#on a separate but related note this also applies to people who will bring legends material into a discussion about canon

[ct-hardcase]

one thing I have noticed in the last few years of discourse about star wars canon is the attitude from some parts of fandom, where when people go "hey, I don't like this problematic aspect of canon/I don't like that this canon significantly contradicts the other", others will respond, stating that star wars is a tapestry of stories, and that it's fine, actually, because you can just take the parts you want and/or to just cobble one's own canon together from whatever.

this isn't bad advice per se, and if that's someone's preferred way of interpreting canon or dealing with discrepancies, I'm genuinely happy they reached that solution (hell, I even do it myself sometimes—rey mind-tricking finn and poe in the tros novelization is something I absolutely choose to ignore on account of it being ooc and not in the movie), but the majority of the time, I like treating canon as a puzzle that I can put together, and when some of the pieces simply can't fit right, or if there's blatant disrespect to the other stories in the tapestry (hi, caleb in tbb), I don't think it's wrong to be pissed at that and expect the corporate entity managing the product to do better.

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 127 Review

0/10 This chapter sucks. Continuity is dead.

In my last post I said if we got flashbacks, it’d be damage control for the last chapter. I was right.

The first couple of scenes in this chapter are clear attempts to clean up the last one’s mess. We never saw Jean and Mikasa make contact with Hange, and here, we do.

Honestly, I think this could’ve been handled better.

Jean had something of an arc in chapter 126, where it seemed like he genuinely had chosen to follow Floch, only it turns out he was working with Hange all along. So I get why these scenes are presented out of order. It’s an attempt at dramatic tension.

It fails, though, because not enough time was devoted to showing Jean working with Floch. Jean stood next to Floch in some scenes. That’s it.  

Let this be a lesson to aspiring writers everywhere. If you want to do a story arc, or even just a mini-arc, make sure you have the time for it. If you can’t spare the time to do it justice, it’s better to just cut it completely.

Hange’s character is much better served this chapter. I forgot to mention this last time, but Hange’s character was screwed over pretty hard last time.

Her arc has been about growing into her new role as commander. She failed to constrain Eren, and Floch, and everything’s gone to shit in general, and she doubts her own leadership.  

Then, after escaping the Yeagerists with Levi, Hange considers just walking away and living out in the woods.

They chose not to.

This is a major turning point for her character. She’s beaten down and has a chance to walk away, but she gets back up.

This major plot beat has maybe a few panels devoted to it. At most.

We don’t see the choice get made. In fact, it’s kind of implied that Hange didn’t consciously make that choice at all. Hange is building a cart to lug Levi around, and he notes that Hange’s doing that because they can’t stay on the sidelines.

Was Hange building the cart because they’d already decided they weren’t quitting?

Or were they going to use that cart to carry Levi to the eventual site of their woodland hut?

Was Levi just pointing out that Hange is doing what they’ve always done?

Or did what he say convince them in some way?

Who knows, because chapter 126 is still a rushed mess on every level.

Whatever Hange’s motivations or line of thinking, it should have been shown during the scene in the woods, when it happened, not in this flashback to a completely different scene.

Character development happens when characters make revealing choices. Showing the character’s motivation separately from the resultant action dilutes the poignancy of that character development.

It’s actually worse than that because not only was Hange’s thought process shown after the fact for no reason, the moment the choice itself was made is not shown at all.

The moment where Hange is surrounded by the ghosts of her fallen comrades would’ve been sooooo much better if it had been in the forest with Levi. It should have been in the forest with Levi.

Hange already chose what they were going to do, so there is no gravitas to this moment. It’s just exposition. This could have been a powerful moment. Instead, it’s just Hange monologuing about their motivation.

When the same happened with Erwin, we saw his struggle as it was happening. We were in the moment, so we felt the weight of Erwin’s struggle. He was bearing out his feelings, agonizing over having to throw his life away unfulfilled.

In 127, Hange is sitting in a chair, explaining her thinking, agonizing over nothing because she’s already decided to throw her life away, and is apparently already at peace with it.

This is what damage control looks like. Isayama fucked up and he’s trying to make up for it.

And even then, we still don’t have the explanations we badly need.

Why did Annie choose to help? She’s not doing this because it’s the right thing to do, she just wants to see her father again.

How did they convince her that they could deliver on that?

It’s the same with Pieck and Magath. They didn’t want to just do nothing, but what convinced them that this was better than doing nothing?

Mikasa asked Hange what the plan was, and their response was basically, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

So in other words, they have no plan!

Jean raises a good point about stopping Eren: it’s a death sentence for them. Hange’s only retort is that it’s the right thing to do, so they have to do it. This is great.

Genocide is inherently wrong, thus the answer to genocide is not more genocide. With this many lives involved, tit-for-tat is not acceptable.

In some cases, there may have to be retaliation, but there are always limits. These moral limits have a general applicability to them. Of course there are exceptions, but they apply in almost all cases.

I love how Hange explicitly rejects Eren’s dumbass egoist worldview.

“‘Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me’ Do you think a single one of them would be so narrow-minded as to say that?”

Eren doesn’t just care about Paradis. He doesn’t care about the outside world.

He seemed torn about whether to rumble the world. And he did cry over having to potentially rumble the refuge camp.

Gather around, children, because I have some very mean things to say about Eren here: let me tell you something about crocodile tears.

Crocodile tears are when you feel sad for something, except it’s fake, because deep down, you don’t care. The expression comes from an ancient legend that crocodiles cry for their prey while eating them.

Eren agonized a lot in the lead up to making his decision.

-rolls eyes-

What a drama queen!

Rumble the world, or not? If you have to take time to decide which is right, you’ve already failed.

Eren never truly cared about the outside world. He’s just doing this to bring freedom to Paradis; the lives of everyone else is a nonfactor.

It’s great to see Eren finally getting the dragging he deserves. He is, in fact, a narrow-minded ass.

Jean’s point still stands, though. And even though Eren is obviously indefensible, people still keep making excuses for him.

Hange says their “cowardly idealism” is what pushed Eren to do this. Note that this is the second time they’ve said this.

Uh, what?

Was making reasonable overtures of peace to the outside world cowardly?

Obviously not.

Establishing relations with other countries? That sounds reasonable.

Making contact with pro-Eldian advocacy groups? That sounds reasonable.

What about this is cowardly?

And what’s so idealistic about hoping for peace when there are possible paths to it?

Hange did nothing wrong. Eren is the one who did everything wrong.

Eren’s friends were actually working on a solution. They were trying to make a lasting peace between the Eldians and the world.

Meanwhile Eren was just bumming around not doing anything!

Could there have been a peaceful solution?

Beats me, but I’m not going to spend any thought on coming up with one.

By now, I think it’s clear that the point is that there is no peaceful solution. We saw Paradis try and fail repeatedly. The story in general has not even entertained a possible, peaceful solution.

Creating a Wall Titan “nuclear umbrella” over Paradis won’t work. Eren will be dead in a few years, and they don’t want to continue the Reiss’s gruesome traditions.

Armin’s idea of a targeted rumbling won’t work either because it’ll only increase the world’s resentment towards Paradis.

The point is that sometimes peace isn’t possible, but also that excessive violence isn’t justified. I don’t know how the story will end, but I don’t think it’ll be a happy one.

It’s always uncomfortable whenever the series talks about history and playing the victim. It’s such an obvious commentary on Japanese politics, I cringe every time.

Past Japanese war crimes are a very big factor in Japan’s relations with its neighbors. China and the Koreas are still indignant over the crimes Japan committed, and they feel the Japanese haven’t been apologetic enough.

Paradis is obviously a mirror of Japan.

Island nation with a sordid past that leads to rocky international relations even today. That’s Paradis and Japan.

The series’ stance is that these past events should not be such an issue anymore.

That’s not wrong…but I have a reservation.

The biggest flaw with the Paradis-Japan connection is that the Eldian Empire ended thousands of years ago.

The Japanese Empire ended 75 years ago. That’s not much.

China does overplay the war crimes issue, but there are still real issues with how the Japanese have responded. Many Japanese people are still taught a cleaned up version of what happened.

If anything, China should be called out on abusing the issue of war crimes for political reasons. Their government uses it as propaganda to rally popular support and distract from domestic issues.

In Attack on Titan, the Marleyans are not called out for that. They’re called out for playing victim over something that happened 2000 years ago.

The Marleyans, used by the story as a clear parallel to Japan’s neighbors, are portrayed as in the wrong because “it was a long time ago.”

Let me tell ya, that’s not a good look. What we see in the story is just close enough to reality to draw comparisons, but just different enough to be arguably offensive.

I will say it’s nice to know what Isayama thinks on a given issue. Annie calls out Mikasa and Armin on not being prepared to kill Eren if they have to. She aks how they know he’ll even listen to them.

Armin: we won’t know until we try.

Brilliant.

You can tell who’s side Isayama is on whenever the characters argue because the side he’s against will be the one with the dumb platitudes.

Mikasa: How are you going to stop Eren?

Hange: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Annie: How do you know talking will work?

Armin: We won’t know until we try.

