#there's probably a better way to structure this so the topics flow better huh

[mxbbadperson]

kamen rider geats' eye motif and looking and seeing

it's meta time, babey!! note: added some stuff and on a whole, this is 1k words! wow...

we know that there's an eye theme with the dgp with their cameras and the name of some of their riders. but i think that there's a theme in the story about what eyes do, looking, and what people don't do, seeing.

there's obviously ace and neon, ace made his stars of the stars of the stars wish and neon started vlogging her escape attempts so their special person could find them. so they invite eyes, they invite looking.

and with neon, her parents look at her but all they see her is themselves. they don't see her as she is, a child wanting and needing love and affection, their daughter. and even though her mom has trackers on her, her mom doesn't see her. and even though neon's audience don't know her either, they know her better than her parents do.

2nd addition: (and ace and neon know themselves. ace because of the sheer amount of years and neon because she's determined to have her wish come true. that's why the dezastar was good for her, it showed neon's resolve. she knew that she'd hurt ace but is willing to do it, to take ace's distrust as consequence.)

and this looking but not seeing happens happens especially well to michinaga and keiwa...

with michinaga, he knows that ace isn't at fault of his friend's death, even in his own memories, he knows that. but he refuses to acknowledge it, refuses to see. and it continues with how interacts with ace.

very early on, ace says that at least he'll win by being true to himself when michinaga allies himself with sheepman. and it makes michinaga think and change his mind. this is the first instance of ace throwing up michinaga's reflection! then there's the jgp...

ace first asks if more misery is what he wants to deal out then tells him that he's like beroba. ace is once again throwing up michinaga's reflection, this is who you are, but michinaga runs away from it. (and maybe one could even say that ace saying that michinaga is saving riders in the desire royale is ace finally giving michinaga a lie he could believe. being a good guy isn't michinaga's reflection but... it could be.)

for keiwa, he's this selfless person and his reflection, how others saw him as, was that. but it wasn't a perfect reflection because keiwa even believed in it even though it wasn't true. and as we see later...

he knew what he had to do and did it with such certainty that he didn't care about who he hurt. he literally looks at his reflection! he looks at himself through his sword but he doesn't care that he's looking at himself through a sword, doesn't care about that his reflection is different. and when tsumuri says that he looks miserable when he said his wish, throwing up his reflection, keiwa denies it, runs from it.

then there is tsumuri, made for an unknown, unseen purpose and to look at maps and to see the players' suffering. and do nothing about it., she can't even close her eyes against it! and she suffered and while they caused it, saw it, they didn't care. (and one could even say that her being the navigator of the a new dgp is her chance to not be part of why the players' are suffering, to see something nice and happy.)

and there's the audience, the supporters. they watch and see the players suffering and they don't care. the supporters meddle to close the distance but it does something to them. they finally feel pain and it gives them insight like ziin and kyuun. they finally feel pain and it repulses them like beroba. the VIPS came to this era but abandoned sueru when there was the threat of harm. what they were looking is now looking back at them and because they closed the distance themselves, they can't look away like before.

kekera has it too. he sees something in keiwa and wants it to be true, does it matter if keiwa is in pain? the only thing that matters is what kekera could see him being. (one could say how neon is to her parents!) and his last laugh is because of acknowledgment. i see you but do you see me? but kekera didn't really see keiwa. or maybe… he saw keiwa too well.

for the dgp itself, there's girori and chiram being glare, niram and being gazer, jitt and being regad, and finally sueru and first being his own version of gazer then later his own version of regad. only one of them has an eye, with the rest, even sueru's gazer, the seam is closed. two has their eye closed, the rest are blind.

for girori, he wants and strives for world peace and while he's the game master, he doesn't fully understand what the dgp is. for niram, he wants to the reality show to have realism even though the supposed realism doesn't actually matter. for sueru's gazer, he feels that the grand end has to be done but he doesn't realize just yet that ace and his gang is a serious threat. but he does later, ace and his gang are looking at him and sueru is looking back. and for chiram and jitt…

they're like samas, they're the ones that understand the dgp the most, so much more than girori and niram do. they see their cruelty and the suffering they cause and they don't care. their eyes are closed willingly yet chiram told tsumuri to see the players' suffering and jitt witnessed hers.

1st addition: and of course there's mitsume. she's silent and forced to watch as they use her power to shape and ruin the world. sueru and his game masters look at her, she is unable to look back. and to be like her, tsumuri and ace are stripped of their bodies and of their will. they would be like her. to have thoughts and emotions is to look back and to be defiant is to look back.

[is-this-a-skam-account]

Shelter Chapter 4 (part 2) by Shawnie1718 ao3

Eliott took one hit and puffed out the smoke. Lucas didn’t even try to hide the fact that he watched it go up into the air. When their eyes met again Eliott offered him the cigarette.

Lucas took it graciously. He wasn’t any stranger to smoking, though he liked smoking weed more than just cigarettes. Lucas breathed in slowly, and pulled the cigarette away gently, letting the smoke settle in his mouth for just a second before breathing out. “So you smoke,” Eliott said with a dry laugh.

Lucas shrugged, “whenever it’s offered. Normally I won’t seek out a cigarette.”

Eliott nodded slowly, placing it between his lips once more. When he pulled it away he blew out a smoke ring that slowly rose into the air. Lucas felt his mouth go dry. That was the hottest thing he thinks he has ever seen. “So your parents aren’t together, huh?”

Lucas swallowed and looked down at the ground. Great, why don’t we talk about this again. “Yeah, my dad sort of...left my mom and I for some other Omega too young for him. My mom sort of went downhill from there.”

Lucas could see Eliott breathe smoke out his nose from his peripheral before saying, “fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that it was...like that. We don’t have to talk about it.”

Lucas shakes his head, eyes flitting up for a second to catch Eliott’s before looking immediately back down at the concrete. “It’s fine. My dad and I have some issues with one another but honestly at this point I don’t care about him. My mom and I had some rough patches when I was in high school, cause I was stupid and hated everyone,” Lucas paused. “Now I just miss her.”

Eliott cringed, “is she not...with us anymore?”

Lucas looked up in surprised, “oh, fuck, that’s not what I meant! I just meant that she, well she has a mental illness and she has to be kept in a hospital for it. I just don’t get to see her all the time and it hurts.” Lucas paused, scoffing at himself, “sorry, I don’t know why I’m saying all this.”

“No, no, I appreciate it, Lucas,” holy crap his name sounds so good in Eliott’s mouth. “I actually help run different organizations regarding mental illnesses. Well, I don’t necessarily run them. I more advocate for them. Like a...poster boy of some sort.” He takes another hit of the cigarette. It’s at the end of its life.

“That’s awesome! How’d you get involved in the topic of mental illnesses?”

“Well I’m bipolar,” Eliott said. He said it so nonchalantly that Lucas isn’t sure if he heard him right or not. The shock must register on Lucas’s face because suddenly Eliott paused, “oh I thought you knew. I’m pretty open about it on social media, because I hope to bring attention to the topic.”

Lucas is still trying to find the right words when Eliott’s says, “if it’s a problem, then I should probably just go.”

Lucas sees Eliott ground his cigarette into the ground, and before he could take a step backward Lucas grabbed onto his wrist, “no! No of course it’s not an issue, Eliott! Sorry, I was just sort of shocked. I’m not used to talking about these topics so openly. The only friend of mine who really knows about my moms situation is Yann. And I suppose Manon and Mika too, but only the basics.”

Eliott smiled at that, and Lucas could have sworn he saw relief flood over his face. “We have talked about this a lot, huh?”

Lucas shrugged.

“What do you say we go do something else? Maybe…go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

Lucas laughed, it was a good hearty laugh that made Eliott smile. “Wow, are you sure you’re French? You seem more like a tourist.”

“What? Is appreciating my country a crime?”

“No, no, not at all. Say, is this your first time ever witnessing something as grand as the Eiffel Tower, monsieur?” Lucas asked incredulously, poking fun at the Alpha.

“Haha very funny. Cmon, what French person hasn’t been to the Eiffel Tower and at least appreciated its beauty on some level?”

Lucas paused as they start walking back. The sun was setting in front of them, and it honestly looked like a view from a postcard. “I’ve never been to the Eiffel Tower.”

“What?! Are you even French?!”

Lucas gaped at him. “Am I even French?! I’m not the one acting like they want to marry the damn thing!”

Eliott laughed. There was some raspiness to his soft voice that made something inside Lucas want to intertwine their hands and never let go. “Well, I guess we're both just weird French people then, huh?”

Lucas smiled, “just a little weird.”

