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skullsandwineglasses · 4 years ago

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You Are My Hero (2021) Review

Overall impression: The drama started off really cute and promising in the first half, but was weak and underwhelming in the second half. In-depth review below (with spoilers).

A cute and fluffy romance premise

Right off the bat, the love story between the leads is tropey as hell, but manages to not be tacky and is actually really endearing. The ML, a SWAT officer, rescues the FL, an aspiring neurosurgery medical resident, from a bank robbery 2 years ago. They leave a lasting impression on each other, but don't keep in touch afterwards. The FL never sees his face because he's wearing a mask, but the ML remembers her name.

Fate brings them together again 2 years later when the FL enrolls in an emergency rescue training camp that’s supervised by the ML. He recognizes her and falls for her immediately, but she doesn’t know he’s the one who rescued her years ago.

Their relationship starts off rocky, similar to how a CEO romance would start: the ML first appears cold and distanced, strict and brooding, but actually has a huge soft spot for the FL. The FL is put off by his coldness, but is sometimes surprised as random moments of tenderness. When the training camp is complete, the ML becomes a cute and awkward lovesick puppy who tries to figure out how to woo the FL because this is his first time (and hers) falling in love. It’s fun seeing him become so flustered around her when he’s usually so calm, collected, and in control as the leader of a SWAT team.

On other hand, the FL slow falls for the ML when he reveals a more real and vulnerable side of himself. They banter a lot, but she slowly warms up to him.

And as a no-nonsense drama, the two leads acknowledge their feelings for each other quickly (although they haven't directly admitted it to each other yet). They're in the awkward phase of attraction and going on semi-dates, but they haven't defined the relationship yet. *Sigh* First love.

Things I enjoyed

I appreciate that although the FL is a Mary Sue, she does make mistakes. She's smart, but she isn't the top of her class. She’s kind and selfless, but she also isn’t overly tolerant of people. When people overstep their boundaries and are unjust to her, she’ll confront them. Ma Sichun is such a natural actress. She can do cute and flirty, she can be clueless and lost, she can be confident and in control, she can be angry and indignant. I especially loved her character’s adorable interactions with her best friend Xiao Xia.

The acting in this drama was all around great. It’s probably the best part of the drama. It was so comfortable and fun to watch. I think AvenueX described it best: the acting in the drama was so natural that sometimes it felt like the actors broke character but the director kept the take. Some of the laughing, giggling, and gestures felt so genuine that you wonder if it was improvised, scripted, or a blooper scene that became canon.

I like how the FL and ML are each experts in their respective fields. They have very separate careers that occasionally intersect. I'm tired of CEO dramas where the FL is working for the ML, or there are class differences between them. Instead in this drama, the FL faces problems everyday at work that the ML doesn't know about. Her problems do not relate to him at all. She has problems that he can't understand or help with. Likewise, he also goes on missions that she isn't aware of. They work in completely different fields with different skill sets. They even talk about how their philosophies differ. Her job is to save lives but not make moral judgments of character, while his job is to enforce the law, which is all about assessing character. Where their careers do intersect, is the goal of saving others and putting others first before themselves.

Another dynamic of the relationship that I really like is that the FL and ML are always occupied and on the move because of their professions, and yet, their loyalty and devotion to each other never change. They are each other's rock. Despite encountering so many different situations and people, despite all of the chaos and noise from their careers, nothing can really outweigh how important they are to each other. Despite being out in the field, far away from home, their hearts are anchored to each other. I just like this trope a lot, i.e., the trope of being away from home, but remaining true and loyal and unwavering. Despite having bigger and more important things in the world to deal with, their ultimate dream is wanting to just spend some time together. It's analogous to how in ancient period dramas, there are generals who command armies and and maintain a strictly professional demeanor and don't mention a word about their family to their soldiers, but when the general retires to his tent at night, he's writing a long and thoughtful letter home, because his loved one was on his mind all day.

The supporting characters are great, but I do like the older and mature supporting couple (Xing Ke Yao and Shao Yu Han) more than the younger supporting couple (Xiao Xia and Shu When Bo), despite the actors playing the younger couple being literally my age. I also appreciate how the FL has multiple close friends who are quite separate from each other, instead of just the single token sidekick best friend (although the second half of the drama does just focus on one of her main friends). It's relatable because we all have different groups of friends. We have friends from high school, we have friends from college, and we have friends from work. Most of these friends are kept separate, and sometimes they interact. But I like how this drama shows that the FL has a small network of friends from different walks of life.

Things I didn’t enjoy as much

The plot derailed and lost its charm after episode 30. There were fewer hospital cases, and the ML had to complete a mission that I had no interest in following. There was no other point to the superfluous mission besides to show that the ML has a busy and demanding job that prevents him from being at the FL’s side when she needs him the most.

I also really, really disliked the introduction of the random love rival in episode 31 just to try to stir some angst. The plot device was pointless because in the end, there was no angst because the leads have a strong and healthy relationship, and so the love rival’s attempt at sabotaging the relationship was just laughable and completely random. It just disrupted the mood and pacing of the drama because that plotline just came out of the blue. It was just so annoying seeing the love rival and her sister cause trouble and wreak havoc in the FL’s workplace.

The drama did a good job at showing how the leads put their careers first, which caused strain and tension in their relationship that they tend to ignore. But, the drama never explores this further, even though it’s a very real problem that many career-driven and ambitious couples face. The drama presents a very idealized vision of a relationship between a police officer and a doctor. Like when the FL leaves for a special research and training program in the States, the drama shows that the leads breezed through the two-year long distance relationship in a quick montage. They had no issue in communication. Yes, they miss each other, but they’re blissful. But what kind of long distance relationship has no bumps in it? The drama also implies that they never saw each other in person during two years (in the final episode, Xing Ke Lei squeezed her arms and said that since they haven’t seen each other in 2 years, he had to check if she was missing anything), which is highly unrealistic. Was she never able to go back home for the holidays? Did Xing Ke Lei, whose parents live and work overseas, never bother to visit his girlfriend? Overall, it seemed a little off to me that despite the budding tension and issues they’ve been having between them, they were able to overcome a long distance relationship so easily. You could argue that they’re used to long separations because of their work, and the drama has shown that they’re used to communicating over video calls, but I was just a little disappointed that they rushed this final plotline when so much more could have been done with it.

Speaking of parents, we never actually got to see their parents. I understand that the parents are not relevant to the focus of the story, but the parents are rarely even mentioned, which further makes the romance in the story seem too idealistic. Whether it’s a near-death situation, getting engaged, or studying abroad for 2 years, the FL never mentions talking to her parents about these decisions and life changes. The drama handwaves the parents’ absence and lack of influence by having the FL mention early in the drama that her parents are busy with their business back home, so they don’t have time to worry about her. She also no longer bothers to update them about her work because she’s afraid they’ll be worried about her. And then from there, we never hear the FL mention her parents again. It’s just so weird to see that the most important person in her life is the ML and she only ever talks about major life choices with her friends. I mean, if the plot had said that she didn’t have a family, it wouldn’t have mattered. But the fact that she does mention her parents, but they’re completely absent and non-existent just felt a little off, like something was missing. But in the grand scheme of things, this is not really an issue. I’m just nit-picking.

Lastly, I just want to comment on Bai Jingting as Xing Ke Lei. I admit that he sells the part well. At first I was skeptical about Bai Jingting as a SWAT officer because of how skinny and baby-faced he is, but he actually pulls it off surprisingly well and has some unexpectedly good chemistry with Ma Sichun too. Although during moments when he isn't talking and we're just left with his resting face, I'm suddenly hit by how young he looks, but then he speaks or is back in uniform and again, the gestalt shift goes back to Xing Ke Lei, the handsome SWAT officer. They made a point of showing how muscled his arms are, which was a little jarring to see in comparison to his youthful face, not gonna lie. So, while I liked him as Xing Ke Lei, it was a little distracting switching back and forth between seeing him as a really young, adolescent-looking actor, and him as the broad-chested character.

Should you watch?

