#(and tons of synonyms of consider/think/hope/want)

[rigelmejo]

Listening to podcasts of people discussing something? is totally different than fictional audiobooks. Even if the podcasts are made for HSK 4-5 level, I am unable to understand SO many words. Even if once I look the words up and see the hanzi I realize I would have understood them if reading.

I am trying to practice more with discussion podcasts as I clearly am struggling to recognize words I know if they're used in a discussion context. I'm trying to figure out the best strategy for it. I tried relistening a few times, and that did help me understand more words. I tried looking up 20 words in a podcast episode, which probably helped, and made me realize many of the words I looked up were ones I would've recognized if reading.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

hi!! i'm pretty new to hypnosis mic and have found your blog through your manga translation archive a month ago. i genuinely admire your work and hope you feel well right now or will feel well. can you translate fighter's road at some point? thank you :D

Sure thing! Under a cut for length

I assume this was requested because the anon wants information on the various references and allusions in the song. So I'll keep to a literal slant (adding words when necessary to avoid confusion-inducing sentence fragments) and leave a metric shit ton of footnotes. Please note this is not an exhaustive list of allusions, particularly in terms of visuals.

Here's the video to follow along.

It is also helpful to know that each character is dressed like someone from classical Chinese epic Journey to the West. Gentarou is Sha Wujing, Dice is Zhu Baije, Ramuda is Sun Wukong, Jakurai is Tang Sanzang, and Doppo and Hifumi are collectively the White Dragon Horse.

Jakurai: And thus have I heard [1] the theory of evolution [2] is current once more! Your journey is not yet over--inside all that darkness, all that wickedness in your soul, there's still a chance to shape up. Better yourself! Spread your wings and fly to heaven! [3]

Hifumi: It's me, Gigolo, coming in like Ryuujin [4] swooping down from the skies. What time did you all get here? Say what? I don't understand a bit of it--your lame ninjutsu [5] is all nonsense to me! [6]

Doppo: One step, two steps, three--here comes the Doppo [7] horse. Yeah, that's right, tense up. Hey, where do you think you're going? Don't try to hide in the shadows, and watch out, because these hindquarters have a kick! [8] I've been through my fair share of battles [9], but you guys are just amateurs by comparison.

Gentarou: If you ask me, you're not worth our time[10]--just a few wannabe rappers bumbling around in the dark. [11] If you want to take us on before you're ready and get washed away by my flow [12], that's your prerogative. You're just an illusion that wouldn't exist without light. [13]

Dice: Here's some advice from Dice: I'm a rare breed [14]; I've got more luck and skill than I know what to do with. But you wouldn't know how to handle it. Sharing with you the thrills I seek is casting pearls before swine. [15] You're just acting tough when you've got no rap skill to speak of.

Ramuda: Waah, waah! [16] Who's crying now? This is just a minor monkey's obstacle [17] before my main goal. 'Cause life got in the way, and oopsy, I took a bit of a fall. [18] But now I've set off again. Yeah, I've had a few setbacks along the way, but I don't let it get me down! I keep on keeping on, and now I'm flying through the sky on my cloud! [19]

All: Catch this sick flow! Suffering and Buddhist training; to the east, west, and the east again. Fighter's road! [20] (Fighter's road) Fighter's road! (Fighter's road) A journey of the spirit through the power housed in words [21]; forging new paths. Fighter's road! (Fighter's road) Fighter's road! (Fighter's road)

As we encounter hardships along this road, we'll take each other's hands and keep going. Fighter's road! (Fighter's road) Fighter's road! (Fighter's road) Casting off our mud-stained clothes; you gotta understand that now there's a light worth fighting for on this fighter's road! (Fighter's road) Fighter's road!

Try this drop! [22]

[23]

[1] This is a common sutra opening.

[2] "evolution" is synonymous with growth, so less literally this is like "There's always room for growth!" The "theory" part is there for the rhyme.

[3] Not Christian heaven; consider it more like mystical divinity or the dwelling place of the gods.

[4] An ocean god.

[5] Come on, you've all seen Naruto, you should know what this is. Broad term for ninja moves. Hifumi's saying the opponent's "moves," maneuvers, or raps--I don't remember the context of this episode--suck ass.

[6] Literally "nenbutsu in our ears." An outrageous pun. "[Reciting the] nenbutsu, a Buddhist mantra, in a horse's ear" is a proverb similar to English's "casting pearls before swine"--the horse gets no value out of the nenbutsu. As Hifumi is currently in a horse costume, he's the referenced horse getting nothing out of the opposing team's raps.

[7] Kanji joke. Doppo's name also has the kanji for "step" in it.

[8] Again, please remember that Doppo is in the horse costume.

[9] Another outrageous pun. Literally "a thousand warriors and ten thousand horses" which, in this case, refers to someone who's "fought" a ton of metaphorical battles. Normally, one assumes this metaphorical veteran is fighting the thousand warriors, but perhaps Doppo's boasting of defeated ten thousand other pairs in horse costumes...

[10] Literally, "a kappa fart." This image should evoke a slight bubble in a river at most--the kappa is presumably underwater. Note that Gentarou sings this by a river.

[11] Referencing the previous verse's bit about hiding in the shadows. Also, ninjas. But not good ninjas, because these ninja-rappers are lost in the darkness.

[12] Also being washed away literally by the river. I am making an assumption that he means "by my [rap's] flow" based on both the chorus and basic word association. The word used for "washed away" here is actually a noun containing the noun for "flow," so virtually any Japanese reader will put two-and-two together.

[13] This is partially just for the rhyme/"yooo Gentarou said the i-word" factor, but it's also going back to the idea of ninjas and shadows. A shadow can't be cast without light kind of vibes.

[14] The word he uses here is partially just for rhyme and partially to evoke the image of an exotic or mythical animal.

[15] Literally. This is a proverb Japanese borrows from English, and as such it usually has a more Western feel than would be appropriate for this song. But it rhymes, and pearl is one of the Eight Treasures and often included in lists of "traditionally Eastern" gemstones. So it still fits. In this part of the video, you can see the other team trapped in pearls.

[16] Yet another outrageous pun. Ramuda--who, again, is dressed like Sun Wukong or the monkey king--spells his crying noises with the kanji for monkey.

[17] More puns. A "monkey's obstacle" is the name of a mushroom, although the mushroom's name means "a monkey's seat."

[18] Right before he falls, he references a nursery rhyme about that same mushroom mentioned above: Monkey's seat/Sit down!/Sit down now!/The monkey plops down with a/BUMP! Ramuda brings it up here to tie into him falling down, ie. having a setback, and also to reinforce the monkey angle.

[19] In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong learns how to somersault from cloud to cloud to cover huge distances very quickly. This is usually depicted in art as cloud(s) carrying him. In the video, Ramuda's got... a skateboard...? reminiscent of his staff. Sun Wukong's staff flies too, although turning into a flying skateboard is a new trick haha.

[20] It's fair to assume "fighter's road" should evoke the image of a literal road and also a tao in the sense of a way of living or being.

[21] Kotodama is the concept that certain words or phrases contain magical or spiritual power. Hypmic references this constantly to refer to the force the mics imbue in their raps or, occasionally, the figurative power of words to effect major change.

[22] Drop of...what? Outside of Ramuda's usual association with the word "drops," the video shows him blowing a hair to make lots of little flying Ramuda clones. This is one of Sun Wukong's many powers. So... drop of hair? Drop of spit? (Sun Wukong sometimes spits on the hairs.) Given the shot just before this and the importance of light/shadow imagery in this song, I could also see an argument for a "drop" of light. Light is usually treated as a liquid in Japanese imagery.

"Try this" should be more like "Take that!" or "Try this on for size."

[23] The anime version of the song ends here, but it looks like there a few more choruses in the full version. Most of it repeats what's said elsewhere in the song, but the new text is as follows:

Searching for the true purest of hearts, come on!

Let me hear your voices, yo! Come on, brothers!

Posse! Matenrou! We've still got it in us to walk the rest of this road!

A pox upon uta-net.com for not letting me copy/paste those...

[lovecrimeagh]

okay look I need to get something off my chest and I really hope you understand and won't hate me but like.. idk I might end up regretting I said it but I feel like if i don't, then any good relations I have on here are kinda "built on lies" and I feel fake and guilty, so. please don't take it in a bad way, I'm not trying to offend anyone or like hint at anything, just opening up here.

I do use ai. NOT to make it write MY fics or edit them. I'd ask for synonyms or stuff like "how is it called when does this and that" bc I know there's a proper name for it but I can't formulate a search like that, or at most a couple times I tried to ask what's wrong with my work mainly in general without having it change the actual thing but I don't remember fully, I just mean- if it did generate a different version, I'd just consider some direction if it seems to make sense, NOT copy it and call it mine. I'd be absolutely happy to talk about it to a person instead but I just don't really have anyone who would really want to and I don't want to be annoying.

I literally feel so guilty to use like, a phrase that chatgpt made bc it's from ai, so I don't. or if I did, I'd feel the need to specifically disclose it which would be kinda dumb and again, people won't like it, and I'd also feel like it's stolen and bad because it's hated so much. though everyone can use smth small like that which they saw on the Internet and that's fine, with this the guilt absolutely kills me.

mainly I use it for my own stupid entertainment because I need stupid hurt/comfort to survive, like to have something soft to read in bed, and to have it anytime about anything I want. yeah, apparently that's bad and I get where you're coming from, but this gets me through things, and I'm NOT posting or using anything it makes and claiming it as made by me.

yes, of course I read fics and they're amazing, and yes I'm trying to write my own but there's very little of exactly my type of thing out there and I wouldn't be reading my own fic all the time (especially with the way I write 2 sentences in a week🙏) but, I know that sounds stupid, but I just need to have some h/c available this bad so that there's always something to save me, whatever is going on, yes, I'm sad and greedy

I ask about nuanced stuff that wouldn't work in a search, or things I know too little about to get some direction, or when I don't have time, or well, to cheat in uni with stuff I won't need in life anyway. because. it is faster and easier, yeah, that's all there is to it. I have limited free time and energy and I want to have it for something more valuable than going through tons of sites to decide on smth and getting a headache and feeling depressed bc I struggle with making choices, and to have something explain stuff in a human-like way, even if not 100% correct, simply makes it easier emotionally.

another part of it is that I barely have anyone to talk to. and I guess I'll have even less when you see this but I feel like a total liar if I don't, like, confess. but yeah, if there's a topic none of the ppl who would talk to me can and want to discuss/help with, which is.. many topics sadly, and it bothers me, then what I have left is try with the program that "understands" me (and doesn't judge or tell anyone or whatever. I know that's fucked up bc it isn't a person but it feels like a safe space, I'm not close enough with anyone really to open up about everything, but eh..I wish I was) and often enough it's simply to comfort myself.

I'll be honest, I don't fully get the AI hate, I understand the big problem with its "art" and plagiarism and commercial shit, but in terms of completely personal use, overall it's..just an LLM program, a tool?..like, it depends on what you do with it, but because so many are against it, I feel like it's- the right thing? to let them know, I guess

I don't want to make discourse, I'm not trying to insult those who are fully against AI either, this is just what I think.

if you want, hate me. it'll make sense, and yes I could just not say this but I felt the need to confess and be honest, and then what happens, happens. of course I hope you won't hate me, I like you all, I want to be friends. but if say I were friends with someone and they hate AI and I don't tell them I use it.. I'd regularly feel fake and guilty like I'm betraying them or try to stop using it and struggle, and still feel guilty bc I used it before. I'd often personally tell ppl about it when we start talking just to make sure it isn't a problem or to let them stop talking to me right away if it is because then it's not as painful. idk how rational this is, but well, here you go

[fluentmoviequoter]

Hello!! :3

Just binge read all your Victor Vale works and I'm in love istg. Was wondering if you would wanna do a slightly longer one shot about Victor being really stressed and accidentally lashing out in his sleep and reader calming him down??

Wow, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed them! I wasn't sure how long you wanted it but I hope this is long enough. This is a great plot and I had a ton of fun writing it! I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Warnings: spoilers for Vicious and Vengeful, angst, fluff, canon typical violence/action/danger, brief mention of torture, Victor gets touchy toward the end.

Word Count: 6k+ words (my longest yet!)

Picture from Pinterest

A Comforting Touch

✯3 Months Ago, After Midnight✯

“Scintillating isn’t it?” you ask the man beside you.

He flips his newspaper down, revealing pale skin and intense eyes glaring at you. “What?” he asks.

“The story,” you answer, pointing to the newspaper. “From a hero to a murderer that fast. As if we couldn’t tell from his stupid smile and stupider mask that he was a psycho.”

“Who are we talking about?”

“Eli Ever, the guy in the story you’re reading. Wait, can you read? Or do you just sit behind a newspaper in a black trench coat to look smarter?” you tease, smiling over your cup.

“How long have you been in Merit?” he asks, changing the subject.

“Long enough to know that he wasn’t what he seemed and disappeared frighteningly soon after you arrived.”

“Frighteningly? Then why are you talking to me?”

 “Frightening is not synonymous with uninteresting, my friend.”

His brows draw together as he studies you, a scrutinizing eye traveling up and down your frame and then searching your face.

“You like what you see or is this a Clark Kent x-ray vision thing? Searching my brain for my true intentions, yeah?”

“How much do you know?”

“Let’s just say, Eli Cardale’s research may be a little more widely studied after what he did. I’m sure you know more than anyone since you’re supposed to be dead and he’s rotting in prison for your murder.”

He drops the paper to the table and cocks his head at you. “I’m Victor.”

“And you want me to come with because you’re scared I’ll talk?”

“Something like that.”

✯Present Day✯

“Stop that,” you demand as Victor tosses a dry Sharpie in the trash.

Victor’s hand falters as he reaches for another one, considering listening to you before he uncaps it and continues editing.

“Victor, stop. Seriously,” you repeat, moving closer to him.

When he doesn’t, you reach past him and snatch the marker out of his hand. He turns toward you, his anger leaking out.