Then…stuff happens.

Annie claims Mikasa will fight her if Annie tries to kill Eren, even if Annie’s just trying to defend her homeland.

Then Mikasa draws her swords for no reason, and Annie looks like she’s about to titan shift for no reason, then…Annie backs off for no reason.

There were definitely some plot beats missing here. Annie instantly goes from getting ready to shift to backing off. What happened?

And why did she back off? Her point still stands. She said Mikasa would fight her if she tried to kill Eren and Mikasa did not deny it.

The only plans of attack discussed have been (1) talking Eren down, and (2) killing him. It looks like they’re going with plan (1) now, but Mikasa is clearly not going to let Annie go through with plan (2) if (1) fails.

That’s a pretty important issue. And Annie raised it herself, only to just drop it for no reason.

Why does Annie think her time is better spent here than on a boat heading to the mainland?

Getting to her father in time to die with him sounds a lot likelier than stopping Eren, especially when killing him isn’t an option.

And then we come to Yelena.

You know, actually, this chapter has a lot of the same problems the last one did. Lots and lots of rushed plot beats that should have been fleshed out more.

One of the dumbest tropes in fiction is when a character looks into another character’s past off screen, learns sordid things about them, then exposition dumps about it.

Oh, look, this chapter exists.

This is lazy, lazy writing. Instead of a flashback montage with narration, we get some word balloons.

Why is this happening? Anything would have been better than this. There could have been a few more pages devoted to this. He at least could have come up with a better way to deliver this information.

Is Isayama just that dead set on finishing this manga before 2021?

Then Yelena delivers a monologue of her own. I can only assume that it is stupid on purpose.

Speeches like this have been given before in Attack on Titan. Annie gave one in her arc.

“You think you’re better than me?! Well you’re not! You’re a shithead just like me!”

-Annie, basically.

Kenny gave a similar one too. He said that everyone is a slave to something, even mother’s to their children. Then he asked Levi if he really thinks he’s so virtuous and then he died.

I mean, I don’t know what you’d call someone who, all else being equal, fought for the sake of their children if not a “hero”.

Yelena’s speech is dumb and that’s the point. It’s drivel that sounds smart, but is really just edgelord crap.

“You give yourselves to the sublime excitement that is the idea of saving hundreds of millions of lives.”

Christ, not this again!

Claiming good deeds aren’t really good because people do them to feel better about themselves is very common on the internet. You see it all the time on Reddit.

In fact, Yelena even says it like she’s trying to sound smart.

“The sublime excitement.”

-SIGH-

The problem with this reasoning is that it’s moving the goalposts. Yelena is redefining altruism and selfishness to get the result she wants.

You could think of many examples of people doing things that are obviously selfless.

Take a soldier. Let’s say their platoon is on patrol, and then the enemy tosses a grenade at them. The soldier dives on top of the grenade and shields his platoon from the explosion. But obviously, he dies.

That was selfless.

-puts on crazy, blonde, mop-top-

HOWEVER!

WHAT IF SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED AS A HERO?

DID YOU EVER THINK OF THAT!?

Shut up I know this actually did happen in this manga that’s not the point.

Yelena has redefined selfishness to cover everything people do, and at that point, the word becomes useless. She’s wrong because when you think about it, “selfish” is a meaningless word in her worldview.

Yelena then proceeds to list off all the bad things everyone’s done, as if they’re all to blame for it.

Annie did awful things, I won’t argue against that. And she doesn’t seem very apologetic about it, so Yelena actually has a point there.

She also has a good point with Armin. Destroying the port was excessive, especially since it never ended up helping in the end. The port was destroyed to delay a Marleyan attack. Too bad the Marleyans just attacked via airship instead.

Reiner broke the wall, but despite what the man himself says, he was still just a brainwashed kid at the time. I don’t think it’s entirely right to blame him. He’s very apologetic about it, either way.

The Battle of Liberio never should have happened, but the Survey Corps was forced into it by Eren and they did what they could to limit civilian casualties.

It’s the same with Jean and Falco. Jean almost killed Falco, but only because Falco got in the way. That’s on him. Not. Jean.

Gabi killed Sasha, but it was a battle! Wars are ultimately fought to the death. If you go into the military and don’t expect to die, you’re clueless. There was no foul play with how Gabi killed Sasha. She boarded their airship, and shot her. That’s war.

She wants to believe that these people are just as bad as she is. Because if everyone is a piece of shit, then she isn’t so bad in comparison. It’s a common tactic people use to rationalize their own shitty behavior.

But she’s wrong, and they all prove her wrong. Jean can’t forgive Reiner, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of stopping Eren.

And no matter what Yelena says, it’s selfless what the 104th and Hange are doing. Long term, stopping Eren is a death sentence for them. They don’t care.

Leave it to Reiner to give the most Reiner response to Jean possible.

“I felt really bad about it afterwards.”

“Don’t forgive me. I don’t deserve it.”

“I’m sorry.”

That was the cringiest thing in the whole chapter. Good on you, Jean, for beating him for it.

(Not really)

This chapter was about everyone coming to terms with working together, but I feel it was half-baked.

Magath and Jean’s fight wasn’t really resolved, just dropped.

Annie and Mikasa’s fight was also just dropped.

None of the bad things Yelena brought up was commented on or dealt with. They weren’t dropped; they weren’t even taken up!

Reiner and Jean’s fight was properly dealt with, but that was it.

Now we’re heading into a fight with Floch and……I guess the emotional processing is over?

You know, I take it back, this chapter was better than the last one, but it still had a lot of the same blatant issues.

Rushed plot beats, unwieldy dialogue, and undercooked plot developments.

So.

On to the next chapter?

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 1/17/19

This week at Bungie, we continue our journey.

Before we dive into the weekly roundup of information about the game, we’d like to shed some more light on the future of the franchise.

Destiny Franchise Director Luke Smith:

Hey everyone,  

I wanted to share three things on behalf of the Destiny team today.  

First: Our sincere thanks to the people at Activision who've helped bring Destiny to our players,  High Moon Studios for their wonderful collaboration on Forsaken, and Vicarious Visions who helped establish a Destiny community on PC, worked with us on Warmind, and who is currently readying their Destiny swan song with content that will appear in the upcoming Season of [Redacted].  

Next: In the short-term, we're continuing to build the content we’ve promised for the Annual Pass. We've learned a lot from Black Armory that we will apply to future releases, most notably that we'd like the beginning experiences of content drops to be a better point of convergence for the playerbase. In Black Armory, we set the Power requirement for the first forge too high, and that meant it wasn't a great chance to jump into some new content. We want to find the line between new content that many players can play, and aspirational content for players to progress toward. We're exploring improvements to catch-up mechanics for players in upcoming seasons.  

Last: Long-term, Bungie is committed to Destiny. We created the universe and we hold its future entirely in our hands. The vast majority of the team is hard at work envisioning future experiences, enemies, and ways to play the Guardian you've been building since 2014. We're going to keep doing that.

We're thinking about what it means to be truly independent, what it means to self-publish, and crucially, what Destiny's future can now look like for our players.  It was a busy Fall, and it is going to be a busy year.  When I look ahead and think about Destiny and where it could go, I see a bright future, with roots in a memorable past. Not everything has been lost in the dark corners of time.   

See you soon, -luke

Up the Damage

Paired with changes to Super abilities in Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4, the team has is also set to deliver some fine-tuning to weapon archetypes in your vault, waiting to be used.

Designer Victor Anderson has a rundown of our goals and the changes being made to reach them.

Mr. Anderson: In the 2.1.4 update, we’re making several adjustments to weapons with the following goals in mind: 

Buff underutilized weapon archetypes

Adjust hot button weapons in PvP, including Telesto and Wavesplitter

Avoid PvP adjustments that will negatively affect PvE efficacy

In summary, our design philosophy is to keep the sandbox feeling the same, but tune damage separately dependent on activity where it makes sense.

Here’s a sampling of some the changes you’ll see:

Weapon Archetypes

Auto Rifles

Damage increased for rapid-fire, adaptive, and high-impact families. We find that Auto Rifles are a little unforgiving for the ranges they ask you to occupy in a world with special weapons, and as a result, we’re increasing the damage to offset the higher risk.

Scout Rifles

Damage increased for lightweight and rapid-fire families, as well as an increase to all Scout Rifles in PvE. Scout Rifles are always going to be on the lower end of damage due to the safety that their range affords you, but the difference currently between them and other primary weapons is too drastic. As a result, we’re reducing the size of the gap.

Sniper Rifles

Increased the damage on the rapid-fire archetype to be able to kill in two bodyshots. Although snipers are still finding success, we believe that allowing you to clean up a kill easier with a Sniper Rifle will allow the sniper to have that success at more ranges and in more situations.

Exotic Weapons

Legend of Acrius

Increased the damage and bumped out the range slightly. As time moves on, things tend to trend upward in terms of power, and in a post-Forsaken world, Acrius simply didn’t have the output to match other heavy weapon Exotics.

