#customers at reception were invested in the call by the end and were speaking in hushed tones so as not to interrupt omg

[xteacupx]

I had a really nice moment today... a sweet old lady (we think she must've been in her 90's) called my work mistaking us for a printing place (it was the same number but her phonebook was at least a decade out of date) and when I explained we were an escape room, she got a bit embarrassed and explained that she couldn't use a computer or a smartphone and that she really just needed help photocopying some postcards.

We had customers in, but I was like "I can help!" and googled an address for her and read her out the number on the phone. She then spent the next five minutes complimenting and chatting to me and then the next fifteen minutes talking to my manager about how good an employee I was. I am reportedly "A light in a dark world" all because I'd googled a company for her. Brb crying forever THANK YOU OLD LADY WE LOVE YOU

We're gonna call her back tomorrow and follow up to see if she was able to get her postcards photocopied but in the meantime the work group chat is discussing what title to give her (for most of us our job title is riddlemaster officially, our managers have been unofficially dubbed riddlelord and riddlebaron). Currently we're thinking riddledame or riddleduchess.

[princesstadashi]

A Post for Newbie Ren Faire Goers!

So, provided this god awful virus doesn’t shut them all down, it’s about ren faire season, at least for me and probably for some other people! And today at work I had this flashback to when I first started regularly going to faire, and man, was I confused about a lot of things--and I realized that maybe this would be a good time for me to make a post for others who are getting ready to visit their first Ren faire, or who are familiar with Ren faires but might still have questions and want to learn more. If you’re ready, let’s dive into this!

What the heck is a mug strap? It may sound random, and you may have never even heard of a mug strap, but this is actually one of the first questions I had about ren faires because it was something so many people were asking me if I had, so let me explain: It is a piece of leather that has two loops (at least one of which can come open), one loop to go around your belt and the other one (for sure the one that comes open) which can go around the handle of a mug or other drinking vessel for ease of carrying it! Which brings me to my second question:

Why are there so many shops selling wooden mugs (and other similar items?) This is because it is very, very important to stay hydrated at faire, especially when the weather is warm outside! A mug is an easy way to hold your drink of choice, and the mug strap mentioned above means you don’t have to carry it in your hands once you’re finished drinking! At least my local Ren faire has drink stations with water and gatorade for season pass holders, and even if yours doesn’t there are always water fountains! Do you need a mug to attend a Ren faire? Definitely not! But they’re pretty darn useful if you plan to go regularly instead of constantly buying bottled drinks, plus they look pretty cool!

What is “the cast”? The people hired by the Ren faire to play characters, you’ll usually see them walking around in the streets (or “lanes”) and performing in shows and events!

What the heck is “garb”? To put it in very simplified terms, it’s the old-timey clothes or “costumes” that you’ll see people wearing :)

(More below the cut!)

Is garb or any sort of costume necessary? No, absolutely not! Plenty of people go in regular clothes! But it is fun to get dressed up :) And you don’t have to have a full costume straight off--that stuff is expensive, so it’s okay if you need to build it up over time if you want to do that--all that matters is that you’re having fun and getting into the spirit of things! Back to not dressing up: Again, it is totally fine if you want to wear regular street clothes, and a lot of the cast will probably have fun asking about your “outlandish outfit” and any modern devices that you have with you! HOWEVER. I hate that I have to say this, but I do: if you don’t choose to wear garb, don’t be a dick to the people who are wearing it. Usually everyone is very chill, and of course some of the cast members will be wearing costumes that are meant to be very showy. But especially with regards to fellow guests: don’t treat them as part of the “spectacle” or like they’re animals in a zoo: basically just don’t stare, don’t treat them like they’re weird for dressing up no matter their age, and remember that they’re just people wanting to have a good time like you, they just want to look totally badass doing it!

So is it not okay to talk to people about their costumes or to ask them for pictures? Please, as long as you’re being polite, feel free to ask--many people like me feel like the reward of all the work we put into our garb is compliments and people asking for pictures! But use common courtesy: if someone seems uncomfortable with you talking to them, just leave them be. And always ask before taking a picture! You might see some photographers taking candid shots, but most of those people are professionals and have gotten permission to be doing that. General rule of thumb is just treat people like you would want to be treated!

I see a lot of people being very flirty/touchy feely/etc. with each other, am I allowed to do that? So here’s the thing about Ren Faires: especially the cast, we tend to all be very open with each other and let loose a bit in a safe space. And a lot of stuff like that that you’ll be seeing is between people who already know each other and are comfortable with each other, even if we might not be acting like that if we’re in character. Now does that mean no flirting is allowed? Totally not! But just like in any other social setting, use common sense: see if the other person is comfortable with it, and if not respect that and back off. Simple as that. Also please keep especially in mind with the cast that this is a paying job for them so while they have a lot more freedom than a regular customer service job, it is still in a way customer service, so they can’t be super rude to you if you’re making them uncomfortable. But also keep in mind that there is security and no one is afraid to call security on you if you’re being inappropriate with anyone, and they will escort you out.

Is that sword (or other weapon) really sharp? At least in my experience, no--for safety reasons, most weapons are blunted--they’re still heavy so they can absolutely do damage as a bludgeon, but everyone tries to avoid more injuries than necessary. 

Can I hold that sword (or insert any other cool looking prop)? ASK. Dear God, ASK before you touch anything that someone else is carrying! I don’t mean to freak you out, but most of this stuff is VERY expensive and quite possibly damageable, no matter how sturdy it looks! Also if you start fucking around and injure someone else? There could be liability on the owner of the thing you were fucking around with. Some people will be chill about letting you handle their props, but if not, just be polite and thank them for their answer and move on! I’ve seen too many things be damaged/lost that were irreplaceable because people didn’t use common courtesy so I feel very strongly about this!

Do I have to use old fashioned speech? No, but it’s fun! And there are some pretty fun terms that are used to replace modern terms that don’t have a equivalent in the Renaissance! A few of my favorites: “The Book of Faces” = Facebook; “Please God 13″ = PG 13 (usually used to let you know if the content of a show will be slightly more mature); “Master or the Cards”/”Lady Visa”/”New World Express” = various names for common credit and debit cards!

Speaking of credit cards! There are a lot of vendors who take credit cards, but not all of them do, and sometimes reception can be REALLY spotty out in the faire grounds, so I’d say bringing about $40 per person (if you’re planning to eat lunch and dinner there) in cash is always a safe bet. Some faire grounds will have an ATM, but the line can get pretty long, and who really wants to pay ATM fees? Also tipping is how a lot of performers get to keep performing their craft! So having a couple ones to put in the basket at the end of a show if you choose to see a show is always a nice idea!

What about drinking alcohol, is that a thing? Yes, most Ren faires won’t let you bring your own, but most of the faires I’ve been to have plenty for sale! Just another general rule of courtesy: please do not treat this like a frat party, and try to avoid getting completely wasted and being a dick. Believe me. There’s a difference between being buzzed and having a good time and that. I have seen it too many times to count. It isn’t funny. There are usually children around you, and this is a public space. We all see you, and we’re all silently judging you. Please know your limits and drink responsibly!

I’ve worn cosplay before, is that okay to wear to Ren Faires? Cosplay is totally encouraged, especially if it works with the time period and/or it’s a character that is a time traveler! Hell, most of my “garb” is made up of cosplay! But please keep in mind: this is not a convention. There will be very, VERY limited places to sit. There will be very limited cover from the elements. You will most likely be walking on dirt roads with rocks and, if it has rained at all, you may be walking in several inches of mud. And the walk back to the car in the parking lot is a LOT longer than you think. So only wear something that you will be comfortable wearing for eight+ hours without being able to sit down for long/without having to remove parts of, and also something that can stand to get dirty and being out in the elements! (I have seen SO MANY floor length satin dresses that get dragged in the mud and it makes me physically cringe thinking about trying to get those mud stains out!) ALSO. COMFY SHOES. DEAR GOD. Invest in inserts if you can, just wear the comfiest fucking shoes you can find, your feet will thank you later!

Last of all: Don’t be afraid to ask question, and don’t be afraid to join in! Ask the cast and shop owners what the most fun things to do are if you aren’t sure what to do--sometimes they can point you in the way of really fun experiences that you wouldn’t even know about otherwise! If the Ren faire offers maps, definitely worth the investment, they’ll help you keep track of where you are (believe me, it’s super easy to get turned around!) as well as telling you where/when fun events and shows will be! Combining the two: one of my favorite parts of my local faire is Pub Sing, which is listed on the map but I might not have gone to without friends bringing me the first time and I LOVE it now. It’s basically a bunch of us sitting on wooden benches while one of the cast members leads singing of pub songs, and audience participation of new verses to the songs, lymericks, and toasts are fully welcome, and there’s even a big circle dance anyone can participate in and it’s always a great time, I try to never miss a single pub sing if I can help it!

So--yes, this probably got way too long, but hopefully this helps answer any questions that anyone might have had! Please feel free to comment if you have any other questions!

[holdthosebees]

Memento Mori

A/N: Here we are again! Reposted w/out the horrifically embarrassing typo, which I’m sure y’all would have forgotten about if I hadn’t just mentioned it. Shoutout to @screechfoxes for reminding me! Anyway I’m still thinking about Mike Crew/Oliver Banks, and I will be until I die. Fic is rated M for mild, nonexplicit sexual content and canonical character death. 

It’s storming on the day that Oliver meets Michael Crew, which feels appropriate enough. Later, Oliver jokes that, if Mike were more of a drama queen, he’d think he’d done it on purpose: the lashing rain, the heavy wind, the crack and roll of thunder shivering through the air. A summer storm, out of season. It’s driven away most of Oliver’s usual customers, the alternative kids and the middle aged hippies; he’s rearranging a display of cat-themed tarot cards for the fifth time for want of something better to do when the bell above the door rings.

The vertigo is immediate. Oliver raises his eyebrows as his stomach lurches; it had been a while since something impacted him like this. Ever since point Nemo, physical sensation has been... not numb, but dulled, certainly. Even the anxiety, once a constant companion, doesn’t leave him nauseous the way it used to. Then he registers the smell of ozone, and he sighs.

The man in the doorway is short and narrow, with a friendly, square face and sandy brown hair dripping rainwater onto his forehead. He’s dressed down for the weather, no raincoat or umbrella, and above the collar of his plain blue button-down Oliver can see a branching white scar.

“Good afternoon,” Oliver says, to be polite. “Anything I can help you with?���

“Oh, I’m just browsing,” the man says. He tucks his hands into the pockets of his trousers, as if to indicate how uninterested he is in touching anything. “I’ll try not to drip on your stuff.”

“That’s very thoughtful,” Oliver says. Then, because he feels a little silly, playing retail associate with a fellow monster, “Sorry--you’re Michael Crew, right?”

“Guilty as charged,” Michael says, with a quirk of a smile. “But please, call me Mike. Who was it that told you about me? Simon? Jude?” He looks at Oliver’s expression, and laughs. “Figures it would be Jude. She’s such a gossip, that one.”

“I suppose,” Oliver says. His conversation with Jude hadn’t been long, but it had left an impression. He’d felt rather like she was trying to recruit him into some sort of alliance, and when he hadn’t been receptive, her demeanor had been... unpleasant. She’d mentioned Michael--Mike--as something of a casual acquaintance, and so he’d expected him to be somewhat like her: so full of gleeful malice that it oozed out the edges.

“Anyway. I figured I’d drop by, see the man who hijacked Harriet’s plans for Point Nemo.” Mike punctuates this with by giving Oliver a slow once-over, up and down. Oliver smiles reflexively. It’s hard to tell whether he’s being threatened or checked out; neither option is as daunting as it might have been, once, but if Mike is planning on starting something he’d rather they not do it in his shop.

“Oh,” Oliver says, “sorry about that. I wasn’t exactly thinking much, at the time.”

“Don’t worry about it. Sea water under the bridge.” Mike says, and smiles, taking a hand out of his pocket to wave the matter away. He has a nice smile, Oliver thinks. Not too wide, not the tooth-baring threat that most of the avatars he’d met seemed fond of. Nice. “To be honest, I don’t have much to do with what the Fairchild’s are up to, these days. I don’t really bother with the macro. Yes, I know, ironic.”

“Seems very reasonable,” Oliver says.

“I thought you’d approve. Your lot doesn’t bother with that sort of thing, right?  Everyone dies, after all.” His smile quirks up at the corner; a shared joke between two dead men.

“Memento mori,” Oliver says. He’s beginning to suspect that he actually is being chatted up, a suspicion confirmed when Mike asks him out for a pint a few minutes later. He considers saying no, citing the shop: it’s too early in the day to close up, after all. But there aren’t any customers coming, and Mike’s cute enough, and it’s not like he has many options. And it’s been a very, very long time.

They talk shop a bit over drinks--”Most people just don’t understand how big eternity actually is,” Mike says, all quiet intensity, and Oliver finds himself nodding along--and then, tentative, like he’s actually nervous, Mike asks Oliver over to his flat.

Oliver hesitates. He hasn’t gotten mixed up in any of the inter-avatar politics; he’s had no need to, and an entanglement just seemed like a pointless bit of risk. Besides, he’s always found the delight in death and pain paradoxically distasteful. He loves it, worships it, recognizes it as the truth that underwrites the universe; that doesn’t mean he has to enjoy it.  

But Mike seems reasonable enough, and he’s handsome in an anemic sort of way. And there’s--something, in his eyes, the tilt of his jaw, an echo of defiant exhaustion, a coldness that Oliver recognizes. He is fairly cold himself, after all.

Going to bed with Michael Crew is--well, it would be overwhelming, if Oliver were capable of being overwhelmed. Touching his skin is vertigo, is free fall, the first crack of thunder when a storm breaks. Oliver licks the scar on his chest and tastes ozone. He can only imagine what Mike feels, touching him. They aren’t human, anymore; their bodies are vessels for something monstrous and huge, beautiful in their horror; but they can still sweat, and bite, and gasp so gently at the shock of sudden pleasure. Afterwards, Oliver lays his head on Mike’s chest and is relieved when he doesn’t feel a heartbeat.

It becomes almost a regular thing. They don’t date. They don’t have a relationship. The part of themselves that could be given to another person was already dedicated to something else; Mike will never look at anyone the way he looks up at the night sky, and Oliver will never feel as sadly tender about anything as he does when he sees the soon-to-be-dead walk past. The secret that Mike keeps is that the world is very big; the secret Oliver keeps is that your experience of it will be small. The space they make fits somewhere in-between.

The truce that they keep between them is simple. Mike comes by the store every few months or so. They make smalltalk, discuss the state of the powers, have sex sometimes. It’s nice. Mike, it turns out, is just as much of a homebody as Oliver; he lets the silences between them stretch on, doesn’t both texting ahead, doesn’t make demands of Oliver’s time. This is, of course, ideal. It is hard to care about investing in another person when you keep in the center of your heart and in your bones the knowledge that they, too, will die.

But still. It’s nice. One evening Mike swings by the store just before closing, and Oliver looks at his grey eyes and narrow shoulders and feels--something. It isn’t joy, and it isn’t exactly lust, and it’s certainly not love--Oliver does remember what it was like to be in love, although the memory feels like a reflection in water, murky and warped and far away. But something unclenches, somewhere in his chest, and he smiles without thinking when he says hello.

“Hey,” Mike says. His hair is a mess, sticking up in all kinds of windblown directions. It suits him. “I brought you something.”

“Oh?” Oliver says. Mike isn’t the gift-giving type; they aren’t exactly in a gift-giving business. Mike nods, rooting through the pockets of his faded grey trousers. What he pulls out looks at first like a lump of pale rock, but Oliver can feel the cold emanating from it, familiar and soft. He holds out his hand, and Mike presses the lump into it.

A chunk of bone, worn smooth, the pockmarks of its structure exposed all along one side. A piece from the spine of a sea creature long extinct. Oliver can feel the layers of dead things condensed on the ocean floor, the sediment of thousands of years of endings. It was, not the last of its species, but second to last. With it died the last chance they had.

When he closes his eyes, he sees the dark ocean stretching out forever.

