, when they sensed how out of place Big Lucina felt in this timeline, they MADE a place for her.

-          When Little Morgan is born, Big Morgan and Little Lucina are tripping over each other, and/or tripping each other, to get in the queue to hold her.

-          Even though Little Lucina knows she’s much too young to have much of a shot at being Little Morgan’s godsmother, she says she’ll so be in the running once Robin and Big Lucina have a few more kids. Proving that at least some of her impishness is here to stay, she times this assertion to coincide with Robin and Big Lucina taking a long pull of their drinks.

-          Aside from pranking others, Big Morgan tries to teach Little Lucina a variety of other bad habits, including Taguel torture, dressing like Big Lucina, circularly dramatic speech (i.e. “My Super Genius Plan of Genius Planning!”) and eating like a starving wolf…in terms of both quantity of food eaten and table manners.

-          Most of these “lessons” don’t take. Little Lucina likes rabbits too much to pull on Yarne’s ears (and certainly knows better than to pull Panne’s), prefers to melt people’s eyes with her accessories rather than her clothes, can talk dramatically but not circularly enough, and nyxs the eating bit because, though she’s not above messiness, Big Morgan’s brand is a bit much and she also learns, the hard way, that she shares neither Big Morgan’s immunity to stomachaches nor her imperviousness to sudden upticks in dress size.

-          Though Little Lucina will always have a soft spot in her heart for Robin, she does eventually get over her crush. She does, however, insist that, when she does find someone she loves, that Robin and Big Lucina will come to the wedding. Naturally, there are no objections.

-          Little Lucina does, eventually, fall in love with Raphael, the Prince of Warriors.

-          Who is Raphael, the Prince of Warriors, you ask? He is one of the sons of Priam and Say’ri. In fact, Robin, the two Lucinas, and several veterans of the Shepherds visited Chon’sin to celebrate his birth.

-          Some were startled when Big Lucina, upon seeing then-baby Raphael suddenly seemed quite overcome and then left the room, crying uncontrollably. Though it was well known that Big Lucina adored babies, not the smallest reason being how rare they were in her timeline, even those who knew her best thought her reaction a bit extreme.

-          Robin, being Robin, managed to track her down and get the truth out of her. Much to Robin’s amazement, Big Lucina reported that she’d actually met Priam in the future, as she and the other children were making their escape to the past. Though Priam proved a valiant warrior, and was instrumental in their escape, she distinctly remembered how melancholy he was, as he knew his time was ending and that there were none to inherit Ragnell or to carry on the legacy of the Radiant Hero. Seeing Priam, married and with children, acted as a particularly overwhelming sign that she truly had changed history for the better.

-          Robin, being Robin, took the opportunity to tease Big Lucina about how much of a sentimental softy she could be…which must’ve been especially galling since Big Lucina actually resorted to inviting the ever-present Tharja to join their little chat.

-          Though Little Lucina loves lording her Little Lord role over the other younger counterparts to the children from the future, perhaps developing a liking for telling people what to do like her father, Robin, and Big Lucina, people begin to notice that Raphael is much harder to boss around.

-          Aside from being born handsome, enough so that Little Lucina sometimes has a hard time keeping her words straight when talking to him, Raphael is an independent thinker who is not impressed by fancy titles, honorifics, or pretty words. Raphael, much like his father, respects strength and bravery, but he also respects wisdom and conviction, owing to his mother.

-          Though copious translation was needed, Miriel and Laurent posited the theory that, although Little Lucina was becoming her own person rather than considering herself to be nigh-predestined to become a second Big Lucina, she did retain the subconscious psychological belief that there would be a certain area of overlap, namely that Little Lucina would also be judged worthy of respect and deference by all who knew her. Robin had a much simpler explanation: Little Lucina had a crush on Raphael, and was galled at how he seemed to find her unimpressive.

-          Little Lucina, rather like Big Lucina, is not one to take such sleights lightly. Sensing that getting Raphael’s respect is best done with feats of strength, Little Lucina makes several attempts to prove that she can play with the big boys.

-          In doing so, Little Lucina learns, the hard way, that it’s hard for a young woman to develop Ike-esque biceps. Later, much like Big Lucina did in her still-wanting-for-a-proper-explanation fight with Chrom in Arena Ferox, Little Lucina learns that fighting strength-for-strength against someone who’s much, MUCH stronger than you tends to end badly.

-          Much like Big Lucina did, Little Lucina decides that, in order to overcome this aggravation, she needs to evolve. She studies many fighting styles, including several Chon’sinese styles, and devises her own fighting style which can be adapted to numerous opponents and tactical situations.

-          Little Lucina was eager to use these new talents to put Raphael in his place…but, much to her surprise, this did not go to plan. Rather than fight, Raphael insisted that they meditate, after which Raphael made some rather pointed comments on how Little Lucina’s chi, and priorities, were a bit out of whack. The dedication Little Lucina showed in her efforts was impressive, but it was done out of jealousy, pride, and a unique perception of entitlement, rather than the good she could do with what she’d created.

-          Flummoxed, Little Lucina reflects on her motives and, not-so-coincidentally, both the original and subsequent motives of Robin and Big Lucina. Granted, both of them found different reasons for fighting as time went on, but the consistent part of it all was that they were fighting to protect the people and land they both loved. Fame, recognition, respect, and such had never factored into it.

-          With this fresh perspective, and with her persistently wounded ego no longer acting as a distraction, Little Lucina challenged Raphael to three (non-lethal) duels, the stakes being that, if Little Lucina won at least once, Raphael would take her on a date. Raphael lost. Well, sort of. He later came to very much enjoy Little Lucina’s company.

-          Ultimately, Little Lucina and Raphael get married. As promised, Robin and Big Lucina attended the wedding.

-          Despite being a prince of Chon’sin and a distant relation of the Crimean royal family (IkexElincia; I am SO PISSED that it wasn’t even an option, let alone a thing!) Raphael simply does not do decorum, and he has a rather selective adherence to tradition.

-          In a rather jarring example, when it came time to carry Little Lucina off, rather than carrying her bridal style, he simply slipped one hand under her rear end and lifted her up, forcing her to stay balanced upon his palm.

-          In truth, Little Lucina’s combat training with Big Lucina made keeping her balance an easy, but fun, feat. She nonetheless made a good show of swaying in place, flailing her arms madly, and making all sorts of I’m-about-to-fall noises in order to cause the wedding guests to have infarctions. It worked too.

-          When Raphael was informed that he was supposed to carry his bride using both hands, he, demonstrating that he had the combined candor of Priam and Ike, asked “Why? She’s not as heavy as she looks.”

-          After this remark caused several more guests to have infarctions, Little Lucina gave a credible imitation of a scandalized gasp and whacked her groom on the head, which caused several more guests to have infarctions.

-          Halfway to the door, someone (probably Robin) remarked that Little Lucina was having too easy a time keeping her balance. Raphael responded by saying “Well, like I always say, let the women work too!” and then began to flex his wrist and walk in a weaving pattern, thus making things more fun (but hardly more difficult) for Little Lucina. Needless to say, the guests and their flimsy cardiovascular systems gave the castle’s healers quite a workout.

-          While Big Lucina was experiencing a truly unique case of being embarrassed at herself, Robin was taking the display in the spirit with which is was intended; namely by laughing his ass off. He then remarked that he fully expected to die laughing and Big Lucina, who still had some tone deafness when it came to idioms, took his words literally, scooped him up, and raced towards the nearest healers, trampling several important persons in her path.

-          Many years later, Raphael and Little Lucina’s son, Greil XXXVIII (VERY popular name amongst Ike’s progeny) was introduced to Robin and Big Lucina’s youngest daughter, Elena.

-          Just to be clear, Elena is not Little Morgan. Little Morgan’s name is…well, Morgan. Much like Big Lucina and Little Lucina are both named Lucina.

-          …and, somewhere in Ylisse Castle, the Royal Genealogist just has a heart attack. But I digress.

-          Greil XXXVIII, who is clearly going to inherit the family biceps when he grows up, keeps Elena entertained by performing feats of strength that would be tricky for boys twice his size. Needless to say, Elena comes away quite impressed.

-          Despite already sensing that Greil and Elena will stay “just friends”, Robin simply can’t resist and ponders aloud as to whether a relationship between the two could be considered incestuous, since Greil XXXVIII and Elena, technically, have the same mother.

-          The response to this wiseassery is the Ylissean royal family delivering a syncopated and very well practiced chorus of “Robin, shut up”.

 Likes are appreciated, reblogs are appreciated, and feedback via messaging and ask is loved. Thanks for reading, and catch you later.

#Fire Emblem Awakening #Robin x Lucina #Robcina #FE13 #Fire Emblem #Time Travel #Is Weird #Priam x Say'ri #Chrom x Sumia #Lucina!Morgan #Implied Ike x Elincia #They should've been an option dammit! #Draws from various sources #Some on Tumblr and some on Fanfiction.net

[lagrima-salada]

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox?

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox? Woobox is an internet based web and website builder platform you should utilize to build web sites, responsive blogs, sales funnels (product launch, sales pages, webinar pages and membership websites), create shows, animated videos and much more. Woobox is ideal for beginner marketers, online business house owners, and bloggers who're finances aware and wish an all-in-one resolution for website constructing, sales funnels, electronic mail advertising and marketing, webinars, and many others. Woobox launched as a decrease priced competitor to Clickfunnels, and claims to provide you the whole lot it's good to launch an internet business for a fraction of the cost of costlier touchdown page tools. Thanks for trying out my Woobox Review When you have ever wanted to start your own enterprise on-line, and you have started to research the entire tools and platforms you require to successfully run a enterprise, you then quickly notice the costs related to operating such an operation. When presented with the selection of signing up for more expensive platforms the place or one like WordPress that's free but comes with myriad prices versus Woobox with free design templates, website builder, hosting, SSL and all the advertising tools, it should not be tough to persuade many individuals to go for the latter. Woobox launched officially and everyone within the web advertising world is speaking about it. Woobox is an all-in-one promotional platform comprising of multiple totally different advertising tools which are usually provided as single companies, together with limitless email sender, multi website builder, Android and iOS utility creator, weblog builder, sales web page generator, video creator, SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING tracker and plenty of more. Woobox is an All-In-One advertising platform wil=th all of the tools that you're going to need to run a sustainable on-line business without the necessity to spend a lot money on third-social gathering tools. Creating knowledgeable email advertising automation could be very frustrating and time intensive, however using Woobox , the task becomes means easier, and simply with a number of clicks right here and there, you'd be good to go. Leveraging Bulderall's impressive drag and drop system, you may virtually produce seamless sales machines with multiple triggers and likewise import and export the tools amongst other platform users. Far more than a landing web page builder, Woobox is a whole digital advertising platform that provides you the whole lot from constructing pages or sales funnels via the Pixel Perfect Builder, to knowledgeable e-mail advertising system, to the flexibility to create an entire Shopify store and easily integrate with credit score card processors with little or no work. If you're looking for The Most Full & Easy to Use Digital Advertising and marketing Platform on the Planet that may allow you to Collect and Manage Extra Leads, Send Limitless Emails, Build Amazing Websites, Blogs, Sales Pages, Membership Web sites, Videos and APPS, then Woobox will be your highly really helpful choice. Woobox gives devoted local servers to host your web sites , sales funnels, videos, webinars, and all different components you create and publish. Clickfunnels is an internet sales funnel builder that helps companies market, promote, and deliver their products online. ClickFunnels is a reliable software that allows you create touchdown pages, sales pages inside the sales funnels that people have to navigate through so to a take the desired motion, similar to buy products. With a mix of high quality software and schooling, Clickfunnels lets you choose to create choose-in sales pages, develop membership web sites for a web-based occasion, sell merchandise on subscription and plenty more.

It was one of the first landing web page builders to return out with straightforward drag and drop features that made it easy for folks to make sales funnels rapidly. ClickFunnels makes it simple for folks to take an amazing thought, a new product they wish to sell, or a dream enterprise and turn it right into a properly-designed sales funnel that may convert your website guests into prospects. It would not matter if you're an affiliate marketer, blogger, creator, publisher, or somebody selling bodily merchandise, as a result of ClickFunnels has a large array of landing page choices, and sales funnels that can match your small business no matter the way you want to work together, and what you need to sell. When you have been working a web based business, chances are you'll face many problems in growing and designing an amazing sales funnel for your business and in this specific situation, ClickFunnels could be a wonderful assist for you as you possibly can rapidly create great sales funnels inside a very short span of time with this software. ClickFunnels will let you create all your optin pages, sales pages, email sequences, membership areas, online training courses and so forth, and link them collectively to build your funnel — multi functional, simple to use software. With its capability to create full sales funnels and simple to make use of and highly effective editor, ClickFunnels gives a clear challenge to LeadPages' place as the best touchdown page builder. ClickFunnels is likely one of the most outstanding online resolution to design, plan, assemble, analysis, test, observe and create form of the art marketing funnels and sales funnels that features lead seize net pages, sales webinar registrations, video pages, replay techniques, product demonstrations, product launch sequences website and product delivery internet portals and web sites. Clickfunnels could be very helpful Software for advertising and marketing, selling and deliver services and products on-line efficiently.

[devilamongsttheether]

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox?

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox? Woobox is a web based internet and web site builder platform you need to use to construct websites, responsive blogs, sales funnels (product launch, sales pages, webinar pages and membership sites), create presentations, animated videos and a lot more. Woobox is perfect for beginner marketers, online business house owners, and bloggers who are budget acutely aware and need an all-in-one answer for site constructing, sales funnels, e-mail advertising, webinars, and so on. Woobox launched as a decrease priced competitor to Clickfunnels, and claims to offer you every little thing that you must launch a web-based enterprise for a fraction of the price of dearer landing page tools. Thanks for testing my Woobox Review You probably have ever needed to start out your own enterprise online, and you've got began to research all of the tools and platforms you require to successfully run a business, you then quickly notice the prices associated with running such an operation. When introduced with the selection of signing up for more expensive platforms the place or one like WordPress that is free however comes with myriad costs versus Woobox with free design templates, web site builder, hosting, SSL and all the marketing tools, it shouldn't be tough to persuade many individuals to go for the latter. Woobox launched officially and everybody within the internet advertising world is speaking about it.