Telesto

PvP damage brought down to match a standard Fusion Rifle charge rate. Optics (zoom) was also increased to match Fusion Rifles with long-range scopes. Telesto has become fairly notorious in the Crucible for its effectiveness, even in some cases getting accidental multikills due to how damaging the explosions were. To combat these, we’ve reduced its (PvP) damage to match its charge rate. This brought up an issue where doing so was significantly hurting the usability of the weapon, so the optics were buffed in return. In general, you should still find it an effective weapon, it just won’t be quite as generous as it was before.

Trace Rifles

Increased the minimum amount of ammo you could receive from special ammo boxes. Trace Rifles had a pretty rough time keeping ammo reserves in the Crucible as it doesn’t have access to scavenger perks. You should have more success using it more often in the Crucible now, and the changes also affect PvE bricks.

Reduced the strength of Wavesplitter in PvP. After the ammo changes noted above, Wavesplitter had its one weakness removed, so we’ve opted to bring it in line with the other Trace Rifles before this patch hit the public.

Weapon tuning is an ongoing process. We’ll be sure to talk to you about it again in the future. Some topics we’re looking at for future potential adjustments include Trace Rifle damage in PvE, Submachine Gun damage adjustments, Shotgun adjustments, and taking a holistic look at the heavy slot options and how much of an impact it has on loadout choices for PvE content. We are always looking at what’s currently in use and what isn’t in use, as having more choices is always better than being locked into a narrow band.

These changes are currently planned to land on January 29.

Stoke the Forge

Sandbox won’t be the only aspect of Destiny 2 receiving Quality of Life changes in the next update. We’ve also spent some time collecting player feedback on the Black Armory experience. What follows are some details for the changes we have planned for weapon forging.

Black Armory

Ballistics Logs will no longer be removed at reset

Stack limit for Ballistics Logs increased to 5 per character

Weapon frames carried across reset now refund into the following

“Gold” frames refunded into 1 Ballistics Log

“Silver” frames refunded into 3 Modulus Reports

Any instance of a Radiant Matrix will be removed on weekly reset

Players should stop experiencing the issue where frames are missing from Ada’s inventory on a week-to-week basis

Players may still only purchase up to 2 “Gold” frames per week

Drop rate for Black Armory Lore increased from 10% to 20%

Now requires successful forge ignition for chance to drop

Quest step that requires players to defeat a high-value target on Nessus no longer requires a player to land the final blow.

Modulus Reports and Ballistics Logs will now go to Postmaster if lost. Cap on Modulus Reports still at 15 per account

Forge emblems will be awarded when completing a forge, no longer requiring a specific bounty to be completed

That’s not even the final form of our next deployment. Check out the Player Support Report below for a list of known issues being addressed in Update 2.1.4.

Clubhouse Renovations

Over the last few weeks, members of the Community, Player Support, and bungie.net teams have been meeting to discuss some ways we can improve the experience on our forums. The first change will be a reorganization of our current forum structure, paired with some under-the-hood improvements to moderation tools.

A large piece of feedback that we’re looking to address is that players didn’t know exactly where to go to join the conversation. As such, we’re condensing Destiny 2-related forums, eliminating subforums that weren’t used frequently, and giving the Destiny Companion its own place of discussion. Second, we wish to create a more welcoming place to discuss Destiny 2. Whether you’re giving critical feedback on your experience or looking to share some sweet lore you’ve just uncovered, we’re looking to maintain a healthier community on our website. We absolutely welcome topics and discussion on what we can do better in Destiny 2, but players must follow the Code of Conduct if they wish to join the conversation.

That said, here’s what you can expect on January 22 when visiting the bungie.net forums:

Destiny 2

Feedback

Gameplay

Rewards

Lore

Destiny 1

Clan Recruitment

Companion

iOS

Android

Web

Help

All current Player Support subforums

OffTopic

Like anything else related to Destiny, we’re eager to hear your feedback on how this experience can be improved.

Reporting for Duty

Week in and week out, members of the Player Support Team dedicate themselves to identifying the issues you’re facing, and working with the development team to investigate. We’ve said it a thousand times before; the only good bug is a dead bug.

This is their report:

Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 Resolved Issues Preview – Part 1

This week, we’d like to pick up the conversation on some existing known issues in Destiny 2. The following issues are expected to be resolved with the launch of Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 on January 29.

Lost Radiant Matrix: Players can become blocked from accessing Black Armory activities if the Radiant Matrix is pushed out of their Postmaster inventory.

Ada-1 Missing Weapon Frames: Weapon frames may disappear from Ada-1’s inventory in a given week for some players.

[Editor’s Note: This issue will no longer be present due to the system changes for Ballistics Logs described above.]

Mysterious Box Keys: Forge Keys are sometimes not applied when used for the Mysterious Box but are removed from inventory, blocking progress. Spent keys will be applied retroactively.

“Fastidious Miser” Triumph: The “Fastidious Miser” Triumph may sometimes not unlock when players access all relevant chests in the Dreaming City.

Full Pursuits at Ada-1: Players are able to purchase weapon frames from Ada-1 when their Pursuits inventory is full, receiving nothing while still costing materials.

Nessus Roaming Captains: High-value targets on Nessus do not count for other fireteam members when someone defeats them for the “Siviks’s Delivery Note” Pursuit.

Earning Redrix’s Broadsword: Redrix’s Broadsword is sometimes not granted when completing its quest, requiring players to restart the Destiny 2 application for it to drop.

“Knife Flip” Emote: The “Knife Flip” emote does not loop indefinitely.

Check back next week for Part 2 of our Resolved Issues Preview, where we’ll discuss other known issues that are expected to be resolved in Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 later this month.

For information on deployment timelines when they are available, players should visit our Destiny Server and Update Status page, follow @BungieHelp on Twitter, or monitor our support feed on help.bungie.net.

Season of the Forge Vital Information and Known Issues

In addition to the items listed above, Destiny Player Support would like to remind players of the following known issues in Destiny 2.

Black Armory Key Molds: Investigations are ongoing regarding issues causing the Black Armory Key Mold to only be available on the first character it is received on.

“Relic Rumble” Triumph: We are investigating an issue where the "Relic Rumble" Triumph isn't unlocking for players.

“Submachinist” Medal: We are investigating an issue where the “Submachinist” Medal does not appear in the Crucible.

Izanagi's Burden Scope: We are investigating reports that the scope on Izanagi's Burden experiences issues with Well of Radiance, with Inertia Override, and while invading in Gambit.

For the latest known issues as soon as they are available, players should visit our Destiny 2 Known Issues and Vital Information knowledge base article.

To close out, we invite you to take a step back to Friday, January 11, 2019.

Guardians had been working together to solve puzzles in the Niobe Labs. A final clue was given to nudge players in the right direction. After three and a half days, the Hubris of Niobe was recognized, and the puzzle was completed.

World First: The Destiny Community

While a fireteam executed the plan, we wanted to highlight that this was achieved by more than just three Guardians. We thank everyone in the community who lent their troubleshooting skills to help crack this code. Many shout outs to /r/RaidSecrets were made, but we also must acknowledge those who engaged with each other via social media. Whether you were on forums, tweeting, texting, or submitting your theories to stream chats: Thank you for taking part in this experience.

[thisislakewood]

                                        Lakewood Event 002

Welcome to the second event, here within thisislakewood! This event is a revolving door of plot drops singular to each character. The admins did their best to allocate characters to situations best suited for them, so if something is listed below that is out of character for your character, please inform the admins immediately, and we will rearrange as best we can to make it fit. 

Below you will find chaos lurking within many corners of the Black Rabbit. Like scenes depicted from different points of view, each one will be played out without characters being aware of other problematic instances IC. Where your name is listed, you can freely have your character see people, but not know what happened.

Below is a masterlist of threads or characters that we’ve paired up characters to. If there is more than one name listed, players can feel free to talk among themselves to decide how it will play out, and any NPC’s can simply be written as is. Any questions in regards to how they would be seen can simply ask one of the admins, and we will provide clarification. We’ve also laid descriptions aiding you, but at the end of it, it’s all UTP how the ending shows. Once the event is over, the Admins will conduct the first summary of events thus far. Please also note, open plotting as always for the event, you don’t need to singularly stick to only you’re partnered with below.

Dates: In real time, the event will commence at noon on February the 1st, 2019, and end on February 10th, 2019 at midnight.

In play, the event will have taken place February 1st at 8 pm, and ended at 3 am.

For all posts pertaining to the event, please use the tag “lakewood: black rabbit”

Considering the amount of plots going around, players are free to initially begin the thread with open starters, so long as they all see out their plots at some point throughout the said timeframe. 

Again, please let the admins know if you are unable to fulfill your plot drop, or if what is written doesn’t fit with what you see for your character, so we can apply something that best works for you. If you do not see your name but would like to participate, please message the admins with your character’s name and we will add to this post to best include people. There are general plots below, if you so choose to stay out of particular plot drops and partake in the general plots, that is what they’re there for.

For threads started before the event, you are welcome to continue them through if you so please. You also have the option of holding off on them until the event is over. If you choose to post them during the event, please tag those posts “pre-event” so they are labelled separate from the current event. Please do not post any non-event related starters during this time.