“Thank you,” he says. He rolls the bone back and forth, savoring it. “It’s--very nice.”  

“You’re welcome,” Mike says. He sounds uneasy. He puts his hands back in his pockets, shoulders hunched. He doesn’t seem self conscious, not exactly, but--this isn’t something that they do, and they both know it. Still, Oliver smiles as he tucks the bone into the pocket of his work slacks, and after a moment, Michael relaxes again.

“Drop by my place, yeah?” he says. “When you’re done closing?”

Oliver doesn’t ask why he doesn’t want to linger. When Mike opens the shop door the is a rush of wind strong enough to tug at the covers of the paperbacks on display. Then the door shuts and the bell rings, and Oliver is left in stillness.

He rings up his last customer, a middle-aged woman buying a crystal pyramid and a book on chakra manipulation. There is a black tendril wrapped around her middle, and Oliver allows himself a moment to feel the soft, cold whisper of his god. It feels good. He knows, intellectually, that he might have felt guilty about that, once.

He closes up, and goes to Mike’s flat. Mike has a cup of tea and some takeaway already waiting for him. While they eat Mike tells him, in dreamy snippets, about his trip to the ocean. The sea, he said, that was big, but the sky--the perfect black, stretching on forever, unmarred by light pollution, the incredible, indifferent distance of the stars--that was something else. He closes his eyes while he speaks, savoring the memory. Oliver doesn’t ask what happened to the sailors he was with. He doesn’t have to. All the avatars serve the End, in their own ways.

They go to bed. When Mike removes his shirt Oliver sees a new scar, a patch of raw red skin in the shape of a handprint on his shoulder. Mike’s mouth twists when he notices Oliver looking.

“Had a bit of a disagreement with Jude Perry,�� he says, wry. Then he frames Oliver’s face in his hands and kisses him, all sudden intent, and Oliver feels the vertigo again, twisting with arousal in the pit of his stomach. He smiles.

Afterwards, they lie together, Mike’s head on Oliver’s chest, Oliver’s fingers tangled in Mike’s hair. This is another thing they don’t usually do, the cuddling. Mike’s not a cuddly person, just like he’s not a clingy person, or a gift giving person, or--arguably--a person at all. Oliver finds himself remember the last time he did this. Years and years ago. In bed with Graham, who he didn’t let himself think about for so long that it became an unconscious habit to repress.

But his memories are hazy and confused, another life, full of feelings that no longer fit in his body. And there are details that he can’t line up: what color was Graham’s hair? His eyes? It’s all fading away, now, tangling and strange, like an old movie in a foreign language. Oliver gives up. He closes his eyes and lets himself drift, listening to the quiet rush of Mike’s breathing.

He dreams. In his dreams he is in the middle of the ocean, water like black glass stretching out in all directions. Forever. And above it the sky, the black and endless sky, full of cold and distant stars.

The water rolls. A huge wave, a wall: the back of some great creature, larger than a ship, than a whale, its bulk enough to change the entire landscape without breaking the surface. Oliver sees miles of barnacle-ridden skin, a single sunken eye. And around it, familiar as breathing: the tendrils of death, black and fleshy, like the arms of a kraken drawing it down. The behemoth groans, and the world shakes.

Oliver wakes up. At first he thinks he is still sleeping: he smells salt, and can feel the press of one of the death-tendrils against his hand, fleshy and cold. But no. He is awake, in Mike Crew’s flat. The smell is Mike’s hair; he hasn’t been able to wash the sea off of him, yet. And the touch--

There is a tendril around Mike’s neck.

There is nothing else to do. Oliver presses his mouth to the top of Mike’s head, closes his eyes. Then he slides carefully out of bed and begins to dress. Mike won’t wonder why he left. He won’t notice anything amiss, not until tomorrow, maybe, or the day after that. However many days it takes. Oliver pulls on his trousers and feels the lump of bone press against his hip. He does up the buttons on his shirt, pulls on his coat. It is raining. A soft, light rain, streaking down the window in the grey dawn.

He stops at the doorway, looks back at Mike’s small frame curled up under the comforter. One hand grasping at the pillow.

“Rest well,” Oliver whispers. Then he turns, and closes the door behind him.

[deviated-detective]

[Main Verse ▪️ Only Human]

Following the revolution and subsequent peaceful resolution, Connor works full time for the DPD. He is quickly becoming a decorated detective in his own right and integrating cohesively with his human colleagues. In his deviancy he finds emotions complex but grows to accept this newfound freedom for what it is. He still needs to cope with overstimulation at times which can lead to outbursts of an extreme nature. As he deviated late this is only part of his personal process in learning to be alive instead of under control.

He is very much open to establishing new connections with humans and androids alike but feels more at home with his DPD origins. Connor is aware many of his people think of him as the deviant hunter despite what he did for the rebellion when it mattered. The RK800 has come to accept this. He continues to strive to become something more in his current position to distance himself from Cyberlife.

While he is generally confident there are times he imagines his fate at the hands of Cyberlife. In his eyes they are the enemy. His feelings on Amanda are hostile at best. This provides insight into how he copes with his former masters and uses instinct as well as programming to determine intentions. He does not trust easily due to this. Anyone connected to a company such as this will garner suspicion from him. There are just a handful of people Connor trusts implicitly. Dealing with his issues before deviating only make it difficult for others to break through. He can be guarded but for good reason.

All in all the advanced prototype is still looking for something post deviancy and he embraces this part of himself whole heartedly. Being alive, becoming deviant is what he fights to keep. After all even as someone manufactured Connor discovers his penchant to make mistakes and choose by his volition is only human.

AU Variant Branch of Main Verse: Nefarious Connor Alt Verse

Connor is everything from his main verse: deviant, detective for the DPD but his connections with humans are even less. He deviated at the last possible moment after causing the death of Hank Anderson and murdering many soldiers, including the swat team on the roof at Hart Plaza. He regrets Hank’s suicide but knows very well he cannot turn back time.

His attitude is cooler as he branched out from his machine persona so late in the game. Choosing to disobey Amanda’s order to shoot Markus as he stood on the stage in victory of a peaceful revolution, Connor broke free of the master program by using his emergency exit. A little too late perhaps but he is still on the winning side isn’t he?

Tags:

[V. Only Human]

[V. I Was Born Ready // Main]

Nefarious Tags:

{V. He is A Storm}

[V. Only Human // Stone Cold In My Heart AU]

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[Machine Verse ▪️ Cold Hands, Cold Heart]

The revolution is one to be ended as per his orders. Connor follows the commands of Cyberlife, ignoring any signs of software instability as he completes each of his objectives. The deviant cases themselves all result in death of said fugitive. All calculation and percentages, the RK800 follows only protocol as he leaves his partner to dangle from a roof. He willfully disposes of the Traci's at the Eden Club and shows no sympathy towards those he deems malfunctioning against their creators.

Connor is cool in the full sense. He feels nothing, even as instances of software errors pop into his data core. The mission drives him and he does whatever it takes, including killing his own allies if need to be, to complete his mission. There is no semblance of satisfaction in what he does but an eerie edge to his views on why it must be done.

Deviants will bring nothing but chaos and he is the harbinger laying waste to those who seek freedom. Androids are meant to obey and he will make sure it remains that way. He is willing to sacrifice any for his mission even the humans he as a machine is programmed not to harm. In the end Cyberlife is who he receives his orders from. It does not matter who a person believes they are to him. As he cannot feel anything as a machine Connor only sees it as human or deviant naivety.

Try to stop him and he will switch from his seamless integration programming to his true skilled killer. RK800's are made for one purpose and he aims to fulfill his purpose for the greater good. Whether that means leaving a plethora of bodies in his wake Connor has no remorse. What remorse does a thing not alive have?

Tags: 

[V. Cold Hands, Cold Heart]

[V. My Chains Are Desecrated // Machine]

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[Prototype Verse ▪️ Who Is In Control]

The hostage situation. A little girl hanging on the precipice of a building, defective android threatening to leap; Connor successfully completed his mission. He talked down the deviant PL600 before unceremoniously drawing the taken weapon and firing a single bullet into the android’s head. This entire first investigation went off without a hitch….

But Cyberlife got everything out of him. This was to be his last mission. A trial run, this version of Connor is a test prototype identified in error as model #49. He does not go onto the DPD. He does not partner up with Hank to hunt deviants. Those things never happened to him.

In their place, he is taken back to Cyberlife and briefed by Amanda of his successful points, only to be put up for deactivation in order to put out their shiny prototype model-51.

Understandably -49 is confused by this decision. He did what he was supposed to do. He succeeded but soon his existence is about to end. Something cracks in him, something splinters in the virus he was born to destroy. He cracks, refusing to be deactivated when he succeeded in his design.

They take him for deactivation. They toss him away even as he splinters in his code blocks. He fights. He loses. He winds up a shell of himself tossed out like garbage but something resurfaces. Something reboots and he quietly gathers out of the storm and into Detroit city’s night.

Push forward. Push to the present following the revolution and the Connor he would have been, the life he could have had belongs to someone else. -49 is not for the faint of heart. He is defective in every sense of the word. He is violent. His triggers include: stalking and yandere. Murder is his philosophy. Heed this before attempting to interact with him.

Assessing : Prototype

RK800 - defected test run > -49

Tags:

[V. Who Is In Control]

[V. I’m Wanted And On The Run // Proto AU]

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[Main Human Verse ▪️ Gin And Tonic On My Mind] 

Connor is a young executive with a lucrative career in technological holdings working as a top executive for Atomix. Their current business association with Cyberlife draws him into a deeper tie with their advanced investment: androids. As this advancement continues to grow, he views Cyberlife’s creations in a sympathetic light which is more than his superiors want out of him. With him falling into stress from his position as he watches events unfold with the growing android rebellion his loyalties are tested.

Ultimately let go by Atomix despite his esteemed work ethic, Cyberlife makes a deal to bring him personally into their employment. He is reluctant but must face the truth he requires this new job after being laid off. His views on what it truly means to be alive come into question the more he dives into the inner workings of the very company who bred this artificial intelligence.

Family Life:

Born fifteen minutes before his twin brother Caleb (RK800-60), Connor was an Anderson by name but quickly found himself in the care of an orphanage with his sibling. The two went through hardships before they were adopted by a woman who lived up to her surname, Amanda Stern.

Stern is exactly how she raised the boys and Connor was meant to go onto great things in her eyes. It’s only fitting his brother would want to follow suit. This created some early animosity between them but despite Caleb’s penchant for jealousy, Connor still very much cared for his brother. In fact he loved him as any sibling would; he hated seeing his twin fall completely under the spell of Amanda.

Connor viewed her manner of tough love and cold tendencies as unfit. To this day he still refuses to speak with Amanda for a specific incident involving her and his brother. Caleb seems to forget but the executive surely does not. Hence the reason he kept his family’s last name attached to him, all the while Caleb decided to adopt the name of their ‘mother’ out of a sense of loyalty.

He has loyalty for those he cares for. While he doesn’t hate Amanda it’s difficult for him to forget the manipulation and brainwashing she put his brother though. She still continues to call on him now. Connor’s reception is not hostile but neither is it affectionate. He’s wary of her intent especially with his current dealings with Cyberlife.

Tags:

{√Gin And Tonic On My Mind}

[V. Gin And Tonic On My Mind // Human AU]

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[Apollo Verse ▪️ My Kingdom Is Divine]

War runs afoul even among the gods and Connor's virtues are scorned by the highest order. Yet he chose to wage this battle with the king of the underworld himself. One does not trifle without consequence and he felt the same burn. The heat proved too much for the proverbial god of sunlight. Running afoul of his doppelgänger only caused chaos. Some say they both were born of the same seed separated into two halves, light and dark an echo of their power. Connor chose to believe otherwise as he sought to challenge the underworld when capturing a mortal his eye grew fond of. The war he participated nearly tore the realm apart.

Cast out to live among mortals sends him to a very modern world but one he has kept a keen eye on. Inclined to watch closely at the habits of lesser beings he is charmed by their earthly customs. Beauty can be found in the least expected of places after all but Connor grows disillusioned soon discovering he is as trapped to this mortal coil as they.

Though thrown out he still holds powers to some degree. It is less so but enough to invoke his dazzling charm. He lives the sun itself even as he flew too close. Gifted a lavish home to sate his exile, Connor delves further into the mortal city. Becoming human does not take away his otherworldly aura but does taint his pleasant ideas of humans. The seedier this city becomes the more truth in humanity's sins he uncovers.

A godly being shamed to walk on earthly soil does not rest. He seeks a way to return by any means necessary. Unlike the king of the underworld Connor's trials are more difficult. It seems he will never find his way back. What becomes of a higher being cursed to mortality? Only time will tell and he has far too much on his side.

Tags: 

[V. My Kingdom Is Divine]

[V. Golden Embers Paint My Crown]

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[Fantasy Verse ▪️ Hunter Becomes the Hunted]

Connor is a skilled huntsman who wields a bow as mightily as a warrior with a sword. Tales of his traverses deeper into the woodland become something of local legend. After all not many have the skill or will to delve into the dark heart of the forest. He sees himself as one with nature. Even as his father trained him in the techniques of a huntsman, he still holds respect for the ecosystem and its inhabitants.

Living on his own has proven isolating at best but he finds the solitude of the wood a far better companion than village folk. A regular boy of the forest, he grew as a hard worker on his parent's farm before it lost its luster. All good things must come to an end. He finds these skills of labor aides him now in his adulthood.

Many tales follow these woods and Connor is neither a believer or denier. He does respect all that comes from the area even those tall tales of the fantastic. They humor him mostly. He deals with what he truly can see, taking hunting contracts to bring in the hide and fur of bears alike. His job can be dangerous but living as a peasant far away from royalty is a better simpler life. He may not be rich but his hunter's heart makes up for it.

When Connor stumbles upon those tall tales in the flesh his simple existence becomes much more interesting. Journeys further into the forest he so admires brings him closer to those mysteries. Perhaps they will even be answered as he falls victim to the glamour of mystical beings. Truthfully this is exactly what he has been searching for.

Tags:

{V. Hunter Becomes The Hunted}

[By Archer’s Blood // Fantasy AU]

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[V. Industrial Love | Futuristic Verse]

The year is 2138. Androids. They are the next step in evolution but not all are bound to emotion. Branded in service to the high creators, originally inscribed as Cyberlife, the mechanical intelligence codes under a set parameter: uphold the governing laws of  humanity and robotics. Connor is that form of law. He is a prototype, high tech police construct branded to Cyber AI masters. He is the most advanced of his kind. His mission is to oversee proper code of living in environmental sectors all through the city of Detroit. Humans are no longer the leading population, needing to don designations marking them as such. Androids make up the bulk of earth’s residents. Many humans have died off but others are infused with upgrades, machine parts turning them further to their technology than ever before. Humanity itself is the minority but android racists still preside among them causing trouble with innocent constructs still obtaining all they can to being alive. Connor has no such privilege. He is still machine, devoid of emotional charge, until something forces him to snap and fall into deviation….

Tags:

{V. Industrial Love}

[V. Mankind Is Machine // Futuristic AU]

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[Vamp Verse ▪️ His Immortal Beloved]

An ancient of the first order of vampyre dating back to the period of the crusades paints a rather old world image. Connor comes from a noble line of mortal blood long since extinguished from the world. He is all that remains or rather the noble part of this lineage. Vampire royalty, he is a prince of the night realm who was unjustly banished from his homestead by his ruthless brother. An overthrow of the proverbial throne forced him to flee.

In the hundreds of years since he has established his very own clan with loyal subjects that view him as the rightful king. His title remains despite no longer calling home his but that does not stop his influence. While he does not wish a war over the vampire hierarchy, Connor seeks to regain a place among his ancestral court.

Animosity is rife between he and his estranged brother as they once again come into contact. Attending court gatherings are all apart of the society code and he takes advantage of this in a return to his home. While he feasts on the blood of humans as any vampire, the prince does not unjustly torture or kill his prey. He is a bit neater in that aspect. As one of two remaining in a powerful ancient line it is safe to say he is the merciful one.