All in all, a really cute and easy-to-watch drama with some thoughtful and sentimental moments. Very fluffy. Minimal to no misunderstandings. Charming characters. There are the storylines of three couples with medical/police subplots interweaved between the romance. On bilibili, some people even edited clips of the drama with theme songs from TVB medical and police dramas like The Hippocractic Crush and Tiger Cubs. So, as someone who grew up with TVB dramas, it was nostalgic to see those thematic parallels.

But, the drama does lose steam in the last 10 or so episodes, and has a lot of filler to stretch it out to 40 episodes. That’s the issue I have with modern dramas. The plot in modern dramas is usually quite basic, and I would argue that the modern romance is easier and less angsty. You either love each other or you don’t. You either are willing to commit or you’re not. There aren’t many external excuses for angst or misunderstandings. (Of course, I’m trivializing things; real life isn’t as easy).

Still, I would recommend this drama for anyone who’s between dramas. I watched this drama to help me get over the rut I was in because I was going through withdrawal after finishing The Rebel Princess, so I needed a light-hearted drama whose genre was completely different from TRP. And this drama was perfect for breaking that rut.

Rating: 8/10. Simple, fluffy, and not too much to complain about. I also forgot to talk about the great humour in the drama, but there were many moments when I laughed out loud or couldn’t stop grinning. This is also a drama you can take your time with because there aren’t constant cliff hangers to peg you on. It doesn’t consume your life, and you can pause (although, the first 18 or so episodes are definitely binge-worthy because the development of the leads’ relationship is just too cute, and so they suck you right in). However, while it is one of the better modern romance dramas I’ve watched (and the characters are very consistent), it’s not a very memorable drama. It doesn’t make me linger. I guess it’s because I’m more of a historical and xianxia drama kind of person. So take from that what you will.

#you are my hero #你是我的城池营垒 #cdrama #bai jingting #白敬亭 #ma sichun #sandra ma #马思纯 #cdrama review #cdramanet

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stealinghero · 5 years ago

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Hi! How about some angst with jigen?

Uhm…. well…. it IS angsty… it IS Jigen…. it’s not nice. I held it as “harmless” as I could, but still want to warn my readers that the following is NOT a cute little story. it’s not quite 18+, but at least 16+. Please remember that while reading at your own risk: (Warning for blood and a few sausages)

It had been a great day so far. Warm, for late autumn, and dry. So why didn’t he said he would accompany his s/o to the super market? Why had he simply nodded and had taken the bags from before to go ahead and prepare something to eat?

And why the fuck was he now watching the screen helplessly, his hands balled into fists.

“So, if you want your little birdie here back? You better come out and play, Jigen. I’ll tell you the place and time later. Let me have some fun first.” The video came to an end.

“Any clues?” Lupin looked at him, uneasy and kind of prepared if Jigen should explode in a fit of rage.

“I know this voice. It’s old, I can’t pinpont it,” the gunman sat down and stared at the black screen, seething with rage but unable to vent it.

“It sounded like a warehouse or empty factory. Something big,” Lupin thought and began to watch the video again.

“If you play it one more time, I’m going to strangle you.”

“Okay.” And the screen stayed black.

“Did you already remember me? Or are you getting old, Jigen? Losing your teeth already, tiger? Let me show you my work so far.”

In the darkness of a warehouse a figure had been hung from above by their wrists. The camera zoomed in on a puddle of blood under this figure, wearing his s/o’s shoes.

“I take it, you do remember me now. I wonder what kind of gift I should prepare for our reunion?”

His fingers turned white as Jigen clawed into the cushions of the couch he was sitting on.

“Maybe a leg? No, don’t worry. It’s you I want.”

He growled at the screen.

“Tomorrow night, ten after midnight, you already know where, right? In this dirty city there is just one place I would love to meet you at. Be punctual. And leave your friends at home. Or I will begin with their bodies, one by one, making you watch.”

The screen went black with the end of the video.

“Who is he?”

Letting out the breath he had held in and leaning back Jigen scratched his beard.

“A ghost of the past, I take it. Where is the meeting place?” Goemon watched his friend and his growing anxiety.

“Doesn’t matter.” The gunman got up and took his hat. “It doesn’t concern you.”

Lupin blocked his path. “We are coming with you, concerning or not. The victim is one of our friends and I hate it if someone hurts my friends.”

Strong hands, wrapped around his collar, lifted him a few inches from the floor.

“You will NOT come.”

Lupin nodded, eyes filled with something that someone could call fear. After being released and pushed away by his friend, he coughed and rubbed his throat where the collar had chafed it.

A quick glance at Goemon had the samurai nodding, just in the same moment Jigen slammed the door.

“Okay, we have a warehouse. Did you see the little cloud of fog when panning to the wrists?”

Goemon nodded, already aware what kind of warehouse they were looking for.

“Maybe this?” he suggested and pointed out an abandoned meat factory on the map Lupin had spread across the table. “If the cooling system still works, they will need access to electricity.”

“I never knew you were this smart. Okay, who was this guy talking?” The two had watched the videos over and over in order to find any clues to rescue their friend, but it was hard to find anything. A man did the talking but was never shown. The camera only showed Jigen’s s/o, unmoving, covered in a shadow.

“If Jigen reacts like this, it is serious,” Goemon thought loud and looked at the thief. “He never attacked you like this before.”

“He attacks me on a daily basis, Goemon.”

“Verbal, yes. With a gun, yes. But did he ever touch you like this?”

Lupin let out a sigh.

“No,” he admitted, remembering the feral glow in Jigen’s eyes when he had lifted him from the floor. He knew about the past of his friend. A mercenary, a skilled gunman. But these were the eyes of a cold-blooded killer – and Lupin had problems in bringing those eyes together with the laughing Jigen.

“Let’s go and look around at this factory. There we will find moreclues, I suppose.”

“Let me make some calls before.” Lupin raised and took his phone.

“Are you calling the Inspector?”

“I don’t like it myself, Goemon. But depending on what’s happening, I would like to have the police behind my back. Jigen said so himself, it’s someone old. And that can just mean one thing.”

“The mafia?”

“Before that. He ran with a bunch of strange people back then. If I remember right they all were quite disturbed. A kidnapper, a… ew.”

Goemon looked at the thief who had grown pale. “Ew?”

“Remember what the guy said? He wondered if he should prepare a leg as a gift.”

Goemon nodded, waiting patiently what conclusion brought Lupin to react like that.

“I remember this group clearly. A psychotic arsonist, one of the worst sort, he was killed by Jigen years ago. A woman, pretty little thing, was in this group too. I think she had a knack for abducting rich kids and releasing them for quite high sums.”

The samurai raised his hand, impatient. “This is not relevant.”

“The woman was thrown into jail and I think she died there a few years ago. But there was our actor here. A really strange guy. He was the reason I didn’t talk with Jigen before all this, even if he had caught my eye.”

“Could you please hurry?!”

“Right! Hurry!!” With these words, Lupin grabbed his jacket and raced to the door. “Come!! We don’t have time if I’m correct!”

And again, this time was the fifth. If nothing happened now, he would be satisfied.

With calm fingers, his whole body shaking because of the cold in his mind, he put the bullets in the round chamber.

When he had come here, the building was abandoned once more. Nothing left to give him clues where the bastard had taken his s/o now. Only the puddle of blood reminded him of his own failure. If he had been there. If he had been the one shopping for the last ingredients. If…

Jigen let out a sigh. This game of mind wouldn’t bring him to any reasonable end. And it wouldn’t save his s/o. He had to do this himself.

Standing up he looked around calmly, lifting his loyal Magnum.

The index finger first on the side of the trigger, the end joint slightly on the trigger, no strength in the said finger.

Focus on the target, the index finger slides on the trigger up to the second phalanx, any more will just obstruct pulling without hesitation.

A bit of strength is enough to pull the trigger. The secret is in the recoil, wandering through the arm. When the wrist is pulled upwards, release the index finger, put it back on the side of the trigger.

The left hand catches the gun, loads another bullet into the barrel, the whole left hand, the outside edge, is used to cock the hammer while moving towards the body, flowing back away from the body and bring the gun down again, while the index finger slips back on the trigger. Give it a go.

The hole the bullet left was slightly bigger than he had anticipated but he had calculated the reaction of his victim exactly.

A silver line flashing in the darkness of the old warehouse told him everything he needed to know.

“I thought I told you to stay put,” Jigen mused while refilling the lost bullet in the chamber.