As they waited in line to get in the elevator up to the top of the Tower, Eliott demanded taking some pictures of the sunset from out the window.

“Just get in one!” Eliott pleases.

Lucas rolled his eyes, “never gonna happen. Especially if I know you are going to post about it on Instagram.”

Eliott smirked and took a step closer, hand bringing his camera to his side. “What’s so bad about the fact that I want to show off the awesome day I had with such a-“ he was interrupted by the workers ushering people into the elevator.

Pretty soon they were crammed into a steel death trap which was inching its way up this massive structure. The way in which they boarded made it so that Eliott stood behind Lucas. Since it was so crowded they were basically crushed together, and Lucas was so not prepared. He also wasn’t ready for the fact that it made their height difference so visible. Lucas feel Eliott’s breath against his neck. The fact that every time Eliott breathed out, a puff of air tickled his scent gland and briefly made his knees go weak was making him crazy. Lucas was pretty sure he was going to turn into putty on the floor if he weren’t careful. And Lucas wasn’t sure if Eliott was doing it on purpose, but everytime the elevator lurched he could feel the taller boy press just a tiny bit closer. Not to mention the fact that Eliott’s scent was driving him practically up the wall. The Alpha was filling all his senses and Lucas just needed out of here or else he wasn’t sure what would happen.

Lucas practically dashed out of the elevator into the open area. Allowing his sense of smell to be filled with something other than Eliott. Not that Eliott smelled bad. Actually, it was the opposite. It was because Eliott smelled so damn good that it made Lucas want to jump his bones right then and there.

“You okay?” Eliott asked and placed a tentative hand on Lucas’s shoulder.

Lucas nodded. He didn’t need to look in a mirror to know that his cheeks were flushed a bright crimson. Hopefully Eliott would just think he’s sick or something…

“Whoa!” Eliott exclaimed and ran to the nearest window, peering down. “This sight never gets old.” He practically whispered into the glass as Lucas got closer.

Lucas followed Eliott’s eyes, pushing his fear of heights to the side for just a few moments. “Oh! There’s my motorcycle! You can see it if you really squint…” Lucas commented and pointed to where he had parked his baby earlier.

“You ride a motorcycle?”

Lucas nodded, “just for a few years.”

“That’s so cool! I wish I could ride one.” Eliott said and leaned against the railing, facing Lucas.

“Well maybe I can give you a ride back to your apartment later,” Lucas offered.

“Oh you are definitely giving me a ride later,” Lucas knew that Eliott didn’t mean it the way it came across. But Lucas couldn’t stop his mind from filling with some obscene images involving a certain Omega and Alpha. In bed. Lucas bit his bottom lip to suppress a whimper from making its way out.

They stood in front of the window for what felt like hours. They were making small banter between them, though in Lucas’s opinion they didn’t even really need to talk. It could have been the most deadly silence anyone had ever come across, and it still would have been fine. Because they are fine. They’re Eliott and Lucas.

“What do you say we head out?” Eliott finally offered and nodded his head towards the exit. Lucas agreed and followed after him.

Lucas dreaded the entire walk from the Eiffel Tower to where he had parked his motorbike. Because it meant this day, this day that actually made Lucas feel like himself after months of feeling out of place, was coming to an end. They walked exceptionally close. Fireworks were going off inside Lucas every time he felt their knuckles brush or their shoulders touch. He practically gnawed a gash into his bottom lip with how he had been anxiously chewing at it.

“This is it here,” Lucas gestured towards his baby, which practically flowed in the dark.

Eliott whistled and ran a hand over the seat. “I don’t know anything about motorcycles, but this baby is sweet.” Lucas laughed. “Why don’t you get on and show me how it’s done?” Eliott practically challenged, eyebrows bouncing up.

Lucas rolled his eyes and mounted the motorcycle, hands curled around the handlebars. He let his eyes shut at the feeling. Yeah, there was nothing better than this.

Suddenly he heard a camera shutter go off and Lucas’s eyes shot open. There Eliott stood, camera in hand, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Lucas narrowed his eyes.

“Did you just take a photo of me?”

“No.”

“Eliott.”

“No!”

“Fine, show me your photos.”

Eliott frowned playfully. “Fine, okay! I did. But I couldn’t help it! You look so hot.”

Lucas felt his breath catch at the last sentence. He swallowed and urged himself to just brush it off. “Whatever, just get on?” He said and offered Eliott a helmet.

Eliott smirked, acting as if he’d won. He happily took the helmet and strapped it around his head safely. A few tufts of messy hair poked out from the front and sides, and made Lucas smile.

Lucas revved the engine a couple times before smiling over his shoulder. “You might want to hang on.” Lucas said over the humming of the motorcycle.

Eliott simply beamed at Lucas as his hands slid around the younger boys waist. Lucas nearly jumped when he felt Eliott bring himself flush to Lucas’s back and hands tighten. Eliott then placed his head on Lucas’s shoulder, peering out at the road. Without another warning Lucas took off. He heard Eliott let out a surprised “whoa!” from behind him, which made Lucas smile. Eliott was practically hollering with laughter and excitement as Lucas made sharp turns and swerved between cars. Lucas tried to take them a little out of the way of the city, and into an area where he knows there aren’t as many traffic lights or pedestrians out at night.

As the ride continued and the busy streets turned into more calm, less populated areas Eliott seemed to relax. He didn’t try to say anything to Lucas, which he appreciated. Not that he had to just concentrate on the road. Rather, Lucas was just happy to bask in the feeling of wind rushing past him and the hum of the bike. He especially couldn’t get enough of the shifting pressure of Eliott on his back. Or of Eliott’s gentle touch on his stomach. Or of how close Eliott was to his scent gland. Close enough that his nose accidentally brushed it a couple times.

Lucas had to turn around at some point though, they couldn’t just keep riding forever. Eliott had to get back to his apartment and Lucas also had to go to bed. Though, Lucas is sure neither of them would have complained if they just stayed like this until time ended.

Eliott was kind enough to direct Lucas to his apartment, since Lucas had literally no idea where he was going. When he pulled up to an old apartment building, Lucas wasn’t sure if Eliott had directed him to the right place. Did a supermodel really live here?

As soon as Eliott hopped off, Lucas immediately regretted ever taking him back to his apartment. Lucas just wanted to always have the soft pressure of Eliott on his back, and the playful twitches in Eliott’s hands pressed against his stomach. He wanted Eliott to just sweep him off his feet and carry him to their future, wherever that may be.

“Thanks for today,” Eliott said and pulled the helmet off his head, tucking it under his elbow.

Lucas smiled, he felt like he was going to cry. He didn’t want this to end, not yet. “Of course. Thank you, Eliott.”

Eliott looked like he was frozen in place. Like he was struggling to find the willpower to even move his feet. Lucas saw Eliott’s hand twitch upwards a couple times before falling limp again at his side. “Right. Well, next time then.” Eliott smiled and turned to walk away.

As Eliott was about halfway to his door Lucas called after him, “Eliott! My helmet!”

Eliott looked down at his own limbs, almost shocked that he still had it himself. He paused a second before sending a smirk over his shoulder, “you’ll get it back next time. It’ll give you a reason to come visit me.”

@lucallemant: day out with my baby.

@srodulv: come get your helmet. im missing you already

[daemon-knight]

Allen’s Rambling: RP and Writing Advice

Yeah... I don’t have a cheeky title for this one folks... sorry.

Anyway, this is a topic I’ve been wanting to make for awhile, but I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to talk about about how I make characters and my thought process as I make them. I’ve had Claudia for about 3 years now and I’ve been RPing in general for over ten, so I think I should take that experience and try to explain how exactly I do it, along with giving some general writing advice. That’s the main reason I was asking about what you guys you liked about Claudia and my general writing; so I could figure out exactly what to talk about and how to present. Most of the messages I got were... frankly few, but the information I got was more or less what I expected when I thought about Claudia’s appeal as a character. Namely that she feels three-dimensional and has some shades of grey to her morality. Those were the main points, but I want to start at the very beginning, so...

Make Your Character Simple

I’ve said this several times and I will say it again: make your characters simple. Keep your about and rules pages short, and try not to write that +5000 word essay on your character’s world building on your RP blog. There’s a reason for this. On your partner’s end, that’s less homework they have to do to interact with you. The more homework and reading your partner has to go through to interact with your character, the harder you’re making it for them. This is the main reason I turned down all the Blacklight Lore when making my OCs and try not to talk much about Claudia’s world/country. It’s not too relevant to  Claudia’s character, so I don’t bother. And on your end, the shorter/simpler your character profile is, the less you have to read when you look back at it for reference. If I can use an art example:

This is Claudia’s character sheet, it’s the main thing I use when I want to draw Claudia. I want to make a new one since I plan on updating her look and I honestly think this one is lacking in certain ways, but for now this is the current vision I have for Claudia. It’s pretty simple, giving a full body view of her, showing some key visual things like her expressive ahoge and various sizes/forms of her spear, and her armor. The only thing I’d really need is a back-view of her and some angles on her head, but this is it.