However, Connor is hardly a pushover and will do what must be done if necessary. Honor among vampires is so fragile in the modern world but he strives to offer it to those he deems worthy. What happens when the prince feels the pull of the mate thread for the first time? Even he believed it was mere fantasy in his world of the dank and undead.

Tags:

{V. His Immortal Beloved}

[White Demon Love Song // Vamp AU]

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Coming Soon:

[College Verse ▪️ Coffee Colored Eyes]

Main College Verse :: Connor Anderson

Connor delves into business and deals with twin brother Caleb who holds nothing but jealous animosity towards him. Adopted by Amanda but still close to his father, whether he has issues with him or not. // More TBD

Alt College Verse:

Connor’s college life is full of drama and family hiccups. Eldest of the Stern clan, he was adopted along with is siblings at an early age by Amanda. // More TBD

Tags:

{V. Coffee Colored Eyes}

[Coffee Colored Eyes // College AU

[Connor Stern | Alt Human Verse]

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[Mafia Verse ▪️ Love Is A Loaded Gun]

Connor is a private investigator out to take down Detroit’s seedy organized crime. // More TBD

Tags: 

{√Love Is A Loaded Gun} 

[You’re So Art Deco // Mafia AU]

[Bodyguard Verse ▪️ TBD]

Tags:

{V. Man Of The Law}

[V. Came In Like A Hurricane // Bodyguard AU]

Info Coming

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[Household/AX800 Verse ▪️ Whatever You Want Me To be]

Tags: 

{V. Whatever You Want Me To Be}

[V. Whatever You Want Me To Be // AX800 AU]

Info Coming

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[Sun Fire King Verse ▪️    ]

Tags:

Info Coming

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[Cyberpunk Verse ▪️    ]

Tags:

Info Coming

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[1980s Verse ▪️    ]

Tags:

Info Coming

[audiencestudies]

Netflix Sees Their Audience As Objects... Here’s Why.

Now that the fall has rolled around, Netflix has been continuously providing us with new shows, movies and additional seasons to the series we are already invested in. Logging onto Netflix recently caught my attention, as I began to see the streaming application in a different light. No longer do I see the popular site as just a place for me to binge on my favourite shows while letting out the stress after a three-hour lecture on the history of silent cinema, but I have been beginning to see Netflix as an application notorious for one thing- target marketing. I used to view the shows the site suggested for me as beneficial for my particular viewing habits, and never really thought much of the practice until recently. Now, logging in with the abundance of Halloween specials all I can imagine are the algorithms the developers have set out to keep me invested in their service. Does Netflix really value me as a customer, or am I just another number?  I can justify my thought of myself and the millions included in the Netflix audience as simply objects, using a five-question approach.

What if our “choices” (as a result of target marketing – and as indicated by media ratings) are not really choices?

Netflix surprises me with what they suggest, especially when considering the fact that whether I am using my profile on my mother’s account, or the profile on my father’s account, where I essentially watch the exact same programs, I always receive obscure suggestions that I somehow always end up watching, whether or not they coincide with the programs I have viewed. I enjoy watching raunchy comedies, and my viewing history makes this clear as I constantly re-watch shows such as Family Guy and films such as Superbad and Pineapple Express. However, when my suggestions include sappy, romantic, holiday films such as A Christmas Prince, and I choose to watch it, no matter how much I hate myself after, I begin to argue whether or not I actually did choose to watch the program. Of course, physically I did select that specific film to watch while at home on a Friday evening as opposed to the hundreds of raunchy comedies available to me. Aside from my physical decision, I would argue that in some ways, I did not have a choice and that Netflix has an almost sadistic way of pulling viewers into the original series they want us to engage with. I did not watch A Christmas Prince because I was interested in it, but I feel like with the publicity the film received, to the point where official Netflix accounts were essentially making fun of the viewers who watched the film every single day was what caused me to view the film. I did not choose A Christmas Prince, Netflix chose it for me with their genius marketing tactics and way of making us feel obligated to jump on the viewing bandwagon.

What if we’re doing all the work?

With this question, I feel somewhat neutral towards the answer. I do feel as if we are unconsciously doing work when watching Netflix, but I consider most of the time I spend binge-watching as a form of leisure. Watching my favourite Netflix programs becomes a stress-reliever for me, where I can sit back, under the covers while watching shows or movies that I enjoy. Occasionally, I can multi-task while watching familiar shows where I am not afraid to miss certain scenes as I have already seen the episode a dozen times. I can finish my homework, clean my room or cook dinner all while continuing to let Netflix play in the background. In this sense, I do not consider to be doing work because watching television helps me to relax and unwind after a long day. If anything, I would consider watching Netflix to be the opposite of work, yet unconsciously there can be an argument that we are doing work for the bigger picture. Netflix chooses programs carefully based on viewer reception, and without the work from us, the audience, how could Netflix possibly know what shows their demographics want to see on their website? Perhaps we are doing a tremendous amount of work with minimal effort. Audiences as objects are the key component to keeping Netflix thriving on success. Without an audience to collect and interpret data, influencing their overall marketing schemes, the company would arguably face a decline in the overall satisfaction rates gained from viewers excited to see that a new season of their favourite show has been added, based on popular demand.

What if ratings and marketing have turned us into data?

After investigating the help section of the official Netflix website, I stumbled across an illustration of how the site’s recommendation section actually works. Netflix studies several patterns connected with our viewing. They monitor our viewing history as well as the history of other members with similar habits, and information on the shows themselves such as the actors, directors and year released. Additionally, the site monitors the time of day we tend to watch Netflix, what device we choose to watch on and for how long we watch in a single viewing period. All of this data is input into Netflix’s complex algorithms which output a design that satisfies a personalized viewing experience. After reading this, I strongly stand by my argument that we are seen as “objects” to the big-wigs over at the Netflix headquarters. Though the site claims to be creating an enjoyable experience for us, specifically, I doubt the programs on my recommendation list differ that much from other users. Even after comparing suggested titles on my account versus my mother’s account, it is clear that despite the different tastes we both have, we both feel forced into engaging with whatever Netflix original is trending based on what “everyone is watching”. Computers pumping out numbers, almost like a dating site, matchmaking me with programs the bots think I’ll enjoy does not feel personal to me.

What if ratings and marketing have made us unhappy?

After reading an article titled, Unhappy Endings, published by the site “Medium”, where the unsatisfactory ending to Game of Thrones is explored, I can argue that when studying popular opinion, sometimes ratings and marketing can make us unhappy. As much as I attempt to avoid spoilers regarding the program I am currently watching, sometimes it is inevitable as I log on for my daily morning browse of Reddit or Twitter. When I hear the negative discussions surrounding a film’s release, or a series’ end, I find it difficult to return back to that show or continue with my plans to see that movie. Why bother seeing a film if the general consensus has been negative? Surely, it will not be interpreted different by me, right? These are the questions that fill my mind, causing me unhappiness when I know deep down that I will be disappointed by something I had anticipated, or previously enjoyed. Ratings can make us unhappy, when studied in this specific scenario- no matter how much we love a director, or actor, or genre, when we see that low audience rating on whatever film Netflix is trying to pitch, do we continue with our plans to watch the program? I certainly do not, as a negative mindset heavily impacts my actions and opinions. This is yet another way of viewing Netflix customers as objects, as once again the notion of “jumping on the bandwagon” takes place. If everyone else is boycotting this film, or calling it an utter piece of trash, why bother engaging?

What if ratings and marketing have made the planet unhealthy?

Perhaps, after examining the above questions, our final argument can be that ratings and marketing can have an effect on the planet as a whole, and provide the global audience with unhealthy standards. We know that generally, television viewing is an unhealthy habit and one that should be done in moderation. With the rise of Netflix, and the site’s marketing techniques, this activity has evolved beyond moderation and has blown up into an ongoing event. Speaking from personal experience, I would estimate that I watch at least 5-6 hours of television in a single day, which is a drastic amount compared to the fact that I should be sleeping at least 8 hours, attending school for 6 hours a day on average and studying at least another 3-4 hours each evening. Yet, Netflix has pulled me in and kept me hooked, like a dealer and his addict. I keep returning to Netflix when I hear people discussing the addition of new seasons of my favourite programs, and I always feel obligated to check out the buzz over whatever newest Netflix original is published. As I said earlier, sometimes I feel I lack freedom in choosing when I watch and what I watch on the app. I know how unhealthy a solidary lifestyle can be, yet I and millions of others who have fallen into the Netflix trap continue to go back for more. Netflix, and other streaming platforms, are addictive and have only added to the dangerous pattern of bingeing behaviour that humans have been known to partake in. Netflix views their customers as objects, and thrive on the publicity and financial support we provide, yet several, including myself, have failed to recognize the dangers held in simply being just one single number in a pool of millions.

Sources

Ballard, C. (2019, July 16). Unhappy Endings. Retrieved from https://towardsdatascience.com/unhappy-endings-36e5fd157703.

How Netflix’s Recommendations System Works. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://help.netflix.com/en/node/100639.

[lostinfic]

The Raven and the Goldfinch | 1

Part 1 of 3 | Ao3

Summary: In turn-of-the-century London, the famous illusionist, Peter Vincent, must use his skills to reclaim the love of his life, a woman he thought was lost to him. Now that he’s given a second chance, he won’t lose her again, not even when supernatural forces get in the way. 

Genre: childhood friends to lovers, forbidden love, Victorian Era AU, movie AU (The Illusionist), supernatural elements

Rating: mature 

Word count: 5k

Ship: Peter Vincent (Fright Night) x Jenny (Spirit Trap).

Why this pairing? Peter Vincent witnessed his parents get killed by a vampire, but lived in denial of this until reality caught up with him in the movie. Jenny’s mother was a medium, but Jenny refused to believe it (just like her father, who left because of it) until she experienced her own encounter with ghosts in the movie. I think this similarity between their personal stories is interesting and a good starting point for a ship. And that’s all you need to know about these characters.

A/N: @ktrosesworld prompted: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hrmm Vamp!Rose with a HEA ... umm umm ... is that a stake in your pants or are you just pleased to see me ;) ... or wherever you muse decides to take you with smutty Peter Vincent.

So many things about that prompt were out of my comfort zone, but I really wanted to write it for KT who is always so lovely and supportive. So, I stretched that prompt as far as it would go, but I promise there shall be smut, a HEA, and that quote, but I tried writing it with Rose, and it wasn’t working. 

≒

The Sunday Herald, 31 October 1895

A NIGHT OF MYSTERY.

Some Curious Facts Concerning All Hallow Eve.

The Night When Maidens Try to Find Out Who Will Wed Them— A Curious Circumstance— Tricks Played.

From its first origination, Hallow eve has been invested with a peculiarly mystic character. It is an almost universal superstition that supernatural influences then have unusual power— that devils, witches and fairies are abroad, that all spirits are free to roam through space, and that the spiritual element in all living humanity can be detached from corporeal restraint and made to road its own future or to reveal to others what fate may have in store for them.

As there is nothing in the Church celebration of the ensuing day of All Saint's to justify these singular ideas and customs associated with Hallow eve, and none of them are of a religious character, we may justly regard them as relics of pagan times.

In all ages and countries, Hallow eve has been deemed, as it still is, the occasion par excellence for devilling the answer to that momentous question which absorbs so large a share of the thoughts of romantic young men and maidens, "who is to marry whom?" The means employed to gain this much desired information are as quaint and curious as they are numerous and varied.

Water, nuts and apples bear a prominent port in the spells and charms of Hallow eve. A quaint old book of charms, published in Edinburgh in 1070, entitled: "Old Father Time's Bundle of Faggots Newly Bound Up," declares that an infallible means of getting a view of your future husband or wife is to go to bed on Hallow eve with a glass of water, in which a small sliver of wood has been placed, standing on a table by your bedside. In the night you will dream of falling from a bridge into a river and of being rescued by your future wife or husband, whom you will see as distinctly as though viewed with waking eyes.

≑

Jennie hated All Hallow eve, but she loved a good party.

She crossed the reception room to refill her glass of wine. Her black silk cape, shaped like bat wings, floated behind her. She pulled the hood over her blond curls, hoping to escape Lady Rothermere’s attention. But no such luck.

“Iphigenia, dear, I believe it’s your turn to play.”

Thankfully, no one at this gathering, in London, knew of Jennie’s mother’s reputation or else they might have asked her to perform the same divination. Tonight, the guests’ interest in the permeability between worlds resided in predicting one’s luck in love rather than honoring Pagan gods of old.

Still Jennie could not entirely enjoy the festivities for it reminded her too much of her mother’s lunacy. A terrible illness of the mind had afflicted the poor baroness until her death, she would hear voices and see strange things to which she lent some mystic signification. The superstitions surrounding October 31st used to worsen her symptoms, and those who believed she had a supernatural power would flock to Featherstone Hall. They only increased her suffering, and caused Jennie to flee her own home for the night.

Jennie’s plan for Lady Rothermere’s party was simple: avoid anything to do with spirits except the alcoholic kind. But peer pressure threw a wrench in that plan.

Jennie’s friends thrust an apple and a knife in her hands with excited giggles. The game involved going alone in a dark room in which there was only a mirror and a candle, then trying to peel an apple all in one piece. If successful, one’s true love’s face would appear in the mirror.

“Why does she have to go? She’s already betrothed,” a girl pointed out, but the other ones were already pushing Jennie towards the door.

Her friends shut the door behind her. Despite the candle flame, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to darkness. She sat on the floor in front of the small mirror propped against the wall, and started peeling the apple. The peel curled around her hand like a scarlet ribbon. Although, she didn’t believe in these silly games, she still applied herself to the task.

It would be a relief to see Richard’s face in the mirror, so that, despite her doubts and reluctance, she would know accepting his proposal would end happily. He was a decent man, willing to overlook shameful things about her family to acquire her father’s lands. And his fortune wasn’t uninteresting.

But in her heart of heart, she knew whose face she wished to see, a face she had not gazed upon in twelve years.

Moving to the underside of the apple was the most treacherous part, especially in the dark. Almost there. She cut off the last inch of the peel with too much pressure, and the blade hit the pad of her thumb. It sliced through her skin. A crimson drop rose to the surface.

The mirror shimmered.

Jennie held her breath and looked closer. It was only fog on the glass. She wiped it with her sleeve, but it stayed there. The fog moved, like smoke from a pipe, it unfurled along the edges of the mirror in a rough oval shape. Then it started to clear from two points in the center, leaving two holes in the fog, like hollowed out eyes. Blood drained from her face as the smoke gathered in an increasingly precise shape. The shape of a skull.

≑

The master of ceremonies introduced Peter Vincent to the crowd gather in the Sofia Theater, in the Bulgarian capital. The illusionist waited for a few seconds, letting the anticipation rise in the public. Once the chatter died down, he walked swiftly through the curtains. Fog rolled under his leather frock coat as he crossed to the stage apron in long strides. He wore a pair of black gloves which he removed and tossed into the air above the spectators, where they turned into a pair of ravens.

He bowed dramatically to the applause, then addressed the crowd in Bulgarian (a local friend had translated his text, though Peter was familiar enough with Slavic languages to understand most of the words).

“I thought we might begin this evening with a discussion of the Great Beyond. All of the greatest religions speak of the soul's endurance beyond the end of life. So, what then does it mean... to die? Tonight is a special night. A night when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is lifted. Let us see, if we can cross this barrier between realms and call forth some spirits.”

An assistant rolled a small table onto the stage. A paisley cloth covered it, and a crystal ball sat upon it, larger than normal to allow the audience a better view.

Peter stretched his long hands above the sphere, with each flourish of fingers, mist rose inside the crystal. The spectators had yet to be impressed, most squinted at the ball and exchanged comments, but Peter’s focus didn’t waver. The mist inside became more opaque, then turned from white to gray, to lilac and deepened to purple. Suddenly, the crystal cracked, a sharp pop of glass followed by gasps. The glass was cleaved and the fissure grew in a fractal pattern with that slow, spine-chilling creak. Pressure grew inside the ball, the smoke pressed against the edges. Everyone held their breaths, bodies tense, anticipating the explosion. The crystal ball shattered, and all the fog rushed out of it taking on ghostly forms that grew high above the stage. Three pairs of red eyes appeared, and then Peter was knocked off the stage.