“And I told you they’re my friend, too!” Lupin touched his slightly singed hairs where Jigen’s bullet had missed him by a few millimetres.

Goemon cleared his throat.

“Sorry, Goe, our friend.”

“I don’t need your help.”

Half an hour later the three thieves were on their way through the maze of abandoned warehouses, empty shells of left to rot factories and even two rusting cars.

“The second on the left.” Jigen had been silent the whole time, going ahead, his comrades following him in a distance.

Lupin eyed the warehouse. “That’s nasty.”

Goemon nodded. After Lupin had told him the whole story on their way to Jigen, even the stoic samurai had needed a few deep breaths to calm himself down. And now they were in the middle of a dead district, standing before a warehouse called “Mikey’s gourmet supplies”.

“His humor always was a bit off.”

“A bit off?! We are talking about…,” Lupin was cut off by a gesture from Jigen.

In the dim light before them two people were fighting. One was bound, getting dragged along, trying to fight or to escape. The other was a small man, thin and with almost spindly build. The whole situation could have been comical to look at, if the man hadn’t had a butcher’s cleaver in his hand.

Slowly, the three crept closer as soon as the man vanished into the building.

“Any plan of attack?” Lupin had the courtesy to ask Jigen before sharing his own plan.

“I’ll go inside, you stay here.”

Not amused with his answer, Lupin gave Jigen a nudge.

“We’ll find a way inside to help you if things get nasty!”

“Are you really that stupid? He won’t be alone,” Jigen shot back.

“It’s almost the agreed time, Gentlemen. Jigen, you go, we will be there if you’ll need us.”

Goemon seldom used his stern voice while discussing plans, shutting the two others up.

“Good luck, partner.”

Jigen went without another word.

“The great Jigen Daisuke… welcome to my little private show.”

“Where are they?”

“Oh, not so fast, Jigen. I thought we could catch up on the old times. You’ve grown so much.”

“Where are they?!”

A switch was operated and the lights turned on, revealing both the kidnapper and Jigen’s s/o.

“What a lovely sight. Pure terror on your face suits you, Daisuke.”

He had to fight the urge to run to his bleeding s/o, not sure if they were still breathing. He knew what would happen then, so he stood still in his place, begging his s/o in his thoughts to move, to give him a sign that there was still life in them.

“They’re unconscious. For now. Behave and they will survive this. Sit down.”

Looking around, Jigen found the table he had dreaded and followed the command.

“First round. Appetizer.”

He rose from the chair as the plate was set down in front of him, but strong hands pushed him back down. Two different pairs of hands, he acknowledged in an afterthought.

“Don’t worry, they are not from your lovely little birdie. I had enough to do in the last months.”

Of course. The killing spree held this city in its claws for almost 6 months now. He had read about it in the newspaper. And still he had left his s/o’s side… what an idiot he was.

“Eat up.”

Without batting an eyelash, he took the first little sausage and ate it.

“Good boy!” The kidnapper reached to the plate and took himself one of the sausages to eat.

“You see, I’m behaving. Why don’t you let them go?”

“Your little bird? Nah, that would be too dangerous for me, you see? Because I know who you are, Daisuke. I know how many people you’ve killed so far. And I’m not stupid enough to be one of them.” His enemy snickered and looked up to the door behind Jigen.

“But I see we have more guests than I have anticipated. Daisuke, you should have told me you were bringing your friends, so I could’ve prepared more food.”

He didn’t have to look to know that Lupin and Goemon were brought in by the lackeys of his torturer.

“Sorry, we’re not very hungry!”

Of course, Lupin had to make a show out of his capture. Trying to fight, knowing deep down that it was a dead end. Those lackeys had the power of a super human being, consisting of dead meat and an empty mind.The golem of an experienced self-called necromancer.

“I never said you were getting fed, my friend. YOU are the main dish.”

Jigen reached out to the man next to him, only to have his wrist grabbed and crushed with a sickening sound. He screamed in pain, waking up his s/o that began to stir in their ropes.

“Jigen!” Lupin had to understand by now what those things were he was fighting against.

“Silence! I will not suffer this insolence anymore.”

“Alice, let them go. You want me, you can have me. Let them go!” Clutching his broken wrist, Jigen was close to tears from the sheer pain. But the man just laughed.

“No. I wanted to break you. To make you suffer. Because you know what? That dirty little lowlife you killed 3 years ago? That was my son.”

Jigen took a breath. He had known it. He had known it and had pulled the trigger nonetheless. He was getting paid for killing this man.

“He stole money from my last contractor. I was hired.” That was the iron rule. You get paid and you do the job. Even some madman like Alice had to see that.

“Oh, it’s that easy? How much do you want? I’m buying you to kill your friends here. I’ll even give you a little extra if you help me prepare the main dish.”

“Fuck you.”

Alice took a handful of Jigen’s hair and yanked his head up.

“Then tell me, Daisuke. Your little birdie here or them. Who do you want to kill?”

“Lupin.”

He had done this. Both of them had stood on different sides of the gun before and had survived. He could pull this off again if he was given the chance.

“Fine. I’m giving you 5 chances to kill him. Bring the puny one.”

His brain dead lackeys moved with ghostly silence, dragging a still fighting Lupin with them.

Alice took the thief’s hand and placed it on the table before Jigen, fingers outstretched. Next to it he placed the cleaver.

“Take your gun and shoot him.”

Slowly he reached for his Magnum and set the barrel against Lupin’s forehead, praying for a wonder.

“One.” Before he had even the chance to pull the trigger, Alice had reached for the cleaver, spinning it in his hand, letting the blade come down on the table.

Lupin and Jigen stared at the clean cut off finger on the white table cloth, now slowly soaking up the blood.

“Two…” the cleaver was lifted again, ready to strike.

Jigen closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

The sound of a shot exploded in the almost empty warehouse as hell broke loose.

“Inspector!”

Zenigata turned around from his arrests and watched his assistant taking one of the sausages off of the table.

“A sausage?” carefully he sniffed it and opened his mouth to eat it.

“That’s a cooked human finger, Yata,” Zenigata told the young man

With a faint smile he let his assistant run outside to throw up.

“Youth.”

Jigen looked up from his sitting position.

“Why are you here?!”

“A little ‘thank you’ would be nice, Jigen. After all we saved you bunch from killing each other.”

“And arrested us,” Goemon added.

“And gave your two partners medical assistance.”

Speaking of the devil Lupin was brought back to the now broadly grinning Inspector. The thief had his left hand bandaged but managed to give Jigen a smile.

“They are alive. Nothing serious but a few scratches and a pretty mean headache.”

Jigen relaxed and nodded as thanks before he remembered something.

“Did you call the police?!”

“He called me himself. Saying you were deep in trouble. Giving me the name of your old friend over there.”

Jigen didn’t want to see the man that needed 4 police officers to hold him down. At least the undead lackeys which he had hypnotized and set under a heavy drug influence, were out cold and unmoving again.

Zenigata kneeled down to get on eye level with Jigen, only to whisper into his ear.

“He won’t reach prison alive.” With that the Inspector got up and went away.

The cell wasn’t half bad. Big enough for two inmates even if every one of them was imprisoned on their own. At least he could see in the cell opposite of him in which his s/o laid, still sleeping a lot.

The doctor had said they were okay besides a mild concussion. Lupin had told him so, too. But he didn’t dare to hope until he saw his s/o moving on the simple bed.

“Hey,” he called out softly.

“Hey,” they murmured back, the voice thick with sleep.

“I’m sorry,” he told them.

“Nah. I’m sorry,” they replied.

“What for?” It wasn’t the fault of his s/o for being targeted or caught.

“I forgot to buy your cigarettes.”

He blinked before it hit him.

“Do you remember why you are here?” A faint hope was growing inside his head.

“Because Lupin did something stupid and we got caught?”

Jigen laughed. He couldn’t believe it. All the torture and the things that had happened, had been forgotten by his s/o? Of course, the doctor had said something about having a slight amnesia of the things happened shortly before the concussion would be natural. But this? This was pure gold.

He would take care of the fact that his s/o would never remember this gruesome incident.

“If you’re enjoying your stay, I can leave you behind,” the guard in front of his cell said.