Woobox is an all-in-one promotional platform comprising of a number of totally different advertising tools that are usually offered as single providers, including limitless e-mail sender, multi website builder, Android and iOS software creator, weblog builder, sales web page generator, video creator, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION tracker and plenty of more. Woobox is an All-In-One advertising platform wil=th all the tools that you'll must run a sustainable online enterprise with out the need to spend so much money on third-celebration tools. Creating a professional e mail advertising and marketing automation might be very frustrating and time intensive, but using Woobox , the duty turns into approach easier, and simply with a few clicks right here and there, you'd be good to go. Leveraging Bulderall's spectacular drag and drop system, you'll be able to virtually produce seamless sales machines with a number of triggers and in addition import and export the tools amongst other platform users. Way more than a landing web page builder, Woobox is a whole digital advertising platform that offers you every part from constructing pages or sales funnels via the Pixel Excellent Builder, to a professional electronic mail advertising system, to the power to create a whole Shopify store here and easily integrate with credit score card processors with little or no work. If you are trying to find The Most Full & Straightforward to Use Digital Advertising and marketing Platform on the Planet that will enable you to Acquire and Handle More Leads, Ship Limitless Emails, Build Amazing Websites, Blogs, Sales Pages, Membership Web sites, Videos and APPS, then Woobox will likely be your extremely recommended alternative. Woobox provides dedicated native servers to host your web sites , sales funnels, movies, webinars, and all different components you create and publish. Clickfunnels is a web based sales funnel builder that helps businesses market, promote, and deliver their products online. ClickFunnels is a dependable software that allows you create landing pages, sales pages contained in the sales funnels that folks must navigate by means of so to a take the desired motion, such as purchase merchandise. With a mix of high quality software and schooling, Clickfunnels permits you to select to create choose-in sales pages, develop membership web sites for a web based occasion, sell merchandise on subscription and much more. It was one of many first landing web page builders to return out with easy drag and drop options that made it simple for people to make sales funnels quickly. ClickFunnels makes it straightforward for folks to take a great concept, a new product they wish to promote, or a dream enterprise and turn it right into a properly-designed sales funnel that can convert your website visitors into customers. It would not matter if you're an affiliate marketer, blogger, author, publisher, or somebody promoting physical products, as a result of ClickFunnels has a large array of touchdown page choices, and sales funnels that can match your small business no matter the way you want to work together, and what you want to promote. When you've got been operating a web-based enterprise, you may face many issues in growing and designing an excellent sales funnel for your online business and on this particular scenario, ClickFunnels could be an excellent assist for you as you may quickly create nice sales funnels inside a really brief span of time with this software. ClickFunnels will allow you to create all of your optin pages, sales pages, e-mail sequences, membership areas, on-line training courses etc, and link them together to build your funnel — multi function, simple to make use of instrument. With its means to create full sales funnels and simple to make use of and highly effective editor, ClickFunnels supplies a transparent problem to LeadPages' place as the most effective touchdown web page builder. ClickFunnels is one of the most excellent online solution to design, plan, construct, analysis, check, observe and create form of the art advertising funnels and sales funnels that includes lead capture internet pages, sales webinar registrations, video pages, replay techniques, product demonstrations, product launch sequences and product delivery net portals and websites. Clickfunnels may be very helpful Software for marketing, selling and deliver services and products online effectively.

[covtocov]

Cornflake Girl

Let’s talk about Cornflake Girl, shall we? This was the song that started it all and inspired this blog and we're gonna get into WHY (kind of, don't expect anything too deep, this is gonna get goofy).

If you don't know this song, it's fuckin great.

Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos (1994)

Tori Amos, a legend out of North Carolina (and somewhat honorary citizen of the UK), released the song "Cornflake Girl" in 1994. The song was released as a single, then later featured as the eighth track on her second studio album, Under the Pink.

Influenced in part by a recent exposure to reggae music, discussions of female genital mutilation, and Alice Walker's novel, Possessing the Secret of Joy, this song addresses the concept of the "cornflake girl," women who would hurt other women despite a close personal relationship, often to appease some patriarchal construct. This referred, in part, to the fact that the ratio of raisins to cornflakes in breakfast cereal is much lower, making "raisin girls" harder to find - "Thought it was a good solution/Hanging with the raisin girls."

(Fun bonus fact, she is not saying "rabbi," but "Rabbit," the name of her friend, a "fantastic, magical creature" who lives in the woods with their partner, Fox.)

"Cornflake Girl" reached #4 on the UK singles charts, paving the way for later hits off Under the Pink including "God," "Pretty Good Year," and "Past the Mission." A lovely video discussing more about these ideas can be found here. Amos released both an American and a UK version of the music videos, both which are definitely worth seeing if you haven't.

Now...let's talk about some covers.

Cornflake Girl - Florence and the Machine (2018)

This is the cover I heard this radio on the morning. The intro came on and, not seeing what the song was, I was like '...uh...who stole the intro to Cornflake Girl?"

The answer to that question would be Florence Welch, who covered the song in September 2018 as an exclusive release for Spotify.

So let's get into the nitty gritty.

(All of these qualities are being measured in comparison to the original song, and are my opinions, so with that disclaimer out of the way, come with me and we'll be in a land of PURE IMAGINATION.)

Listenability: 4/5

It's a good cover. This version is much smoother and less choppy than the original...though whether that's a plus or a minus is completely up to the listener's discretion. As a fan of Tori's ability to really fuck you up mid-song (wait, this was just in a fucking 4/4 and now it's in 3/4?! Or maybe it's 2/3, I don't know shit about time keeping, I just know I'm distressed), I would say...not quite as good as the original. Sorry, Flo.

Originality: 2/5

Ahhhhhhh it's just pretty much a nice, safe homage to Tori. The instruments are all pretty evocative of the original song, Florence's vocals are absolutely beautiful, but she really does follow the same cadences as Amos does. Nice use of the occasional drum, though.

Integrity to Original: 4/5

I mean, it's hard to say anything else when this is almost a direct copy of the original. To my knowledge, Welch hasn't gone on the record saying anything about this particular cover, but as an artist who was almost certainly influenced by Amos (this is a total uninformed claim on my part, but like...fuck, they are both redheaded indie mythical wood deities in their own right, so they've probably consorted in the moonlight at least once), I would say she was probably well aware of the intention of this song. What I really appreciate about this version is the clarity of the lyrics - Amos is notoriously tricksy with her pronounciations - which allows this truly haunting song to be brought home even more.

Does this Cover Not Bum Me Out: 5/5

Not bummed out. Love Florence. Love Tori. They are both magical. This cover did make me want to make this blog to explicitly talk about covers that had more theoretical potential, so ironically, it got me more hyped.

Overall: 4/5

Good cover. Good Song. Could have done more with it, but only because we've come to expect so much more from you, Florence.

Cornflake Girl - Jawbox (1996)

In 1996, Jawbox, an alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., released their cover of "Cornflake Girl" on their fourth and final self-titled album, Jawbox.

Originally, the band didn't take the song particularly seriously in their repertoire. In an 2015 article from AV club, frontman J. Robbins admitted that the cover had started as a goof, but became serious enough that the group made a music video of the cover (see above).

Listenability: 3.5/5

I actually like this cover a lot. It's got some of the 90s/2000s grunge rock, wall-of-sound element, while still being recognizable as the song we know and love. It's a jam (a slow-jam, but a jam nonetheless). I do feel as though it lose a bit of the fun instrumentality of the original in the cover, but overall, would definitely make the roadtrip mix.

Originality: 4/5

Jawbox does a lot of very cool things with this. It definitely leans more alt-rock than indie-pop, which I think gives those drops in the song a real kick. The stutter-step rhythm is a really good addition, and I think it makes a nice homage to Tori's style, which often plays around with rhythm in similar ways.

Integrity to Original: 3/5

I'm gonna play this card: I don't think it has quite the same impact coming from a dude. He does not know what it means to be a cornflake, nor a raisin girl. The music video mostly seems like a series of bizarre images that seem to - probably jokingly - take the "cornflake" imagery pretty literally, with someone being force-fed milk from a tube and someone's soft tummy being poked with a spoon (also, a dude with his mouth full of pennies, so who the fuck knows). Not all covers have to say the same thing the original was saying, or anything at all for that matter, but for this one, I'm gonna land right in the middle for ?????

Does this Cover Not Bum Me Out: 4/5

Nah, not really! Besides the fact men are involved (always a bummer) (jk) (or am I?), I enjoyed the change of pace.

Overall: 3.5/5

Solid cover. Loud. Wall of music. Still couldn't dance to it. Nice level of angst. Too many men involved.

Cornflake Girl - Imogen Heap (2010)

A one time, live performance! In 2010, Imogen Heap covered "Cornflake Girl" in Melbourne, Australia. The performance was an auction item for the charity Concern Worldwide; the winning bidder got a chance to meet Heap and receive "A Song Just for You." Heap offers her own unique interpretation of the song, which can be seen in the video aboce.

Listenability: 2/5

This is due MAINLY to the fact that this is a live performance. A more polished, recorded version would probably actually be pretty killer. Still probably not a 'have it on in the background, good for the party mix' kind of song, but definitely a get kinda stoned and listen to it on repeat a couple times song.

Originality: 5/5

Amazing range of sounds and instruments she's able to play with since she's performing electronically/has an array of instruments on stage. Fantastic use of double tracking and creating her own vocal loops on the spot. She really makes the song her own in this performance.

Integrity to Original: 3/5

I do really think this is in the spirit of the original, and she plays with an similar set of instruments that Amos herself uses while incorperating her own flair. The lyrics feel a little bit throwaway, which is kind of a shame, because honestly, Tori Amos is nothing if not an incredible lyricist. That being said, most electoric music (in my experience) is more about the instrumentation/sampling, so this makes some sense from Heap, I think.

Does this Cover Not Bum Me Out: 4/5

Yeah, it's cool. She takes some real risks with this cover, and I think for the most part, they pay off.

Overall: 4/5

You do you, Imogen. It's a cool cover. It's neat. I dig it. Do your dance. Do some fun looping things. Wear your hair like Bart from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (jk, she wears her hair like you). Dig it.

Cornflake Girl - Noah Hawley & Jeff Russo (2018)

Legion, an FX series based on the Marvel character David Haller (aka Legion) (surprise surprise) first debuted in February 2017. The show revolves around David, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age, only to find out in his thirties that there may be much more to his mental illness than he'd previously thought.

This cover of "Cornflake Girl" was featured in the finale of Legion Season 2. I have not personally gotten this far in the show yet (it's good, but a little exhausting and hard to binge for me, so much withholding information), but I watched the clip and it makes no sense to me, so that's a start!

Listenability: 3/5

It pretty much sounds exactly like a Coldplay song, so depending on how you feel about Coldplay, this could go either way. I'm mid-road.

Originality: 2/5

I mean, eh. They make the chorus a minor key and put in some synths. It would play well over the trailer. I bet it will in the future.

Integrity to Original: 2/5

I feel like this is one of those many cases where people just take the lines This is not real/This is not really happening/You bet your life it is and they're like THAT COULD APPLY TO THIS FUCKED UP SITUATION and you know what you're right it does well done gold star for you.

Does this Cover Not Bum Me Out: 1/5

Definitely a bummer. Bumming hard listening to this on repeat.

Overall: 2/5

Is it BAD? No. You know what it is? Meh. Just meh.

#cornflake girl #tori amos #florence + the machine #florence welch #imogen heap #jawbox #under the pink #noah hawley #jeff russo #legion #ctc #review

[cooldididesign]

tall buildings on going sustainable, is it really possible?

what was the first impression when you see and got the chance to work or live within an outrageous high-rise tall buildings? that amazed and wow-ness — luxury, fancy. you would feel like working in a notable company, a quiet night sleep surrounded by splendor ambiance, all-day, and night energized. however, the notion of "tall buildings" is always associated with mega energy consumers, far from sustainable architecture. like the thought of being "green" only applies to small and medium-rise projects for the heights are more convenient and possible to build. would that fact of working on a place that devastates the earth rather than ensuring its sustainability still make you proud? or rather, is it the architects' homework to actually adapt the heights into the environment's needs? incorporating the heights and the needsmaybe that was a long ago that we are not aware of how unsustainable the place we created, we worked in, or the daily basis we spent the most time in. the changing generation has brought in a new addition to the majority of high rise buildings. as the cities have rapidly grown, so does sustainable tall building becomes extraordinarily important in the 21st century following the needs of wisely use renewable resources, alternative strategies, and environmentally friendly design accompanied by advanced building technologies. given appraise to innovative and eco—friendly architects that have made living greener life possible across the scale of projects, these are some of the pickups for globally recognized high-rise buildings and skyscrapers integrated into green solutions to mitigate the environmental impact, ensuring livability for us living beings and the environment. o-14 dubai, the interplay of light and shadow by the shellprominently located along the waterfront esplanade of the extension of dubai creek, o-14 (read: oh-14) are a striking 300.000sqm and 22-storeys commercial tower featuring an eye-catching swiss-cheese look-alike concrete facade perforated by over 1000 circular openings. the architects, jesser reiser, and nanako umemoto have added an architectural and aesthetic addition to the tower's shell that serves as the prime structural component. providing an efficient exoskeleton that frees the core from the burden of lateral forces and creates a column-free, spacious interior of about 557sqm. the shell is organized in an efficient diagrid pattern that maintains a minimum structural member by adding material where necessary and taking it away. the concrete shell was designed to respond well to harsh desert conditions effectively than a typical glass-clad box; it also performs as a sunscreen that is open to light, air, and, of course, to capture breathtaking views of dubai. additionally, each one-meter gap between the main enclosure and the exterior shell makes a "chimney effect", where hot air could raise to cool the surface of the glass windows behind the perforated shell, which technically promotes a natural cooling system that reduces energy consumption and costs up to 30%.after the opening, o-14 has standout as one of the most influential "desert prototype" building that protects the occupants from high heat and storms in the typical middle eastern climate and has gained international interest as it was listed on ctbuh's 2010 best tall buildings in the middle east and africa awards for highlighting the innovative, multifunctional facade, structural efficiency, natural ventilation, solar shading, and of course the beautiful aesthetics: a fascinating interplay of light and shadow created by the shell. photo credits: nelson garrido al-bahr tower, in between modern and vernacular aestheticsthe second notable skyscrapers situated in the nearby dubai country is the al-bahr tower served as the new headquarters for the abu dhabi investment council. the project comprises two 25-storeys with 150sqm tall each tower, and are totaling around 7000sqm office space that accommodates up to 1000 employees. over the last decade, abu dhabi has developed significant high-rises buildings that embrace western models of all-glass curtain walls. for al-bahr, is somewhere between modern accents that marries its vernacular islamic architecture, the mashrabiya to protect the building from the harsh desert sun. the fact that cooling all-glass buildings are very expensive by cost and the environmental impact. to substitute the glass material and address environmental issues while simultaneously developing a unique aesthetic, aedas architects, in collaboration with the engineering arup applied mashrabiya formed by perforated wooden-lattice screens in geometric patterns. the intelligent facade resulted in multiple functions that not only protect the occupants from extreme sun heat but also give more privacy as it is technical can be open and close in response to the external solar conditions just like a transparent umbrella.according to the architect, the mashrabiya system provides a 50% reduction in solar gain, energy consumption, and co2 emission. the parametric and algorithmic modeling has been used to optimize the mashrabiyas' location on the façade. precluding the use of dark tinted glass, which would permanently restrict incoming light following its hexagonal pattern that can open and closes while necessary, creating an interactive relationship between skyscrapers to the environment. the tower has also been globally recognized, followed by its nomination on the ctbuh innovation award and the best tall building in the middle east and africa finalist award in 2012. photo credits: aedas robinson towers singapore, rooftop garden by the bayfrom the beautiful skyscrapers in the middle east, another high-rise 24000sqm building performs as boutique retail and office showcasing novelty in form and function; to change the city's skyline of singapore. "robinson tower follows in the footsteps of kpf's work at marina bay financial centre, which first introduced the mixed-use model to singapore. this distinctive tower similarly embodies the integration of context, culture, and sustainability with architecture. our impactful scheme and its successful execution tap into kpf's expertise designing iconic buildings for global cities and buildings on constrained or otherwise tight sites in dense, urban areas." explained robert whitlock of kpf design principal. designed in a v-shaped plot, robinson tower offering an interface between market street and robinson road: featuring a high impact 20-storeys volumes of offices, ground floor topped by a beautiful garden where the occupants can adjacent themselves to marina bay's atmosphere. the type of design configuration has resulted in natural light in their interior space from each angle."at its core, this project presented the overlapping challenges of planning class-a office space on an irregular site with environmental checks. the dynamic tower frees itself from the canyon of stoic facades, integrating green space at unique vantage points and ultimately cultivating the public realm alongside a boutique, mixed-use program." -- bruce fisher, kpf design director. photo credits: tim griffith shanghai tower, promoting sustainable vertical cityfrom shanghai, china, the shanghai tower emerged as dwarfing its neighboring skyscrapers to represent a new paradigm of rethinking the concept of "sustainable vertical city" comprising a vertical neighborhood of 12 to 15 floors and an accessible sky garden to foster social interaction and sense of community in the area. according to the architect, gensler, shanghai tower's vertical neighborhood contains sky gardens that rise from the sky gardens that provide energy savings and ventilation advantages, formed by the interplay of the tower's two glass skins: the circular inner skin and the triangle with rounded corners exterior skin. it is further designed to create a sense of unity, to support daily life with a mixed-use program that caters to both tenant and visitors, and help ease traffic jams near elevators. not to forget mentioning the spectacular view of the city at all-time. the structural system comprises a concrete core and a few composite super-columns rests on a 20-foot-thick concrete mat of 1,079 bored piles. the building enjoys a robust 30 meters squared core designed to resist the threat of a windy climate, active earthquake zone, and clay-based soils typical of a river delta. some renewable energy technologies have also been applied to provide on-site energy; wind turbines beneath the parapet that generate power to the upper floors, natural gas-fired cogeneration system that provides electricity and heat energy to the lower floors. the tower collects rainwater through the building's spiraling parapet, which often is used to heat and provide air conditioning systems inside. the water treatment plants incorporated into the tower's shaft, podium, and a basement that reduce the energy required for pumps. sustainability in shanghai tower has risen from the structure to the very detailed internal systems such as recycling gray water or stormwater for irrigation and toilet flushing, resulting in a 30% decrease in water consumption. photo credits: gensler/shen zhonghai torre reforma, mobility at its coremoving far away from asian continent, situated at mexico city's renowned avenues, paseo de la reforma, a 2000sqm tall and 570-storeys skyscrapers with a 14-storeys clusters, has emerged as part of the site's cultural, historical, and financial district. along with an array of public leisure to accommodate casual to formal events ranging from sports facilities, bars, and restaurants, open spaces and terrace, gardens, auditorium and meeting rooms, the skyscrapers are one of the leading skyscrapers in mexico that have improved visual quality of the city's skyline as a street-level for pedestrians.the shape design was derived from many considerations including the city's social financial and environmental factors. resembling the form of an open book structure and closed by a third glass-facade-metallic diagrid. whereas, according to the architect, lbr + a, its facade enhances free space and reduces energy consumption by shifting from an all-glass facade generation. the facade was made of solid concrete influenced by the pre-hispanic and colonial era in mexican architecture history. unlike other typical skyscrapers, torre reforma highlights the importance of mobility at its core."the tower was designed to be very accessible and well connected to urban infrastructure and services. its strategic location is surrounded by essential avenues such as paseo de la reforma, avenida insurgentes, the longest avenue in mexico city, and circuito interior, an urban freeway connecting the city's central neighborhoods. at ground level, the sidewalks were expanded and made accessible for all users, giving priority to pedestrians rather than vehicles. the historical house was restored to recover its urban value, serving as a transition from a small scale at the pedestrian level to a high rise building scale. the existing infrastructure includes two subway stations, transit buses, and multiple public bicycle stations." explained the architect on its project description. torre reforma has also committed to obtaining sustainable performance by reducing the energy consumption up to 24% from its concrete walls and double glass facades with shades that allow natural lighting in all office spaces for a more comfortable and better performance. "rain and wastewater is 100% reused in the water treatment plant mainly for bathrooms and the air-conditioning. water tanks, located within the tower for a more effective water system, rely on gravity rather than pump use." added the architect. photo credits: alfonso merchand reference: sustainable tall buildings: cases from the global south | archdaily https://bit.ly/3jPduNm