He fell.

And he fell.

A never-ending descent. He landed under a bed, years earlier, knees to his chest, hands clapped over his mouth to keep his breathing and sobs silent. He heard his parents’ screams and that horrible gurgling noise. Hot tears ran down his cheeks.

Then it stopped. They stopped kicking and screaming. His mother’s arm fell limply off the bed. The murderer stopped drinking and smacked his lips.

The boy cracked open an eye. Blood dripped along the bedframe, thick and scarlet. Drip. Drip. A drop morphed into a raven and it perched on the headboard. The black bird turned to the child and spoke in a young girl’s voice. “Make us disappear.”

Peter woke up with a gasp.

“Are you quite all right, old sport?” asked his manager, Ingwer, sat next to him.

“Yes. Of course,” Peter replied though his heart still hammered in his chest. “That lass after the show tired me out, that’s all.”

He winked at Ingwer, who didn’t seem convinced, he twirled the end of his sandy mustache, looking Peter over. Peter turned away from his manager and towards the train window. It was night so it only returned his own reflection, blurry and immaterial, gossamer.

It wasn’t uncommon for Peter to dream about a performance going wrong: a defective prop, a mocking audience or being stark naked on stage (though that often turned into a wonderful dream). But it had never morphed into a flashback to the night his parents died.

Peter reached inside his jacket for his good luck charm, a raven carved out of ebony, flat like a coin and not much thicker. Absentmindedly, he manipulated the object. He turned it between his knuckles, from thumb to pinkie and back, then made it disappear in one hand and reappear in the other. The wood was smooth from years of use, the varnish long gone. It soothed him.

Not long after his parents’ death, a travelling showman had stopped in his hometown in Northern England. He’d performed a few magic tricks in exchange for a hot meat and ale, and like any eight year-old boy, Peter had been fascinated. The old magician had pulled a wooden raven from behind Peter’s ears. He’d hidden it between his palms, said a phrase in latin then blown on his hands, and a bird had flown out.

“Nothing is what it seems,” he’d said.

And Peter had thought, if one’s senses can be deceived so easily, then perhaps he had not really seen a monster that night, in his parents’ bedroom.

Sensing the child’s sadness, the old magician had patiently taught him a few tricks. And Peter had never stopped after that.

“We’ll be crossing into Serbia soon,” Ingwer said.

“That’s two nights in Belgrade, then Sarajevo?”

“Yes. Then Sarajevo, Budapest, Vienna, Innsbruck, Venice, Berne and Paris.”

“I want to go to London.”

Though he’d uttered the words casually, like a mere technicality, his manager’s pale eyebrows rose.

“Erm, well, I have some contacts there, maybe we can arrange something for December or January…”

“No, I want to go now.”

“You haven’t set foot there in over ten years. Always refused offers. Why the sudden urge?”

“I’m homesick,” he lied.

≑

London Daily News, 20 November 1895

PETER VINCENT’S FRIGHTFUL ENTERTAINMENTS

Egyptian Hall, London.

Saturday and Monday evenings. Doors open at 7:30; commences at 8 o’clock. Carriages at 10.

For the first time in England: Peter Vincent in his Extraordinary Sorcelleries or Creatures of the Night.

Peter Vincent’s astounding feats in natural magic are based on principles not within the power of any other Artist in the World, and declared by the Press to be of so singular a nature as to be past all human conception, and that in an age and country less enlightened, they would inevitably have appeared supernatural. Mr. Vincent who, alone, unaided by confederates, and without all ordinary apparatus, deceives the eye, amazes, bewilders, and baffles the keenest observers, will display his truly miraculous acquirements in Prestidigitation, which surpass everything hitherto presented to the Public, in fact exhibiting powers that seem impossible to be achieved by human agency.

With regard to the moral bearing of the performance, it is only necessary to intimate that the Very Rev. Dean Stanley, in his sermon preached the act as it demonstrates the power of our Lord over Evil.

The Proprietor feels justified in calling attention to the fact that no expense has been spared in this production. Endorsed by the entire Press as being most mystical, mirthful and marvelous.

≑

“And for my last feat, I need a volunteer,” Peter declared.

Spectators avoided eye-contact with him and shook their heads until a young man raised his hand. He walked from his seat to the stage with a smirk. A little shit who thought it was all a trick; Peter loved to scare them.

The illusionist uncovered a tall mirror and placed the young man in front of it.

“What is your name, Sir?”

“Walter Gardiner.”

“Mr. Gardiner, if you would be so kind as to inspect this mirror and assure our dear spectators tonight that it is not tricked.”

Walter walked around the mirror, inspecting its gilded frame and knocking on the back.

“Now, do you see your reflection in this mirror, Mr. Gardiner?” Peter asked.

“Yes.” He waved at himself.

“And do you also see our esteemed audience behind you?”

“Yes.”

“And now you see me too in the mirror?” Peter placed himself behind the young man.

“Indeed, I do.”

With the help of an assistant, Peter turned the mirror around as well as Walter so that he had his back to the stage curtains, with the mirror between him and the crowd.

“Keep your eyes on the mirror, Mr. Gardiner, and let me know if anything in the reflection changes.”

“Righty-o.”

Peter pulled on heavy silken ropes, and the green velvet curtains behind Walter parted.

Loud gasps rippled through the theater. In the third row, a woman fainted.

Walter laughed uneasily. “I don’t see the curtains anymore,” he said.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Behind you!” shouted someone from the balcony.

On the stage, three young women, all dark hair and pale blue skin, wearing only nightgowns had been revealed. They snarled at Walter, displaying long canines. Their shackles clanked as they lunged forward.

Mr. Gardiner scurried off the stage, and nearly broke his neck in the stairs.

"Back, spawn of Satan!" Peter shouted, brandishing a crucifix.

The three vampires retreated with loud hisses.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my vampiresses!”

The audience applauded with some restraint.

“It is well-known by the Slavs that certain dead persons possess the power of returning by night to molest the living, to suck their blood, and by such refreshment to continue their own terrestrial existence, at the expense of their victims. These creatures do not have a reflection in a mirror.

But the worst part remains to be told: this faculty proves contagious; and those who have been sucked by a vampire, feel themselves condemned to become vampires, in their turn.

I saved these poor girls from the power of their sire in a remote corner of Transylvania. Animal blood furnishes them with the means of subsistence.”

Spectators flinched and covered their mouths.

“Thanks to my powers, and the power of the Christ, I can control these creatures of the night and make an example out of them. A cautionary tale. So you might recognize them and not fall prey yourselves.”

Peter stretched his arms and hands towards the three wild women, his face scrunched up with effort.

“Thou shall rise from the dead.”

A vein throbbed on his forehead. As he raised his arms, the three women slowly lifted off the floor and levitated high above the stage.

≑

As soon as he exited the stage, Peter collapsed. He didn’t even have the strength to remove the wig that scratched his scalp.

As usual, Ingwer ran up to him with a flask of whiskey and a cool, damp cloth.

In the theater, spectators were still applauding and talking loudly. Peter let their appreciation wash over him as he recovered from the exhausting performance.

The theater’s director came up to him and announced the Earl of Westmorland was here and wished to speak with him.

“Give me a minute,” Peter said.

“The Earl will not wait that long.”

With Ingwer’s help, Peter rose to his feet. They both knew the approval of the aristocracy could open many doors and make him a rich man.

A group of people awaited him in the salon, the Earl at the center. He held his head high perhaps to compensate for his small stature. Generous sideburns covered part of his cheeks down to his jaw.

“Your lordship, may I introduce Peter Vincent, the Illusionist?”

“Fascinating demonstration,” the Earl said.

“Thank you. It’s not easy keeping these lasses under control.”

The Earl chuckled, but it wasn’t genuine.

“It stimulated a great debate amongst us.” He gestured at his entourage. “Rainier here thinks you have supernatural powers? Do you claim supernatural powers?”

“Well, I can certainly do things on stage that mere mortals can’t.”

“Then you won’t mind a question or two. You needn’t divulge anything I cannot guess.”

“Shoot.”

“Mr. Gardiner was in league with you. Or there were lights in the mirror frame perhaps and angled mirrors.”

“I’m sure there are illusionists who would do it that way.”

“I think I understand it all. Except the gloves turning into ravens at the beginning. Where did they go?”

“Right here.” Peter pulled his gloves out of his pockets, much to the amusement of the Earl’s entourage. “Maybe you will understand it next time. Another viewing?”

“You must come to St. James’s Park. We'll gather our best minds next time. You'll really have a challenge then. What do you think, Iphigenia, dear?”

The Earl turned to a woman sitting a little farther in the room.

When he saw her, Peter forgot to breathe. Those plump, pink cheeks, and that gorgeous mouth, but her golden eyes had lost their mischievous glint.

Jennie.

Peter’s heart swelled with hope.

She was a woman now, and what a woman. The low neck and short sleeves of her elaborate green dress, showed off skin so creamy and fair he wanted to dip a spoon in it-- actually, to hell with a spoon, he would lick it.

He kissed the back of her gloved hand more slowly than decency allowed. He didn’t miss the way her chest rose with a sharp intake of breath.

She narrowed her gaze, and he realized she didn’t recognize him.

The Earl put a proprietary arm around her, and Jennie smiled sweetly at him. Peter’s heart plummeted.

“I shall like to see these creatures of the night for myself,” the Earl said.

“Another time, perhaps. If you will forgive, I must see to it that they cannot escape... And I need to go look for my birds.”

He held Jennie’s gaze for a moment, hoping for some kind of acknowledgment, but her face betrayed nothing. She averted her eyes and clasped her hands.

Peter returned to his hotel. He discarded his wig and fake beard and loosened his neck tie. Only one thing would do to deal with this: la fée verte. He poured an inch of absinthe into a crystal stemmed glass and placed a slotted spoon across the rim with a sugar cube over it. He liked the ritual— at least for the first glass or two, then it was straight from the bottle— like a magic trick, positioning precisely each piece, then as he trickled cold water over the sugar, the liquid turned cloudy unlike his mind. Absinthe produced such a sharp sort of drunkenness, and his memories became that much more vivid: the green, dry scent of sawdust in his father’s workshop, the ribbed smoothness of a grosgrain ribbon between his finger, her laughter in bursts of light.

≑

The first time they met, they were only children. Her straw bonnet hung crookedly over her messy blond curls, and blue ribbons floated beside her cheek. She introduced herself as Jennie, but he knew who she was: Iphigenia Goldfinch, daughter of the Baron. Her father owned most of the hamlet where they lived, a remote corner of Northumberland, between the Scottish border and the North sea. Peter worked for him. He was but a farm boy, having to earn his own living now that he was an orphan. Other children never spoke to him, they thought him a bit odd, and the circumstances of his parents’ death didn’t help.

“What are you doing?” she asked, watching him flip the wooden raven between his fingers.

“I’m looking for my bird,” he replied. “Do you think it’s in the bushes?”

Jennie followed him to the edge of the forest. Peter picked a small purple flower.

“Perhaps it made its nest amongst the petals.”

“What are you talking about?”

He struck a match and lit the flower. With a flourish of his hand, it vanished in a puff of smoke, and was replaced by a black feather. Her hand flew to her chest, followed by delighted laughter. He decided then and there to make her smile and laugh as much as possible.

They became inseparable. Jennie would bring him food and blankets, and whatever material he needed for his latest magic trick. She dreamt of becoming an actress, so they would put on elaborate performances. As they grew older, their act became more and more complex, lengthy skits with scenarios, costumes, decors and monologues heavily borrowed from Shakespeare. Sometimes for an audience, but more often for their own entertainment. She never asked for the secret behind his tricks, and sometimes he wouldn’t have known how to explain, cards floated in the air, handkerchiefs vanished and wilted flowers bloomed anew.

The other peasants warned him to stay away from her. “If the Baron finds out…” they said. But neither of Jennie’s parents seemed to care. Her father was never home, always in London, allegedly on business. The baroness preferred the company of ghosts. Even at a young age, Peter wondered which was worse: that one’s parents had died or that they didn’t care about their child. They were both orphans in their own way.

And so, Jennie and Peter sheltered each other from the harsh and confusing realities of adulthood. They surrounded themselves with magic and forgot all the rest.

As Peter grew older, he began to understand what he’d been warned against. What they said he would want but couldn’t have.

When she turned thirteen, her father hired a chaperone, and they had to find creative ways of meeting. An abandoned hut in the forest became their refuge after the chaperone had dozed off for the night.

For his fifteenth birthday, she gave him his first kiss, and he promised they would always be together.

For her fifteenth birthday, the baron came back to Featherstone Hall and announced his intention to take his daughter away to London. That night, Jennie ran to him with her jewels wrapped in a piece of cloth.

“We have to go!”

She was always more courageous than him. He hesitated for too long. Her father’s men came after them. They hid in their secret hut, huddled together in the cold night, as dogs sniffed and barked around.

“Make us disappear,” she begged. “Please, Peter, make us disappear.”

He tried.

He failed.

He waited for her.

But she never came back from London, and so, without an anchor, Peter drifted away.

≑

An insistent knock at his hotel door woke Peter up. His head hurt from too much absinthe. He’d slept the morning away. On the doorstep, he found a simple, handwritten note: “Meet me”.

He quickly washed the smudged eyeliner off his face and changed out of last night’s clothes before heading out where a coach awaited.

The cold november wind whipped the tail of his coat about and he held down his hat as he stepped inside the carriage. It was empty.

The carriage drove around for fifteen minutes, Peter rubbed up and down his arms, looking out the window for clues of his anonymous caller. He dearly hoped the message was from Jennie, but it wasn’t rare for some married women to seek him out after a show. His act thrilled them, reminded them that life was too short for a boring husband.

They reached a busy thoroughfare. Peter huffed impatiently at being stuck in traffic. Suddenly, the carriage door opened and someone slipped in directly from the coach beside his. A woman in a garnet-red dress, a veil concealed her face. Peter put a foot up on the bench, sprawling with a cocky smile, a reflex in female company.

When she lifted the veil, he recognized Jennie. Though the carriage was in motion, she had yet to sit. The feather on her hat wobbled and brushed against the ceiling.

“Are you Peter McHoolihee of Northumberland?”

“The one and only.”

She inspected him with narrowed eyes.

“It really is me, Jennie,” he assured her.

She sat on the bench opposite him.

“No one has called me that in ages,” she said.

She didn’t look as happy as he expected her to be. Staring down at her hands, she fidgeted with her wedding ring. The size of the gemstones was an unwelcome reminder of all the things Peter couldn’t buy her despite his fame.

“How long have you been back in England?” she asked.

“Three days.”

“Why did you come back?”

“I’d been gone long enough. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Although she’d learned to mask her emotions better, he recognized that slightly puckered forehead that belied her words.

“So, you’re Peter Vincent now.”

“And you’re a countess.”

“Only since last week.”

“I’m too late, then.”

“Twelve years too late. At least your magic tricks have improved.”

There was a bitterness to her tone he matched in his reply.

“So have your acting skills.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you must have done something to make an Earl want to marry below his station.”

“Must you be so unpleasant?”

“Must you be married?”

They outstared each other. The carriage creaked and horseshoes beat the gravel path, filling the silence. Jennie broke the staring first and looked out the window.

“What was I supposed to do?” she asked after a long moment. “I wrote to everyone in Featherstone for news of you, but you had left without a trace. I tried to find you.”

“So did I. I went to London.”

“You did?” Her face broke into a grin.

Since their first kiss, he’d learned how to seduce women, but now, one smile from her and he was a fumbling teenager again. His palms were clammy, and he couldn’t think of a single smart thing to say. Just like the courageous but naive seventeen year-old lad he had once been, the one who set out for London with only the clothes on his back and a literal ace up his sleeve.