“What are you doing?” he snaps.

You point to the television, and his face drops as he reads the breaking news line. Increasing the volume, he avoids looking at you as the reporter speaks.

“The police were praised for their efforts in dismantling the murderous cult operating under the title of ‘EON,’ but that praise is now gone. With the recent discovery of several bodies bearing typical EON torture markings, the government fears that the group, or a new community operating similarly, is acting in our city. More on this story at 6,” the reporter finishes.

Victor clicks the remote, and the screen goes black. He begins pacing, ignorant of your requests to talk to him.

“Victor!” you yell, stepping in front of him.

“Move. This doesn’t concern you.”

“It does now. You going out there? That concerns me. You taking Sydney out there? Also concerns me. So, talk to me,” you respond, stepping toward him.

“You don’t know everything. EON isn’t a threat to you, but it is to us. You’re a liability now,” he seethes.

“Which is my choice,” you argue, still in his face. “Like it or not, I’m here and I’m invested, so get over yourself and talk to me. Let me help.”

“No.”

“Fine. Then I’ll just go. If I’m a liability here, what am I out there? Oh, that’s right, dead.”

Victor’s nostrils flare, nearly unnoticeable. He drops his head toward you.

“You’re brave, but don’t expect me to stay close enough to save you all the time.”

“Oh, I’d never expect that of you.”

You step back and spin on your heel before returning to your room. Sydney passes you in the hallway and can tell by the look in your eye that Victor crossed a line. Which isn’t unusual, she supposes.

“What did you do?” she asks when she sees Victor.

“Nothing.”

“Maybe that’s the problem then.”

Victor agreed to let you tag along because you have a knack for connecting dots that seem unconnected. You know things you shouldn’t and find things too fast. He’s also simultaneously impressed and intimated by your willingness to fight him when he could kill you with a glance. You have no power or protection aside from him, yet you rush into danger with no regard for yourself. Yes, you’re brave but reckless, and when you are not near him, Victor can’t keep you safe.

“EON is back, so she’s not really top of the list right now,” Victor explains, retrieving his stolen marker.

“So? We left Merit and everyone thinks you’re dead. We’re not in danger,” Sydney points out.

“Not right now. But these people aren’t going to give up. Someone knows you’re out there, Mitch is still an escaped convict, record or not, and it’s only a matter of time. We need to find them before they even think to find us.”

“Hurt them first,” Sydney quotes. “But don’t hurt the people closest to you in the process, Vic.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Based on Victor’s calculations, there isn’t much time until EON realizes Sydney is still out there because Eli knew she was. Then, they’ll look for him and eventually figure out that he and his cellmate, Mitch, escaped from prison together before the event in Merit. Several sleepless nights have brought him no closer to finding EON, but now Victor has a new concern. Someone is following them, and he thinks he knows who.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Where was EON before?” you ask.

Mitch answers the question while Victor grumbles something under his breath.

“They didn’t dump bodies, though. So if this new EON or copycats, whatever they are, do dump bodies when they’re done… what makes you sure that it’s EON and not just a serial killer?” you pose.

Mitch tilts his head as he says, “That’s not a bad theory. Without an autopsy report, we can’t know if the torture was the same as EON.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Victor snaps. “EON never tortured EOs exactly the same. Until they found your power, yes, but then it got specific.”

“What about the people who died before they found any powers, or which hopefully didn’t happen, they were wrong, and it was just an ordinary person? Wouldn’t they have identical markings in that case.”

“Or maybe someone reincarnated Jack the Ripper, I get what you’re saying but it’s not helpful,” Victor says.

You nod once at Mitch and round the corner to stand beside him. He has two autopsy reports open, one that has been directly linked to EON and one of the recent victims. Two matching marks are present: a small letter and a number carved into the skin of the victim’s inner wrists. One has an E and 2, the other F and 4.

“Victor?” you ask carefully. “Did Eli have a mark on him before he died? Like a number or word or anything?”

“Why does that matter?” Victor doesn’t look up from his project as he asks. “He’s dead.”

“I know, but if there was a marking or tattoo, anything that could make him stand out,” you trail off.

Victor sighs and curls his right hand into a fist. “I think so. The letter I, but it was lowercase.”

“No number?” you ask.

“Nope.”

“So, I would be…”

“Immortal, invincible?” Mitch suggests.

You nod, and Victor finally looks up.

“What are you saying?” he asks, impatient and irritated.

“EON was marking people with their power and a number,” Mitch answers.

“What’s the number?”

“Well, if Eli didn’t have one, that could mean something,” you point out.

“What are R and E? Those could help us determine what those numbers could mean,” Mitch suggests.

“Show me their files?” you request.

He navigates to all records for ‘E,’ formally known as Riley Garrick. You point to his medical records and then to a hospital report. The file contained a recorded resuscitation after Garrick was electrocuted and died on the table. They used an AED, another electric shock, to get his heart beating normally again.

“Electricity,” you say with Mitch.

“What about F?” you ask.

“Walter Knox,” Mitch reads. “Died and was brought back a few years ago. Death was caused by… freezing. He contracted hypothermia and succumbed before his body temp was brought up and his heart restarted.”

“How was he killed by EON?” you ask.

“Let’s see,” Mitch hums. “He… froze to death.”

“And E, or Garrick?”

“Electrocuted.”

“Then the numbers could be how many times they proved their powers worked before,” you suggest, trailing off again.

“Or how many times they reached the brink and came back, because of their powers, before they didn’t come back,” Victor adds. “It’s not a bad theory. Doesn’t help us find EON though, so congratulations on your waste of time.”

“It wasn’t a waste of time, Vic,” you argue. “Knowing what they’re doing, knowing how they’re doing it, is invaluable.”

“Then where are they?” he asks, looking up at you. “Even just a building type would be more helpful than this. Warehouse? Shipping container? You have no more information than before.”

“Not true. We know that this EON is doing the exact same thing as before. They are experimenting on EOs to find powers and test them to the limit. For all we know, they’re searching for the next Eli and don’t care how many people they kill to get there.”

Victor’s eyes narrow at you before he looks away again.

“You’re welcome,” you say under your breath.

“That’s a lot of information on a couple pictures,” Victor adds. “Makes you wonder how much of it is true and how you figured it out.”

Mitch rolls his eyes, and you shrug before walking out, wondering why Victor is so cranky.

✯✯✯✯✯

“She knows. That’s why she’s right. And you know how she knows? Because she was there, they told her, and now she’s just waiting to lead them to you. You know someone is following you, Vic. Ask yourself when that started, how she got into your life. She’s coming for you.”

Victor wakes up, his skin tingling as pain emits from his body. He turns it off and sits back. It makes sense; you showed up just in time to deal with the return of EON, and you know so much. The dreams are distracting and causing his power to activate involuntarily, so Victor needs to find EON quickly and get the truth from you.

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor is snapping at you, Sydney, and Mitch more than usual. He’s always sarcastic and pushy, but it hasn’t been this bad in the past. 

“Victor?” you ask, stepping into his open bedroom door. “Can we talk?”

He looks up, wide-eyed until he gains control of his expression again. “Sure.”

“Are you okay? You seem really stressed and I hear you walking around at night, so I know you aren’t sleeping much. I’m just- I’m worried about you.”

“Why wouldn’t you be?” he mutters under his breath. “I’m fine,” he says to you. “Just having some trouble sleeping but nothing is wrong.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll sleep better after we find EON, right?” you ask with a small smile.

“Yeah.”

You nod and press your lips together before walking out. He’s not convincing, and you know something else is bothering Victor, but don’t know what. If it’s just EON causing problems, why isn’t he listening when you try to help?

Victor watches you leave and counts your steps to the end of the hall before yawning. He can’t hide the tiredness, but as long as you don’t pick up the stress and growing paranoia hiding beneath it, he’ll be okay. Victor Vale refuses to appear weak; he pushes everything under the surface until he has the answers he craves. Maybe the ghost in his dreams will also return to where it belongs.

✯✯✯✯✯

You begin working through the night, desperate to find answers, hoping it will help Victor. There’s a notebook on your nightstand half-full of possible locations for EON. Then you start wondering if they’re operating from one place or moving around to evade the police. Charting all the listed and possible locations on the map, you zoom out to look for a pattern and gasp as you see the last thing you expect. There is a pattern, and it's nearly complete. One more location and countless bodies, and EON will either be finished with their mission or just starting.

Getting out of bed, you walk to Mitch’s room and knock. He opens the door, and you see the light of his laptop behind him.

“We need to talk,” you say, walking in as he steps back.

He closes the door behind you, and you begin sharing everything you’ve learned.

“I don’t know if knowing where they are is enough, though,” you say.

“You want to know who and why?” Mitch guesses.

“It would be helpful. Otherwise, we’re going in blind. But we also don’t know how much time we’ve had. None of the dates match up, there’s different times between each body dump.”

“Did you check it for a pattern?” Mitch asks. “The locations mean something, right? Maybe the times do, too.”

You sit beside him and read dates as he types everything into a spreadsheet. The months don’t mean anything, and there’s no pattern, so you move on to compare the dates but come up empty there.

“Sorry, I thought there might be something here, too,” Mitch apologizes.

“Wait, Mitch, can you get the numbers for the days between the discoveries?” you ask. He presses a few keys, and a new list of numbers appears. “They’re all below 27,” you cheer.

“It’s a code,” Mitch whispers as he enters the number into a new text box.

The numbers disappear, replaced with letters, as a message is revealed.

“That’s… somehow worse than what I was expecting,” you admit.

“Should we tell Vic?” Mitch asks.

“He’s got enough on his plate.”

“You can’t deal with this alone.”

“Who said I was going alone?” you ask as you walk to the door. “Talk tomorrow, Mitch, thanks for the help.”

“How am I supposed to sleep after what I just read? How are you?”

“Drink some chocolate milk, Mitch. You’ll be alright.”

“And you?”

You shrug as you answer, “I ended up sitting beside Victor for a reason. Maybe this is it.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor hears your quiet knock against Mitch’s door before you enter, and the door closes again. He tries to eavesdrop but can only catch a few words. Victor hears something about a pattern, numbers, and going somewhere alone. He also hears that you’re not planning to tell him something. More secrets. Victor returns to his room when he hears you return to Mitch’s door. He knew you were hiding something, but you just confirmed it.

✯✯✯✯✯

Mitch makes breakfast the following morning, and you are the last to wake up and join everyone in the kitchen.

“How’d you sleep?” Mitch asks.

“How’d you sleep?” you parrot, smiling knowingly with dark circles under your eyes.

“Any news about EON?” Victor interjects, his dark circles far more pronounced than yours. He looks exhausted, and if he were younger or easier to convince, you’d force him to take a nap.

“Not much,” you answer. “Maybe you were right and I’m looking in the wrong area. There’s tons of circumstantial evidence but the police can’t do anything with that, so I probably can’t either.”

Victor can physically feel the stress coursing through his veins. His cortisol is trying to kick him into fight mode, but he tamps it down, like every other emotion he covers. He feels your eyes on him and glances over to see your furrowed brows and concerned look.

“Are you okay?” you ask quietly.

“Just as good as the last time you asked. If there’s something I want you to know, I’ll tell you,” Victor answers, plenty of bite to back his bark.

You nod. “Sorry. But I’m here when you’re ready.”

Sydney sees his eyes roll, and the muscles in his jaw tick, but you turn away and miss it. She knows, as well as you do, that he’s sleep-deprived and stressed, but he shouldn’t be taking it out on his team - his family. Maybe he could be convinced to save the stress, anger, and everything else he’s feeling to take on EON. You’d have to convince him, she thinks, because you’re the only one with any ability to get through to him. Whatever forges your connection and gives you some semblance of power against or over him seems to have dissipated with his constant jabs and stressed-out remarks.

Hopefully, it’s not too late. EON needs to be taken down, but not at the cost of Sydney’s family and your presence in her life.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Victor, I know you said to leave it alone, but please try to get some sleep. You’re working hard and we appreciate it more than you can know, but it’s killing you,” you plead.

“I’ll turn off the pain, it’ll be fine,” he argues.

“Then could you do it for me?” you ask, laying a hand on his arm. He flinches but doesn’t shy away from your touch, and a tiny glimmer of hope that you have a chance begins to flicker. “I need you to be okay.”

Victor licks his lips and then nods. “I’ll try.”

You close his door behind you and walk to the end of the hall before pulling your door closed. Victor knows every sound in this place, so you need to be careful about how you move and where you go. Sitting on the couch, you pull your notebook and Mitch’s laptop into your lap. The plan is set in place, and you look over it, preparing to leave. You set everything aside gently, then stand to take a few steps toward your room before turning. Listening closely, you don’t hear movement, so Victor must be asleep or trying to sleep. 

When you reach the door, you place your hand over the knob before falling to your knees.

The pain you’re experiencing is excruciating. Your body wants to give up and pass out, but you must get to Victor. Something is obviously wrong if he’s using his power on you. Mitch’s pained groan grows loud enough that you can hear it, and Sydney whimpers behind her closed door. Dol barks several times as you turn toward Victor’s room.

Beyond the pain, a force is pushing you away from Victor. As you fight to get near him, it feels like swimming against a strong current. Your concern for Victor begins overpowering your pain and fear, and you move as quickly as possible to reach him. When you open the door, he is tossing and turning, his sheets tangled around him as he breathes heavily. You say his name and place a hand on his shoulder before he opens his eyes, and the pain multiplies tenfold.

✯✯✯✯✯

“You know I’m right.”

“I know you’re a ghost,” Victor argues. “I watched you die, Eli.”

“Yet, Victor, here I am. EON is alive and well. It seems that the Eli Ever legacy lives on. If only to torture you.”

“Didn’t do enough of that at Lockland?”

Eli grabs Victor’s shirt and pushes him against a wall. Victor smiles as Eli’s face contorts in pain.

“She is on my side, and you know it.”

“No, I don’t. She’s been on my side since the beginning.”

“She knows too much, and she keeps secrets, Vic. Explain how that is being on your side.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Then ask. Or do what you’re doing now.”

