#with how each page is more like a standalone illustration on its own than a comic page i highly doubt if im even gonna finish this
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kaiserouo · 2 months ago
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wip because this definitely isn't coming out in days
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when you see my harrow happy you know what im gonna do with him
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tasharii · 6 years ago
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Your Colors: Ch.1.
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A/N: I was hoping for this to be a oneshot, but it got out of hand very quickly, and became a full, multi-chapter fic. This is for @writingcroissant ‘s 2k challenge. I picked the Artist AU, and ran with it. 
I also couldn’t help but create the mood board that you see. Gotta love visual inspiration! I might make one themed for every chapter, not sure yet. This is my first fanfiction ever, so please let me know what you think. I’ll update the warnings with every chapter if something changes.
Summary:  Art was the one good thing between college, work, and the grey minutes in-between. Sometimes, it felt like she wasn’t alive at all. Just drifting. When she joined her new art class, she never expected to start experiencing everything in an entirely new light. All thanks to him. Or: Where Bucky Barnes gets more than he bargained from his new drawing partner.
Pairing: Reader x Bucky Barnes
Word Count: 11.5K
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Language, violence, attempted assault
Masterlist
Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6  Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9  Chapter 10   Chapter 11  Chapter 12  Chapter 13
****
A cool draft of air pricked goosebumps up across her skin, and she suppressed the urge to shiver. One wrong movement would break her pose. The floral duvet under her was soft, but her knees were starting to ache from holding the position for so long. Her hands were curled against the tops of her thighs, as if she just rose up to kneel on her bed. Y/N’s head was tilted just a little, her hair pulled over one shoulder, facial expression calm. It was hard to stay that way, though. She could feel his eyes on her like blinding sunshine.
The lighting was controlled by mismatched lamps, keeping it consistent and gentle, almost intimate. Three lights were situated around her bed. One by the headboard behind her, another standalone closer, above her head to the left, and the last was further away on a chair in front of her. All the ceiling lights were switched off, and the windows were covered. It was just enough light to keep her bedroom area illuminated, but the rest of the apartment was coated in inky shadows.
Even with the heat on high, the loose, sheer long sleeve blouse she wore wasn’t quite warm enough. Goosebumps crawled up her bare thighs, disappearing underneath her jean shorts. Y/N’s studio apartment always ran on the edge of nippy. The stained tan carpet couldn’t block out the chill. The mass of tall windows on her back wall, across from the door, loved to let the fall air creep in. At least the windows gave a beautiful view of New York’s sparkling skyline. Being on the 14th floor did have some perks.
“You’re frowning again.” His voice broke through her train of thought. It made her shoulders tense up to her ears before she forced them back down. Subtly she flexed her fingers in and out of fists, trying to shake the anxiety. “Do you need a break?”
Y/N let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding “No, I’m alright.” She peaked at him from just within her peripheral vision. He was drawing her from a 3-quarter view, a little lower rather than straight on. A chair had been pulled over from her living-room area, and he lounged back in it. One foot propped up on a stool; other on his knee. His large sketchpad rested on his lap, and tucked up close to his face. Pale blue eyes focused on her with such intensity she felt another flush crawl from her chest down to her toes and up to her ears. This was one part of life drawing that she could never quite get used to.
His eyes drifted over her body, taking in every single detail. First trailing across the waves in her hair, then he paused on her lips, passed down to her torso, arms, legs, and lastly he focused on the paper. Bottom lip tucked underneath his teeth, he scraped against the page in small fluid strokes. The rasping of charcoal eased some of the heat that sparked across her skin. Then he looked up again, loose strands of hair falling across his forehead.
Bucky met her eyes for a couple seconds. Her heartbeat picked up again at being caught staring. Then he dropped his charcoal back down into its open case on the end table beside his chair. He let his socked feet down. Placed his sketchpad on the stool and rubbed at the black smudges on his fingers “I think I’m done anyway. I wanna get a drink real quick, then I’ll pose for you.” He wiped the smudges on his jeans as he stood up.
‘Oh thank god’  Y/N thought, then fell back onto her butt, rolling into a sitting position. Stretching her arms above her head, she cracked her back. As she rolled her stiff joints, she listened for Bucky’s footsteps. The light flicked on for her corned off kitchen area. It was all the way on the other side of the apartment, but she heard the fridge door open without one single footstep. He was so damn quiet. Like a ghost. Maybe it was just because of the carpet.
“Can you get me a coke?” She called, scooting to sit on the edge of the bed and then standing. Tingles trailed down her legs, feet asleep, and she awkwardly shook them off. With a couple bouncing steps she went over to the stool. Y/N didn’t dare touch it, didn’t want to smear any of his strokes. Instead, she just moved over so she could peer down at his latest masterpiece.
It had taken him a little over 30 minutes to draw her. Bucky always, somehow, made her look far more beautiful than any mirror had ever done for her. Her hair looked wavy and graceful as it framed her face, and she appeared to be deep in thought. As if she was captured in the moment between deciding to do something and moving into action. Y/N wished she could say that he drew her wrong, made her look like someone else. A girl far more elegant and pretty than her, but it would be an insult to his skill. Bucky captured her truer to herself than anyone else in the world. It was like he saw inside of her. Saw what she was made of and brought it to the surface.
Somehow, he did it every single time.
This was the fourth time he had been over for an art homework session. Probably drawn her upwards of thirty times now between all the impression sketches, and various timed drawings. Always in charcoal. Always with beautiful accuracy.
“What do you think?” Y/N felt something cold and damp brush her arm. She jumped a little bit and whipped around to glare at Bucky for spooking her. He was standing a good foot away, but his arm had stretched out to offer her the canned soda.
Snatching the drink from him, she took a couple calming breaths, and ignored his small smirk “I think this one’s your best so far. You’re getting better with the lighting.”
Now that she was aware of him, he took another step closer. Unconsciously, his right arm brushed hers as he tilted his head, eyeing the drawing critically “Still can’t get your damn nose right.”
“Got a problem with it?” She teased, sipping on her drink and studying the illustration. Honestly, she didn’t notice anything wrong with it. Her 2D nose looked about as accurate as the rest of her. Curling her bare toes into the carpet, she noticed the feeling had finally come back to them.
Bucky glanced up at her and scowled accusingly “Ya, it’s disproportionate to your face.” The light from the lamp on the chair accented his pout, deepening the dimple under his lip.
Y/N couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that came out of her. It was such an absurd, random comment. Still, she pressed her lips and eyebrows down. Tried to be offended. After all, he was insulting her “Excuse me. I think my nose is the best part of my face! You’re the one with a butt chin!” Her voice trembled over her own words. Then she giggled a little harder as his sulking deepened and he rubbed at his chin, shaking his head.
“Now who’s being rude?” His pout finally lifted to a small smile, and he brought his coke to his mouth, swallowing. “I think next time I want you laying on the bed. Think you can let your head hang upside down for 30 minutes?” He caught her gaze, eyebrows raised. She tried to ignore him saying anything about laying on a bed. There was a mischievous spark in his eye that made her stomach flip.
“If I pass out it’s your fault.” She warned, jabbing a finger at him threateningly. He smiled a smidge more at her before backing up and going to sit his drink down on her desk. Every smile he gave her felt like a surprise, and she couldn’t quite believe how much had changed in such a short period of time.
Things were getting easier with him. It had taken a good two weeks, seeing each other twice a week in their mutual art class, and then twice outside of class to work on the homework. Y/N knew he would be tough. She could tell that from ‘Hello’. Just hadn’t properly estimated how difficult.
 In the beginning, he barely talked beyond adjustments to her pose, and comments on her anatomical errors. Never rudely. Definitely blunt, but his voice was soft, and he helped her after critiquing her. She had thought he was irritated every time he came to her apartment to work. Thought she annoyed him whenever she sat next to him in class. It made her anxiety relentlessly torment her like the devil it was.
Last Friday, though, she finally started to pick up on his dry humor. It was only small comments here and there. Little quips about the poses she made him do, or her obnoxiously loud neighbors. When she fed into it, he made more. Now he was beginning to smile easier. She eventually asked him about his brooding, while sketching him sitting in a chair. Bucky had cracked up. A full body laugh that took up her entire apartment. Between snorts he explained that his friends said he had a ‘killer resting bitch face’. It was one of their inside jokes. He was sorry if he gave her the wrong idea. All his waving hands, gesturing as he spoke, completely ruined her sketch. There was no getting him back into the same position. It was worth it.
These days, she wondered why she ever thought he was scary.
“Got any plans for Halloween?” Y/N asked, turning her drink in her hands. The holiday fell on a Wednesday this year, so most parties were scheduled the Saturday after. That was only a week away.
Bucky smeared the condensation of his can across his right fingers, rubbing at the leftover charcoal dust. The small of his back leaned against her desk as he thought about it. Charcoal had managed to get all the way down to his wrist. His thumb brushed over his fingertips and then he rubbed them again on his jeans. There were smudged stains on the faded blue now, next to his side pocket. He didn’t seem to care.
She tried to stop staring, looking back down at his drawing right as he glanced back up to answer. “Probably gonna go to my friend’s party. Maybe scare the kids that dare ring his doorbell.” He gave a wicked smirk. Then clapped his hands together, rubbing them conspiratorially. The sound was muted by his glove and had a dull ring from the metal underneath.
“Like you need to give more poor people nightmares from your ugly mug.” She teased. Well that answered her question. She thought maybe she could invite him to go with her and her friends to club Hydra. Obviously, he would be spending time with his friends. Friends she didn’t have any idea about.
“Oh ha ha.” Bucky rolled his eyes with exaggerated, sarcastic laughter. “So! Where do you want me and my ugly mug?” He asked, arms spread wide in mock invitation.
“Don’t pout. At least you don’t have to buy a costume.” Y/N continued. He didn’t even bless her with a response. Just pinned his grey eyes at her a bit more.
Slowly, she walked over to sit her own drink down beside his, lips pressed together. Peering around the room, she crossed her arms in thought. Finally, she nodded her chin towards the window sill. It was her middle, largest window. The one that opened to her fire escape. The sill doubled as a seat and had a couple cushions already laid out on it.
“Open the blinds and lean against it.” It was getting to be later afternoon, so the light should be pouring in the window without the blinds blocking it. As he pushed off from the desk, Bucky knocked his shoulder playfully against hers. She hesitated back for just a second, watching him stroll easily across her apartment. Honestly, she hadn’t realized that he never touched her before until he started to. It wasn’t like he touched her all the time now, but something told her it was significant that he did at all.