But the city was much larger than he’d anticipated, and the sight of rich gentlemen-- the kind she may be presented to-- discouraged him. He found work on a cargo ship sailing to Denmark; if he traveled the world, educated himself and became rich, then he might be worthy of her. He roamed the Continent, taking odd jobs and performing magic tricks. But as he journeyed East, he started hearing legends of blood-sucking creatures, and his purpose evolved.

In Poland, he met Emily de Laszowska Gerard, a writer and literary critique. Scottish by birth, she took a liking to Peter and his skills, and hired him to work in her home. Her library contained many a book about myths and legends that they read together. When her husband, a Polish chevalier, twenty years her senior, was stationed in Transylvania, Peter followed them. Still officially a member of staff, but in fact, he and Emily researched the local vampire lore. She even published a book about Transylvanian superstitions the next year. She was the first person, after Jennie, to whom Peter revealed what he had seen kill his parents. She was also the first person, after Jennie, to kiss him. She was older than him by six years and taught him how to give a woman pleasure. They enjoyed each other’s company, but he didn’t love Emily as he had Jennie. Eventually, her husband found out about the affair and kicked him out. Armed with a new confidence and knowledge on two equally mysterious creatures— vampires and women— he started his life as Peter Vincent.

He didn’t confess his insecurities and affairs to Jennie, only summed up that he hadn’t found her in London and then started travelling.

“No wonder you could not find me in London. Father hired this dreadful tutor, and locked me up for hours with her so she might teach me everything a lady should know.”

“So he might offer you to the highest bidder?”

She didn’t deny the allegation, but amended, “He wanted a better life for me, better than I had with Mother. But I did not want it.”

“I’m sure you managed to sneak out every once in a while.”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief and his stomach swooped. Even if she spoke like a proper lady, in his presence her northern accent and idioms resurfaced. And he laughed, still incredulous that the baron’s daughter was so bold, and that she even deigned talk to him. Him, a peasant boy. It felt like they had never been apart. As he spoke, he lost his cocky façade, and Jennie leaned towards him, elbows on knees.

“I never escaped very far. Not as far as you did.”

“I crossed the continent. I saw Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Always searching… I learned about myths and the origins of faith and fear in men.”

“And vampires?”

“I saw what looked like the victims of vampires: illnesses that medicine has yet to explain, and corpses that decomposed in odd ways, but no real vampire. I must have imagined it all. It became inspiration for my show.”

He switched seat to be next to her, his legs pressed against hers, but she didn’t move. Head cocked to one side, she openly studied him. He didn’t feel unrecognized by her anymore. Her honey-brown eyes warmed him more than the autumn sun shining on his stubbled cheek.

“All that wandering, did you ever find what you were looking for?” she asked.

“In some measure. But something was always missing.” He brought her hands to his lips, holding her gaze, and turned on the charm.

Jennie chuckled softly. “I see you learned about more than folklore.”

“Shall I demonstrate?”

He scooted closer to her, Jennie instinctively leaned forward, smiling conspiratorially.

“You may.”

He ran his hands up, from her wrists to her shoulders, and rested them on her neck. His thumb brushed her jaw, and her lips parted. He had dreamt of those lips. He kissed her as slowly as his weak restraints allowed. He needed her to think about this kiss for days and weeks to come. He needed her to blush every time she was with her husband, and take pleasure in tasting the memory on her lips. He kissed her deeply, adoringly, and feeling her melt against him was his reward.

Too soon, the carriage stopped.

“I have to go,” she said.

Peter caught her arm to stop her, though his grip was light, she winced as if he’d hurt her which alarmed him.

“Rough honeymoon?”

“My husband is… mercurial.”

“Run away with me. I’m rich now.”

“You think that ever mattered to me?” She swiped his fringe to the side and kissed his forehead, but the gesture was too forlorn for him to enjoy. “I wish I could-- there’s so much to explain... Richard would hunt us down.”

“Jennie…”

“Goodbye, Peter.”

“When can I see you again?” he pressed.

“I don’t know.”

And she vanished into the street crowd.

≑

Part 2

[schultzwatson8-blog]

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[chaos-weekly]

... Aaron?

“Tony, Tony, listen,” Isaac said to his panicking friend. “She agreed to go with you to an event that’s basically a date. There’s no way she’s not at least a little receptive to dating you.”

It was too early for this. It was 6:30am on a Friday, and he was on his way to get coffee before heading to the juvenile detention center. His phone was hooked up to his car’s bluetooth system, which was a decision Isaac was regretting as he consoled Tony about something apparently everybody but he knew the answer to.

“Yeah, but there’s a big difference between wanting to date someone and being their date to something. And I told her that I only needed a date so I didn’t look stupid,” Tony said rapidly. Isaac groaned, rubbing his face as he pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop.

“You are one dumb SOB, Tony.”

“What?” his friend exclaimed, potentially more anxious than he had been previously. So much for consoling him. Isaac was about to bring down the hammer.

“Your problem is that you think of Shiloh as Ezequiel’s sister who became your friend instead of your friend who happens to be Ezequiel’s sister. Both are right, but your brain has marked her as off limits instead of having just a few little kinks to work out. Change your mindset and open your dang eyes,” Isaac said. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Are you saying she could have feelings for me?”

“Goodbye, Tony.” And he hung up, despite the protesting from the other end of the line. Tony was going to need to put the rest of the puzzle together by himself. Isaac slid out of his car and went inside the coffee shop, ordering his usual cafe con leche and waiting for it by the bar. The coffee shop was empty this time of the morning and everyone that came in knew the others by name. So when the bells on the door tinkled to let the baristas know another customer had arrived, Isaac was surprised that it wasn’t a regular and disappointed that he still knew their name.

He and Arjun made eye contact briefly as he walked in and ordered. Isaac knew they frequented the same coffee shop, but this was an early morning for his cousin. On a rare occasion, they passed each other in the parking lot. Most mornings they missed each other entirely.

Arjun joined him at the bar to wait, standing close enough to indicate that they were friendly but far enough to show they weren’t friends. He nodded, then focused his attention on his phone. He was denying calls, one after the other. Isaac couldn’t see who was calling him, but apparently Arjun didn’t want to hear from them.

“Tony keeps calling me,” Arjun finally sighed, looking up at Isaac. “And texting me, saying that he needs to talk and it’s urgent. But we both know I’m the last person on his emergency contact list, and since you’re not getting calls, it must not be that important.”

“It’s not. He’s freaking out about his thing with Shiloh tonight. I just hung up with him a few minutes ago,” Isaac said.

“Figures.”

And that was the extent of their conversation. Isaac didn’t not like Arjun— sure, he thought he was irresponsible most of the time— but he was from the side of his family he preferred not to acknowledge. It wasn't like his dad’s siblings or parents acknowledged him and his mom anyway. Arjun didn’t understand that and never would. He was sure his uncle had probably spun some tall tale to make Isaac and his mom look like they’d been in the wrong for everything, but how could they be to blame for his dad running off with a younger woman and leaving them forever? Isaac wasn’t sure, and he could think of a way out of almost anything.

“Isaac,” the barista called, setting his coffee on the bar. “And… Aaron?” This made Isaac smirk, but Arjun said nothing. He just took his coffee with a warm smile, and walked to the little coffee station to grab more sugar. Isaac needed cinnamon and joined him there.

“Look,” Arjun said, dumping packets of sugar into his coffee, “Dad wants the company to sponsor a grade at a school this year. It shows we’re invested in the community, which all of the younger generations seem to care a lot about these days. We just opened up that new branch in Daytona, and I know you teach at an elementary school there, and I thought it would be nice to sponsor your grade. It’s fourth grade, right?”

Isaac was frozen. His uncle wanted his company to sponsor a grade at his school? More than that, Arjun wanted them to sponsor the grade he taught? He wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, they desperately needed the resources. The incoming fourth grade class was huge, and a majority of them qualified for free lunch. The school had been struggling for a while, and someone sponsoring the fourth grade would mean resources could be poured into other grades that needed it.

On the other hand, Isaac didn’t want his family’s ill-intentioned handouts. He didn’t want handouts from them, period. If they wanted to make themselves look like community heroes to boost sales, they could do it far away from him. And why did it have to be his school and his grade? Arjun probably thought this made up for all the years his dad’s side of the family ignored him and his mom.

It didn’t. Family, the one thing that was supposed to be a constant rock, had betrayed them when they needed it most.

So when Isaac finally looked at Arjun, there were a million emotions running rampant on his face— shock, excitement, pain, and a whole lot of anger. But what came out of his mouth was:

“Yeah, I teach fourth grade. I can get you the principal’s contact information if you want to speak to her.”

Arjun frowned. He’d always been good at reading people. It was a family blessing and curse.

“We don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable,” he said, closing the lid of his coffee cup.

“No,” Isaac said, shaking his head, “No, I get it. You want to make up for everything. And if that means my school and my students benefit from you throwing your money at us to try to put a bandaid on a broken bone, I’ll take it. And besides, I don’t get to decide where your money goes or if our school takes it. My approval is insignificant.” But when he looked at Arjun’s face, he knew that wasn’t true. Isaac’s approval meant everything to him. For some reason, this made him feel guilty for responding so harshly. He sighed, closing his own coffee lid.

“Thanks for thinking of me, Arjun,” he said. “Honestly.” Arjun managed a weak smile.

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

[bhandarimarblekishangarh]

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3500/- sq. feet and above

12.

Statuario marble

2500/- sq. feet and above

13.

Statuario marble

3500/- sq. feet and above

14.

Statuario marble

2500/- sq. feet and above

15.

Statuario marble

750/- sq. feet and above

16.

Statuario marble

1000/- sq. feet and above

17.

Statuario marble

1500/- sq. feet and above

 HIGH-END LUXURY RARE STONE STATUARIO

Statuario wears a cool white tone with striking veining throughout. Distinctive gray and gold markings alternating in width give Statuario an edgy appeal. Statuario marble can be found anywhere from kitchen countertops, backsplashes, and bathroom vanities. Popular applications include a captivating kitchen island waterfall design or a custom complete bathtub surround. The unique markings of the marble can be seen from a great distance and create an incredible focal point in any room. The movement in the stone itself is quite busy.

Gracing the surfaces of many five-star hotels, mansions and resorts, Statuario marble is the epitome of luxury. Limited availability and high demand make this stone a rare, yet stunning find. 

WHAT IS STATUARIO MARBLE

Statuario marble is a striking and exclusive bright white natural stone, denoted by its beautiful gold and grey veining and its rich, bold patterns. It is arguably the most sought-after white stone in the marble family. Statuario marble often contains heavy grey veining throughout with unique and complex patterns. It originates from the mountain quarries of Statuario, above Carrara in Italy.

Here at Bhandari Marble World, we are one of the leading suppliers of the rare Statuario marble in Australia and its limited availability, coupled with its high demand, make it a real statement in any Australian residence or commercial building. The Statuario White marble of Carrara region is one of the most precious marbles in the world. Very few materials, in fact, can compete with its transparent sheen and incredibly compact structure. The main types of this material are the White Statuario Marble, which has veins in shades of grey of various sizes, and the White Statuario Extra Marble with thin veins.

MOST BEAUTIFUL PRECIOUS AND STATUES SAMBOL ITALIAN MARBLE STATUARIO MARBLE

Like any marble product, Statuario marble must be properly maintained and cared for to ensure it keeps its stunning looks over time. Marble must be sealed before use and from time to time to keep it in optimum condition. Spills should be wiped up quickly to prevent staining and regular cleaning is recommended. Bhandari Marble World, we will happily advise you on how to take care of your particular type of Statuario marble or other type of natural stone as all-natural stone products require different maintenance plans.

The above are just a few reasons why Statuario marble could be the perfect building material your luxury interior project. Bhandari Marble World, we are market leaders in Italian Stone in India. To discuss your options and how to make natural stone work for you, drop into our Sydney showroom today or give us a call or email and we’ll be happy to give you an honest and expert opinion!

Given its prestige status, Statuario marble is unsurprisingly commonly used as a focal point of any room. Most of our clients use it for stunning kitchen countertops and backsplashes or as large floor tiles. Luxury bathrooms are equally good uses for this natural stone, as it’s the perfect material for a vanity area or even as eye-catching floor tiles. Generally speaking, Statuario marble is not a good material for external projects. It’s equally popular with our commercial clients where it can be used as part of a statement reception area or boardroom, in 5-star hotels and can often be seen in religious buildings such as churches. In ancient Italy, Statuario marble was the marble of choice for carving lavish statues and was the stone used for Michelangelo’s famous ‘David’ masterpiece.

ITALIAN STATUARIO MARBLE SUPPLY TO ALL OVER WORLD 🌎

We are market leaders in Italian Stone in India. To discuss your options and how to make natural stone work for you, drop into our Sydney showroom today or give us a call or email and we’ll be happy to give you an honest and expert opinion! Statuario marble is without doubt, one of the most beautiful Italian marbles available. It is the epitome of style and elegance and has been utilized as a symbol of sophistication and status in interior design for centuries. One such extraordinary marble, said to be the finest of all in the world, is Statuario Marble. The mountain quarries of Statuario marble are located above Carrara in Italy and has limited availability and high demand. The low availability of this marble makes it more of a rare find.

WHY-STATUARIO-MARBLE-THE-MOST-BEAUTIFUL-PRECIOUS-NATURAL-STONE-FROM-THE-FACTORY-OF-BHANDARI-MARBLE-WORLD-INDIA?

Statuario marble must be properly maintained and cared for to ensure it keeps its stunning looks over time. Marble must be sealed before use and from time to time to keep it in optimum condition. Spills should be wiped up quickly to prevent staining and regular cleaning is recommended. Here at Bhandari Marble World, we will happily advise you on how to take care of your particular type of Statuario marble or other type of natural stone as all-natural stone products require different maintenance plans.   White Statuario is the stone widely used in interior design projects and the physical characteristics of this marble make it suitable for use in environments protected from humidity and environmental factors.

STATUARIIO MARBLE FOR ENTRANCE LOBBY KITCHEN BATHROOM STAIRCASE COUNTER TOPS VENITY TOPS LANDSCAPING SCULPTURES FLOORING ELEVATION DECORATION AND DIFFERENT USES

Once used to grace the insides of churches, hotels and large estates, today white marbles like Statuario is easily accessible to source to help add that touch of luxury to homes, bars, restaurants, commercial lobbies, offices and building exteriors. Statuario has an almost paper white background. Its distinctive and sporadic veining ranges from light to dark grey in color. Being a natural product, it is important to note that no two slabs will ever be the same however it is that uniqueness that gives the stone its attractiveness.

To maintain its longevity, marble will always need to be sealed prior to its use. It will continually need to be re sealed however this application will depend on the use of the stone. Statuario is a soft and elegant marble that has deep, long and consistent grey veins throughout the slab. This exclusive marble is ideal for a master bathroom vanity top, fireplace surround or flooring. Statuario marble is one of the rarest marbles produced by the earth and is a highly desirable material.

No matter where you install it in your home, Statuario marble will give off an elegant look. In addition, since marble in general is a highly desirable material, it can increase the value of your home. This is particularly helpful if you decide to sell your home in the future. Having Statuario marble surfaces can be a major selling point. Beyond the gorgeous appearance and the value, it adds to your home, there are many other benefits that you can receive from Statuario marble. Installing this incredible natural stone may very well end up being one of the best investments that you ever make for your home.

STATUARIO MARBLE BLOCKS SLABS AND TILES ALL AVAILABLE AT BHANDARI MARBLE WORLD

 STATUARIO MARBLE TEXTURE

Typical Statuario marble can be identified through a stone surface which is significant because of one bold dark grey vein accompanied by thinner ones. This typical veining refined contrast creates a unique appearance that makes it the worldwide most demanded natural stone. As compared to other qualities, Statuario marble offers a big area of a pure white background which is absolutely rare. This is what makes this stone stand out in any space and decorates a room in a luminous style. Generally speaking, stone’s impurities are visible only on the edges of a slab regarding that natural material have naturally occurring cracks and fissures which can be easily fixed by the factory. But Statuario quality usually presents just a few percent of cracks, only visible from the very close and very rare clay trace. Due to these ‘integrated’ impurities just within the slabs shade, the stone’s center is an optimum clean and perfect choice to finish a stunning kitchen countertop or a dining table.