“What I’m doing now?” 

 “Listen, Vic,” Eli whispers.

The air around Victor buzzes as Mitch’s groans and Sydney’s cries infiltrate the calm.

“No, no, no,” Victor repeats to himself.

“Keep this up and you’ll kill her. You have a strong connection to her, which means all of those emotions bottled up in here,” Eli says, pressing a finger over Victor’s heart, “are entering her as inescapable and incurable pain. Way to go, Vic. Angie and this one… you’re building quite the record.” He begins to fade as he adds, “And they called me a serial killer.”

Victor has to wake up. He tries everything until he sees your eyes and flinches back.

You fall back onto the floor, curling in against yourself. “Vic,” you whisper, tears breaking past your waterline.

Forcing yourself onto your knees, you kneel beside his bed and take his hand in both of yours.

“You have to calm down, Vic, it’s okay. Everything is okay,” you soothe him, even though it feels like your body is being ripped apart. “Focus on something else. Whatever happened, forget it. Take some deep breaths.”

You watch Victor’s chest rise and fall, but his eyes stay trained on you. Tracing shapes against his hand, you tell him about the walk you took Dol on last week as he breathes deeply.

His shoulders sag, and the pain disappears immediately, with no lasting aches or symptoms. You stand and reach for the water beside his bed, but he grabs your wrist and stops you. Victor leans forward, his forehead against your stomach, just below your sternum.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, breathing deeply as his hands grip your hips. He’s grounding himself, and you’re happy to let him.

“It’s okay, Vic. It’s over,” you reply quietly. “You scared me. I didn’t know what was happening, just that something was wrong with you.”

Victor shakes his head against your stomach, another apology. You hear footsteps in the hall outside and hear Mitch talking to Sydney.

“I- can you check on them?” Victor asks, looking up at you. His grip on you gently increases as he adds, “And come back?”

“Of course.”

You step out, pulling the door closed behind you. Mitch is in Sydney’s room, comforting her. When she sees you, she looks up with teary eyes and an arm wrapped around Dol.

“How are you feeling?” you ask, kneeling in front of her bed and patting Dol before you take Sydney's hand.

“Scared. Is he alright?” Sydney replies.

“He will be,” you promise, nodding as you look over at Mitch.

He nods once and then gestures toward Sydney, telling you he’ll stay with her while you deal with Victor.

“You’ll make it better, right?” Sydney asks. “He listens to you, and you can help him.”

“I’ll do everything I can, Sydney. I promise.”

You stand, and Mitch mouths, ‘Thank you’ as you step back. Nodding at him again, you pat his shoulder before returning to Victor’s room.

“You’ve been lying to me,” he accuses weakly when you step inside.

“Yes,” you admit, approaching him again.

He doesn’t hesitate to lean toward you and place his hands on you again, keeping you close as you explain.

“I didn’t want to stress you out more, or concern you, or, worse, if I was wrong, make you think you have to do it all alone. Because you don’t always seem to understand or appreciate that you aren’t alone anymore. You have Mitch and Sydney, and-“

“You?” Victor interrupts.

“If you still want me, you absolutely have me.”

“I do. So, what did you lie about?”

“I think I found EON. There was a hidden pattern in the locations of their body dumps. Assuming that they operate nearby, it should be easy to use the missing piece of the pattern to find them before they can kill again.”

“Where should the last location be?”

“An abandoned dock at the marina down south,” you answer. “Part of why I didn’t tell you is that I didn’t know when it would happen.”

“And Mitch?” You furrow your brows, and Victor clarifies, “I heard you go into his room. You found something, didn’t you?”

 “Yes. The dates of discovery, actually the number of days between them, were a code.”

“What kind of code?”

“It translated to a message. Once we read the message, we decided not to tell you because you were already so stressed.” You chuckle as you add, “I realize now that worked oppositely of intended. I made it worse and I’m sorry, Vic.”

“What did the message say?” Victor asks, silently accepting your apology as his finger dips under the hem of your shirt.

You lean into his touch as you answer, “Are you sure you want to know?”

Victor nods, and you press your lips together before telling him, “It was my name and a DOD.”

“A date of death? Yours?”

“Presumably. But it is tomorrow. So, I was going to go to the marina tonight to see if I could catch them off guard.”

“You were going to go alone?”

“I know it’s dumb and I would’ve gotten killed but I was just thinking about you and how I could help you.”

A small bolt of pain shoots through your side where Victor touches you.

“Sorry,” he says, smoothing his palm over the spot. “I just- your connection is different.”

“Is that why I felt like I was dying while Mitch just groaned a little?” you tease.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No, Vic, it’s alright. Now, though, I need you to get back in the game so we can take these new EON goons down.”

Victor nods, tugging you closer as he stands.

“I trust you,” he whispers. “You take the lead since you found everything else.”

“Thank you.”

Victor releases you to step back before asking, “What was the pattern?”

“Eli’s initials: EE. I guess his legacy is living on.”

“Wait,” Victor blurts. “I’ve been seeing him in my dreams. He said the same thing.”

“You’ve been seeing him? Since when?”

“Since we found out about the new EON. Every time he shows up, he tries to convince me that you’re working with them.”

“That’s why you’ve been so defensive. You didn’t want me close because you thought I was an EON spy,” you realize aloud.

“You did know too much,” Victor argues weakly.

“And you never stop to think, ‘Maybe she’s just that good, and that pretty, and that amazing-'“

Victor cuts you off, asking, “What do we do now, good, pretty, amazing leader?”

“You go show Sydney and Mitch that you’re alright and make sure they are, too, then we make a plan to get everyone in and out of the marina to defeat EON forever.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Victor drawls.

You rush out, smiling at his new attention. He trusts you; he’s proved that before, but knowing that you have a different connection is scary and exciting at the same time. Maybe you'll ask him more about that after tonight if your DOD is changed.

✯✯✯✯✯

With Victor’s full attention on you, not as someone he has to protect, but as an equal, you feel prepared to charge into EON and complete your goal. Sydney and Dol aren’t going, but Mitch is driving, and Victor will be inside with you, even if you can’t see him. The dark circles are still prevalent under Victor’s eyes, but the stress lines have nearly disappeared.

“And what if they find you before you want them to?” Mitch asks.

“I can handle them roughing me up. Either way, they’ll all come out and be in one spot for Victor to do his thing.”

Victor’s hand finds yours under the table, and you trace a few shapes onto it. His shoulders drop slightly, even as he argues, “There will be no roughing up. They might lay a finger on you, but I think I can spread the pain out enough that I can get any hidden EONs, too.”

“We don’t want to hurt any EOs,” you point out.

“I don’t think there will be any. That message was specific,” Mitch says.

Your eyes widen as Victor looks at you.

“What exactly did the message say, Mitch?” Victor asks.

“Her name, today’s date as her DOD, cause of death, and the total body count. That body count was only one higher than currently, so it’s just you, unfortunately.”

“What was the cause of death?” Victor asks you, lacing his fingers through yours.

You don’t answer and shake your head at Mitch to discourage him from answering, too.

“Please,” Victor whispers, moving his hand to your wrist.

“Beaten to death,” you say slowly. “Tortured the way every EO before me was.”

“But you’re not an EO.”

“They don’t know that. So, your presence there should be a surprise.”

“If they know about you, they know I’m with you, though,” Victor says.

“Not if I offer to help.”

“Faux treason,” Victor deduces. “I like it.”

“Then let’s do it,” you say, turning to face Victor. “And maybe you can finally get some sleep and de-stress when we get back.”

“Let’s make that the goal.”

✯✯✯✯✯

“Hello?” you yell as you enter the small building. “I’m looking for EON? I have valuable information about Victor Vale.”

“Well, hello there,” a man says as he steps out from behind a net. “Ain’t you a pretty little thing? Eli would have loved you."

You suppress a shiver and a gag at his comment, opting for a nervous smile. “So, I’m in the right place? I had to go the long way after I left Victor yesterday.”

“Oh, you’re in the right place, sweetness. The man in charge will be glad to hear anything you have to offer.”

“I- sorry, I’m a little nervous,” you say, chuckling as you reluctantly place your hand in his. “What’s your name?”

“We’re all called Ever here. You’ll be the first female Ever, ever. Get it? Anyway, you should be pleased by that. Lord E is very picky in who he chooses to become an Ever.”

You nod, swallowing harshly as the man’s other hand finds your waist. It is a much different feeling than when Victor touches you, but knowing for certain that he’s nearby makes you feel better. A spark of pain occurs under his hand, but only for a breath. He pulls his hand away and furrows his brows at you.

“I think I built up some static electricity, sorry,” you apologize, raising your voice slightly in hopes that Victor will control himself.

“Here we are,” Ever says, flipping a light switch.

The lights go off before men, Evers, carrying candles, enter the room. Two of them lead a man dressed differently to the front of the room, where a large throne is placed. The light comes back on, dimmer than before, and your eyes widen when you see the man.

“Lord E, this woman has information about Victor Vale,” the Ever holding your hand announces.

“She may approach,” the man on the throne, Lord E, calls.

Ever takes a step with you before Lord E adds, “Alone.”

He’s wearing Eli’s clothes, the exact outfit he wore during the bank robbery when he was on the front page of the Merit newspaper. There’s even a few blood stains, all the proof you need that it’s the same outfit or an incredible replica.

“What is your name, girl?” Lord E demands as you reach his throne.

You tell him your name and wait as he looks around.

“And tell me, what do you know of Victor Vale?” he asks. “Come closer,” he demands, extending a scepter to you.

You touch the end with your fingertips and step onto the platform, stopping just before your knees hit his.

“I know a lot. I’ve spent time with Mr. Vale under the impression that I could help him and that I never trusted Eli,” you explain.

Lord E tilts his head up to you, smirking as his eyes travel up and down your body. “Ever,” he calls, “lights.”

The lights go out, and you can no longer see Lord E. You try to stay calm, knowing Victor has control over the situation. When you feel hands on you, however, that calmness evaporates.

“Has he mentioned I’ve been visiting him in his dreams?” Lord E asks, pulling you flush against his body as his hands roam around your waist.

“He did. It scared him, threw him off,” you half lie, trying to lean away from him.

With the lights off, Victor may not have the control he needs to get everyone without getting you to. You don’t care at this point; you only need this guy’s hands off of you.

“Lord E?” you ask. He hums, so you add, “The most important thing I learned about Victor Vale…”

“Go on,” he prods.

You raise your voice so Victor and the Evers can hear you. “Is that Victor Vale will destroy you all.”

Lord E’s hands tighten painfully on your waist as pained screams sound behind you. You step back, twisting out of his grip before you run toward the door. It’s locked, so you stumble through the dark until you find the stairs to the catwalk where Victor should be.

“Find her!” Lord E screams behind you.

“Hey,” Victor whispers before his hands grab your shoulders, “want to get out of here?”

“Yes,” you sigh, taking his offered hand and following him.

You’re blind in the dark, but you don't need to see with Victor leading you. You trust him enough to let him lead the way. He opens a door, and the marina lights illuminate your path to Mitch’s waiting car. You run toward the car, while Victor returns to the building to finish the plan. When he gets in the passenger seat, Mitch begins driving.

“Mission accomplished?” Mitch asks.

“Mission accomplished,” Victor affirms. “EON was taken down by a gas leak, and the coroner should never know they were knocked out by pain before the gas suffocated them.”

In the darkness of the backseat, you rub your hand against your waist, trying to ease the pain caused by Lord E’s grip on you.

“Was it his ghost?” Victor asks quietly.

“I think it might have been. He said he’d been in your dreams.”

“Well, Casper has to find someone new to haunt,” Mitch jokes. “And we’ll be there, too.”

Victor glances over his shoulder at you as your pain disappears. Trusting him was the best decision you’ve ever made, and you’re glad he has decided to trust you, too.

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor offers his hand as he opens your door and keeps your hand in his until you’re back in his room. He sits on the bed and pulls you forward. Gripping the hem of your top, he looks up at you for permission. 

Victor has every reason not to like physical touch, and before today, he never initiated any. Especially not with you. In just a few hours, that has changed forever. He realized how calming and comforting your touch is, and now he will never go back.

As he pushes your shirt up to your ribs, Victor’s jaw clenches as he sees the darkening bruises.

“It’s okay,” you say quietly. “Thanks for saving me.”

“You technically saved me, but no problem,” Victor mutters, running his finger over the skin below the bruise. “It feel okay?”

“Yes, you know it does. You don’t have to numb it, I’ll live.”

“I know.”

“Hey, Vic, next time you get stressed or have trouble sleeping, or anything else, you can talk to me. You need to tell me.”

Victor nods, his hands wandering upward to rest against your ribs.

“I know I’m distracting, but could I get a verbal acknowledgement?” you tease, resting your hands on his arms.

“I promise to talk to you,” he says quietly. “And thank you.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor quickly learns he doesn’t have to talk to you; he can survive off your touch alone. He seeks your comfort every chance he has. He’ll link his pinky with yours when you are beside each other. Occasionally, he’ll hold your jacket between his fingers when he’s behind you. Anything to stay close and grounded. Victor’s connection with you extends to his power because, as he explains, your presence in his mind is different, and you evoke unique emotions in him. As long as you are near, Victor doesn’t need to be stressed; he only needs to be with you.

[papirouge]

I’ve seen the great divide among pro life groups that have white people in them vs non white people. The difference is incredible. The pro life groups, the ones I were in, were vicious. There would be child free white women getting torn apart and attacked by her own white men and other white women in the same group for not having *white babies. Calling her useless and pathetic for talking about her day that didn’t involve raising kids. This wasn’t a one time time thing. It happened multiple times. This one girl was into that farm life aesthetic but she would get so much hate for being single and have said that she didn’t want kids. She just didn’t believe in murder. She left after getting a lot of hate but the group of other white girls just called her a hypocrite. One white guy would love to bring up fake fertility stats of young (white) girls a lot. Very young too but nobody said anything about him or how so often mostly white people who post those old 1940s Americana old advertisements as “their dream 😍”

I hated how those white groups would always use “save black babies” for their public agenda then completely ignore us or gaslight us for raising awareness of racism or nazis running around

I have a hard time believe after seeing how they act that a lot of white people are genuinely believing in the cause

Yeah I think the actual reasons scrotes are so pressed about women not having children isn't out of concern for them feeling loneliness in their older days, but simply because women own the keys of the race subsistence. If White women stop having children, the White race will go extinct. That's why White supremacist are adamantly pro birth/pro big family. It's a way of sustain the race & consequentially their culture/civilization and avoid getting great replaced by foreigners.