BELOW IS A FLOOR PLAN OF THE BLACK RABBIT, WHICH WILL GIVE PEOPLE AN IDEA OF WHERE MOST WILL BE. ON THE TOP OF THE IMAGE GIVES WAY TO A “DOOR” THIS IS WHERE THE “ALLEY” IS CONSIDERED TO BE, FOR THOSE WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED PLOTS.

They said it was gonna be a good time: OCTAVIA MONRAUE, the owner of Lakewood’s newest hotspot, makes her grand debut--a short, but effective speech laid to all within the bar.

Show me what’cha got: A fist fight breaks out between LOGAN LEGEND & LEO TRIVELLI (rinaldi bodyguard, NPC) over LEO persistently hitting on SIENNA FITZGERALD of the CASTRO CARTEL MEMBERS. UTP who threw the first punch, and who ultimately won the fight. There will need to be injuries sustained by both in this fight, as well as potentially what sparked the fight by SIENNA. Logan is pulled off beating Leo by many people, and escorted from the side of the bar to a booth by Sienna. What happens up to, during the fight, and afterwords is UTP.

It’s gonna be a girl fight: Tensions are laid when NAOMI STONE picks a fight with ONE OF THE REYES CHILDREN, sparking controversy up to and including bringing in HARLEY STONE into the tussle. UTP how and what it began over, as well as who would’ve won the fight. Initially both sets of women were sent there to secure territory surrounding the Black Rabbit and offer generous compensation to the owner in exchange for use of her venue.

It’s called an intervention: The tussle between both sets of women above ended when ANDY RENNER and LUCA BENNINGTON pull the women apart and separate them. If they sustain injuries in this, or aide women in their own injuries, is UTP.

Paging all doctors: JOSIE BUCHANAN caught the eye of the fight happening between LOGAN LEGEND & LEO TRIVELLI, and quickly caught the attention of CHARLOTTE ALMEIDA to help her in each individual’s needs, pulling both men apart with the help of those nearby. It is UTP who will aide who, and how CHARLOTTE fairs out as JOSIE’s aide to attend to Leo’s wounds. (Please keep in mind; he does not die, and cannot be transported to a hospital - must walk away at the end of it).

Shit’s getting real, real quick: VALENTINA RINALDI was seen arguing with her bodyguard, his real name Leo Trivelli--aptly named Carlo, as the two remained in hushed argument over his altercation with another, moving off to the side-hallway to continue privately. Unseen to most was PIETRO RINALDI, following his sister out of sight. UTP what becomes of the altercation between the three.

Suspicious doesn’t cut it: With the sudden disappearance of two out of four Rinaldi children, and the fights thus far, DOMINIC MORETTI makes the decision to gather the Rinaldi children and other members and send them home. This is no place for them. Dominic enlists CAMILA DIAZ for her help in finding everyone in the middle of what comes next. Please note, players do NOT find Valentina or Pietro.  UTP if they locate the others.

The Roof! The Roof! The Roof is on Fire!: Playing cat and mouse with the bodyguards in charge of protecting BIANCA RINALDI-LEONE was clockwork, each one dumber than the last in means of keeping an eye on her. Didn’t they know the sort of complete terror she could get into? And how little Mama and Papa would care? She was their utter darling. Of course, that wasn’t completely extended to others, as she flicked the flame, lighting the napkin, and letting it fall to the floor. Of course, KEEGAN CALORE’s keen eyes caught the blonde, as she quickly stamped it out. But that stamped out Bianca’s fun--and no one did that to her. What happens next is UTP.

Caught in the cross hairs: One of the Castro Cartel members pulls out a gun and fires it into the air amidst all the commotion, and argument with a rival cartel member, shattering the glass top, as shards fell from the ceiling. All those WITHIN THE ROOM (UTP, this cannot apply to those above and below who are positioned elsewhere other than in the bar area itself. For more clarification, please shoot the admins an ask and we will let you know.) can be injured from the falling shards, all UTP for each character.

Only amateurs fail: It’d been enough to twist the stomach of anyone, when the shards fell and skined all those beneath them. Spotting walking out onto the glass, as people cried out in sudden pain, was ANDREA QUINTERO, looking at the plethora of rich and violent alike like a child approaching a playground. Unfortunately for her, OCTAVIA MONRAUE is fucking pissed at the commotion, and won’t allow another instance to occur--especially when it takes a thief to know that particular twinkle in Andrea’s eyes now. What happens between both chars is UTP. 

911? I’d like to report a 100 crimes: Police have been tipped off regarding all the commotion at the Black Rabbit by ELI DRAKE, and begun arriving on the scene, while those within the cartels involved have either escaped while they can throughout the back, or are among the gravely injured within the bar, seeking medical assistance. All DOCTORS, such as JOSIE BUCHANAN & SARA ASHFORD within the roleplay are welcome to aide all POLICE OFFICERS, such as ALEXANDRA HARWOOD, NOLAN ANDERSON, PARKER GRAYSON within the roleplay on any injured persons or arresting suspects. ARIADNA CAMPBELL was seen instruction ANY of these characters into aiding and evacuating the premise with all people. Each police officer can arrest up to ONE suspect from any cartel of their choosing, playable or not, just reach out to playable characters. Please note: Presidents and VPs can be arrested if plotted with players beforehand--please inform the admins before seeing plots through so we can make a note of it.)

Put your money where your mouth is: Spotted within the back room, plush seating and lavish setting was where you found two Presidents, settled in their familiar glares, accompanied by a guarded setting of the Almeida bodyguard, EMILIA KROL and SERAN BRENEK skirting dark threats and looks a few feet away in support of their leaders. Meanwhile RAPHAEL STONE and ROMAN GUERRA discussed with OCTAVIA MONRAUE separately of the potential to use of the Black Rabbit for trafficking purposes. Information regarding the decision will be portrayed at a later time. What happens between Emilia & Seran is UTP.

Lakewood is burning: ARIADNA CAMPBELL catches RAPHAEL STONE exiting the building last, and chooses to follow him. Ariadna is well aware of Cartel influence, and could be trailing Raphael for answers into what the hell happened within the bar tonight. UTP as to what follows.

Mum’s the Word: ELISABETH RINALDI has arrived, and on her heels, her sister-in-law RAVENNA RINALDI. Both women were informed of the sudden chaos and came to survey the commotion within the Black Rabbit. Both women are here to gather their own as inconspicuously as possible, and bring them home. However, they run into Jerónimo Reyes, the brother to the President of the Reyes Cartel, who pins the chaos on both women. As Jerónimo calms down only slightly, Ravenna and he sit within one of the side-booths off the end of the bar to discuss a potential deal to escape the night unscathed and unseen by most. Elisabeth returns with drinks for all. What happens next is UTP. 

Ding, Dong, the witch is dead: With the aftermath of an unsuccessful venture, ROMAN GUERRA is spotted shoving through the crowd, pushing people out of his way if need be in an all out rage. Seen last heading towards the alleyway, he collides with Valentina Rinaldi, focusing on her being covered in something that was hard to make out within the dark lighting. Questions might’ve been raised, but he watched as she all but sprinted out of the venue, and continued on his way. A dark, open space crunched between both buildings as MARLINDA REYES was seen exiting the same way, wonderment within allies to make sure Roman was alright. Of course, it didn’t end well--but at least they didn’t see the dead body hiding behind the trash bin when they both entered.

Call in the clean up crew: LORELEI REYNARD was summoned by RAVENNA RINALDI to clean up the body of the Reyes without being seen, a price high to the woman to do the job as she trusted her too. However, LORELEI was seen moving the body by PIETRO RINALDI, who was hiding his own secret, after leaving the severed pieces of one of the bartenders behind the bar heaved into a thick black garbage bag, slung over his shoulder. He left it briefly, allowing it to rot while he helped Lorelei finish the job and move the body into the alleyway, where a van was waiting. Lorelei does not know what is in the bag Pietro has, but Pietro does assist her, and use her skills to his advantage. UTP if & how they discover the other body.

One last hurrah of the night: Outside of the Black Rabbit, as the place was being taped off by police officers as an official crime scene of the night, CAMILA DIAZ lingered beyond the line, the crowd that had gathered as most of Lakewood lingered from nearby watching as a black body bag was being carried out. Of course, no one was aware of who remained within the first body bag, but the second that followed made it almost wearisome. Realizing she hadn’t seen Valentina most of the night, Camila began pushing through the crowd to try and find her best friend, calling out her name. Unable to make out the faces before her, she did not see PIETRO RINALDI coming at her--or what happened next. Startled by Pietro’s actions, Camila falls to the floor, and if found by LUCA BENNINGTON. What happens is UTP.

You wanna play a game of chance?: PIPER SINCLAIR was sent to the Black Rabbit that night, with the sole mission to take a hit out on the STONE CARTEL. Of course, her prime target was RAPHAEL STONE. With the aide of one of her own, both PIPER & JACOB WHITE seek out to corner the Stone President, and make their choice. What happens next is UTP.