A bit surprised by this comment, Jigen’s eyes trailed down the guard’s arm only to see a thickly bandaged hand.

“Lupin.”

“You owe me a finger, my friend. But first let me get you out of here.”

With a click the lock opened, while Goemon made short work of the prison door of Jigen’s s/o.

“As thanks, let me invite you. I know a good diner not far from here. It serves sausages in all varieties,” Jigen shot back with a forced smile.

“Shut up.”

With a confused look, his s/o hugged Jigen and smiled at him, happy when the gunman returned the hug carefully and kissed them on their forehead.

“Let’s leave this city behind us as far as possible.”

#lupin iii #lupin the 3rd #jigen daisuke #goemon ishikawa xiii

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postfuguestate · 7 years ago

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Not the End of the World

I wrote a Life is Strange fic called Not the End of the World over a year ago (?!). If you haven’t read it, it’s a Pricefield AU which is sweet, pretty funny, and (best of all) short!

I was and am proud of it; I worked hard on that one, and I think there’s some pretty good writing in there! But there was always one thing that bugged me about the fic. I introduced a subplot involving Victoria Chase that I ended up doing nothing with.

Well, I was poking through some old files and I found said subplot pretty much in its entirety as an alternate version to the opening of the fifth and final chapter of the fic. So I’m bunging it here, below the cut, for the amusement of anyone who wants to see what might have been.

Two fun facts! I cut this because I wanted to keep the focus on Max and Chloe. But the interaction between Chloe and Victoria became the foundation of another fic I’m still writing, called Grit.

Max suspects that her personal karma is still in beta. That can be the only explanation why her reward for disposing of the styrofoam remains of their thoroughly broken fast is Victoria Chase.

She's prowling the waterfront with a camera and a scowl.

Victoria is talented. She's intelligent. She's beautiful. She is better presented than Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She's richer than a triple chocolate muffin. She always smells nice.

But...she is not nice. She's disagreeable.

Just like blast furnaces are lukewarm.

Max has seen girls like Victoria. Usually on TV. There was even a giddy rush in the first few minutes of discovering the Platonic ideal of the spoiled rich brat in Max's new school. Until she realised that there was no screen separating her from Victoria and that, in Nietzschean fashion, Victoria had also noticed Max.

It seems that Victoria always notices Max, no matter where she hides.

She spots Max now with her arm halfway into a bin.

Max flinches, and yanks her arm away, but not before Victoria takes a snap shot.

As she always does when she comes face to face with Victoria, Max reviews everything she knows about self-defence. This amounts to: curl up into a ball and hope that the bear goes away.

It's not very useful. Bears can't get at your kidneys with thei heels, after all.

Victoria says, "Well, well. I wondered where you found those outfits, Maxine."

"Good morning, Victoria. Goodbye, Victoria."

"Oh, don't mind me, Maxine. Please, dumpster dive away! Let me just get a few more shots..."

Max folds her arms and half turns away. That's as much of a response as she can muster. Victoria hoists her expensive camera and clicks merrily away.

"You know, Maxine, there are these places called stores? Where you can spend this stuff called money? And buy nice things called clothes?"

"I'm wearing clothes, Victoria."

Victoria finally lowers her camera. "Y'know, it's almost cute that you think so. You might even be cute, if you could dress yourself."

"Please just leave me alone...wait, what?"

"N-nothing! You're stupid!"

Max isn't quite sure, but it seems like there's a brief moment of panic on Victoria's face. Max is still trying to process that when Chloe scrambles up onto the sidewalk.

"Hey, Max, let's go! We've got place to be, remember? Oh."

Victoria factory resets to a scowl. "Oh, my God! Is this the Bay's Biggest Losers Club? Maxine, don't tell me you've stooped so low as to actually hang out with the only girl to ever be expelled from Blackwell?"

"Expelled?"

Chloe's crimson with rage. And embarrassment. She avoids Max's eye.

Chloe snarls, "Victoria-"

"Chloe...Price, was it? Shouldn't you be chained up in a junkyard somewhere, barking at trespassers? Or curled up in Rachel Amber's lap? Careful you don't bring fleas back to the dorms, Max."

"Hilarious. My sides are splitting." Chloe stares Victoria in the eye. "Just like your lip."

Math isn't Max's strong point. There's an equation that her subconscious has been working on, though, and the last unknowns yield their values to Max in the face of Victoria's shittiness.

Max will not endure people hurting Chloe.

Max moves to Chloe's side and touches her arm. Not restraining. Supporting.

Max trembles. Her voice doesn't. "Shut up, Victoria. Chloe's shown more kindness and humanity in five minutes than you have in the month I've known you. I may not know everything about her, but I can't wait to find out more. I wish I could say the same about you. Now, unless you are going to start biting, we're going to skip the rest of the insults. I want to get back to my date."

Seeing Victoria Chase reduced to a sputtering, red-faced wreck isn't the worst time Chloe's ever had. But it's not even close to being the most interesting thing about what Max just said.

Before either Victoria or Chloe can mistress themselves, Max grabs Chloe's arm and drags her away from Victoria.

Chloe finds the impulse to look back is a bit like a tachyon. Theoretically it exists, but she just can't locate it.

Max says, "I...can't believe I just said that."

"That's because it was unbelievable. Max, you're a badass!"

"I think I'm having a heart attack. And I know I'm going to have hell to pay tomorrow."

Now Chloe does look back. Victoria's walking away, hunched and stiff.

Chloe remembers what Rachel said about Victoria. She thinks about what Max just said about her.

Chloe groans.

Max looks up at her. She tries on a reassuring smile. It's not the best fit. "It's okay. I'm okay."

"Max...look, I need to do something real quick. Could you wait for me where the trail starts? It's just over there."

"What? Why? Chloe, don't get involved, it's-"

"Hey. Trust me. It won't take long, and it's nothing bad. I swear."

"Chloe...were you really expelled?"

Chloe sighs. "Yeah. I kinda gave up on school. They were pretty quick to return the favour. I'll tell you more. If, uh, you still want to...?"

Max snorts. "I just told off Victoria Chase for you. What do you think?"

Chloe grins. "That you're really pretty, and sweet, and the sooner I go, the sooner I can get back to figuring out how to spend as much time as possible with you?"

Rachel was right about Max's eyes. When they widen like that, they are just ridiculous.

"Oh. Well. Uh, okay," she says, dazedly.

"Thanks, Max. We'll be back to our date in ten minutes, tops!"

Max gasps, "Oh, dog! I can't believe I said that, either!"

Chloe has to sprint to catch Victoria. "Vic...wait..."

Surprisingly, she does. Chloe takes a second to make sure she doesn't lose her breakfast and crosses her fingers so she can swear off smoking for life.

Victoria's chin is held at the Euclid-approved angle to project disdain. Her shoulders are squared. Her glare is set to charbroil.

"If you're going to threaten me again, don't expect me to wait for you to get a lung transplant."

Chloe waves her hands. "No threats. Talk."

"What do you want? Come to plead on Max's behalf? Or to admit that someone dared her to spend time with you-"

"It can be tough. Coming out. In a place. Like this. Where everybody's into everone else's shit all the time."

Victoria scoffs, but it's a weak scoff, by her standards. More cough, than scoff, really. "I'll wait for the Audible version of your lesbio, thanks."

But she doesn't turn away. And her geometry is that bit less aggressively aligned.

Chloe sucks in air, pitches her voice like she's talking to a spooked horse. Not a trust fund princess with the apparent moral restraint of actual medieval royalty. "I'm just saying. Maybe you feel like you've got no one you can talk to. Well. I'm way out of the Blackwell loop. If you need an ear."

Victoria whispers, "What the fuck?"

"Maybe I'm totally wrong. And I'm not trying to pry. Just...

"Are you...?" Her eyes narrow. "Is this some kind of blackmail attempt?"

Chloe sighs. "That's just fucked up, dude. I'd never out anybody. Or push them to out themselves. I just...thought I'd make the offer." She holds up her hands. "If it's even relevant to you. Anything you might tell me stays between us. That's all I wanted to say."

Victoria tugs her earlobe. She folds her arms. She drums the fingers of her left hand on her right forearm. Chloe just waits and lets her lungs reacclimate while the pressure builds and builds.