The fact that this woman living the ideal retvrn ton tradition lifestyle package minus the family got dragged is another proof that traditionalist aren't simply seeking for a healthier & closer to nature lifestyle. Their vision isn't much about "logistic" but rather demographic. If everyone was living in a farm but still didn't get children and women still refused to be sexually available or procreate with men, you can bet these men would still consider it problematic somehow.

I think it's ironic she got called an hypocrite for having a farm life while still not wanting children, because both aren't synonymous. They were just looking for excuses to guilt-trip her. I hope she told them to leave her alone and shut them off.

And yeah, Conservatives will seethe on modern advertisement for selling "woke propaganda" while raving about 1940s ads as if they were somehow any less fake & propagandist 💀 They are so gullible and stupid looool

And you're soooo right about pro life Conservative fake concern about Black babies when they're more than willing to shove Black people under the bus as soon as they get born. I'll have to give prop for pro choicers for being absolutely right when it comes to call out pro life Conservatives caring about life only when it's the womb. Once you're out, you can be sure they will do everything you can to brush off any concerns of yours about your life, health, and how to sustain yourself. Suddenly it's "oh it's not government's job to help the poor" That's why I don't mess with Conservatives. They are all consistently idiots and hypocrites. They're somehow worse than liberals because they will try to drag God in their stupid stunt (defending murder, greediness, etc.)

[zellie-pdf]

How to Improve Your Vocabulary

Word of the Week: Assiduous: (adj.) hard-working, diligent

I believe that artists (writers, musicians, illustrators, etc) are the most self-destructive people in the world. As a writer, I'm forced to battle myself. When I use apps such as Hemingway Editor (an amazing app/website that helps you write clearer, more concise sentences (The website is linked here!)), I realize that a lot of my writing is at a "fourth-grade reading level". Fourth Grade? You're joking, right? The years I've spent writing and rewriting my book, editing, and polishing—all of that amounts to something a fourth-grader would read? Not that I'm bashing younger people and/or people with lower reading levels, but I wanted to at least make it to a middle schooler's reading level.

Read more?

How do I do that? Expanding my Vocabulary. The benefits of doing so are endless: - I'd sound more intelligent - My writing would be more challenging for an elementary schooler to read - It would improve reading comprehension - It could land me that job I've been wanting - I could think by using more intelligent language

Okay, enough rambling about me overthinking my own writing. How does one expand their personal vocabulary?

1. Downloading a Word of the Day app

I've found that using a word-of-the-day app helps a ton. To make it even better, I use Quizlet to study every word I've learned in the month. If you don't have enough storage or you just don't want an app, there are tons of word-of-the-day newsletters and content creators. I'm following a few on Instagram to add to my Quizlet collection. So, what does a WotD app do? Exactly what it sounds like. It sends you a notification with the word and definition of a large word. The one I use lets you choose between three levels, based on your vocabulary already: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. (Here's the link)

2. READ AND WRITE

This one seems pretty obvious. Reading books (or Tumblr posts!) helps you to see words in context. A lot of people recommend classics since they use bigger words. Honestly, just read whatever you want. If you need some classics for beginners, though, here's a list! The Great Gatsby (208 pages), Animal Farm (130 pages), and Frankenstein (280 pages). ^ I consider those for beginners because they have fewer pages than, for instance, Emma by Jane Austen (432 pages). I might make a post on classics for beginners... hm. Anyway, just read to your heart's content! Writing can help you improve your vocabulary, too. After reading so many books with tremendous vocabulary, you can put them into your own writing. You should also keep a dictionary or thesaurus handy while you write. - Write in a journal to start out! Instead of saying "My day was good." Look at your thesaurus and see some synonyms. "My day was spectacular, exceptional, superior, satisfactory, acceptable, adequate, delectable, brilliant, etc." This brings us to our next tip.

3. Keep A Dictionary/Thesaurus

Listen, I'm not saying you have to keep a massive book in your bag. All I'm saying is that these come in handy, especially when reading/writing! Plus, you can literally keep one on your phone. If I'm not mistaken, most phones come with one. And you can download one if you'd like! It can be a cutesy one or a heavy metal-themed one. It doesn't matter, as long as you use it! The point is, using one will help you speak and write better.

4. Practice using new words in conversations.

WARNING: This only helps if you become very familiar with the word! Using new words you've learned in conversations can help you memorize them and consciously put them into your daily vocabulary. Plus, it can make you sound smart if you're not an asshole about it. And if someone asks you what it means, just calmly explain it to them (ahem, don't be an asshole)

I hope this helped. Follow me for Words of the Week (I know they're not as frequent as words of the day, but it might help, just a bit!), and feel free to request tips or to give me some! I'm always open to constructive criticism.

[classydonutcherryblossom]

Eren pulls Armin into paths and shows him memories to explain things (Zekken doesn't say what) .

They have a fist fight by the water, Armin wins, they fall down looking at the water and hug before saying goodbye.

Armin wakes up and runs over to the crying Mikasa. Pure titans return to humans, everyone is okay.

Reiner hugs Karina (Zekken says mom and son hug but its obvious who).

Levi sees the dead scouts and Hange (she's singled out so probably in front?).

Jean and Connie see Sasha smiling at them. Armin dealt with the final problem (Zekken's words, not mine).

Mikasa takes the head and starts heading somewhere (the fort I guess).

DETAILS:

Eren wakes up in the Paths and meets Ymir. Ymir and Eren have a debate about whether or not humanity deserves to survive. Eren says that even if the world can be cruel, his friends prove the goodness of humanity in impossible odds, which enrages Ymir, and she wraps him up in chains before striking him with a bolt of lightning. Ymir suddenly collapses, unconscious.

Armin enters the Paths again and confronts Eren at a riverbank.

Armin and Eren have a fistfight, which Armin wins, pushing Eren into the water.

Eren tells Armin that the only way to win is to kill him, and hands him a knife.

Armin refuses to kill Eren and embraces him instead.

Eren takes Armin to paths.

Seeing previous events and continuing the conversation with a looking at the sea Armin hits Eren.

After the scene changes, Armin hugs Eren and sits down for a final goodbye.

Armin wakes up and sees Mikasa.

Titans have changed back to the way they were, everyone is fine.

Levi saw the commander HanJi and others in paths.

Jean and Connie saw Sasha smiling in paths.

Reiner, mother and son embrace.

Armin to deal with the endgame.

Mikasa takes the lead.

A few years later.

The queen celebrated her birthday with the man behind her, holding the child.

The others also grow up and take a boat far away to Lena also sat.

In the distance adults Gabi and Falco with the captain in the wheelchair.

The birds in the sky flew by.

The people on the boat also saw U I do not know where.

Rimikasha under the tree next to the small graves.

The bird came and pecked Mikasha's scarf and went away on its wings.

My thoughts:

No mention on EH conversation from chapter 130?

No mention on Historia's child name?

No mention on the Tatakae (fight) moment in the final chapter of Attack on titan?

No mention how exactly did the centipede (coordinate) died?

No mention on Yelena and Kiymoi

The pure titans are turned back into humans is the curse of Ymir broken?

How dose everyone get back to paradis island if all the airships are destroyed and the curse of Ymir is broken?

Hanji and the scouts are in the paths? I thought they were supposed to be in the afterlife?

How is it possible for Levi Jean and Connie to see the scouts if their not dead?

A few years later? That means Historia's child would turn 2-3 year's old?

Mikasa takes Eren's head?

Eren and Ymir (the founder) fight? I thought they were working together along?

No mention of surpassing the(ir) father? Or your are free?

No mention on Eren's human body?

No mention on Pieck or Annie?

Gabi and Falco are adults?

No mention on the farmer's (unknown) name?

No mention of Grisha holding baby Eren?

Why did Eren Jaeger give up at the end fighting? Is that even his character at all?

Why didn't Eren being Mikasa along into the paths with Armin as they visited the ocean together back in chapter 90 (season 3 part 2)?

Eren firmly stated he won't stop the rumbling and gamble paradis future in chapter 133. Was he lying?

Eren said between chapter 123-130 that he will eliminate every single life in Marley from the world.

45 pages we got for the final chapter of Attack on titan manga.

I'm not buying any of this.

What are you're thoughts?

Hi there @kian1974eve!! I apologize if this is late cause I just got off from a ton of uni stuff.

Hmmmm, these are leaks from a previously reliable source but I won’t exactly accept this until the real chapter drops and I agree with your thoughts so much it hurts now. Only hoping that just because these are leaks, major points were let out. But if THESE ARE the major points, then i’ll be disappointed

I mean a satisfying ending does not have to be a happy ending where your fave characters live, it is something that connects everything in the end and there is closure for character arcs. 

BTW, before I was trying so hard to accept the leaks cause you know... it was implied Armin will save the day, that makes sense but then that’s it. 

I think the major point I see here that got me confused is:

Eren discusses saving humanity with Ymir who gets angry with him. And it looks like it’s implying that Eren wants to save it now and Ymir does not. Wasn’t she like smiling a chapter ago at Mikasa and Eren which is supposed to be her seeing genuine love from humanity or something.

Is Ymir going to be like a reverse Cersei? or Daenerys all along? Like someone who was born a victim then does not deserve sympathy in the end. 

Armin and Eren fist fight. Armin refuses to kill Eren. Armin hits Eren. God hahahahah I don’t knoww hahaha I hope that’s just a grammar thing or a mistranslation. Then what happens to Eren now, if Armin like..refuses to “kill”him?

Adding to that and your thoughts (I am hoping that the following still gets discussed in the chapter considering the leaks only show a few points):

No mention of why Grisha still gave the attack titan to Eren, or was he forced to do so again?

Why drag out Hisu’s pregnancy, and strategically place them at the last chapters for each volume only for her and her baby to appear for a birthday celebration? Why did Hisu agree to the rumbling? Where the EH convo so we can have closure now??

What was the scenery? just Eren flying around?

Is the titan curse broken cause Ymir just collapses? Does this mean Hallucigenia-looking creature was defeated in the real world or someth?

I am hoping there is more to it honestly cause I have faith that despite a lot of awesome theories out there not being true, we could still get a satisfying, logical, sensible, reasonable (insert other synonyms here) ending.

On the lighter note... Eren literally went from fight to flight and I-

[emblemxeno]

Xander Support Science Rebuttal/Review + How Mediocre Localization Could Change A Character (1/2)

A couple of days ago I said I would do this because I haven’t watched the videos in question in a long time, and I wanted to see if I would hold the same opinions that I do now. In short, yeah, I do. (Part 2 of this Post)

The videos in question by Ghast (going by Faerghast now) can be found here: Part 1 Part 2

You’ve all most likely seen my posts and short analyses about Fates’ writing, it’s localization, and Xander as a whole. I wanted to make this rebuttal/review, not just as a way to get my differing opinion out there, but to also provide context on how translation and localization can alter a character’s interpretation with even the slightest change, and a brief summary on how Xander was supposed to be written from the get go.

TL;DR (Though I highly recommend reading the whole thing to really understand the point I am trying to make with this series of posts):

Xander’s character was altered in the localization due to a number of changes made that either replace/remove the original context of his writing, or add things that weren’t even present in the first place. The reason why I’m doing a rebuttal against these videos in the first place is because the greater community cite these videos as the correct interpretation of Xander, with there being no acknowledgement of localization being a factor of why Xander seems so inconsistent and poorly written. Further worsening the issue is Ghast’s own reading of Xander’s character, by roping him into a few select traits, and ignoring others.

Before moving on with the meat of the review, I’d like to link some things that would be useful to read/watch when they’ll be referenced in these posts:

- Analysis of the relationship between Garon and the Nohrian siblings (aka the abusive royal household)

- Xander’s Japanese supports with Camilla and Corrin. Here is a link to the localized Fates supports in order to spot differences.

-English patched playthroughs of the JP version of the game done by Linkmstr (Pre-decision   Birthright    Conquest    Revelation) as well as a link to said patch done by a team on Serenes.

-A link to the chapters of Fates, each one has a link to the script of said chapter.

(I’ll also be using quotes from Ghast in the videos, usually marked by time stamps)

Xander Summary

Xander is an intimidating figure who is seen as a stoic and unemotional Crown Prince. In actuality, he’s merely an introverted dude riddled with trauma, and is unable to express his emotions in a “normal” way. The person who’s feared by tons of people in Hoshido is the same guy who gets anxiety during public speaking (dealing with this by imagining his audience as bunnies or carrots depending on the version) and who’s greatest fear as a child was his own father (as revealed in the Boo Camp DLC).

He’s also heavily suicidal, a result of each time having to kill his enemies weighing heavily on his heart and his psyche.

While he seems to be relatively put together, all of these aforementioned factors influence his character, and the dichotomy of appealing to his duty as Crown Prince and appealing to his emotions. Moreover, it has lead him into a deep seated denial of his father’s evil actions, trying to justify or excuse the things Garon had done, a fairly common symptom of an abused child. Not only that, but it has lead him to believe that betraying Garon is synonymous with betraying his family and all of Nohr, something he finds inexcusable and outrageous, and only breaks out of this way of thinking once he witnesses Garon become truly monstrous.

And while trying to do what’s best for his people and his family are major parts of his character, they are not the only ones, and as we see in the game, they lead to him doing things that some would see as OOC, but actually are pretty reasonable if you dig deep into what makes Xander, well, Xander.