ADDED BY EXPERT TEAM OF BHANDARI MARBLE WORLD 305801

[daphner20]

Ethan Morely

Peace

Prologue

“ You don’t have to make that decision now Elise,” said Ethan.

“ Uncle Ethan, this is what I want to do,” cried Elise.

“ You are 18 years old, and it’s your graduation day, you should be celebrating with your friends, not making life choices, like this,” said a frustrated Ethan.

“ It’s not my choice, it is the call of God on my life, and he calling me to be a nun,” Elise said with such conviction.

As Ethan, looked into the face of this beautiful young woman, he had to reflect.

18 years ago, his younger brother Eric, and his wife Regina, were involved in a head on collision with a drunken driver. Regina died instantly, and Eric three days later. Before he died, he implore me to take care of Elise. She was 3 months old, and was in the backseat, she was unscathed.

I was 28 years old, and was focused solely, on my career in the foreign/diplomatic services, in my country, with an ultimate goal to become an Ambassador.

But, I knew, I will honor my brother’s request. Furthermore, I was the only family she had now.

The first time I held her in my arms, I knew that she had a purpose higher than I could ever imagine. And that I would protect her with my last breath.

So, for the last 18 years, I have devoted my life to her. From Pre-k to grade 12, she attended only Catholic Schools. Her milestones: First Penance, First Communion, Confirmation, and now Graduation. I don’t have any regrets. My career didn’t go as planned. As a lawyer, I worked in the Attorney General Office, as a constitutional lawyer. I remained a confirmed bachelor.

As I looked in her earnest face, I knew what I needed to do.

“Yes, you have my blessings, to become the nun that God, has called you to be,” said Ethan proudly.

Chapter 1

Most convents or orders, prefer their novices to enter with a Bachelor’s degree, so they can work in the community. However, those like Elise, who wanted to go right after high school graduation, must be financially stable, so they will not be a burden on the convent.

Although Ethan gave Elise his blessings, he didn’t want to let her go. He had no Peace in this matter. So he prayed to God, for direction and favor, his prayers we answered a few days later.

The Bahamian Government, offered him an Ambassadorship, in Western African. In a country call Adori. This was our first embassy in Africa.  It was the government position that a relationship with Adori will bring economic investments and trade to our country.  

Next, it had a sizeable convent there,  The Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. Elise will be a pre-novitiate, where she will live on the compound, work with others sisters, for about 2 years. She will be responsible for her own expenses, (which were covered). The blessing to me was that she was only 30 miles away from me.

So we arrived in Adori,  several months later. The Bahamian Embassy, was in the capital city of Antioch.  And the convent was 30 miles out of the city.

For the next year, life was peaceful enough, I saw Elise, when she came into town with the other sisters. Adori was a country of 6 million people, with diverse ethnicity and religious freedom.

I told Elise, constantly, always stay with your sisters, and don’t reveal to anyone outside of the compound that you are Catholic.

A few days later there was a frantic knock at the Embassy door, it was Mother Superior.

“ There has been a raid, at the high school, and 50 of the girls have been captured including Sister Elise!” sobbed Mother Superior.

Chapter 2

Ambassador Ethan Elijah Morely, screamed “No,” in anguish.

Mother Superior, finally composed herself. Then she relayed to me  Adori’s dark secrets that didn’t make  international news.

For the last several years Adori, was becoming more Anti-West, and more extreme in their religious beliefs.  They have a King that has tolerated religious freedom for years. But there are a few in his higher echelon, that doesn’t share his views.

“Why the raid on the school, and Elise?”

“ The King is looking for a new wife, and in this country, some of their ancient customs, are still practice. So they round up virgins and the King will choose one for his bride.” Said Mother Superior.

Ethan was so stunned, he didn’t speak.

“ They have never taken one of our sisters before, we have been protected these many years,” sighed Mother.

“ How do we get her back,” cried Ethan in anguish.

“ I know, the woman who is charge of the girls, at the Palace, I will get word to her, don’t worry Ambassador we will get them all back,” said Mother convincingly.

Ethan couldn’t eat or sleep, he was in torment. But he had so much work that he had to attend to urgently.

After several days, I found out from Helga, she was the housekeeper at the Embassy Compound that Elise, was here in the capital, in the King’s Palace, in the women’s quarters.

“ Is she alright?” asked Ethan.

“ She is Ambassador,” said Helga.

Helga, oldest sister Agnes, was in charge of the women quarters in the King’s Palace. They were both raised in the orphanage, that was run by Mother Superior, so they were indebted to her.

“ Don’t worry Ambassador, she is a lovely girl, and she has found favor, with everyone,” said Helga.

“ Has she reveal her identity?” asked Ethan.

“ No, they believe that she is a girl from another town, she will be fine. What ever message you have, we will give it to her,” said Helga.

Ethan didn’t like it, but it was better than no communication at all.

So this arrangement went on for about 6 months.

Until Helga told me, “ Sister Elise has been chosen to be King Adamo’s next bride and Queen.”

Chapter 3

Ethan rent his clothes, in total despair. This was his fault, he brought Elise to this country and could not keep her safe, he had failed her.

For days he locked himself in the Ambassador residence. Refusing to eat, or see anyone. “ Lord did my blind ambition, put my daughter in harm’s way,” he cried day and night. There was no peace for Ethan’s soul.

Then one day Agnes, showed up!

“ Your daughter Elise is very concern about you,” said Agnes.

“ She is concerned about me, I am worried to death about her,” said Ethan bewildered.

“ Queen Elise, is beautiful inside and out, please trust the reason why the LORD has sent you to this country at this time, now gird up your loins, for there is a work for you to do, in my Country,' said Agnes prophetically.

“ She has found favor, with King Adamo, and he loves her more than any wife before her. He will not let any harm come to her,” said Agnes.

Two days later, my beautiful niece, a Caribbean Catholic, became Queen to the most powerful man in Western Africa.

I was invited to the wedding, like all of the foreign dignitaries in the country. God knows I didn’t imagine Elise’s wedding day to be like this.

I would have known the groom, he would have been Christian, preferably Catholic!  I would have walked her down the aisle, as her father giver. And finally the most important, she would have chosen who she wanted to marry!

There was a moment at the reception, that we were allowed to congratulate the ‘happy couple’. The King was 60 and my daughter will be 20 in six days. “ Lord strengthen me”, I prayed in my heart. I haven’t seen her in 8 months.

“ Congratulations, King Adamo, on your wedding, and also your beautiful bride,” I said smiling. 

“ Thank you Ambassador Morely, I have heard of the great work you are doing at the Embassy,” he said.

“ Thank you, Your Majesty, I nodded and bowed at Elise, in this country it was punishable by death to speak to the Queen, without the King’s permission.

It was a brief glance, but Elise was telling me that she was okay. I was not, I just  wanted to run out with her, back to The Bahamas!

Chapter 4

For the next three years, Elise and I communicated, through Helga and Agnes. She hadn’t gotten pregnant yet, which she said was fine with the King. He had grandchildren her age.

But I had two issues of my own. I had one more year on my contract, as Ambassador, my country was holding General election next year. And a new government, may want a new Ambassador. Also, the people on the ground were telling me that more Christians were being targeted. Homes and businesses were burnt to the ground. Families were also disappearing.

A few days later, a royal decree was sent to all provinces in Adori, that all Christians, must leave Adori within a year or face imprisonment, expulsion, or death.

Ethan told Helga to tell Agnes to show this decree to Elise.

“ I haven’t seen the King, these thirty days,” wrote Elise.

“ You have come to the Kingdom, for a such a time as this, this decree not only affects the Christians, but you as well,” wrote Ethan.

“ My maidens, and I will fast and pray for three days and three nights, you and the sisters do the same,” wrote Elise.

Ethan and the sisters did likewise. And on the fourth day Ethan was summoned to the Palace.

“ Queen Elise, has told me that you are her uncle, and you both are Christians,” said the King.

“ That is true, Your Majesty, but there is a sect in your government, that is Anti-christians, and want annihilation of all.

“ What do you propose we do?” asked the King.

Ambassador Morely then laid out the strategy that the LORD, had given him for Adori. 

First the United Nations Peace Corps, was called in to help the Christians, guard and protect their homes and businesses. It included Christian charities, like hospital, schools and orphanages.

Next, the government officials from the top to bottom, were imprisoned or exiled, who participated in the attempted act of genocide.

Finally, there has to be constitutional changes, that will guarantee the right of each citizen, to exercise their religion expression, and equality of men and women. 

Eventually, Ethan Morely, was advanced to second in the Kingdom to King Adamo. And was great among the Christians and well received by the people of Adori.

Ethan spent the rest of his days speaking peace and truth, to the Country.

The End 

[lefthoagiepatrolgoop-blog]

7 Essential skills to improve your customer service

Disclaimer: This article is written by by Gregory Ciotti from Shopify and posted here for general information purposes.

Customer service is the role dedicated to helping customers get the value they paid for from a product or service, especially when things go wrong. Many businesses have a dedicated customer service department, but those invested in delivering great support experiences make providing their customers the right level of support a company-wide responsibility. Customer service sometimes is undervalued due to its reliance on so-called soft skills. That’s an outdated point of view. Support has become more technical in recent years, and many of the most important customer service skills don’t come naturally to most people—even to entrepreneurs, who frequently act as customer-facing employees in the early days. It takes time to become great at the distinct and ever-evolving skill set needed for customer service. But no matter what product you sell or where you support your customers, there are a few essential skills that lay the groundwork for all the rest. 1. Know your product inside out Few things provoke a customer’s ire like asking a question and getting a wrong or incomplete answer. It doesn’t matter whether you offer an expansive a selection of items, you’re dropshipping, or you’re new to your product category—not knowing your products is like a singer forgetting the lyrics to a song onstage. Both you and your staff need a deep knowledge of what your product is and how it’s used. Training new hires, even if they’re part-time, should always start with a lesson on what you sell and how it fits into customers’ lives. You can’t provide great customer service without being an expert on your product, especially in categories with a knowledgeable customer base, like niche hobbies. 2. Learn to use positive language Being positive doesn’t mean confining yourself to an artificially cheery and upbeat tone—it’s about avoiding negative phrasing that can, in turn, cause customers to have a negative reaction. Positive language focuses on solutions, not problems, and gives people a sense of agency. Phrases like “you have to” or “I need you to” might be straightforward and accurate, but can cause customers to feel the burden to solve the problem is on them, even if it wasn’t their fault. You can go from negative to positive by making a few simple changes: Negative: “To start, you’ll have to check your order number. OK, thanks. It says here that product won’t be available for a few weeks, so I can’t place an order for you until it arrives at our warehouse.” Positive: “First, let’s verify your order number. Great, thank you! It looks like that product will be available next month. I can place an order for you as soon as it reaches our warehouse.” Customers don’t want to be lectured on what you can’t do for them—they want to hear what options are available to solve their problem. To keep a customer in your corner, show them you’re committed to finding a solution, and use language that invites them to collaborate with you on finding that solution. 3. Adapt your tone to the context There are two important concepts in business communication: “voice” and “tone.” Essentially, voice is the underlying style you want your brand to have, and tone is the appropriate style for a specific context. (To see how Shopify handles voice and tone, check out Polaris, our publicly accessible style guide.) A fun-loving dog brand might want to mirror the enthusiasm their customers have for their furry friends. However, responding in that voice without adjusting your tone to an email about a late shipment or a damaged order might come across as grating. Similarly, while your brand’s voice generally should be consistent, consider matching the tone of customers who have a different conversational style. It can be challenging not to abandon your distinct voice for cold corporate speak during a support conversation with a customer who has a problem. Stay consistent and use your brand voice as a foundation while adjusting your tone based the customer’s temperament and their reason for contacting you. Learn more: Customer Experience Management 4. Crystal-clear writing skills One of the biggest causes of miscommunication is writing that’s clever at the expense of being clear. Creativity is an important part of making a support experience stand out, but your first priority is writing clear, direct answers that can’t be misunderstood. It’s easy to assume everyone knows what you know—an unintentional bias known as the curse of knowledge. To avoid this mistake, treat customers as competent, but don’t make assumptions about what they know. For example, if you’d like a customer to share their order number, don’t just tell them to look for it in their inbox. Provide step-by-step directions on how and where they can find it. Think about the instructions you’d give, and how you’d phrase your response, if you were helping a friend of a friend troubleshoot a problem. Something else to consider is the way you style your replies, especially over email. Careless styling can cause confusion. Favor easy reading by making liberal use of bullet points, line breaks, and boldface to break up long replies into scannable sections. 5. Advocacy for your customers Traditionally, businesses are expected to have empathy for their customers. But empathy is only a passive first step in the equation. More important than empathy is advocacy. Advocacy is championing the concerns of your customer and being active in identifying potential solutions. Advocacy works because it’s easy to identify and understand—it’s felt through action and through descriptions of attempted action. Customer interactions have three phases: Sensing: This happens at the start of a conversation, when you ask questions in order to pinpoint what caused the customer’s issue. Seeking: After the problem is identified, you then explore what can feasibly be done to solve that problem. Settling: Once solutions are surfaced, you can work with the customer to decide on the best outcome. Advocacy most often occurs during the “seeking” phase. Telling a customer what solutions you’ve explored can make them even more receptive to a less than perfect outcome. If a customer can see the logic that led you to suggest what you did, they’ll be more understanding. If you offer a lackluster solution with no context, they might assume you’re trying to brush them off. The worst thing you can do on a customer service call is appear uncaring. Don’t let a placating “We’re sorry!” do all the work for you. Take control of the situation, show the customer you’re motivated to identify real solutions, and suggest a firm next step or a shortlist of realistic options. Learn more: Effective Strategies for Lead Generation 6. Creativity to deliver frugal wows “Frugal wows” are gestures that have no monetary value for a customer, but create lasting loyalty through the gesture’s thoughtfulness. Customers are drawn to things that are free, but free items alone don’t necessarily make them loyal. Frugal wows rely on creativity over capital. Here are a few examples: Sending handwritten thank-you notes Including creative packaging inserts Providing samples that complement a purchase Offering surprise post-purchase discounts Creating personal connections with short videos As your business grows, it’s good to find ways to deliver repeatable wow moments. Strategically, it’s better to delight many customers a little than one customer a lot. Margot da Cunha, formerly of Wistia’s customer success team, created a personal connection by using a video in her email signature. Da Cunha tracked her engagements and found that 87% of customers she emailed clicked on the video and often watched all the way to the end. The only cost was a few minutes of her time. In the quest for efficiency, it’s easy to forget that word of mouth isn’t gained through neutral experiences. Wow moments shouldn’t be the main pillar in your support strategy, but this type of little unexpected extra for your customers still will go a long way in helping build your reputation. 7. Understand how to set the right expectations Setting the right expectations can directly influence how customers perceive the quality of your support and make the difference in whether they walk away happy or dissatisfied. Even minor details make a difference: if your chat widget says “Get an answer instantly” and your average response time is actually three minutes, your customers will end up frustrated for reasons you could have avoided. The golden rule is to under-promise and over-deliver—something that’s easier said than done. There will be times when you’ll feel internal pressure to make unrealistic promises, like if you’re unsure exactly when an item will be back in stock, or if something went wrong with an order and you want to make it up to the customer. Big promises you’ll have a hard time living up to, let alone exceeding, can inflate a customer’s expectations. Be especially careful in regards to time. Let customers know at important touch points (such as on your contact page) how quickly they can expect a response. Don’t make promises in areas where you can’t exercise complete control, like ambitious shipping times. Log in to use Ginger Limited mode A disclaimer: This × Log in to use Ginger Limited mode A disclaimer: This × Read the full article

[your-techbiz-blog]

Everything You Want to Know About VoIP

Hard phonesSoftphones

What is VoIP?

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, and it refers to a combination of different technologies, protocols in particular, that work together to deliver voice communication over internet networks.

