#it's really just a young gen fad

[askshivanulegacy]

THIS is exactly it.

Business owners and "influencers" (no such thing, lol) don't need tiktok and never did. They certainly knew to crosspost to other platforms from square one, if only to broaden reach and audience. And if they treated it like a game, they at least had plenty of warning to shift platforms and notify audiences. Nothing needed to be broken, unless they allowed it.

You see posts of business owners crying about it ... and for what? There isn't anything special about tiktok that doesn't exist on other sites. They knew. People are acting like YouTube isn't right there if they really had to maintain a vid capability for some reason. Why would you allow your entire livelihood to be controlled by a platform you don't own and have no say in? If that's what you really want to do, then of course you know your lifetime and success are limited by the duration of the platform. You're done when it's done and then you must move on.

Skill issue indeed.

Same for it being some kind of bizarre holy Grail of information sources. Everything on tiktok exists somewhere else. Nobody is losing access to information.

Ofc, this may all be water under the bridge now that it's not going away. Maybe business owners will take a hint and diversify. I certainly hope they've learned something from this.

I knew that tiktok was the primary social media platform for younger people but a lot of them seem to have accounts on other platforms too, even if they use those less, so I don't think I realized the extent to which tiktok kind of has a monopoly. I get being upset about losing a network you've built, having to migrate to a new platform is a pain, it's why a lot of people continue to use twitter. I especially understand these feelings coming from actual teenagers, who are going to be a bit emotional and a bit self-centered about it because that's normal for their stage of development, plus I think it's understandable for a teenager not to have made plans to migrate their contacts to a new platform when the possibility of the ban was announced months ago, I have some sympathy for them and none at all for the influencers and small business owners who are whining about their livelihoods. Knowing the regulatory landscape and making contingency plans is part of running a business, skill issue. Anyway, I get all that, but seeing all these young people (some of whom are adults) talking like taking away tiktok takes away their access to recipes, music, and whatever other content they enjoy... it seems like it's never occurred to them that you can find these things other places. Is the internet as a concept synonymous with tiktok to them? That's concerning and raises a lot of monopoly red flags and I cannot understand being a leftist and defending it.

[nutzo0001]

rant

- ) or that feeling, "living in the future" when y2k came, it was for people, like dream, fascination - hope: - year 2000 is at the door, world looks bright, internet is "ough" to "solve" all our problems, maybe even "to topple the game (of rich bastards) down"... -- feeling like this - if you got me (this sentiment, dream of utopia, unity, mutual understanding "coz of net" - oh man, if they knew...) - which reminds me of thread [sic] "MLP and New Sincerity" - about being sincere, "you", - all that *sweet* (or not) jazz...

addendum:

#0 punks and emos of 2000s-2010s: basically "When we were young" fest, - safe for fact it was then "current thing": pic-rel + all those rock, punk, emo, - things playing on radio --- a psyop??? + 80s (music, not aesthetics) nostalgia occuring around that time... : music-rel (yeah, pretty much this playlist is "getting rich" from nostalgia - go, figure :/)

#1 youtube campaign "broadcoast yourself" - dawg man, i am so confussed how we could "get bought" over this - and believe come corporation! it sounds so - ironic; looking at it from lens of someone, living in *these* times "after fad"... - really believing(?) that commonmen can, thru sheer "influence" thru net, shape world... (what a joke!!!) [were we sold on *this feeling"!???]

#1b general naiivity over "corporations allowing us all this" - how was that not suspicious!! i wonder... (letting our guard and awareness so low) ~ but then, werent we (born 1999-and so; living with siblings (sister), of 8 year difference...)

#1.5 campaign of web providers (geocities, goDaddy or such), *basically* saying "be you"/"promote yourself"

(if you get me, that is; i am - getting nostalgic, over something i very fogly remember - in fact, now i get - why those "boomers" over here are getting nostalgic over living in socialism (when, they were kids... - so was i...)

--- WAS this all^ psy-op - contrarian messages, just "selling feeling", scham, make-believe dreams?

or is it that *there somewhere*, it was "all taken away from us" - well, as i see, that is very little probability, and it was just tactic to "get everyone on net" - those fxxx bastards!! (#me, being naiive...)

On Apathy: Man. I don't want to shit on the current generation too much because it's been done to death, but you're gonna be hard-pressed to find a late zoomer/Gen-A who can use a hammer or any other tool properly. It's like there's no awareness of the world around them. We're talking missing 9/10 of the time with a hammer. Honestly, I think they're just tired of it all and don't care to learn anymore. I can't blame them. It feels like the whole world is falling apart, but never enough to bring an end to the stress that comes from it. Perhaps it's a demoralization sort of thing. A "_______ is going to happen so it won't matter anyway." sort of situation. Everyone is just tired and doesn't have the energy to care.

- aHR0cHM6Ly9mb3J1bS5hZ29yYXJvYWQuY29tL2luZGV4LnBocD90aHJlYWRzL2RvZXMtdGhlLXpvb21lci1nZW5lcmF0aW9uLWhhdmUtemVyby10ZWNoLXNraWxscy41OTgwL3Bvc3QtODQxNjc= (pssst)

end: - i was played on. -- world of broken promises pre-2001~2008... --- "you need to be unique to stand out", so, next step in my mind was > "no way to be normie" >> i never knew what *they* (who?) meant - does computers screw us all in some way? or was is that we made ourselves... we build them... then, we dont know ourselves > you dont know things until it is too late? or > was it "The Plan"? use people as puppets > "NPC Naysayers"? - to make all sorts of crazy laws? power-trip? I dont want to - but, do i HAVE TO be bad, in any sense? -- Last time i had any confidence was in 2010-2015... but it was nothing much, it was just fuzzy feeling. there were bad things, yet, i felt fine... so, do i hate myself now? because - why? am i afraid to lose that? then, what happened!? is it some kind of trauma - or simply, disability to adapt? maybe thats why --- i miss 2008-2013 - times when i could be naiive. myself. no pretend, even if i wanted to... is it only now that i am afraid? or am i going insane and want to blame others for "making problems to sell cure"? - maybe i never was teenager, so with strict and boomers-like parents, it is like i have to make my dreams now - if i only wanted to - if i wasnt so emberassed... -- "teen-ages in stasis"? > peter pan syndrome? --- i dont want to live in my head - but what to do - - what i even want?? - am i afraid of success, of being "too strong", "bad" to others? there are like milion things...

AM I NORMAL?: could be, maybe i am just afraid to be

The commercial exploitation of the web has become a growing facet of the world economy, particularly in the last several years. In June 1999 NUA Internet Surveys estimated that 179 million people are connected to the Internet worldwide. A recent study by the University of Texas sponsored by Cisco Systems estimated that the "Internet Economy" generated $300 billion in revenue in the United States alone.

Conrad Johnson and Brian Donnelly, “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB AND THE INTERNET “, Part 6, Columbia.edu, (Oct 24, 2003).

[the1975attheirverybest]

So i was referring to era as a more aesthetic concept that focuses on how the music is marketed and what the tour will look like etc

Artists have continued to create albums with individual identities before eras ever came into existence .Usage of eras is another trend that will fade eventually as most fads do.

The reason i criticise generation z is because they are quick to criticise older generations despite copying their culture fashion etc.At least millenials can lay claim to an 'era' of originality and tolerance that gen z can't

Yeah, I think the ion pack pod interview with Matty talked about this as an issue with gen z. I think Matty said something like, “in order to have new words you first have to have new ideas and new emotions” or whatever. And they talks about the phenomenon of gen z being nostalgic for a time that they don’t even know cuz they weren’t there to experience it, haha. And that’s a very fair critique, I think! I have a sister who’s gen z and I always have the urge to be like “I wouldn’t be so dismissive of this if I were you. You’re too young to see it now, but history repeats itself and we’ve seen this in the past.”

But, I also think it’s possible that artists have always done this without the term “era,” and now we just have the word for it. Kinda like “gaslighting” and other words that, thanks to gen z, are now everywhere. Like there have always been people gaslighting other people, we just didn’t commonly refer to it with that specific word until maybe recently. “I thought we were fighting, but it seems I was gaslighting you, I didn’t know that it had its own word.” Hahaha. Just an example from a literal song he’s written, that Matty seems very interested in how cultural lexicon gets formed and stuff. Sometimes he’s coming down too hard on gen z. Sometimes he’s kinda right. Idk, is it too early/ too late to judge them? Like are we moving on to a new generation soon? Or maybe they’re still working this stuff out on their terms? I’m not really sure, tbh.

[rockinlibrarian]

Very late with the happy-fic-writer game, but: 7 and 12!

HEyyyyy! I'm always up for an ask or two! This refers to this one, here, posted a week ago, which isn't THAT long ago so join in!

7. What do you love most about being a fic writer for your fandom?

As I said here (and answered the question in a slightly different way), I'm a multi-fandom writer-- which @steeple-sinderby has first-hand experience with, being that she's gamely beta'd everything from "our shared fandom but not my ship" fics to "I know absolutely nothing about the source material of this fic-that-is-nothing-but-inside-jokes-about-the-source-material" fics (oh, I think there was ONE CHAPTER of an actual "gen fic in our shared fandom"! Amazing!) (also have to throw in the "absurd RPF of several fandoms I know vaguely enough" because that took guts, too!)

And anyway, I like being multi-fandom, because I can take pretty much any idea and start to run with it. That makes for lots and lots of fics started that MAY never get completed (never say never!)! In the past week I have started three different fics in three different fandoms, only one of which I've ever written in before and that with different characters, too, and one of which probably isn't even properly a "fandom" but a work that just makes a good writing prompt. One is just pure crack I started when we finished reading a book and @sunnymarbles said "But I want to know about [insert throwaway detail that's-not-even-a-plot-point]!" and I said "That's what fanfic is for!" and I did a search on AO3 and while there were indeed several fics for the book series itself, nobody HAD explored throwaway-detail-that's-not-even-a-plot-point, so I felt compelled to do it myself. I have one paragraph, and a vague idea for a bit more plot, and if WHEN I ever finish it I'll be sure to share it!* Probably no knowledge of canon needed, because it's crack. At least compared to what other people have posted in the fandom.

*@sunnymarbles, I've been meaning to share it with you long before that, so you can help me brainstorm, but it's been a busy week. Ask me when you get home.

No I lied, it's short, here is the entirety of what I have written for this:

The moose of the Green Mountains knew to avoid the place they called the Unstable Slope, or “oooOOOOOOoooo” in their native tongue. Ninety generations had passed since the first BoomQuakes broke the mountain, and still young moose were warned away, despite tales of a mythical lake that appeared suddenly there for several years, only to just as suddenly dry up again.

(If you can name the source material from that, you get a point! It's a YA mystery series. Those are your hints).

Anyway, let's move on.

12. What is your favorite theme/subject matter/trope/ship to write about? Why?

How They Became Friends. This occasionally branches off into "How They Fell In Love" or "How One of Them Learned The Other's Secret(s)" or "How They Got Into THAT Mess," but it all stems from How They Became Friends, which is the theme/trope I've been writing on since I pretty much started writing at the age of seven. I guess it was a kind of fantasy-self-insert writing that happened to be original fiction instead of fic, because I was a really lonely kid, and I'd noted that when people were forced into An Adventure together, it brought them closer. Because, you know, it skipped over all that boring Small Talk and Faking Interest In the Latest Fad that real life friend-making seemed to require. So it was that every story I wrote for the first few years of my life involved Me and Some People I Knew In Real Life stumbling into an Adventure (usually involving fantasy elements because I needed all the non-mundane help I could get).