And blows. "What the fuck is this? I'm horrible to you and...are you and Max really dating?"

"Honestly, and in order: because I may not like you, but I don't really hate you. I've kinda been in your shoes." Chloe glances down and grins wryly. "Well, cheap knock-offs anyway. And...I hope so. If I don't screw things up."

Victoria snort. "The odds are against you there, you're a walking...ugh. Don't make it so easy if you expect me to be..." Her face twists into an agonised grimace. "Nice." She shudders. "Whatever. I'll hunt you down if any of this conversation gets out there. Goodbye." She hesitates, looks away. "I mean...ugh...maybe..."

Chloe laughs. "Right. Maybe we'll talk again. But I know you'll be okay, because you're smart Victoria."

That earns her a wary look. "What are you talking about?"

Chloe grins. "My biography will be epic. And detailed. Going for the hands-free format is a great call!" The wink is maybe overkill, but Chloe just goes with the moment.

For the second time, she leaves Victoria sputtering, and lopes off Maxward.

Chloe comes jogging back to Max looking lighter and happier.

"Hey, super Max!"

"Hey. Uh, is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just had a quick, civil word with Victoria. Tried to smooth some ruffled feathers, y'know. That's all."

"You? Unruffling Victoria?"

"That's a bigger job than even I can manage, no matter how hella smooth I am. I tried, though. I mean, she's an asshole, but...everybody goes through stuff, right?"

"I guess. Like...getting expelled stuff?"

"Yeah...like that. I guess I'd better explain, huh?"

Max's voice is tiny. "Only if you want to? No pressure, remember?"

#life is strange #fanfiction #outtakes #shameful self-promotion #I dunno if this is interesting #But I feel like I should at least occasionally put SOMETHING on tumblr!

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kinetic-elaboration · 5 years ago

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January 3: The 100 2x08 Spacewalker

Spacewalker is probably a bad episode to watch when I’m feeling sad like this but... what can you do? (I’d say ‘skip the episode’ but I mean... it never gets cheerier so.)

The Grounders as a whole don’t intimidate me at all since I’ve seen their ineptitude too many times but I will never be over those costumes/masks.

See okay this Finn thing... On the one hand (I know I’ve said all this before), Raven is right that asking for Finn in exchange for a truce isn’t an offer. The offer has already been made. Clarke made it. The Reaper cure for backing the army away/maybe even forming an alliance. (This is a win-win-win for the Grounders btw: the war they’re so intent on fighting has no clear cause or purpose, so they lose nothing by just forgetting about it, and they gain a lot from the Reaper cure and anti-MW allies.) And Lexa accepts that offer, but then when she gets what she wants she demands more. I recognize that she is in a position of power and Clarke one of weakness, but I still think her attitude is dishonorable and bad faith and it pisses me off.

BUT I also don’t think that it’s inherently wrong for Finn to be punished by the Grounders for a crime against Grounders. I think their method of justice and punishment is bad but this isn’t actually a “Blood must have blood” scenario. It’s more like... how societies operate now? Because it’s, you know, pretty reasonable? Like if I went to France and killed someone, you can bet I’d be tried and imprisoned in France. So it’s really not, as Bellamy says, “insane.” (But then of course they have no concept of international law because they have never known any other ‘nation’ before so I guess..IC??)

Similarly, if the Grounders committed crimes against Arkadians, it would be fair for the Arkadians to punish them. (And I’d like to say ‘and they would and wouldn’t think twice’ but then I remember Ilian in S4 and just....ugh.....) (They should have killed him is what I’m saying.)

BUT it’s also gauche that Finn’s people are so quick to just hand him over. Unsurprising--from a world-building perspective I appreciate when the delinquents are considered nobodies, as they should be--but gauche.

Clarke always wants to save everyone, to find solutions to everything. Promise first, figure out the details later.

Also love Bellamy in the background pushing people away from Raven and trying to diffuse the situation, too.

“You’re running fluid dynamic specs while we’re having sex” is honestly such a self-burn though? Like if that’s what she’s doing, the sex isn’t good.

I love the set of Raven’s room. Whenever I picture the Ark, I always blur the details but these spaces are so cool. Hers looks basically like a mechanic’s workshop.

Every SINGLE time I see one of Finn’s pieces of metalwork art I think about that post laying out how Finn/Murphy could have been a thing and I just physically can’t stand it it made so much sense.

Speak of the devil.

All these people have their issues with Finn but when it’s time to protect one of their own (one of t100) they are all in. Like literally they are willing to turn Alpha Station into a fortress for one person.

And like honestly turning on Murphy though? I guess I understand it if we’re willing to say they were truly Finn’s friends, and given that Murphy uh killed some people and tried to kill Bellamy but--I never got the impression that Bellamy liked Finn and Clarke has many reasons to be upset with him. But I guess people are just like this: good at compartmentalizing. Murphy is just an easier target for anger right now, and you can’t be second guessing your defense of Finn when there’s literally a whole village of warriors out to get him. I guess from Clarke it’s a practical position, which she’s very good at. In a way perhaps... she is more practical than strictly loyal?

And Murphy always available to tell unvarnished truths. (That Finn was looking for Clarke isn’t relevant to blame or morality--it doesn’t make it her fault--but it does go to the heart of why she’s looking for scapegoats.)

I agree with Lincoln, obviously, over Octavia: Lxa would 1000% sacrifice one of her own in Clarke’s position, no question. Because she’s cold, but also it’s tactically and arguably morally the right thing to do. Lxa’s positions are often black and white--so are everyone’s--but O’s are like downright naive. (”She can’t ask us to hand over one of our own! Would she do that??”)

I can’t believe Clarke is so shocked that Lincoln would turn on Finn. Oh yeah this guy who was nice to him once but subsequently massacred his village? Yeah, they’re not friends anymore lol.

I feel like I didn’t have much sympathy toward this when I first watched it but I do like Lincoln’s line “We all have a monster inside of us. We’re all responsible for what it does when we let it out.” I think I disliked it because it made me uncomfortable tbh. (What still makes me uncomfortable is how much blame Lincoln gets, from the narrative, for actions he took when he really wasn’t in his right mind. Like... yes it was still him and something to live with, but he wasn’t just an addict, he was made an addict through torture by an enemy... seems perhaps a situation where more slack is warranted. Anyway.)

That said the Grounder torture machine is just...... leave me alone, I don’t need this gratuitous violence. I’m neither shocked nor impressed.

What they should have done was try Finn initially themselves because while I do stand by everything I said about facing Grounder punishment for crimes against Grounders, by the standards of his people, that torture is itself a moral wrong. And that’s reason to refuse extradition. But you can’t take the high ground about acceptable punishments when you let a war crime go with a ‘well, we don’t have a judiciary so I guess you’re pardoned?? idk??’

Another thing that I wish Clarke or someone had mentioned is that “He must suffer the pain of 18 deaths. Then we can have peace” may not be true at all because L has already shown that she does not act in good faith. There is every chance Clarke will hand over Finn, he’ll be tortured and killed, and then L will say “I also want [x arbitrary number] of your people as penance for frying my warriors” or “I also want access to your magical ship because I said so” or “I also want you to do a song and dance for me because it would be funny”--and she can say this because she has this army. And if Clarke says no at any point in the long litany of requests, L can just send the army in. She’s made no gestures of good will at all. So it would be nice if someone showed some skepticism about what good handing over Finn would really do--based on what they know at this point in the narrative.

Abby versus Jaha: I’m with Jaha not because I really agree with him--this is the period where he’s pissing me off--but because Abby taking the high ground is just so......... I mean yeah when it suits her?? I’m not sending a child to his death bitch please you already did that.

Clarke was legitimately disgusted by Finn just like 1-2 eps ago and now she’s ready with the excuses? It’s too much. I semi-understand her, as I said before re: compartmentalizing, but also I expect better from her. He wasn’t trying to look for anyone or save anyone; he was off his nut in a rage.

That love confession is so manipulative. And so weird... I mean he obviously doesn’t love her lol. But then again I always complain about these characters not acting like teenagers and then whenever one does I’m like “stop being so unreasonable CHILD.”

And Clarke with the awkward ‘mmm just gonna ignore you said stuff about love and forgiveness.’