#design #architecture #building #buildings #interior design #public #sustainable building #sustainable skycrapers

[jackpotcitycasinoreviewsite47]

10 Secrets About casino4giants.com/jackpot-city-casino/ You Can Learn From TV

On line casino people will undoubtedly be certain to track down a match which matches each of their preferences together with the superb selection of online slots game titles provided in a scope of distinct styles, motifs and jackpot choices. Jackpotcity casino provides vast array of casino games to amuse their people from different countries. If you're excited about playing free on-line casino games, and then you arrived into the correct site.

Besides different slots, you also can pleasure in a large choice of card games. Apart from a vast array of slots, it's possible to play casino table games. Progressive games will lead to the play-through Requirement in light of the match variety.

Maple Casino Canada delivers players a collection of internet casino video game reviews, that range between distinct themed slots games to the ideal internet dining table matches. Jackpot City has a hundred distinct forms of games to pick from. Jackpot City online casino suits all sorts of players having its enormous range of games.

Even a VIP program can be an alternative. Live Roulette can be found anytime plus it is not very important the time of this afternoon is because Live Roulette and dealers are prepared to supply you having an brilliant adventure at any moment. As the casino doesn't procedure refunds on weekends, they strive to own your withdrawal readily available for you personally within two weeks on business days depending upon your own selection of withdrawal approach.

Gambling is currently a good system of making cash for specific needs. It offers step by step details about a number of safe and protected online payment procedures to produce gaming hassle free! Summary Jackpot City Casino has excellent client service choices, a world class program program and amazing deposit choices.

Jackpot City guarantees your banking info and also personal information goes to be kept 100 percent safe. To create deposits even easier, you can pick from a variety of cost methods including bank transfer, e-wallets, prepaid cards and charge cards. When you have not register, produce a brand new account.

Holding gamers from all over the planet earth, Jackpot City is known to possess elevated payouts, a fantastic devotion program, out standing customer care and also a few of the most significant games offered in virtually any on-line casino game. Jackpot City Casino also conducts on the great loyalty rewards app and also you'll be able to create redeemable repeated player points exclusively for participating in on your favourite games in the legitimate currency manner. The website provides players a better opportunity to verify their own abilities.

Be aware that reside casino isn't free of charge to play and also you've got to create a deposit to play the matches in online casinos in actual moment. It is a trustworthy site and offers a lot of bonuses and advantages, in addition to the wide variety of matches along with jackpot prizes. It's a extensive assortment of cost methods hence players may make a deposit with no an excessive amount of hassle .

Pay-out price ranges and chances of winning can be quite significant in selecting which type of slot machine to select. Adding your winnings jackpot city casino in a speedy and safe way is easy and you may work with quite a few of the very same banking strategies that you've applied to get a deposit. Generally, it truly is really a secure and effortless ways to earn casino withdrawals and deposits.

Jackpot City Casino comes with a exemplary selection of matches to pick from. It provides many handy features to its players. It is a real godsend for everybody who enjoys trying new emulators.

Thus the next time you locate a Twin Spin slots casino, be certain to explore. In European roulette, there's simply one green slot that's labeled zero.

Even if you should be primarily thinking about actively playing the slots at Jackpot City Casino, there continue to be tons of distinct alternatives you may fool around with. There's a broad selection of states that aren't permitted to perform Jackpot City Casino. The mobile casino at Jackpot City is still home into a several most played online games online and several of preferred titles from the key on line casino is going to be showcased right here.

Microgaming is most likely the biggest complete computer software program in the internet casino world today. Because the Jackpot City offering is the exact same in the the download variation and desktop edition of the casino, there's no requirement to modify to the downloading variation if you don't could possess a slow or unreliable online relationship. Virtually all conventional casino games are at present able to be played by means of online casino websites, for real money.

With the aid of routine upgrades you're going to be certain to not miss out a single new game released online. Everybody knows how difficult it's to select an internet casino, because you will find hundreds of those online. The entire collection of games are available on the casino site.

The jackpots might possibly be randomly induced, or else they could be triggered by landing a particular mix of symbols on these reels. Here you're able to observe a number of the greatest casinos which also permit you to participate in championship tournaments. Some casinos have only one type although some possess everyone of the types.

#jackpotcity casino #jackpot city casino

[oaklandbizpros-blog]

How to Optimize Your Website to Improve Your Rankings in Oakland

At the beginning of the year, you hired the best of the best website designers. A great website was created - you can not take your eyes away from it. It is simply remarkable!

To ensure you provided the value your customers wanted, you worked with a fantastic content developer, and the site is now content abundant.

We are now mid-year, but your site hasn't featured in the leading 10 sites in Google Serps. In spite of your efforts, the performance of your website is nothing to smile about.

You have started asking yourself great deals of questions, and you have even become superstitious. You are almost persuaded that your business competitors bewitched you.

But you do not need to fret! It is not too late to improve your site's performance in search engines. All you need to do is make a couple of fixes in the website, and voila! It will be at the helm of Google SERPs before you know it.

Sounds great, right? Below are ways to optimize your website and improve rankings before the end of the year.

1. Do extensive keyword research

You composed the very best content on the internet, yes, but what keywords will the content rank for? Did you think about that there are words and expressions that your prospects user to search similar information online?

Well, you didn't!

For your website to rank much better, it needs to have the most feature the most popular keywords. But you need to remember that your content will not rank for all the keywords you utilize. There are some which are more competitive than others; hence you need to do your research well.

There are great deals of keyword research tools that you can use. However, no matter the tool you select to go with, make sure that the keywords you pick helps you select words and phrases that will drive traffic to the site, and have a moderate quantity of competitors.

If you do not have a budget to purchase premium keyword research tools, use Google AdWords tool, which will help you develop keywords that have medium competitors in Oakland. As a rule of the thumb, constantly put more emphasis on long-tail keywords because they have low competition and high chances of converting.

2. Compose excellent, special, and long-form content

You understand content is the king of modern marketing, huh?

But you don't just hit your keyboard and write the content any kind of content, and expect it to drive huge traffic to your site. No!

To rank well, your content must be fantastic. Online search engines will rank your site lower if it has bad grammar and lots of grammatical mistakes. If your website has well-written content, then feel confident it will get the rankings it is worthy of.

3. But ... how long should better-ranking content be?

This is a question that lingers in many individuals's minds. Well, although the length of your content will depend on your needs, and what you want your readers' to acquire at the end of the day, professionals concur that a minimum of 500 words will work. That stated, if you have been composing 300-word articles for your blog, then you have learnt why you don't see it even in the 2nd page of google search results page.

To get the best out of your website, have an ideal mix of short, and long-authority posts. When you can, write as much as 2000 words per post!

4. Use keywords naturally

Assume we are composing an article on this subject: Why a site is essential for all businesses."

The main keyword we need to use is "Finest website designer."

Let's hire two writers now. One writes this sentence to promote the keyword; " In case you are trying to find the best site developer, you need to consider an array of factors ...".

The second writer writes this sentence:.

Finest site designer is excellent when creating a site.

Which sentence do you think Google will rank better? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

In the sentence by the 2nd writer, any reader, leave alone the search engine will discover that the keyword is utilized in an abnormal way.

The best method is to have the keywords, but do not compose them for the online search engine. Compose them for the reader, and better rankings will come your method sooner or later.

5. Use keywords in page titles and descriptions.

Page titles should not surpass 70 characters, and descriptions should not be more than 160 characters long. This is a rule that you are well aware of, aren't you?

Maybe what you don't know is that to rank much better, page titles and Meta descriptions ought to include the primary keyword. In reality, if you can, include one secondary keyword, and you will smile the next time you take a look at your website's ranking report.

6. Focus on mobile-responsiveness.

From 2016 to date, mobile searches have increased considerably, with desktop searches recording a significant drop.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, then your competitors will certainly give you a run for your cash.

Most of your prospects utilize mobile devises to access the web, and if you do not make your website compatible with these develops, then you will not get the rankings you are worthy of.

Google has rolled out mobile-first Indexing, something that acts as a blow to those who do not care about mobile compatibility of their websites. Speak to your web designer, or simply try to find methods you can make your website readily available in all creates for better rankings!

7. Optimize your URLs.

This is another amazing way of enhancing your site. Make sure your primary keyword appears in the URL. However, make sure you do not exaggerate it, or else Google might believe your website as one that uses blackhat tactics to get rankings.

For instance, if you are speaking about SEO in Oakland, do not have your site in the following manner www.seo-in-Oakland.com/yourbusinessname.html. 

Instead, have it as www.yourbusinessname.com/seo-in-Oakland.

To guarantee your site ranks much better before the end of the year, first look for popular keywords that your target market is using to find comparable content online. Then, compose high-quality content that will offer worth to your readers. It will settle to focus on other techniques such as internal linking, improving site speed, mobile-responsiveness, and internal linking.

Now that you know the methods that will assist you optimize your website and improve rankings, execute them today, and periodically monitor your site. If you keep in mind any enhancement, treat yourself with a cup of your favorite drink. If you observe absolutely no improvement, it's time you talk to a professional web designer because the problem could be deep-rooted.

[eastcoastlesbians]

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox?

Woobox Vs ClickFunnels Which Is Better ClickFunnels Or Woobox? Woobox is an online based mostly web and website builder platform you need to use to construct web sites, responsive blogs, sales funnels (product launch, sales pages, webinar pages and membership websites), create presentations, animated movies and a lot more. Woobox is ideal for beginner marketers, on-line business house owners, and bloggers who are finances acutely aware and wish an all-in-one resolution for site building, sales funnels, email marketing, webinars, and so on. Woobox launched as a lower priced competitor to Clickfunnels, and claims to give you every part you want to launch a web-based enterprise for a fraction of the cost of more expensive landing web page tools.