My about page has the same function as this character sheet, it’s a simple, overall look at how the character looks in terms of writing, a nice overview that shows her immediate personality traits, abilities, and background. It’s not everything, but not everything is needed to get her character. If you finish reading that about page and understand that Claudia is a tomboyish knight that likes fighting and wants to create a country that her family rules over then I think the profile has served its purpose. More details about Claudia can be learned as your character interacts with her. The only thing I think I should add to her profile is probably update her bio to explain that her small village is now a small duchy and slowly becoming a petty kingdom... meaning Claudia’s occupation will probably have to change from “Knight” to “Princess” soon... 

Huh. Princess Claudia... That’s a... terrifying thought now that I’m actually reading it.

Anyway, I made Claudia’s profile with the goal of most people being able to get a good idea of her character after two minutes of reading her profile. Honestly, I want to rework it to ease the reading process a bit better, but sentence structure and flow is another Rambling in itself.

But let me get more specific here...

Bio and Personality

Like I said before, I recommend keeping the bio and personality sections of your profile short and sweet. For bios, I’d say two-three paragraphs should be the most you have. One paragraph that covers their origins and one to two that covers their current situation. Or you can skip their origin and just get right to their current situation if it’s that important to their current situation to be detailed. I think most Wiki pages do this well, usually have a simple paragraph or two that gives a basic idea of the character before breaking into a much larger biography and personality section, but those things are hyper-detailed for the sake of recording.

For personality, I usually go with a list of adjectives describing the character, around 4 to 5 of their top personality traits. This makes them a little more flexible to write since I’m not tied down by a long spiel of detailed mannerisms, but a short paragraph works too.

The main reason I try to keep these parts short and simple is because the more detail you add, the more detail you have to adhere to. In terms of story writing, if you give me a big spiel about a characters powers right down to the smallest detail, I’m going to expect those details to come into play later, and in terms of RPing I’m going to assume you want me to play with those details or else you wouldn’t mention it.

A good example of this is @fragmentedsilhouette​‘s Amaeris. Her body gives off a cold veil that chills the immediate area around her. I try and play with that detail in a few ways, Claudia shivering around Amaeris, her mentioning how cold the room is whenever Ameris enters, and even in comedic ways like Claudia purposely trying stay close to Amaeris during hot days because she’s basically a walking AC at that point. It’s a detail that I try to keep in mind when Claudia interacts with her, and I try to do this for all the partners I write with, especially if it gives me an idea for a good plot.

Speaking of plotting...

Conflict and RPing

This is something I don’t think enough people keep in mind when making a character. Your character needs to able to create and move a plot in some way. Having a static character that’s trying to mind their own business really only works when they’re constantly bombarded by abnormal people and situations trying to create conflict in their life ala Haruhi or [ Insert Isekai Show Here ]. Otherwise, we just have a boring character with some powers and skills wandering around the world doing nothing. This is why Claudia tends to act antagonistic towards a lot of other characters. It’s not because she a complete dick (though she is kind of a dick), but because she needs to be able to create conflict for a plot to happen. That’s why 70% of her interactions are her saying some various of the phrase “FIGHT ME!” Not just because Claudia’s a fight-happy tomboy and Allen has a love of shounen and fight scenes (though that is a big reason), but because it creates an instant plot. Claudia trying to storm a village or pick a fight with some random mercenary is just an easy way to start a conflict that’s still in character for Claudia. I also have her plotting cheat sheet with several parts of her background that can play into a plot. It’s all to make it easier for my partner and I to come up with ideas. 

That’s the main thing, making sure your partner has an easy time getting a feel for your character and coming up with some basic plots/interactions. This also goes back to why you want to keep things simple, so its easier to think up a plot. Just to give a quick list of plots and interactions Claudia has had: 

A knight and mercenary who live very opposite lives become rivals and then lovers. 

A knight and ninja of noble rank become vitriolic friends after the knight constantly pesters and bullies the ninja. 

A witch fascinated by a knight’s demonic weapon constantly bugs and teases her, much to the knight’s chagrin.

Two knights of different ideologies often come to blows, one knight believing in servitude toward their liege, the other believe in servitude to one’s own goals and ambitions.

A knight constantly bothers a demon hunter to fight her, the demon hunter who is more mature and is holding back her demonic urges almost always refuses.

A knight wielding a demonic weapon and inquisitor wielding a holy weapon see the other as a scourge that must be eliminated.

A young, temperamental knight is constantly irritated by a long-lived elf warrior that continually beats her in fights.

That’s how I usually look at things when I see someone else profile. I try and think of an quick idea for their relationship and a plot, then I take it from there and see where it leads. It’s why I tend to lean toward a rival/enemy relationship since it creates the most conflict and plot. 

But moving on...

Adding Depth

Since I’ve been stressing simplicity for so long, I bet you’re wondering how I create character depth with a simple character. 

And that’s simple, I just add to the simplicity. 

Like I said, Claudia is a knight that likes fighting and is currently trying to create a kingdom. That can lead to a bunch of things. I could deconstruct her love of fighting into a twisted obsession that borders addiction. I could write about the specifics of her losing her humanity thanks to her demon spear. I could have her actually deal with the bureaucracy of running a kingdom (read her several times bitching about paperwork for example), I could play with her noble background and have her mistreat the lower class on the grounds that she just thinks little of them. The list goes on, but I think you get the point. I’ll tackle a few other points people mentioned too while I’m on the topic of depth.

Morality

So, morality is just a frame of mind. No single person is wholly good, nor are they pure evil, and everyone believes themselves the hero of their own story. Once you realize this you can really fluxuate a character’s morality so long as they think they’re in the right. 

When I made Claudia I had done a bit of research on knights in real life, and while Claudia fails on quite a few levels in terms of being a legit knight, I did keep in tack that most knights were mostly just nobles and soldiers that usually owned some land. Claudia and her family are ambitious nobles that want to form their own kingdom by conquering smaller lands. That’s a plausible thing, especially given how often people back then saw military leadership superior to most other forms of ruling since it was an immediate show of power. And while I haven’t decided exactly how Claudia’s family will rule their lands, I think the fact that they think their ambition is just due to the fact that they see it as a sort of moving up the social ladder helps give Claudia some grey in terms of her goals. 

Anyway, that’s how I view Claudia’s morality. She’s ambitious, and that ambition might make her an enemy to some, but she’s also kind to those that aren’t a target for her country... unless she feels like being a brat like with Kagero.

Powers

I’ll... try not to bitch about power levels here, but no promises. 

When I make a character’s powers I try to make sure that those powers either compliment or contrast with the character’s personality and/or character arc. Claudia’s demonic ability are meant to compliment the character arc of her wanting more power. This is both in terms of physical power and in the plot line of her family’s ambition of wanting more land and influence. It also compliments her personality of being a fight-happy tomboy by physically pushing her further toward becoming a battle-hungry demon, along with showing her resourcefulness in a fight by giving her weapon the ability to change forms.

To change the subject real quick, a group of old characters I had, the Falcon Knights, also fell into this idea. Raven, the lazy and sarcastic leader of the group, had powers that would do more damage to him than his enemies if he wasn’t careful, so he tended to rarely use them despite their destructive ability. This followed the same vein that he rarely acts like a proper leader despite his position, only doing so at critical moments. Tora’s ability to see the souls of people complimented her ability and habit of stating the blunt truth and being able to see people for what they were, at least by her perception. The list goes on, but that’s usually the goal. 

Now in terms of the powers themselves and their destructive ability, that’s secondary compared to the plot. Ultimately, my characters are as strong as they need to be for whatever arc or plot I have planned for them. This is why Claudia can hold her own against her hyper-powerful space alien girlfriend, but struggles against the 4′6″ inquisitor. Claudia and Syn are lovers and rivals that need to be on par with each other for the sake that their rivalry has weight, where as Nero is Claudia’s foil that can constantly best her because her dirty, mid-ranged way of fight hard-counters Claudia’s straightforward, ruthless way.

But moving on...

World Building

This is the last thing I wanted to cover, and I’ll be blunt about it. 