With a shake of her head, Y/N followed Bucky over to the window and let him push aside the pale blue curtains. Then he tugged the blinds up, turned and rested back against the window, arms crossed. He didn’t completely sit down onto the sill. Instead he sat on the very edge, using his legs to support him. It wasn’t a very comfortable position, but it was visually dynamic.
“This good?” He tilted his head and studied her curiously. He was wearing a black hoodie, left hand covered with a glove. His hair was easily brushed back from his face, shorter on the sides. Stubble covered his cheeks, but he still had a boyish charm to him, even with the small smudges of rings under his stark blue eyes.
She knew what was under his glove. It wasn’t like Bucky insisted on hiding his metal arm, but he did go out of his way to keep it covered as much as possible. Sometimes in class he would shed his jacket, long sleeves underneath it, but then he would roll up the sleeves to wash his right hand. He would remove the glove to keep it from getting wet. Didn’t usually even flinch whenever anyone looked, surprised, but no one asked. Prosthetics were rare, but not unheard of considering the war. Metal prosthetics were rarer, only Stark Industries made them, and they were ungodly expensive.
However, in all the sessions they had drawing each other, she hadn’t drawn him without his arm covered in some way. He had drawn her in various stages of undress: dresses, skirts, shorts, jackets, and even a sports bra once. Y/N had a feeling that this would be what she would use for her final Figure Drawing project. If he just didn’t have his jacket on. Maybe she could finally capture the essence of him that she had missed every time.
“One second.” She stated quickly, stepping back and flitting around her apartment. First, she turned off all the lamps over near her bed. Then she walked around the wide bookshelf that separated her bed from the living-room area and turned off the kitchen light beyond that. There was enough light pouring in from the window for her to draw by. Plus, having only one light source made the shadows he created deeper.
Having all that done, she steeled herself, debating a moment longer. It wouldn’t hurt to ask would it? She picked at the edges of her sheer sleeves, they covered down to her fingers. Bucky tracked the movement with his eyes. He really did have artist habits. Sometimes she wondered if he ever missed anything. Any small detail.
“Do you think you could take off your hoodie?” She quickly asked, a little hesitantly. Just throw it out there. Despite the anxiety, she tried to be as casual about it as she could.
Bucky’s eyes widened just a fraction before he gave a smooth smile and furrowed his eyebrows “You trying to defile my honor?” He chuckled teasingly, giving her an obvious once-over, then tutted with a click of his tongue “I didn’t take you for that kinda girl!” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket and reclined back a bit more. The light made pieces of his hair shine copper.
She scoffed “Oh you wish Barnes.” Then she shook her head, staring up at the high vaulted ceiling. Why did this difficult man had to be her muse?
“I just think the lighting and pose would look better without your dark ass jacket casting one big mass of shadows.” She jabbed a finger at it and stared at him stubbornly. She didn’t mention that his metallic arm would also look beautiful in the golden light of the sunset, but she figured he would come to that conclusion on his own.
“I’m wearing a tank top underneath this.” He stated, joking demeanor becoming subdued with his statement, voice softening. Bucky didn’t turn his gaze away from her. Slouched down like he was, she managed to stand at his height. Her bare toes were nearly touching his. The length of his stretched legs kept her a good arm’s length away. Bucky always seemed to have a bubble that he rarely let anyone in. People walked around him with a wide breadth. Y/N supposed he could be intimidating. Especially in moments like this. Where his eyes unwaveringly bore into hers, and he dropped his charming, dry humor. A joke wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“That’s fine by me.” She finally replied, clearing her throat from where it had become filled with sand. Honestly, she didn’t know Bucky all that well. They spent upwards of 10 hours a week together, working on the same class, bonding over art, but she still didn’t really know him. She knew he was a veteran, he was casually vague about that if the arm didn’t tip anyone off. Their art teacher, Ramsey, was also a veteran, and liked to talk about it with Bucky. Probably a sense of comradery. She knew his favorite medium was acrylic, and he worked at The Rosalie Bakery. That was about it, though, and all that stuff was pretty damn superficial.
As he kept his stare locked with hers for a few heartbeats longer than comfortable, she began to wonder if maybe she pushed too far. It was obvious he was a private guy. Maybe he was embarrassed about it. Maybe he didn’t want it captured forever down on paper. She was just about to back off when his right hand moved up to the zipper of his hoodie. Her eyes immediately tracked the movement. It rested below his chest, already partially down. The sound of the zipper broke the silence, louder than the clunking of her apartments central air.
“Alright, but good fucking luck drawing this hunk of metal. I swear shading it is gonna be a bitch for you.” Bucky groused, and she took a soft breath before smiling encouragingly with a flash of teeth.
“I think I can handle it.”
He tossed the jacket to the floor, and then rolled his shoulder a little. The wife beater didn’t hide much of anything. Y/N could see the thick jagged scars from where the metal ended, and his skin began. There was intricate paneling and the plates hissed a little as they shifted in response to him moving. His flesh fingers plucked the ends of the glove off, and then dropped it down on top of his jacket.
It only took two seconds for her trained eyes to devour every detail before she hurried to grab her sketchpad and standing easel. She wanted to draw him at eye level, just from the side closer to his metal arm. The light refracted, multicolored, across the silver. It was just as stunning as she thought it would be. “Can you just prop your left elbow up above your head? Ya like that. Now tilt your head towards me. Good. And relax.” She spoke quickly, already starting to block in shapes.
“Whatever you say Picasso.” Bucky rolled his eyes before relaxing his face, and he watched her draw.
Normally, she would tell him to look somewhere else. Maybe down, or up above her, but not this time. This time it was perfect that he was challenging her. Challenging the viewer. Daring them to look at him. Daring them to stare.
Y/N felt her heartbeat pick up, and she brushed the charcoal across her page, suddenly caught in a drawing fever. She could feel excitement sparking her fingers as she drew him. This was why she wanted him to be her partner.
When Ramsey told them that they would have a partner for the length of their class, she had panicked at first. Their partner was supposed to critic them, help them, and work their projects together. It was a lot to ask from someone, especially when most people in the class didn’t have a degree hanging on their performance. This was an extracurricular class for her, outside of her college, hosted by the Brooklyn Museum. It was meant for wanna-be-artists, but most of them weren’t being graded like her. At the end of the class their work would be hosted in an exhibit at the museum.
All her teachers would be coming to that show, and Ramsey was supposed to write weekly updates about her. Y/N didn’t like group projects to begin with. Most people just didn’t work well together, and she had high standards for herself. Besides, she only recognized a couple other people in the class from her college, but she didn’t truly know anyone.
As everyone started to pair off, being smart and probably taking the class with a friend, she glanced around the room. Twisted in her chair, observing as people laughed and started mulling over the syllabus together. She finally spotted him. He hadn’t moved from his drafting desk, hadn’t even looked up from his worn sketchbook. She noticed how people glanced at him, but then kept moving, looking for other options. He was beautiful. Intimidating. She wanted to draw him right then and there. It wasn’t anything new. Sometimes people just inspired her. Something about them made her itch to draw them. To capture their being onto a page.
So, she approached him. He slowly glanced up at her. Took in her position beside his desk with nothing else than a glare. Stubbornly not letting that deter her, she gave a small wave and the best smile she could muster under such uncomfortable circumstances “Hey I’m Y/N.”
“James.”
“You still have 20 minutes left. You can take your time.” Bucky chuckled, watching as her hand slowed for the first time since she started “I’m not going anywhere Y/N.”
It had taken the entire first week for her to make him laugh. Another week after that before the smiles came easier. The sad part was she had actively been trying. Of course, when he did laugh, she hadn’t tried. In the middle of rearranging the still life they were working with, she fumbled. She accidentally knocked her hip into the edge of her cheap end table when turning away. Managed to catch the flower vase, but at the cost of it spilling down the front of her shirt. At least it was on her, and not her camera. That same day, he had told her to call him Bucky instead of James.
He laughed a lot more since then.
Hearing her name made her fully give him her attention. Cars honked from far down below, and the shuffle of New York played like subdued background music. “You’ve got charcoal on your face.” He informed her. A smirk curled up one side of his lips, and his eyes danced in the fading auburn light behind him.
She wiped at her forehead, brushing back her hair. From the grin on his face, she probably only made it worse. She sent eye daggers at him “Shut up and get back to brooding.”
He pressed his lips together, trying to contain his smile. “Yes ma’am.” After that, she noticed that his shoulders were a little more relaxed. His breathing was deeper, and his gaze had softened. However, his eyes never stopped daring her to look.
**** 
Halloween was one of her favorite holidays. It was thrilling to get to pretend to be someone else. To have the opportunity to dress in whatever made her feel good without getting slut shamed for it. She had very few chances to act like a kid anymore, being in college, and having the adult responsibilities of a young woman living on her own. So, when her friends invited her to a Halloween party at the club Hydra she didn’t hesitate to agree. It wasn’t often that she drank, even less often that she partied.
The press of bodies made it difficult to get off the dance floor. She slowly weaved her way, slipping under arms and sliding through all the usual grinding. Her hair stuck to the nap of her neck, and she felt damp sweat on the small of her back. Leather was not a breathable fabric. It clung like a second jet black skin down her limbs and stretched across her breasts. As she stumbled, at last, out of the crowd, near the bar, she took in a muggy breath. The air tasted like various perfumes, and sweet smoke. Fog machines curled smoke around her feet and made the air hazy. Desperate, she unzipped her clingy jacket down a bit. Now she was showing an indecent amount of cleavage, only a pushup bra under the jacket, but at least it was cooler.
Time was drifting past 1 a.m., and she wanted to try to be home by 3. That way she could still be coherent when Bucky came over to work at 11. Multicolored strobe lights flashed overhead, giving everything a heady, surreal atmosphere. The music was so loud that she could feel it vibrating in her bones, across her heart. It mixed well with the slight buzz of alcohol making her skin tingle, and muscles loose. Her feet hurt from dancing so much, and she still had a throbbing bite mark on her neck. A gift from a guy dressed as a vampire who got a little too in character.
Finally, she made it into the bathroom, there wasn’t a line. The club was huge, and expensive. It managed to surprisingly be equipped with enough bathrooms to serve all its drunk, debauched guests. She leaned heavily against the porcelain sink, splashing some cool water onto the back of her neck. After a couple of calm breaths, she felt the last of the artificial fog leave her lungs. Peering up she stretched her neck to the side, checking to see if the vampire managed to bruise her. Thank god he didn’t.