The Beginning

Unfortunately, a lot of this is lost in localization, which preferred to make him less introverted and more... observational and witty? He’s more confrontational in the localization, but only sometimes when the story needs him to be, making him look inconsistent and badly written. He tends to preach a lot more, but ends up contradicting himself through his words and actions. Almost all of these are issues added by the localized script, and either were completely different or just plain absent in the original JP script.

And the reason why this rebuttal exists, is because the videos blame the game’s writing instead of this very faulty translation, made even worse by the fact that Ghast’s channel is popular because of story/character analyses, so not mentioning how translation can affect story telling is the first glaring issue with the support science.

The first video starts with the main issue, how Fates has character’s written well in supports, but not in the main campaign. That’s the main thing with this, so I’ll save an overview for it later.

Mistranslated Support Lines

-At 2:25, Ghast talks about Support Xander, starting off with the Camilla-Xander support. The line in question that’s referenced is how Xander deliberately cultivated the image of him being stoic and seemingly uncaring. However, this isn’t true, Xander didn’t cultivate the image in the original JP support, he just ended up realizing that was how people saw him and thought it would be too much of a hassle to change it. This fits in line with how he acts later in the story, as an introverted character, he’s ultimately non-confrontational unless pushed to the limit.

-At 7:55, the Corrin support is brought up. This is the support that is the key reason why Xander is seen as two different characters between story and supports. The line where Xander said he’s now strong enough to stand up against Garon whenever he felt like it wasn’t present at all in the original JP support. Hence, continuing on with the idea that Xander is not as confrontational as he seems, and preferred to swing his sword to let out his emotions instead.

-Ghast then goes on to discuss why there’s this discrepancy between Xander in supports and story, where Xander supposedly acts out of character by fighting Corrin in chapter 2 on Garon’s orders (at 14:31):

“For this segment of the video, bear in mind what has been established about Support Xander so far. The feats that Support xander has disclosed from his past, particularly his courageousness to engage Garon in yelling fights and pre-established love for Corrin is entirely contradicted from the offset of the game...Given their (Xander and Garon’s) relationship before the game even starts, the game provides absolutely no reason why Xander would behave in such a sheepish way to his father. Where is the bravery he was talking about before? Wht did Xander hope to accomplish by striking at Corrin? Did he want to disable her? Did he intentionally want to harm her for Garon’s sake?” 

Except that’s not true. Applying what we know with Xander being non confrontational, scared to death of his father, being all too familiar with family dying around him, etc, and this scene really isn’t too out of character. But it seems so because of the lines added in the English script.

Adherence To Select Traits

-At 16:10-18:20, he goes on to claim that Xander’s reaction to Corrin choosing to fight for Hoshido is uncharacteristic and ‘stupid’ because of the former’s pre-established observational skills, doubts of Garon, and tendency to stand against his father when he disagrees with him (all of which are more exaggerated/added in the English script).

Besides the fact that Xander wasn’t written to be someone who regularly stands up to his father in the first place, the insistence that Xander remains strictly observational and pragmatic in these scenarios is the first big issue I have with these videos.

Ghast picks certain traits and latches them onto Xander without considering others that might influence the his actions; it’s true that Xander’s awareness of Corrin’s situation might have let him come to terms with the Hoshido family wanting them back, and yes they were kidnapped, BUT they were also raised as if actual siblings for over a decade, and feelings/attachment towards one's family is hard to let go of. Wanting Xander to be more accepting of Corrin’s choice of going back to Hoshido and, to him, abandon their family and everything they’ve had, just to have him continue to have his hidden awareness/familial observation be more forward completely betrays the fact that they’re still family, and Xander as a person should be allowed to have feelings and still love his sibling. 

The point that’s apparently tried to be made is for consistency’s sake, but what good is this supposed consistency when it doesn’t make sense for a family member to just accept their sibling siding with their enemy. Ghast goes on to say that he’d rather Xander say ‘I’m sorry for keeping secrets from you and I’ll follow up on those claims about Garon, but please come back’, and that’s basically what he says, but instead of trying to understand why Xander would react the way he would he instead reduces Xander’s reaction to a childish ‘Get Bent, Traitor’. 

Xander’s dedication to his family and his country aren’t mutually exclusive, at least to him. So when Corrin decides to break ties with Nohr, Xander sees it as them throwing away their family, friends, and every good memory they’ve had. Aside from the fact that Xander’s vehement defense of Garon is a result of having an abusive/destructive childhood, the shock of and surge of emotion from Corrin choosing to, from Xander’s perspective, betray everything they’ve had together is in my opinion, a perfectly fine reason for why Xander acts like he does. Ghast says this type of read of the situation is stupid, which isn’t a valid criticism and he doesn’t even go into why he believes so, and says it’s uncharacteristic, even though it really isn’t but the localization and his own insistence on having Xander adhere to a select few traits makes it seem that way.

Misplaced Criticism

-At 18:01 ”It’s alright for Xander to continue to try and persuade Corrin to rejoin Nohr, but he ought to be able to understand Corrin’s wavering loyalty. It’s hypocritical for Xander to flagrantly and ignorantly criticize Corrin for their decision and distance himself the most despite being made out to be the closest to them” 

Why? Again this ignores Xander’s own character having thoughts and feelings of his own, but also wouldn’t it make sense for the one to be closest to Corrin to be the most affected by it, and ergo the have the most negative reaction?

-Talks about the Xander line at chapter 12 at 18:28, “Xander doesn’t make connections around the circumstances regarding Corrin’s betrayal after 5 chapters” He says this makes Xander out to be someone who has no observational skills, but in regards to what? Making connections to the reasons behind Corrin’s betrayal, leading him to question and go against his father? Well, that reasoning hinges on the fact that Xander is the person who would stand up to his father in situations like these in the first place, but he isn’t. Any lines indicating such are a result of the localization adding them in.

The criticism of Xander’s observation skills doesn’t make sense. In the context of the situation, where Xander is engaging a loved family member after they betrayed the Kingdom (which to Xander is synonymous with betraying the family), why are his observational skills being brought up? The reason why he’s engaging could just be summarized as “he’s angry and hurt that Corrin would fight their family”. A completely justified reaction to what Xander has been experiencing. But instead this is ignored in favor of criticizing Xander for not having the awareness of why Corrin betrayed Nohr, and the awareness of Garon being evil. Ghast says “Story Xander is unable to catch on that his dad is going bonkers” Simply put, it’s most likely that Xander IS aware, but keeps it locked deep down due to deep seeded denial. In chapter 27, (taken from English patch of JP version) he says as much:

Garon: Just what do you know about me...?

Xander: I should be saying that to you... Just what do you know about Father…?! ...All this time, I acted like I didn’t notice. No matter what the order, I obeyed. And that, in the end, you would return to your normal self. That’s what I believed. But, now, Father is… already…

Said denial had run so far, that it took Xander seeing Garon as a literal grotesque monster for him to finally break free. 

Xander’s Way of Thinking

-At 20:05, “While it’s true that Garon is family and Corrin is seemingly betraying that family, Xander’s supports suggest that he would at least consider Corrin’s motivations before putting a sword through her'' 1) it’s not seemingly, Corrin is pretty much betraying her family by choosing one nation over the other, made worse by the fact that Nohr is synonymous with family to Xander, making this worse 2) it’s completely possible that Xander does understand Corrin’s motivations by this point, but is simply too angry and hurt by his sibling’s betrayal to care or acknowledge. “It makes it seem like Story Xander has no critical thinking skills or has lost every ounce of empathy he has that’s established in his supports” or that this is just his reaction to these events, as I previously said? It’s not Xander lacking critical thought that’s the driving point here, he believes that Corrin going against Nohr, means that they’re going against him, their family, all of the innocent people in Nohr, everything they’ve had together. 

This includes Garon, because as a result of his upbringing, he justifies any shitty action Garon does because he’s clinging to any good thing his father has done, and desperately denies that he could be evil, because ‘how could the person that raised and cared for me be as bad as my brother/sister, who threw everything our family had together in our face, says he is. I love my sibling dearly, but asking to betray my father is asking to betray my family, my country, and my people, I can’t do that’; that’s essentially Xander’s way of thinking. Extreme, yes, but people don’t always do what’s considered the right thing just because it’s the right thing. There’s a whole slew of factors I’ve already explained as to why Xander would be hard pressed to betray Garon.

---

Anyway, this is what I have for today. There will be 2 (maybe 3?) more posts in regards to the rest of my notes. I hope you enjoyed the start of this, please leave any replies and asks and reblogs on any things you liked about this and anything you think I could improve on!

[anlian-aishang]

Hay! 💞💕

So, I absolutely love, love, LOVE your writing! I honestly just... can't. Amazing! I'm trying to write myself, but I'm fairly new to it and there are sooo many amazing writers I feel kinda under pressure and a bit intimidated 😞

I showed a friend one of my oneshots but she said it was too short, is there a right length? 😂 Should I aim for a certain amount of words?

Do you have any tips? Anything you do to get inspiration? Sorry for ambushing you with a million questions! I just don't have many people I can ask these sorts of things 👉👈

Anyways... hope you're having an amazing day and I look forward to reading many, MANY, more of your amazing stories soon!! 💕💞💕💞

Hay! 💞💕

Okay I have so much good stuff to say, I am going to put a read more!

This goes for you and everyone, if you ever want my help/advice/listening ears for anything, I am always here! We can become writing buddies and good friends! 💞

TLDR: No one in the world can write like you. The way that you see and express things is uniquely its own. Follow your heart and others will follow. You offer something that no one else can! 💕

So first off, I want to thank you a ton for the incredibly nice compliments!! It makes me so happy to hear that people enjoy my writing :’) Like, really, there are no words to adequately express how awesome it makes me feel!! Thank you so so much!

Also, congratulations! You’re an author!!! SO EXCITING!!! :D

Just a mere few months ago I was feeling the exact same way you are! There were countless authors with hundreds of notes and hundreds of followers who had dozens of works. I felt like, “Why should I even try? Every scenario has already been written in a better way than I can write, right?” WRONG. There will always be requests and there will always be difference in tastes. You are someone’s favorite writer. Even if the scene is the same, you will make it unique just by being you!

I totally understand that pressure. It took me a while to realize: anything you put out there is more than you ever had to. You’re doing more than is necessary and everyone will be grateful for anything and everything you make. Volunteering your time and effort, anyone and everyone appreciates that!

As for intimidation, I understand that too. I think a lot of people on tumblr (and the internet in general) can come off as cold or blunt. Mostly unintentionally. Some intentionally :/ As for me, I am only a human being just like you :) I am pretty sure in my in-person life, no one has ever been afraid or intimidated by me 😂 (and I like it that way!) Online, I love every user I’ve interacted with! I hope no one feels afraid to talk to me! I’m super nice and soft and friendly. I don’t have a mean bone in my body 🥰 Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out to me!

Regarding appropriate lengths, I have googled this question so many times cause I never know either 😅. I could be wrong, but as of now, I think: 100 to 1000 words is a drabble. 500 to 1000+ words is a oneshot. I think there is a grey area between 500 and 1000 words where it could go either way, but this is just a casual “to each their own” kinda thing, I think!  Truthfully, when I write, I don’t rely on the word count too much. I write the story and consider it done once I’ve expressed everything I wanted to and once the pacing feels right. Sometimes, these criteria are met at 300 words. Other times, at 3000 words! It all just depends :) Whatever feels right to you!

General writing tips... hmm... let me think!

I highly recommend an outline and/or first draft! For me, it’s just easier to see my plan written out than trying to memorize and keep track of it in my head. Also, a first draft allows you to just write as you think and not get too hung up on perfecting each sentence. It will make the writing faster, but more importantly, a lot less headache! :)

If you’re trying to remember a certain word, I recommend going to google and typing in “__word__ synonym” and/or going utilizing this website: https://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml. OneLook gives you not only synonyms, but words that are similar and related to that word. (i.e. “romantic” will show up in a search for “kiss”) You can sort by alphabetizing or relevance and look at nouns/verbs/adjectives/etc. as you please! It’s helped me remember so many words!

That said, don’t worry about getting too descriptive or using crazy words! Readers can use their imaginations, their own personifications, their own perspectives to adequately fill in the blanks. :)

This is a personal preference, but it’s one that I feel strongly about for myself. I don’t love run-on sentences. Try to break them up into smaller sentences or at least use commas. This is not only easier for your editing process, but is a lot less demanding to your reader.

To illustrate my run-on sentence point, which is easier to read?

“Levi not only was a captain of the Scout Regiment but was also a handsome with his steel eyes and raven locks, strict with his flat stare and riddled muscle, disciplinarian so of course you felt intimidated along with all your other recruits, actually everyone in the human race to be honest.”

“Levi was not only a captain of the Scout Regiment, he was also a handsome, strict, disciplinarian. Steel eyes, raven locks, flat stare, of course you and all fellow recruits felt intimidated. In fact, everyone in the human race perceived him the same.”

See what I mean? Once again, this could just be my silly personal preference, but I think it at least makes reading easier for your audience.

Finally, and most importantly, stay true to yourself :) It’s fine to admire authors and take things from their writing, but don’t forget to value your own skill and perspective. You write like no one else can. Isn’t that amazing?! :D 🌟🌟🌟

For inspiration, I would recommend opening up your inbox requests! People have some incredible imaginations. Of course, don’t feel pressured to write anything you don’t want to or just aren’t feeling. Maybe write out some rules for if you’re worried about certain requests. Another idea is to reblog prompt lists. They’re usually quotes (or something similar) that you can incorporate into a piece. They allow room for your own creativity while also providing a basis to work with! 

I would love for you to come off anon so that we can be writing buddies and even better friends 💞 Only if you feel comfortable, of course! I'd be more than happy to get in touch. I’ll always be here to proofread, offer help/advice, listen, and just be a good pal. 

Thanks for such a kind ask! I am so looking forward to your works! Let me know when they come out :) I’m anticipating already 😇

[comicteaparty]

February 29th-March 6th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 29th, 2020 to March 6th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is the thing you’re proudest about regarding your story?