It stuck, even when I started actually making real friends without the aid of portals to other dimensions. It's a theme that lends itself to fanfic naturally, because media is FULL of established relationships to wonder about the beginnings of, and you don't necessarily have to worry too much about plot when you write fanfic. It can BE simply 800 words of "This is How They Became Friends" with bonus time travel complications.

This probably loops back to why I'm a multi-fandom writer, because there's only so many times you can introduce the characters to each other per fandom. I say while a full 10 of my 19 posted Legion fics manage to fall under this theme umbrella, and those only really covering the friendships of four of the many characters. Yay multiple timelines!

[mindfiresolutions-blog]

Is AI the Key to Personalized Learning? Discovering Adaptive Educational Platforms

The world of education is undergoing a tremendous and remarkable revolution, thanks to the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is transforming how we learn by personalizing the learning, reshaping traditional classrooms, and customizing the concept to each learner's unique needs and preferences.

From adaptive learning to advanced analytics, AI unlocks the untapped potential of personalized learning experiences, paving the way to build a more inspiring and inclusive education system. However, educators and learners worldwide view the current excitement about Artificial intelligence with measurable caution.

Is AI in personalized learning an overhyped fad, or are we really on the cusp of a genuine, grand breakthrough? Scroll down to find out!

Personalized Learning - The Need of the Hour

Personalized learning is not a new concept in our educational system. However, it has been made possible by the rise of Artificial Intelligence. In today's era, educators are trying their best to instill personalized learning, as every learner's ability to grasp the concept varies. The emergence of AI creates an effective way to find personalized and pragmatic learning practices.

Artificial intelligence algorithms analyze a wide range of data to identify patterns of every learner and customize the instruction materials. For instance, if an individual struggles to understand a concept, AI will include additional resources and tools to bridge the learning gaps and achieve better outcomes.

The Impact of AI on Personalized Learning

In recent years, Gen Z holds the majority of undergraduates of the era. And they are expected to account for 27% of the global workforce by 2025. It is imperative to highlight how the emergence of AI can personalize individuals' learning from school life to the corporate arena.

Let’s explore how AI can make personalized learning possible in every way!

●       Custom-made courses - A predefined curriculum will not meet the learners' special interests and unique talents. In such circumstances, AI can promote flexibility in deciding the curriculum.  It will earn you the trust of young, talented minds while unlocking their individual, creative thinking.

●       Tech-intelligent tutoring - Intelligent tutoring enabled by AI can proactively interact with students in a personalized way. It will help observe the learners' ability to understand a concept, the pace of learning and more. The approach is on-demand, as it provides up-to-date data and assesses their progress and weak areas.

●       Encourage 'self-advocate' approach- Apart from the academic aspects, AI in personalized learning also promotes the inspiring individual's entrepreneurial spirit. Predictive analysis in AI is a perfect aid for learners who dream to build their own business by giving you the best outcome.

Top Five Adaptive Educational Platforms

Combining AI and adaptive learning will be a promising solution for educational institutions and professional training. The technology paves personalized learning paths, capturing learners' interest and accelerating their learning process.

Nonetheless, using the right tools and platforms for adaptive learning is essential to guarantee consistent improvement in your workforce. Here let’s explore the best 5 adaptive educational platforms and discover the one that fits your unique needs.

●       EdApp

EdApp is an adaptive learning platform with course creation and spaced repetition features. As a course creator, you will have the authority to AI-powered tools called AI Create. It will allow you to generate lessons with just a few clicks and within a short period. Enter the topic you must cover and let the app do it. The app will automatically incorporate the required subtopics, texts, images, and quickest, which can be tweaked with more than 80 templates at your disposal.

●       Knewton

The power of AI and data signifies Knewton, a New York-based adaptive learning platform. The learning analytics of the app enables educators to schedule their sessions easily. The additional information from course materials extracted by the app can efficiently engage the leaders. The data-driven solution of Knewton has formed 23 agreements with primary education companies and schools in the past years, making the system more available to every individual worldwide.

●       Realizeit

Realizeit is an adaptive learning platform that is built to provide one-on-one personalized learning paths for organizations. The self-learning engine of the app will adapt to every learner’s evolving abilities and monitor performance and accuracy, creating personalized learning. It will, in turn, allow educators to modify their pedagogical approach as required, achieving learning objectives in a quantifiable way.

●       Pearson Interactive Labs

With an AI-designed adaptive learning platform by Pearson Interactive Labs, learners actively engage in a genuine scientific setting and get expert feedback from their peers in the industry. The app lets the learners connect with real-world scenarios, enabling them to create a bond between learning and the laboratory. The adaptive learning approach will improve the understanding of science among users, where they are pushed to learn from their mistakes rather than directly getting the right answer.

●       RapL

RapL, a mobile-first adaptive learning platform, was designed and developed in 2018 by a squad of innovators with decades of software expertise and learning solutions. The platform is AI-driven and has highly personalized features that will cater to the distinct learning requirements of the users. It addresses the top challenges in the product life cycle. Ineffective one-time courses, refresher courses, and more. RapL combines adaptive learning and microlearning approaches to build a flexible, engaging learning atmosphere that transforms your workforce.

Wrapping Up!

Adaptive education platforms enabled by AI technologies are the future of our era. Educational institutions and corporations are embarking on these engaging techniques to enhance your training and exceed the learning goals. With the right support and service, you can join this contemporary change and improve your programs, allowing your employees/ learners to change themselves and indulge in their learning.

As we embrace the emergence of AI, it is essential to establish a balance between the human touch and advanced technologies. In the end, we have to encompass the elements of AI and enhance the educational experience without compromising on the expertise and guidance of educators.

At Mindfire Solutions, we offer to build customized and AI-based education platforms, embracing advanced technologies, intuitive interfaces, and interactive learning formats to achieve better learning outcomes. We serve as a one-stop solution for all your learning needs, allowing you to engage learners and educators in all stages. Connect with our experts, and let us introduce you to AI and adaptive learning.

[xcziel]

POV: The year is 2014. My drives to and from school are scored by The 1975, Halsey, the xx, Lorde, Two Door Cinema Club, Lana Del Rey, the Kooks, Haim, Twenty One Pilots, and the Arctic Monkeys—in other words, bands I found through Tumblr. On weekends, I line my eyes with black winged liner, experimenting with Sharpie pens to make sure it doesn’t smudge. I wear purposefully ripped opaque tights and cherry red Dr. Martens with everything. For concerts, my best friend, Jillian, and I draw black hearts on our cheeks, paying homage to Marina and the Diamonds’ “How to Be a Heartbreaker” lyric, “Wear your heart on your cheek / But never on your sleeve / Unless you want to taste defeat.”

In short, I was trying to be the perfect 2014 Tumblr girl, emulating our collective soft-grunge idols like Effy Stonem from Skins and Aria Montgomery from Pretty Little Liars. While she fell out of fashion in favor of new archetypes such as the cheerful VSCO girl and the rise of minimalist, athletic street style (the 2014 Tumblr girl didn’t wear biker shorts and leather blazers), she’s staging a comeback.

The return of the 2014 Tumblr girl’s style comes in tandem with the renewed appreciation for the indie sleazecore aesthetic, which became prominent in the early 2000s (think American Apparel ads). Trend cycle analyst Mandy Lee outlined the phenomenon in a viral TikTok. “I think of indie sleaze as 2014 Tumblr girl’s debaucherous older sister,” she tells Vogue. “Indie sleaze was much more flamboyant; neon colors, metallics, ostentatious displays of nightlife, erotic advertisements, and amateur-style flash photography. This aesthetic came up during the inception of Myspace around 2005 and integrates technology and social media into our everyday lives. On the other hand, the 2014 Tumblr girl was super moody, dark colors, simple silhouettes; she was a bit more of a loner.” The two styles are gaining significant traction thanks to content creators and fashionistas reviving their adolescent aesthetics. Now the Tumblr girl style is being revisited by its millennial originators, but also Gen Z, which has discovered and altered the trend.

Both indie sleaze and the 2014 Tumblr girl styles materialized through music and girlish rebellion. And both inhabit a culture of angst and nightlife that congregated through social media platforms. Indie sleazecore called Myspace home, while the 2014 Tumblr girl emerged through, well, Tumblr and its online communities focused on indie pop and alternative music. Marta Langston, a style content creator, said on TikTok that if you “had the phase in 2014, you probably never really grew out of it. I think that ‘grunge’ style in a broader sense will always exist. Tumblr was the first place to widely romanticize the edgy, mysterious soft-grunge girl. Perhaps it was the first time that more gothic-inspired styles were accepted as cool rather than looked at as just a stereotype for the social outcasts in high school.”

The Tumblr girl resurrection has subtle changes from its 2014 origins. According to Hailie Barber, a style influencer, “A lot of key pieces of that style have become a closet staple for millennials and Gen Z. We all still have our denim jackets, Docs, oversized flannels, and fishnets in our closet. Which speaks to the longevity of the trend and how it plays off of different eras in fashion like ’90s grunge.”

You could argue that characters like Maeve Wiley from Sex Education and pop star Olivia Rodrigo also take cues from young, grungy women from almost a decade ago, but with a twist. Wiley is known for wearing fishnet and black opaque tights, a dark fringed cowboy leather jacket, and either dip-dyeing her hair pink or dark chocolate for an alternative look. While Rodrigo is seen wearing chunky platform combat boots or sneakers, punk miniskirts, and experimental updo hairstyles, being a more reformed Tumblr girl, unafraid to experiment with color and early-2000s fads.

“The revival of that style now has a few differences,” says Barber. “Berry lipstick shades are being swapped for more peachy tones; there’s fewer grid patterns and more checkerboard; and ripped skinny jeans are being replaced by straight-leg and boyfriend jeans. We’re seeing less circle/skater skirts and more tennis skirts.” Grunge—whether it’s called the Tumblr girl aesthetic or indie sleazecore—is timeless. Though I’m no longer a teenager drawing hearts on my cheek, I still reminisce about getting a large X drawn on my hand at a small concert venue, waiting to see my favorite band for the first time. It may have been a phase, but clearly, it’s one that many young people will always be drawn to.

[littlelovelyspiderling]

The Photo Shoot

Here’s my take on the adorable request given to me by  @a-bad-actor !! Hope you like it!

Tony needs a photo of a young and happy face to put on Stark Industry’s website and requests Peter’s aid. When the grumpy kid can’t seem to smile normally, Stark takes matters into his own hands.

word count: 1,800

“Mr. Stark, couldn’t you find someone else to do this…?”

Peter squinted uncomfortably beneath the harsh lights, pulling at his collar. He felt like a bug being studied under a microscope—a bright, judgmental microscope. Tony Stark stood behind the camera, fiddling with the settings.

“Nope. You’re the only intern that’s here this late. And the youngest, therefore the most endearing and inspirational to potential applicants.”

“But I’m not even a real intern, Mr. Stark. It’s a front, remember?”

“Who cares? You think the 20-something-year-old grad students scrolling through the Stark Industry’s website are going to know that?” He narrowed his eyes as he racked the lens. “I just want a nice picture of a welcoming face to put on the online brochure. It’ll help encourage youngsters such as yourself to apply for all the internship positions and project grants my company is now offering.”

“That’s really cool of you, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, swallowing. “But, um…I’m just not very photogenic. I hate getting my picture taken. And my face is crazy broken out right now, so can’t you just hire someone tomorrow to pose for—?”

“The re-vamped website goes live at midnight, so no.” Tony clicked one last button on the camera’s screen, then stepped away. “Relax, kid—you look fine. Just think how awesome it will be to show all your friends a pic of your handsome mug on Stark Industry’s home page.”

Peter hung his head. “Yeah. So awesome…”

Tony scoffed. “What’s your problem? I thought you’d love this.”