Y/N’s makeup was smudged, making her sharp Black Widow look a little dirty. Her lipstick smeared around her mouth, and her smoky eyeliner ringed her bright eyes. Somehow, she got glitter across her cheekbones and chest. She hadn’t even worn glitter. Still, it managed to work with the leather, so she didn’t mind too much. Standing up straight, she dampened a paper towel and dabbed it under her eyes. Wanted to clean herself up just a little bit before she faced anyone again. Grabbing her lipstick from one of her many pockets she reapplied the scarlet, and then, satisfied, pulled out her phone.
Back facing the mirror, she leaned against the sink. Focused on her phone, she enjoyed the slight draft of cool air that dried the sweat on her chest. The music still crept in from outside, but it was the first minute in a solid 5 hours that she could hear her own thoughts.
First, she tried to call Gabby, who had drove them there. Gabby was always nailed to her phone and very reliable. It rang a few times, but eventually went to voicemail. Y/N left a quick message. Let her know that she wanted to head out soon, and to get back to her. They had agreed that they would stay no later than 1:30 a.m. at most. It was creeping towards that time.
Then she called Whitney, but the call was instantly rejected. She raised her eyebrows and hung up without leaving a message. Instead she went to text her. The buzzing of the florescent lights was starting to give her a headache. She jumped a little when a group of girls came into the bathroom, talking way too loudly. Probably still deaf from the base. The music followed in after them until the door swung closed again. Some remix of This Is Halloween. They barely glanced at her as they went about doing their business, checking their makeup and going into the stalls.
Y/N stepped back and out of the way of the sinks. She leaned against the other wall beside the trashcan. Her feet were starting to ache in her knee-high boots; so, she shifted her weight from one to the other, easing some of the pressure.
Y/N: Hey! Just wanted to knw if you’ve seen Gabs?
It took Whitney a couple minutes to text back. Minutes that went by gruelingly slow. The girls had all left by the time her phone vibrated in her hands.
Whitney: No idea! Srry about the call. I met a guy!  She followed that up with several winky faces and hearts.
Whitney: Let her know I don’t need a ride tho. Probably won’t make it home. Thnx!
That one was emphasized with some kisses and winky faces.
Y/N could tell when a conversation was over, so she tried to call Gabby again. It ended with the same result. She sent her a couple texts, but to no avail. Just more radio silence.
Buzz sufficiently tampered, she let Gabby know she was getting a cab. She stared up at the glass dome light about her head and groaned loudly in frustration. Then she pocketed her phone back in the pouch attached to her utility belt. She patted at her thigh pocket where she had her wallet, only to come up with nothing. Y/N patted down her hip pockets, and then back pockets. A bubble of panic started to rise from her stomach. She frowned, going for her bra, and then rechecking every single pocket she had.
Twice.
Then a third time.
No wallet. No goddamn wallet. She tried to think of where she could have left it, but it had been an hour since her last drink. There was no way she had left it at the bar.
Then she had gone to dance some more, and finally ended up here in the bathroom.
Somewhere between then and now her wallet had escaped.
Son of a bitch. She raked a rough hand through her hair. It probably looked wild in a crazy witch sort of way now. The mirror across from her confirmed her theory. Wild hair aside; ok, she could handle this. Maybe they had it at the bar. Maybe she dropped it, and someone gave it to the bartender. People were still nice like that.
With a rush of adrenaline fueling her steps, she shoved out of the bathroom and hurried to the bar. This couldn’t be happening.
It wasn’t at the bar.
The bartender helpfully informed her that they had been having a pick-pocket problem. Followed that up with a shrug and infuriating expression of pity.
Gave her a free shot of vodka for her troubles.
Dejected, it took her another 10 minutes to wind her way through the crowd. 10 long minutes to make it out of the maze of the outrageously huge club. She couldn’t help but feel pissed. All around abandoned by her friends. Robbed. She just wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and then collapse into her warm bed.
The frigid November wind only aided in agitating her more. The club was on a corner lot, and she walked a few paces away from the entrance. There were throngs of people still going into the club, and then stumbling masses making their way out of it. She waited on the edge of the sidewalk, watching as the headlights of the cars flashed by in blurs of color. She could see her breath in the wind and cursed her skin-tight leather jacket for not being warmer. The heat from the club abandoned her more every single time a gust of air pushed her to the side.
Luckily, she could feel the vodka coiling in her stomach, spreading numb warmth through her veins. It also managed to calm her down, guiding her from the edge of crying. She bit her lip and slumped against a lamp post.
A taxi started to pull over for her, and she let out a groan of frustration as she waved them on. No point in wasting the poor guy’s time. Renewed tears of frustration pricked her eyes as she tried to figure out who she could call. Her two best friends with cars had already outright deserted her ass. She pulled out her phone and started clicking through all her contacts. Rubbing at her fingers against the phone as she went. The light of her phone made her wince, and the harsh street light reflected white off her leather sleeves. No one else she knew drove.
No one except…
She hovered her thumb over Bucky’s name. He was probably still at his friend’s right now. If not there, likely passed out in some corner. They weren’t that close, and this would seriously be putting him out.
But she was desperate.
Y/N pressed the phone to her ear as it started to ring. Again, and again… and oh god he wouldn’t answer and he was going to wake up to a random call from an indecent hour and no explanation…
“Hello?”
“Bucky!” She uttered his name with an embarrassing amount of relief. Immediately she took a step away from the post, too nervous to stand still.
“Hey uh… are you alright?” He asked slowly, voice deeper over the phone. At least he sounded like he hadn’t been sleeping, or drunk. What if he was actually busy? What if he was _busy _with someone? She could just make out the sound of music over the line, and laughter.
“I’m not interrupting anything am I?” She ignored his question in favor of asking one of her own. What if she just interrupted a hookup? Accidentally cock blocked him? The thought made her a little queasy, and her free arm crossed protectively over herself.
“Oh no, um just at Steve’s party.” She pursed her lips, looking up at the sky.  Couldn’t make out any of the stars thanks to the city that never sleeps. Steve. He had never mentioned Steve before. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. She didn’t even know the names of his real friends.
He seemed hesitant when she didn’t say anything right away. Vodka was making its way through her. Her brain felt a bit slow “Is there anything that I can do for ya? Not that I don’t appreciate random calls or anything, but…” Bucky trailed off, waiting for her to finish the sentence for him.
The question made her straighten back up and scrub a hand over her face, suddenly remembering her awkward situation “I don’t want to put you out but… Well I’m kinda stuck at club Hydra. Without money, or a ride. Do ya think maybe you could give me a lift home? If you can’t it’s ok I can figure something else out. Promise I’ll pay you back though!” Her lipstick had smeared over her palm. She wiped it off on her thigh distractedly.
There were a few long beats of silence. The only way she knew he was still on the line was by the intermittent bursts of background laughter. Finally, she heard Bucky let out a sigh that made the speaker crackle “I’m not even going to ask. I can be there in 10 if you don’t mind riding on my bike.”
“No that’s fine!” No, she didn’t mind the idea of riding on the back of his bike at all. It sounded like the best thing ever. A great way to pick up her shitty night. “Are you sure though? I don’t want to make you leave your party.”
She could hear some shuffling, and it sounded like Bucky was talking to someone, but she couldn’t make out any of his words. When his voice came back he was a bit louder “Nah it’s alright. Starting to die out anyway.”
“You’re not drunk, are you?” Y/N suddenly asked, a bit concerned. Mostly not even for herself.
Bucky snorted a laugh “No I’m not drunk. Would never dream of risking my bike like that.” A screen door slammed over the phone, and he cursed. Something about stupid weather and stupid damsels in distress. She opted to ignore him.
“I was more worried about you than the bike, but I’ll take what I can get.” She paced around her small bit of sidewalk. It felt like there might be snow in the air. Above the buildings she wondered if the clouds were gearing up for it, thick and heavy.
“Shouldn’t worry ‘bout me, but thanks anyway.” There was a jingling of keys, and then a roaring crackle over the speaker that made her jerk the phone away from her ear. He must have started his bike.
To compensate she spoke up a bit louder “Thank you so much. I’m already outside. Can’t miss me. I’m in all leather.”
Bucky laughed a little, but it was distorted from the motorcycle “It’s Halloween weekend. I don’t think you’re the only girl out there sportin’ all leather.” Before she could defend her entirely unique leather get-up, he finished “But I’m sure you’ll stand out anyway. See ya in a bit.” Then he hung up.
The next 5 minutes passed agonizingly slow. She huddled herself up against a rough brick wall, thankful that she was wearing pants. Even if the leather was thin. She didn’t want to go back into the club, and chance missing Bucky. Besides, it was only 10 minutes. She could handle that. Her phone stayed pressed close to her face as she flipped through Tumblr, attempting to keep her mind off the howling wind. It bit at her fingers, and pink nose.
At first, she didn’t notice. There was always a background rush of voices on the streets, along with cars, and horns. City noises. A lot of the louder voices were guys, shouting obscenities at no one in particular. Even when she had been cat called a few times, it never amounted to anything.  Usually she just kept walking or flipped them off, then kept walking.
“Hey sweetheart why you all by yourself?” She glanced up from her phone, wondering what poor girl was getting harassed and if maybe she should do something.
Then she realized that poor girl was her.
Too stunned to say anything, she kept quiet. The guys were leering at her from down the sidewalk. Probably coming from the club. There were five, all in various costumes, and all likely in various states of intoxication. The ringleader stood in the front, backed up by two other big guys, the fatter one was in a basketball jersey, the other a pirate’s hat with a ruby feather. They were all tall, but not quite as tall as Bucky. Not many guys were.
When she didn’t respond, the ringleader stepped closer to her little ball of light. She stood underneath a streetlamp light. The post was positioned on the other side of the sidewalk, next to the street, but its illumination reached her against the wall. It felt like the safest place. Not that Hydra was located on a shady street, but it was late at night, or early in the morning. She was a girl. It was also Halloween. Now she was starting to wonder if the light was more like a beacon for all the goddamn scumbags of the world.
“Wanna keep us company?” He continued, a wide smirk making his teeth flash in the headlights of a car “We can warm you up real nice.”
Discount Jack Sparrow chuckled from beside him “You make one damn hot Black Widow. I’d love to see what’s under your leather.” She felt his eyes on her cleavage even if she couldn’t see him clearly in the shadows. Suddenly she wanted to zip her top back up, but she didn’t dare give him the goddamn satisfaction of appearing embarrassed.
Up to this point she was far too amazed at the blatant sexual harassment heading her way to say anything. That comment jarred her into standing up straighter, trying to appear bigger than she was. Then she glared at them “Fat chance asshole. Leave me alone.” She bristled more when they just laughed at her and felt her stomach drop. This wasn’t good.