I’d be very careful about going into world building in terms of RPing. 

Like I said, a 5-page essay on this will just turn away your partners, especially on Tumblr. This site is not a forum RP, not everyone is going to adhere to your character’s world, nor should they given how fast partners come and go on this site. They’d be wasting their time trying to understand your character’s world if you just up and dropped the muse a month later because you couldn’t keep up with it. But if you really need the show that your character is from a different world and that actually plays into the character, then focus on what’s relevant to your character and what that means for anyone interacting with this. This does not mean a five-page essay on your character’s magic system and history, but just how they cast magic or how their world’s history effected them specifically. 

To be a bit more general, I tend to view world-building on Tumblr as malleable, as in I control my character’s world-building depending on who I follow. If I don’t want guns to be a part of Claudia’s world, then I just don’t follow characters that use guns. If I don’t want certain races to be a part of Claudia’s world, then I don’t follow them. I know that might sound a bit cruel, but that’s just so some points of immersion aren’t broken.

Now the world Claudia comes from that I made, Blacklight, is similar to the world of Elsword in terms of technology. You’ve got knights that wield swords, mages that use magic, archers that use bows and crossbows, but you also have people that use guns, gunblades, mobile canons that fire artillery shells, futuristic technology, and have actually, near-human android walking around, along with Gods, Goddesses, agents of those divine beings, and demons. Basically, anything can happen and no one questions it. There are some rules to this, most of which pertaining to power levels, but again I don’t want to go on a long rant about that. 

When I comes to this blog, my main focus in terms of world building and who I follow mostly extends to the level of power I’m willing to deal with. This is creeping into story-writing advice, but in a nutshell I’m already following enough people that are already at the ceiling of power in Claudia’s world, so anyone above that threshold isn’t getting a follow back from me, as I don’t want Claudia to be conscious of too many players in the higher tiers of power. The amount she knows of now is fine and isn’t breaking immersion, anymore would.

And... I think think I got everything I wanted to say out of the way, so... Yeah, that’ll be it from me. I’ll be heading out for a bit folks, drafting and editing this has made me rather tired, so I’ll see you all later.

[pedrothedagger]

Persona 5, untranslatable jokes, and tokin on 4/20

To preface this: Persona 5 is the best JRPG in years. Please buy the game. Please do not use this or any bitching about the localization you see as a reason not to get it, because it isn’t one. It’s great. Play it. I will probably be making a post soon about some of the brilliant game design things in it!

So I was irritated about one of the questions in Persona 5 and made a random tweet about it after looking it up in english sources and trying to figure out a factual basis for it.  All the english sources on tokin (the name of a promoted pawn in Shogi) did not mention the history of how kin became to, and, more importantly, I could not find a single example of a cursive kin anywhere that looked anything like a to. So what the game was saying seemed pretty darn suspect.

Now to be fair, I don’t consider myself an authority on Japanese language and wouldn’t expect to be cited as such, but shortly thereafter Chris Kohler at Kotaku linked to the tweets and made an article based on them: http://kotaku.com/this-might-be-persona-5s-biggest-translation-fail-1794223069

Now I want to specify that I was not contacted ahead of time about this. I didn’t plan or want this to become an article at a major game site. I was just kinda bitching. I did not expect this to extend beyond the people who follow me, many of whom give no shits about Persona, localization accuracy, or the minutae of Kanji. If I had been asked, I would have preferred not to be cited for two reasons:

It’s really a minor issue and I don’t think it’s representative of my overall feelings on the game.

The level of research I put into it the tweet was appropriate for a tweet, not for an article in a major game news site.

But, at the same time, I don’t think Chris had any bad intentions with the article - it was just an interesting point of the language and an odd thing to show up in an English localized game. Chris is a good dude.

Anyways, as soon as I saw it had been made into an article, I panicked because if I wanted to be more sure I was accurate, I should have looked at Japanese sources. So I did. And, thankfully, japanese google provided this article which was massively helpful:

http://www.tonan.jp/moji/10tokin/

So, this is a long article. But what it boils down to, is arguing that it is not, in fact, a hiragana と at all - but, it also argues that it is quite uncertain as to what it actually is.

It looks like he ends up feeling like the most likely explanation is that it originated from  今, which is an ateji (phonetic replacement or spelling of a kanji that is read a certain way with no regard to its meaning) for 金.

http://tonan.seesaa.net/article/31091021.html

Anyways, either way, my explanation was wrong, which I then brought up to Chris, who was nice enough to update the article. Now, while admitting that I was inaccurate in my factual reasoning as to why it was factually wrong, the fact remains that the statement in the english version of the game - that と金 is the cursive form of a specific kanji - is wrong. Now, it appears that there’s argument as to whether the Japanese was even correct - but it’s certainly different, and less wrong than the English. Let me explain why. Here’s the original Japanese:

In text:

この字はある漢字の崩し字なんだ、 なにか分かる？

So, let’s break this down. First, I’ll translate the easy nouns.  字 (ji) is character (it can mean other stuff but that’s most likely in this context).  漢字 (kanji) is… kanji.  

The other noun is 崩し字 (kuzushiji) , which can sort of theoretically be translated to “cursive” or “simplified” character - but it doesn’t mean cursive in really the same sense that western cursive is used. There’s a ton of possible ways to write a character in  崩し字 - really, anything that is written using a brush and omits or simplifies strokes is technically 崩し字. Which is why, in the articles above, he dislikes the argument that tokin originates from a  崩し字 of  金, because while it could be a theoretically VERY cavalier 崩し字, it really drastically simplifies the kanji (far moreso than the other shoji pieces simplify the same kanji). But I’ll give that that’s a lot of detail the game can’t provide so I’ll let it get away with cursive form :)

Okay, so we have:

この character はある kanji の cursive form なんだ、なにか分かる？

Next, the other easy stuff.  この is this.  なんだ is “what is”.  なにか means something. So we get:

This character  はある kanji の cursive form what is、something 分かる?

Last we’ll do verbs and particles. I won’t explain particles because they're a whole section of Japanese grammar that's not really pertinent and is somewhat complex but suffice it to say they are short “grammatical helpers” that mark the grammatical function of words in sentences, sort of like helping verbs and articles in English. Anyways, the verbs here are ある (aru), which means to be/exist (specially referring to inanimate objects), and  分かる (wakaru) which means a lot of different things in english, but usually it means do you understand or know. The only other things are  は, which is a particle marking a new topic of conversation in a sentence, and has no real translatable direct equivalent in english, and の, which indicates that a noun possesses or modifies another noun. So, without any word rearrangement, you end up with: “This character is cursive form of kanji what is, something understand?”

Which is a little intentionally obtuse but some simple rearrangement gets you something closer to english:

“This character is cursive form of what kanji, something understand?”

This is all you can really infer from transliteration. To turn this into actual English we need to start making value judgments and doing actual translation. So to get English out of this, the first and easiest thing to do is to realize that  なにか分かる is just ellipsing the subject, which is probably the student who the teacher is asking the question to. Also, you need your helping verbs and pronouns, and the nanika wakaru is more of an expression, so it’s probably closer to “do you know?”. All of that is interpretation and at the translator’s discretion, but it’s necessary to end up with something that’s vaguely English.

For the first part of the sentence, you are almost actually at a readable fragment, you just need an article, and here’s where I think the translation goes wrong. It uses “the”, when it clearly should use “a”. 

Why? “the” implies singularity and absoluteness. “the” implies that there is a single, or at the very least primary answer to the question “what is the cursive form of this kanji”, and that that single answer is the one they are looking for. But any Japanese person will tell you that 1) there are many cursive forms of Kanji and 2) that the “primary” cursive form of the 金, if it existed, would not be what is seen on the shogi piece. In fact, the very next slide conflicts with the usage of “the”, because it shows three different purported cursive forms of  金- and again, whether tokin factually is a cursive form of 金 is debatable, but that is at least asserted in the Japanese text, too!

So, I think a closer translation (and closer to the original Japanese structure) would be something like: “This character is a cursive form of a kanji - do you know which?” If you wanted to make it flow better, you could go from there. Something like “Can you tell me which cursive kanji this character originated from?”

Now, you might argue a simple swapping of “a” for “the” isn’t a big deal. And you would be right to some extent. But I certainly would argue that it undermines the coolest part of these little quiz games, which is that they actually teach you things! You could imagine someone playing this game, then later picking up Japanese, seeing a hiragana “to”, and telling their teacher “oh I learned that’s a cursive “kin!”” to be greeted by a frowning head-nod no. One of the coolest parts of the persona games is the opportunity to learn about Japanese, and it’s a bummer that it gives you misinformation by way of a relatively simple error.