Thanks for trying out my Woobox Review You probably have ever wished to start your personal enterprise online, and you've got began to research the entire tools and platforms you require to efficiently run a enterprise, then you definitely quickly notice the costs associated with running such an operation. When introduced with the choice of signing up for costlier platforms the place or one like WordPress that's free but comes with myriad costs versus Woobox with free design templates, web site builder, internet hosting, SSL and all the advertising and marketing tools, it shouldn't be difficult to persuade many people to go for the latter. Woobox launched officially and everyone within the internet advertising and marketing world is speaking about it. Woobox is an all-in-one promotional platform comprising of a number of completely different advertising tools that are usually offered as single providers, together with limitless email sender, multi website builder, Android and iOS application creator, blog builder, sales page generator, video creator, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION tracker and lots of extra. Woobox is an All-In-One advertising platform wil=th all of the tools that you'll must run a sustainable online business with out the need to spend so much cash on third-social gathering tools. Creating knowledgeable email advertising automation will be very irritating and time intensive, but using Woobox , the task turns into method simpler, and just with a couple of clicks here and there, you'd be good to go. Leveraging Bulderall's spectacular drag and drop system, you'll be able to virtually produce seamless sales machines with a number of triggers and likewise import and export the tools amongst different platform users. Way more than a landing web page builder, Woobox is a whole digital marketing platform that offers you every part from constructing pages or sales funnels through the Pixel Perfect Builder, to a professional e-mail marketing system, to the flexibility to create a complete Shopify store and simply integrate with credit score card processors with little or no work. In case you are searching for The Most Full & Straightforward to Use Digital Advertising and marketing Platform on the Planet that will enable you to Acquire and Manage More Leads, Ship Unlimited Emails, Build Amazing Websites, Blogs, Sales Pages, Membership Websites, Videos and APPS, then Woobox shall be your highly advisable selection. Woobox supplies dedicated native servers to host your websites , sales funnels, movies, webinars, and all different elements you create and publish. Clickfunnels is a web-based sales funnel builder that helps companies market, promote, and ship their merchandise on-line. ClickFunnels is a reliable software that enables you create touchdown pages, sales pages contained in the sales funnels that people must navigate by so to a take the specified motion, comparable to buy products. With a mix of quality software and schooling, Clickfunnels allows you to select to create opt-in sales pages, develop membership web sites for an online occasion, sell merchandise on subscription and much more. It was one of the first landing page builders to come out with simple drag and drop options that made it simple for individuals to make sales funnels shortly. ClickFunnels makes it straightforward for folks to take a terrific concept, a brand new product they need to promote, or a dream enterprise and switch it right into a effectively-designed sales funnel that may convert your website guests into clients. It would not matter for those who're an affiliate marketer, blogger, author, publisher, or somebody promoting physical merchandise, as a result of ClickFunnels has an enormous array of touchdown page options, and sales funnels that may match your online business regardless of the way you wish to work together, and what you want to sell. You probably have been running a web based enterprise, chances are you'll face many issues in developing and designing an ideal sales funnel for your corporation and on this specific situation, ClickFunnels could possibly be a superb assist for you as you can rapidly create nice sales funnels inside a really brief span of time with this software. ClickFunnels will let you create all of your optin pages, sales pages, email sequences, membership areas, online coaching courses and many others, and hyperlink them together to build your funnel — all in one, straightforward to use tool. With its capability to create full sales funnels and simple to use and highly effective editor, ClickFunnels provides a clear challenge to LeadPages' place as https://www.theclickfunnelsreview.com/woobox-vs-clickfunnels/ one of the best touchdown web page builder. ClickFunnels is one of the most excellent on-line resolution to design, plan, assemble, analysis, check, observe and create shape of the art marketing funnels and sales funnels that includes lead capture internet pages, sales webinar registrations, video pages, replay techniques, product demonstrations, product launch sequences and product supply internet portals and websites. Clickfunnels may be very helpful Software for marketing, promoting and ship services on-line efficiently.

[shannrussell-blog1]

Each time spring rolls around, I’m always amazed at how the big retailers start advertising their flash new gear to promote the upcoming camping season. It’s like we’ve become conditioned to believe that adventure is only meant for the warmer months. To me, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some of our family’s most memorable camping adventures have been in sub-five-degree weather.

Like rain, the cold can ruin a trip fast if you are not prepared. So, here are a few simple steps to family camping bliss in the winter.

Is there anything better than a crisp day and a campfire out in nature?

Is a tent, swag or trailer best for winter camping?

With so many choices available it can be confusing to decide what makes a good all-year-round shelter, so here’s a breakdown of the options you have.

1. Swags vs tents

I find that canvas swags for ground-based shelter are less susceptible to the cold and wind compared to tents. Whilst there is an array of excellent alpine style tents for mountaineers, swags for the average family are great as the canvas retains the heat you generate brilliantly.

Also, swags, in general, are not as tall as tents, so therefore the warm air stays close to you. Plus they mostly come with 50-70 mm mattresses making them very comfortable. Personally, I have always loved the

A swag is a great shelter choice for colder conditions. 

2. Soft floor trailers

Camper trailers are also a great option to keep camping enjoyable all year round. With beds elevated, you won’t feel that coldness coming up from the ground. They also offer families a place to store loads of gear. There are two main types of camper trailers, the first option is a soft floor trailer. These often offer more open space with a drop-down PVC floor.

So for bigger families, they are very popular as they allow bunk and camp bed setups. However, you need to consider the outside area and be aware of exposed rocks which can put a hole in the floor. clip-together mats can resolve these scenarios.

3. Rear fold or forward fold hard floor trailers

The second option is a rear fold or forward fold hard floor trailer which has been our family’s choice over the last few years. Hard floors are often very quick to set up and rocky/difficult grounds are no longer an issue. However, these trailers don’t tend to be as spacious. Whilst we can still set up a double bunk for our two young children inside, there is definitely less space to walk around.

Forward folds are proving to be the new hot item for families as they also offer an internal dining area with little table to eat at too.

Tip: a measured piece of carpet enhances the camper trailer luxury experience tenfold in all models and can easily be stored on top of the bed when packed away.

A camper trailer is perfect for sheltering families when the temperatures drop. 

What to consider if you are having a campfire

Most winter camping enthusiasts will tell you that this is a must-have for a campsite. Personally, my favourite memories are sitting in front of a fire with my kids in my lap reading a book. To have a fire, you must always consider the following before you leave for the trip:

1. The venue you’re camping at

Where you go will dictate whether you can have a fire or not. Check to ensure that the venue allows fires, and if they do, also find out if you can collect wood or otherwise you’ll have to bring your own. I prefer State forests as more often they allow you to run a chainsaw and collect wood from the ground.

National parks tend to be less flexible. But, if you have a dry stash of wood at home that you can bring, it won’t be a problem.

State forests will allow you to bring a chainsaw to collect wood.

2. Bringing the right equipment to collect wood

A handsaw works but can become tiresome. Chainsaws will always make light work of wood collection, but National parks don’t allow chainsaw use due to noise considerations. Therefore, the new battery-powered brushless saws can be a great option.

Just to be safe, check with the ranger on your options before your trip. Ensure you bring lighters and even Firelighters as well, in case the wood is a bit wet.

Ensure that you check your options for wood collection before your trip. 

3. The environment and weather conditions

Always look at how the weather has been leading up to your trip and the area itself. If it has been raining for two weeks prior then it is safe to assume the wood local to the area probably won’t burn well. The remedy is to bring some dry wood yourself, at least if nothing else you can mix the wet stuff in once the fire is underway. For more on lighting a fire with wood, check out this guide here. Also, if the wood is sparse in the area and you know this then bring your own supply.

Tip: Often a campsite has a predetermined fireplace and opportunity to place your tent where you like. Try starting the fire first to track the direction of the smoke and then set up your accommodation out of the way. I have seen many campers spend an hour getting set up only to start a fire and realise the smoke is going straight in the front door.

You may need to bring wood from home in case it’s been raining. 

How do I keep warm in winter?

Take into account what clothes, shoes and sleeping gear you should bring. Once the winter cold seeps in it can be very hard to get warm again. Again, just some careful consideration can make all the difference, especially if it’s your first time going away in winter.

What clothes should I wear for winter camping?

If the wind is a factor, then windproof jackets and pants help immensely. Even lightweight wet weather coats over jumpers can cut the breeze from getting to you. Naturally jumpers and tracksuit pants along with thermals are all good to wear. I always carry a bag with extra jackets and pants in it when we go away in winter which has been useful every time.

Tip: Ugg boots make a great around-the-campsite shoe. The hard sole and a fleecy inner make for the ultimate campsite comfort.

A good sleeping bag or quilt makes all the difference. 

What bedding should I take camping in winter?

If you don’t want to spend up on new sleeping bags for the season that will cope with the cold, then bring your duvet/quilt from home. We bought really warm quilts from Ikea that are a bit heavy, but very warm. We have never had a cold night’s sleep in them ever! This is a good investment as you will need them anyway for nightly use at home.

If you worry about getting them dirty, then get yourself some cheaper covers to use and problem solved! For regular winter camps, we ended up investing in

Winter is the perfect time to brush up on your camp oven cooking skills. 

Activities to do to stay warm

Nothing keeps you warmer in winter than a bit of exercise. Dress to match the environment of course but here are some of my favourite campsite activities.

1. Explore the area

Nothing gets the blood pumping than a good walk to enjoy and learn about the local area where you are staying. I find that even areas we have camped in several times previously always have something new to discover.

2. Splitting wood

Splitting wood is a useful campsite activity to keep the adults warm. Bring along a block splitter and get more out of your wood. One hour of this and you will feel plenty warm, just keep safety in mind and make sure the kids are out of the way.

Keep the kids warm and entertained with some outdoor activities. 

3. Family games

When I was a child, my favourite camping game was called Blind Trailblazing. Bring a couple of balls of twine and run them through the trees and shrubs. The kids must then navigate their way along the string line blindfolded through any obstacle you place.

I add in for my children that they must drop every time they hear a bat (shaken leaves on a branch sounds like a flying bat or bird.) Little children have big imaginations and being blindfolded heightens the senses and allows them to access it even more.

4. Other games and activities

Other games you could play include Simon Says, night spotting with a torch, treasure and challenge maps (orienteering) and the Spider’s Web Challenge. The Spider’s Web Challenge involves threading a rope between two trees (to replicate a spider’s web) and then climbing through without touching the web.

Hopefully using these tips can help and inspire you to discover your winter wonderlands. We don’t have to be limited by the seasons. You can start by planning a local overnight camp and build from your experiences each time. The cold winter season can be a beautiful time to explore Australia and bond with family and friends by an open fire.

  Do you prefer camping when it’s chilly out, or warm and sunny? 

The post Top Tips for Family Camping in Winter appeared first on Snowys Blog.

#>OZtrail</a> #/manFilters=31&pageSize=40&orderBy=-1&pageNumber=1 #>Groundsheets</a> #/manFilters=2&pageSize=40&orderBy=-1&pageNumber=1>Darche</a> #/specFilters=5m!-!38&pageSize=40&orderBy=-1&pageNumber=1>Darche’s

[bahannah01writes]

Sweet Dreams, My Dear (Finale) Markiplier x Reader

     You stand in front of, what you can gather, a bustling, lively place outdoors with an odd and seemingly endless bout of random sounds and with no lack of persons enjoying whatever is around you. Still being blinded, Mark had helped to get you out of the car and is still continuing to guide you a bit further. “I swear if I trip, Mark- Just, keep an eye open for me, please” You sigh after almost tripping, questioning his ability to lead you around while you're helplessly following him.

     He chuckles and repeatedly reassures you that no such thing would happen. You more or less trust him on that. Mark would never do it on purpose, but accident? Probably. Bless that boy but he doesn’t have the best attention span when he’s excited- almost like how Chica is when she’s about to be fed or taken on a walk; adorable and clumsy. And you don’t feel too stable yourself currently either, so hopefully Mark follows your plea.

     Mark stops and soon after you feel his hands lightly grab your shoulders to keep you in place. You’ve noticed that the sounds have only gotten louder, you can make out some as being bells but others; they’re incoherent, incomprehensible noises that blend into one another. Your head turns towards where you suspect you’d be looking him in the eyes at if you could see and patiently await his explanation for the sudden stop. As he begins to talk, you can hear the smile in his voice.

     “We’re here! Standing before a grand adventure and an amazing start to the day, are you ready?”

     “Ready!”

     “Wonderful,” you feel his hands move from his shoulder and he leaves your presence if only for a second so he would be able to get behind you and undo the knot of the blindfold. In a swift movement, he unties and removes the fabric from your eyes. Automatically, your eyes that were by then used to the dark is greeted by the bright rays of the sun and you instinctively shut your eyes so you can slowly adjust to the bright lights, “Goodness, it’s bright out…”

     “It’s California, don’t expect anything less,” The redhead chimes in, “but, I guess I could’ve given you a warning, huh?”

     “Yeah, you are right though, I should’ve known,” An amused smiles crosses your cheeks as you begin to open your eyes, hoping they’ve had enough time to rest and adjust to the harsh outdoor lights.

     “Well, either way, what do you think?” He slides out in front of you; with your now healed eyes, they widen at the scene before you as your heart fills with joy and excitement. Behind Mark are two lines of little stands- some containing food and others games-  along the boardwalk. The pier is decorated in flags and lights galore, bright flashing of colors match and sync with the peculiar noises you’ve been hearing since you’ve arrived. Smiles are held on almost everyone's face, the only ones without being those frustrated by games, all cheerful and drinking in the moment. You feel your own smile grow as if to mirror everyone else's, embracing the positive, excited energy that fills the salty air.

     “I think you've made an awesome decision, Mark!” You chime, meeting his dark brown hues with your own darling shades. Though, filled with a sense of adventure and curiosity, you can't help but stray from Mark, already wanting to learn and explore this seaside funfair. Twirling in such a sweet manner you hope to soak in your environment in a quick sweep, but fail and simply continue to mindlessly wander, the thought of Mark becoming second in your mind to the distracting array of the festival. Your feet pad against the wood beneath them that happen to creak every so often, the farther you go, the closer you are to the water and sound of waves coming in and crashing against the sand mix in with the dings, horns, and music you’re now accustomed to.

     The redhead, at first, tries to object and gain your attention once more but seeing that all-familiar wonder lust in your eyes, he simply smiles to himself contently and follows behind. You seem to glow. A radiant beauty whose thirst for adventure can never be quenched. Albeit, he would wish you could be a tad bit more down to earth or careful when your gain that twinkle in your eyes, but, even he knows he could never ask for that. That want for new information, the seeking of unfamiliar and peculiar experiences you’ve never been aware of, it is something that makes you you. And he loves it.

     He’s the same way, if he finds out about something new that intrigues him, he can’t wait to go out and enjoy it! In an odd way, you are exactly that. Something new in his life and despite how close he thinks he is to figuring you out, you always manage to surprise him and show that, no, there’s still more to you. Even now, he knows there are secrets that stay hidden and locked away in your mind never for him to see, never for him to be aware of. That idea... That thought, it only makes him want to learn more about the enigma that is yourself. That’s when the wicked wind of reality seems to blow that possibility away, reminding him there is hardly a possibility of the chance to learn all those littles secrets before you leave. Reality really is a bitch, huh?

     His hand runs through his hair, his eyes closing until a grip on his free hand, dragging him further down the pier, cause them to open wide with surprise. “C’mon slowpoke! You can’t be lollygagging, there’s so much to do!” Your playful pleas warm his heart and elicit a chuckle from the man.

     “Coming, coming!” Mark reassures. Maybe, he would have time between the games and such to discover more about you. After all, reality can sometimes come through and he hopes that in his case, it’s on his side.

~~      Holding a giant cone of cotton candy, you and Mark share the delightful treat while walking down the boardwalk. The two of you have visited a few stands and played a few games, albeit you were futile in the attempt of winning anything. Mark blew it off as claiming that the games were rigged and to some extent, you believe him. They do look a bit shady after all.

     The sun stands high in the sky and if you were to guess, you would think it’s at least around one o’clock in the afternoon. Seagulls and other little gray birds dip down every now and again to pick up the remains of food that’s been deserted or dropped onto the docks with its owner no longer interested. Shrugging, you tear off a puff of cotton candy and toss it in their direction, chirping, about five or six birds fly or hop over hoping to get a piece of the sugary treat. You laugh lightly at the awkward tiny animals, it is rather cute how they all try to get some, a tad violent in little birdy world, but cute all the same.

     During some point in your walk, you have completely wrapped an arm around Mark’s. Every now and then when a random rush of fatigue hits you, you allow yourself to rest your head against him comfortably. Whenever you’d remove your head, you press a gentle kiss to his shoulder as if to say thank you. Currently, you’re simply doing just that, a sleepy yawn escapes past your lips as a dazed smile spreads across your features, “Y’know, you’re starting to remind me of something,” His low voice brings your attention back to him and you raise a brow, the corner of your lip quirking up.