The kid shrugged haphazardly. “Whatever. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Alright then, grumpy pants,” he snorted. He held up the shutter remote and gave it a shake. “Say ‘cheese’.”

The smile Peter pasted on his face was so pathetic, Tony thought he was just holding back a sneeze. Or crushing something between his teeth. He stared at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement, waiting for him to actually attempt to smile, his finger hovering over the shutter release button.

“Uh…seriously? That’s the face you’re going with? That’s what you want a quarter million people to wake up to tomorrow morning?”

Peter huffed miserably. “I told you I’m bad at this, Mr. Stark.”

“Just smile. Like you always do. Don’t think about it so much.”

The kid rolled his eyes and tried again. This time, it looked like he was in actual, physical pain, like someone was holding a knife to his back and threatening to kill him if he didn’t pretend to look happy. 

And boy, was he bad at pretending. 

Tony took a picture just to see if he’d look any better on camera. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t. If anything, he actually looked worse. Stark couldn’t help but laugh.

“Geez, Pete, are you trying to look constipated? Is that the new fad among you Gen Z types? Cuz if so, you are killing it.”

Peter blushed and stared at the floor. “I hate you.”

Chuckling, Tony stepped forward. “Here,” he said, giving his shoulders a shake. “Loosen up. Don’t stand so stiffly.”

“Why don’t you just take a picture of yourself? You’re so much better at this kind of stuff.”

“The whole website is already plastered with my face. We need a dash of youth and freshness to spice things up.” He licked his fingers and ran them through Peter’s hair, making him grimace. “But if you want, I can show you how it’s done.”

He walked behind Peter and struck a few casual poses, boasting a subtle yet winning smile. He snapped a few photos just for show while the kid threw his hands in the air.

“But see, that’s what I’m saying—it’s easy for you. For me, it’s just…not. I can’t do this. I give up.”

Tony caught him before he could sulk away. “Just one more try, that’s all I’m asking.” He turned the dejected teen back to the camera. “Imagine you’re receiving an award, or smiling at a girl you like. Anything like that. Think of something that makes you genuinely happy, and channel that energy into a nice, natural smile. You can do it.” He took a few steps back and to the side. “I’ll stay behind you so you don’t feel pressured.”

Peter sighed helplessly and stared into the daunting eye of the lens. He tried his best to do as Stark said, he really did. It wasn’t working in the slightest, but that was okay. Because Tony didn’t expect it to work. He just needed something to keep the kid distracted while he executed his real plan to make the kid smile.

When Tony stopped firing the shutter, Peter figured he was doing something wrong, and let out a frustrated groan. “I’m telling you, Mr. Stark, I can’t do it. Either find some other stupid intern for your photo, or steal a stock pic from the Internet. I just—I can’t—”

Peter’s angry rant was interrupted by two hands seizing him around the middle and squeezing his sides just above his hips. The kid let out a shriek of surprise, followed by a flood of laughter.

“AHAhahack! Whahat the—?” He sprung away, wrapping his arms around his midsection, flustered to his core. “Mr. Stark! W-what was that for?”

“Ha! I knew that would work.” Tony stepped around him and turned the camera screen for Peter to see. “Look at that smile! It’s perfect!”

In the photo, Peter’s eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth was wide with smiley laughter. His head was tilted back while his cheeks glowed a gentle pink. He looked truly, genuinely happy; Stark could hardly believe it, especially compared to the slew of depressing shots taken previously.

Upon seeing the picture, the kid’s face burned. “No, no, please don’t use that.”

“Why not? You look so happy. It’s like you’re in an Old Navy ad.”

“But it’s…embarrassing,” he murmured.

Tony smiled softly. “No. It’s cute. Anyone who sees it will love it.”

“Not me…”

Stark sighed and faced the camera back towards the teenager. “Fine. I guess we’ll just have to keeping taking more until there’s one we both like.”

Without hesitating, he marched up to him, causing Peter to wince. “W-wait, what—?” Before he could get away, Stark scooped the kid into his arms and started drilling his tummy with tickles, kneading his fingers up and down his sides. The response was hysterical and instantaneous.

“Whaha—AHAHA NOHOHO! M-Mihihihister Stahahahark!” He kicked and squirmed and laughed like crazy, grappling at Tony’s wrists, his face bright and happy. “Stohohahap—wahahahait! Eheeheehahaha!”

“But this is the only way to make you smile normally,” Stark replied, chuckling at Peter’s adorable squirminess, “which would’ve been nice to know about a lot sooner. Now I know exactly how to cheer you up whenever you’re being a grouch.”

Peter managed to flail right out of his arms, but that only led to Tony pinning him to the ground and spidering his fingers underneath the kid’s T-shirt, scribbling his bare tummy in tickles. His laugher jumped in both volume and octave; his wriggling transformed into wild floundering.

“AHAHAHAHAAA!” he cried, whipping his head back and forth, bucking and squealing like a helpless piglet. “OHO SHIHIHIHITNOHOHOHAHAHA!”

“All we need is one good picture we both agree on, and then we’re done. Since you’re so picky, I’m trying to make sure we get every angle.”

“AHAHAHANY ONE! USE AHAHAHAHANY ONE! I DOHOHOHOHON’T C-CAHAHARE HAHAHA!” Tony’s evil hands clawed all over his ribs, belly, and underarms, driving the ticklish teen mad with giggles. “JUHUHAHAST STOHOHAHAHAHAP! MIHIHISTER STAHAHAHARK! EHEHAHAHAHA!”

When Stark saw tears flooding the poor kid’s eyes as he fought pathetically to escape, he finally let up. Peter was left in a bundle on the floor, panting with relief. Tony smiled down at the giggly hero. He was so cute, it almost made him sick.

“You think we got one you might like?” he chuckled.

“M-Mihihister Stahark…” he moaned, laughter still clinging to his words. “Whyhyhy…”

Tony sighed solemnly and offered him a hand. “Look, if you really don’t want your picture on the website, I won’t put one on there.”

Peter stared up and him, blinking in surprise.

“I can figure something else out. Maybe stick some silly graphic on it. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

Peter hesitantly accepted his help and stood, blushing at the floor. “N-no, it’s fine. Go ahead, I don’t care.”

“Yes you do.”

The teenager winced. Tony narrowed his eyes.

“Why? What’s got you so worried about it? 99% of the people who see your picture on there won’t even know you, and probably won’t pay it a second thought.”

“Yeah, but I…” He paused, licking his lips. “I don’t know. I’m used to seeing Spider-Man’s face online, in newspapers, whatever. It’s just freaky to think about my actual face on an important website, without my mask on.”

“Don’t you use Instagram and Snapchap or whatever? You post pics of your face on the Internet all the time.”

“Yeah, but I’m in control there. And my Instagram only has, like, eighty followers, so…” Peter scratched the back of his neck. “I just wish I could have my mask on for the photo. Could we do that instead? People would much rather see Spider-Man on your website than me.”

Stark’s heart tore as he stared down at the kid. At his center, Peter Parker was still just a teenager, with all fears and insecurities that came with it. Like any teenager, he’d much rather present a facade to the world than something authentic: his true self. Tony knew it could be scary. Releasing a slow breath, he placed his hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

“But they would be seeing Spider-Man. The real Spider-Man. The best part of Spider-Man.”

When Peter’s expression stayed stony, he fluttered his fingers against his neck, causing him to cringe and giggle.

“And I for one would much rather see Spider-Man’s smiling face than some dumb mask that hides it.”

Peter glanced up at him with a shy grin. It was the most endearing thing Stark had ever seen.

Tony walked back to the camera to look through the media. Not, of course, before snapping a quick photo once he was out of frame.

“Now come on. You pick which pic makes the final cut.”

…

As anticipated, the photo didn’t stir up much of a buzz. Peter did feel a bit like a celebrity among his friends, especially the ones who refused to believe that he worked with Tony Stark. Until now.

Peter would never admit that he actually liked the picture. And Tony would never admit that he had all the pictures from the laughter-filled photo shoot saved on his network, and that he would look at them as a choppy video sequence whenever he was feeling down.

[soulvomit]

Something that’s changed as of my 40s: other women don’t get mad at me for having strong opinions about fashion anymore.

Other women no longer get mad at me for having strong opinions about mainstream fashion. They no longer are as quick to assume my opinions are about them. I guess at this age I’m just another middle aged person who doesn’t like a lot of youth fashion, but the thing is, I didn’t even like a lot of youth fashion as a youth. It’s just that it’s now okay for me not to like it. Nothing rises and falls based upon me wearing what the hip 20 year olds are wearing, because I’m so far past 20 at this point that it’s not even worth my bother. I’m starting to think about fashion that I can still wear in 20 to 40 years and I’ve stopped thinking about trying to squeeze myself into every new trend that rolls off the conveyor belt. I’m never again going to look young so I’m more focused on looking “best possible version of my real existing self” however I can manage. (My own fashion choices tend to go to extremes, I’m either all decked out or I’m “unisex  nerd style” - band/fandom t-shirt and jeans, hoodie or flannel.) Up until I started approaching midlife, if I didn’t like things celebrities were wearing, or the clothes on the rack at the mall, other girls and women my age always heard “I don’t like that trend” (often because I felt *left out* of that trend) as “I don’t like the people wearing it” or as a personal attack on them (I wouldn’t have even said the thing if they were into that, fwiw). I express myself roughly the same way, but people respond to me differently.  I suspect it’s that women my age AREN’T EXPECTED to be into youth trends.  But when you’re a youth and you’re not into them, you’re seen as an unfun scold who thinks they’re better than other people their own age. You’re seen as unfriendly and uncharitable and not a team player.  Here are examples of trendy stuff I’m not into. There are a couple of modern styles I definitely do not like. I don’t like the present iteration of female “geek chic.” The male or unisex version tends to be based on practical everyday clothing. The most “youthful” they look is teenaged to 20s, and somebody in their 40s or 50s wearing it would tend to parse as “Cool Dad” or “Gen X tech worker.” But the female version - whole dresses printed with your favorite franchise - looks and feels weirdly infantilizing to me, tends to be made of cheap fabric, and tends to have a weirdly “little girl” cut and fit. I do not like the look of most print-on-demand dresses and skirts, or the fabrics used by Hot Topic. I do not like the look of most “fast fashion” or a lot of mall clothing. It doesn’t mean I don’t like people who wear those things. It doesn’t mean I don’t think it even looks good on some people. But I hate the textures, and I hate the way that those fabrics enhance every dimple. I’ve tried galaxy leggings on and my legs always look lumpy and bruised. I have strong opinions about present makeup fads. I have expressed this even to my friends who are huge makeup fans, and I haven’t gotten any negative replies. Again, it’s the commodification and compulsory nature of mainstream fads that I don’t like, not the people wearing them. I hate the implications for ordinary women’s lives now that the Overton window for “heavy makeup” has shifted all the way over to theatrical makeup. But if I had expressed any of this in my 20s, I would have had a bunch of female friends MAD AT ME for expressing it. (My women friends often ended up being much older, very counterculture, or very gender-non-conforming. This was a snarl I just kept running into with mainstream gender-conforming women friends.) The flip side is that there are a lot of really elegant as fuck classic styles that tended to be on-trend with young hipsters, that I think middle aged and older people just wear a lot better, because younger people just look like they borrowed their parents’ clothes.  The thing is, though, there are a lot of youth styles that I did not like when I was young. I did NOT like feminine youth styles of the 90s, once we left behind the 80s and hit the grunge era. Many of the iconic 90s feminine styles were excessively “little girlish” for me. Also, I felt excluded by a lot of the trends because so many 90s trends were geared toward a model-thin, petite-build body type that I don’t have. I like teen masculine/unisex fashion (I live in band and fandom T-shirts, hoodies, and jeans on my days off).  I like a lot of adult masculine fashion. I like adult feminine fashion. But I’m not into  feminine fashion when it looks like scaled-up children’s clothing. Something about that kind of look just deeply bothers me. I don’t dislike other women for wearing it, and some women pull it off.