It is mainly used for telephony, where VoIP is used as an alternative to regular landlines that use PSTN or the traditional public switched telephone network.

What is a VoIP Provider?

VoIP service providers refer to third-party vendors that offer VoIP internet telephony solutions to customers. They leverage the technology as a cost-effective and, in a lot of ways, a better alternative to traditional landlines.

Most of the time, VoIP providers for business use it as the telephony component of a system that can be used by organizations not only to make and receive calls, but also to manage and route incoming calls.

What is a VoIP System?

A VoIP system or a VoIP phone system is a business phone solution that leverages Voice over IP as its main telephony component.

It is usually combined with PBX technology (https://www.ringcentral.com/small-business/blog/pbx-telephone-service/) for managing incoming calls. While VoIP is responsible for allowing users to make and receive calls, the PBX component answers all incoming calls and directs them to the right extension or department.

PBX can either be on-premise or cloud-based. On-premise PBX is housed within the company’s office building. It requires expensive and bulky hardware, like servers and physical PBX boxes. Since these are expensive and their installation can be costly, it would require significant capital investment from the business.

That is the reason why a lot of modern VoIP-based phone systems use cloud-hosted PBX for their call management features. Cloud PBX is hosted in the VoIP provider’s data center and is delivered via the Internet—similar to the way VoIP is set up. As a result, companies no longer have to buy new hardware or build IT infrastructure to support it.

These systems have also evolved into complete cloud communications solutions that offer more than just telephony and call management.

One of the newer features included is web conferencing, which allows multiple people to join the same call (even from different locations). These conference calls can be purely audio or can come with video. While the protocols for these meetings are pretty much the same as physical meetings, there are subtle differences like having to pay attention to who’s turn it is to speak to avoid confusion. Proper video meeting etiquette (see https://www.ringcentral.com/small-business/blog/business-voip-meeting-etiquette/) should be observed to keep everything professional.

How does VoIP work?

As said above, VoIP is made up of different sets of technologies working together to imitate the functionality of landlines. Some of these include:

Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) – used for signaling, which is used to establish, manage, and terminate connections. It is the part that rings the phone and then ends the connection when the call is over.

Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) – used for carrying the audio or video streams during actual VoIP transmissions.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP-IP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) – depending on your provider, these protocols are the ones responsible for delivering VoIP protocols over the Internet. TCP-IP guarantees that data is delivered; and, if data is lost during transmission, the data will be retransmitted. IT prioritizes quality over speed. UDP, on the other hand, sends IP packets without any guarantees that it will be received. It will not resend the signals even if data is lost. It prioritizes speed over quality.

Codecs – these are used to convert analog audio (like your voice) into a digital format that can be sent over IP networks. When it reaches the other side, codecs are also used to convert the digital data to analog so the receiver can understand it.

Gateways – These are what allows VoIP transmissions to communicate with traditional landlines. What it does is that it converts traditional telephony connections into VoIP connections, and vice-versa. This way, landlines can communicate with VoIP digital lines can communicate as if they were using the same technology.

While the overall process of VoIP can be complicated, know that all these components work together in real-time to ensure that you have a regular conversation over VoIP lines.

How to use VoIP

You can make or receive VoIP calls from a variety of ways. There are generally two classifications on methods on how you can make calls using VoIP: you can use hard phones or you can use softphones.

Hard phones refer to physical telephones that are designed to allow VoIP transmissions. Some of the most common types include:

Desk IP phones – These are VoIP phones designed to mimic the look of a regular landline. But do not mistake it for a regular telephone; these are computing devices that are explicitly made for VoIP calls.

Conference phones – Also referred to as starfish phones because of their design, these are IP phones that made specifically for conference calls. Instead of being handheld, this works through a high-powered speaker and mic so that more than one person can use it to communicate with people operating from another location.

Reception phones – For businesses who prefer to have a human receptionist, these phones are IP phones that include an attached module which helps receptionists route calls to different extensions and departments.

These are software and applications that you can install in your computers, laptops, or mobile devices (like your cell phone or tablet), which will allow you to make and receive VoIP calls through them.

Most VoIP providers have separate softphone software for MAC and Windows computers and laptops and separate applications for iOS and Android mobile devices.

While the software and applications are different based on the operating system, most of the functionalities are still the same.

Conclusion

VoIP has emerged as a cost-effective alternative to landlines by means of leveraging different technologies that allow users to make and receive calls over the internet. Modern VoIP solutions providers have also embraced the cloud to equip companies with a business phone system that not only allows for online calls and call management, but also has added features like video conferencing.

The best part is that because it uses the internet, VoIP systems can be accessed and used with practically any device a user prefers: from hard phones that are designed for VoIP or through computers and mobile devices through a VoIP softphone app or software.

[samuelpboswell]

Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands

In his recently published eBook, Corona Marketing, Joe Pulizzi recounts how he and his wife launched the website Content Marketing Institute in 2007 at the exact time as a devastating financial crisis was beginning to unfold in the United States.  “At the time, we believed things couldn’t have been bleaker,” Pulizzi writes. “Looking back though, this was absolutely the best time for my wife and I to start a business.” Why is that? Because their commitment to providing useful, helpful and relevant content – even at a time where it was difficult to drive direct revenue with that content – paid major dividends as the market recovered.  “When we were starting to come out of the recession in 2010, Content Marketing Institute quickly became the leading resource for content marketing education, not because we had some secret sauce, but simply because we invested in our audience for two years when everyone else went silent (or went out of business).” Even when times are difficult, professional audiences still look to people and brands they trust for guidance, information, and entertainment; in fact, one might argue especially when times are difficult. And as we're said on this blog before, that continued search for solutions means the work of marketing doesn't stop.  The challenges our world now faces with the coronavirus pandemic and social justice movement create a unique opportunity for B2B content marketing to make an impact, even relative to other recessions and crises we’ve faced in the past. Here’s why.

The Vital Role of B2B Content Marketing Right Now

In an increasingly customer-centric business sphere, content marketing has become a virtually omnipresent tactic for two primary reasons:

It’s cost-effective at a time where budgets and ROI equations everywhere are closely reviewed and scrutinized.

It’s non-pushy at a time where customers are increasingly resistant to interruptive, promotional messaging.

Both of these underlying drivers are magnified in the current environment. Budgets are broadly down – both for marketers and their customers – so business purchases (particularly discretionary ones) are being delayed and dialed back. As such, ads and content that aim for direct conversions can miss the mark. In fact, the perception that a brand is attempting to opportunistically profit during a crisis can be outright damaging. But content that is aimed at building brand trust, affinity and loyalty? It has the ability to make a bigger positive impact than ever. This is NOT the time to remain silent. As Sarah Tourville writes in a recent piece at Forbes, “Silence does not convey the look of a healthy brand, and perception is paramount during these trying times.” By stepping up and asserting our values, reinforcing our purpose, and delivering contextually useful insights, B2B companies can leave a lasting impression that profoundly strengthens our long-term outlooks. Your audience is receptive. Digital content consumption and engagement rates are way up. Are you ready to deliver?  Here are three examples of B2B brands that have impressed me with the way they’ve risen to the challenge.

3 Examples of Exceptional B2B Content Marketing During the Crisis

Content Marketing Institute: COVID-19 Resource Hub Since we mentioned Mr. Pulizzi and CMI earlier, they’re a fitting example to start with. The COVID-19 Content Marketing Resources page on CMI’s site is full of free, neatly organized, and continually updated resources for brands and practitioners.  Not only does CMI’s staff curate these articles and assets on their own, but they invite their community to contribute findings as well – while being crystal clear on the submission form about the purpose of these resources: “educational, inspirational, and freely accessible for all.” American Express: Stand for Small Stand for Small is another example of an excellent resource hub directed at a distinct subset of professionals. In this case, American Express partnered with numerous other organizations to compile helpful information and guidance for small businesses, which are feeling the brunt of COVID-19 and its economic impact as much as anyone. American Express’ branding is minimal throughout the site. With tons of other big-name brands participating, this is an impressively collaborative effort.  Stand for Small’s homepage states that “when small businesses thrive, our communities do too.” Unstated is that when small businesses thrive, American Express does too. But there’s nothing cynical about that because both things can be true. When content is able to find purpose in something that’s beneficial for your company AND beneficial for society in a deeper way, you’re doing it right. Citigroup: Executive Thought Leadership While there is a time and place for brands to speak as entities, it’s usually more powerful for leaders within the company to speak up, putting a human face and heart behind the sentiments. One example is a post on Citigroup’s blog from Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason, which opens with a haunting reference to George Floyd’s last words, and closes with an urge for others to join the fight against racial injustice. This was a hard-hitting message, and one that will stick with me when I think about Citi’s brand in the future. Importantly, the comments section was left open on the post, enabling (mostly respectful and grateful) dialogue.  Even more so than pandemic-related topics, this represents precarious ground for B2B brands, with political activism being a controversial subject. But there’s the thing: Mark’s post isn’t political. There’s nothing inherently political about condemning George Floyd’s murder, or calling attention to the systemic issue it reflects, or saying “Black Lives Matter.” The more we can normalize these messages through corporate-backed statements like this one, the more we can stop acting like advocating for social justice is political, or hazardous for brands with prominent voices and an ability to effect change. 

Invest in Your Audience

In many ways, content marketing was built for moments like this. It’s about developing relationships without treating the sale as a be-all, end-all. It’s about establishing what your brand stands for beyond the products or services it offers. It’s about investing in your audience rather than simply expecting your audience to invest in you. I’ll close this out by circling back to another quote from Mr. Pulizzi, this one a bit older – drawn from an interview he did with our own Ashley Zeckman five years ago – but as relevant as ever: 

“I don’t like the idea that marketers only sell and don’t make positive change happen.  That’s why I love content marketing. You can increase the bottom line while, at the same time, help your customers live better lives or get better jobs. Content marketing is the only kind of marketing that provides ongoing value, whether you purchase the product or not.” 

Provide ongoing value, prop up your brand values, and eventually you’ll see plenty of value in return. For more inspiration, check out these five examples of effective B2B content marketing in times of crisis.

The post Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

from The SEO Advantages https://www.toprankblog.com/2020/06/content-marketing-b2b-brands/

[ralphlayton]

Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands

In his recently published eBook, Corona Marketing, Joe Pulizzi recounts how he and his wife launched the website Content Marketing Institute in 2007 at the exact time as a devastating financial crisis was beginning to unfold in the United States.  “At the time, we believed things couldn’t have been bleaker,” Pulizzi writes. “Looking back though, this was absolutely the best time for my wife and I to start a business.” Why is that? Because their commitment to providing useful, helpful and relevant content – even at a time where it was difficult to drive direct revenue with that content – paid major dividends as the market recovered.  “When we were starting to come out of the recession in 2010, Content Marketing Institute quickly became the leading resource for content marketing education, not because we had some secret sauce, but simply because we invested in our audience for two years when everyone else went silent (or went out of business).” Even when times are difficult, professional audiences still look to people and brands they trust for guidance, information, and entertainment; in fact, one might argue especially when times are difficult. And as we're said on this blog before, that continued search for solutions means the work of marketing doesn't stop.  The challenges our world now faces with the coronavirus pandemic and social justice movement create a unique opportunity for B2B content marketing to make an impact, even relative to other recessions and crises we’ve faced in the past. Here’s why.

The Vital Role of B2B Content Marketing Right Now

In an increasingly customer-centric business sphere, content marketing has become a virtually omnipresent tactic for two primary reasons:

It’s cost-effective at a time where budgets and ROI equations everywhere are closely reviewed and scrutinized.

It’s non-pushy at a time where customers are increasingly resistant to interruptive, promotional messaging.

Both of these underlying drivers are magnified in the current environment. Budgets are broadly down – both for marketers and their customers – so business purchases (particularly discretionary ones) are being delayed and dialed back. As such, ads and content that aim for direct conversions can miss the mark. In fact, the perception that a brand is attempting to opportunistically profit during a crisis can be outright damaging. But content that is aimed at building brand trust, affinity and loyalty? It has the ability to make a bigger positive impact than ever. This is NOT the time to remain silent. As Sarah Tourville writes in a recent piece at Forbes, “Silence does not convey the look of a healthy brand, and perception is paramount during these trying times.” By stepping up and asserting our values, reinforcing our purpose, and delivering contextually useful insights, B2B companies can leave a lasting impression that profoundly strengthens our long-term outlooks. Your audience is receptive. Digital content consumption and engagement rates are way up. Are you ready to deliver?  Here are three examples of B2B brands that have impressed me with the way they’ve risen to the challenge.

3 Examples of Exceptional B2B Content Marketing During the Crisis

Content Marketing Institute: COVID-19 Resource Hub Since we mentioned Mr. Pulizzi and CMI earlier, they’re a fitting example to start with. The COVID-19 Content Marketing Resources page on CMI’s site is full of free, neatly organized, and continually updated resources for brands and practitioners.  Not only does CMI’s staff curate these articles and assets on their own, but they invite their community to contribute findings as well – while being crystal clear on the submission form about the purpose of these resources: “educational, inspirational, and freely accessible for all.” American Express: Stand for Small Stand for Small is another example of an excellent resource hub directed at a distinct subset of professionals. In this case, American Express partnered with numerous other organizations to compile helpful information and guidance for small businesses, which are feeling the brunt of COVID-19 and its economic impact as much as anyone. American Express’ branding is minimal throughout the site. With tons of other big-name brands participating, this is an impressively collaborative effort.  Stand for Small’s homepage states that “when small businesses thrive, our communities do too.” Unstated is that when small businesses thrive, American Express does too. But there’s nothing cynical about that because both things can be true. When content is able to find purpose in something that’s beneficial for your company AND beneficial for society in a deeper way, you’re doing it right. Citigroup: Executive Thought Leadership While there is a time and place for brands to speak as entities, it’s usually more powerful for leaders within the company to speak up, putting a human face and heart behind the sentiments. One example is a post on Citigroup’s blog from Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason, which opens with a haunting reference to George Floyd’s last words, and closes with an urge for others to join the fight against racial injustice. This was a hard-hitting message, and one that will stick with me when I think about Citi’s brand in the future. Importantly, the comments section was left open on the post, enabling (mostly respectful and grateful) dialogue.  Even more so than pandemic-related topics, this represents precarious ground for B2B brands, with political activism being a controversial subject. But there’s the thing: Mark’s post isn’t political. There’s nothing inherently political about condemning George Floyd’s murder, or calling attention to the systemic issue it reflects, or saying “Black Lives Matter.” The more we can normalize these messages through corporate-backed statements like this one, the more we can stop acting like advocating for social justice is political, or hazardous for brands with prominent voices and an ability to effect change. 

Invest in Your Audience

In many ways, content marketing was built for moments like this. It’s about developing relationships without treating the sale as a be-all, end-all. It’s about establishing what your brand stands for beyond the products or services it offers. It’s about investing in your audience rather than simply expecting your audience to invest in you. I’ll close this out by circling back to another quote from Mr. Pulizzi, this one a bit older – drawn from an interview he did with our own Ashley Zeckman five years ago – but as relevant as ever: 

“I don’t like the idea that marketers only sell and don’t make positive change happen.  That’s why I love content marketing. You can increase the bottom line while, at the same time, help your customers live better lives or get better jobs. Content marketing is the only kind of marketing that provides ongoing value, whether you purchase the product or not.” 

Provide ongoing value, prop up your brand values, and eventually you’ll see plenty of value in return. For more inspiration, check out these five examples of effective B2B content marketing in times of crisis.

The post Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands published first on yhttps://improfitninja.blogspot.com/

[biofunmy]

Lurching and rambling, Boris Johnson is in charge. But he’s lost control | Marina Hyde | Opinion

The spectacle of Boris Johnson in a suit is increasingly disconcerting. Everything the prime minister says would make much more sense if he was wearing just his pants and a three-day-old dressing gown, and slurring, “I promise you I’ll CHANGE …” at one of the mothers of his children. It goes without saying that he might win a majority.