Deo101 [Millennium]

I hope saying "That I'm actually doing it, and that I'm still doing it and loving every minute of it" Is an okay answer ^^ there is a lot that I am very proud of myself for with regards to this comic, but I think I take the most pride in actually sticking with something for this long.

carcarchu

I agree with deo, sticking with it is what i'm most proud of and it's probably one of the hardest things to do

Capitania do Azar

Hah I can't say I'm proud of everything, right?

It's hard to put it in words but I really enjoy the comic making process and I'm proud of what I'm accomplishing with it, both in terms of writing and of art. And I think it's rather visible that I put a ton of effort into it

Spring-heeled Jack

I am proud that I prepped ahead of time because the last two times I tried, I didn't. Both times I got about 10 pages in and quit because I felt overwhelmed. With the story itself, I think I'm proud of my characters. Characters are the easiest part for me (plot and central conflict I always flounder on) but I'm still so pleased with them.(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

For me, it's just getting the work out there. Actually finishing chapters. compared to the first comic story I want to put out, this story I know for sure where its going and gives me a sense of ease? There's some days when I feel i'm slumping along but in the end, I'm pretty happy how it turned out. Pretty much what Deo and carcarchu said lol: my story is long but not super long, but I'm glad I'm still working on it among my other stories I want to share (edited)

Ash🦀

For me, what I'm most proud of is my artist, Katie. We're a collaborative team, I'm just the writer so I don't do much. And she takes my words and just... adds so much life to them. Seeing every page she makes is so amazing. Every time she's growing in her style in leaps and bounds, and seeing her push her lighting, expressions, and unusual panel styles, ugh, it's just so cool seeing her grow. I am so proud of her and what she's done, she's a total rockstar and I love her. I couldn't have done this without her, and every day I'm more grateful to her.

DanitheCarutor

That is a really good question, I don't really show pride in stuff I do usually. I guess the closest to being proud was either when my new comic passed the stopping mark for my old comic, which was discontinued at chapter 3, or when I got chapter 1 rescanned for print recently. The latter was kinda challenging because I rebubbled the whole chapter, and how I rebubbled was a little... awkward, pasting over the old bubbles in photoshop afterward.

Sorry! Apparently the image file was weird.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I actually semi-recently wrote a raving tweet thread relevant to this topic. Basically, for years and years, I did not know what it meant to be proud of your work. I've been happy with my work, both the process and the result. But was "proud of my work" completely synonymous with "happy with my work"? I legit did not know. Even asked a former English teacher friend, who's very good at explaining this sorta things, and I still didn't get it. Then as I made progress through the most recent chapter, I noticed this brand new, strange feeling welling up in me. Yep, you guessed it. For the first time ever after starting this comic, I was proud of what I was making. Not just happy with it, but proud of it. Took me a while to realize, oh, this is proud. Afterward, something happened IRL that temporarily borked my sense of time (one specific week felt like months). So because it felt like it had been months since I made it, I got to experience the last couple pages of the chapter as a reader, not its creator. And I gotta say, thank you past me, you've made something truly heartfelt, and you had every reason to be proud of this. In short: I'm proud of how my comic is an honest reflection of what my heart wants to see, what I want to read. And I'm proud of my most recent chapter being the pinnacle of that. I hope to make more, higher pinnacles down the road, as I continue my way through this story.

spacerocketbunny

I'm proud of how me and @FeatherNotes(Krispy) have shaped our characters and fleshed them out! I'm also super proud of our team dynamic and how if something didn't feel right in the story or art etc., we've always challenged it and come up with something better and stronger! Because we've been so thorough and willing to reconsider, I'm always perfectly comfortable to stand by what we've put out there, even if we've had to go back and fix past mistakes!

Mei

Hoh boy, the thing I'm proudest about in My Husband is a Cultist is the audience interaction. I've been told the comic is funny, and that makes me immensely chuffed, because it means I'm doing something right. I'm always so nervous when putting my work out there with how it's going to be received. That seeing people engage with the story and find it funny and liking the characters... it just warms my heart so much, and it makes me truly feel like I'm on the right path. I'm also pretty proud of the stuff I've written that's not been featured in the comic yet. I look forward to developing those and making them come to life, and I hope people enjoy the grittier parts of this strange comedy as much as I do! And mostly I'm proud that I'm still doing it and haven't given up yet. My lord, I just don't know how it's gonna keep going! but hopefully just onwards and upwards!

eli [a winged tale]

Reading through all of these and I’m so touched. Super proud of you all!

I’m most proud in finally chasing my dreams. Life threw me a bunch of curveballs and creating this comic is a reflection of how I dealt with things and at the same time be thankful for what I have. When I reread my comic I can see mistakes but I also see parts of myself that are genuine. I can’t wait to continue on the story and let the comic be part of my life moving forwards

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

My comic went on so long behind the scenes before I was comfortable enough to share it, so I tend to think of my past self quite differently than my current self. So, I'm very proud of 'past me!' She started the project completely unaware of how long it would last or what it would become - just a few characters and story threads and a whoooole lot of ambition - and my present self has had the pleasure of weaving those threads into a project I'm truly proud of. The comic has brought me so much joy - much of it delayed, like a ticking time bomb - and it's all thanks to my younger self. She wasn't sure of what she was doing - but now I know she made some excellent decisions in the beginning. I'm very grateful she started all of this. It's made my life all the more joyful

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I got a BUFFER. My first non-fancomic died because of work-comittments and lack of buffer, but on Nyx+Nyssa I manage to work ahead. More than anything I am proud of the discipline I developed to allow for that.

FeatheryJustice

I'm proud of almost completing Teasday. I had some long hiatuses but I will finish the story for now. Also proud of where I grown from the beginning of that story to now. The time and effort shows that I did do a lot, which makes me really happy to know.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I'm proud of a lot of the work that goes into my comic, but what I'm most proud of was this page. I wanted this to be grand and a pivotal moment if what the comic was about. I don't think even a couple years I could've done anything at this scale, but I split the areas into chunks that I completed over the span of two weeks. Always look upon this page fondly.

eli [a winged tale]

That is gorgeous!

Spring-heeled Jack

Impressive!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I can point out four moments in Super Galaxy Knights http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ that I'm the most proud of - 1. The end of Book 1 Chapter 4. Chapter 4 was intended to be a big "growing the beard" moment for the comic's action setpieces - the first three chapters were more about introducing characters and plot elements than actual action, so I consider chapter 4 to be the first "real" fight of the comic. The way the action was presented in chapter 4 would go on to represent how action would be presented throughout the rest of the comic, and IMO I pulled it off fantastically. 2. The end of Book 1. Kinda self-explanatory, but Book 1 was the first major story arc of the comic - the fact that I managed to pull together a satisfying conclusion, something that I theoretically could have ended the comic on, was super satisfying to me. 3. This page: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/images/comics/160/30997a1543363807f2141157006.gif . When I wrote in my Book 2 script "they fight for a bit in a big looping animation" back in 2016 I was hoping my animation skills would advance to the point where I could pull it off. And it turns out, they did. 4. Well... today. Ever since starting the comic back on leap day 2016, I knew today would be a big milestone, and I'm proud of myself for sticking with this project long enough to get to this four year mark.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh my god, that looks incredible and I've never seen a page like that before!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I am not very far into my comic, but when I try to think about what I am most proud of in my work, it is definitely all the behind-the-scenes work I have put into the comic. The world-building. The map-making, language developing, culture exploring, building a political structure, writing histories, character work, etc. All this time and energy I devoted to something that wouldn't be seen by others for many years to come. It is only now starting to come to fruition, despite technically having been working on this project since 2014, with the first scripts, the first character designs, and the first paragraphs about the world of Whispers of the Past. All this work that nobody will ever see. I am proud of sticking with it and putting my heart and soul into it despite the lack of return for so long. I have given up my adolescence to this project, and I am giving up the rest of my youth. But when I think about it, there is no worthier recipient. Because without this story, I feel like a large part of my identity would be gone.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Thank you @Eightfish (Puppeteer) ! The storyboarding alone for that animation took a week so I'm glad you like it!

eli [a winged tale]

I totally get you Cronaj! So much goes behind the scenes but that creates the world’s depths and it will resonate with readers! continues dedicating the rest of my life to comics

SL Black

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) yes! There is so much prep work involved. I have three full scripts for UO that will never see the light of day (mostly because they are terrible). Comics are such a marathon. All that hard work will be appreciated so much by your readers!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@SL Black Man... That sounds like me. I myself went through at least 3 scripts too. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about the BTS work

Desnik

I'm proud that I'm putting myself out there with a WIP comic script and learning how to not only write, but collaborate with other writers.

renieplayerone

Im really proud that i started a comic and have stuck with it for a year and just how much ive learned by making it^^

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'm proud that even after 70 pages I've never missed a scheduled update!(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Awe yeee thats always good to have a streak like that!

eli [a winged tale]

That is #goals!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Agreed!

[linesporadic]

I just looked through a ton of your wonderful art and just wanted to say I really admire all of it because you can tell you're having a lot of fun with all the crossovers and crackships and AUs and are doing so shamelessly, and it reminds me of the way older anime fandoms used to be and makes me super nostalgic. Anyway, keep up the great work. :'D <3

Dawww, thanks! (*´ω｀*)

You’re right in that everything posted to this blog is 100% driven by self indulgence hahah. I used to be lowkey ashamed of it when I was younger and even when I started uploading my own canon-derivative stuff vs just fanart of the show or other people’s lovely fanfics, I was worried it might not be well received or be written off as bad as a synonym for self indulgence.

Instead I found a bunch of people who enjoy similar things and even people who hadn’t considered them but sent me a ton of support to continue my own take on the canon content. I’ve made amazing friends thanks to that, so I’d encourage people to always enjoy fandom to its fullest and not worry about what others might think of your guilty pleasures.

The days of fun self indulgence cannot die if we don’t let them. Fandom can be a scary place nowadays, as for some people it has turned into a moral and social statement, but that doesn’t need to be your (general you) experience. I strive to keep my fandom experience as a form of self-indulgent escapism, and I hope my blog reflects that with shameless enjoyment and positivity!

[alexandergarciahitegd-blog]

 I think I somehow developed a phobia of graphic design around the time this project began. We’re redesigning a website for a non-profit organization in my design class. Specifically, I was redesigning the website for the Supporting Heroes organization which honors fallen service members like police officers, EMTs and fire-fighters, and helps financially support the families left behind. Knowing the project details I would sit down to work on it with all the design programs like Illustrator and XD open, but then I would just freeze up without a clue what to do. 

It took me a while to dissect what was happening in my mind and why this was happening but I’m really starting to overcome it I think. The idea of beginning to actually put work in was synonymous in my mind with failing to accomplish a well-designed final result. I kept putting it off because I had thoughts like “if I do it now then it won’t be very good, so I should wait until later when I’m in a better mindset to start working on this,” and, “it doesn’t matter if I work on it or not it won’t be very good, so I might as well just spend time watching movies instead.” The idea of reaching for a final result that I couldn’t see in my mind was too daunting a task at that time. 

This became a detriment for me at the beginning as I only produced an inadequate number of poorly done wireframes resulting from this procrastination. This is a problem that has plagued me my entire design career but it seemed to have suddenly amplified, which may have been a good thing. There was a point where I considered dropping the web design class I’m taking and try again next year, so the stakes for this project were very high for me. I learned of mental strategies to, more or less, overcome these fears I was having and finally got work done. 

First I needed to accept that I didn’t know what the final result was going to be like and that it may not be very good, but that my goal at any given moment should not be getting to a goal that I can’t see, but getting just a little further until the goal is in sight, which experience has taught me WILL happen. I also started procrastinating things like movies so that design work what I procrastinated with rather than the thing I procrastinated. There are other mindset changes I made, along with working on my sheer willpower and self-control, to change things but I won’t bore you with all the details. The point is that making the stakes much higher at this moment helped me grow to overcome a problem that I’ve been facing for a very long time. I’m sure it will still be a problem but now I feel empowered to face it with a gameplan instead of just hoping passively that it doesn’t get bad enough to hurt my life.

These are the original wireframes that I turned in.

These are the second iteration of wireframes that I showed to my professor. There is clearly a TON of differences between the two iterations. For one, there are technically enough of them. But I also inserted a logo that I re-designed for the organization while on a lunch break (it would change). But mainly the difference is that there is clearly actual design put into them instead of just laying out boxes on instinct without iterating on what it could look like. There was an actual direction. I was weirdly proud at the time of the stripes that went across the boxes as a unique visual element that worked with the service member theme since there are usually badges and such in those work-fields, but it was mainly just to make the wireframes look good.  

Eventually, I started thinking about how someone might navigate the website. In the photo above on the right is a series of menu options that I made to make the entire website accessible from every webpage. I began prototyping it with the homepage early to make sure that it worked and to build a workflow that would make for very efficient prototyping later on when I applied them to every page. I also developed a system for the information-heavy pages that would not overwhelm the audience with a wall of text, also prototyped early on for the insurance of easy use.

Starting to add assets to the website I created a system for how the contact form page would work. I began experimenting with border radiuses that would combat the boxy wireframe aesthetic. Working on the hero plaques that would memorialize individual fallen heroes became a priority at this point and I needed to ideate a lot on how to show it.

I worked a lot on the typography of the news feed on the homepage since an organization like this relies on updating audiences with recent events that may be relevant to them such as a friend dying or laws that would affect how much the organization could be relied on and how to help if anything uniquely bad happened. 

I tried many different color palettes but eventually decided to just have one color (aside from black and white) that would help avoid the falling feeling that the endless darkness of solid blacks was giving me after I was looking at it for too long while designing. 

The menu system is something I’m proud of, but near the end was kinda regretting since it meant every page and transition page had to have six extra prototyped pages, making the total number of prototyped pages at the end to 70. I realize now that I didn’t necessarily have to prototype everything but I still didn’t want to let users of the prototype his dead links or think something might happen and then it not happen. I wanted this to also completely replace the need for breadcrumbs as I’ve never used them in my life and think they’re mostly useless since browsers have a back button.