[pilferingapples]

letter from Gerard de Nerval to Sainte Beuve

yessss that great article had more of this letter!

Certes il n'a pas été formé dans l'intention de parodier l'autre, le glorieux cénacle que vous avez célébre, mais seulement pour étre une association utile un puis un public de choix oú l'on puisse essayer ses ouvrages d'avance et satisfaire jusqu'á  un certain point ce besoin de publication qui fait qu'on éparpille un avenir de gloire  en petits triomphes successifs.  C'est aussi un aiguillon bien puissant que de voir autour de soi de s'entendre demander tous les jours:  qu'as-tu fait?  et que de voir autour de soi des gens qui travaillant. Aussi quoi qu'on puisse dire contre les camaraderies je pourrai maintenant citer l'exemple de Théophile Gautier, et de moi, qui étions de grands paresseux et qui depuis deux  ans avons fait des ouvrages considérables, s'il n'ont pas d'autre mérite, et avons eu aussi la vertu de ne rien publier, ou presque rien. --Gerard de Nerval, letter to Sainte Beuve, defending the Petit Cénacle

Attempted Rough Translation and commentary below! Assistance and comments welcome!

Certainly (the Petit Cénacle)  was not formed with the intention of parodying the other, the glorious cenacle that you have celebrated, but only to be a useful association and a public of choice where one can try his works in advance and to satisfy to a certain extent this need for publication, which makes one scatter a future of glory in small successive triumphs. It is also a very powerful spur to see everyone around asking each other every day: what have you done? and to see people working around you. So, whatever may be said against camaraderies*, I will now be able to quote the example of Théophile Gautier, and myself, who were very lazy, and who for the last two years ( that is,since joining the Petit Cénacle-P.) have made considerable works, (even) if they have no other merit, and had the virtue of publishing nothing, or almost nothing. --Gerard de Nerval, letter to Sainte Beuve, defending the Little Cenacle

Not sure about the last bit; it seems to mean essentially “ we’ve at least been working, even if nothing’s been very good or gotten published”, which is certainly a very good attitude for a beginning author, but geez I’d sure love to have the rest of that letter to see if there’s any clarification!

*”whatever may be said against camaraderies”-- it is really impressive how many people were Deeply Offended at the idea that young people were doing this weird “being friends and supporting each other” fad?? I have seen so much commentary about how all this newfangled Love and Support and Unconditional Friendship was Bad For Young Men’s Moral Fiber and Probably Exploitative Somehow and Definitely Not Profitable and it’s . It’s Really Something, it is. --But I rather suspect Sainte-Beuve was just being weird and jealous here, as it was a thing he was prone to. 

Hassel, Jon B. "THE FORMATION OF THE "PETIT CÉNACLE"." Romance Notes 18, no. 3 (1978): 338-42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43801514.

[kurojiri]

it's all in the cards

Fandom: Iron Man (Movies); Marvel Cinematic Universe; Spider-Man: Homecoming Gen: Tony Stark & James Rhodes; Tony Stark & JARVIS; Tony Stark & Peter Parker Pairing: Tony Stark/ Pepper Potts Summary: If he didn’t know any better his life could of had been seen as one giant cosmic joke. Square Fill: Cards Against Humanity A/N: @iron-man-bingo  Word Count: 2,564 Additional Tags: past alcoholism, Howard’s A+ Parenting; angst with a happy ending Or read on ao3

I drink to forget [Alcoholism].  

Something about drinking had become a clutch for him, Tony could admit that, had to eventually when his twenties were chucked filled with them to be abnormally constant. College, and post had been raining on Tony forgetting where he partied of who he slept with, and always trying to forget how normal people stayed alive without a clutch like his.   Did he fear death?   No.   But Tony had felt like he was around it too often to make it okay. Or sane. There had been trips to the hospital when it got close. His mom and father weren’t pleased about that; but it hadn’t been like he talked to them a lot. He missed his mom though, the bottle helped him to momentarily forget everything else that he hated from his life, to miss people less. If he drank enough nothing could hurt in those hours.   That had been why chose that method of slinking off hours when his thoughts felt like thorns. Why sipping all his regrets had become a lifestyle he couldn’t put down. It had been something constant from the hell he had lived in since his conception.   Sobriety had not been what he wanted back then, when his bones were still new. When he could afford concessions and casts when he fell over stairs or got knocked down by toilets. That had been why the years felt like seconds. He'd turned twenty, twenty-three until boom he hit thirty. A life was almost too cold, with few people he could trust.   It had been his comfort zone. He drank to forget. Simple as that.

This is the prime of my life. I’m young, hot, and full of [Moderate-to-severe joint pain.]  

Becoming Iron Man had never occurred to Tony that it would ultimately change him and his life forever. Hell, he’d never thought people would want to be saved him either. Or that he would even be called that in the first place.   His life really changed since he had built and redesigned them after many upgrades. Somehow it had jumped to Rhodey, Happy and Pepper to take precautions when he had blurted it out back then. The news over the world had their own opinions, and the government did too when they had tried taking them. He fought villains that he or his dad created. He broke some bones and bled over many clothes. It sort of been surreal that he made it his goal to rotate being Tony Stark and Iron Man.   The world was changing alongside him.   As a futurist, he had accepted that, but had so been becoming paranoid from the prospects of knowing his trials would never shorten. Someone would always be mad at him or his industry, someone would always want revenge, and Tony, he would always need his suit to accomplish the heavy lifting. He was born to be a rational guy. He had seen the signs too since Iron Man had become a fad. The world’s problems would always strike at him.   Luckily, he was rich, smart and always adapting to the best of his abilities when a crisis would erupt in his midst. But that still didn’t hide the fact that his grip was slowly eroding. His nightmares, his fears, and all his rationality couldn’t be wrapped in the same dam. His body was not as new. Nor has his past conditioned for Tony to have a perfectly healthy body; even if he did work out.   Drinking and partying had not been a smart thing for him back then, since he had a past of getting injured for those nights and when he was reckless in his lab hours of hardly sleeping. He was aging from all those habits. Someday he would not be able to live like he was now. It wouldn’t be smart or healthy to attempt it either by himself.   That had been why he kept Pepper, the one person that he knew he loved dearly. For Happy being a good driver and bodyguard that had put with his antics. And Rhodey—Tony knew he wouldn’t alive without his best friend. He considered themselves to be brothers at this point in his life since it had become a lot more dangerous.   Tony may have been at the prime of his life; but he knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Why can’t I sleep at night? [Science]  

His lab was just cozy. He knew where most of his stuff was and it had made sense. Tony wasn’t an awkward person, he out grew that since he had been shipped off to boarding school. (But he had still liked to being inside his lab where he didn’t have to interact a lot.) It was just a coincidence that he wouldn’t fall asleep either at night.   “Sir, you have reached the limit of your lab hours. It is highly recommended that you put down your tools and get some sleep before your meeting at 6am.”   Tony didn’t put down his screwdriver. “It's barely 1am. That’s too early to crash when I’m close to finishing this bad boy. Besides, I already told Pepper I wouldn’t be going.”   “That may be, however, it is strongly advised and for your health and benefit to sleep more.”   “JARVIS.”   “Sir.”   His A. I shouldn’t have that control over Tony. (But he couldn’t say no when he had sounded so much like—)   “Alright, buddy. You win this round.”   “Thank-you, Sir.”   That didn’t mean that Tony’s streak of not sleeping was cured. He still woke up early and evaded Pepper’s glares. He loved her, very much, but Tony wanted to finish the upgrades for his new suit. The world kept orbiting, kept changing and that meant Tony had to do so too. They would understand. Hopefully without the world burning as a result.

A romantic, candlelit dinner would be incomplete without [self-loathing].  

Being in love with Pepper had not complicated everything else in his life.  

There had been days when it had felt like that, but Tony could say that it had been the world and its rules that been the cause. A lot has happened over the years: Tony had stopped drinking like he did in college, he still had a very small circle of people he liked, and he was Iron Man. But he had been thinking of quitting for a while. He wanted a happy ending.  

(He had almost died a lot of times too, so, Tony really believed that he deserved a bit of slack.)  

It hadn’t like he was saying that he hated his life, Tony just wanted the world to calm down. He wanted a vacation. A slow year. Also, for Pepper to not worry about him and his suits. But then, what was a life in Tony Stark’s without conflict.  

“Tony, I don’t know how long I can keep doing this.”  

And he couldn’t either without her too.  

The accords then happened sometime later. So, that had been something. Then he learned about his parents, Barns and Steve—and Tony thought he knew everything about how to be a proper friend. Apparently, being lied to was still something in his life. But Pepper, she had always been telling the truth. They needed space, and Tony needed to learn how to have a candlelit dinner without self-loathing himself as the dinner got cold.  

He didn’t hate her choice, he had respected it since dating a hero in a dangerous world was asking for much. He knew it had been a tough choice for her to stay away from him; but they both knew he would have been devastated if she got hurt because of his choices.  

Tony still loved her.  

Even when it was quieter now. Bruce was still missing, Rhodey got hurt. And Steve and the others... Tony just wanted a nice night.  

Was that too much to ask?

My life is ruled by a vicious cycle of [daddy issues] and [A constant need for validation.]  

Peter Parker had become the reason the world didn’t look as bleak. Why he had thrown every bottle he had occasional drank from his penthouse and place he knew he visited or slept in. And why he kept checking the vitals for his too young too naive spider-kid. In a matter of small interactions that then been lumped too daily visits, they had it gotten to the point that made Tony scared of how parental he was getting. Rhodey had not been impressed either when he had visited his penthouse. “You’re being too hard on yourself Tones. So, what if Peter called you dad the other day.” He had laughed earlier and teased him, but when it had slipped that Tony was freaking out more than being happy Rhodey had gone straight to what he did best. Comforting his idiot genius. “It just means that the two of you are closer.” Tony had twitched from his best friend’s speech. His hands wanted to do something as there had been an edge of unused energy coursed through him. Pepper had heard the conversation too when he had offered in driving Peter back home. Happy ended up being the one to drive the blushing and stammering teen away but it still hadn’t made it less awkward back to where Tony was with Pepper. It had been a nice moment. She had smiled when she had watched it unfold. But when he had gone stiff and stuck inside his head, she had done her best to usher Tony to sleep after dinner. Now, with Rhodey there, Tony still had been trying to keep his children under the radar. Easier said than done when his best friend had been giving the same looks Pepper knew. It had been tough to keep his emotions at bay since he had people from his circle growing. Although, it had been Peter that made it all harder. He just had that outlook in life that was different, yet the same for Tony to understand. “Howard never gave me any real happy memories as a father.” Tony knew how a life felt like when he had someone like Howard. And since after his death, Tony still felt bitter in the memories that they shared. Unconsciously he had chosen the words dad and father and linked them with Howard’s parenting. That had been why he had wary of kids, why it had stung when Peter called him dad, but it had been with a positive connotation. It had been bittersweet that he had been wincing inside as well melting. It shouldn’t have been confusing or awful that Peter struck that kind of reaction towards Tony. He had wanted a close relationship with him. His parental instincts woke up when he had first met him; and that had only increased after every incident Pete got himself into. He needed to protect him. Needed to get over the word dad from his own father’s bad light. “And?” Tony peered over. “So, if I screw up—” he took a deep breath. “I don't think I can come back if I lose anyone else.” (Especially an innocent kid.) He had lost too many, had risen above all conflicts, but he couldn't risk losing Peter too. “Tony you aren’t Howard and you will never be.” It should have comforted him to hear that out loud. “I know.” He really did. But sometimes it felt like if he slipped and said the wrong thing, he would only inch closer to Howard’s level. “But it doesn’t stop my mind from going there.” When he had met up with Peter it had been on a Monday afternoon after school. Pepper had waved hello to Peter before going to a meeting while Rhodey had been fixing up a late after school snack for them all. Tony had FRIDAY setting up for a movie. “Hey there kid. How was school?” He still felt Rhodey’s subtle glance when he opened up to Peter with an easy smile. (It hadn’t been fake, it couldn’t ever be when it concerned him.) “Oh. Um, okay.” Peter’s backpack was still perched on his shoulders and his curls were growing longer that it started hiding his face from Tony the way he dipped down his head. “In P. E we had to run a mile, so I had to make sure I didn’t run faster than last year.” “Ah.” The silence that stretched where it shouldn’t have been in the first place made him panic. With the snacks ready and the movie playing Tony had been waiting for Peter to talk about that night. Usually he was quick to apologize and overthink everything he said that Tony had been worried when Peter was slower with his puns and smiles. Mid movie, Peter cracked. “Mr. Stark.” His head was still lowered. “Yeah buddy?” “I’m sorry that I called you dad the other day ago.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It just sort of slipped up and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You haven’t finished that project yet? I gave you ample time.” “I’m sorry da—father.”