But -  I actually think the bigger translation issues, and the reason why I think a bigger change should have been made to this question, is in the answers. So, this is actually even a tricky question in japanese! While searching for japanese sources, I actually found this blog:

http://karigezima.com/archives/25714

which says:

将棋経験者ならすぐに分かる問題です。

将棋してない人からしたら難しい…かな？(´･ω･`;)

Or - “Shogi players will instantly know the answer. But people who don’t play shogi probably screamed about how hard it is, huh?”

So yeah - this is a tricky question in Japanese. But, in typical multiple choice test fashion, it actually has something to help you out:

So here’s the answer options in Japanese. Let’s compare them with the english options:

So, to start things off, the question is asking about the cursive form of kanji - which you need to be able to see the kanji to determine, but the english version doesn’t let you see the freaking kanji! And, a single English word might correspond to multiple kanji. For instance, divination as a kanji could just as easily be 占 as  卜. And, while it’s more of a technicality because  金 is certainly the most obvious kanji that means “gold”, gold could also mean  鋆,  釛 ,  鉚,  鎏 ,  鏐 . Those might not be things that a sane person would think of when given the option “gold”, the fact remains that the game is supposed to be translated into English and you shouldn’t need to know Kanji to understand and answer questions correctly in it!

But I think the bigger deal here is that you actually miss out on the “dummy” option. See, because while “Divination” is technically what 卜 means, it is not an option in the Japanese version because of that - it’s there because it’s looks almost exactly like ト, which is the same sound, “to”, in the other major japanese character system, Katakana.

So for a Japanese speaker, you instantly see that dumb middle option and rule it out because it’s clearly a trick answer for dummies. It’s even maybe a little chuckle-worthy. You just miss out on all of that in english.

Because it’s so untranslatable to someone who doesn’t understand Japanese, and because really the relevant point here narratively and symbolically is that the lowest shogi piece can promote into the Gold General, and how that ties into the idea of neauvau riche, I think it would have been nice to just ask something like “This piece indicates when a pawn is promoted to what rank”? It’s a bit further from the Japanese, but again, if you can’t convey the meaning in Japanese without explaining what kanji are, how they are simplified, and make the answers make sense visually to players, maybe just get at the heart of the issue and the bigger narrative point.

Anyways, long story short - I still think this could have been better, but I’m glad it existed in a way because it was very much a learning opportunity for me!

[dartlekey]

A walk in the park

~For the MP100 Valentine’s week challenge, Day 1~

Category: Gen, M/M

Pairing: Serizawa Katsuya/Reigen Arataka, mention of Terumob

Word count: 2363

Warnings: Child neglect, Child abandonment. Also some Death (well, you know. Dead people. It’s a show about espers, ghosts and exorcists; what do you expect)

Notes: Yes, I managed to take a cute, fluffy topic and turn it into an absolute angst fic - although it does have a fluffy ending, so please forgive me ;)

***

"Cinnamon Park?"

The client, a young mother with tired eyes, nodded nervously. "I always go there with the twins in the afternoon, because there's a great playground. Lots of my friends bring their children there too, and the kids have lots of fun together - or at least, they used to. Since a few days ago, a spirit has manifested in the tube that connects the play structure, and violently attacks anyone that goes near - even the adults! My friend Mina still has the scratches to prove it!"

As if on cue, the small girl on her lap started crying; whether she understood the words or just got frightened by her mother's fearful tone, Reigen didn't know. He couldn't even tell how old the kid was; he'd never been good with children. Dealing with Mob from a young age had only worked out because the small esper was so insensitive to social interaction, and despite his naiveté so very mature for his age. (As Reigen had learned, the two weren't mutually exclusive.)

To make matters worse, the other twin, a small boy resting at the mother's feet, looked up because of the noise and realized his sister was crying - and suddenly his lip was wobbling as well.

The mother herself winced, looking exhausted already; she'd probably suffered through a lot of this in the past few days. "There, there," she said half-heartedly and patted the girl's back, but the kid didn't let up, and the boy started sniffling.

"E-excuse me - may I...?"

Both Reigen and the mother looked up at Serizawa, who'd previously been standing off to the side, taking notes, but now had stepped up to them, looking nervous.

The mother shrugged, while Reigen hesitated; he had no idea what Serizawa planned to do and also doubted it was the best idea to let someone with strong social anxiety near a crying child - but surprisingly, Serizawa didn't wait for Reigen's okay. Instead, he crouched down, picked up a toddler with each hand, settled them on his lap and said, "Hey, do you like sparkly things? And colors?"

The girl ignored him and continued bawling, but the boy looked up and wrinkled his tiny nose at him in confusion. "Oh, you do? I love them as well. Blue, yellow, green... my favorite is orange, you know. What's your favorite color?" The boy hesitated, then stammered out: "W-wed..."

The girl looked over suspiciously, seeming almost irritated that her brother was hogging the attention, and started to cry louder. Serizawa, on the other hand, beamed at the boy. "Oh, yes, I love red! A strong color for a strong boy... Oh, maybe I can call it here... 'Red! Red, appear!'"

Even though he still wasn't very susceptible to such things, Reigen could feel the aura charge collecting around Serizawa - and suddenly the dark-haired esper and kids were surrounded with pulsing red swirls and sparkles, flowing and weaving around them. The kids stared at the sparkles, completely baffled. The girl even stopped crying, she was so surprised.

And then the boy started laughing and clapping his hands. "Pwetty!!!", he squeaked, bouncing up and down on Serizawa's knee. "Pwetty!!!" Serizawa smiled, and turned to the little girl, who was still pouting. "And what's your favorite color?"

The girl pressed her lips together, then mumbled, "Blue." Serizawa's smile widened, and he said, "How fitting, a cool color for such a cool little girl. Could you call for it, do you think? Call for blue?"

The girl frowned, then hesitantly nodded. "Blue. Bluuuue!"

Serizawa flicked his fingers, and more swirls burst foward, the blue mingling and intertwining with the red, creating a starburst like fireworks. The girl, fascinated, reached out to grab one of the strands, and it flowed towards her and nuzzled against her cheek; there was no other word for it. "Warm!"

Reigen and the mother stared down at the little scene, lost for words. "How does he do that?", the mother asked. "No idea," Reigen responded, not realizing she meant the aura manifestation. How does this guy get more amazing every time he walks into my office...?

Then he shook his head to regain his focus. "Anyway, this spirit, you want it exorcised? No problem at all, as you can see, this office has three strong, capable espers to take care of your problem."

The woman frowned. "Where's the third?"

Reigen scowled, about to retort angrily - until he realized his mistake. "Oh, right, Mob isn't here today. He has his date..." He frowned. "That Hanazawa kid better not mess this up, Mob's been excited about it for days..."

He turned back to the woman, who gave him a confused look. "Ah, no matter. Lets discuss the different exorcism courses..."

*

An hour later, Reigen and Serizawa were walking through the park, on their way to the playground. It was a beatiful day, the sun was shining and the first cherry blossoms were opening on the trees despite that sudden frost five days prior. Wow, Reigen thought drily, such a wonderfully romantic setting for an exorcism. The spirit will be thrilled.

Why not you?, an unacknowledged part of him whispered. After all, you're here alone with Serizawa...

No! No, shut up, brain!

Even so, Reigen couldn't help but glance over at Serizawa, who was marveling at the cherry blossoms. It had been more than two years since Serizawa had joined the Spirits And Such office, and in that time, Serizawa had grown so much. In the beginning, Reigen had actually thought that he'd be dealing with just another frightened child, but he'd been so wrong that it made him cringe now. Because once he'd finally managed to coax Serizawa out of his shell of fear, Serizawa had turned out to be so much more. So thoughtful, so dependable, so kind, so gentle, so sincere... always so sincere.

Not someone a fraud like him even deserved to be working with. Reigen was constantly afraid of the day when Serizawa would shed his past insecurities completely, and realize he could do so much better than Spirits and Such. But Reigen had no right to keep him tethered here, and definitely no right to ask for anything more than friendship.

No matter how much his heart ached.

"Uh, Reigen-san? Is there something on my face?"

Reigen blinked, and realized he'd been staring. "Ah, sorry, no... I was just, uhm. Thinking. That you were really good with the kids back in the office. Amazing, actually. I hadn't expected that."