[xsterois]

[ALL ABOUT SHINHWA COMPANY] - Chapter 1. About SM Entertainment

The History of SHINHWA’s Relationship with Entertainment Companies: ALL ABOUT SHINHWA COMPANY

Original author: 미코 MIKO [2013.12.29] Original post: http://blog.naver.com/secgarden/150182106794

Chinese translation: 海天月夜 [2015.06.02] Chinese post: http://www.weibo.com/1251889924/CkJ1Gdqjc?from=page_1005051251889924_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&type=comment#_rnd1488141816655

Chinese translation: Bestshinhwa [2015.09.01] Chinese post: http://www.weibo.com/p/1001603882403276969902

English translation: xsterois [2017]

Chapter 1. About SM Entertainment

It’s not unfamiliar that Shinhwa debuted around the end of 90s, at the blooming period of the creation of ‘idol’, and being called ‘First Generation Idol’. After H.O.T and S.E.S, leading the idol entertainment companies, they were SM Entertainment’s third product.

About Shinhwa’s audition

The above image is ranked by the date Shinhwa members joined as a trainee. We don’t have to talk much about what happened before debut, in short:

Andy who was living in America formed a dance group with few Korean friends, joined a dance competition and got casted by Lee Sooman. After that he was picked as the final member of H.O.T, but gave up due to his mother’s worry about debuting at a young age, hence went back to America. After a year, Lee Sooman met Andy again in LA and brought him back to Korea. (At this time, some believe that Andy is already chosen as a Shinhwa member, but it’s unknown whether if it is a rumour among fans or a rumour from Lee Sooman.)

As a foreign student, Shin Hyesung was casted in a SM audition held in LA. It was in 1996, and was the same year that Lee Sooman met Andy again, and according to Andy as a trainee that time, after listening to Shin Hyesung’s vocal, Lee Sooman exclaimed “It’s really great isn’t it”.

Eric same as Shin Hyesung, was casted though LA audition. Although he joined the audition as suggested by Andy, he already met Lee Sooman in the past. And according to Lee Sooman and Andy, Eric was already popular among Korean students at that time.

Lee Minwoo studied at Jeonju Art High school, he joined Everland Dance Competition with friends and got casted by a SM manager. (His friend who was also casted as a trainee wasn’t able to become a Shinhwa memebr but debuted through other entertainment company)

Junjin studied at Ogeum High School who was already famous for his dancing skills. And through sunbae Ahn Chilhyun, H.O.T Kangta suggested him to be a trainee.

At last, Kim Dongwan was popular as a band vocal in Whimoon High School. He also gained the title of ‘Whimoon’s Moses’ (Meaning that wherever he walked past, students separated a road like Red Sea for him.)

tvN The List 130311:

About Kim Dongwan at Whimoon High School

Different companies wanted to get Kim Dongwan in and they even sent special manager for him, knowing all his schedules following him around to get a chance (as reported by DSP relations). Until one day Kim Dongwan was unexpectedly casted by a SM manager on street, while holding a big teddy bear for his girlfriend.

None the less, they gathered as trainees and after one year to few months of training, only six were chosen to debut as Shinhwa’s final members.

People call them SM’s mischievous icon.

Different to other idols with a mysterious concept (especially SM’s H.O.T and S.E.S), arguing with fans outside the dorm, getting drunk, bringing a television to play games at broadcast stations, escaped dorm but got caught and all received punishment, etc. Until now these were remained as legend stories in the industry, and you can find these easily on different humour-sites as Shinhwa’s history.

Therefore even after 10 years, I believe that their weird and extraordinary stories will remain on the internet. And that because of the contrasting image to other idols during such time, their unique image brought them to the exposure in variety.

In 1999, Shinhwa’s 2nd Album (T.O.P) brought them a late-coming huge response, forming the unique passionate fans, and achieved their goals. In the 5 years of contract period, even though there were various incidents (especially the life threatening accidents).

They continued in striving and working hard, showing a different style with every album.

At that time, I also thought their story will conclude with a happy ending...

With the passing of time, 5 years of “idols’ maximum survival time” went by, Shinhwa and SM’s contract came to an end in 2003.

During that time, groups debuted before Shinhwa or debuted at similar time declared disbandment, even without an official announcement, the members left and worked in different fields. At that time, the running period of idols were expected to be around 5 years, and the number of albums was also ended at 5. However, Shinhwa in 2002 released their 6th Album. From that time onwards, they began slowing breaking the limits of idols.

Recalling SM Entertainment sunbae idol groups, in 2001 due to conflicts between members and company, H.O.T went in a status of “half disbandment”. S.E.S in 2002 disbanded according to members’ will, and debuted as solo singers.

And in 2003, when everyone expected SM’s third child, Shinhwa will go through the same path as the other idols.

But as we all know, such expectation did not came true. Before talking about Shinhwa’s next decision, let’s look into their experience in SM Entertainment which may considered as a turning point.

Chapter 1.5. Shinhwa Promoting as 5 (2001)

When Shinhwa released their 4th Album in 2001, without Andy, promoting as 5 members is what everyone knows. Andy also mentioned it on a programme himself, and as what we know, it was due to his personal issues. But the truth is, recalling the incident in 2001, it was not just solely a personal uncontrollable case.

Andy’s Activities on Hiatus

[Author’s NOTE: Although I do not know how much this incident has impact on Shinhwa, this could fully represent how they realised the actual relationship between the group and the company. And this is also the incident which made Shinhwa fans lost trust towards the company, and that it is not totally irrelevant to the future conflicts. Below is according to my recall of the situation and rumour during that time+ what was reported on media+ Andy’s future explanation.]

One day, KKFS (Korea Kent Foreign School) was rumoured to have students from high status families getting into university with no qualification. And in this school there were two popular idols. They are S.E.S’s Shoo (Yoo Sooyoung) and Shinhwa’s Andy (Lee Sunho). (S.E.S's Eugene was a graduate from this school)

Reporters who were starving for news did not miss this chance. News on TV and newspaper all brought the two names out. At first, it was “an idol member”, and then it became “S.E.S’s Miss Y and Shinhwa’s Mr L”. Later, they even reported with their real identities. People who heard about the university entrance scandal began to judge and blame them.  Of course, this also happened in the fandom.

(For reference, I was only 4th grade at that time, just began liking Shinhwa, but still am able to remember this shows how big impact it brought…)

About this incident, if we start from the conclusion, the school which had an university entrance scandal, happened to have a foreigner student Andy (with foreign residence). Andy was 12th grade at that time, applied and got accepted for Hankuk University of Foreign Studies on English. Shoo also was accepted in university already.

However when the news broke, the spotlight of the media went onto “idol’s improper university entrance scandal” (in reality they just happened to be a student there) instead of the “high status family scandal”. Whereas the universities which were at the centre of the scandal, used “not qualified” as an excuse to cancel KENT students’ accepted university application. Of course, from the the surface their reason made sense. KENT was not a proper high school course, hence they were not qualified for university application from the start.

(I need to point out that, not only Andy and Shoo, whether all Kent students did got blamed due to “not qualified”. For reference, all foreigner high schools are recognised as proper high school course now. But it was only not recognised during that time.)

Therefore the high school education was not recognised, concluding with a Junior high graduate, cancelled university entrance.

ENDING LIKE THIS?? Then it would be great….

Due to the KKFS incident, a lot obstacles were created to Andy.

1. As Andy’s education was not recognised, Andy’s past 3 years studying at KKFS as a student was rejected. This created a problem to Andy’s reason to stay in Korea. Hence before his identity was made clear, the business activity (=as a singer) became impossible.

2. Male adult who is not a student, by principle is required to receive military health check, and before that travelling is forbidden.

Therefore, until Andy got the military health check, he was forbidden to leave the country. It would be great ending like this, receive the military health check and solve the legal problems. But to make thing worse, Andy’s “personal issue" broke out. Andy’s mother in US suddenly went really ill.

For reference, Andy was born in a single parent family, without any male parent, it means that he is responsible to act as the father’s role. Andy as his mother’s guarantor was really urgent to travel back to US, but due to what happened in Korea, until the travel ban is removed, he could only wait.

During such process, Andy even made a lawsuit about the university application was inappropriately cancelled. Some may misunderstood his action, but he did this not because of to escape from the military check, but instead if he could resume the “student” identity then the travel ban would be removed and he could rush back to US. But at last it did not succeed.

Also, rumours began to spread everywhere. From Andy leaving out of the dorm, to become missing, temporary leaving the group, withdrawal from the group, and even rumour on suicide. (About attempt of suicide, at that time the company explained it was because of taking excessive cold pills leading to gastric spasm, and was sent to the emergency. I personally think such issue is still questionable, but it is not a significant point here, so I will end this here.)

2001.05.10 Voice Message from Andy

Afterall, Andy successfully received the military check and due to not qualified education (finally as Junior high graduate), and was decided as “reserved placement” in military, he left all rumours behind and quietly left for US.

2001.05.10 [NEWS] Andy’s Military Position

After few months, Shinhwa came back with their 4th Album.