I wanted to make sure that the dense amount of information was easily navigable by people looking for specific things and that it was not daunting to people just trying to learn more. 

This system combined with the menu system created less sleep for me.

It took a while.

A long while. But again I optimised my workflow and am confident that I connected these in the most efficient and effected way possible.

I was told that white the UX design and the attention to detail was good, the visuals and the wholistic unifying design of the site needed work. This is also the critique from my other design class that I’ve been getting lately. So, I think that working on my ability to create a system that incorporates every part of the design will be what I make my next step in improving my work. I’m looking forward to studying and practising on how to improve on this and seeing what it does to improve my work! Thank you for reading!

[whatisaroadmapinan825]

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[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #391: The Shape of Water (2017) - dir. Guillermo del Toro

(Warning: some spoilers ahead!)

The Shape of Water is a film that pulls me in several directions. It contains themes and storytelling choices that I love immensely, but there are also aspects of the narrative that I believe could have been improved. From the reviews I have read so far, reactions are extremely polarized; moviegoers either worship Shape as a masterpiece beyond reproach or, on the other end of the spectrum, they throw around “D” words like disappointed and disgusted. I want to point out again that I enjoyed Del Toro’s production a lot - I would put it at #9 or 10 in my top ten for 2017, out of the thirty features I have seen so far - so I hope that my criticisms are tempered by my admiration for all that the film gets right, whether technically or ideologically.

All things considered, I’m probably the ideal viewer for The Shape of Water. In the Venn diagram of intersecting genres that the film explores, I’m right in the middle as a lover of romance, science fiction and fantasy, horror, thrillers, period pieces, studies of “the grotesque” and portraits of outsiders who challenge societal expectations of normalcy. I have a ton of respect for Guillermo del Toro’s ambitions as a filmmaker (I definitely dug Hellboy back in the day and I remember getting a kick out of Pacific Rim too) and I applaud his commitment to telling a socially conscious story in which historically marginalized people are our heroes and the clean-cut, stereotypical authority figures are the villains. I also adore Del Toro’s irrepressible cinephilia, which is evident throughout Shape via constant references to the films, actors and genres that have inspired him. In that regard, The Shape of Water is successful just as a celebration of the power that the silver screen has to change our lives.

The story is almost painfully simple: in Baltimore circa 1962, mute janitor Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) discovers a fantastical new world of love when an Amazonian fish-god (Doug Jones), referred to in the film’s credits as “Amphibian Man,” is brought to the government facility that she cleans at night. Elisa and her best friend at work, Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer), are assigned to take care of the Amphibian Man’s private room by high-ranking security official Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), who brought to the creature to America and, in his words, they “didn’t get to like each other much” during the trip. This much is obvious at the beginning of the film, when we see the aftermath of an attack on Strickland by the captured fish-god, who has bitten off two of Strickland’s fingers.

Elisa quickly forms an attachment to the Amphibian Man, with whom she learns to communicate by teaching him sign language, feeding him hard boiled eggs and playing him Benny Goodman records on a portable hi-fi. (I’m amazed that more critics haven’t noted the connection to Annie Hall’s famous ending monologue about how human beings continue to look for love after failed relationships because we “need the eggs.”) It soon becomes apparent to Elisa that Strickland and his boss, General Hoyt (Nick Searcy), plan on killing the imprisoned creature, so Elisa devises a plan to steal the Amphibian Man from the facility with help from her neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins), an older gay man who has worked as an advertising artist but was fired from his job, in part because of his alcoholism but presumably also because of his sexual orientation. Giles and Zelda stand since they are the only two people in Elisa’s life who have bothered to learn ASL. They understand that she is disabled, but she is not “lesser than” in their eyes because they have adapted themselves to the language she uses.

It’s wonderful that Guillermo del Toro gave space to main characters who are a non-speaking woman, a black woman and a gay man, all of whom are over forty years old. Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins do beautiful work in the film, particularly Hawkins, who has finally broken through in American cinema thanks to this film. I have been a tremendous fan of Hawkins ever since she starred in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky nine years ago, so it has been glorious to see her shine in Maudie and The Shape of Water this year. She radiates tenderness, humor, curiosity and compassion as Elisa, a performance that absolutely deserves the Best Actress Oscar nomination it will certainly receive next month. Jenkins also gives a remarkable performance as Giles, making his friendship with Elisa plausible and heartwarming. Spencer has less to work with as Zelda since the character often comes across as a collection of cinematic stereotypes (both as a black woman and as a best friend/sidekick), but Spencer elevates the role to something special, occasionally with a mere glance or a roll of her eyes.

More complex and difficult to pin down is the film’s antagonist, Richard Strickland. I almost snorted at the ominous horn sounds that accompanied the character’s entrance in the film, which I suppose many viewers accept as de rigueur since Michael Shannon is synonymous with malefaction on the big and small screens. Some viewers see Strickland as a textbook villain, evil for evil’s sake (is that the inverse of Ars gratia artis?), but I would argue that the character's motivations are explained to a greater extent than those of anyone else in the film. Strickland is the definition of toxic masculinity, a white man who abuses his position of power by mocking, harassing and sadistically torturing the people (and fish-god) he identifies as inferior to him. Strickland strives for the American Dream - the suburban home, the wife and two kids, a brand new Cadillac - but underneath the exterior of perfection is a man who doubts himself. (For my money, one of the funniest moments in the film is the shot of Strickland sitting in his office, solemnly poring over a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking.) It’s not by accident that one of the digits that the Amphibian Man tore off of Strickland was his ring finger, or that this racist man can’t handle the fact that his body rejects fingers whose skin has turned black.

There is also significance in Del Toro’s disparate approaches to sexuality involving Strickland and his wife versus Elisa and the Amphibian Man (or Elisa by herself). Elisa’s desire is never ignored because of her inability to speak; she is a sexual being and her strong connection to that aspect of her life is viewed with delicacy and respect. The film incorporates two brief scenes showing her masturbating as part of a daily routine, but they don’t feel exploitative; Del Toro went out of his way to create intimacy that wasn’t designed for the male gaze. This is why I’m glad that he didn’t go all the way and show Elisa and the Amphibian Man having sex, contrary to the grumblings of many frustrated viewers who feel cheated out of hot fish-on-human action. What little we see of Elisa and her beau’s encounters glows with eroticism because the characters’ most private moments are withheld from us.

In response to other complaints voiced by moviegoers, the sex scene with Strickland and his wife Elaine (Lauren Lee Smith) was disturbing yet necessary. It’s mechanical, heartless and, as it progresses, turns into marital rape. It was one of the moments that seemed to freak out the audience I was in the most, leading the woman sitting directly behind me to loudly say “blecch” when Strickland placed his hand over his wife’s mouth. (Isn’t it interesting how obsessed Strickland is silent women, whether it’s Elaine or Elisa?) Leave it to Guillermo del Toro to make an interspecial romance inviting and arousing, while sex between two humans is the true act of monstrosity.

All this happens, and politics too. Yes, The Shape of Water covers the topics of human/fish-god courtship, sexism, racism, homophobia and American exceptionalism, but the Cold War also plays a big part in the story. The one expert working at the Baltimore facility who cares about the Amphibian Man’s well-being is Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), who aids in the creature’s escape. I won’t go into detail about Hoffstetler’s various complicated allegiances, but suffice it to say he comes through as a dedicated scientist and a decent person who recognizes the supreme value of love over country. Del Toro infuses Hoffstetler with a number of fascinating characteristics, even when they’re as seemingly minor as him baking a butter cake in his apartment.

There are a lot of cooks in Shape’s kitchen. With so many compelling characters, plot lines and images, the film is an aesthetic feast for the senses. On the other hand, Del Toro never satisfactorily answers the question of whether the Amphibian Man is an entity of high intelligence. Elisa is smart, funny, creative and resourceful; is her water-bound lover capable of those same feelings and abilities? He is more than the “wild animal” that Giles sees him as - the Amphibian Man’s first face-to-face experience with Giles’ cats ends bloodily, but we later see the fish-god petting the remaining felines sweetly - but I’m not convinced that the Amphibian Man is on Elisa’s level emotionally. Doesn’t it strike anyone as odd that the love song featured in the film’s gorgeous, black-and-white dream sequence, was “You’ll Never Know”? Wasn’t Elisa implying that her lover either didn’t or couldn’t comprehend the depths of her affection?

(Incidentally, that dream sequence, which is modeled on Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” scene from the 1936 film Follow the Fleet, is reminiscent of another musical that copied the same number, 1981′s Pennies from Heaven. There, Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters dance and lipsync to Astaire and Rogers; the entire film is a cinephile’s dream, paying homage to old Hollywood while simultaneously maintaining a dark, tragic tone amidst the colorful song-and-dance confections.)

The Shape of Water hurtles towards its finale with intense speed, perhaps too much. The conclusion involves a number of coincidences and a lot of good fortune on Strickland’s part. He’s able to do a bunch of dastardly deeds due to characters who tell him what he needs to know or because he’s lucky enough to have information fall in his lap. The exact nature of the ending is also telegraphed from the beginning (at least that’s what I thought), so if you’re expecting a brilliant revelation regarding one or more characters, your hopes will be dashed. I was touched by the final scene, but I also longed for more of a resolution to the story at large, especially for Giles and Zelda.

Del Toro’s film succeeds thanks to the astonishing acting done by Hawkins, Shannon, Jenkins, Spencer and Stuhlbarg. Doug Jones’s performance can’t be gauged in terms of conventional acting, but his commitment to the role and the way that he physically brought the Amphibian Man to life (along with the services of the film’s makeup/special effects artists) is indeed worthy of praise. Visually, the cinematography, sets and costumes are stunning, while the score by Alexandre Desplat and the song selections (including a Madeleine Peyroux cover of one of my favorite Serge Gainsbourg tunes, “La Javanaise”) are charming. Despite the weaknesses, The Shape of Water is a beautiful film that encourages love, diversity and the importance of taking risks. In today’s political climate, we could all benefit from more of those attributes.

[growinstablog]

7 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips for the Holiday Season

Looking for influencer marketing tips for the holiday season?

The holidays are just around the corner, which means it’s high time to start planning your Instagram influencer marketing campaign!

Partnering with Instagram influencers is a great way to introduce your business to new audiences, get on shopper’s minds, and get your customers into the buying spirit during the holidays.

Running a holiday campaign this year? In the following blog post, we share 7 key Instagram influencer marketing tips for the holiday season:

Why You Should Use Instagram Influencers This Holiday Season

The holidays are one of the most lucrative times for businesses — but they can also be the most competitive.

So how do you make sure your brand gets noticed? By incorporating influencer marketing into your strategy!

View this post on Instagram

see what I did there 😏⌚️ it’s black friday and we’re over here whipping out all of our holiday decorations, baking cookies (which i’ll be sharing recipes soon) and listening to christmas music 🎅🏼🤶🏼💃🏻🎉✨🎄 feeling all types of happiness watching elliott enjoy this season so far! hope you all had an incredible thanksgiving with your loved ones. p.s. use my @danielwellington code: SHUTTHEKALE15 for an additional 15% off, on top of their sales going on now (11/23-11/27)! I get asked a ton to provide codes for you so here it is 🙋🏻 just in time for the holidays! #shutthekaleup #DWForEveryone #danielwellington #ad

Influencers marketing is one of the best ways to increase brand awareness, grow your followers, and make sales during the holidays!

By partnering with relevant influencers  who have an engaging and authentic voice, your business can reach so many more people and make real, lasting impressions.

#1 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Establish Your Goals and Plan Ahead

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and more, the holidays have become synonymous with shopping. And with so many people turning to social media for shopping inspiration, you need to make sure your brand is catching the eyes of eager customers.

The holidays also happen to be one of the busiest times for influencers, with tons of brands looking to partner up to promote their products. That’s why it’s crucial to get a head start on your strategy this season!

Here are a few questions to consider when planning your Instagram influencer marketing holiday campaign:

What’s the Goal of Your Campaign?

You definitely want to think about the goals of your influencer marketing campaign before reaching out to potential partners.

Are you looking to drive brand awareness? Generate more sales? Promote a new offer?

Considering the objectives and “why” of your campaign is a crucial first step that will help guide your partnership strategy.

What’s Your Budget?

Before you start pitching to influencers, it’s important to determine your budget for your Instagram influencer holiday campaign.

While there are many micro-influencers who are willing to exchange free products for promotion, today’s biggest Instagram influencers are charging major bucks to create posts for brands.

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to calculate the cost of influencer marketing. There’s a variety of factors involved that go well beyond an Instagram influencer’s number of followers.

However, many digital marketers adhere to the one cent per follower (or $100 per 10K followers) rule, but only as a starting point for their calculation.

From there, you can adjust and take other factors into consideration, such as engagement rate, client budget, campaign length, and other partnership specifics.

Wondering how much it costs to run an influencer marketing campaign? Check out our guide with tips on how calculate your influencer marketing budget.

Having a clear understanding of your campaign objectives will definitely help with determining whether an Instagram influencer’s fees are inline with the value they can offer and the outcome you’re looking for.

Never worked with Instagram influencers before? We have you covered!

Learn how to find the right ambassadors for your business and dive even deeper into Instagram influencer marketing with our free Instagram Influencer Marketing Strategy Guide:

  #2 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Get Creative with Your Holiday Campaign

As we mentioned above, the holidays are one of the most competitive times for businesses. That’s why it’s important to think outside the box when planning your Instagram influencer marketing holiday campaigns — it’s how you’ll get noticed!

Take Zales Jewelers for example. The jewelry company partnered with Jaci Marie Smith and her husband, Leif Carlson, to create a “Holiday Love Story”:

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New jewelry and a picnic with a view? Sign me up! Loved shooting this Holiday Love Story for @zalesjewelers #LoveZales #ad Music: Paper Wings by @stalgiaband

Instead of just creating a simple Instagram post for their holiday necklace, they brought the gifting experience to life with an engaging and memorable video featuring the influencer couple.