Serizawa smiled, flushing at the praise, and Reigen felt a stinging in his chest. "Ah, thank you, Reigen, but that was nothing. Children are easy to understand, it's the adults that are difficult... Not that I think you're difficult," he quickly added, "but-"

"It's fine, I understand," Reigen quickly interrupted, "but well. You know. I couldn't have done it. I'm terrible with children, and always have been. Maybe it's hereditary. But I always feel like their big round eyes are judging me, like they see right through me. And that makes me nervous, and that makes them dislike me."

Serizawa chuckled gently. "Huh. Well then, I guess we'll just have to stick together." Then his eyes widened and he blushed. "F-for balance, I mean. Socially. Dealing with adults a-and kids. Um. Ah- sorry. Forget it."

Reigen swallowed, and forced a smile. Of course he doesn't want to stick with me for other reasons. "Right."

They spent the next few minutes in silence, only broken when they finally reached the playground. Reigen slowed his walk, letting his gaze trail over the swings and monkey bars. "Do you sense anything?"

"Only a slight presence," Serizawa responded, frowning at the tube.

Reigen chuckled. "Then I guess this'll be... a walk in the park."

Serizawa paused, then snorted, a grin sneaking on to his face. "Indeed."

Reigen felt absurdly proud of himself.

He walked over to the tube slowly, and started doing what he did best: talking. "Hello? Spirit, are you in there? Can you hear me?"

He stepped closer, but as soon as he neared the opening, an angry array of something spiked and broken lashed out, narrowly missing him as he jumped back.

Reigen inspected his tie. About half of it had been torn off and ripped to shreds. "Um. Well then."

"Reigen-san!" Serizawa was immediately at his side, staring alternately at the deceased tie and the tube. "I... the aura just expanded tenfold. I think the spirit was hiding it... I apologize for not noticing -"

Reigen waved his hand airily, hoping his legs weren't shaking. "Ah, it's fine, no harm done... Spirit? Why are you here?"

A buzzing like of a thousand bees, and a distorted voice, "gO aWAy;.!"

Reigen frowned. Not a good start. "Spirit -"

"gO aWaYyy; . aND dO''Nt caLL mE ThAt;;!"

Reigen stepped closer again, frowning. "What? 'Spirit'?"

Another explosion of spikes, this time blocked by Serizawa. Reigen felt his hair stand up on end, but remained still.

"My nAMe iS kaITo.,."

"Kai-" Reigen faltered. Something about the way that the spirit spoke, petulant, almost whining. So adamant about it's name, but only giving its first name, not the surname. Could it be -

"Are you a child?"

The spirit was silent. Then, "I dON;t AnsWEr tO StrAnGeRs,,."

Reigen exchanged a worried look with Serizawa, because that answer was as clear as any. They were definitely dealing with the spirit of a child, and those were violent and unstable at the best of times.

Serizawa stepped forwards, and crouched down to the tube even though he couldn't see in - the entire opening of the tube was blocked by dark, writhing aura tentacles, shimmering like oil slicks. What a powerful spirit, Reigen thought and shivered.

"Are you..." Serizawa wet his lips and tried again. "Are you waiting for your mother?"

A pause, then. "i DO';nt HaVE a mOTheR;.,."

Did it sound sad? Reigen couldn't tell through all the buzzing.

"Then, your father?"

The spikes flashed out again. "hE,,'S CoMiNg:., HE prOMiSeD!!.-,!"

Was it... agitated?

Serizawa slowly shuffled closer. "He's coming for you? Did he say when?"

Another pause. "DadDY wOrKs LonG. loNG. DaRk alReaDy. KaITo WaiTs."

Serizawa smiled softly and inched towards the psychic mess leaking out of the tube. "Because you're a good boy, a very responsible one. Practically an adult."

The tentacles withdrew a bit, became a bit more see-through. "ThAt'"s RIgHt.,. i;'M stRonG.. NoT cOLd.;,,-. Don#;T fEEl coLd--.,,,."

Reigen leaned closer, confused. "You're cold?"

"NOT COLD!;::!!;"

If not for Serizawa's shield, they would both have been shredded. "NoT cOlD. ,, nOT slEePy.;:: i WaIT.;;;:.-,-"

"Yes, you wait, like a grown-up," Serizawa said soothingly, then turned to Reigen, worry evident on his face. He mouthed, Should I excorcise him now?, but Reigen held up his hand, signaled him to wait. Because he had a horrible feeling in his gut and a growing suspition in his head that he needed to prove.

"How long Kaito? How long have you been waiting?"

"i,::,"

The spirit paused, became even more see-through. Reigen and Serizawa peered into the tube; they could just make out something small and lumpy at the bottom of it.

"I wAit.;::"

"More than a day?"

"i wAIt.;:-"

"Two days? Three?"

"I WaiT..,;:-"

"A week?"

Silence.

Reigen clearly remembered the weather report. '- experiencing a sudden cold front despite the previous approach of spring. Be sure to bring your jacket if you're going out at night, because temperatures are dropping below zero degrees celcius-'

"Five days?", he asked.

The spirit paled even more, almost translucent now. Reigen leaned as close to it as he dared, staring into the tube and confirming the shape of of the lumpy thing.

"I----:;;--:... hE PrOmiSEd.;:!:;,"

Reigen looked up at Serizawa, and swallowed hard. Exorcise it, he mouthed, feeling close to throwing up. Now.

Serizawa blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Now!"

And Serizawa - Serizawa shook his head.

He shook his head, and said to the spirit, "Of course your dad will come. He'll be here. Because he loves you."

And suddenly, there was a little boy crouching at the edge of the tube, form glowing green, looking up at them with empty eyes. "he dOEs,,:?;,.,"

Serizawa smiled softly. "All parents love their children. But your dad? He loves you the absolute most."

The spirit smiled, and glowed gold - and then it dissapeared, gone forever.

Reigen swallowed.

Then he reached into the tube with trembling hands, and pulled out the corpse.

The former body of small Kaito smiled blissfully in death, happy with a promise that may or may not have been true. "Not all parents love their children," Reigen said hollowly, gently brushing the hair back from the bluish tinged face, not even caring about the smell of five day's decomposition.

Serizawa gently pulled the body away from him. "They do. Even yours did. Even if they weren't there when they should have been."

Reigen stared at him.

Stared at Serizawa, his insides exposed; opened and closed his mouth without words coming out. "How...?"

Serizawa smiled. "Reigen-san... if anyone, I know what real fear looks like. You were projecting onto Kaito."

Reigen suddenly feels a tear running down his cheek without being sure how it got there. "I..." He swallowed again. "I guess I was, huh."

Serizawa reached out, hesitantly, and brushed the tear away. His hand was so tender, and Reigen leaned into the touch.

"Don't worry, Reigen-san. I'll never leave, as long as you want me to stay. Because you're important to me, so, so important. Because I -"

Serizawa hesitated, then plunged onwards, "Because I love you."

Reigen's breath hitched, but Serizawa didn't notice. "And I know you don't love me back, not in that way, but that's okay. I don't have to be your lover, and I won't leave just because I can't be... I just want you to know that you always have a shoulder to lean on."

Reigen stared into Serizawa's warm brown eyes, and thought, I don't deserve you... But I want to, I want to, so much.

And Reigen leaned forwards and as his eyes closed, he brushed his lips against Serizawa's; carefully, tenderly. Serizawa froze, at first, but as Reigens hand came up to cup his face he melted into the kiss, a soft sigh escaping his lips and warming Reigen to his core. Never cold again.

He pulled back and smiled softly, saw his blush mirrored on Serizawa's face, as the esper stuttered, "R-reigen-san?"

And for the first time in too many years, Reigen thought he'd like to hear his own first name again.

"Please, call me Arataka."

[advseoservices]

How To Successfully Promote Your Business Online

How To Successfully Promote Your Business Online

If you want to promote your business online and generate more leads and more sales, stick around, because we’re going to show you exactly how to do it!

What you need is a Digital Marketing Strategy.

These days there’s no doubt about the power and influence the Internet can have on a business. In fact for many, if it wasn’t for clever online marketing, their businesses wouldn’t have grown at all.

Just like any business, in order to succeed and thrive online, a constant and steady flow of inbound traffic is required.

You need your marketing messages to be constantly seen by your target audience.

At any given time, there is already is a constant flow of people buying products and services similar to the ones that you’re selling.

Imagine standing beside a flowing river. That river is always flowing past you.

This is similar to the traffic that is flowing right now. People are shopping for products and services just like yours.

For successful growth online, you need to be able to access that flowing river. You need to tap into that traffic that already exists online.

The good news is that in a minute, we’re going to show you exactly how.

We’re going to reveal the three key elements of a successful digital marketing campaign, that if you employ, will see you catching as many fish as you can handle!

WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING?

Before we begin let’s first understand what we’re really talking about here. What actually is Digital Marketing?

If you have been thinking about growing your business online, then you have most likely learned that you need an online or digital marketing plan.

You’d be forgiven if you’ve wondered what that actually meant. Digital marketing can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

But here is a very simple layman’s description of what digital marketing is.

Digital marketing is any online activity that assists in the promotion of a product or brand.

Simple huh?

Digital Marketing is a broad and often an umbrella term that actually describes a myriad of tactics and strategies that you can apply to achieve your overall marketing goals.

Back in the day – and we’re talking about 10 – 15 years ago, you just needed a decent website, a few keywords and that was it. You’d get traffic.

Nowadays, there is a lot more competition for that traffic.

Businesses are finding it harder to get seen online.

Businesses can no longer just throw up a website and tweak a few keywords. It’s more complicated than that now.

People are always using the Internet to search for solutions to the problems they have. So long as people use the Internet to research the products and services that they need, businesses likewise, will need an effective digital marketing strategy to reach out to them.

ANATOMY OF AN ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

So by now, you are probably wondering what exactly is involved in a digital marketing campaign?

Depending on who you speak to, it can cover an enormous array of digital tactics and strategies. To be fair, we couldn’t do justice to all of them within the timeframe we have available right now.

Rather, we are particularly going to focus on one strategy which also happens to be one of the most effective.

Sorry, we’re not going to be focusing on any interruption based strategies. Instead, the model we will be discussing is called “search based” digital marketing.

What Is Search Based Digital Marketing?

Search based digital marketing is a model that aims to present your marketing messages at the very time when your target audience is searching for them.

This actually enables you to capture your prospects at that exact time when they are performing their research, or when they are comparing similar products and services to yours, and of course when they’re ready to buy

Search based digital marketing is a favourite because it reaches out directly to the visitor at their exact moment in time when they’re searching for what you have.

It is more effective because they themselves have initiated it, rather than you forcing it upon them.

This works whenever they search for something relevant in your market.

We know that when they find your website, it can be either via a paid listing or an organic listing. But for this discussion, we will purely focus on what everyone wants – A free organic listing on Google.

Of course, they may find you after visiting another webpage or social site, which refers them to you.

But the real beauty of search-based digital marketing is that you can create specific messages that are tailored to the exact stage of their buying cycle.

So if somebody is searching to compare product A versus product B, you can actually reach out to those people at that specific moment. Then you can provide them with information that will help them at that time of their search.

The main goal of search-based digital marketing is to be there when they search. It is to be there at every stage of their buying cycle.

As a result, you’re not only going to add considerable value, but you’re also going to improve the relationship that they have with you and your brand.

In case you haven’t already guessed, one of the key elements of this search based model involves how well you rank on Google.

The content you produce to help your prospects needs to rank well on page one in order to capture their visit.

The process in which this occurs is often referred to as Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. However, these days, Search Based Digital Marketing is a better description.

WEB MARKETING FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

A successful search-based digital marketing strategy requires three key elements to be successful.

But before we look at those, one of the most important things that we need to remember is that this whole strategy revolves attracting and acquiring traffic from search engines.

And before you can begin your strategy, you need to truly understand what you’re overarching goal or objective is.

Do you just want somebody to buy immediately on your website?

Or would like prospects to request an online quote?  Or do you want them to call you?

From the get-go, you need to be very clear about what your overall goal is. This will provide direction as to what you want your website to do for your business.

After all, this is an online marketing strategy. Therefore it all begins with your website.

Your Website is the very first element that you need to work on, as far as your digital marketing strategy goes.

This is the destination that all of your marketing activities will lead to. This is where your conversion funnel begins.

You will be attracting and acquiring traffic from the search engines, and they’re all going to be directed to your website.

The second element of this strategy is called Content.

You may have heard this more commonly referred to as content marketing. Content marketing is

a term that is often overused and for many, taken for granted.

Many think it means you’ve just got to write some content and then like magic you’ll get a flood of traffic.

But content marketing is more strategic within this context.

It is a lot more scientific than you may think.

The last element of this search based digital marketing strategy is Outreach.

Outreach is best thought of as a form of online networking. There are other websites out there that can refer traffic to you. Outreach is a process of connecting with them.

Website, Content, and Outreach are the three components of a successful search-based digital marketing campaign.

So let’s now take a moment now to go over them a little more detail.

ON-PAGE OPTIMISATION  FOR YOUR WEBSITE

Your entire search-based digital marketing campaign begins with your website. We’ve already mentioned that.

Within the SEO industry, this is what is referred to as on-page optimization.

This relates to all of the elements on your website, that not only improves your conversion, but also your ranking on Google.

At the end of the day, it’s people that buy stuff from you, not the search engines. So your primary and initial focus must be all about their user experience.

Have a look at the design of your website. Is that in keeping with the current design expectations?

You don’t need an award-winning super design of your website, that’s not what your visitors are looking for – unless you’re an artist of course.

People notice “OLD” websites.

In fact, 75% of visitors cast judgment on a business, purely based on their design.

You also need to ensure that your website is easy to use. You need an intuitive site structure.

Make it very easy for your visitors to find the information that they need, to not only learn more about your products and services but also to buy them.

While on this topic, this leads nicely to discuss the conversion elements on your page.

Is there a clear call to action?

Have you clearly articulated what you do?

Are you making it very easy for them to contact you?

The amount of websites that I see without a phone number is ridiculous. People want to pick up a phone and speak to a person.

Even if they don’t actually call, at the very least, they want to see that there is phone number should they want to.

Your visible phone number is a very important trust factor!

The other main area is that you need to fully optimize your website for the search engines.

Google’s business is all about finding all of the websites that are out there, and then deciding which of those websites are the most relevant for any given search term.

Your job is to optimize it in a way that makes it super easy for Google to not only read your website but also to help it know what search terms your website should be listed for.

You can do this in a number of ways.

Initially, you need to take care of the basics. This means your metadata. You must optimize your page titles and descriptions as well as the Alt tags for your images.

You also need to ensure that you have a clear and simple URL structure.

Google has recently made a lot of noise about the speed of websites. They are starting to favour faster loading sites as far as ranking goes.

That alone is a healthy tip for you!

If your website is loading slower than two seconds then you need to take action now to improve the loading speed of your site.

This next one won’t come as a shock to you. Your website needs to be mobile friendly. In fact, there are rumors that Google will be moving toward a Mobile friendly search index. This means, if your website is not mobile friendly – you will not show up at all!

The last tip that we have for you, is that your website must be secure. Ensure that you have SSL enabled.

We all fear our details getting hacked. It makes sense that Google will favour websites that provide a secure experience for its users.

So with all this said now, and once your website is fully optimized, you can start considering working on your content strategy.

CONTENT MARKETING

Content marketing is certainly not new.

But content takes the place of our second most important pillar in our search based digital marketing strategy.

Although content marketing has been around for a considerable amount of time, it’s rarely done right.

Typically content creation is done in an ad hoc manner. It’s usually focused more on “buy my stuff”, or  “why my stuff is so good and better than others”.

Although information like that is okay, it’s certainly not where content marketing needs to be today.

Content marketing takes on more of a scientific and strategic process these days.

Content should not be created and developed just for the sake of saying that you’re producing content. Developing content requires significant strategy.

Start by developing a well researched content-to-keyword map.

This will help you develop content around specific keywords that you’re targeting.

Importantly, the keywords you select should be mapped according to the buying cycle of your typical customer.

You will then be able to purposefully speak to your prospects at every given moment within their buying cycle.

So here’s another important tip for you.

Create a huge list of the most common keywords that people use to find your products or services. Then divide those keywords into four areas.

These four areas relate to your prospects usual buying cycle.

This begins with an awareness phase; where they’re just discovering that your products and services exist.

The second phase is when they are researching. So now they’re trying to learn as much as they can about it. So organize keywords that speak to this phase.

The next stage is called comparison. Here they’re looking at your product, versus your competitors’ products. So here they are using keywords to try and understand the differences between all of the products and services that are out there. Can you find those keywords?

The last phase is the intent phase. Here, they’ve decided what they want to buy right down to the model number.

At this time, they are searching for that model number and where to buy it.

So as you look at all of your keywords that you can potentially target, sort them out according to where they fit along their buying cycle.

The real secret to this content strategy is to create content that speaks directly to each phase of this buying cycle. But ensure you are targeting the keywords that your prospects are using as they search.

So as one of your prospect searches online, you can provide value to them with your content.