Without Andy, as 5.

What ironic is, Shinhwa with one member less, the album received well results, it’s actually really popular among the public. People started to give them more recognition for trying the un-idol-like concepts.

Some even said that ‘Hey Come On’ is the next level in music. And ‘Wild Eyes’ as the continuing song, received even greater reaction than the title song.

No matter if it is music, variety or the media reflected that Shinhwa could be perfect as a 5 members group. But this did not make people satisfy because of the subtle atmosphere. Some fans appeared to not care but feeling lost, and some fans even accepted that Andy is already not a member. Shinhwa seems to realise that before the return of Andy, they have the responsibility to stay in their position and try to make Shinhwa better.

However looking at Shinhwa promoting without him, Andy thought that he no longer had a position in Shinhwa.

Due to Andy’s inability to support the hospital fees (US hospital fees are different to Korea’s ones), he brought his mother back to Korea after few months. Looking at Shinhwa striving forth, began to feel the distance in between, or began to feel the guilt that may block Shinhwa’s development. He did not go back to the dorm but instead hid in a college building somewhere in Seoul.

Not getting a haircut, not shaving, shower with cold water, only able to sleep with soju and aspirin.

After that, as what we all know, Andy returned back to Shinhwa.

After Shinhwa’s 4th Album promotion, Shinhwa Changjo’s 5th Fan Meeting was held. It was the biggest event among all fan meetings held, and the venue was Jamsil Main Stadium. According to Andy, that day Lee Sooman contacted him and told him to join the fan meeting.  Andy at the waiting room heard the fans shouted ‘Lee Sunho’ even without him on stage, teared up.  To hide the weeping eyes, he borrowed a pair of sunglasses, and stood in front of the fans after a year.

When the fan meeting was coming to an end, Andy appeared at the last encore stage, greeted everyone shyly.

Shinhwa, once again returned as six.

However, even just naming this “after experiencing hardship, Andy returned to Shinhwa”, the impact this incident brought is definitely visible.

The point is, the person who called Andy to join the fan meeting is Lee Sooman, from this aspect both Andy and the fans were thankful for.

But the question is, this company called SM, left Andy out during their 4th Album promotion, appears to be doing a kind of experiment.

When Andy is not in Korea, leaving him out, released a new album. Using the finished recording, and re-record it as 5 members, and making it into an album with 5 members. [-> Do anyone know where this is from?]

Idol groups were normally with 5 people, even with 5 voices, they were flawless no matter if it’s album or variety, the appearance of the 5 members were perfect.

The members did not mention Andy as much, called Junjin as the ‘maknae’ and called Shinhwa as ‘5’.

From all these actions during the promotion, could SM be trying this out to make Shinhwa as a 5 members group? People already made such assumption.

Also, about Andy’s rumour, fans complained that SM did not handle it well. In reality, Shinhwa’s fanchant during 4th Album promotion, determined to add ‘Lee Sunho’, showing how much they anticipate Andy’s return.

But about Andy’s news or his future decision, SM did not voice out any opinion. When Andy was bothered by rumours before the military check, and the situation was so bad that he even went to the emergency, SM did not state clearly that Andy was not related to the university entrance scandal, and did not show a strong will to solve Andy’s problems.

2001.04.23 A Letter to SHCJ on Andy’s Rumour

At least this is what fans’ thought. (If SM actively solved the problems, the fandom won’t split). At such situation, SM still promoted 5 members Shinhwa, created fans’ further distrust towards the company.

Of course, with Andy’s return, the saying of “5 members Shinhwa” became solely a rumour, or you can call it SM’s failed tactic. Even if the rumour is true, that SM tried to take Andy away and make Shinhwa as a 5 members group, then this project was not only an experimental failure, but it brought unexpected negative impact to SM.

Using this incident as an example, not only Andy, SM can ignore their personal will and change the members of Shinhwa at any time.

Shinhwa could no longer be 6 at any time, even the group’s survival is uncertain, this is what the members clearly realised.

Back to 2003.

Even though it was revealed after a long time, H.O.T and S.E.S disbandment was mainly due to contract renewal. H.O.T’s situation was due to members’ individual contract renewal, conflicts and misunderstanding grew, leading to disbandment. S.E.S’s situation was SM tried for individual contract renewal, but due to contract problems, conflicts grew, and finally announced disband while at the top position.

Same as the two previous groups, before contract renewal, the company began to secretly seek individual members. The first person who got suggested for contract renewal was Lee Minwoo and Shin Hyesung. Lee Minwoo since debut was in charge of choreography, lyrics and song writing, these various areas, showing a strong individual talent. Shin Hyesung is Shinhwa’s main vocal, from the collaboration with Lee Jihoon, it showed that he is strong enough to become a solo vocal. In another words, SM saw their ability to step out of the ‘idol’ limitation and became a ‘musician’, hence chose them for another contract.

However, witnessing other groups’ unwilling disbandment, continued promotion while treating one member as non-exist, Shinhwa objected the company’s action, and decided to betray (?) SM as 6, making such significant decision.

End of Chapter 1. About SM Entertainment Next: Chapter 2. About Good Entertainment

[imapplied]

Battle of the SERP: Combining SEO & PPC Forces to Win

Legend has it there’s a castle deep in the heart of the second page of Google. Guarding a castle is a monster named Bowser. Every so often, Bowser will creep from his home and attack innocent listings on the first page (as well as the occasional princess) to bring them back to his castle never to be seen again… until now!

Are you ready to play Super Marketing Bros?

In today’s game, we’ll learn how you can use SEO and PPC together to maximize your marketing efforts – and rescue those listings from Bowser. Let’s go!

Here we go!

Today, we’ll be working on rescuing Bowser’s latest victims. Super Mario Plumbing is a plumbing company located in the extremely competitive market of Mushroom Kingdom. It’s a family-owned business, currently being run by Mario and Luigi after their father had an unfortunate run in with a carnivorous plant. With their listing, he’s also captured the kingdom’s beloved princess, Peach.

PRESS START: Understanding SEO & PPC

Before we get to rescuing, we need to understand SEO and PPC. So what are they? SEO and PPC both fall in the category of “inbound marketing” strategies. Inbound marketing is a type of marketing that allows prospects to find you, rather than you finding them. PPC and SEO work to ensure you show up when someone searches for your name, product, or service.

What Is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of structuring your site, as well as other areas of the web, to teach search engines what you do and who you are. In return, search engines will show your site to prospects via “organic listings” (listings that are not ads). Though you don’t have to pay for a click, SEO does involve major investments when it comes to time.

What Is PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click marketing (also known as SEM, or search engine marketing). PPC is the practice of purchasing a slot on the first page of a search engine, usually via live auction on selected keywords. Unlike SEO, PPC delivers fast results. The second your ads are live, prospects are seeing your business when they search for you.

So Which Marketing Strategy Should I Use?

Trick question!

For the past few years, Super Mario Bros plumbing has been making a common mistake. Mario and Luigi have been working against each other, debating on using PPC or SEO. The first step in rescuing their listing is to realize that both PPC and SEO have strengths and weaknesses that directly complement each other. Let’s dive into combined strategies, and why you should use these channels in concert.

Most Marketing Agencies Will Recommend This “Combined” Game Plan:

Start off with strong and competitive PPC campaigns.

Begin to rank via SEO for the successful PPC keywords.

Back away from PPC, and run off SEO-generated leads.

When we sit and think about it, this “combined strategy” really isn’t combined at all! When you keep SEO and PPC separated like this, you are likely losing out on potential opportunities at an overall lower cost. Let’s look at a better combined strategy that leans on the strengths of both marketing strategies.

Level 1: Optimizing Basics to Help Both SEO and PPC

The first step to our combined strategy is to make changes to our existing marketing efforts that will positively impact both SEO and PPC.

Google My Business Optimization

So many marketers make the mistake of neglecting their Google My Business profile! This is a panel that should appear within the first page of Google when you type in your company name and city.

If we think of the entire internet as a virtual world, your Google My Business profile is your virtual storefront. This is what users see before going inside and purchasing something. How is your curb appeal? Does it welcome prospects?

Optimizing this panel is essential for both SEO and PPC. On the SEO side, optimizations build trust within the search engine, and verify your company as legitimate. On the PPC side, the information on you Google My Business profile can pull into marketing efforts via location extensions.

As far as which optimizations to make, I generally recommend doing as many as possible based on what makes sense for your business. For example, a plumber may benefit from a “Book Now” button; however, a candy store may not find this feature as relevant to their business. The most important thing is to have your name, address, and phone number exactly as it appears on your website.

Mobile Speed Optimization

The next combined optimization we’re going to look at is your performance on mobile. Mobile friendliness is both a ranking factor for SEO, as well as a quality score enhancer for PPC. These enhancements are extremely important for businesses who are looking to show up for voice search. 

Level 2:  Using SEO and PPC as a Team

While most people view SEO and PPC as two separate entities, there are ways they go hand in hand. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both SEO and PPC, we can develop a combined strategy to improve our online marketing across the board.