“Keep ditching classes and roaming around those people will not help you reach into MIT Anthony.” “Yeah, well maybe I don’t want to go there! Maybe I want to have a choice in where my life goes.”

“Tony, please you shouldn’t fight with your father every time we had a meal together as a family.” “I’ll stop when he does.”

Carefully Rhodey had left them to have a private conversation. The movie had been pushed to a mute on command on Tony. “I... didn’t exactly have the best example of what a father should have been while growing up.” “Mr. Stark.” He patted his shoulder. “I know you didn’t mean any harm kid. Seriously, I just don’t want to overstep that position since you had your uncle longer than your bio dad.” “You aren’t.” “What?” Peter looked at him directly with a soft smile. “You aren’t overstepping. I was the one that called you, dad. But if it's too inappropriate then—” Tony cut him off. “No, it's okay. I... you are like the son I never thought I would ever get. I like mentoring you and if you see me like a dad, then I'm proud to call you my son.” “Really?” “Definitely.”

“Mr. Stark?” His head whipped up. “Yeah kid?” The cards had still been mocking him even if he wasn’t looking at them. “It's okay if you don’t want to play the game. I can just clean it up and ask someone else.” “No!” He toned down his voice. “No, we still haven’t started yet.” And they hadn’t. Peter had been explaining the whole game and rules when he saw them. Whether it had been a cosmic joke or not, he didn’t appreciate the timing. Peter didn’t look like he believed that Tony wanted to play the game. And he himself wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea either. Cards Against Humanity would be the death of him, Tony just knew. After all, how could it have been possible for them spelled out his whole life right now? And before it even started. “If you really want to play, I have Sorry and Candy Land too.” “How about Uno?” Peter didn’t bat his eyes. “Of course, I do!” The final score was: Tony 4 — Peter 6.

[hornyliverpudlianputz]

Long-haired weirdos on American TV

Buckle up kiddos; here we fucking go. Alright. In The Monkee fandom this is something we hear a lot about. “The Monkees” was so groundbreaking! It brought rock-n-roll music into America’s living room! It made the counter-culture acceptable! They were the first show to not have an authority figure! They were the first show to present long-haired young musicians as the good guys! And so on and so forth, ad nauseum. We hear this so much, I think it starts to lose its impact, not to mention the fact that for those of us who are not first gen fans (increasingly the majority of us) we lack the cultural context to understand just how significant this show actually was. So without further ado, here are some points to consider.

First, the hair. Looking back now, it seems laughable that in season 1 these guys: x

were considered to have “long hair”. But you have to understand. In the 40s, the US went to war. WWII was a “popular” war, which meant that if you were male you either were a soldier or you idolized soldiers. No homo. But as a result of this trend, military haircuts became popular. That meant short, practical hairstyles with clean-shaven faces. x

In the 50s, the US went back to war in Korea, and again in Vietnam which bled into the 60s. By that time, even though the US was not technically “at war” with anyone, the “young generation” was getting more and more fed up with being sent to fight and die for a cause they didn’t fully understand and were less and less sure they believed in. But in the early and mid 60s, soldiers and veterans were still heroes to the general public. So the growing opposition in the youth became a counter-culture movement, beginning as the beat generation and growing into the hippies.

These people rebelled against everything “mainstream”; they had sex before marriage, they had interracial sex, they had gay sex, they experimented with drugs, they bent gender lines, they wrote about all of the above and published it, they grew beards, and, wonder of wonders, they didn’t crop their hair. 

So in the mid-60s, as a man, if you didn’t keep your hair short, it was public declaration that you rejected the values that America considered to be basic decency. If you let your hair grow, you were labeling yourself a deviant. That line that’s used a few times in the show? About men with long hair not being allowed into Disneyland? That wasn’t a joke, that actually happened.

And more than that, wearing your hair “long” as a man blurred the strict gender divide at the time. We see this a number of times in the show both scripted and not. In one of the post show interviews Davy tells a story about how he was mistaken for a woman on a trip to see his family, both by a fellow passenger and his sister. In another interview Davy is asked about being harassed for his hair. In “Monkees on Tour” Peter compare’s the length of his horse’s mane to his own hair and sarcastically asks if the horse is a “boy or girl”. In “Monkees Mind Their Manor” the man who comes to bring Davy to England mistakes Micky for a girl, and is nearly stabbed with a drumstick for his trouble. The butler in “The Christmas Show” tells the band they were expecting “four gentlemen” when they arrive. (Mike asks if they will accept four ladies who shave. They do.) And the only difference Mr. Babbitt seems to see between Mrs. Arcadian and Micky in “The Chaperone” is hair color.

Now we come to the music, if the hair wasn’t bad enough. Rock-n-roll became a hit the 50s with artists like Elvis and Buddy Holly. (I should point out, among white audiences. Classic rock, like many other popular music genres such as ragtime, jazz, and hip hop, began among black communities first before spreading elsewhere.) 

Rock in the late 50s scandalized older generations. The rhythms were more staccato and less “refined” than the crooners they were used to. Classical instruments like brass or strings were set aside in favor of drums, guitars/basses, and small percussion instruments instead. Performers danced in jerky, abrupt movements on stage while singing, and Elvis in particular made headlines by thrusting his hips which brought sex to the forefront. The name itself, rock-n-roll, derived from a slang term for “the deed” which, disappointingly, makes “sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll” redundant. Adults railed against this new type of music, calling it deviant and unclean. Young people, on the other hand, loved it. 

And this was a bit of a gray area. As I’ll get into later, the idea of “young adults” or teenagers was only just beginning to become a concept. There were two kinds of people in the world, children and adults. And adults wielded absolute authority over children. So no one really knew what to do with the people old enough to chafe against authority but young enough to not be respected as one. 

But the adults couldn’t deny that fact that rock music was extremely popular with young people. Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Elvis, The Beatles, and the list was only growing. As a result, this “rock fad” became an in-joke, something for those in power to mock. Look at any popular sitcom in the 60s and I guarantee it has a “rock band” episode that depicts a Beatles-esque band with their bangs in their eyes playing a sham parody of “music” while wildly and completely un-rhythmically “dancing”. 

In “F-Troop” it’s “That’s Show Biz”. In “Gilligan’s Island” it’s “Don’t Bug the Mosquitoes”. In “The Dick Van Dyke Show” it’s “The Redcoats are Coming”. Such groups were always met with confusion and derision, and usually shrugged off in the end as “well whatever, but it’s not ‘Real Music’”. These bands were put in as commentary on current, real-life counterparts (mostly The Beatles) and they were meant to be laughed at. x

In the show the boys are often met with derision or outright animosity in regards to their music. The pilot, “Here Come The Monkees”, has a father reluctant to let them play at a country club, and even breaks down crying that he’s “sold out” (to rock culture) when the boys go on at the end. In “Monkees at the Circus” the circus performers are angry in general at what they see as no talent entertainers taking away their lively hoods. And we see how well-received the boys are by the “style gurus” in “Monkees a la Mode”.

Now let’s see, so far we have hairstyles that label you as “deviant” and a music genre that does the same thing. What else could we possibly throw in? Ah yes. Let’s take away all adult authority figures! As I mentioned before, young people in the 60s were just starting to have a voice of their own. The world was divided into adults and children, and adults ruled with an iron fist. Children needed to be guided, taught, and above all else controlled lest they stray into poor decisions. And adults were the only ones who could possibly tell “right” from “wrong”.

But on “The Monkees” there was no authority. The boys were their own moral compass, though Mike came pretty close to acting as the “dad” most of the time. In fact most of the adults on the show are either villains or someone who need the boys’ help. And make no mistake, despite all of them being in their early 20s Peter, Mike, Micky, and Davy were playing boys. They are almost universally referred to as such by every adult figure in the show, and make several comments themselves about being “too young to get married” or the like. Their characters were most likely not meant to be older than 17 or 18. (I think one of them has a line somewhere about being 16 but I can’t pin it down.) x

And all of this is not even mentioning the fact that, besides being “musicians”, the guys are unemployed! Between gigs and odd jobs, they’re “bums” who can’t “get a real job” which was, and still is, Not A Good Thing. But ultimately their career choice is treated as a serious one in the show. Their music is never a joke, and a number of times they use it to help people.

So. Long story short. “The Monkees” took a staunchly counter-culture style, a “deviant” music genre, thumbed their noses at authority, combined it all together and mixed well with a type of sharp, witty comedy that would have gotten nasty looks at the country club. Then they took aim at teens and tweens across the country and struck gold.  Turns out the young generation did have something of substance to say after all.

[michaelandy101-blog]

8 Modern Tips for Marketing to Millennials

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/8-modern-tips-for-marketing-to-millennials/

8 Modern Tips for Marketing to Millennials

You’ve seen the articles lamenting the death of certain industries and changing consumer attitudes, all paying tribute (negatively or positively) to a certain generation born in the 80s and 90s. It seems that journalists love to write about Millennials and marketers love to analyze them. Why, though? 

Boomers hold 57% of the wealth in the U.S. and are at peak buying power. With that in mind, is there a reason we never seem to stop hearing about Millennials?

Why Millennials Are Important to Marketers

As Millennials enter their 30s and 40s, often with student loans or young children, they haven’t yet reached their full buying power compared to GenXers or Boomers. Nonetheless, there are multiple reasons to pay attention to this generation: 

1. Millennials are the most lucrative market.

Even though as a group, they haven’t reached their full buying power yet, their buying power eclipses that of other generations. They make up 25% of the population, and with an estimated annual buying power of over a trillion dollars, they are the most lucrative market. Plain and simple: Nearly every marketer today is making Generation Y a priority – or at least working to understand what drives and delights this instrumental group.

2. Millennials switch brands. 

Millennial market research performed by Daymon Worldwide suggests that only 29% of Millennials will buy the same brand, which is a much lower brand loyalty score compared to previous generations. 

This indicates that brands must do more to attract and keep Millennial customers, leading to the need for constant innovation on marketers’ and service teams’ parts.

3. Millennials are tech-savvy. 

According to Pew Research, “Almost all Millennials (nearly 100%) now say they use the internet.” Having grown up with or only slightly before the internet, Millennials are not shy about using technology. This is attractive to brands who sell technology or use technology to sell. 