     “Do I now?”

     “You do,” Mark’s eyes meet yours, shining with amusement and love.

     “And what would that be, Mister Markimoo?” You ask, brows furrowing as you look up to him, waiting for an answer.

     “A sloth, a sleepy, adorable, loving sloth,” He answers with a chuckle that rumbled through his chest. “You cling to my arm like a sloth to a tree and from what it looks like, a lot of your usual energy has skipped town.”

     You sigh and nod, “I know, I’ve no idea why I’m so worn out!” That’s a lie. You know fairly well why but saying you suspect it’s your subconscious preparing you for the adjustment back into your normal recharging schedule is simply something he may not understand. Rather, you just give him an opportunity to wake you up, “Either way, it just means you’ve gotta entertain me, Mark. Can’t be sleepy on a day like today right?”

     “Right!” Mark agrees, though still finding it funny just how sleepy you’ve gotten in a mere amount of minutes. “Though before then, how about we get you stuffed with a bunch of caffeine and sugar?” He proposes, not only hoping it would keep you awake but also curious as to what a sugar-high you would look like. Then again, he did watch your sugar high while drinking icees.

     “That sounds like a marvelous idea, Markimoo!” You chirp with a darling cheerful yet tired tone lingering in your voice. Eyes roam across the stands looking for something of the sort that holds caffeinated products and such. Mindlessly, you swipe another fluff of the pink candy cobwebs and placing it upon your tongue, the sweet clouds of sugar dissolving deliciously on your tastebuds, “I think enough of this will help too.”

     “Probably,” He says with his own chuckle following, giving your hand a tender squeeze as his own chocolate orbs glance around the boardwalk for a drink to compliment the snack. His laugh booms suddenly, catching your attention and causing your eyes to widen as you follow his gaze. A rush of energy, or adrenaline whatever the Dreamers may call it, surges through your body, pumping it with sparks of electricity, a grin spreading across your cheeks with pure elation as you find what it is that has Mark so amused. An icee stand.

     “Should we-” Before he even finishes, you detach from his arm and rush over towards the stand. That is until you realize you need money and you grab both of his hands in your own and walk backwards, bringing the rather entertained man along with you.

     “Mark, I know, I’m sorry I’ll be spending more of your money, but please! Like you said, I need stuff to perk me up and an icee will definitely do the trick! I mean, look, I haven’t even drank any yet and I’m already a lot more awake than before!” You ramble on, with Mark simply laughing and nodding along with your words.

     “Believe me, I can see that,” Mark assures, “Now, as much as I love holding your-”

     As Mark said, during these moments of pure euphoria you can become quite careless. You try not to be, especially ever since Mark’s mentioned it to you, but sometimes it can’t be helped.  For a celestial being that lives among literal clouds, Mark is rather correct in saying you are unnaturally clumsy. And so with that information you should have known better than to start walking backwards in not only a crowded area, but also on a wooden pier that isn’t sparse of little holes or empty lines between planks, albeit tiny holes, just still holes nonetheless. In the most graceful of ways, your foot gets stuck in between planks resulting in you falling backwards onto the pier with an alarmed scream as you descend. Though despite the differences in weight, you somehow manage to pull the heap of a man along with you and enticing a quite delightful swear from his lips as he falls ontop of you.

     If only it was as wonderful as it is in the movies, but you aren’t in some flower field or grassland, rather, the two of you had the pleasure of falling on hard, salt water soaked boards. Neither is Mark the most light of things to have fall on you. Groaning, you let out a weak laugh and rub your head, “Goodness Mark, you weigh a ton,” he follows suit with his own little laugh.

     “If it helps, you make a nice cushion, chickadee,” He raises up, now standing above you and holding his hand out for you to take, which you do, and proceeds to pull you up, “though, you shouldn’t make a habit of being one.”

     “Really? I think it suits me,” You quip with a crooked smile and laugh lightly before shrugging, “well, I guess you’re right in some way, Markimoo.” You dust the imaginary dirt off yourself before linking arms with Mark once more, “Should we more safely go back to the stand and get our lovely icees?”

     “Just let me lead this time, alright?” Mark proposes with a raised brow.

     “Alright... I’m sorry,” You laugh though try to muffle it by bringing a hand over your mouth.

     “And you say I’m the silly one.”

     “You are! I’m just the clumsy one so as long as we’re not both silly and clumsy at the same time, nothing too bad will happen, right?”

     “Exactly.”

~~  

     An hour or so later, you find yourselves on a bench along the end of the pier. A bit away from the boisterous noises of the fun fair, the sounds of the waves helping to cancel them out. It’s a relaxing silence between the three of you; you, Mark, and Mr. Business. Mr. Business is a teddy bear who, for some odd reason, just so happens to be wearing a collar and tie. He’s rather adorable and you were beyond happy when you won him.

     Mark seemed to be quite insistent on winning something when playing the carny games. You weren’t sure why, mainly due to the fact that he thought they were all rigged so what would his purpose be? It would only waste money. Nevertheless, you asked if you could give it a shot along with him when it came to the blow-up-the-balloon game. Oddly enough, you won! Your eyes travelled across from prize to prize thinking over which Mark may like the most, all while remaining oblivious to the completely flabbergasted Mark who was hoping to win you a prize himself.  

     You pointed to the bear and once the man handed it to you with a knowing grin on his lips, you turned and held it out to Mark. It was rather backwards in his mind but Mark accepted it, not without protest of course, but in the end he decided it would be a cute reminder of the day that he would keep in his room.

     “What time is it?”

     Mark quickly slides his phone from his pockets then looks to the time, “Almost four, are you ready to head back for dinner with the guys?”

     Thinking for a moment, you slowly nod and turn your head towards his, “Yeah, do you know where we’re eating at? We really don’t need to go anywhere fancy, something simple is just as cool.”

     “No clue, maybe somewhere French? Would you like that, mademoiselle?” He inquires, you tilt your head side to side indecisively.

     “Sure, I’ve heard they have pretty good food right?”

     Marks nods a bit too eagerly, “Oh yes, and going in a French restaurant, they’re so welcoming! Remember to say bonjour, they’ll love it.”

     “Really? It won’t be like, weird?”

     He scoffs at your question, waving a hand dismissively, “Course not, it’s polite.”

     While still rather unsure yourself, you decide to make a mental note, “If you say so, Markimoo.”

     A peaceful moment of quiet captures the two of you, or at least as quiet as it would get. You find yourself watching the birds come and go, a small smile graces your features as they take off, coming and going as they please from the pier. A blissful sigh passes your lips. Mark finds himself curious and follows your gaze to the birds, a ghost of a laugh escapes him, “So the chickadee likes other birds too?”

     “They’re..,” You trail off, pondering to yourself over the right word before settling, “They’re lucky, y’know?”

     Mark wishes he could say he understands, yet, he can’t, “Explain?”

     You sit up a bit more as if that’ll help to collect your thoughts, “Well, they travel a lot right?” he nods, motioning for you to continue. “They travel across countries, and while it’s usually due to outside elements, if they wanted to, at any time they could go wherever they wanted. They’re free to just fly, not bound to any sort of commitments. Unless they have a family, but even then it’s temporary because they’ll be able to fly and go where they please as well, you know? Maybe it’s because of the whole nomadic nature, but, I mean, imagine if I could travel back and forth between Maine and here with such ease. Imagine if I could just come and go as I please. It’s so much and yet so little to ask for. Yet, with birds, it’s always so easy and I think I may be a bit jealous of them because of that.”

     Hearing a heavy exhale from the man beside you, your bring your attention away from the birds and back to him. His expression is hard to read, though you can tell he’s processing your words. Mark waits a minute to collect his words before speaking, “You aren’t wrong. But, and don’t take it the wrong way, but if people were able to do that, the lot of us would run away from our problems and responsibilities rather than face them,” He pauses and slowly starts again, “It’s a nice thought, and for a while, it would be bliss, but we need those challenges to grow as people. I’m not saying I wish there wasn’t an easy answer to our problem, but who knows? It may bring us closer trying to overcome it rather than a simple solution would... Does that make sense?”

     Eyes leave his own and cast down towards the planks of the pier and you find yourself nodding, “I think so… But… But, what if it doesn’t bring us closer together? What if it only tears us apart?”

     Mark hums in thought, “Then it was probably due to me being an idiot,” he chuckles and you have a light laugh.

     “Oh hush you goofball,” You shake your head, allowing your eyes to return to his, “Should we just deal with it when we get to that point?”

     “I think that’s a good idea, now, how about we head on out to dinner?” He questions, you nod, standing up and awaiting Mark to follow you as he gets up as well, making sure to bring Mr. Business along.

     “Do you think Ryan and Matt will like Mr. Business?” Your brow raises in curiosity as you walk by his side and down the boardwalk.

     “How would they not? Mr. Business is a very convincing and charming bear.”

     “Do you mean he’s beary convincing and charming?”

     “...”

     “...”

     “Well, if this is your way of making it easier when you leave, you’re doing a good job.”

     “Hey!”

     “Just saying, chickadee, just saying.”

~~

     In the end, the four of you ended up going to quaint local diner, nothing special yet nothing too casual either. It was quite darling if you do say so yourself, the design was rather retro which complemented the diner well. And of course, you all couldn’t say no to having a classic milkshake that, while not as good as an icee, was really good! You all may or may not have had a stupid contest to see who could endure a brain freeze the longest, that is after they explained what a brain freeze was to you-which is something you still find odd- and you were about the second to go. The first being Ryan and the poor souls of Matt and Ryan were torturing themselves over the juvenile competition. A juvenile competition that you and Ryan more or less got really into as support members, with him supporting Matt of course as you cheered Mark on. After drinking far too much of the chilly treat, Matt found himself victorious over the King of Squirrels.

     The bill came soon after, once paid, the four of you had gone out to the bit of sidewalk in front of the diner, standing between Mark’s and Ryan’s cars. Leaning on the passenger door, you remain laughing as Ryan and Matt continue to talk about their first impression of you.

     “-And then I saw you didn’t have shoes on. Hell, if we were in Nevada I would have no doubt that you were an alien. Then again, I guess you still could be, huh?” In a way, you do suppose you are.

     “You caught me boys, I am actually a celestial being that can control minds and dreams,” You willingly admit, a playful smirk on your face. You are telling the truth.

     They all continue the light stream of laughter, Mark shakes his head, “Then hopefully this won’t be like the relationship with that alien in Huniepop… You don’t have any tentacles do you?”

     You can’t help but explode with laughs and giggles as you feverishly shake your head, “Goodness, no!”

     Ryan sighs with a pout, “That’s no fun then, what’s wrong with your alien breed?”

     Blinking at the obscurity of his question, you run a hand through your hair, “Who knows? We’re just not big fans of them, not every alien has to have tentacles, Ryan. Sorry, but it’s true.”      Matt pats his friend’s back, “It’s alright, buddy, that still means there are aliens with tentacles.”

     Ryan nods slowly, you make note of how good of an actor he is since he can act so serious over such a ridiculous scenario, “You’re right…”

     You feel an arm wrap around you and rub your arm, “I personally think it’s cute you don’t have them, it makes you a special alien,” Mark cooes, booping your nose with his free hand. Thinking for a moment, you take this situation into perspective and begin to laugh even more.

     “Can we please not talk about me being an alien and whether or not aliens have tentacles? That would be nice,” You suggest, never thinking such a phrase would leave your lips and yet today is the day that it does.

     Mark checks his phone, “Actually, it is a good time to stop because we should probably get you, young lady, into a hotel.”

     “Damn, we’re gonna miss you, make sure to call and shit whenever you’re able to alright?” Matt reminds and you nod happily.

     “I’ll try!”      “Group hug?”

     “Group hug!” And with that, the four of you form a bit awkward but nonetheless heartwarming group hug, with primarily you in the middle and the three boys squeezing the air out of you; heartwarming maybe, but also lung crushing. Quite lovely. Once it disbands, you give one last squeeze to the two men independently, “I’ll miss you guys too, and I know you guys are leaving soon but until then, keep an eye on this goofball for me? Don’t want him to be upset while I’m gone,” You ruffle Mark’s hair, your concern for him bring a soft smile to his face, “And also take care of yourselves, don’t over work, it’s not healthy no matter the career.”

     Ryan chuckles lightly and nods, “Will do, (Y/n), and you too, stay safe.” His smile genuine and the look in his eyes fond and gentle, Matt agrees.

     “Exactly, don’t do anything we would do,” He jokes, causing a light chuckle to pass your lips.

     “I’ll keep that in mind,” With a heavy sigh, you turn to Mark, “What time is it?”

     “8:30”

     “Okay… Well, I’ll see you two later,” You hug the two of them once again, not ready to leave them yet.

     “See you soon, (Y/n).”

     “We will meet again one day!”

     “That we will, Matt, that we will.” And with one last shared glance, the two of them break eye contact and hop into his car, waving good-bye as they drove off.

     It’s only you and Mark now.

     You turn back around to him and with a bittersweet smile, you look up into his kind eyes, “Ready?”

     “Not really,” A humorless laugh escapes him but he nods nonetheless, “But it’s gotta happen, right?”

      “Sadly, you’re right.” Mark, like the wonderful gentleman he is, holds the door open for you, “Thank you, Markimoo.”

      “Anything for you, m’lady.”

~~

     The city lights sting your eyes, the noises bombard your ears and random scents occasionally catch your attention, but for the most part, your eyes rest on Mark. His hair, his scruff, his eyes, his nose, his jawline, his everything and anything in a desperate hope to memorize what it’s like to really see him rather than interacting with his dream self. Albeit, the dream self is fairly accurate but it could never compare to the real, in person Mark. The lights may burn your eyes but they seem to give him a soft glow, and if you didn’t know any better, you would think you’re the one dreaming. But you’re not. None of this is a dream, it’s reality. And maybe that’s the real nightmare, when you gain everything you’ve ever wanted only to lose it. You never even knew you wanted this, yet now that you have it, you don’t want to let it go. You don’t want to let him go.

     But you have no choice in the matter. You aren’t able to say no and live this way, it would be selfish of you anyway. Mark is your purpose in life, he is the only reason you were brought into existence. It is your job to make him happy; although, right now you think you’re doing the opposite.

     Mark found a hotel and while you are still deep in thought, he pulls into the parking lot and looks over to you only to find you staring at him, he chuckles, “Staring isn’t polite, you know.”

     His deep voice brought you out of your trance and you proceed to become a flustered little chickadee, “I didn’t mean too, I was just… thinking, that’s all.” He hums sarcastically, and you playfully smack him while starting to laugh yourself, “Oh hush, mister ‘cornfield stalker’!”

    “Hey, you like that-”

     “I never said I like that!” You dismiss his credulous acclaim, rolling your eyes at his absurdity, you hop out of the car and grab the small bag from the back, “C’mon, Markimoo, I need to check in!” You chime, going over to his side and dragging him into the hotel. After the two of you get you checked in for the night, thankfully on the first level so you won’t be mystified again by the amazing invention that’s known as an elevator. Seriously, who ever invented that is absolutely brilliant, aren’t they?

     You enter the room and throw your bag on the floor haphazardly as you make your way to the bed, plopping down on the edge of it. Patting the seat beside you, you feel the energy of the night begin to course through your veins, “So, Mark…” You start, not really sure how to end.