It can be via one of your articles, videos, or your images etc. Either way, you can help them with their overall buying decision.

The benefit of this is, that by creating strategically targeted content like this, it’s actually increasing your perceived authority and trust within your marketplace.

This will significantly help develop your overall relationship with them, which will go a long way toward them becoming your customer.

OUTREACH MARKETING

As we’ve just discussed, creating content in a strategic fashion can be immensely powerful in determining your overall success, as far as your digital marketing strategy goes.

But that all comes to naught if no one knows about it. This leads us to the final pillar which is called Outreach.

From experience, we know that if you just build it, they won’t come.

Even if you built the best looking and the most highly optimized website, or even offer the best content. If no one knows about it, then all your efforts are wasted.

Online you need to reach out to where your current traffic exists. Now I know part of that is ranking well on Google.

If you rank on page one of Google for some of your most competitive keywords and key phrases, you stand a good chance of attracting a lot of that traffic.

However, there is also a lot of traffic visiting other websites, other than just those on the search engines.

Don’t get me wrong. Ranking well on Google is a key aspect of this whole strategy. However, a lot of other websites, other web properties also own quite a fair bit of traffic themselves.

Not only do they have traffic coming to their websites, but they also have a high ability to influence them toward what you have to offer.

So you need to reach out to other web properties to let them know that you’re there.

This can encompass quite a large range of activities.

One of the indirect benefits of attracting visitors via other web properties is that it can have a positive impact on where you rank in Google.

Google will start to see you out there, and notice that your content is being shared and talked about.

With this extra exposure and interest, Google will recognize your authority and improve your ranking positions.

So here are some of the activities you can do to increase your outreach.

Guest posting

Guest posting is where you publish your content on someone else’s website.

Start by producing a valuable piece of content. The kind that’s truly going to help your marketplace.

Then publish that on someone else’s website to help THEIR audience. By doing this, you are not only helping the other website, but you are also helping to establish your credibility.

Included in this article, put in a link pointing back to your website. So visitors who read that article will have the opportunity to come and visit your website as well.

The secondary benefit to this is that Google also notices that link. As a result, they may give you credit for it, which can further improve your search rankings.

Social Media

Outreach can also incorporate social media marketing. Start developing a tribe of followers on your social media accounts.

Share your content and engage with your market on social media.

This will show them that you are there, and are willing to contribute. That alone can generate a flow of traffic back to your website.

Answer Questions Your target audience is looking for answers to questions they have that relate to your industry.

Find out where they’re asking them. Then invest the time to provide value in your answers.

That’s right. Answer their questions online. If you can truly provide value, then they’ll be more inclined to look for more, by visiting your website.

The nice thing here is that this will also apply to others that read your answer.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

Search based digital marketing needs to be thought of as an ongoing marketing activity for your business.

This is not something that you do once and then forget about it.

The marketplace online is constantly changing and evolving.

Website technologies will continually improve and Google’s requirements and expectations will also increase as well.

So this means that you need to constantly monitor your website.

It’s not a design once, optimize and forget!

Keep on top of it to ensure that it is constantly optimized for any given period of time.

Content generation is also an activity that you need to continue.

If you want to maintain your growth online, then you will need to continue producing quality content.

And of course, while you’re producing this additional content, you also need to focus on reaching out to others to constantly share it.

The online marketplace is a very competitive landscape. This is only going to increase.

This is why it is important to learn how to promote your business online.

Right at this moment, as you are learning about digital marketing, your competitors are most likely doing the same.

In fact, I’m sure most of your competitors are already doing it!

The biggest mistake you can make (other than fail to begin), is to start a digital marketing campaign and then stop.

If you did, I can tell you that your competitors would be more than happy to take your place.

Speaking from a digital marketing agency perspective, I have to tell you that I absolutely love it when I analyze competitors and see that they started a digital marketing or SEO campaign and then stopped.

This just puts a smile on our face – and especially our clients. Because this just opens the door wider for us to take over.

The post How To Successfully Promote Your Business Online appeared first on Adv SEO Services.

from Search Engine Optimization Blog – Adv SEO Services http://ift.tt/2G9RRpG

[mobilehomeinvestors-blog]

Tips to Create a Call Script to Mobile Home Park Owners

How can investors master the phone as a tool for acquiring new mobile home park deals?

Either as an initial prospecting tool, or part of the negotiation process the phone can be powerful for sealing great deals on mobile home parks. So what smart practices can be deployed here? What should you say?

The Phone & Your Mobile Home Deals

The phone can be a great tool for prospecting for mobile home parks to buy. There are a variety of ways to generate lists and phone numbers of mobile home park owners that may be willing to sell their properties.

This includes:

For sale signs

Online real estate listings

Lead lists of park owners

Public records

Inbound leads generated online or from signs, direct mail, or print advertising

Pro Tip: Use a business phone number for making and receiving business and investment phone calls. You really don’t want your home phone or mobile number out there. A pro number looks more professional, offers privacy, and minimizes risks. This can be inexpensively obtained via various online phone services, or even an additional mobile line. All of these can be forwarded to your existing phone line or email if you like.

Whether a warm or cold call the phone is a power tool for building rapport and negotiating better acquisitions. So what do these conversations look like?

Tips for Creating Phone Scripts

It’s smart to create a phone script for both inbound and outbound calls, warm calls and cold calls. This gives you a structure, keeps you on track, avoids silence when you forget what to say, and ensures you ask the right questions and get all the needed information. While a script should actually be fluid, not set in stone, it will keep conversations progressing, and the more you practice it the more naturally and comfortably this will flow.

In addition to a line by line script most will also want to build up a set of rebuttals. These can be injected into the conversation as objections arise, and steer the conversation back to where you want it to go. Every time you counter a new objection; add 1-3 good rebuttals to your list.

The whole script doesn’t need to be more than a page or two. Having this in writing will also help you scale and eventually have others making calls for you. If you don’t feel like a great script writer you can always hire a freelance writer via outsourcing platforms like Upwork.com.

Making Contact

Thanks to the internet mobile home park buyers can arm themselves with quite a bit of research and data on sellers before making contact. Between local records, Facebook, Google, and other sites investors can highlight at least 1-3 good conversation points and ways to build rapport and relationship quickly. For example; a shared love of raw food, or a new development in town, dislike of rising local property taxes, are shared film and music tastes. These can all be great icebreakers.

This might go something like…

“Hi, is this Joe?”

“Hey Joe, I would have called you earlier but I just got out of the new Star Wars movie premiere with the kids; have you seen it yet?”

Or

“How are you Joe? This is Tim, I would have called you a little earlier, but was just catching up on the news of how high property taxes are going next year – it’s crazy huh?

Then move into…

“The reason I called was it looks like you own the mobile home park over at (blank), and I was wondering if you knew any other park owners in the area that might be interested in selling? Or maybe you’ve even been thinking about it before these rising rates crush values around here?”

Get them talking, and get as much of a feel for what’s important to them as possible.

Talking Business

Once you get over to the topic of them selling their park they’ll probably just want to know ‘your offer’. Obviously you may not be ready to throw that out yet. So power through to collecting information.

“Well, I obviously need to make sure I have all my facts right. How many lots does your park actually have?”

“What type of utilities are onsite?”

“Have you made any improvements recently, or know of any that need to be made?”

“How much are the current rents, occupancy rate, total size of the property, etc.?”

Highlight Your Benefits

Why should they talk to you? Why should they consider selling to you?

Can you convey any of the following?

You can close fast

You can provide a flexible solution to help them get what they want

You have the cash and are a strong, qualified buyer

You’ll take good care of the property and their tenants

You are experienced in buying real estate

Strategy

Remember that you are doing them a favor by buying their park

Approach them as if you are qualifying them and their property, not the other way around

Understand their fear of being called by a stranger and overcome that

Have a goal of getting some form of commitment going in, and don’t get off the phone without it. This could be as simple as agreeing on a follow up call time, or reviewing your offer.

Follow Up

However the call ends, follow up. Do what you say, and on time. This may be emailing an offer, meeting up for coffee, a second call, or just a handwritten thank you for their time to keep the door open for another try later.

Dealing Phone Phobias & Rejection

Not everyone loves talking or selling on the phone. If this includes you there are many phone pros out there that can help. This can range from an inexpensive virtual assistant, to high caliber closer, to a whole team in an offshore call center.

If you are going to call yourself, anticipate rejection, and decide in advance that you won’t be fazed by it. Don’t take it personally. Many people won’t at first understand that you can help them. They’ll often be paranoid and think you are a scammer, so be transparent, convey your position professionally, and keep pushing forward.