Using PPC for SEO Keyword Research

Only 5.7% of all new pages will rank organically within the first year of their existence. Due to the long optimization process that corresponds with this timeline, it is essential to use as much information as possible prior to investing resources on ranking a page. We don’t want Mario and Luigi spending hours on a piece of content to rank for the keyword “Why Mario Loves Peach” if it won’t yield a good conversion metric!

A great way to identify which keywords to focus on is to look at PPC data. 

To do this, simply look at PPC trends:

Consider ad copy that converted well and apply it to your landing page copy.

Test different page structures via split tests on PPC (form fill layouts, CTAs, etc.) and apply your findings to your landing page.

Monitor search volume and interaction rates on specific keywords before optimizing a page for them on SEO.

Monitor the competitiveness on the PPC side of things to get a better feel for what you might be up against. (PPC competitiveness is not always an exact correlation but can be an indicator of a highly competitive SEO market.)

As you continue to make PPC optimizations to test what will work within SEO, you may also find ways to drive down PPC costs!

Increase Time on Site

It’s no secret that the majority of Mushroom Kingdom has a low attention span. While we all want our users to find value in our content, time on site is also a ranking factor for SEO. If you’re having a particularly hard time ranking a piece of content with a low time on site, PPC may be a good way of improving your metrics.

To do this, use existing data:

Go to Analytics and view the average amount of time spent on each page.

Revisit (and, if necessary, revamp) old pages and look for keywords in the content.

If you have enough users accessing your site, generate a list of users who viewed a page with a good time on site and with similar content.

Run ads on PPC to the struggling page. Use retargeting based on the successful page as your audience.

Consider adding the struggling page as a sitelink on your branded campaign.

The idea behind this strategy is to get content in front of the right audience. If we find a list of people who have historically found your content relevant and interesting, they are more likely to spend more time across different pages.

Implement Branding Strategies

If you’re anything like Luigi, you may be wondering, “Why should I run paid ads targeting my own name when I should already have organic listings taking care of those searches for free?” This is a great question. It’s understandable that when someone searches you, they’re already showing a strong intent to convert. So how can you effectively utilize PPC for your branding without spending all of your hard-earned coins?

Break out your branding goals.

Lean on SEO for long-term branding (aspects that are not likely to change over time) and negate related search queries from PPC. Consider SEO for:

Your company name

Your mission statement

Founder information

Location

Lean on PPC for short-term branding (aspects that are likely to change over time) that shows off your company’s personality. If nothing else, run a PPC campaign to bump an additional competitor off the first page for your own name. Consider PPC for:

Press releases

Promotions

Awards

Charity work & community involvement

Seasonal Offers

Negative Press

Now, we hope you haven’t been accused of kidnapping a princess. But if you have some negative press come up (these things happen – we don’t judge), PPC can help with that! You can use paid search as your first line of defense.

Here’s how:

Find a list of keywords your prospects may be searching to locate information on the incident, and then take note. (Is there a common question people are asking you can answer? Is there a solution you can provide?)

From there, write a piece of content answering those questions and providing your solutions, and run a campaign on the keywords.

Include sitelinks in your other ads that continue to allow transparency across your campaigns.

Your ads will appear before other sources, so your prospects can get the whole story from you rather than someone else.

Level 3: Keeping the Princess Safe

As with everything inbound marketing-related, continued optimizations are essential to success. Rescuing listings takes a lot of time and effort, especially when dealing with the SEO side of things. It’s generally a good idea to review strategy at least once a quarter and regularly review your keywords, content, and scheduling to ensure you’re using all resources available across both SEO and PPC to better your marketing.

Congratulations! You rescued the princess – and your listing!

Source link

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A Philosophical Concept That Will Make You Live a More Peaceful and Fulfilling Life

I’m sure you’re all more than familiar with the common clichés, “mind over matter,” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what you may not have known, is that these familiar turns of phrase are actually the paving stones of an ancient ideology: Stoicism. A disciplined system of living where you never sweat the small stuff, and keep all of your priorities in check.

Stoicism is meant to be practiced, not discussed.

Stoicism is the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint. It is a unique philosophy in the respect that it is meant to be practiced, and not just pontificated and debated upon. You must find your true passion, your true calling, and nurture it. The practice also emphasizes the importance of virtue, and a distinct separation between emotion and reaction.

Practiced by historical and modern men alike, the ideology is finding it’s way back into the mainstream.

The word Stoic is derived from the Greek term Stoa Poikile meaning literally, “the painted porch.” It is influenced by an open market in Athens where the Stoics would famously gather to discuss important matters and teach philosophy to young, eager minds.

The philosophy itself was founded as a Hellenistic [1](the time period between the death of Alexander the Great who was himself a Stoic, and the beginning of the Roman Empire) philosophy circa 300 B.C.E. by Zeno of Citium.

Stoicism is not the practice of avoiding issues, but rather transforming them into opportunities.

Incredibly misunderstood, the belief system has been given a negative stigma [2], as well as those who choose to practice it. It has been said that those who choose to lead a Stoic life choose to lead a life of avoidance and denial. A bleak existence where nothing is faced head on. Hardships are tolerated and accepted instead of challenging and overcoming the obstacles.

Perhaps for some Stoics this may be true. Acceptance is a virtue of high regard, and must be mastered to truly achieve mental strength. But the premise of stoicism is not the avoidance of obstacles; it’s the transformation of the obstacle. Turning every obstacle into a new opportunity. Instead of mindlessly running into the same dead end, creating a way around it. That is the Stoic way of thinking.

Core Values of Stoicism

As you might imagine, after centuries of discussion by the most intellectual minds throughout history, the complexity of Stoicism has developed many facets. As mentioned, many intellectuals, artists, writers and entrepreneurs live their life by these guidelines to inspire creativity and install discipline [3].

• This system is built for action, not debate.

• The source of our discontent is derived from our impulsive need to act on emotion rather than reason. I.e. many of us don’t think before we act.

• Stoicism reminds us how short life is, and how unpredictable it can be.

• Always be in control of yourself, unwavering in your solidarity.

• It helps us to overcome toxic emotions, training ourselves not to get upset over things which we cannot control.

• All emotions come within ourselves. No one can make you feel any emotion, no matter how strong. How you feel and how you react is all entirely mental.

Example: A stranger is rude to you during your commute. You have the choice to be upset, to feel sorry for them for being miserable, or to disregard it and feel absolutely nothing at all. Whether or not you feel justified with your reactive emotions is irrelevant. You are in charge of the reactive emotion. It is too easy to place the blame on external objects.

• Find a mentor or model- use them to inspire and encourage yourself to do better and do more.

“Without a ruler to do it against, you can’t make the crooked straight.” – Seneca

• Realize that if you fail, you will survive. You will learn, you will adjust, and you will overcome. Failure it not the enemy. It feeds fuel to the fire.

• Read books that inspire you and expand your knowledge in the areas that you want to grow in. Apply that knowledge to further yourself.

• Stop candy coating things – speak honestly and with conviction. People will respect you for your bluntness. Everyone needs a friend who will tell them the truth when they need to hear it.

• Consider what you spend the most time on. Is it beneficial to your growth? Unless your goal in life is to become a social media super star, browsing Instagram probably isn’t going to advance any opportunities for you. Pick up a book. Listen to a seminar. Do. Something. Productive.

• Fight procrastination. This one I particularly struggle with. But it’s true, get your obligations sorted out in a timely manner, leaving time for leisure and your personal goals.

• Time is your most precious resource. Don’t waste it.

• Engulf yourself in your passion and what you love. Don’t waste your time being lazy and taking it easy. Push yourself.

“You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.” – Seneca

Three Men famously set the standard for what it truly means to be a Stoic.

Although many powerful individuals throughout history have famously practiced and helped to shape the foundation of Stoicism, three men in particular brought Stoicism to a new platform, creating a place for it among the scholars.

Marcus Aurelius

The Emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man in existence at the time, ordained by the Gods and with wealth beyond comprehension, preached words of humility, compassion, and restraint. Each day he would write in his journal, notes about what it truly means to be a Stoic. Although that was not his intention at the time. He was merely just trying to better himself.

“Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.” – Marcus Aurelius

Epictetus

Born as a slave, he managed to gain his freedom as a teenager. After years of enduring the horrors of slavery, he learned how to channel his emotions and overcome his circumstances by maintaining psychological control. He studied Stoicism as a slave, and went on to open his own school to pass on his teachings after having been freed from slavery.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus

Seneca

A man of noble and wealthy upbringing, a Philosopher who was a close consultant of the emperor Claudius. Claudius exiled Seneca for eight years for supposed adultery. During his exile, he wrote to his family to comfort them, taking no pity on himself or his circumstances. He was released from exile to tutor Nero, son of Claudius who would later rise into power. Seneca stayed a loyal consultant until his suicide was ordered by Nero. Even then he took no pity on himself, just the people who would mourn over his death.

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” – Seneca

How can you practice Stoicism in your everyday life? It’s quite simple, really.