     But he does, “I’m gonna miss you.” All the previous playfulness in his voice disappearing and being replaced with sincerity and that lingering sadness that breaks your heart.

     Sighing, you nod and hug him from the side, which he welcomes and wraps an arms around your waist to pull you closer, “I know, and I’m gonna miss you too,” the silence is needed if only for a minute or two as the reality of your situation truly sinks in. You wish you were better at wording because everything you are feeling, you can’t find the right words to explain it to him or find the right way to say good-bye.

     “You know,” You feel his chest raise before sinking back down again, “When you came through my door, I didn’t think much of it,” he admits, “I mean, I was thankful as Hell, I was a worrying mess until I got the phone call from Matt saying you found Chica,” Mark chuckles and pauses, the fond memory playing over again in his mind, “And as I’ve grown to know you even more, I found myself- in all honesty- enamored, intoxicated, all that kind of stuff with you and I pulled probably one the most stupid ways of asking a girl out and you still said yes. Which I still can’t believe, I was using stupid ass pick-up lines and even messed them up and you still said yes!” Both of you begin to laugh and you nod, raising your head to look up to him.

     “How could I not? It may have been a bit of a disaster but it was a really cute disaster?”

     “Thanks, I love thinking of myself as a kawaii desu hurricane,” His voice changes into a rather high pitched, girly one and you find yourself laughing even more. You aren’t exactly sure what he means but well, the way his nose scrunched up in addition to the voice, it was another great example of him being silly. “Either way,” Mark resumes, his voice back to a normal low pitch, “I guess what I’m saying is our story is insane and so many things could have happened that would’ve prevented it, you know? If you went the other direction, if you never called me at the hotel, Hell, if Sean, Matt, and Ryan never pushed me to ask you out, we would’ve been different. And while I now really hate saying goodbye,” He pauses, his words wavering slightly and takes a breath before continuing, “I hate saying goodbye now. But I wouldn’t trade it for an easy goodbye that doesn’t involve what we’ve become, and I really hope this isn’t a permanent one either,” Mark laughs dryly, moving his eyes around the room as if looking at you will cause the dam to break.

     “...Mark?”

     “Yeah?”      “Don’t cry, please,” You attempt to plea despite the tears already welling up in your own eyes, “I don’t want to leave on a sad note, so, please, smile.”

     Against what you’ve just asked, he sniffles almost immediately after looking down at you and shakes his head, “I can’t… I- I can’t, please, I just, I want you to stay. I want you with me. I want- I need you with me, I know I’m being an asshole. I know that. But, I’m going to be a selfish dick because I can’t stand the fucking thought of you leaving,” Mark rambles on and on and on and- and he can’t see himself stopping. He hates that he’s saying this, it’s unfair of him to place guilt on you for something you can’t control and he wishes he wouldn’t but the floodgates have broke and all the unshed tears and held back words are flowing freely. You remain quite, aside from gentle shushes as you envelope him in a hug and slowly devolves into repeatedly saying sorry.      Once you feel he’s calmed down enough and you won’t end up crying yourself, you raise his head a place a chaste kiss on his forehead, then his nose, his left cheek, then right, and finally a lingering kiss on his lips, “Stop saying sorry, Mark, it’s natural.” You cup his cheeks and rub the his stray tears away with you thumbs, “I promise, I’ll be back, I’ve no idea when, but I will be. And when I am, the first thing I’m going to do is knock on your door with a bunch of corn stalks,” You attempt to joke with a faint laugh, successfully earning one of his own as well.

     “I knew it was your favorite,” He mumbles, his slightly red orbs staring into your own with a soft gaze.

     “In some ways, I guess it is,” You admit, but then you exhale deeply, “I will come back, Mark, and I will do my best to keep in contact until then.”

     “Promise?”

     “Promise! Now, how about I say I’ll see you later and we share a… see-you-later-kiss?” You question, furrowing your brows wondering to yourself if that would be correct.

     “I’d like that,” He says before capturing your lips with his own in a sweet exchange, trying to fill it with all the emotion he could and couldn't express to you. You adjust slightly, just so you could play with the short locks of raven hair at the base of his neck. If there was ever a way to rate a kiss, this would be what one would expect a ten to be. Albeit, it lacks intimacy and heat, but for what it lacks, it makes up in love. And that’s the truth. Whether the two of you are willing to say it or not, the kiss proves the love between you two, the longing, the sincerity, genuine happiness, it truly tells the other that they do love them. You aren’t quite sure how long it lasted but by the time it ended, you were more than out of breath.

     “That… That’s a pretty good note to leave on,” Mark comments, bringing out a light laugh from you as you continue to catch your breath.

     “I would have to agree, Markimoo,” An amorous gaze is shared between you two and a delicate, slow but short lived kiss finishes your exchange. Mark reluctantly gets up and you follow soon after, he leads you to the door where you stand, hands held by the other, “Call me, chickadee. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

     “Sounds good, until then though, have a good night, Mark.”

     “Sweet dreams, (Y/n),” He leans down and places a kiss on your forehead, then retreating into the lobby…

     Though not before he manages to trip on a plant while still in your sight, you can’t help but to burst out laughing, “Really, Mark?”

     “Shit! I didn’t see it! I was trying to be romantic and not break eye contact with you, okay?!” He tries excuse and you simply roll your eyes playfully, realizing just how much you’re going to miss the goofball.

     “Sure, Mark, don’t hurt yourself anymore okay?”

     “Yeah, yeah, chickadee, you too!” Mark teases, flashing a charming smile before actually walking out of the hotel hopefully without any more silly accidents once he gets home. You sigh and close the door behind you and head to the window of your suite, looking longingly into the sky with a sweet smile and you start to think you’re content with going back. As long as Mark is a part of your life, right?

     “Ready whenever you are, big guy.”

A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with me on this journey. This is my first ever completed fanfiction and I don't think I could've been luckier with the readers I've gotten. You are all so supportive and I absolutely love every single one of you, you've made me happy when life sucks and have inspired and motivated me to keep going when I wasn't sure if I'd be able to, and best of all, you guys really care about the story and understood when I wasn't able to update. I don't think I can say thank you enough. I really hope you all enjoy this last installment although I think you guys all know by now there will be a sequel lol. Until then though, if you ever wanna message me, go right ahead! Again, thank you my lovely readers and I hope you've enjoyed this wacky ride <3 Love you!!

#markiplier x reader #mark fischbach x reader #markiplier imagines #markiplier #mark fischbach #sdmd #bahannah01 #finale #ahhhhhhh

[topfygad]

10 Incredible Matters to do in Tasmania

Travel Daydream: Tasmania

I have put in so considerably of the past eleven decades on the road that I come to feel like outings back again to my native Australia are the family vacation.

When I’m #blessed to be able to simply call these unique locales as Tanzania, Vietnam, and China house – there is even now a prosperity of locations in Australia I am dying to take a look at.

I’ve composed before about my want to check out the Northern Territory or get the Great Aussie highway trip, but just one spot is to start with and foremost in my eyes: Tasmania.

Usually disregarded by worldwide travellers, Tasmania is a gorgeous island boasting some of Australia’s most spectacular all-natural splendor.

Really don’t believe that me? Go through on!

As Australia’s only island state, Tasmania can from time to time appear a bridge too much for global holidaymakers.

Luckily, it is probable to fly right from important towns this kind of as Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. You can also get the ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania!

The moment you’re on the island, there is a prosperity of alternatives to hold you entertained.

Uncover a good Hobart hotel, plan your itinerary, and get out there!

Tackling the Overland Monitor is one particular of the finest means to encounter Tasmania’s natural beauty. Image courtesy of Steven Penton.

#10 – Hike the Overland Observe

Ever since hiking the Kumano Kodo Iseji in 2017, I’ve been to some degree obsessed with obtaining the next massive hiking experience for Richelle and me.

The Overland Monitor is one particular of Australia’s most renowned hikes and with very good purpose. A 65km hike from Cradle Mountain to Lake St. Clair, the Overland Monitor can take you via a assortment of landscapes such as temperate rainforest, rolling hills, and alpine mountains.

The more-formidable can increase their climbing by trekking to the summits of Cradle Mountain and Mount Ossa, although many others decide on to extend their hike by adhering to the shores of Australia’s deepest lake, Lake St. Clair.

There are not B&Bs or ryokan along the path, but a series of managed huts give you a location to unroll your sleeping bag and cook your supper.

The Overland Track isn’t one particular for relaxed hikers, but if you are nicely-organized and wanting to expertise Australia’s organic splendour, it’s a ought to-see.

The Southern Lights are unquestionably impressive. Graphic courtesy of Shellie Evans.

#9 – Spot the Aurora Australis

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) could possibly be one particular of the most popular pure displays on earth, but precious several people are aware that it has a southern equivalent.

The Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) is each and every bit as breathtaking as the famed Scandinavian display screen, and it can be seen from places in Tasmania such as Cockle Creek in the south or even Mt. Wellington in Hobart.

It’s not a thing you should really approach your entire trip about, but carving out some time to see the dancing lights is not a lousy notion!

How’s the serenity?

#8 – Relax in rural Tasmania

When folks glimpse for points to do in Tasmania, they’re directed to its vivid cities and its astounding national parks. Nevertheless, one should not neglect Tasmania’s considerable rural charm.

Whether it’s halting off in a quaint tiny town for a bite to try to eat on your way somewhere else or an prolonged stay at a sweet B&B, rural Tasmania features that dinky-di Aussie attraction you won’t discover in the cities.

My fiancee and I quite practically prepared our forthcoming wedding ceremony at my cousin’s home, Oatlands Manor. I’m nevertheless dying to get down there and get absent from it all!

#7 – Knowledge Museum of Outdated and New Art (MONA)

Detailed by Lonely World as 1 of the prime attractions in the globe, the deliciously quirky Museum of Previous and New Artwork (MONA for shorter) is a should-see even though you’re in Tasmania.

Even if your to start with reaction on listening to the text ‘art gallery’ is to roll your eyes and say “that’s not my scene”, MONA could possibly just improve your intellect.

The museum is carved into ancient sandstone and offers an astonishing assortment of fashionable artwork.

MONA aims to confront and confound its guests with collections depicting every thing from reproductive organs to world wide politics to (I’m not kidding) poop.

The distinctly coloured stones give the Bay of Fires its impressive title. Impression courtesy of shuttles.

#6 – Take a look at the Bay of Fires

A person of the most gorgeous stretches of coastline in Australia, the significantly named Bay of Fires has enchanted folks from all throughout the earth.

White sand beach locations, crystal-crystal clear water, and the fiery coloured stone that lend the region its identify mix to make the Bay of Fires one particular of Australia’s hottest up and coming locations.

Guests can swim, go on bushwalks, or only take it easy and get pleasure from the region’s immense purely natural attractiveness. It is really one particular of Australia’s most stunning locales.

A single of Australia’s most renowned animals, the Tasmanian Devil doesn’t spin really as much as cartoons may possibly suggest. Graphic courtesy of Mathias Appel.

#5 – Go on an Aussie safari in the Tarkine location

You really do not require to go to Africa to go on safari!

Guests to the rugged Tarkine location of Tasmania can working experience an Australian safari including animals this kind of as quolls, platypus, echidnas, bandicoots, sugar gliders, and the famed Tasmanian Devil. It’s also a entire world-course location for birders.

No matter whether you check out it on foot, by kayak, or in luxury on a riverboat, the region is a person of Australia’s most gorgeous wilderness areas.

A person of Tasmania’s most lovely places. Graphic courtesy of Vern.

#4 – Acquire a dip in Wineglass Bay

The identify Freycinet Nationwide Park may not immediately ring any bells, but Wineglass Bay just could possibly.

Regarded one of the leading 10 beaches in the environment, Wineglass Bay is that perfect mixture of impossibly distinct water and powdery white sand. Blended with the spectacular granite peaks that border the seashore, it’s a recipe for a fantastic seashore escape.

Readers can practical experience the area in barefoot luxury or in bare-bones tenting. Routines in the area array from sunbathing and bushwalking to rock-climbing, sea kayaking, and fishing. There seriously is a thing for all walks of life.

A single of Australia’s most haunted web-sites, Port Arthur is nicely value a go to. Impression courtesy of Tom Fassbender.

#3 – Uncover Port Arthur’s haunted earlier

Australia’s finest-preserved convict web-site, Port Arthur stands as a haunting reminder of Australia’s dim colonial roots.

For those with an curiosity in Australian or British Colonial heritage, there are handful of destinations that offer you a far more finish image of Australia’s earlier.

Taking a ghost tour of Port Arthur is a single of the most well known items to do in Tasmania. If that’s not your style, browsing by day features a assortment of things to do such as carriage tours, extended boat excursions, or just soaking in the historical past at your very own pace.

The park is certainly a person of Tasmania’s most gorgeous regions. Image courtesy of Steven Penton.

#2 – Travel by Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair Countrywide Park

I pointed out each Cradle Mountain and Lake St. Clair earlier in this piece, but the Overland Monitor almost certainly is not for everybody.

For those who don’t see the enchantment in five to 6 times of mountaineering by the Aussie wilderness, Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park is even so well worth your time.

Comprising a startling wide variety of landscapes, the park feels like correct wilderness. Indications of civilisation are couple and far involving, offering you a chance to knowledge what it ought to have felt like for Australia’s early explorers.

With a massive range of working day treks to be taken, various times could be expended within just the park without seeing it all!

Very a view of Hobart. Impression courtesy of The 3Bs.

#1 – Explore Hobart

Final, but surely not least, Tasmania’s capital is worthy of your time.

Residence to the aforementioned MONA, Hobart has a great deal to supply no matter of your preferences.

Like buying? The Salamanca Current market on Saturdays requires position in stunning colonial architecture.

Mountaineering extra your pace? Head up Mt. Wellington for a glimpse of the Aurora Australis or a spectacular look at of Hobart.

Extravagant a pint? The Cascade Brewery Company is one particular of Australia’s most preferred beer brand names.

Hungry? Hobart is a cosmopolitan metropolis with flavours from all-around the earth, but also some of Australia’s very best seafood.

Seeking a day journey? Hobart is a fantastic foundation to discover nearby countrywide parks, wine areas, and islands.

In shorter, Hobart is 1 of Australia’s most criminally underrated towns and a amazing foundation from which to explore the island of Tasmania.

—–

What Are You Ready For?

Tasmania is pretty significantly on my radar for soon after we have tied the knot up coming year, but if Australia is in your programs for the yr to occur – make guaranteed you make some time for Tasmania!

Your Say

Have you been to Tasmania? What did you think?

What are your favourite items to do in Tasmania? Did I miss out on nearly anything?

I often check again above these reviews, so enable me know your ideas and I’ll get them extra!

  Want an Aussie in your inbox?

Cheers! Now you’ve got just bought to ensure your membership.