In the end, the video received over 65K views and hundreds of comments, capturing the eyes (and hearts) of their audience.

Another example is Freixenet, which partnered with Spread Fashion’s Ellenor Kim to show off their customizable bottles, which her audience overwhelmingly agreed is “the perfect gift”:

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Gifting my bestie this decorated @FreixenetUSA Cava for our annual gift exchange! 🎁🎄#ad We both ❤️ Cava, so it only made sense! Cheers 🥂 #GiftACava #FXCava

Ellenor shows off how she decorated the Cava bottle for her friend, giving her gift a personal and sentimental touch.

It’s important for your business to show potential customers what’s unique about your product and why it belongs on their shopping list.

By using a trusted and authentic voice to deliver your message, your business has the opportunity to create a story that makes sense for both your brand and resonates with your influencer’s audience.

Need some inspiration for your campaign? Check out these 7 Holiday Marketing Ideas!

#3 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Determine Your Product Offerings

Once you’ve decided on the goals and budget for your Instagram influencer marketing campaign, you’ll want to consider what you’ll be sending out, and how you’d like it to be delivered.

Here are a few things your business should consider:

What Products or Services Will You Be Focusing on Promoting This Holiday Season?

Many businesses promote some sort of gift set or focus on a featured product during the holiday season. While your business may offer a wide-variety of products, the holidays are a great time to promote your best-sellers or seasonal products that are available for a limited time only.

For example, last year, Christie Taylor of NYC Bambi partnered with Maison Margiela to promote their signature winter fragrance, “By the Fireplace.” In the caption, Christine calls the perfume the “perfect holiday gift”:

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My all-time favorite winter fragrance, By The Fireplace by @maisonmargielafragrances available at @sephora 🔥 makes the perfect holiday gift with notes of smoky wood and chestnuts, read more on nycbambi.com #smellslikememories #ad

Focusing on products that are the best fit for the holiday season will not only help you convert more customers, but will also create a more seamless experience for Instagram influencers promoting your product.

How Will You Be Sending out Your Products?

You’ll also want to decide how you plan on sending out your products.

Is there a specific mailing service your company uses? Where will you be shipping your product from? How long will it take for the products to arrive at the influencer’s address?

These are important questions your business should consider ahead of time to make sure you’re giving your influencer partners enough time to do what they do best!

What Packaging Will You Be Sending Your Products In?

This year, businesses are not only taking time to consider what products they’re selling, but also what they will be sending their products in!

Looking to spice up your product packaging during the holidays?

There are tons of different businesses that specialize in creating customized packaging that creates a fully immersive brand experience for your influencers. Curated mailers are typically branded with interactive elements that make the unboxing nearly as exciting as the product inside.

Businesses should also consider adding a personalized note to their mailers — your influencer partners will appreciate the personal touch!

By adding personal touches to your packaging, you’re much more likely to create a lasting impression with your influencers (and hopefully their audience!).

#4 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Create a Set of Guidelines for Your Influencer Partners

The holidays can be a crazy time for businesses and influencers alike, which means you’ll need to be on your A-game when pitching your partnerships.

By setting clear guidelines, you can help ensure that you get the highest return on your Instagram influencer partnerships.

A good strategy is to build branding guidelines and communications packets for your influencers. Make sure to include campaign hashtags, inspiration from past campaigns, or anything else you think would help them create content that will align with your brand.

As we mentioned, the holidays are the busiest time of year for Instagram influencers, so you’ll also want to make sure to include deadlines in your proposal.

Instagram influencers are most likely getting flooded with pitches this time of year, so it’s important that your pitch be as clear and concise as possible. The easier you make it for your partners, the more likely they will be to respond.

Of course, most influencers are seasoned professionals when it comes to creating content, so don’t be afraid to let their creativity fly! Along with your list of guidelines, be sure to let them know you trust their expertise and are excited to see what they come up with.

#5 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Find the Right Instagram Influencers for Your Campaign

Influencer marketing gives brands a unique opportunity to reach a niche and engaged audience. However, with so many varying rates and different types of Instagram influencers, how do you know who’s the right fit?

One of the easiest ways to find influencers who are a good match for your campaign is to seek out influencers who are already talking about products simply to yours.

Fashion and food blogger, Alyssa Ponticello, partnered with Truly Sparking last year to promote their new low-calories spiked drinks:

View this post on Instagram

‘Tis the season // To eat, drink and be merry…and keep it 💯. All the holiday snacks + sips can quickly add up, so I love that one of my fave spiked drinks @TrulySparkling only has 100 calories! It also pairs perfectly with light bites, making it great for holiday entertaining. One of the bites that I like to pair it with is an almost-too-easy-to-make white bean dip (1 16-oz can white cannellini beans, 2 tbsp. olive oil, juice of ½ a lemon, salt to taste and a pinch of chili powder blended until smooth in a Cuisinart) dressed up with herbs, nuts and fruit. Swipe left to see an example of how I made it look super festive with thinly sliced jalapeños, pomegranate seeds, chopped roasted almonds and fresh cilantro. Serve with vegetables, pita crisps, endive leaves or veggie chips and a @TrulySparkling (click the link in my bio to see where you can find some near you) to #LiveTruly this holiday season. {http://www.trulyholiday.com/tr41} #Truly100 #sponsored

Their partnership was a perfect match, as Alyssa often shares her favorite food and drink pairings, tips for hosting delicious gatherings, and more.

It may take a bit of scrolling, but it’s important to check out potential influencer partners past holiday campaigns.

What have their previous partnerships looked like? How did their sponsored posts perform?

Many bloggers, including Jacey Duprie, release a holiday gift guide each year, rounding up their favorite products for the whole family:

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IT’S OFFICIAL 💥 My 2017 Holiday Magazine is LIVE! I created my annual holiday magazine because geeking out behind the computer was what drew me into blogging to begin with. It wasn’t taking photos or having my photo taken. It was pushing myself to master photoshop, graphic design and studying analytics to help fuel a creative project that people enjoyed which made me fall in love with blogging. So, here we are, over 5 years and 5 magazines later, and I am still learning, growing and creating and that is something I am most thankful for. Every single page of this magazine was hand crafted by myself and it is, and always has been, completely unsponsored. I hope you enjoy this years magazine as much as I have enjoyed creating it. Link is in bio {best viewed on a computer} Happy Holidays yall xo

  Businesses should make note of influencers who put together annual holiday guides, and reach out if they think they’re a good fit for the list! These types of posts are highly-shareable, generate a ton of interest, and can potentially bring a ton of exposure to your brand.

Searching for your perfect Instagram influencer matches may take a bit of work, so it’s important your start your outreach and negotiations early. Remember, this is the busiest time for influencers so you’ll want to make sure you’re on their schedule before they’re fully booked!

#6 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Collect and Schedule Your Social Content

Instagram influencer marketing partnerships are a great way for your company to generate a ton of new content during the holiday season!

Influencers are pros at shooting products and have mastered the art of “getting the ‘gram.” It’s important your company take advantage of all the influencer-generated content during your campaign!

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Who wouldn’t want a shiny new smartwatch for Christmas! Hopefully my dad doesn’t have Instagram because he’s getting the @diesel touchscreen smartwatch, with notifications to manage his work calendar! It’s the perfect holiday gift! #holidaygifting #smartwatch #sponsored #DieselOn

Since the Instagram influencers you’ve partnered with will be sharing content with your branded hashtag, make sure to keep tabs on all the new posts. Using a tool like Later’s user-generated content features can help you stay on top of the content by uncovering all of the photos and videos you’ve been tagged or mentioned in on Instagram.

Once the content for your holiday marketing campaign is ready to go, set aside some time to fully plan out your social media content calendar using Later!

Taking the time to schedule your posts will not only make your life less stressful during the holiday season, but it will also leave you more time to actually engage with your community, which is so important if your goal is to make sales or generate leads.

Once you sign up for a free Later account, you can immediately start uploading, storing, and managing all your photos and videos in your Later Media Library.

All you have to do is drag and drop all your photos and videos from your desktop, Dropbox, or Google Drive directly onto your Media Library and voilà, you can now schedule your social content with Later!

You can also plan the look of your Instagram feed with your holiday content with Later’s Visual Instagram Planner on mobile and desktop.

Simply drag and drop your content onto your calendar and click “Preview” to access the Visual Instagram Planner. Then you can easily rearrange or swap out photos to find the perfect balance for your feed!

Last but not least, thanks to Later’s Auto Publish feature, you photos will automatically post to Instagram at the scheduled time — no push notifications required!

That means you can spend more time celebrating and less time posting this holiday season. 

  #7 Instagram Influencer Marketing Tips: Measure the Results of Your Instagram Influencer Marketing Holiday Campaign

Once the holiday hype is over, it’s important to check in and see how your campaign performed!

Some of the most common performance metrics you can use for measuring the impact of your influencer marketing are:

Engagement rate: likes, comments, shares

Brand sentiment: how people are talking about your brand

Traffic: customers visiting your website

Sales: conversions and revenues generated

Download our free Instagram Analytics Strategy Guide to learn how to start tracking your account’s performance and make better decisions about your strategy.

Businesses can also track the effectiveness of their influencer marketing holiday campaigns using UTM parameters.

UTM parameters are simply tags you add to a URL. When your link is clicked, the tags are sent back to Google Analytics and tracked. You can even attribute your sales to specific social media posts:

Need help tracking your social media campaign using UTM parameters? Check out our guide on tracking ecommerce sales with Google Analytics!

Once you’ve measured the results for your campaign, you’ll want to put together a report you can refer back to next year.

Taking the time to evaluate your Instagram influencer holiday marketing campaign can help you better determine your budget and objectives for the next year.

Ready to switch off for the holidays? Plan, schedule and automatically publish all your holiday content in advance with Later — it’s free! 

https://growinsta.xyz/7-instagram-influencer-marketing-tips-for-the-holiday-season/

[iamipsitamishra]

Reasonable.

The thing I am going to talk about this time is something we all are very familiar with, something that each one of us has experienced and been through at some point in their journey of discovering themselves through someone else’s eyes.

Not feeling accepted, feeling strange in a familiar place or to keep it simple, we all know how it feels to be a fish out of water at some times. It’s a very unspoken, undermined and disregarded important phenomena. Not necessarily you have to move around holding plethora of placards in your strained hands screaming pointlessly on a subjective issue like this, seemingly rampant and achievable, but more importantly being aware of yourself and considering how much effect our words have on others will do just fine. 

The problem is we are ignorant. People who say we do not talk much about important issues like this are most probably not well informed according to me. We have an immense talent of talking shit and throwing unrelated arguments that we take it for granted to believe that we do not rise up to the situation. We do, we do come forward and join our sticky hands for not so long maybe because we do not apply bond stick adhesive to make our bonds strong enough for the journey or whatsoever maybe the matter for starting the movement in that case. I do not know if we do this knowingly or it’s something that we have inherited and is in our genes, but sadly we do not reach to a conclusion of acceptance. Why is it so hard to accept someone else’s views and above that still argue about being accepted by the same person? Now that person is not a mindless insensitive gentleman like you that’s why he refrains from accepting you, right? Wrong. Actually he’s equally stupid and lives in a dreamland of his own just like you because had he been a well informed and competent guy with a vision to reform the present scenario he wouldn’t be wasting time arguing, that too with you, right? I hope you understood my point? 

So where was I? I know I am bad at connecting the dots and hence I have a habit of going off topic. I have suffered because of this when I had to write essays in exams and God alone knows how I passed them but let’s not indulge in that now. As I was talking about strangeness, feeling unacceptable, and not being able to develop a sense of belonging to a particular place, I understand the confusion you must have faced. 

Actually it’s not very strange as we may perceive. The thing is we do not wish to talk about it. If only undressing our feelings to someone was as easy as undressing our clothes. 

The thing you call depression, it’s not as epidemic as we might be shown. Sure it’s important to regard it with open minds and mark when it drains someone along with it but modern day technology has made it more of a fashionable and poetic thing, not realizing people die and kill themselves because of it. 

I am not going to push you deep talking about depression right now because I wasn’t even going to. What I wanted to convey was many of us isolate ourselves because we start to feel strangely in a familiar place. How much it would be hurting not being able to hold your head high in a place that once you were comfortable with and shared such eventful moments with your loved ones!

There maybe a lot of reasons contributing to your changed perception and behavior. Maybe you lost your friends, or don’t find the people around with the same thoughts and ideas as your own, or you couldn’t make it through something desirable,..the list goes on. It’s difficult, you feel difficult. But since when did difficult became a synonym for depression? There are difficulties in everyone’s life, does that mean everyone starts entering into the wormhole of depression? It doesn’t work that way. 

There are tons of motivational speakers who are willing to guide you to a path breaking soul finding mind numbing journey of discovering your inner self, starting from the self proclaimed babas to those unasked neighborhood aunties with crossed arms and judgmental eyes, but nobody is even worth a comparison to the gift you can give yourself. 

You do not always need another person to comfort you when you find yourself lost. Accept yourself and be your own best friend. After all who else would work more selflessly and relentlessly for your benefits other than you? Ofcourse exclude your parents, they are the best! But no one else will walk you through your difficult times and necessarily you may not even find someone to walk you through at times even if you put on four Ray-Ban glasses and search for them with LED torches. And do not mistake yourself by consoling to consider a therapist to bring you to the right path. In that case you are not lost my friend but you are a lazy head. Because if you are genuinely drowned and lost all hope from yourself, the people around you will notice and recommend before you even think about it. So chill and stop being a passionate procrastinator of your misfortunes. Go grab a large sized pizza with extra cheese and watch Netflix, it fixes everything. And at times when you need someone to understand you, do not hesitate to walk yourself up to the mirror. 

Do not live life King size assuming to be a real King only because you are the Raja beta of your mom. Live life your desirable size.

Thank you for the patience. I hope you do not think of me as an asshole for putting up a long blog post. 

- Ipsita :)