If she screamed it wouldn’t do much. It was Halloween. People were screaming everywhere. Plus, in a city, one scream just disappeared like smoke among all the other noises. There wasn’t anyone around paying any attention. The main bustle was over at the club, but she was far away from it now. Went to wait next to a parking garage a distance away so Bucky would have an easier time spotting her. A huge building filled with cars, not people. Sure, there were cars going by, but no one gave a shit what happened outside the nice tinted glass of their ride.
To her left, yards away, the fluorescent lights of Hydra’s sign flashed mockingly at her. To her right the street was deserted, the parking garage was huge enough that it took up the sidewalk till it hooked around the other corner several yards away. In front of her the street flowed like an impassable, steady river of cars. The neanderthals blocked her from heading back to the safety of Hydra.
It would be a lucky day if anyone paid her any attention at all.
“Aw you even talk like her. Why don’t we play a little?” The ringleader stepped into her circle of light now. Contaminating it. She pressed further back against the brick behind her “I’ll be the Hulk, and you can be my little Widow.” He had greasy dark hair, pushed back from his long pale face, the brim of a scuffed top hat hooded his dark eyes. He was toned underneath his circus coat, she could tell by the way it hugged his chest. A literal evil ringmaster. How ironic. Probably not even all that ugly when that sneer didn’t stretch his face. Probably one of those guys that didn’t take no for an answer, even in a setting much nicer than this.
As they crowded closer in, she could smell the alcohol on them. Alcohol, and pot. Not that substances are any excuse, but it made her spine tingle with adrenaline. Substances just made people get angrier faster and hit harder.
Without even responding, she bolted, or tried. Lunged to the right. Maybe if she made it to the end of the block she could go across the crosswalk. Across the street there were restaurants, and people. She made it all of five steps before a hand caught her wrist and wrenched her back. Involuntarily, she stumbled into Ringleader’s chest. His other arm snaked around her waist, crushing her there as she tried to wiggle away.
She screamed then.
Whether she believed it would help or not. It was just a natural damn response. Fear sliced down her spine and beat the wail out of her.
His hand left her wrist and covered her mouth. Circus Freak’s palm tasted dirty when she tried to bite, but he just pressed harder. His thumb wrapped over her nose. She could barely breathe.
“Shut the fuck up.” He tugged her back, making her stumble with him, and then took her out of the light all together. The lamp flickered and hummed, above her head. She watched it get smaller. He dragged her over towards the opening of the car garage. It gaped at her like the ominous jaws of a monster. If she went in there, she might never come out.
Even if she did, she might not be able to put herself back together. Not for a second time.
Y/N tried letting herself go dead weight, but he just grunted and pulled her harder. Ringleader’s arm was an iron bar. It dug into and bruised her ribs. Her jacket hiked up from the squirming, and suddenly his grimy hand was squeezing her bare side. Heartbeat spiking, she scratched at his arms, kicked at his legs, started to buck back. Her feet didn’t connect with more than his shins, but at least he cursed. Blood welled up under her nails, and as she squirmed his hand started to slip. She fought with everything she had in her. Finally, he let go of her mouth to contain her arms.
“Grab the goddamn slut’s legs!” He demanded, voice rough from too many smokes. Hands caught her wrists in a bruising vice. He tugged them up above her head.
Fatty in the ball jersey did as ordered. He bent over and grabbed her thighs, lifting them off the ground. Couldn’t get a solid hold with her bucking. He managed to keep her calves lifted, and she used his support to push off. With all her strength, she brought up one foot when he pushed closer to her. She got in one good, hard kick into his snarling face. The heel of her boot cracked him right in the nose. Snapped his head back and he let out a surprised wail. A wave of gratification swept her chest. She even smiled a little, past the tears that smeared her mascara.
It didn’t last long. Jersey held his flooding nose with his left hand and stammered “You bitch!” The rage in his voice tremored through his muscles. He brought back his big meaty hand and landed a stinging backhand across her face. Bastard had a hulking ring on his finger. The jewel caught on her cheekbone and tore into her skin. Her ears started to ring, and glowing halos of light danced in her eyes when she blinked. The force split her lip and she tasted blood.
At least his nose looked broken, blood splattering across his stupid purple jersey. She hoped the stain never came out.
In slapping her, he let go of her feet, so she started trying to kick again. She kicked despite the throbbing through her skull. Kicked despite the ringing in her ears. Despite the hands that constricted her. Bruised her.
Still, it wasn’t really going anywhere. She pegged another guy with devil horns in the middle of his chest. He caught her feet, wrapped them under one of his arms, and constrained her. They started shuffling closer to the entrance, and she started to scream again. Her shoulders ached from bearing all her weight, and she stared up at Ringleader. His breath stank of alcohol when he stared down at her with a chilling grin.
That was when she heard a distinctive skid of tires on the sidewalk.
“What the fuck?” One of the others, he had on a very ironic Superman getup, muttered as headlights blinded her. The guys were circled around the front of her, Ringleader binding her arms above her head from behind, Devil Horns holding her feet in front of her. Dirty Superman and Pirate Hat flanked her sides. All of them turned to gape as the lights turned off, and the sound of boots against sidewalk stalked towards them.
Somehow, Y/N knew who it was before she even heard him speak or saw his face. Her entire body sagged in relief, and she strained her neck to try and see.
“Bucky!” She screamed, but then Ringleader cut her off. He jostled her to hold her wrists in one hand, covering her mouth with the other. Devil horns dropped her feet, and she barely kept from falling like a stone. Ringleader tugged her up and back against him.
The others huddled away from Bucky when he got closer. She could just make out his face in the street lights, and his expression made her freeze. His eyes were as cold as winter. Face stony to match. He stood up at all his height, more menacing than ever before, and had yet to utter a single word.
Didn’t really have to. His body language said it all.
Ringleader must have been too stupid to listen “Hey buddy. I suggest you move along. Nothin’ to see here. Our friend was just about to show us a good time. Weren’t ya?” He spoke down to her, shaking her a little. Y/N let out a shriek of rage, clawing at his arm, ripping up more skin beneath his sleeve. He squeezed her mouth tighter, cutting off her air all together. Tears blurred her vision, streaks already staining her cheeks. She couldn’t remember when exactly she started crying. Her lungs burned as she fought to breathe through his skin.
Bucky’s fists clenched at his sides, one covered by a glove. Sporting a leather jacket, white t-shirt, black jeans, and heavy boots he looked almost like John Travolta from Grease. Styled hair and everything. Would have made her weak in the knees in any other situation. Currently, she was struggling to breathe for entirely different reasons.
When he took a threatening step forward, her band of assholes stepped back. A gust of wind ruffled everyone’s hair, and she noticed little white flakes reflecting in the street lamp behind Bucky. Crystals caught in his hair, and she wondered why the universe made tonight the first snow fall.
A heavy silence hung thick in the air. She slapped progressively harder at Ringleader’s hand until he let her breathe again. By then her head was getting light. He still insisted on keeping his hand over her mouth. She sucked air in through her nose. The smell of cigarettes encased her, clogging the air.
Bucky’s eyes met hers across the tense darkness, and she could feel his worry without any words. It reflected in his blue eyes. Spoke through the small crease in his brow, and tense set of his mouth. Finally, though, he did speak up. His words dominated over the cars in the street and boomed across the sidewalk. Slowly, he stared down every single person with a deadly sort of calm.
“I suggest you douchebags let her go. Right now. If you want to walk away from here tonight.” His voice wavered just a bit in pent up rage. She tracked that rage across the stiffness of his shoulders and the clenching of his fists. Distantly she wondered how much damage he could do with a metal fist helping him. How many people had he made bleed with it during the war.
She watched a shudder pass through the spines of everyone standing there. The frost coming off him even made the tips of her fingers prickle. She squeezed her captor’s hand tighter, trying to pry it back off her mouth. He didn’t budge.
Stupidity, and pride always prevail. Ringleader laughed, and the movement jostled her. Her shoes scraped against the side walk as he tugged her up, making her stand on her tiptoes. The position strained her neck, and made her thighs burn. She arched her back to keep from pressing against him more than he made her. “Again, you should really leave before you piss me off. It’s five against one pal, can’t you count?”
Bucky smirked, but it was a bitter, piercing expression “I think you should count again.” Confusion passed through her for only a half of a second.
Then he charged. So fast she almost missed it. Pulling back his flesh hand he decked the nearest guy straight in the nose. It was Ironic Superman. The blow was so vicious she heard the crack from where she was a yard away. Superman’s head violently snapped to the left. His body followed it all the way to the ground. He didn’t move.  
“Four.” It made her heart jump in her throat when Bucky’s voice rang over the scuffle.
Bucky didn’t stop there. He spun just in time for Pirate to throw a wide fist towards his head. It was like he knew the blow was coming. Bucky ducked down. Dipped to the left. Then he stood straight, so damn light on his feet. Pirate stumbled past him, having displaced too much of his weight. Then he sloppily caught himself and faced Bucky angrily. Didn’t waste a second to attack again. Bucky was waiting. He slid just far enough to the right to let the blow go over his shoulder.
Pirate fell against his chest, and Bucky used the momentum to his favor. He caught his shoulders. Then used the downward momentum to drive his knee straight up into the guy’s chest. The feather fell from his hat as he let out all the air in his lungs. Bucky then drove his elbow into the back of his head before dropping him like a stone. The pirate hat landed in the gutter off the sidewalk.
“Three.”
Y/N held her breath. All of Bucky’s movements were so precise. No energy was wasted. He was proficient in every step. It was terrifying. He was beautifully deadly.
Devil Horns charged at Bucky with a roar. He was shorter, but stout as a rock. His fists flew fast enough that Bucky had to block them with his arms. One of the punches thrust straight for Bucky’s nose. He caught the blow with his left hand. Devil Horns tried to yank back and grunted at the strain. She thought she saw Bucky smirk, but then he blurred again. With a wide swing, he spun Devil and drove him face first into the awaiting concrete. The man’s forehead hit it with a hard thud. He stumbled back three steps. Bucky grabbed the back of his head and smacked it against the brick wall a second time.
He slumped to the ground after that. Horns all askew. Blood dripped down from his hairline, mouth slack.
“Two.”
Bucky turned on fatty, who already had a shirt soaked in blood from her. He was holding onto his nose and panting loudly through his mouth in terror. All Buck had to do was take one challenging step forward. Jersey immediately booked it. He passed Bucky and ran straight into traffic. Seemed like he would much rather be hit by a car. Cars honked at him and skidded to a stop to keep from killing his ass. He just kept going. Skipped past the cars, and then disappeared around a corner across the street.