Love the Griffin / Blake power walk.

This was back when I was still invested in Kabby (I loved them up until the moment they got together, then my interest level plummeted tbqh.) Kane’s return with such like off-center romance.

Legit question but considering the pretty amazing defensive structure they have in Alpha Station plus their guns and, like, General Technology... could they have won a battle? All of the negotiations, private and public, rely on the assumption that they could not but... I mean the 100 won at the end of S1 with, arguably, less.

I love that you can see the trees through the windows of the Ark, and some of the trees are coming in.

“I wasn’t a prisoner, but I wasn’t allowed outside either.” So.... you were a prisoner?

Abby, Kane, and Marcus are one fucked up trio. “The former Chancellor is being detained for treason.” Aka disagreeing with Abby. Kane: wide-eyed wtf??? Abby: oh and btw I’m keeping this job for as long as I feel like it; who’s the chancellor now bitch? Like power’s just a hot potato they throw among the three of them.

I do not at all believe L would actually agree to letting the Ark prosecute and execute Finn as a sufficient fulfillment of their end of any bargain. I think that would be a smart compromise but I don’t believe it of her tbqh. Still it is a best case scenario and Abby putting up her nose at the possibility of Finn being guilty of “war crimes” (which like he definitely is???) (except in the sense that there’s probably no real ‘rule of war’ in this universe and thus ‘war crimes’ is impossible to define but other than that...)--just drives me nuts.

I know I’m saying a lot of inconsistent things--that I think Finn should be punished but that I also think Grounder “justice” is gross and immoral and L is inherently untrustworthy--but basically it comes down to: they keep talking in terms of practicality, and no one is bringing up the moral dimension. Does he deserve to be punished in some way by some one for massacring 18 innocent civilians? Because I think just about anyone with any sort of moral dignity would say yes.

Anyway Raven’s really hot.

Really wish there’d been more a sense of where the delinquents are versus the main population. They only seem to use the majority of the Arkers when they need some conflict or some extras, but they don’t have, like, a real or consistent pov.

We NEEDED those Kane & Lxa scenes honestly. He keeps on saying things like “I spent time with her” and “I know her” and “she’s a visionary” but I’m gonna be honest I saw 0 visionary qualities in her, I legit do not get this, and you can’t say shit like this without backing it up. Like is she a “visionary” for keep them alive this long or is she just being reasonably intelligent by attempting to extract as much as she can from them, knowing she could kill them at any time? I mean her calculations are pretty easy as long as she has no honor--which she doesn’t--so I don’t see anything visionary or remarkable, even, about it. If she had to decide whether or not to accept non-torture punishment for Finn, that might be somewhat harder--but even then, nothing like what Abby, Clarke, et.al. are going through. She could prob. just lie and say she saw them torture Finn and now he’s dead (even if he weren’t even dead lol) and get away with it since she’s such a good liar generally and has no qualms about it.

What about anything she has experienced here makes Abby think that “showing Indra she understands her pain” will do literally anything?

I actually think Finn’s desire not to shoot that Grounder when he could, and would have had some reason to, is interesting--like he really did snap at the beginning of the season, and now he’s more “himself” again. I know this whole story line was devised to get him off the show but it actually could have, hypothetically, been a good exploration of living with long-term guilt, integrating a part of yourself you didn’t think existed into your more general, and still mostly accurate, vision of yourself. (There are a lot of other characters who could do this too obviously... Finn’s really the only one that I can think of who just snapped out of and then back into place, though.)

Damn that burned out dropship. (Definitely did not describe it right in that fic whoah-well.)

“Murphy, what are you doing here?” / “I believe I was invited.” Murphy just wants to be one of the group, ultimately. I really do believe that. I find it kind of touching and sad. (Especially since he’s only there to be thrown to the wolves by Raven lol. Not quite as hard to watch as him shooting her but close.)

Nurse!Murphy back at it again, helping Bellamy with Clarke.

I’m sorry but I just really don’t get why Finn is the hill Abby wants to die on lol. Yeah he’s your daughter’s friend and you’re rightfully guilty about the 100 situation and he’s only 17 or so but--he actually did what the Grounders said he did? NOW is the time to go all peace and love with Indra like ‘let’s stop the blooodshed!!!’?? Okay well you can start with not condoning war crimes.

People get so up in arms about the Finn cheating thing and honestly, not a great move--but I have some sympathy for the situation. Finn and Raven were not romantically compatible; they’re all young; and feelings really do change. They handle the situation with a remarkable degree of maturity overall--Finn admitting he shouldn’t be let off the hook, Raven emphasizing that they’re family, Clarke refusing to be the other woman in S1, Raven and Clarke becoming friends.

“The things that we’ve done to survive, they don’t define us” is all well and good--for someone suffering from guilt over actual impossible decisions, or self-defense killing, or killing in war. But Finn really didn’t have to kill a bunch of civilians, he didn’t rationally think he had to (he had Murphy there telling him he was being irrational), and he didn’t accomplish anything or serve any loftier goal by killing them. So basically what I’m saying is, Clarke, let him be guilty. He should feel guilty about this. And if you think he should live, he’ll never be able to move on until he acknowledges his wrong-doing.

Similarly, though, “maybe this is who we are now” is also rich--speak for yourself, buddy.

“It’s a capital crime” is such a dumbass thing to say, since the pilot established that “capital” is tied to the age of the perpetrator not the action taken. But I guess just as an audience reminder of the stakes.

Also this says “a year ago” but it clearly wasn’t a year ago--Finn says he’ll only be in the Sky Box for a few months, and he’s still there as of the pilot, and S1 is only about a month long--so Raven is 18, not 19 as she’s usually portrayed.

Anyway saving Raven from getting arrested was a legitimately good and noble thing he did.

I feel like we as a fandom collectively underestimate Raven’s ruthlessness. Like she really would have turned over Murphy instead of Finn and I truly find that sickening. I know that he shot her and that probably contributes to her sense that he’s expendable but it’s just such an obviously insanely wrong thing to do. Even Bellarke, not exactly paragons of virtue here, are like ‘woah, that’s a bridge too far, even for us.’ Also I really think Murphy has a thing for Raven and I really think that he was touched and complimented when she asked him to be part of the group, which just makes the betrayal so much worse--and really hits me in a softer part of myself, because this is more relatable to me than, like, guns and war.

Never a good sign when your friend says a prayer to you solemnly before just leaving for a few minutes.

Honestly it’s so... like darkly comic that after an entire episode of people talking about Finn, he ultimately just surrenders himself. Fitting. Satisfying.

Ugh, Kane’s that annoying guy who calls men younger than him “son.”

Okay the last ten minutes is just like gratuitous sadness.

So like basically we’re to assume from that conversation with Lincoln that Kane’s allegedly great idea about Ark justice wouldn’t have worked out, I guess?

I don’t agree with Lxa on anything but this isn’t a hill I would die on if I were her, either. Like maybe sometimes showing mercy can be revolutionary and maybe you can even get away with it--but this isn’t the situation where that’s possible. Finn isn’t a child by their standards (he’s probably about Lexa’s age?) and he isn’t an innocent. So “show my people how powerful you are” isn’t a great argument. She isn’t powerful enough to stop an execution like this, one so popular and--unnecessary torture aside--basically justified according to the laws and customs of the relevant societies.

Also super pisses me off that Clarke is comparing herself and Finn. Burning 300 warriors during a battle in order to save yourself is absolutely not the same as opening fire on a village of civilians and she is certainly smart enough to know the difference. I know--an emotional time, a last ditch effort. But I’m annoyed because having watched 4 seasons of this show and tumblr-watched a couple more I LEGITIMATELY do not know if the writers understand the difference. Like I think I might be supposed to be taking Clarke seriously here.

Like Clarke does need to wrestle with her own guilt--but this is still nuts.

Also she has never actually wrestled with her own guilt and neither has anyone else: it’s either ‘woe is me I’m so guilty’ or ‘what guilt? lol’

I mean Olav has already done the whining about his own un-atoned sin thing WAY better so....