Separate Yourself from Your Comforts

As Seneca suggests, we need to take the time to practice poverty to realize how little we really need. [4] He meant quite literally to go sleep on the streets with nothing but the clothes on your back and what little food and water you need to get by. You can practice this by actually spending a night living on the street, it would be shockingly humbling for sure. A less extreme option would be to go for a trip with a very small bag of limited items. You are not allowed to buy anything else, only bring what you actually need. By the end of the trip, you’ll probably have a few items that you didn’t even touch.

Turn The Obstacle Upside Down

Train your perception to look at things from a broader perspective. Not every occurrence is either cut and dry negative or positive. Perhaps you are faced with an issue, and it can be a bit deterring and it feels like everything is falling apart. Not too quick. Take a moment to walk away and refresh for a moment. Look at it through a new light. There is an opportunity here, you just have to find it. Use it as momentum to better yourself and your goals.

Everything is Temporary

Do not dwell. If something didn’t work out, get over it. Everything is fleeting, especially passion. Think of the things that you so passionately wanted that are bland to you now. A shirt, a new phone, a love interest. It all becomes old and dull at some point. Those things are all pointless on the grand scheme, because you yourself have such a small part in this world that we live in.

Most importantly, don’t get caught up in your passionate emotions. They eat away at your well being and distract you from your goals. Sure, someone may have done you wrong and for that they bite the big them. Maybe they’re horrible, but let them be. Someone else’ shortcomings won’t dull your shine unless you let them. So don’t sweat it.

Related Articles Recommended To Live A Stoic Life

A Really Strong Predictor of Success: Self Awareness (with Ways to Boost It) by Craig J Todd

Why Our Personal Values Matter More Than Ever Today by Heather Poole

Reference

[1]^Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: Stoicism[2]^aeon.co: Indifference is a power[3]^99U: The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos[4]^Daily Stoic: What Is Stoicism? A Definition & 3 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started

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A Philosophical Concept That Will Make You Live a More Peaceful and Fulfilling Life

I’m sure you’re all more than familiar with the common clichés, “mind over matter,” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what you may not have known, is that these familiar turns of phrase are actually the paving stones of an ancient ideology: Stoicism. A disciplined system of living where you never sweat the small stuff, and keep all of your priorities in check.

Stoicism is meant to be practiced, not discussed.

Stoicism is the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint. It is a unique philosophy in the respect that it is meant to be practiced, and not just pontificated and debated upon. You must find your true passion, your true calling, and nurture it. The practice also emphasizes the importance of virtue, and a distinct separation between emotion and reaction.

Practiced by historical and modern men alike, the ideology is finding it’s way back into the mainstream.

The word Stoic is derived from the Greek term Stoa Poikile meaning literally, “the painted porch.” It is influenced by an open market in Athens where the Stoics would famously gather to discuss important matters and teach philosophy to young, eager minds.

The philosophy itself was founded as a Hellenistic [1](the time period between the death of Alexander the Great who was himself a Stoic, and the beginning of the Roman Empire) philosophy circa 300 B.C.E. by Zeno of Citium.

Stoicism is not the practice of avoiding issues, but rather transforming them into opportunities.

Incredibly misunderstood, the belief system has been given a negative stigma [2], as well as those who choose to practice it. It has been said that those who choose to lead a Stoic life choose to lead a life of avoidance and denial. A bleak existence where nothing is faced head on. Hardships are tolerated and accepted instead of challenging and overcoming the obstacles.

Perhaps for some Stoics this may be true. Acceptance is a virtue of high regard, and must be mastered to truly achieve mental strength. But the premise of stoicism is not the avoidance of obstacles; it’s the transformation of the obstacle. Turning every obstacle into a new opportunity. Instead of mindlessly running into the same dead end, creating a way around it. That is the Stoic way of thinking.

Core Values of Stoicism

As you might imagine, after centuries of discussion by the most intellectual minds throughout history, the complexity of Stoicism has developed many facets. As mentioned, many intellectuals, artists, writers and entrepreneurs live their life by these guidelines to inspire creativity and install discipline [3].

• This system is built for action, not debate.

• The source of our discontent is derived from our impulsive need to act on emotion rather than reason. I.e. many of us don’t think before we act.

• Stoicism reminds us how short life is, and how unpredictable it can be.

• Always be in control of yourself, unwavering in your solidarity.

• It helps us to overcome toxic emotions, training ourselves not to get upset over things which we cannot control.

• All emotions come within ourselves. No one can make you feel any emotion, no matter how strong. How you feel and how you react is all entirely mental.

Example: A stranger is rude to you during your commute. You have the choice to be upset, to feel sorry for them for being miserable, or to disregard it and feel absolutely nothing at all. Whether or not you feel justified with your reactive emotions is irrelevant. You are in charge of the reactive emotion. It is too easy to place the blame on external objects.

• Find a mentor or model- use them to inspire and encourage yourself to do better and do more.

“Without a ruler to do it against, you can’t make the crooked straight.” – Seneca

• Realize that if you fail, you will survive. You will learn, you will adjust, and you will overcome. Failure it not the enemy. It feeds fuel to the fire.

• Read books that inspire you and expand your knowledge in the areas that you want to grow in. Apply that knowledge to further yourself.

• Stop candy coating things – speak honestly and with conviction. People will respect you for your bluntness. Everyone needs a friend who will tell them the truth when they need to hear it.

• Consider what you spend the most time on. Is it beneficial to your growth? Unless your goal in life is to become a social media super star, browsing Instagram probably isn’t going to advance any opportunities for you. Pick up a book. Listen to a seminar. Do. Something. Productive.

• Fight procrastination. This one I particularly struggle with. But it’s true, get your obligations sorted out in a timely manner, leaving time for leisure and your personal goals.

• Time is your most precious resource. Don’t waste it.

• Engulf yourself in your passion and what you love. Don’t waste your time being lazy and taking it easy. Push yourself.

“You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.” – Seneca

Three Men famously set the standard for what it truly means to be a Stoic.

Although many powerful individuals throughout history have famously practiced and helped to shape the foundation of Stoicism, three men in particular brought Stoicism to a new platform, creating a place for it among the scholars.

Marcus Aurelius

The Emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man in existence at the time, ordained by the Gods and with wealth beyond comprehension, preached words of humility, compassion, and restraint. Each day he would write in his journal, notes about what it truly means to be a Stoic. Although that was not his intention at the time. He was merely just trying to better himself.

“Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.” – Marcus Aurelius

Epictetus

Born as a slave, he managed to gain his freedom as a teenager. After years of enduring the horrors of slavery, he learned how to channel his emotions and overcome his circumstances by maintaining psychological control. He studied Stoicism as a slave, and went on to open his own school to pass on his teachings after having been freed from slavery.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus

Seneca

A man of noble and wealthy upbringing, a Philosopher who was a close consultant of the emperor Claudius. Claudius exiled Seneca for eight years for supposed adultery. During his exile, he wrote to his family to comfort them, taking no pity on himself or his circumstances. He was released from exile to tutor Nero, son of Claudius who would later rise into power. Seneca stayed a loyal consultant until his suicide was ordered by Nero. Even then he took no pity on himself, just the people who would mourn over his death.

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” – Seneca

How can you practice Stoicism in your everyday life? It’s quite simple, really.

Separate Yourself from Your Comforts

As Seneca suggests, we need to take the time to practice poverty to realize how little we really need. [4] He meant quite literally to go sleep on the streets with nothing but the clothes on your back and what little food and water you need to get by. You can practice this by actually spending a night living on the street, it would be shockingly humbling for sure. A less extreme option would be to go for a trip with a very small bag of limited items. You are not allowed to buy anything else, only bring what you actually need. By the end of the trip, you’ll probably have a few items that you didn’t even touch.

Turn The Obstacle Upside Down

Train your perception to look at things from a broader perspective. Not every occurrence is either cut and dry negative or positive. Perhaps you are faced with an issue, and it can be a bit deterring and it feels like everything is falling apart. Not too quick. Take a moment to walk away and refresh for a moment. Look at it through a new light. There is an opportunity here, you just have to find it. Use it as momentum to better yourself and your goals.

Everything is Temporary

Do not dwell. If something didn’t work out, get over it. Everything is fleeting, especially passion. Think of the things that you so passionately wanted that are bland to you now. A shirt, a new phone, a love interest. It all becomes old and dull at some point. Those things are all pointless on the grand scheme, because you yourself have such a small part in this world that we live in.

Most importantly, don’t get caught up in your passionate emotions. They eat away at your well being and distract you from your goals. Sure, someone may have done you wrong and for that they bite the big them. Maybe they’re horrible, but let them be. Someone else’ shortcomings won’t dull your shine unless you let them. So don’t sweat it.

Related Articles Recommended To Live A Stoic Life

A Really Strong Predictor of Success: Self Awareness (with Ways to Boost It) by Craig J Todd

Why Our Personal Values Matter More Than Ever Today by Heather Poole

Reference

[1]^Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: Stoicism[2]^aeon.co: Indifference is a power[3]^99U: The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos[4]^Daily Stoic: What Is Stoicism? A Definition & 3 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started

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