“One.”
She could feel the rage trembling through Circus Freak. A span of silence stretched between them as her captor debated on what to do.
With a whip, he flung her to the side, making fall hard onto the sidewalk. Her elbow smarted when it caught her deadweight, making her cry out in pain. Then she scuffled up as quick as she could, scooting back and out of the way. Y/N felt small down on the side walk, pressed back against the wall. Two goliaths fought it out in front of her.
Bucky dodged back as her attacker threw a fist. He dipped to the left. Weaved out of the way to the right. He narrowly avoided Ringleader’s punches. She wondered why he was being on the defensive more now. At least, she wondered until she caught the glint of the butterfly knife in Ringleader’s hand.
He knocked the knife out of the way and landed a solid punch on the guy’s jaw. It didn’t stop him, though. He just swung harder, faster. Fueled by rage and hurt pride. He crowded Bucky back until he was a step from the street. Cars whizzed by, and it seemed Ringleader wanted to shove Bucky under one of them. A semi-truck barreled down towards them, and she saw the heel of his shoe slip.
“Bucky!” She screamed in warning and his head whipped towards her. He stepped forward, towards her and away from the street. Distracted, she saw the flash of the blade before he did. Ringleader finally landed a sharp slice across his chest. She let out a sharp scream. Blood stained his white shirt. Bucky didn’t even wince. In fact, he didn’t react at all.
As Ringleader swung for a second swipe, he caught the guy’s arm in his left hand. His face carefully blank. Like he hadn’t been cut at all. He forced Ringleader back two steps and loomed over him. His mouth was set hard, and his silver eyes were the embodiment of winter.
Ringleader tugged, trying to get free. He swung loosely with his non-dominant hand, but Bucky caught that fist too. Then he squeezed. Only with his left hand. She watched at the man’s knees started to wobble under him. He dropped the blade with a clatter. Then he screamed.
“What the fuck?! Let me go you psycho! You’re gonna break­—” She luckily didn’t hear the crack of his bones. It was obvious in his wail, though. He kept going down until he was on his knees. Bucky let go of his non-dominant hand. Still kept his agonizing hold with his left.
Ringleader clawed at Bucky’s gloved hand with his free one. He tried to get free like a fox caught in a bear trap. Yanked so hard that she was surprised he didn’t dislocate his shoulder. The snow came down harder now. It caught on the brim of his top hat where it had fallen near his legs, making it almost grey. Bucky’s hair had come free from its pomade. It fell in his face as he stooped down to glare at the squirming man.
He wasn’t speaking. Wasn’t flinching when the man tried to pry the metal fingers off him. It was like he wasn’t there at all. Like his mind had checked out, and left behind a ghost.
“I’m sorry! Please man! Let me go!” His voice broke as he started to sob.
Y/N scrambled to her feet. Bucky wasn’t stopping. He already broke the guy’s hand. Yet he kept squeezing. The man was howling now, begging. Seemed like he might have even pissed himself. She took a couple steps towards them, hesitant at first. Bucky didn’t even seem to notice her anymore. He scared her like this. Terrified her to her very bones. She reached out a hand, but her feet were lead. Then Bucky brought back his flesh hand, ready to punch Ringleader again.
“Bucky!” She shouted, forcing herself to move. It took her just three easy steps to get beside him. She grabbed his fist in the air. Wasn’t strong enough to make it come down from its position, but she tugged anyway. Practically draped herself against him, holding his arm where it hung in the air next to her head “Stop! Stop it.” She spoke louder at first, but then softened her tone when she felt him freeze. He didn’t look at her. Just glared down at her attacker. “I’m ok. I’m alright now. Let him go. Please.” The muscles in his arm eased up just enough. She gently guided his flesh hand down, uncurling his fist. She pried at his fingers until his fist relaxed minutely.
“Y-ya man. L-listen to your girl you should j-just- Fuck!!” Bucky had started releasing his grip on the guy’s wrist, but the moment he started blabbering he squeezed again. A growl rumbled in his throat, like the guy personally offended him by breathing.
“Buck!” Y/N chastised him, reaching over and touching his metal hand. Probably for the very first time if she thought about it. She could feel it underneath the glove, harder than bone, and cold even through the material. “Please, let’s just go. He can’t hurt me anymore.” Probably wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore for a long time.
Bucky finally let go at her touch. He shoved Ringleader’s arm away like it disgusted him. Didn’t stop glowering at him, though. Still wouldn’t look at her. The man collapsed into a heap onto the sidewalk. His broken wrist was already blue, swollen, and bent wrong. It made her nauseous, so she stared back at Bucky’s face instead.
Ringleader scraped himself up after a minute and started to run away. Scrambled past the parking garage, down the snow dusted sidewalk. Shoes skidded a couple times, and his pants leg did have a noticeable damp spot. His arm was cradled to his chest. Only a yard away, he turned his head, coat bustling in the wind “Your dog’s a fucking psycho! Should keep him on a goddamn leash!” Then he jogged faster, letting his words disappear behind him. Like the coward he was.
Bucky tried to lunge after him. His muscles bunched under her hand as he snarled. She stepped in front of him just a second before he could start the chase. Y/N pressed herself to him, hands flat on his chest. The blood from his wound was hot against her hands, but she barely noticed. Too focused on blocking his path. Peering up at him, she realized that her eye had started to swell shut. He didn’t shove her out of the way. In fact, he finally looked down at her. It was like her action had finally broken him out of the fog he was in.
As they stared at each other for several long minutes, the defeated attackers slowly roused. One by one the other members of the group scraped themselves off the sidewalk. None of them were dead thank god. They quickly fled too. Silently, though. She barely paid them any attention. It was still snowing hard, and she watched as flakes caught in his eyelashes. Headlights cast shifting shadows around them. Wrestling like demons at their feet. She couldn’t help but question what demons Bucky kept locked inside of his head. Only demons could make someone fight as desperately as he just did.
Slowly, afraid of startling him, she reached up and touched his cheek. She cupped his face in her hands and studied him seriously “Are you alright?” Her thumb brushed over his bruised jaw. It did dawn on her that it was ironic for her to be asking him if he was alright. After everything that had happened. She did it anyway. He seemed to have lost himself during the fight. His eyes were focusing from somewhere far away. She couldn’t believe she just watched him break someone’s hand without flinching. With the adrenaline wearing off, she wanted to cry all over again.
Bucky blinked once. Then twice. He swallowed and grimaced. His flesh hand gently touched her left. His longer fingers cupped over hers. It was so warm. She could feel the calluses on his palms as he slowly guided her hand away. He didn’t touch her with his metal one, but she dropped her hand anyway. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with her touching him like that. She left small smudges of blood on his cheek.
“I’m fine. Are you ok?” He brought his right hand up and touched the side of her face. She winced, realizing that her cheek was still on fire. Her lip felt tender too when her tongue tested the dried blood.
“Why do guys always managed to hit a girl right across the cheekbone?” She asked, trying to make a joke but it landed flat. He didn’t even try to smile. His thumb brushed across her lip, and she grimaced, looking away. Ringleader’s hat was still on the ground right by her foot. She stepped on it, grinding it into the snow. When she moved her foot away, it inflated like a crumbled accordion. She thought maybe Bucky did snort at that. It was too quiet for her to be sure.
“God I’m a mess.” The words babbled out of her past the buzzing in her ears. She glanced down at herself. One knee was ripped open and so was her elbow, both were bleeding. Her jacket had come unzipped down to her ribs, leaving everything showing. Y/N brought her hand up to zip it back, but her fingers were shaking too much to get a good grip. Her breaths started to come in faster as she got more, and more frustrated. Her fingers were numb and clumsy.
Bucky’s hand came up and he covered her own, taking the damned thing. He slowly closed her jacket back up to her collarbones. She had never in her life been more grateful for such a simple action. His thumb stroked her collar just once, leaving a hot trail behind. Then his hands fell away.
Before she could find the words to thank him, her eyes caught the sheen of red on his chest “Y-You’re hurt, and b-bleeding a lot and you’re asking me if I’m ok?” She gave a hysterical laugh, tears already escaping her eyes again. They stung the cut the guy left on her cheekbone. Her hands shook as she brought them up. She wanted to get a better look at the cut. What if he needed stitches? What if he got a scar cause of her? Cause she distracted him like an idiot?
“I-I’m so sorry. I sh-shouldn’t have yelled. I was just so scared and—"
Bucky’s eyes widened, and he quickly brought up his arms. The motion cut off her babbling, uncontrollable apology. He tugged her into an enveloping, hard hug. She tried to protest as he pressed her against his wound, but then his chest rumbled as he started to talk. Her ear was trapped against his collarbone above the wound. It was the most comforting sound she had ever heard “I’m ok doll. Promise. It doesn’t hurt that much. Trust me, I’ve had worse.” He shushed her when she tried to speak “Believe me. Much worse.” Then he squeezed her shoulder lightly and rubbed. The metal hand he just used to crush someone’s arm rubbed hers with more tenderness than she had experienced in a very long time.
Somehow, it didn’t bother her at all.
Finally, once her shoulders stopped shaking and her gross sniffling died down, he pulled back. Bucky held her just a bit away, his hands still rubbing her shoulders. He reached up and wiped at her chin, grimacing. He gave a very weak, sheepish smile “Sorry, I got blood on your…” He trailed off, gesturing to her face. She just shrugged, too tired to care. There were a lot of things smeared on her face. Besides, she got blood on his too. Just didn’t even have the energy to tell him. When he noticed his left hand was still touching her, he dropped it down.
Y/N sniffed, trying to clear her nose. The cold snowy air hurt her lungs. Then she rubbed at her face as much as she could stand. Her eye felt tender and wouldn’t stop blurring.  Probably smudging tears, blood, and makeup all together. Then she spoke up, voice a bit rough “I don’t mind it.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, tilting his head a little. Confused. She shivered as a gust of wind caught her. Now that the adrenaline had passed, she was so frosty her teeth were starting to chatter. Still, she tried to elaborate “Y-Your metal arm doesn’t bother me.”
Bucky stared at her critically and then shook his head, as if she were ridiculous “Let’s get you home.” He sighed, wrapping an arm over her shoulders, his right one. The snow had covered any traces of a fight taking place at all. It was already sticking to the street, forming muddy tracks from the tires. He tucked her into his side where it was warm, under his jacket. Now that she had a calm minute, she enjoyed the way his smell enveloped her.
“I’m s-serious!” She still couldn’t stop shivering “It’s just another p-part of you. A-And I like y-you.” She glared up at him, trying to drill in her honesty with her eyes.