4. Millennials use devices. 

Pew Research also found that 9 out of 10 Millennials have a smart phone. With widespread device ownership and use comes a higher likelihood of consuming web content, which gives rise to different modes of marketing.

One key element that justifies Millennial domination of the marketplace is the fact this new marketing style – which we’ll delve into in just a minute – isn’t just a fad. Here, we’ll discuss important tactics for marketing to the demographic of the hour and explain why these tactics are lasting ones.

How to Market to Millennials

Create authentic content.

Ditch outbound marketing methods.

Be informative with inbound marketing, instead.

Put them first and connect organically.

Market with intention rather than latching on to gimmicky marketing fads.

Be open to collaboration.

Push the convenient and practical side.

Lean into the fun and the experiential.

1. Create authentic content.

Millennials are spending an average of 242 minutes online or using apps per day, and they’re craving content-driven media. They’re scouring websites, blogs, and social media because they feel empowered by all of the remarkable content they’re discovering. They’re also sharing, liking, pinning, tweeting, snapping, forwarding, and commenting on all of their findings to impart this sense of empowerment to the online community. So, what makes this type of content really resonate with this group? Millennials trust what they feel is authentic.

Interacting in a user-centric environment is what engages them, as 90% of Millennials say authenticity is important to them when deciding which brands they support. Today, young shoppers’ attitudes and behavior are largely inspired by people they know in person or online, or even strangers who share their interests on social networks. Millennials carry these “advisors” with them on their smartphones and everywhere they go. They trust relevant, authentic opinions from real product users they can relate to. In fact, Millennials believe that user-generated content is 35% more memorable than other media.

For brands that want to successfully reach Gen Y-ers, they simply need to speak their language. People ages 18 to 34 will perk up when hearing or reading words that could have come from the mouths of their peers, as these messages warrant comfort and trust. When you offer your audience content they would proudly share with others, you’re building a real brand-consumer relationship.

2. Ditch outbound marketing methods.

Millennials want to feel connected and involved when it comes to their purchases, and traditional marketing does not encourage this. Outbound marketing methods, like magazine ads, direct mail campaigns, and radio spots, do not impress Millennials. In the mind of a young consumer, these campaigns are impersonal and company-focused, filled with logos and void of any real substance. This generation demands more customer-driven, personalized marketing. Only 1% of Millennials say a compelling advertisement can build trust (Crowdtap).

That’s why these young consumers do a lot of their research via blogs, forums, and YouTube videos. Odds are that an intrusive ad isn’t going to be a deciding factor. While such ads may be relevant to the person’s search history and may put the idea in the their head, seeing it wasn’t their choice. Millennials feel empowered to make their own online choices – which are usually inspired by their peers or other authentic content.

3. Be informative with inbound marketing, instead.

Millennials support businesses that are dedicated to improving their customers’ lives with informative content. Rather than product and service listings, Millennials want e-books, whitepapers, blog posts, videos, and other how-to information – and that’s inbound marketing. They appreciate thought leadership and expertise, so this is your company’s chance to provide killer content that ranks highly in Google and show young consumers that you’re the industry buff.

Mac Cosmetics’ YouTube page is a great example of how brands can offer their audience how-to’s from the experts. People want helpful guidance, and when your company takes the time to provide that, they appreciate it and respect what you stand for. Mac is giving young viewers exactly what they want, where they’ll find it. 54% of Millennials check YouTube daily, so utilizing YouTube is perfect. A Millennial makeup lover is much more likely to tell her friends to check out Mac’s makeup tutorials than show her friends a print ad of Mac talking about how great they are. 

4. Put them first and connect organically.

Millennials want to feel like your content was created with their interest (not their wallet) in mind. When this is the case, they are more organically introduced to purchasing your products or services. Without ever being “pushy,” your educational content helps build strong brand-consumer relationships. People appreciate honesty, and brands with transparent campaigns win.

And, what’s more transparent than encapsulating the spontaneous adventures of travelers in hostels – with skinny dipping? Hostelworld’s Meet the World advertising campaign, which features genuine travelers that are strangers upon meeting and share a once in a lifetime adventure of skinny dipping, celebrates real travelers in real places who crave adventures, not souvenirs. This successfully speaks to Millennials because it screams “Live!” instead of “Buy!” – and that’s something that’ll stick with them. Most young people would rather have an unforgettable experience than seek out luxury, and Hostelworld gets that. 

5. Market with intention rather than latching on to gimmicky marketing fads.

If you think content marketing is a passing trend, think again! Here are some key examples of how content marketing has succeeded over the years:

1895: John Deere introduces The Furrow, a free publication with tons of farming tips and techniques to help farmers become more profitable. Today, it’s available in more than 40 countries and in 12 different languages.

1900: Michelin Tires released a 400-page auto maintenance guide with everyday drivers in mind, and also included travel tips. 35,000 copies were distributed free of charge before the company started selling the manual for a profit.

1904: Jell-O circulated free copies of its own cookbook, highlighting creative ways to use the unique product. In 2 years, the company saw sales increase to over $1 million annually.

1966: Nike released a 19-page booklet titled Jogging. It was filled with advice on enjoying running as a recreational activity, including posture and striking tips. This brought running, as a sport, to America, and it never once mentioned a Nike shoe.

We know that Millennial consumers value awesome, authentic content – so it looks like content marketing isn’t going away anytime soon. The inbound methodology, with its emphasis on strong and consistent content creation, is not a fad and will continue to win over your ideal customers. 

6. Be open to collaboration. 

Today, Millennials are interested in having a say and becoming product co-creators. In fact, 42 percent said they are interested in helping companies develop future products and services. In our society, companies usually create products and hope that their target market will consume them. When it comes to Millennials, they want to be more involved with how products get created. So, companies that enable them to be part of the product development process will be more successful. Marketers need to focus on building relationships with consumers by fueling their self-expression and helping them establish their own personal brand.

Coca-Cola used online co-creation to gather expressions of its brand promise “Energizing refreshment.” They prompted their audience to unleash their creativity by interpreting Coca-Cola as an energizing refreshment in whatever style or format they wished. Coca-Cola gathered these videos, animations, illustrations, and photographs to use in its marketing campaigns worldwide. This method was mutually beneficially in that Millennials all over the world got to pour a bit of themselves into a product made for them, while helping Coca-Cola bring fresh authenticity to the market. 

7. Push the convenient and practical side.

Millennials prefer use over ownership, saying they would rather pay full price to access an item when they need it as opposed to owning it. These shoppers would rather rent, share, and barter than buy.

In this new “sharing economy,” mobile services and apps such as Spotify and Airbnb, and fashion sites like Rent the Runway and Relapse Clothing, have taken advantage of this crucial opportunity. This is also a new trend in the automotive industry. According to an analysis recently released by car-buying platform Edmunds, Millennials are acquiring cars – they’re just not buying them. Instead, they’re opting to lease more luxurious, tech-forward cars than they could otherwise afford to buy, such as Ram, GMC, and Lexus models. Capitalizing on this “sharing” mentality is a smart move for modern businesses, especially those targeting Millennials. Offer more creative and feasible options so that, in case consumers can’t yet buy, they can at least try. 

8. Lean into the fun and the experiential.

Young consumers increasingly see the act of researching and browsing for a purchase more compelling than the purchase itself. Millennials tend to crave the experience of shopping more than the purchase. In other words, online exploration is becoming more than a means to an end, with many young shoppers viewing e-commerce as a form of entertainment. This phenomenon has been coined as “Fauxsumerism.” Pinterest is a perfect example of how the shopping journey can also become an act of personal expression. This social platform, which helps users catalog prospective purchases by curating collections of items of interest, accurately reflects the facts that 40 percent of Millennials make wish lists of products they want to buy (The Intelligence Group).

Successful companies understand that young consumers want to have an enjoyable online browsing experience, which is why brands like Etsy show off their products on Pinterest, making perusing and pinning fun and social. No matter what platform you use, you should market to Millennials in entertaining ways in order to effectively engage them and inspire activity.

Marketing to Millennials is a long-term play because this group is wired for authentic, content-driven, honest experiences that cater to who they are and their voices they yearn to share. Empower them with the pieces they’re looking for in this puzzling world and remind them that, because of their generation, the bigger picture is looking brighter. Keep this sentiment in mind as you consider millennials as one of your buyer personas.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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[thegamingjunkie-blog]

Pokemon Generation 1 Review

It was the year 1998, a new fad had just been released in the US. Pokemon fever took it's toll on everyone throughout the entire country, both young and old. What started off as a RPG for the Game Boy in Japan had become a huge success in the US with the release of the Anime. When news broke about various merchandise coming out shortly after the first episode aired, young fans asked and begged their parents to get the first set of Pokemon games which were known as "Pokemon Blue and Red versions." At the time the games were initially released, I was without a Game Boy. That all changed about a year later when my best friend gave me his old brick game boy since he just got a Game Boy Color and a Copy of Red and Yellow for his birthday. Without his parents permission, he even gave me his copy of Yellow version too which didn't go over so well, since I had to return it back to him a few days after getting it from him... But my uncle was kind enough to get me a copy of Blue version used. Sure it was different from Yellow in some ways, but I was just happy to get a copy of a Pokemon game. I chose Squirtle as my first starter, and started my journey as a Pokemon Trainer. Now in the year 2017, I'm still a huge fan of the franchise. I used to watch the anime whenever I got the chance, and I even have a collection of cards too. But that's besides the point of this review right? Let's get down to the nitty gritty. The first element I'm going to look at is the story line, because what good is a RPG without a story? Ah yes the story line of Pokemon (or Pocket Monsters as it's known in Japan.) You start off your journey as a 10 year old from Pallet Town. Your rival, which also happens to be Professor Oak's grand son lives next to you. The two of you are sent off on a journey to become "Pokemon Masters." According to Oak, in order to become a master you must catch all 151* Pokemon and collect all 8 Gym Badges to take on the Elite Four. Once you succesfully defeat all the gym leaders and the elite four, your next goal is to complete the Pokedex. The storyline is pretty weak for a standard RPG. Basically all it's based around is a young child trying to become the best. That's it really, well except for when you encounter Team Rocket. Who exactly is Team Rocket? They are a criminal group who are hell bent on stealing other trainer's Pokemon, and their leader Giovanni wants to control Pokemon to do his evil bidding. So throughout your journey you encounter the thugs and stop their plans in a few different towns. So you do have your standard bad guys just like in every RPG. But looking at it from a different angle, it's a pretty weak story compared to other RPGs. *(Nintendo wanted to trick us into thinking that there were only 150 Pokemon, and that Mew was the 151th Pokemon. We were supposed to only be able to get it from a event, but there's a exploit that I will get into later that allows you to obtain it.) Next we'll look at the gameplay mechanics. It's a turned based RPG, so if you don't like turned based RPGs you won't like the main Pokemon games. Players compete with other trainers coded in the game, to help raise their Pokemon. You can only have up to six Pokemon with you at a time, which is pretty cool seeing how more standard RPGs only allow you to have up to three characters in your party at a time. You also can compete with real life players, by using a link cable. From there you can trade and battle friends who also own a copy of the games. This is crucial if you're wanting to complete your Pokedex, however it doesn't effect the main storyline at all. Now in Pokemon you don't get items to equip your team with. However you can use items that can increase your Pokemon stats such as Carbos and the like. There are different elements in the game. They are Grass, Fire, Water, Fighting, Flying, Psychic, Ground, Rock, Normal, Ghost, Dragon, Ice, and Electric. Learning the type advantages will help you win in battle. Some types such as Ghost cannot be effected by physical moves so keep that in mind. The game play mechanics are basically what makes Pokemon stand out above some other RPGs. I'll take the time to talk about the music and graphics in this next paragraph. The music is very catchy for 8-bit chiptunes. The composers did a great job using the limited space and instruments available for use on the Gameboy. I still listen to the soundtrack from time to time and the songs get stuck in my head. The graphics aren't too bad either. The sprite work done in the game is pretty decent, but was improved from Blue/Red in Yellow. Japanese Green and Red have some of the ugliest sprites, but thankfully those were changed in our versions of Blue and Red. Another advantage that Yellow version has over Blue/Red is that the game takes advantage of the extra vram found in the Game Boy Color, so the game itself plays in color. Blue and Red are monochrome Gameboy games, so they only show up as a few shades of color while played on a Game Boy Color. However they do have Super Game Boy palettes, so it shows up in color, only more washed out than in Yellow version. Let's take a look at the major cons of the first generation of Pokemon. The main con with these games is how broken they are. These games are riddled with glitches, and some were recently discovered. For one example, there is a glitched item known as 8F that can allow the player to write their own code from within the game that can cause damage to the save file or other player's save files. The generation 1 Pokemon games are the most broken games I have ever played. But honestly they can only be exploited if you know what you're doing. Final verdict: Overall the first generation of Pokemon games are decent at best. This is how the franchise started in Japan, and usually things get better as they progress. While the game play mechanics are pretty nifty, the story line is rather bland while compared to other RPGs. These games are also broken, and exploiting certain common glitches can make the game too easy to complete. Honestly the game itself is easy to beat with just one Pokemon used in battle. The generation 1 games get a 5 out of 10 from me. Yet I like to rate the gen 1 games as my third favorite generation of Pokemon. But as a standard RPG, it gets a mediocre score from me. Play the newer games if you are new to Pokemon. There are new types, lots of new creatures, and new game mechanics that are so much better than what's in the gen 1 games.