ALTHOUGH back to everything I said about Kane’s proposal--ultimately, that’s what Clarke just unilaterally did: she executed Finn, which is probably what any fairly applied bit of Arker justice would have decreed--without torturing him--dealt with his very real crime on Camp Jaha’s terms, basically, not the Grounders’. And Lexa accepted this because it was too late to change it and ultimately she’d already gotten pretty close to what she wanted and could see that there was more to extract from Clarke’s people (as anti-MW allies) alive than dead.

This is obviously a very emotional and wrenching scene but I just can’t allow myself to feel it right now because I’m very upset and this is my distraction.

I do remember being actually floored when I watched it the first time though.

I’m going to tentatively say I agree with the opinion that Raven never got over Finn’s death and Clarke’s part in it--that they were never truly friends again after this.

Bravenlarke are such a physically attractive ot3.

Overall a good episode but not a fun or enjoyable episode. I miss my MW kids.

#the year 2020 #2020: t100 s2 #the 100 rewatch #the 100

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deenaservice715-blog · 6 years ago

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Assistance To Avoid The Errors Newbie Home Retailers Make

Offering true estate can be a practice fraught with peril. The smart home seller, though, understands that arbitrary opportunity and market energies need not really state the price they get. He or she understands that a little bit of foresight, planning, and education can drive a offer away from potential risks and maximize profits. For most people, cost is everything. If you truly want to sell your house, after that you possess to end up being reasonable about what it is normally worth in the current market. When showing your home to potential customers, be absolutely sure to de-clutter prior to inviting them into what could be their fresh house. Pack apart the little issues that you perform not feel reveal a inviting space for them. You need to make your house appearance open with a great deal of space for them to move their issues in. Assisting a customer with financing will help you make the sale. There are many pain-free ways a vendor can assist somebody who may not really easily be eligible for a mortgage; you might offer a lease-to-own choice, pay for factors to decrease interest prices or even feet the bill for closing costs. This could really shrink the period your house consumes on the marketplace. To persuade a serious, qualified customer who is on the verge of accepting your offer to take the dive, permit them actually sleep in it and get the dotted line singed! If a potential customer is normally certainly wanting your house but just having cool foot, allow them spend a evening in it and chances are great their brain will become produced up before morning hours, in favor of buying! Work on the control charm of your home when figuring out to offer. The landscaping and appeal of the appear of your home from the outside, is usually one of the 1st issues a prospective purchaser will observe. Spend some time to add some visible charm to your landscape gardening, such as plants and ornamental components. Consider a new coating of color waterfront homes for sale in chesapeake va for the outside of your home. When prices your real estate, pick a price that is relevant for within 30 days of the house going on the marketplace. House prices fluctuate throughout the yr, and pricing a house in the winter season with a spring price will not really end up being a move likely to sell your home quickly. If you must get the higher price, it's better to wait to put the home on the market than to over-price it right now and possess it sit. Setting the list cost of the house you are putting on the market is usually a major part of a quick sale. If the requesting price is usually too low, you will not get the ideal profit that can be capable to become made. If you list it as well high, you will distress the potential buyers from even looking at your home. Carry out not really get worried too much about attaining a unified, themed interior style structure when you are enhancing your home in order to sell it. Potential customers are interested in your house, not in the method you possess decorated it. Purchasers that care about decor already have their personal suggestions for decorating your house; buyers that do not really care will not really appreciate any work you waste on scrupulous decoration. When revealing the home that you are offering to potential purchasers simple issues may make a big difference. Make them feel as comfy as possible so they can even more easily picture themselves living in the house. A neat lawn, fresh layer of color and a clean home will make this an easier job for the potential customer. When you're trying to offer your home, you want to produce it look attractive to the potential customer. One simple way to do this is normally to move out and buy a decent searching shower curtain and put it up. Most waterfront homes for sale in Chesapeake Va for sale either avoid possess one up or it's an older one from the prior owner. You may not think it's a big offer, but it can keep a simple bad impression. An essential tip to keep in mind with real property is that currently, because of the bad overall economy, new construction is experiencing a lull. This is normally essential to you because it means that you are just in competition against other pre-owned houses rather of an increase of attractive new homes. This should provide you the self-confidence needed to sell your home at a great price. If you are the owner of a kitty and you are looking to offer your house, you should produce sure to clean up any litter containers in the home before having it shown. Potential customers could be switched off by any pet scents, and move on purchasing your house. These are just a few of the methods well-prepared sellers get the most out of the home they place on the true property market. Knowledge is certainly a powerful thing, and understanding the inches and outs of the real property offering process forward of period usually translates into higher prices, higher profits and easier sales.

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euro3plast-fr · 8 years ago

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Different types of ads and their usefulness

A quick guide to the best ads for different purposes

In a Digital Marketing: Integrating strategy and tactics with values, published 2014, Ira Kaufman and Chris Horton wrote that we’re well beyond the stage in which digital media is a fad. In fact, it is quickly becoming the means by which consumers communicate with their friends and families especially when making purchase decisions.

This is the main reason why marketers embrace the Internet and digital marketing. Consumers these days give more preference to online ads than any other medium. In a survey by Brightroll, it was revealed that as much as 72 percent of consumers believe online video ads are the same or even better than TV ads. But there are more than a dozen types of advertisements online.

Which ones are effective? Which among them actually help businesses reach their bottom line and business goals?

We listed some of them to help you figure it out which works best for your targeted audience.

If you are a marketer and still in doubt which one is best, take a look at these types and see which ones you can use to reach your customers.

1. Static displayed ads

It is an ad on a web page that does not change. A static banner ad is generally a still single frame with a catchphrase. John O'Toole, a senior performance marketing consultant, analyzed the data of four advertisers to identify which one is better between static and animated ads. After reviewing the advertisers’ data for 12 months, he learned that static ads prevailed over animated ads in almost every single campaign.

He theorized that static ads were more effective since previous visitors would recognize the brand logo instantly, whereas the animated ads have a series of images that do not contain the brand logo at all. However, static is not limited to banner ads. They can be in other forms like one-way webinars, website pages, eBooks, emails, and landing pages.

2. Interactive ads

Marketing expert John McTigue explained the advantages of interactive content. Besides the fact that they’re cheap to set up, an interactive ad increases brand loyalty and reputation. It can be in the form of customer reviews, mobile apps, social media

It can be in the form of customer reviews, mobile apps, social media updates and shares, as well as blog comments. However, it comes with a few drawbacks, too. It’s easy to setup but it’s not cheap since you have to monitor the channels at all times. You have to provide fresh and relevant content to keep your customers engaged. Indeed, it requires manpower, training, and talent to do well.

Another example is the Interactive advisor banners, which are minified versions of SMARTASSISTANT advisors, in which only the first question is displayed and then upon interaction, it leads users to a campaign-specific landing page where they are able to answer additional questions and get immediate suggestions on suitable products. Interactive advisor banners are an engaging approach to help create an emotional experience for consumers, build powerful brand awareness, and increases click-through rates through relevant content. Studies have

Interactive advisor banners are an engaging approach to help create an emotional experience for consumers, build powerful brand awareness, and increases click-through rates through relevant content. Studies have shown that consumers are 2.5 times more likely to interact with these type of ads than with regular ad options.

Source: helpscout.net

3. Animated ads

Animated GIF or flash ads take more time to create than a text or standard image but they are worth the investment. Animated ads give your customers up to 30 seconds to get your message across. Graphic designer and entrepreneur John Harbison said it can give you more freedom than the limited space of a static ad.

4. Banner ads

These are similar to static ads, and are displayed across a users screen - usually at the top.

Ad Placement

Writer Kim Gordon said you have to put your ads where your customers are. This allows you to reach your ideal customers with the right message, in the right place at the right time. If you’re thinking about social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube you already have an idea about the best places to put your ads. Indeed, social media is a game changer in the world of digital advertising. Let’s take a closer look on different types of ads online.

Search ads- you can utilize this by activating your Google Adwords account or similar advertising platforms.

Pay per click (PPC) ads- they provide instant gratification simply because you can expect increased traffic to your website hours after launching a campaign. Advertisers can monitor how much they spend with PPC as well as what keywords did trigger traffic to the website. Some of the biggest advantages of PPC Ads are lower advertising expenses, greater control over your ad campaigns and more accurate customer targeting.