Like this:

Like Loading…

From Fb

from Cheapr Travels http://cheaprtravels.com/10-incredible-matters-to-do-in-tasmania/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Cheapr Travels

[bluejanuarysky]

Exactly how To Win UK Haulier Associated with The Year In 2019

Search engine optimization (SEO) is among the most most affordable forms of Internet marketing. Expertise: Neil Patel is an expert internet marketer and he puts out several killer blogs that help their audience really get an in-depth grasp on topics like SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and content marketing, usually the piece that is neglected simply by lots of ecommerce companies. Yet another method is doing video content advertising, that is huge and relating to Forbes, VIDEO is expected to claim over 80% associated with all web traffic by 2019! So you might want in order to think about incorporating video in to your marketing mix somewhere straight down the road as well. one. ) Social media friendly websites like MeetUp, Socializr, EventBrite : amazing sites that allow a person find people of like curiosity. Additionally, there are SEO helpful, so if someone Google your own name they will also discover you with these sites plus events. I do not have got a lot of experience along with these websites, but I noticed that they are great in order to promote events. If you market properly customers will come. If a person are not advertising online a person will be downsized within this particular decade. International business is overflowing, individuals are searching, and in the event that you are on the moon with your website, you will certainly miss a large number associated with sales. If you need somebody to do the meet your own needs to find those clients, here is a great business that we recommend gravitateonline. Normally find a good SEO firm that has a solid history and has built a strong foundation that you could believe in. Lori Olson has the passion for helping small companies develop strong online presences along with a team of 250 experts who analyze & implement SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, SEM, PPC Campaign Mgmt, Social media marketing, Copy Writing & Web Growth strategies which are customized in order to fit any needs, wants and budget. Update Small Business furthermore provides leading edge employee and sales assessment & training; and CRM solutions. Small Business Contacting or call 877. 265. 26 year old Textile, Clothing and Footwear Mechanic Charlie Roten from Blog9T Youtube Baie-Comeau, has numerous interests that include saltwater aquariums, top seo trends in 2018 and flower arranging. In the last several months has paid a trip to spots like Historic City of Ayutthaya. 6568. Search Engine Optimisation is an important technique within Digital Marketing which includes Upon Page and off page Techniques that will rank your sites on top of the lookup Engines organically. Infocampus provides theoretical and Practical seo Training which usually benefit your job and Company. To get trained within Blog9T the most recent SEO Strategies, contact 9738001024 or even visit - Infocampus is amongst the best seo training institutes in Marathahalli.

Spend in tools Blog9T like WordTracker, Trellian's Keyword Discovery Tool or Search engines AdWords for solid and competing keywords. Do not be misled by the many online provides for free SEO or key word tools, because often times these people are not effective. Towards the main needs and the importance going in order to SEO and a seo organization, it is rising and enhancing day by day quickly plus regularly and it is quite useable for big and large commercial companies, offices and on the web work and online businesses furthermore. The proprietors of most websites recognize that will obtaining top search engine search positions for their top keywords will be fundamentally important for their business continued success. However, the big most of does not however fully understand the process associated with your small business SEO company's process associated with achieving these keyword rankings by means of targeted internet marketing and most are usually not aware of free SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION site appraisal. It is quite important to not only spend money on search engine optimization specialist methods, but also pay-per-click management methods also. Marketing associate careers are responsible for managing trade exhibits and coordinating activities and conferences being a portion associated with their marketing assistant obligations. Product sales marketing and advertising careers are usually section of marketing by which the particular services or products are offered and introduced directly to customers. Generally online marketing jobs are usually best suitable for those along with outstanding communication abilities, reasoning capabilities, management qualities, and critical believing. Here we will discuss SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing and advertising and PAY-PER-CLICK marketing and advertising. You may likewise use watchword instruments like Google Advertisement words Keyword Planner, and Key phrase Tool, which is typically used for SEO, for the cause that greater part of customers is as yet utilizing internet indexes like Google and Ask to scan for applications. I actually am Ramjee Yadav. I feel working as a SEO Expert in German Based Company known as as Applaunch. Firstly, the key phrases must be established within the particular translated language. This is the critical section of the project and is dependent very much for the budget associated with the company. Being this kind of fresh and pioneering field typically possess to outsource their SEO requirements and it tends to end up being very expensive. One must keep in mind that a great deal of key words have currently been committed to heavily plus the bottom line is that will minus the budget for the significant linking campaign for the competitive keyword there is simply no point in going for that will keyword. Most good SEO experts will advise a client because to the keywords they may achieve within their budget along with the hope that the customer can find a niche inside their market. The profitability or even competitiveness of certain keywords may be judged by certain barometers. Also known since web advertising, online marketing work can comprise a fantastic array associated with specialties - Pay-per-click (PPC) work, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work, affiliate marketing jobs, sales careers, account administrator jobs, web style and marketing. In marketing plus advertising, job opportunities are incredibly challenging in addition to actually varying so you need in order to be prepared and ready in order to adapt. As a rule, the particular aim in marketing is in order to reach the prospective audience plus extend growth from the organization. At the higher-ranking level, marketing and marketing jobs incorporate preparing for the marketing and marketing campaign and is executed with the executive level.

[citizentruth-blog]

10 Keys to Well-Being (Plus Motivational Quotes) - PEER NEWS

New Post has been published on https://citizentruth.org/10-keys-to-well-being-plus-motivational-quotes/

10 Keys to Well-Being (Plus Motivational Quotes)

The very interesting Greater Good Science Center at UC-Berkeley has some assertive and scientifically-based ideas on wonderful topics such as well-being, fulfillment, meaning, happiness, flourishing, etc. Along with U-Penn’s Positive Psychology master’s program, these are two powerhouse schools that take the science of optimism, happiness, flourishing, and well-being seriously. It’s neat to see, since at times in the past, topics such as these, or “psi“, or values and virtues such as meaning, goodness, love, and wisdom were not considered suitable subjects for psychological science to research and investigate. In this blog, I discuss ten keys the GGSC, positive psychology, and I suggest for greater fulfillment, joy, contentment, and success.

  Altruism

“Altruism is when we act to promote someone else’s welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves. Though some believe that humans are fundamentally self-interested, recent research suggests otherwise: Studies have found that people’s first impulse is to cooperate rather than compete; that toddlers spontaneously help people in need out of a genuine concern for their welfare; and that even non-human primates display altruism,” according to the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). Altruism is one of the “values of the wise” — values that inspire and attract wise persons (for example, wisdom vs. foolhardiness, and truth vs. wishful thinking). I pair it with kindness and magnanimity, creating a mighty triumvirate of loving instinct.

A few quotations about altruistic behavior, self-sacrifice, love, and goodness:

“If you truly want to live up to the ideals our forefathers had in mind, if you sincerely care to embody the spirit of Jesus, Buddha, or Mohammed, stop hating and start loving. Love even when you don’t really feel it, even when you think you’re faking it. Soon, you won’t be faking it anymore, and you’ll be a better parent, a better friend, a better American, a better person.” ~ Alan Colmes

“Brotherhood is the very price and condition of man’s survival.” ~ Carlos P. Romulo

“There is no greater satisfaction for a just and well-meaning person than the knowledge that he has devoted his best energies to the service of the good cause.” ~ Albert Einstein

“The lover of mankind strengthens men, for he himself wishes to be strengthened; he helps men toward success, for he himself wishes to achieve success.” ~ Confucius

  Awe

“Awe is the feeling we get in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world, like looking up at millions of stars in the night sky or marveling at the birth of a child. When people feel awe, they may use other words to describe the experience, such as wonder, amazement, surprise, or transcendence.

The most common sources of awe are other people and nature, but awe can be elicited by many other experiences as well, such as music, art or architecture, religious experiences, the supernatural, or even one’s own accomplishments,” the GGSC notes. I think of it as wonder; as vision; as radical creative thinking. Mindfulness and gratitude are aligned with seeing the world with awe. These special experiences fire our synapses and engender a greater sense of well-being.

A few quotations about Awe:

“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” ~ Marcel Proust

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting — a wayside sacrament.  Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ~ William Butler Yeats

  Find the Good Side of Things, People & Changes

Ever heard an old person either say “Kids today!” or “Damn liberals!” or hear a young person absolutely demonize or denigrate an individual with whom they don’t agree (or, as in Dana Carvey’s impression of “grumpy old man“, just be sour and mad at the world)?

As can be gleaned from this Q&A with the engaging researcher Robert Sapolsky, political differences is a major issue nowadays — much more so than in the past. It divides us in homes, in communities, and in the United States. Add money to the mix and it’s political gamesmanship and subterfuge writ large.

But seeing differences between the self and the other is often not healthy. Tribalism, Sapolsky notes, is oh-so-easy. He says: “The easiest symbols that we grab on to in deciding if someone is an “us” or a “them” are visceral ones. Being disgusted by someone’s personal behavior—the way “they” do stuff—is a much easier entrée to hating them than disagreeing with their views on the trade deficit. Primates are hard-wired for us/them dichotomies. Our brains detect them in less than 100 milliseconds. Our views about things are driven by implicit (unconscious) processes.”

Gosh, that leaves one with a negative feeling. As Sapolsky puts it: “It’s depressing as hell.” That it is.

Here are some quotations to increase well-being by seeing commonalities, others’ perspectives, and being forgiving and humble – basically, optimism and positive thinking before judging:

“We spend so much time talking and judging what we think we know. . . We need to ask more questions and spend more time listening. Really listening, not just waiting for our turn to talk or be thinking the whole time how we are right and they are wrong. We also need to shift our mindset and see things from other people’s perspectives. Really appreciate and respect their perspective, not just be thinking how our’s is morally superior. We need to give more than we get in all interactions with others. Live to serve and to help make a difference in other’s lives. In short, leave this life better than we found it.” ~ Robert L. Lloyd

“All too often, visions of virtue or decency have been invoked to brand as immoral and dangerous anyone who is different. Such aggressive moral dogmatism — which, it is worth stressing, can occur on both the political right and left — is one of the greatest enemies of human dignity.” ~ Elizabeth Kiss

“Judging others takes a great deal of energy and, without exception, pulls you away from where you want to be.” ~ Richard Carlson

  Mindfulness

The GGSC has this to say about this slightly-elusive value: “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.”

Once you get your head around it, practices that lead to greater mindfulness — including but not limited to meditation — you can benefit from the positive effects on the human brain. Here is what my old friend Laurent Grenier, an author who found some interesting ways of dealing with his quadrapalegia, counsels:

“If you lead a happy life, of which you may be to some degree unmindful, never let a day pass without reflecting on the life of misery you could be leading instead. Imagine having lost everything and everyone you love. You will be happier for the realization that you are spared this misery.” Hard to do, but good advice. A good movie can help, I think.

Here are some quotes on this fascinating skill that will surely lead to greater relaxation, health, and well-being (and who knows, perhaps happiness and success):

“Practicing mindfulness over time reveals and develops the qualities of wisdom and compassion, the twin virtues of the discipline. Wisdom means seeing clearly into the fundamental nature of reality. Through meditative practice, we can deeply recognize the eternal arising and passing away of all phenomena and see the unsatisfactory quality of ordinary human experience that derives from the illusion of the self as an entity separate from the rest of reality.” ~ Mark W. Muesse

“Each moment of the year has its own beauty, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Research has suggested that in a few short weeks, mindfulness meditation practice can bring about physiological, psychological, and social benefits in our lives. From increases in gray matter in the brain to alleviating physical ailments such as migraines and fibromyalgia, the benefits of mindfulness and meditation practice more generally have been touted for everyone ranging from executives to schoolchildren.” ~ Hooria Jazaieri

  Compassion

Next among values and phenomena that can lead to more well-being in the lives of aware individuals is this “suffering together.” Compassion is a deep empathy, a lovingness, a true caring. “While empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person, compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. Altruism, in turn, is the kind, selfless behavior often prompted by feelings of compassion, though one can feel compassion without acting on it, and altruism isn’t always motivated by compassion,” the GGSC points out.

As usual, when trying to figure out exactly what a particular value or virtue really means, I look to a wide array of diverse quotations to elucidate the concept. That is what Values of the Wise is all about.

Quotations about compassion:

“With compassion, we see benevolently our own human condition and the condition of our fellow beings. We drop prejudice. We withhold judgment.” ~ Christina Baldwin

“The Good Samaritan story illustrates altruism. Filled with compassion, he is motivated to give a stranger time, energy, and money while expecting neither repayment nor appreciation.” ~ David G. Myers and Jean M. Twenge

“We humans have the capacity to change the world with acts of love and kindness. Let’s start by teaching our children the importance of compassion.” ~ Goldie Hawn

  Industriousness

A Buddhist proverb counsels, “If we are facing the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” You may have also heard the oft-quoted, “Idle hands [or an idle mind] are the devil’s workshop.” If you’ve ever watched/read “Little House on the Prairie,” you know how deeply-ingrained hard work, discipline, industriousness, and persistence are in the American ethos. We work too hard now, considering how much of a cut of the profit workers receive, and considering that famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith predicted in the 1940s or 1950s that by 2000, we should be working less than twenty hours a week due to the awesome increase in technological capacity.

Well, a short workweek may not have come to pass, and America may be one of the hardest-working, most sober/religious of nations, but it still is a virtue — and one that can lead to well-being, contentment, and prosperity. Once one gets to about $75,000, happiness levels out, but up to that point, it is hard to be happy in the modern world if one is deprived, poor, or otherwise harried.

Industry vs. inferiority is a key milestone in human psychological development according to prominent developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson. As Lumenlearning.com points out, “During the elementary school stage (ages 6–12), children face the task of industry vs. inferiority. Children begin to compare themselves with their peers to see how they measure up. They either develop a sense of pride and accomplishment in their schoolwork, sports, social activities, and family life, or they feel inferior and inadequate because they feel that they don’t measure up. If children do not learn to get along with others or have negative experiences at home or with peers, an inferiority complex might develop into adolescence and adulthood.”

My sister is exemplary of effort and striving. She is actively a daughter, wife, mother of three, business owner, and reads and shares information passionately. She really gets a charge out of this lifestyle, and productivity is the result. I admire someone who finds one or more avocations and pursues them indefatigably — even in the absence of pay or a mandate. Indeed, as the quintessentially-American proverb has it, “People may get more tired by standing still than going on.”

Here are a few quotations about industriousness, effort, productivity, and dedication:

“Americans have shifted away from an energetic, purpose-driven, higher-order pursuit of value, and are instead moving toward security, insulationism, materialism and minimum-commitment thinking. Rather than building upon our history of sacrificial innovation and difficult labor, regardless of immediate or tangible personal benefits, many Americans are seizing our economic prosperity as an opportunity to slack off and opt for personal leisure, [and] short-sighted consumerism….” ~ Joseph Sunde

“Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”~ Voltaire

“No ethic is as ethical as the work ethic.” ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

  Empathy

Yet another key to well-being is empathy. The GGSC indicates that “[e]mpathy seems to have deep roots in our brains and bodies, and in our evolutionary history. Elementary forms of empathy have been observed in our primate relatives, in dogs, and even in rats. Empathy has been associated with two different pathways in the brain, and scientists have speculated that some aspects of empathy can be traced to mirror neurons, cells in the brain that fire when we observe someone else perform an action in much the same way that they would fire if we performed that action ourselves.”

Take David Brooks’ advice and don’t confuse empathy with rationality: “People without social emotions like empathy are not objective decision-makers. They are sociopaths who sometimes end up on death row.”