[cathrynstreich]

Dream Big. Stay Humble.

Realty ONE Group Creates a Legacy for the Future 

Editor’s Note: This is the cover story in the June issue of RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine. Subscribe today. 

Real estate in the next two to three years? We can only imagine. And if we dare to, we’ll probably fall short of foreseeing the change that will occur in our industry in just 24 months. Change so fast you can’t look away.

Realty ONE Group is keenly focused on it, innovating their technology, training and marketing services, and orchestrating key partnerships to not just be a part of that change, but to drive it.

This is “ONE” company that always seeks bigger. Looks farther. Knows there is more.

Since the company’s inception, Realty ONE Group CEO and Founder Kuba Jewgieniew and his bright and talented executive team and staff, who are committed to the same principles and values upon which he founded the company, have been determined to build an organization with the staying power of the Fortune 500 greats. To do that, they know it’s not about just pivoting on the newest technologies or adopting the latest marketing fad.

It’s about looking beyond the immediate future. Not just anticipating change, but seeking it out.

Like the precious face of the hopeful young girl on this magazine’s cover, there’s a bright and exciting future ahead for the next several generations. Realty ONE Group knows it would be a shame to get distracted by what’s right in front of us.

Why It Happened 

Realty ONE Group is committed to driving change…for generations to come.

It was just too much: the amount of money that Jewgieniew (pronounced Yev-gen-yev) paid to his broker when he did 111 transactions and more than $30 million in volume as an agent in his first full year in real estate in 2004.

“It was too much to leave on the table when I did all the work,” says Jewgieniew. “I was grinding it out and loving what I was doing, but never saw my broker until I had to hand over my commission. I realized quickly that there had to be a better way and that I wasn’t the only one feeling like this.”

Like with everything in his life that causes him discomfort, the spark ignited and Jewgieniew looked for a solution, not just for him, but for anyone experiencing the same angst. And he walked out the door.

Based on a 100-percent commission model, Jewgieniew created Realty ONE Group to give real estate professionals a better life. (Note: Jewgieniew refuses to call them agents. Using the term “professionals,” he believes, gives them the respect they command.) But, from the beginning, he wanted something different for everyone—buyers and sellers, office staff, online traffic, friends, neighbors, partners, anyone who crosses paths with Realty ONE Group at any time. It has to be a whole different experience, or it’s just not good enough.

Jewgieniew and the Realty ONE Group team make a big impression at their first NAR Convention, 2018.

The Very Definition of Humble Beginnings We love a good “rise to greatness” story, and Jewgieniew has one. His mom, Elizabeth, and his dad, Jerzy, met at a young age in Poland and started their family with nothing. His dad was a mechanic by trade, but did his best work as an inventor. They seeded their only boy, a young, determined, sometimes mischievous Jewgieniew, with both humility and ambition. His parents instilled hard work and drive in their son the same way most parents instill manners and good hygiene. But it wasn’t an easy start, as the family had very little money.

“Despite what little we had, I’m so grateful to my parents for giving me what I consider to be the perfect start in life,” says Jewgieniew. “For me, it was the combination of freedom and guidance, passion and gratitude, and, ultimately, love that shaped me.”

His family immigrated to America and continued to build a better life. Jewgieniew worked his own way through college and, after graduating from the University of California, San Diego, started a lucrative career as a financial planner and portfolio manager. But he’s an inventor like his father, and was building hardware and software programs on the side; always curious, always exploring what could be.

Affecting people and creating change are what Jewgieniew values most about his role in creating one of real estate’s fastest-growing and most disruptive franchisors today.

The One Difference 

The energy is palpable at Basecamp, a leadership retreat.

With his eye fixed on what he considers an industry mired in traditions, Jewgieniew and his leadership team know that real estate will look entirely different in the next decade and that the stakes are high as competition continues to flood the playing field.

To entice anxious real estate agents and would-be franchise owners hoping to build on retirement, you have to not only stand out, but also let them know you’re here to stay. To do that, you have to prove you have the foresight for what’s to come and that you’re thinking of not only their children, but also their children’s children. And for Realty ONE Group, that means acting differently.

“Creating new, compelling experiences for people is what it’s all about for Kuba,” says Mike Clear, Realty ONE Group’s chief operating officer, who joined the company in 2017. “He truly believes that life is just too short to be unoriginal, and it’s hard not to believe it, too, when you’re around him.”

There’s a bright and exciting future ahead for the next several generations.

The make-it-different lens is used on everything, so much so that it has become second nature to the Realty ONE Group team.

“We’ll usually map out a project and then immediately flip it on its head,” says Clear. “By the time we complete it, it can, and usually does, look totally different from our original concept.”

That happened when the Laguna Niguel, Calif., office lease came up, prompting a move to a new space. Plans for the new Realty ONE Group “Hub”—named as such to avoid any implication of an ivory-tower headquarters office—changed repeatedly as the team burst with new, fun ideas meant to give the staff a reason to want to come to work. The Hub has a front entrance made entirely of glass—giving the illusion of not having a front door—and the brand’s signature black and gold cover are splashed all over the walls with vivid canvas portraits of Realty ONE Group’s love and laughter. A turf and gold ball soccer wall, shipping container conference room, zen garden and coffee barista are alone worth going in for a tour, and, of course, everyone is welcome.

“The passion Kuba has for everything he does is so infectious that it fuels us all to dream and imagine and go big—really big,” says Chief Brand Officer David King, who led the marketing and branding efforts for an expansive U.S. mortgage company before joining Realty ONE Group in 2017. “Every space in the new Hub was an opportunity for us to add meaning to our environment—to give our team something to think about or to be inspired by or to simply enjoy.”

Every space in Realty ONE Group’s new Hub provides the opportunity to add meaning to the work environment.

Another preview of the difference will come when Realty ONE Group launches its new website later this year, promising to look nothing like any other real estate website.

“The key is to not just create something to be different,” says King. “We do it to elevate the experience, give people something to be excited about and hope that it leads them to their own inspiration. At the end of the day, we do it for people.”

One Cares 

Giving back is a key piece for Realty ONE Group’s “coolture.”

Jewgieniew’s passion transfers to whatever he fixes his gaze on, including the disadvantaged and underprivileged, which led the team to establish ONE Cares in 2014, the official 501(c)3 arm for Realty ONE Group. It was a real way to solidify the company’s commitment to giving back to its family of agents and to others in need.

For years, the company and its real estate professionals have raised money, donated, hosted charity events, volunteered and worked together to make an impact on a variety of organizations. And ONE Cares has helped its own agents who suffered loss or faced challenges.

That work will continue, and in a big way. The company plans to do much more in the years to come and with a greater focus on nonprofit organizations that are committed to really making change and benefiting others.

In recent months, Jewgieniew pledged $11,111 to kickstart 2019 fundraising for ONE Cares, and he recently donated another $11,111 (see the ONE again) to S.A.F.E., or the Stop Abuse for Everyone non-profit organization, on behalf of husband and wife agents in his Temecula, Calif., office who lost a daughter to domestic violence.

“This is really how we make a difference,” says Jewgieniew. “Beyond helping people buy and sell homes, we can instantly impact lives by just doing our part. And that’s the legacy we want to leave for our kids and for our families.”

Realty ONE Group just celebrated its 14th anniversary on May 1, and unlike other cake-filled anniversary celebrations, the Realty ONE Group offices and its agents celebrated with a company-wide day of giving. It’s become a tradition symbolic of the company’s high value on people and making an impact.

But Still, There Is Fun 

Giving back is a key piece for Realty ONE Group’s “coolture.”

One of the hallmarks for the Realty ONE Group culture is fun, which is why the company coined its own term, “coolture.”

“Contrary to popular opinion, work and fun don’t have to be separate experiences,” says King, who orchestrated the company’s biggest convention to date, the ONE Summit, this past March at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. “We packed ONE Summit with fun, valuable and memorable experiences so our real estate professionals would know we’re here to help them not just be more successful, but enjoy their jobs.”

Realty ONE Group hosted memorable speakers like Earvin “Magic” Johnson and U.S. Navy Seal Rob O’Neill, while celebrating award winners with a formal masquerade party open to all attendees. The company also broke a Guinness World Record by creating the largest word out of dice—the ONE logo—with 11,111 gold and black dice, each carefully placed by convention-goers.

Work and fun went hand in hand at ONE Summit, the company’s biggest convention to date.

“It was the typical case of Kuba finding a way to let Realty ONE Group real estate professionals be a part of something unique and memorable,” says King.

And for the company, there’s no telling what memories will be made next as it continues to add onto the company’s army of real estate professionals and places an office in all 50 states while looking to expand into new countries.

Like a blockbuster movie, you definitely want to stay until after the credits just to get a teaser of what’s next.

For more information, please visit www.realtyonegroup.com.

Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com.

The post Dream Big. Stay Humble. appeared first on RISMedia.

Dream Big. Stay Humble. published first on https://thegardenresidences.tumblr.com/

[hollywoodjuliorivas]

Go Ahead, Millennials, Destroy Us

By TIM KREIDERMARCH 2, 2018

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As with all historic tipping points, it seems inevitable in retrospect: Of course it was the young people, the actual victims of the slaughter, who have finally begun to turn the tide against guns in this country. Kids don’t have money and can’t vote, and until now burying a few dozen a year has apparently been a price that lots of Americans were willing to pay to hold onto the props of their pathetic role-playing fantasies. But they forgot what adults always forget: that our children grow up, and remember everything, and forgive nothing.

Those kids have suddenly understood how little their lives were ever worth to the people in power. And they’ll soon begin to realize how efficient and endless are the mechanisms of governance intended to deflect their appeals, exhaust their energy, deplete their passion and defeat them. But anyone who has ever tried to argue with adolescents knows that in the end they will have a thousand times more energy for that fight than you and a bottomless reservoir of moral rage that you burned out long ago.