Bucky only stopped to consider at her after they reached his bike. He let her go and dusted the snow off the seat. Then he grabbed a helmet, offering it to her quietly. She was just about to speak up again when he finally whispered, “Thank you.” If she hadn’t been looking at him, she thought the words might have been stolen by the loud gust of wind.
There wasn’t much else she could say to that. So, she put on her silver helmet, and climbed onto the bike behind him. He shrugged out of his leather jacket, revealing a black unzipped hoodie underneath. He shoved his jacket into her hands, and she shrugged it on quietly, grateful. Everything ached too much for her to argue.
Bucky clasped on his own helmet and revved up the bike. When it jumped to life underneath her, she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, stuffing them into the pockets of his jacket when the wind bit at her fingers. At least the helmet kept her ears warm. She thought she felt Bucky chuckle underneath her when she gripped tighter. He pulled on a second glove, zipped up his jacket, and then smoothly merged into the nighttime traffic.
The drive home wasn’t as wonderful as she thought it would be. Not after everything that just happened. Still, it was beautiful. He weaved through the cars with a precise control, that was definitely dangerous. It reminded her a little of how he fought. Daring, and proficient.
At lot of the time he passed cars without any legal right-of-way at all. Bucky went as fast as he could, and she wondered if he was running from something. Running from the demons she couldn’t see that nipped at his heels. Y/N never felt in harms way, though. If anything, he made her feel like they were flying. Like the bike was gliding up off the ground whenever she wasn’t looking. Colors blurred past her. Paint smudges on a canvas, outlined in charcoal. She bunched the fabric of Bucky’s jacket in her hands and turned her forehead to press against the broad of his back.
He covered her hand with his right one. Slipped it into the pocket and laced them together. His skin was warm on top of hers. Wistfully, she imagined he still had charcoal on his fingers. That the charcoal would smudged across her skin and stain it forever. Leaving a mark that would remind her he was there. Even when he wasn’t.
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mactorrenthub · 6 years ago
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Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL [Multilingual]
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This new release updates and replaces the 2016 versions of Word, Excel, etc. and includes many of the new features that have been rolled out to Office 365 users over the past three years. We’ll get to those in a bit.
When is Office 2019 available, and how much will it cost?
Office 2019 is on sale now, but only for commercial-level customers. Availability will be rolling out regular ol’ customers like you and me in the coming weeks. That also means we don’t yet know what the price point is for individual users, but Microsoft will likely have that info soon.
Expect to potentially pay a bit more than what you’d shell out for Office 2016 (currently $150 for the “Home and Student” version), as Microsoft already boosted the price of the commercial version ten percent to account for its “significant value added to the product over time.”
What are the system requirements for Office 2019?
Here’s a big change. On PCs, you’ll need Windows 10 for Office 2019; Microsoft will not support any versions of Windows 7 or 8. As always, Microsoft will make 32 and 64-bit versions of Office 2019 available.
Features
Add visual impact
Bring visual interest to your documents, worksheets, presentations, and messages by inserting Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) that have filters applied to them.
Insert 3D models to see all the angles
Easily insert a 3D model, and then rotate it through 360 degrees.
Inking is where it’s at
Convert ink to shapes, write out complex math problems, highlight text, and more. Use a finger or a pen. A mouse works too!
Precision selecting
Ever selected too many cells or the wrong ones? You can now deselect extraneous cells without having to start over.
Timeline filters
Want to take a look your PivotTable data across years, quarters, months or even days? Easily filter a PivotTable with a timeline filter by sliding the date range.
Add motion with Morph
Make smooth animations, transitions, and object movements across your slides with Morph.
Add pizzazz with icons
Increase the visual impact of your presentations by illustrating your slides with our library of 500 icons.
Add punch with live action video
Add an online video to your slide and watch it without leaving PowerPoint.
Swipe right or swipe left? You decide!
Set the swipe left and swipe right gestures to the actions you use most. Choose from Delete, Archive, Mark as Read, Flag, or None.
Timeliness across time zones
Traveling across time zones? Create an event with different start and end time zones, and Outlook will take care of the conversion. No mental math required!
One-click fixes for accessibility issues
The Accessibility Checker is better than ever with updated support for international standards and handy recommendations to make your documents more accessible.
Learning Tools improve readability
Give your eyes a rest. Adjust text spacing, column width, and page color. Or listen as Word reads your document aloud, highlighting text as it’s read.
Microsoft Office 2019 Products
Word
Create and share professional-looking documents with state-of-the-art editing, reviewing, and sharing tools.
The new Design tab provides quick access to features, and Smart Lookup shows relevant contextual information from the web directly inside Word.
Excel
Analyze and visualize your data in new and intuitive ways with a fresh user interface plus your favorite keyboard shortcuts.
Leverage features like Analysis Toolpak, Slicers, and Formula Builder to save time, so you can focus on insights.
PowerPoint
Create, collaborate, and effectively present your ideas with new slide transitions and an improved Animations task pane. Threaded comments alongside your slides help you incorporate feedback into your presentations.
And Presenter View displays the current slide, next slide, speaker notes, and a timer on your Mac, while projecting only the presentation to your audience on the big screen.
OneNote
It’s your very own digital notebook, so you can keep notes, ideas, web pages, photos, even audio and video all in one place.
Whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the move, you can take it all with you wherever you go while sharing and collaborating with others. It’s great for school assignments, work projects, travel plans, party planning, and more.
Outlook
Like Word, Outlook is also getting a new focus mode, called the “Focused Inbox,” to help streamline workflow and email drafting. Users can now use “@” commands for tagging people in emails, and contact cards have been overhauled.
Also, PC users will now have travel and delivery cards, while Mac users get new email templates; a Send Later function for scheduling delivery times; and read receipts. Both platforms also get Office 365 Group integration.
PowerPoint
The changes for PowerPoint are all about enhanced media and visual element support in presentations.
The notable additions here are support for 3D model display/manipulation and SVG files on slides; new morph transitions; the ability to export your presentation in 4K UHD video format, and you can now write by hand and move elements with your pencil while editing.
Better pencil support and other tweaks
In addition to these program-specific updates, there are also changes that apply to all Office 2019 software.
The most important of these is Microsoft’s beefed-up support for digital pencils, like expanded “roaming pencil case” support, which lets users write by hand and move parts of documents with their pencil, as well as new support for pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition.
Office 2019 also comes with some behind-the-scenes changes such as monthly security updates and a reduction to network bandwidth use.
Will Office 2019 replace Office 365?
No. In a post announcing the software release, Microsoft makes sure to point out that Office 2019 is a standalone package of its software geared primarily towards private users and businesses who do not have the necessary internet access required to use the cloud-based Office 365.
Because of this, many of the features present in the Office 365 versions of these apps are not included in their Office 2019 counterparts, especially cloud-based and collaborative features.
Furthermore, Microsoft makes it clear that while Office 2019 will be receiving regular security fixes, it will not be getting expanded feature updates, while Office 365 users can still look forward to new and updated features through regular monthly updates just as they always have.
The bottom line here is that Office 2019 is not going to replace Office 365, and it really isn’t meant to. That said, regardless of the particular use case, Office 2019 still fills a crucial role and services a section of Microsoft’s customer base that may have felt a bit neglected since Office 365 took the spotlight.
Screenshots
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What’s new?
TEXT JOIN, CONCAT, IFS, and more. Let Excel do the work so you don’t have to.
Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL [Multilingual] Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac 16.23 VL Office 2019 for Mac is designed from scratch to take advantage of the latest features of Mac, including Retina display support full – screen view and even bounce displacement.
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finderkeeperloser · 6 years ago
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© Photo from Amazon
Author: Garth Stein
Publication Date: May 13, 2008 (first published January 1, 2008
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages:  321 pages
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Booksale (owned)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction
My Rating: 5/5
Goodreads Summary:
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.
Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.
A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life … as only a dog could tell it.
My Review:
‘La macchina va dove vanno gli occhi,’ the boy says. The champion laughs then looks at the sky. ‘Si,’ he says.
The car goes where the eyes go. It is true, my young friend. It is very, very true.
Excuse me while I cry and smile at the same time. This is a damn success in Enzo’s part and I could tell the real and fictional world agrees with me. I am relieved, but more than that happy, to know the outcome of Denny and Enzo’s story. I won’t say the end because god knows a chapter has ended but the story goes on and so far, a new chapter begins for both of them. I like how clear the author is in incorporating racing and Mongolian belief in producing this book, let alone allowing a dog to narrate the story. That is an automatic five stars for me considering that I, myself, is a dog lover and there’s nothing in this world that will make me happy than reading a book in perspective of a dog.
Kudos to Garth Stein for entrusting this story in the hands—err, paws of the dog and for doing a great job in writing this emotional masterpiece. There are so much originality and realness in this book that guarantee genuine emotional investment from its readers. I will be damned if I wouldn’t admit that my heart melted and wept while reading it and honestly, at some point, I cried because of Denny’s mishaps in life; however, I was also happy to see how Enzo played a huge part in keeping Denny, his emotions and sanity intact. In my opinion, what happened to Denny is too much and if I were in his position, I will surely lose my shit. But then again, Enzo was Denny’s saving grace. I am actually amazed how a dog can master such awareness that even his own decision makes more sense than that of Denny. Their friendship was so pure that if only Enzo can speak, they can definitely finish each other’s sentences. Of course, inability to speak is a hindrance, but because their friendship goes beyond their differences communication barrier is nothing. Like, when Denny was so stressed out about his legal problems, he wants to get drunk and Enzo knows Denny should not be resorting to alcoholism – that alcohol is not the solution to his problems. So he went on a strike—purposefully avoiding Denny by not sleeping in his room. Moments later, Denny came in telling him he did not drink anything and apologized to Enzo as if he knows that move made his dog upset. Ghad, that scene solidified everything—that those two have this special friendship bond way too personal that they don’t need words to understand each other. People, I am simply fascinated by how they affect each other and I would like to believe all dogs have such kind of consciousness. Like, in my case, sometimes think my dogs know me better than myself – same reason why I am so in love with this book.
Anyway, I want you to know guys that this book touched my heart in more ways than one and there’s no denying that my reading experience in this book is the soundest and silliest ever. (Silly ideas are learning ideas, okay) It was a fun and uplifting read complete with heart-warming scenes from a dog’s account of human life and its ups and downs, all the while embracing death like a God-given opportunity. It was wittingly original and consistent, fueled by excellent word choice and relatable plot. Somehow, to read this masterful book is like having the peace of mind I needed in evaluating my life and how I chart my course towards the destination I want…or dared to reach.