Here are three unique perspectives on empathy from three disparate individuals:

“Don’t judge anyone harshly until you have been through his experiences.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“To separate egoistic distress reduction from empathy-based altruism, Daniel Batson’s research group conducted studies that aroused empathy. Then the researchers noted whether the aroused people would reduce their own distress by escaping the situation or whether they would go out of their way to aid the person. The results were consistent: with their empathy aroused, people usually helped.” ~ David G. Myers and Jean M. Twenge

“Wealthy Christians talk about the poor but have no friends who are poor. So they merely speculate on the reasons for their condition, often placing the blame on the poor themselves.” ~ Jim Wallis

  Forgiveness

This beautiful and difficult virtue is one of humanity’s highest levels of achievement. Well-being is inextricably tied to the emotional grudges one holds, I’m afraid (I say that because I feel justice more easily than I feel forgiveness). But, it’s true. It’s tied to psychological well-being, heart health, and optimism. In fact, hostility and it’s ugly little brother cortisol is/are one of the main psychological predictors of heart disease!

Berkeley’s GGSC has this to say: “Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. Just as important as defining what forgiveness is, though, is understanding what forgiveness is not. Experts who study or teach forgiveness make clear that when you forgive, you do not gloss over or deny the seriousness of an offense against you.”

Alan Scott puts this virtue in this light: “I think there is a human condition where many people assume that if we forgive others for the wrongs they do to us (or those close to us) that we are, in a sense, letting them off the hook when perhaps they should be punished. The offender gets to go on their merry way through life, while we are still suffering because of their actions. I almost felt like if I forgave someone, then I was condoning the wrong that they did! Not so. Forgiveness is a necessity for us, not vengeance. God is the true judge, not us.”

I may not see it as a God thing, but I do see the psychological research point to the benefits of forgiveness when it comes to mental health and a flourishing life.

“You hold too much anger inside. It poisons you. Do you want to carry so much pain into your next life? …You must forgive. You must let go of your pain. You must let go of your anger.” Those are the wise words of the Chinese healer who tries to get Michael Keaton’s knotted-up and angry guy character to relax before his cancer kills him. It’s a fascinating scene in a fascinating movie called My Life.

Here are some quotations about forgiveness as a virtue:

“The greater you are, the more you must practice humility.” ~ Ben Sira

“So many of us hold on to little resentments that may have stemmed from an argument, a misunderstanding, the way we were raised, or some other painful event. Stubbornly, we wait for someone else to reach out to us — believing that this is the only way we can forgive or rekindle a friendship or family relationship.” ~ Richard Carlson

If one by one we counted people out For the least sin, it wouldn’t take us long To get so we had no one left to live with. For to be social is to be forgiving. ~ Robert Frost

  Generosity

If there is one important thing my mom has taught me through deed and words, it is generosity. She gives, gives, gives. This doesn’t mean that she is a saint, but it does mean that she gets a great feeling from what she perceives as one of her true callings: to make a positive difference in others, in society, and in the world. She puts her money where her mouth is, as it were. I have seen a very compelling correlation in her between happiness and generosity. It’s a thing:

As Amanda L. Chan points out in this article, “Giving of yourself — whether it be your time, energy or money — isn’t just a boon to those you’re helping. A wealth of research shows that generosity can also have benefits for the giver, ranging from a better outlook at your job, to more years of life.” So give of yourself — your time, your money, your energy, your advice. Mentorship, volunteering, and charity are true ways to greater happiness, well-being, and meaning in life.

Don’t feel bad if you get a charge out of helping others and giving of yourself. That is how the brain evolved — we find certain things rewarding, such as food, sex, competition, and helping behavior. Feel good if you help another person; you deserve it! You could have ignored their need. The warm glow of givingness is something to cherish, not spurn.

Three other succinct quotes about generosity:

“One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world.” ~ Ann Radcliffe

“I’ve never known any human being, high or humble, who ever regretted, when nearing life’s end, having done kindly deeds. But I have known more than one millionaire who became haunted by the realization that they had led selfish lives.” ~ B. C. Forbes

“To do good without ulterior motive is a generous and almost divine thing in itself.” ~ Francesco Guicciardini

  Social Integration

Last, but certainly not least, social integration. Social interaction, social relatedness, inclusion, relationships – whatever you want to call it. It’s good. I should know; I have been terribly lonely and felt like a bit of an odd bird in some significant periods of my life. For a while there, I was on Prozac, living alone, doing my thesis on suicide, smoking marijuana, and wondering if life was worth living. Needless to say, I saw more of my therapist than I did women on dates. I just wasn’t in the zone, and my mental issues led to my social isolation, and my social isolation fed my mental issues. I sort of felt inferior to others; unliked; and yet superior to most others. It was quite a quandary.

Science is clear on this topic: human beings are social creatures, and though we do need some individuality and alone time, the feeling that we are alone, different, unworthy is only pernicious. It can lead to suicide, substance abuse, studying philosophy (!), and depression. Anomie is a unique version of this that has been described for some time in sociology. Yes, pets are good and helpful!

Yes, I am now married and even recently bit the bullet and started attending the local Unitarian Church! I have pets I am very fond of, I write every day, take classes, and exercise and fish oil!

On this page, Juliana Breines asks whether some social ties are better than others when it comes to contributing to well-being. She writes: “There’s no question that the digital age has changed the way we relate to one another, sometimes to our detriment, as MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle has argued in her book Alone Together. Though many of us can count Facebook friends into the thousands, research suggests that loneliness is rampant in the United States—we have fewer close friends than we did a generation ago—and takes a severe toll on our health.”

Here are some quotes about social connectedness as related to well-being. The Wisdom Archive holds other quotes about social relatedness, integration, affiliation, and connectedness, and is searchable for free.

“To the extent that we can characterize evolution as designing our modern brains, this is what our brains were wired for: reaching out to and interacting with others.” ~ Matthew Lieberman

“Social situations do profoundly influence individuals. But individuals also influence social situations. The two interact. Asking whether external situations or inner dispositions determine behavior is like asking whether length or width determine a room’s area.” ~ David G. Meyers and Jean M. Twenge

“Humans are a profoundly social species; our drive to connect with others is embedded in our biology and evolutionary history. It begins at birth, in our relationship with our caregiver—and the effects of this relationship seem to reverberate throughout our lives. When we’re cared for as children, we’re more likely to have healthy, secure attachments as we get older.” (the Greater Good Science Center)

  I wish well-being, peace, and happiness for you. I will leave you with these:

I believe in courtesy, in kindness, in generosity, in good cheer, in friendship and in honest competition. I believe there is something doing somewhere, for every man ready to do it. I believe I’m ready, RIGHT NOW. ~ Elbert Hubbard

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. ~ Mark Twain

Optimism has an important place in some, thought not all, realms of your life. It is not a panacea. But it can protect you against depression; it can raise your level of achievement; it can enhance your physical well-being; it is a far more pleasant mental state to be in. ~ Martin E. P. Seligman

Dave Navarro Puts Mental Health & Suicide in the Spotlight with Benefit Concert

#key to happiness #quotes #well-being #wisdom

[periodicreviews]

Orchestras and Backing Tracks

Last week, at the very last minute I learned that an orchestra would be playing songs from Final Fantasy XV at PAX East in Boston on that upcoming Friday. So I did what any sane person would do. I paid too much for a plane ticket, left work at 12pm and made it into a seat in the auditorium at 8pm. The orchestra was great and not just because I feel obligated to say that due to the amount of money it cost.

But, it reminded me of a post I started to write but never finished about the use of backing tracks during orchestral performances. Everyone uses them, but when do they start to hurt rather than help?

Specifically, this is going to reference the Video Games Live on 5/18/2014 versus 3/23/18, “Star Trek The Ultimate Voyage” 50th Anniversary concert on 1/22/2016, and the Video Game Orchestra performance at PAX East 2018 on 4/6/18.

Video Games Live

After seeing Video Games Live for the first time in May 2014, it started my “obsession” with these concerts featuring music from movies/video games. I had an amazing time at that show, not just because I had wanted to see Video Games Live for quite some time, but also because of the energy of the crowd and the quality of the orchestra which if I remember correctly was the Orlando Philharmonic. The general format of all of these concerts is that the orchestra plays the main theme or a medley of themes while video of gameplay or cutscenes plays along on a screen. After this show I went on to see the Star Trek, Pixar, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, and Zelda themed concerts, but whenever the topic of orchestra concerts would come up, I would always tell people “The others are good, but Video Games Live is the best.”

3 years passed and I’d sufficiently hyped myself up for a repeat of the same level of greatness for the 2018 show. But unfortunately, it fell very short. When the orchestra walked on stage, I could immediately tell there was a problem. The stage wasn’t filled with a full orchestra like last time and there were probably on 20-25 players. The number of players isn’t necessarily the issue, but the fact that it was different got me wondering what had happened. Later on, Tommy Tallarico, the guy who runs it all/plays guitar in the shows, introduced them generically as fantastic players from Central Florida. Maybe scheduling prevented them from getting a full orchestra like the Orlando Philharmonic again.

This isn’t necessarily an attack on freelance musicians since I’ve seen orchestras where there has been a great ensemble of non-related musicians. But it did seem like a few of the players weren’t masters of their craft since I swear that I heard a few incorrect notes during the night. Not that that also doesn’t happen in large orchestras, but at least with a larger number of players, it’s harder to hear those mistakes.

Another issue was the fact that on the screens, in between showing gameplay footage, they showed closeups of various instruments being played. At first, I assumed there were multiple cameras but then I realized that the lighting in the videos didn’t match what I was seeing in real life. This footage was from a completely different performance in another time and place. I’m assuming this footage was being used to create the feeling of a larger orchestra, but the result was that it highlighted just how empty the stage in front of me was. I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was being actively deceived and at that point I couldn’t care less about the rest of the performance.

I said the point of this post was about backing tracks, so let me finally get around to discussing that too. I’m aware that just about everyone uses backing tracks. It’s physically impossible for someone like Michael Jackson to dance all night long and *still* have enough lung capacity/composure to hit every note perfectly like you hear it on the album. They’re also helpful when it’s hard to reproduce an array of sound effects and post production effects, such as the intro to Metallica’s “Blackened” which features a recording of a guitar being played in reverse or “One” which features bombs/gunshots. In the case of the Video Games Live 2018 performance, it felt like just another layer of the deception.

Either on accident or on purpose, the backing track was so prominent in the mix, that it was not accurate to call it backing but rather leading.  For some tracks, like the Metal Gear Solid 2 theme, the lack of synthesizers on stage required them to be played through the use of the backing track. But for other pieces, it felt like the orchestra on stage wasn’t even playing and that I was just listening to the .mp3 file. It felt like they were playing this backing track so loud to make up for the lack of musicians on stage. At that point, what honestly is the point of seeing the orchestra live? I can listen to the mp3 file any time I want to, but I’m paying extra money to experience it played live.

It wasn’t all terrible though. The truly standout moment of the night was the accordion player they brought on stage to play various covers, seemingly from memory. It felt like I was seeing something original and not being deceived at all. He also took requests from the fans to play something from Suidoken which had the most requests on the Facebook event page.

I want to note as a disclaimer that I attended this with a group of friends and everyone else seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience, since they were all seeing it for the first time. The guy in the row behind me seemed to have the time of his life as he was screaming the whole night.

 Star Trek Orchestra

Video Games Live 2018 wasn’t my first experience with the feeling of being deceived. That honor goes to the “Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage” concert.

Given my experience at previous concerts, I expected 6 segments with one for each crew. Although there was indeed a segment for each, they were interspersed between themed segments. There was a montage of Klingons, from TOS to Into Darkness. There was a montage of all the alien races, from TOS to Into Darkness. Followed by others about family, risk, love, etc. These themed segments would’ve been fine, but I felt the editing could’ve been better. I wish I had noted a specific example at the time but I’ve since forgotten it.

Another problem with these Star Trek montage segments, was that the music they used was the main theme from each series. So when I saw the theme for Voyager playing with clips from TOS and Enterprise, it felt very jarring. Depending on how you watched the series, you may or may not have sat through the opening theme for every episode. But let's say you did. I would argue that the opening theme for each series has a dual role. To begin with, it's composed with the crew and the direction of the series in mind. Then over time, you began to associate the story of the series with that particular music. It’s hard to associate the music with anything else after watching 50+ episodes.

I do respect that for the segments dedicated to each particular series, they would just let the scene play out in full while the orchestra accompanied it. There was a scene with Janeway on Voyager from the “Year of Hell” and another where Picard played his flute solo. I also respect that for these series specific pieces, they went in chronological order from TOS to Enterprise.

If I were doing this show, I would've kept the chronological ordering. But before showing a scene in full I would use an extended form of the main theme over a montage of clips from that specific series laying out the premise and the characters, perhaps with dialogue from the various characters. At the end of the show, maybe I would do a big montage with clips from all the shows and movies.

Again, I digress because this post is supposed to be about backing tracks and not why I regretted my purchases. When the orchestra first started playing, I thought it sounded weird for some reason but I couldn’t pinpoint what was weird about it. I’d been to Dr. Phillips Center for other orchestras and it sounded different from those other times. At one point, the audio and video stuttered for a second and you could hear the backing track drop out.

I realized that the backing track was making the orchestra sound fuller than it actually was and with the secret revealed, I couldn’t shake the feeling of deception. My assumption was that the backing track was being used because of the massive “bridge” set on stage that limited the number of performers they could fit. Personally, I could care less about set decoration. It looked nice, but wasn’t worth the cost of a degraded performance. And especially for a series that doesn’t require strange synthesizers or sound effects, the backing track felt unnecessary.

 FFXV Video Games Orchestra

Before the various fixes to the story/DLC, I had told many people my favorite parts of Final Fantasy XV were the music and the combat (things which had been refined over 10 years, unlike the story which only came together at the end). The soundtrack has some great battle themes and some great emotional themes that really enhance the game as a whole. Previously, a live performance of FFXV songs from Abbey Road Studios had been streamed by Square Enix. They also later performed two piano concerts in Japan which I have yet to hear. I also attended Final Fantasy: A New World and Distant Worlds, each of which played only a single track from the games, “Safe Haven” and “Apocalpysis Noctis”. But I needed more.

The XV concert featured a small 10-15 orchestra with a band composed of keyboard, drums, guitar, bass, synthesizers, and 4 vocalists. The performance was great not just because of the quality of the musicians, but because of the energy of the performers. I enjoyed they all got their chance for a small solo either within the tracks or during the “solo” segment. There was a good energy between the performers as they joked with each other and seemed to be having a great time. The orchestra itself seemed to be nothing formal, but just a collection of various players and that didn’t seem to affect the quality of the performance. That’s not to say Tommy Tallarico didn’t joke around with everyone during Video Games Live, but I think I was just hating it all at that point and no joke could bring it back.

“But Andrew, what about the backing track?” Right. So there indeed was a backing track, most prevalent during the intro to Veiled in Black. I was a little confused why the orchestra just didn’t play this intro part since they were all there just kind of sitting, but I guess they just made that decision for some reason. But besides that, the backing track remained in the background where it should be. The musicians on stage always seemed to be louder in the mix and it allowed them all to shine through. For some tracks like “Home Sweet Home”, it appeared they didn’t play a backing track at all, or it was just so quiet I couldn’t hear it. That track in particular is an emotional piece and the extra layer of originality/uniqueness from the live performance makes it just incredible. The other standout tracks were an original arrangement of Luna’s theme, an original arrangement of Noctis’s theme with vocals, and a super extended Chocobo theme with the incredible leader guitarist.

 In conclusion, if I’m paying to see it live, I want the backing track in the background and don’t try to deceive me. You’ll probably get away with it for 90% of the audience, but for that other 10% that has been to enough shows, they’re going to hate it.

#video games live #pax east #star trek #video game orchestra