Like most people in middle age, I regard young people with suspicion. The young — and the young at mind — tend to be uncompromising absolutists. They haven’t yet faced life’s heartless compromises and forfeitures, its countless trials by boredom and ethical Kobayashi Marus, or glumly watched themselves do everything they ever disapproved of.

I am creeped out by the increasing dogmatism and intolerance of millennials on the left; I felt a generational divide open up under me last year when everyone under 40 seemed to agree that Dana Schutz’s painting of Emmett Till in his coffin should be removed from the Whitney Biennial. When I was young it seemed the natural order of things that conservatives were the prudes and scolds who wanted books banned and exhibitions closed, while we liberals got to be the gadflies and iconoclasts. I know that whenever you disapprove of young people, you’re in the wrong, because you’re going to die and they’ll get to write history, but I just can’t help noticing that the liberal side isn’t much fun to be on anymore.

Yet this uprising of the young against the ossified, monolithic power of the National Rifle Association has reminded me that the flaws of youth — its ignorance, naïveté and passionate, Manichaean idealism — are also its strengths. Young people have only just learned that the world is an unfair hierarchy of cruelty and greed, and it still shocks and outrages them. They don’t understand how vast and intractable the forces that have shaped this world really are and still think they can change it. Revolutions have always been driven by the young.

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Ever since Columbine, almost 20 years ago, I’ve absorbed the news of more mass shootings than I can count with an ulcerating rage that gradually scabbed over into deadened cynicism. To those of us who have lived with certain grim realities our whole adult lives — the widening moat between the rich and the rest of us, the sclerotic influence of money on politics, the N.R.A.’s unassailable coalition of greed and fear — they seem like facts of life as unalterable as death itself.

I’d come to the conclusion that America has always been a violent nation, from our founding genocide to the slave labor that built the country to the arsenal, unprecedented in human history, that maintains our empire. We spend $60 billion a year on pets but won’t go to any inconvenience to keep second graders from getting slaughtered. Despite all our competitive parenting and mommy machismo and trophy kids, we don’t really give a damn about our children — by which I mean, about one another’s. When a race stops caring for its young, its extinction is not only imminent but well deserved. But maybe my bitter complacence about our civilization’s irreversible decline is just a projection of my feelings about my own.

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Power is like money: imaginary, entirely dependent upon belief. Most of the power of institutions lies in the faith people have in them. And cynicism is also a kind of faith: the faith that nothing can change, that those institutions are corrupt beyond all accountability, immune to intimidation or appeal. Harvey Weinstein ultimately wasn’t the one enforcing the code of silence around his predations: It was all the agents and managers and friends and colleagues who warned actresses that he was too powerful to accuse.

Once people stopped believing in his invulnerability, his destruction was as instantaneous as the middle school queen being made a pariah. Watch: As soon as the first N.R.A. A-rated congressman loses an election, other politicians’ deeply held convictions about Second Amendment rights will start rapidly evolving.

The students of Parkland are like veterans coming home from the bloody front of the N.R.A.’s de facto war on children. They’ve seen their friends, teachers and coaches gunned down in the halls. To them, powerful Washington lobbyists and United States senators suddenly look like what they are: cheesy TV spokesmodels for murder weapons. It has been inspiring and thrilling to watch furious, cleareyed teenagers shame and vilify gutless politicians and soul-dead lobbyists for their complicity in the murders of their friends. Last week Wayne LaPierre was reduced to gibbering like Gen. Jack D. Ripper in “Dr. Strangelove” about a “socialist” takeover and “hardening” our schools. You could see the whites all around his irises. That look is fear.

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One of my students once asked me, when I was teaching the writing of political op-ed essays, why adults should listen to anything young people had to say about the world. My answer: because they’re afraid of you. They don’t understand you. And they know you’re going to replace them.

My message, as an aging Gen X-er to millennials and those coming after them, is: Go get us. Take us down — all those cringing provincials who still think climate change is a hoax, that being transgender is a fad or that “socialism” means purges and re-education camps. Rid the world of all our outmoded opinions, vestigial prejudices and rotten institutions. Gender roles as disfiguring as foot-binding, the moribund and vampiric two-party system, the savage theology of capitalism — rip it all to the ground. I for one can’t wait till we’re gone. I just wish I could live to see the world without us.

Tim Kreider is the author of the essay collections “I Wrote This Book Because I Love You” and “We Learn Nothing.”

[ralphmorgan-blog1]

Meet Genies, the lifelike personalized avatars that reenact news

“We plan on making Bitmoji obsolete,” says Akash Nigam, CEO of Genies. Bragging about beating one of the world’s top apps before his has even launched is emblematic of Nigam’s and Genies’ brash style. But with $15 million in funding at a valuation over $100 million, top investors like NEA and Hollywood royalty like CAA are buying into the avatar startup. It already has 680,000 kids waitlisted to sign up for the Genies iOS app that launches today.

“If, God forbid, Donald Trump bombs North Korea, you’ll see your Genie riding a nuke to North Korea,” says Nigam. Whether that idea makes you giggle or roll your eyes, this is Genies’ plan “to be the next BuzzFeed,” the 24-year-old CEO tells me. “Your Genie is the star of the show. The script is whatever happens in the world that day.”

It all starts with customizing your big-headed, photorealistic Genie avatar. While Snapchat-owned Bitmoji look like a comic strip, Genies are closer to Pixar. First you’ll select a personality type that determines some of the scenes you’ll see, based on clouds of brands like Coachella, BuzzFeed and Supreme for cool kids, or TechCrunch and the BBC for techies. Then, using the Genies trait selector wheels, you can quickly scrub through tons of options for a dozen characteristics, like face shape, hair and eyes. Finally, you’ll outfit your Genie in clothes ranging from generic shirts to popular brands.

Genies sends you 10 to 15 animated scenes throughout each day that are around 10 seconds long and feature your avatar. They include quirky little situations for holidays like Christmas, cultural staples like hungover-Sundays and ones based on the top daily news for your personality type. Human editors review the scenes for factual accuracy, coherence and humor, and can tweak them before they’re sent out. Typically, new scenes will arrive quietly in the Genies app, with notifications reserved for huge breaking news or batched digests of updates.

Nigam says Genies taps more than 1 million sources with a focus on reputable news outlets to figure out what’s trending as early as possible. He claims that Genies’ art team and AI have built millions of pre-designed creative assets, and that the AI can actually piece them together to automatically create the animated scenes. If all the blogs are reporting Elon Musk’s plan to colonize mars, then it will cobble together space, stars and Elon himself to show your Genie rocketing to the Red Planet alongside the headline.

You can swipe up to read the top source article for the news. But what Genies really encourages is you messaging the video scenes to friends via other apps like Instagram Direct, Facebook Messenger or Snapchat. “Everyone has Giphy, but they use it everywhere else. Exact same thing with us,” Nigam tells me.

The idea is to leverage vanity to make the news seem interesting and shareable, and deliver it through a social app instead of a traditional media publisher. “At our age, we get the majority of our news from Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram.” And for added virality and personalization, many scenes include an empty silhouette you can fill with a celebrity of your choice, like Trump or Kylie Jenner, or insert a friend so you act out the scene with your buddy. If Facebook taught us anything, it’s that people will always open a notification if they get tagged in an image.

Overall, the Genies look great, with much more nuance than you see in alternatives with either fewer customization options or that rely on facial detection. Nigam says he’s not a believer in technologies for automatic avatar generation, saying that even small inaccuracies can be jarring, and testers enjoyed the personalization process. If Genies just released an emoji keyboard with the avatars so you could use them anywhere, it could prove popular.

But the animated scenes are often gimmicky, crass or even offensive. Over a few days of testing, I saw ones advocating for beer bonging, pot brownies, study drugs like Adderall and pouring crappy vodka into Grey Goose bottles to save money. Nigam defended the content, saying these were “party-oriented” for a “young demo where they share and learn through the lens of pop culture.” Others like “Wanted: Holiday Bang Buddy” might be too lewd even for college kids. And one even parodied the important NFL protests of racism and police brutality, featuring students “taking a knee” to get out of a pop quiz. That should never have made it past the human editors.

Those that weren’t worrisome often felt mediocre, like showing two avatars building a sandcastle to represent an article about Facebook launching the Messenger Kids app. Your Genie runs across the screen dropping bitcoin before someone bursts the bubble in one of today’s scenes. Perhaps the best one I saw was a mock-up for what Genies could have sent after the Las Vegas mass shooting tragedy that encouraged people to read a Newsweek article about how to give blood.

As a social app, the avatars are too contorted into specific situations for general use, and as a news reader, it feels haphazard and inefficient. The team has a powerful idea, and the graphics are pretty, but the execution on the content needs work.

Trying to make magic

“We did a bunch of apps, and they sucked,” Nigam says about previous products his team built before Genies. “We’d think they were gonna blow up and there’d be 16 users.” Born and raised in Silicon Valley’s Mountain View, Nigam is the kind of guy who’s been dreaming of launching his own app since he was old enough to be allowed to use them.

Genies co-founder and CEO Akash Nigam

He met his co-founders during hackathons while studying computer science at University of Michigan. They raised a seed round and built a failed group chat app called Blend while working out of a tiny room attached to a mosque in San Jose. They had a weak exit opportunity for Blend and turned it down. Seeing Bitmoji hover around App Store No. 1 for years convinced them there were greater riches in the avatar space.

Now they’ve pivoted Blend into Genies with $15 million over a few rounds of funding from traditional investors like NEA, Foundation Capital, Box Group, Great Oaks, Lerer Ventures and Trinity Ventures. The entertainment industry was also hot to trot, with backing coming from CAA Ventures, production company Management 360, Prizeo/Represent’s Bobby Maylack and former Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull. And strategic celebrities are also funding the startup, including NBA star Russell Westbrook, the football great Joe Montana, musician Shawn Mendes and former Vine stars Cameron Dallas and Jake Paul.

They see plenty of revenue opportunities in Genies, which could easily do product placement and sponsored content in its animated scenes. “Your Genie doing a Gatorade shower,” Nigam suggests. “We can monetize any time we want to turn on the spigot.” The startup also plans to let you buy the clothes you put on your Genie, or even get your avatar plastered on custom merchandise. “Brands get really fascinated by the wheels. We could do an entire Supreme wheel,” he explains, referring to the trendy urban fashion wear line.

Now the company has Silicon Valley and LA offices, plus engineering in Bucharest. “We take kids from the streets into our office every day for testing,” says, noting San Francisco doesn’t always know what’s hip. The startup spent the summer on an aggressive college marketing campaign, with tons of scantily clad models wearing Genies merchandise and signs asking the company to “Make My Genie.” All those waitlist sign-ups could help it score some traction today.

When asked about what he’d do if Snapchat’s Bitmoji started acting out the news too, Nigam fired back that they’d “force you to live inside Snapchat itself” rather than share elsewhere. And just to dig the dagger a bit deeper, he said, “They’re a trend that may have already reached its peak.”

Perhaps I’m showing my age by being put off by some of  the content. Nigam boldly states “We don’t really trust people in product unless they’re actively talking to teens all the time.” But being a news publisher, even one that looks nothing like the rest, can be more complicated than it seems. Snapchat has had to go to great lengths to teach news outlets how to make Discover channels for Gen Z. And Facebook is reckoning with how much damage can be done with fake news.

Genies has a ton of potential. The idea of a mini-you visually depicting the news is fun, and piggybacking on other messaging apps instead of trying to build another feed is wise. Still, the content feels rushed and half-baked at times, and could either fail to entice users or be too thin to persist as more than a fad. It has plenty of money and connections to find the talent necessary to improve the scenes, though. And if the avatars become something everyone wants, that could be enough in the meantime.

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