“That which we manifest is before us.”
This is my biggest takeaway from Enzo and Denny’s story and I am proud to say that I have learned life-changing truths about human life in this book that I haven’t in any other places and dammit, I learned it from Enzo – the dog! So, if you are lost and uncertain about the direction you are heading and the choices you are making, please do read this book. Enzo’s warm hugs and contagious outlook in life is ready to outweigh your problems in real life. 
My rating:
Cover – 3.8
Title – 4.5
Plot – 5.0
Character Development – 4.3
Writing style – 5.0
Extras (includes chapter introductions, in-book illustrations, freebies, discussion guides, etc.) – 4.0 Includes quick factoids about the book.
Bonus
Happy tears and ugly crying catalyst – + 0.50
Total: 4.93
Final Rating:
Exceeds my expectation a.k.a classic (may/may not be a literal classic)
About the Author:
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Photo from Goodreads
Garth Stein is the author of four novels: the New York Times bestselling gothic/historical/coming-of-age/ghost story, “A Sudden Light”; the internationally bestselling “The Art of Racing in the Rain”; the PNBA Book Award winner, “How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets”; and the magically realistic “Raven Stole the Moon.” He is also the author of the stage play “Brother Jones.” He has a dog, he’s raced a few cars, climbed a bunch of really tall trees, made a few documentary films, and he lives in Seattle with his family. He’s co-founder of Seattle7Writers.org, a non-profit collective of 74 Northwest authors working together to energize the reading and writing public.
To know more about the author, visit him online at http://www.garthstein.com/
Book Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein © Photo from Amazon Author: Garth Stein Publication Date: May 13, 2008 (first published January 1, 2008…
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rivensbane · 6 years ago
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Any recommendations for a good sci fi book or series?
Ooo, I do! I do tend to read more fantasy than scifi (something I’m trying to fix this year, actually), but I have some recs for you, nonnie! I’ll stick them under the cut because I feel like this post is gonna be Big. ALSO I’ll give descriptions where I can, but I’ll also link to the goodread pages for these books so you can check out the blurbs - they do a better job of explaining than I do lmao
The Expanse by James S.A. Corey:
Interplanetary space opera series that also has an amazing tv adaptation. Full of diversity, compelling characters and really interesting plots - both overarching across the series and self-contained within each book. I’m up to book 4 (Cibola Burn) and the eighth book comes out towards the end of this year - it has an amazing cover btw, 10/10 title, too!
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The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer:
This one is definitely science fiction, but with a generous sprinkling of mystery/horror over the top. There’s also a screen adaptation for this and the film is great, but the first book Annihilation is an experience. It’s trippy and unsettling and you’re never 100% sure what’s happening but it sticks with you. I still think about the ending of the final book. Also has some really gorgeous covers!
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Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant:
This one is a standalone (as of right now) scifi horror novel focusing on mermaids in the Mariana Trench. I read it back in March and really enjoyed it tbh. Features a bi protagonist and a wlw romance, which is always great.
The Illuminae Files by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff:
Young adult scifi trilogy. The story is told through messages, interview transcripts, journal entries, with sections from the perspective of an AI. It’s not the most amazing or ground-breaking series and I’ve yet to read the final book (Obsidio), but the books are quick and easy to read and enjoyable enough.
Descender Series by Jeff Lemire (writer) and Dustin Nguyen (illustrator):
This one is a graphic novel series featuring androids, robots, AI etc. etc. I’ve only read the first volume so far, but I enjoyed it and the art style is absolutely gorgeous. If you’re looking for a scifi graphic novel series, I’d highly recommend Descender!
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany:
One of the few classic scifi novels I’ve read that I actually enjoyed. Linguistics and language are at the core of this novel and it’s a really fascinating read even if you’re not all that interested in either of those things. I think my only issue with the book was that I wanted it to be longer, but that’s probably just personal preference.
Embassytown by China Miéville:
Another scifi standalone with a focus on language. Honestly, this one was a really strange read, but I enjoyed it a lot because of that. Interesting worldbuilding and an interesting take on just how different aliens and alien culture probably would be in reality. I own a few of the author’s other scifi works (Perdido Street Station and The Scar), so I’m curious to see how I find those ones. Also: another gorgeous cover.
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley:
My favourite classic tbh! Don’t think I really need to go into detail about it considering its popularity and how well known it is, but… Yeah, I love this novel. Victor Frankenstein is a giant dickhead and the Monster deserved better.                 
                                                                      —-
The rest of these are books that I a) own, b) have heard amazing things about and c) am super excited to read about. I can’t personally vouch for them since I haven’t read them yet, but as I just said, I’ve heard nothing but amazing things and I can’t wait to get to them all!
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky:
All I know about this is that it features remnants of the human race desperately trying to find a new home to settle on. They find one (and it’s perfect, all terraformed and ready for them to live on), but things aren’t what they seem and things go downhill from there. I think. It has won a heap of awards and has pretty amazing reviews so I’m super pumped to get to it!
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers:
More character-driven scifi, from what I can tell, though the worldbuilding doesn’t seem to suffer because of it. I’ve had the first two books in the Wayfarers series on my shelves for so long but I still haven’t managed to get around to reading them. Features wlw romance which was a part of what initially drew me to it. Apparently it’s a really charming, lovely read, so… Again, really excited to get to it when I can!
Imperial Radch Series by Ann Leckie:
I honestly don’t know how to describe this trilogy, but again, heard nothing but great things from people I trust and I have the first book (Ancillary Justice) waiting for me! What I do know is that it’s space opera, it’s apparently very different and gritty and all around a good time.
Semiosis by Sue Burke:
I don’t actually know much about this one tbh, it was an impulse buy while there was a sale at Dymocks a few weeks back. All I know is that there’s a sentient planet and a group of human colonists/scientists trying to explore and survive it. Was enough to hook me in lmao - that and its gorgeous cover. I’ve read this since posting this ask and unfortunately wasn’t the biggest fan. It had an interesting premise, but the execution was kinda disappointing and underwhelming.
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The Machineries of Empire Series by Yoon Ha Lee:
I’ve read the first 100-odd pages of Ninefox Gambit and the prequel novella Extracurricular Activities and I can tell that this series is gonna be unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s admittedly quite confusing at first because of how intricate and complicated the worldbuilding is, but I really like what I’ve read so far and can’t wait to get back to it.
                                                                     —
I could try to recommend some classic scifi for you but to be honest, I haven’t enjoyed much of what I’ve read so far. I can appreciate that classic scifi is where it all began, but a lot of it is drenched in sexism and homophobia so it’s hard to enjoy. Just my opinion tho!!
If you’d like any more recommendations, let me know!! 💖
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hunterscape564 · 3 years ago
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Download Corel Draw 11
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The official website for Corel Software. Get product information, download free trial software, learn about special offers and access tutorial resources. Download Your Free CorelDRAW Trial. Get full access to all of the premium features and content in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2021, including; An extensive collection of applications for drawing, illustration, page layout, photo editing, web graphics and more. Explore what’s possible in graphic design with CorelDRAW. Time saving collaboration, advanced illustration and powerful photo-editing tools deliver exceptional results and boost productivity. Enjoy a cross-platform experience on Windows, Mac, web, iPad, and other mobile devices.
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The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite combines three heavyweight graphics tools-CorelDRAW 11, Photo-Paint 11, and R.A.V.E. 2-which can be used individually or together. Now in version 11, the CorelDRAW Suite shows Corel still has plenty of ideas on how to improve the effectiveness and ease-of-use of these major applications. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators.
This release was created for you, eager to use CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 full and without limitations.Our intentions are not to harm CorelDraw software company but to give the possibility to those who can not pay for any pieceof software out there. This should be your intention too, as a user, to fully evaluate CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 withoutrestrictions and then decide.
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Entourage pilot script. Entourage Pilot Script. Posted by 9 months ago. Entourage Pilot Script. Not for everyone, but I found this early draft of the pilot episode interesting - it opens at a nightclub instead of the lunch spot, though the conversation around the reunion is vaguely the same. And you can still see remnants of what Doug Ellin has. Here’s your script. Your audition is tomorrow afternoon on the Paramount lot. Vince stands up to leave and the entourage follows his lead. ERIC Find him something he loves, Ari. Find me something I love, Ari. As the group exits Ari looks as if he’s about to throw. Entourage Pilot Episode TV Script Autographed: Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Debi Mazar, Jerry Ferrara May Longmuir Nov 17, 2015 My son loved this. He has followed Entourage from the beginning. resource Entourage pilot script (2004) RESOURCE. I couldn't find the script for the Entourage pilot anywhere online, so I watched the episode a few times and wrote my version of the screenplay. The dialog is word-for-word, but the beats are my best guess.
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pleaseload165 · 4 years ago
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Flash After Effects
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Flash After Effects
Flash After Effects Tutorials
The Flash After Effects
Flash over after effect? Or After effects over flash? Just recently I have worked out how to animate sprites in after effects. Previously I would animate my sprite animations in flash then convert it into a video file and add the sound effect on after effects, and any other further effects. Here is something I created a few years back which I made in flash, then converted and edited in after effects.
Subscribe Now:More:light flashes on After Effects is.
Flash Player's end of life is December 31st, 2020. Please see the Flash Player EOL Information page for more details. This document lists the file formats which Adobe After Effects can import and export. You can add support for additional file formats to After Effects by installing a third-party plug-in.
Hello!Today I'll be showing you how to make black flashes in after effects, enjoy!If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments! After months of waiting - It's time to learn how to use STRIKE the right way! Recreating Flash running in Adobe After Effects!Download it here: https://www.
But recently I worked out that sprite animation was possible in after effects. So i created this very short animation.
So this in mind, it got me thinking. What program was better for sprite animation?
In flash, sprite animation is easy because you can add all the images and take the character frames out of the original image then put into the work space. In after effects to get the frames for the animation, you have to key out the background to the sprite sheet, then mask out each picture frame that you want. It’s a slightly different way to flash, however in both pieces in software it is quite tedious and time consuming.
Flash is also very handy for creating animation loops, like walk loops. These are obvious where it comes in handy, but I have not found any way of making an animation loop in after effects for this sort of thing.
After effects however can produce better quality images compared to flash because you don’t have to convert any file, and because the software won’t mess up any of the images. You don’t have to change any of the options to get a better image, whereas in flash to view high quality animations you had to go into the JPEG option and increase the quality.
After effects is also handy with how you can manipulate the objects, as the rotation, scale, position and other aspects are split into their own sets on the timeline, in flash all the manipulation is on one timeline for each object, which means if you wanted to manipulate two different aspects of an image, but at different times, it may get a little more complicated and time consuming in flash, than it would in after effects.