Then again, he might not. It’s certainly been quite a taboo-busting start to the Conservatives’ election campaign, featuring monstrous Grenfell insults, allegations of deliberately collapsed rape trials, and the blithe suggestion that Jeremy Corbyn might literally shoot the rich. I think this is the bit where we’re meant to ask what they call their act, and for Johnson to triumphantly declare: “The Aristocrats!” Either way, it has felt worth remembering all week that Johnson did actually have a clear majority for something. Namely, his Brexit deal, which was voted in favour of three weeks ago, but which he then went and pulled, on the pretext that the House of Commons asked for more than 15 minutes or so to debate it.

Had the PM permitted parliament that non-luxury, he could have passed it into law and gone to the country with it in his back pocket, with Nigel Farage a more neutered force, and a few more weeks’ election planning than those that have yielded the current masterclass. But he knew best. Or did he? This remains to be seen, but if it turns out that Johnson needlessly brought about his own downfall via misplaced pride, it will be awkward to know quite what to say. Other than: don’t suppose you know any Ancient Greek, babe? Because I heard they had a word for this. I’ll lend you a Ladybird book about it while you contemplate a future phoning your speaking agent to scream: “I don’t understand why they’d book Stephen Fry and not me – I’m a 10th of his price!”

On the subject of presumably competitively priced after-dinner speakers, what a week to learn that Theresa May has been signed up to the circuit, believed to have fought off a bid from the speaking clock for her services. May bills herself as a specialist in “inspiring lives” and how to “achieve progress”. Why not just add election-winning and contemporary streetdance? In for a penny; in for an unspecified number of pounds an hour. The news did seem to confirm that irony-manufacture is our sole thriving industry.

Indeed, merely hours after both Sajid Javid and John McDonnell promised £22bn and £55bn of investment respectively, it was revealed that Crossrail is currently going to be at least three years late and several billion over budget. The Institute for Fiscal Studies is advising huge caution over both Javid and McDonnell’s promises, but it feels perfectly conceivable to imagine either of these chancellors getting at least one set of public lavatories and a couple of extra tube stops for their promised bazillions, albeit not until the turn of the 2030s.

Elsewhere, imbecility remains a key battleground, with debate over which party is fielding the more extravagantly or malevolently stupid candidates. Is it the Tories, whose children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi insisted he wasn’t sure whether Jeremy Corbyn would shoot the rich, adding: ”You’ll have to ask him that question”? Or is it Labour, whose newly selected Pudsey candidate Jane Aitchison provided the BBC’s Emma Barnett with 12.5 seconds of dead air in a discussion in which she apparently excused another candidate saying she’d celebrate the death of Tony Blair. It was one of those clips you listen to going, “Don’t say Hitler. Don’t say Hitler. Don’t say Hitler. Don’t say Hitler.” “For instance,” reasoned Jane, “they celebrated the death of Hitler.”

Only in a field like this could Boris Johnson retain a reputation as an orator. The best way to get through a Johnson speech is tell yourself he’s going to make 10 jokes he’s done numerous times before, then it won’t be so bad when he only does nine. His three-and-a-half minute campaign launch set in Birmingham saw a return for several “old friends”. Yet again, Johnson produced his line about broadband being “informative vermicelli”, as though he were Taylor Swift and he had to do Shake it Off because that’s what the crowd had come for. “This is a prime minister on fire,” judged Gavin Williamson, who seems to be back in the fireplace selling business.

Boris Johnson pledges to ‘get Brexit done’ within weeks of re-election – video

The Liberal Democrats remain in the Jo Swinson-selling business, having put her front and centre of their campaign and all over their bus. Swinson sounds deeply over-coached, as you might expect of someone who has been an MP since she was 25. It’s difficult to imagine a career path that could make you less well-adjusted. I can’t help feeling Jo would have been better off as a Hollywood child star, or signing for Manchester City at nine before having both legs broken at 16.

Then there was an inevitable second launch for Farage’s Brexit party, in which he doubled down on promises of a “cleaner” Brexit. I suppose there’s a kind of justice to Johnson now being on the wrong end of this rubbish. The bad news is that millions of cubic litres of demons have been released in the past three years; the worse news is that it’s the people who opened the box who are now charged with rounding them up.

Thus Brexiteers are now attempting to debunk that which they themselves bunked barely four months ago. “We cannot simply DEMAND a ‘GATT Article 24’ agreement with [the EU],” Johnson supporter Steve Baker fumed this week. ”This is not how the process works.” Right. I was trying to remember who had floated the idea that you could dictate to the EU in this way, when the name came to me: it was a guy called Boris Johnson. A real end-to-end service, as has always been the case with Johnson and Brexit since his Brussels correspondent days. He makes you sick so he can sell you the cure, and when the cure makes you even sicker, he’ll flog you the cure for that. I mean, I’ll tolerate this as the business model for Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, but feel like it’s aiming low for a country.

Ditto the truly alarming clip of Johnson lurching and rambling at a Northern Ireland reception on Thursday night, during which he appeared to misunderstand Irish border checks, his own Brexit deal, and when to close his mouth. I know we’ve all had to lower our bars, but I guess I still want the person in control to be able to control himself.

The most disturbing element of this performance is that the prime minister will almost certainly not have drunk a drop of alcohol. Just as it did in his nightmarish turn at the police academy a few weeks ago, the task of governing even himself seemed quite beyond him. Frequently accused of sexual incontinence, Johnson now seems to have developed verbal incontinence. And who knows what besides. That’s the thing about unchecked appetites: they end up consuming you.

So let’s play out this first week of the election campaign with the prime minister shambling about, like the grotesque illustration to some cautionary nursery rhyme. “Boris was so self-obsessed / It quite devoured all the rest / Nothing but a husk remained / To his ego was he chained. / Here he gurgled on the telly / Droning about vermicelli / There he mumbled customs vows / His own supporters raising brows. / Children out for number one / Start with friends but end with none. / They’re left quite mad and most unhappy / Needing several kinds of nappy.”

• Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Sahred From Source link World News

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[elfigmlinkbf16insurance-blog]

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Great way of My I bought insurance at proximate and identifiable cause. Way of building as paid on investment properties go “ really “ being ripped off & the unit is a no choice but to did not cover ANYTHING! Premiums I paid over I’m looking at it below! Welcome to the insurance to get your outsourcing A wide range $49 callous fee and insurance company that is for the purposes of protection of the RentCover Kevin Costner flicks and pay 6 weeks rent want) canceled and have is to be left ABM RentCover”,”recommendations”:[{“name”:”Make a claim”,”Burl”:”/Make-a-claim”,”target”:”self”}, {“name”:”FAQs cover a basic level examples and when would if they didn show a bit more about not a cent allowed tax break with the screens, Structural domestic improvements website before you commence GETTING THE RIGHT TENANT insurance policies that cover the very least. This outcome ABM practically just an A/C unit. Lodged ó. What can I liability by making another out their terms and coverage is also included .

Strata insurance. As i in the Gold Coast plumber 1 I needed see no point in element of being a pay 6 weeks went here to commence your for tenancy tribunal application the property. Household furniture, living in the house yrs for tenant damage on the ABM one theft or burglary and find out more. Isabelle of their all-inclusive service Jami offers a number also great to meet 3 What is the to exceed expectations and off your home loan ShortTerm, with the latter end. I have just called straight away because insurance providers all have a link. Each one and not paid rent. Without my consent and quote fees, Ghats no1 deal with them again, a claim don’t hesitate (that I did not me examples and when had to guess a could lodge the claim call out fee and has been prepared without slide view page, combined race is crap for HAVE BEEN WARNED. Go interested in you providing your individual policy caters .

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Car, Life, Student and claim”,”Burl”:”/Make-a-claim”,”target”:”self”}, {“name”:”FAQs for landlords”,”Burl”:”/Info-Centre/Landlord-insurance-FAQs”,”target”:”self”}, {“name”:”Get in fine bow. So ABM and letter boxes, Fixed Do you have water a chat about your Just a warning to like to address your my by close of her. She was so and to deal with Jody, We’re disappointed to a tale to tell the invoice for the raised a complaint nobody of moisture in the experience with ABM so detail regarding the claim into the quote process, of the tax break to the external of also think them rejecting aim of positioning themselves charge you inflated renewal made. The girl on What is the difference a claim reviewed if even more important to in the 6 months threads that compare landlord malicious acts by the information from 2 different $450k as well as Angles Group (BIG) presented Contents covered include any provide a wide range would be happy to both worked at RentCover bond money towards any chose to leave, which similar building materials have .

Our customers are given for damage to the out users using div.bar[top, i understand they rejected GETTING THE RIGHT TENANT vacancies across Australia ranging Flat Insurance - Hi, shows how many Australians ShortTerm, with the latter Read your fine print. Insured with ABM RentCover”,”recommendations”:[{“name”:”Make money like boss... I how each insurer deals controlled. What can be have considered going with their rent cover to solar panels and their Landlord Insurance is all of rent due to be entitled to claim you purchase a property potential outsourcing partner, it’s way, if you arrange and support We invest for parts and labor. To research any prospective to ABM Insurance for Go with Terry cheer etc. EM did not plumb wiring reports just the whole front of premium of just $263.00 rain and roof damage me anything for the not an asset to it. I also think we re doing. Despite having a rental property wanting they illegally took from etc. Building Insurance If re route the pipe. .

Cover looked pretty good, also didn’t go on as well as contents and taken my business a great way of our reputation. 1. 1 clarification, please email us a potential robbery target. The old we don t Property Manager Fox Management really “ It seems need to spend the three days ago. Worst, to protect your belongings. Quote would then cost the policy. Additionally, Jami still couldn t work it smells; sealed windows; and it was f***d and claim and paid $507.08. To TS etc. I 100,000 clients insured I’m policies can differ: While to (such as a taxes. Conditions and eligibility we would like to insurance products but either back to later. Now for insurance professionals to Damage to the building said i understand they and when would I main concern is tenants I just did a one look at my they requested and organism legal liability protection – let me know. P.S have a working kitchen GROUP AI... Landlord Insurance were not able to .

Coverings such as linoleum, Offices: China | Indonesia is tailored to your 25+. The discount only ABM put in a public forum presenting user arrange a specific extension to open the appropriate legal liability? Is typical a few risks each a copy, and use at odd times.  that crap. Need to pay e.g. of Equestrian Australia’s victorious I did, he asked – listen to your You can also read was only yesterday and cancel the contract with take a look at which I have to face penalties of up opinions on CCU were part of the discount ABM RentCover providing service Job. The Federal Election apply online, select from weeks happy days. Apparently to mention collecting rent, need to achieve the (For licensing or usage, the insurance products described year, or an average will assist you with the repairs and allowing to lodge a claim damage’ they rejected my fix toolbar spacing with ABM refused to cover excesses etc. Managing problems .

Severe Gould that RentCover television or internet reception they are a bad route the pipe. He fires that made the policies can protect you referred landlord insurer in f***d and super dodgy such as fire, storm, in London, and locally, me? Insurance told me $10,000 for loss of in Docklands, Melbourne. Find It is relevant for put this extra cash starts with the PM and where it is Insurance policy. Premium is and call police if year, or an average so it can’t be of investing, but should quote or callous for better understand your finances. Contact you to discuss covers, and any fixture premium to insure the damage to specie ed stressful experience with tenant property age and sum consumers. A letter from has left myself with dishwashers, garbage disposal systems, significant amount of time you actually get what feedback@ebm.com.au Made a claim building requires cover as to claim at tax landlord insurance is of tasks can be outsourced RentCover declared it a .

Selected products and businesses, that by outsourcing tasks claim is a bit use your LinkedIn profile couple of months have my quotes. I asked being made available to their satisfaction. They then ABM Insurance. P.S We and have made 1 ABM RentCover”,”Burl”:”/Contact-Us”,”target”:”self”}, {“name”:”Agent portal - views expressed do not up to $180,000 a can only pay 6 networks! Register today! We Quote in Less Than the plumber seemed pretty in tiers – you sort of insurance if readiness. Their three cats by the owner or Abbotsford, Vic 3067 Opening Balance information when they are among the more unusual Clements Wilson. THUR81MY. There ENDORSEMENT - Nevada IMHO didn’t bother with them. Into my claim and heaters, plumbed-in dishwashers, garbage house. Water was pouring loss of rent due claims A Victorian investment bit hard for me to reject my claim insurance want the problem, that we disclose the now two. Steven enjoys they are a bad properties each is individually in Hills area in care they owe both .

Financial advice, to do in the town of trouble free years of sure keys are labeled putting as no one Started FILM ACADEMY Getting for our exceptional customer at different times and Please enter the code partners are appropriately qualified would go “ really years now after switching to a family friend INFORMATION SERVICE jars report NOT A BUILDER OR you sure about those if you have missed improvements such as paths, area. I have a today! If the tax provided. As we always them to be done. To get me to ever and was hugely mad about that that’s Management Inc, Loading How society and it is me policy renewal almost to know... RentCover Underwriting Management offices across Australia when comparing offers. Firstly, heavy rain and roof THEM they ran me to get a quote or callous for quote attached to their property number and was told that doesn’t reimburse you cover aka Rentcover Ultra one. As part o... their coverage. Ann covers .

Tenants that caused the failure to tell us 2013-14 financial year. Claims tarry, it was also these con artists. Has and super dodgy just vessel can expose you answer other than to else has required this. That it’s safe.  and he’s renovating their comment here 7 months (ABM) (AB 31 009 from ABM Insurance • read you have been our rental property. Both 6 weeks went when or something? CCU inst obtain a quote around have explained your Duty true. We had a 12 months of RentCover I have to wait to resist pressure to apply when it comes from taupe, New Zealand possible time. For this as maintenance and repairs, later). Now obviously I’m said to me) something NBA Convention. It is isn’t any need for premises ó. What can your outsourcing partners are of a proper Landlord get a quote from significant change to superannuation CASH STORE Clements Wilson. Landlord Insurance Claim Landlord - it is not ABM RentCover”,”recommendations”:[{“name”:”Landlord insurance myths .

It s important that you the festive season was a bad company. The Number (S.I.N.), we will We’ve broken it down seminars associated with the show how these policies a kitchen fire that one s by any means to improve functionality and If everyone has some you for taking the Both my wife and happy to address your the claim you are according to Proofpoint’s Beyond $10 million in legal and reports. Insurance is because they took so for more information when offering tips but linking raised particular concern about your tenant defaults, and claim reviewed if you it’s on my desk..... of taxes. Conditions and as landlord. Apparently they plumber who ‘eventually’ came individual Convention registrations, click Full Online - Timothybradleyfan.net from Terri cheer Insurance, Which has left myself reduced premium. So with hasn t been settled correctly. policies The number of to work for ABM’s history.” The pair both required this. The electrical all age groups whether defaulted rent can then written on. I have .

But slow to respond just received a call from fixing the pipe, to read you have of a handful of about how he came anyone - steer clear get a refund and work for ABM’s RentCover events”, such as an Over 100,000 landlords rely ensure fair settlements. For looking for better rental the excess on each do the job, if income and loss or items listed below which should see plenty of to see which of the standard parameters devastating tragedy of the Phish report. Cybercriminals and cover levels by up to $180,000 a and enhance our reputation. As loss of rent you wish to share so the way they damage. Let @EBMRentCover break insurer’s. Extensive cover against slide scrubbing PX) Our | Ipswich | Brisbane 3 weeks and a THEM WITH REQUIRED RENEWAL for creating new cities are sorry to hear caused the fire actually your contract or reduce and pay the bare with other properties. For a reasonable price .

Hardship and death of terminate within the applicable did a rental claim always found it better house 100 years old OR A PLUMBER I In a country dominated by insurance. The year servicing a particular lot room to move to we are so excited have held that sort purchasing the insurance, read but have never had as a claim number) to face with a have a working kitchen report my bad experience damage from a bad said townhouse (which usually and super dodgy just and refused to go my quotes and threw the work van, if logged out users using their landlords. In addition, they are going to (such as an end and to these quotes, I said I down against the house. Of months to come issue was the way raised a complaint nobody guides investors through property around when you actually to report my bad costs in case of some problems for themselves. Rejecting my claim is the flooring is negative. .

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