Bing- Just recently, Bing Ads announced the launch of remarketing for search and shopping campaigns. Advertisers can now serve ads on Yahoo or Bing search results to users who have visited their site.

Facebook- through Facebook, you’ll have the opportunity to approach exactly your target group. Before starting your Facebook marketing strategy, make sure you’re clear about the ad design and content, segmentation, ad formats, and your budget.

Twitter- the site offers three types of ad options—promoted tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends. According to Penna Powers, promoted trends will cost you around $200,000 per day.

Google Display- Google said the Display Network (GDN) reaches over 90 percent of global internet users expanding across two million sites. Display ads are those banners or small boxes you see when you skim your favorite sites or blogs.

Retargeting Ads- AdRoll said retargeting works by keeping track of people who visit your site and displaying your retargeting ads to them as they visit other sites online. Generally, they help convert window-shoppers into buyers.

Mobile Ads- it’s growing faster than all other digital advertising formats. A recent data from Business Insider Intelligence found that US mobile ad spend will top nearly $42 billion in 2018.

Designing Ads

After you’ve decided which types of ads to use and where to place them, it’s also important to consider their designs. If you’re planning to have a clickable banner ad, the first thing to consider is the size. Use a standard size as much as possible. By that, Google AdSense noted that the most successful sizes are the following:

Large 336x280

Medium 300x250

Leaderboard 728x90

Wide Skyscraper 160x600

You have to maintain hierarchy if you want a clickable banner ad. With these in mind, you should always have the three basic components in your ad to ensure that they would be accepted by the ad platforms and help your ad convert better – the company logo, a value proposition, and a call to action.

Thanks to Lisa Froelings for sharing their advice and opinion in this post. Lisa is a business and productivity consultant with over 4 years of experience in human resources working for a major retailer in the country before she decided to build her own business. Her interests include technology, mindfulness as well as time management.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/internet-advertising/internet-advertising-creative/different-types-ads-usefulness/

#Blog – Smart Insights

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kinetic-elaboration · 6 years ago

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October 25: Conference 2

I definitely had a let-down feeling after the conference but I think I am feeling better now. Except that it doesn’t seem real, now, like something that really happened. I had a good time overall and I’m glad I went, and even though I was worried about making it through today, it was a lot easier than yesterday.

We had to drive all the way back, which was kind of weird--it’s that weird amount of distance that, and I realize I am not being very American right now, is I guess short enough to warrant not paying several hundred dollars for a hotel room, but is too big to really feel like it’s right to be commuting back and forth, especially since the conference atmosphere is so unusual. I suspect none of this is making sense. It’s just a strange thing to be going back and forth from is what I’m trying to say.

Anyway, we got there later than intended and so I was about two minutes late for the first session. Also my co-worker was going to a different first session, and hers was in a library that is, weirdly, like, off the hotel, and so she found the door right away and was like ‘peace out, bye,’ and I was like WAIT WHERE’S THE HOTEL? because like I don’t have a smart phone or a map so ???? Lol but it was fine. I just walked into a circle until I found it, and I was still almost on time. The session was on a public library turning themselves around from press disaster to model system, which actually was more relevant to me than perhaps you might guess because their advice re: not being a disaster was very general and adaptable. Also it made me feel good that there are still good faith people out there tbh because all of their advice really just boils down to don’t be a dick, behave reasonably with the people around you.

The next session I wanted to go to was in the same room, but I also needed caffeine, so I went across the way to the main ballroom and got some chai tea (not really my thing but I couldn’t find anything else caffeinated so it had to do) and also a really stale bagel. Then back for the next session, which was on diverse Virginia. It was mostly public library focused--what isn’t???--and I had to do some very quick translating of my own to figure out how I might apply some of this stuff to my library’s foreign born population, which is actually quite sizable, but not quite the same as the public library immigrant population. Still, I enjoyed it.

After that I had a very long lunch period, about two hours. My co-worker had met some people at the workshop she’d done in the morning and they invited me to lunch with them. I had a wonderful breakfast-type-dish (was it a sandwich? was it just a collection of random stuff in a box? not sure but it tasted good) from this soup-and-sandwich-type place; we ate in the weird little mall that connects to both the hotel and the library. The women were very nice and we got to share some of our experiences in our respective libraries and also in the earlier sessions we’d attended. (Later conversation turned to husbands and children and dogs, all of which are ??? topics for me but that’s okay.)

The other women were from quite far away in the state, so they left after lunch, while J and I wandered the mall a little; we picked up baked goods and I grabbed a fucking delicious pumpkin latte from a fancy coffee place. Then we went back to the hotel and looked at the gift baskets being raffled off. There were a couple that would have been perfect for our supervisor but unfortunately the drawing was after our planned departure time and in order to claim a prize you had to either be there yourself or use a proxy so that kind of killed the plan to win one for her. Which is a shame because I would have liked to see the look on her face if we’d shown up with one but oh well.

We separated after that, J to a session on creating a crafting program on a shoestring budget, and me to a session on research using newspapers. Mine was...okay. The first presenter wasn’t great. I feel bad saying that because I got what he was trying to do, but I felt like it could have been shorter and livelier. Like the idea was there but I could tell it wasn’t quite shaking out as intended. The second presenter was better, both in the sense that he was a somewhat more engaging speaker and also in the sense that he was actually showing us how to use the resources they were discussing, but by then there wasn’t that much time left. I will say that the Library of Virginia is doing some super nifty digitizing, including digitization that the Library of Congress isn’t doing (”we’re not really supposed to be prioritizing this but what are they going to do, throw me in library jail?” = one of the funniest sentences I heard over the course of the two days) (right up there with “I have a tattoo of Peter Rabbit, I promise you I am not intimidating?). They have Civilian Conservation Corps newspapers, which is apparently a thing, and also some old papers run by African-Americans, and now they’re trying to find and digitize antebellum newspapers as well, which are apparently pretty rare online. And they’re collecting old fugitive slave ads, which excites me as someone who’s tried, however briefly, to research specific slaves and found it very difficult--like for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating to find oneself in this research desert. And it was just an academic project for me, not a personal thing, or a genealogy thing, where I’m sure the frustration must be more acute and more painful.

There was only one more session after that. J and I met up by accident in the restrooms and then realized we were both going to it. It was on making one’s library affirming for trans and non-binary people. The presentation was really good, really well done; basically the presenters explained what they’d done in their library, following the recommendations of committee on inclusivity on which they’d all served, and then we did short little conversations with our neighbors on how these issues might play out in our libraries. My situation is, again, weird in that my library is not autonomous, and a lot of policies really have to come from the law school or even university level, but I had a few things to share, and it was interesting hearing about my partner’s experiences trying to do what she could in a library where the people at the top of the hierarchy were somewhere between neutral and cool on even having inclusivity as a goal.

It was still pretty early at this point but the conference was basically wrapping up. We went across the street to check out a nifty little bookstore. I picked up a book for my mom that she hopefully does not already have and a book for my dad that he will hopefully like. Because this town is a port, it has a lot of boat-related stuff and it just seemed a shame not to get something for my dad at such a place. But it was also had to tell what books would most interest him. For example, there was one big one that looked like it was full of nice pictures--but it was also super expensive and shrink wrapped and I’m not dropping that kind of money on something that I can’t look inside, sorry. Another one was an autobiographical tale of a man building a wooden boat himself, which I was very close to getting, but I couldn’t tell if it was mostly about the building or mostly about, idk, a spiritual journey, so I chickened out on it and got one one the history of seafaring instead.

The drive back was much easier than yesterday in part because we didn’t miss an exit or get lost and in part because I wasn’t struggling to stay awake. We ended up talking pretty much the whole way back, and I got home at about 4:30. I wasn’t really that tired physically but my brain was like Nope to the possibility of doing anything, so I took a nap to try to reset.

I woke up feeling kind of bummed and lost, but dinner and catching up on The Good Place helped. I’ve also been working more on my Halloween fics. The third one is officially done in draft form and I have a tentative moodboard for the second.

I want to go the farmer’s market tomorrow and get apples for this apple crisp I have some weird idea I’m going to make. And then... idk... might walk around, might try to call R. Gonna try to write in the afternoon/evening. Just--Halloween!!!!! Yeah! Time to get spooky!!

#the year 2019 #2019: rl

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