After effects has a much more powerful and flexibly virtual camera. Flash on the other hands has an actionscripited camera that, don’t get me wrong works effectively. However cannot do 3D effect at all, whereas the camera in after effect has to be in 3D to work. This give it an edge because it means you can make more elaborate animation with foregrounds and backgrounds, and also make more than one angle, rather than it just being a platform.
Adding effects is also easier in after effects because you can add proper effects on to any file, whereas in flash you can only add effects onto movie files. After effects has an input motion blur which reacted to the movements of the file and adds the blur in relation to the movements. In flash you have to add them manually. Any blurred camera looks have to be manually done too, but after effects has it built in.
The last thing is that after effect allows you to animate in a 3D environment, this can also be done in flash, but is more complicated and time consuming as part of it has to be scripted to do it properly right. No scripting is involved in after effects.
Flash After Effects
Well-rounded and powerful program which enables you to create professional-looking photos, render 3D graphics and add motion to them
What's new in Adobe After Effects CC 2021 18.1:
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Bugs Fixed:
Fixed an issue that could cause After Effects to crash when copying layers using Linear Color key.
Fixed an issue with 3D Scene Navigation that caused spring loaded “C” AND “V” keys to not work correctly.
Read the full changelog
Professional multimedia editors are already aware of the importance of their software, as the application they use needs to be both feature-packed and intuitive enough to allow users to easily locate each function with ease. Adobe After Effects is one of the most complex tools one can work with in regards to designing motion graphics or cinematic visual effects.
Time-consuming installation and a few tips
First and foremost, it needs to be mentioned that this software comes with a large installer, therefore it takes a while to download, go through the entire setup and load.
When first launching the software, the Welcome Screen comes in handy to beginners and pros alike, as it displays some tips meant to optimize the manner in which you operate Adobe After Effects.
Import images and take advantage of incorporated presets
When creating a new composition, users can customize it by adding text strings, solid colors, camera, lights, as well as new distinct layers. Alternatively, the composition can be viewed as a flowchart, to ensure smooth manipulation of its components.
The application also supports inserting common images or Photoshop-based ones, and users can apply effects such as stylize, distort, and shatter. All the elements can be combined, adjusted and edited so as to obtain a custom high-quality animation - presets can also be of use when looking for inspiration for a new project.
Includes a standalone animation tool that helps users bring characters to life
The Adobe Character Animator is deployed alongside Adobe After Effects, providing users with a powerful animation tool they can use to bring to life models created with Photoshop or Illustrator.
The great thing about Adobe Character Animator is that it can track facial expressions and motion using a simple webcam, and apply them to two-dimensional characters. Moreover, it can mimic mouth movement and enables users to use audio recording to become the voice of their characters, with worry-free lip-syncing.
Apply an array of effects and set up various parameters
Considering the numerous types of effects and layer actions (such as time-reverse, mask, blend, switch) supported by Adobe After Effects, it is best to experiment with them before applying them to your final creation.
Experts are bound to access the Preferences section when they want to adjust the amount of RAM that can be used by the software, or to configure the video preview and audio hardware settings.
Conclusion
It might burden your computer’s performance, yet you should know that all jobs are finalized in a fair amount of time without running into issues such as errors, crashes or bugs.
Although the interface might seem a bit overwhelming, it is quite professional and there are plenty of Help contents integrated. All in all Adobe After Effects is an efficient and reliable piece of software, which deserves all the credit it has been given over the years.
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Adobe After Effects was reviewed by Elena Opris
5.0/5
LIMITATIONS IN THE UNREGISTERED VERSION
7 days trial
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Intel Core2 Duo or AMD Phenom II processor; 64-bit support required
16GB of RAM (32GB recommended)
5GB of available hard-disk space; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices)
Additional disk space for disk cache (10GB recommended)
1280x1080 display
Broadband internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services
Optional: Adobe-certified GPU card for GPU-accelerated ray-traced 3D renderer
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myhahnestopinion · 7 years ago
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REVIEW: Justice League
In the five year history of the DC Extended Universe, perhaps the strongest connective tissue has been the painfully obvious lack of an overall plan. The cinematic universe got off to a flawed, yet promising, start in 2013 with Man of Steel, but the decision to immediately double triple down on director Zach Snyder, who many people pointed to as the source of the film’s major failings, was the first sign that things were not shaping up as hoped. The three-year gap before the next film, Batman v Superman, which tried to cram in several movies worth of storylines and world-building, and the subsequent release of the bafflingly incoherent and seemingly irrelevant Suicide Squad cemented the idea that the DCEU’s failure would ultimately be of its own doing. Even the lone unquestionable bright spot of the universe, this summer’s Wonder Woman, illustrated this lack of plan, though in this instance, it turned out for the best. Its standalone nature, characterization of its main hero, and message of hope greatly contrasted with the DCEU’s aesthetic thus far, suggesting that the future of the cinematic universe might be best served in singular efforts under the guiding hand of directors best suited for that particular hero, as Patty Jenkins was for Wonder Woman. However, DC was already too far gone in its attempts to catch up to Marvel for one great movie to pull them out, and the production of a team-up film built on the back of Batman V Superman was unavoidable. Much like the against-all-odds success of The Avengers was the obvious result of Marvel’s carefulness, Justice League is the expected conclusion of this uncertainty. Justice League is an often-incoherent amalgam of two directorial visions and corporate demands, strung together by obvious reshoot work. However, somewhat miraculously, DC still managed to make the best of a bad situation. Justice League perhaps works better as a trailer for a more colorful, hopeful vision of the DC Universe in the future than it does as a film, but its streamlined editing, lighter tone, and great cast should be enough to justify audiences giving the DCEU another chance.
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Justice League, unfortunately but inescapably, picks up in the aftermath of the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. With Superman (Henry Cavill) dead, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) must scramble to assemble a team of new heroes, including Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fischer), in order to combat a looming alien invasion. The team must race against the villainous Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons to collect the Mother Boxes, three pieces of alien technology capable of transforming Earth into the apocalyptic hellscape of Steppenwolf’s home planet, and restore hope to the world.
Even boiling Justice League down into a basic synopsis requires an abundance of new names, new threats, and new MacGuffins that no amount of non-sequitur dream sequences from prior films has prepared audiences for. The film itself piles much more onto that, introducing side-characters from each hero’s solo film, taking the viewer from Gotham to Themyscira to Atlantis, as well as teasing bits of larger DC Comics lore that may or may not pay-off in the future. The film has to make up a lot of ground, and even casual comic book fans may find themselves lost trying to make sense of it all. Left once again with enough material for at least three other movies, the under two-hour runtime (the shortest DCEU film yet) seems initially questionable. However, the streamlined editing approach manages to work wonders at making the film enjoyable, especially compared to the three-hour slog of Batman V Superman’s Ultimate Edition, the only watchable version of that film. Taking inspiration from both DC’s recent line of rebooted New 52 comics, as well as the classic Japanese film Seven Samurai, the film’s pure team-up action keeps things moving from humorous character interaction to riveting action sequence with little regard for coherence, but a lot of regard for good old-fashioned summer blockbuster joy. 
This joy is achievable mainly through the strength of the ensemble cast. Much has already been said about the comic-book accurate intimidating-physicality of Ben Affleck’s Batman, but the character has traded in his murderous tendencies for pathos and even a bit of humor this time around. Fans of the Wonder Woman movie may be disappointed at the lack of focus given to the DCEU’s standout-hero, and possibly annoyed at Justice League’s misguided attempts to build off her solo-film’s character arc, but that solo film transformed Gal Gadot into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars for a reason, and she shines here yet again. The biggest success of the film, however, is endearing the viewer to the three new heroes hopeful for starring roles in the future. Momoa’s badass thrill-seeking Aquaman easily brushes off any potential jokes about the character, while Miller’s Flash manages to earn his place alongside his TV counterpart through his eager yet socially-awkward interpretation of the hero. The most surprising element of the film is Fischer’s Cyborg, whose 2020 solo film announcement was met with a huge amount of apprehension. However, the anxiety about, yet potential of, quickly-evolving technology expressed by his power-set and captured by Fischer’s tormented yet humorous portrayal is fascinating, timely material that seems primed for further exploration going forward. 
While the film is convincing proof of each hero’s readiness for headlining their own feature, one of the most enjoyable elements of Justice League is the interactions between the various characters. Many of the biggest laughs of the film (the running gag about Aquaman’s ability to talk to fish, the exchanges between Flash and Cyborg as two teens in way over their heads) bear the distinct impression of Joss Whedon’s touch, who received a co-writing credit on the film after taking control of the movie’s post-production. Attempts to discern what parts of the film’s troubled production came from Whedon and what came from Zach Snyder may be impossible (though the poor CGI-mustache-removal on Henry Cavill reveals how much of the film was reshot late in the game), the film is quite obviously a clash between two very distinct visionary styles. Those who appreciated the (pompous) exploration of heroism that Snyder developed over his prior two DCEU films will be disappointed to discover that this thematic throughline is suddenly dropped, with no real substance to replace it. However, for most, the newfound levity of the characters will be a massive relief.
For as much contempt as this hastily reassembled film seems to have for its own credited director, Snyder’s vision still leaks through, sometimes to the movie’s benefit, but often not. Snyder’s greatest strength as a director has always been his eye for striking visuals, and the cinematography here often provides shots that feel just like gorgeous comic book splash pages. Much like the film’s narrative is a Frankenstein’s monster though, the film’s visual styling is similarly uneven. Given the massive reported production budget (at least $300 million after the extensive reshoots), it’s embarrassing how frequently terrible the film’s visual effects are, including the aforementioned uncanny valley of its mustache-removal, as well as a particularly ugly instance of fast-growing plants late in the film. Still, the action scenes are fun and dynamic, both in its team action and in the heroes’ singular efforts, such as an especially thrilling terrorist-thwarting Wonder Woman scene at the film’s beginning.
Given the five-year build-up within the universe itself, as well as the decades-long attempt to bring the superhero team to the big screen, it’s undeniably disappointing that the film ended up being the rushed, uneven result of a lack of planning. The notion that this wasn’t the Justice League film anyone was really hoping for is perhaps best evidenced by its villain, Steppenwolf, a C-list character from the comics best known for being the herald of an actual notable threat, with dreadfully confusing motivations. Even Starro the Conquerer was a better justification for needing this many heroes to band together. 
Perhaps the film’s best reason for bringing these heroes together though is to finally relieve Warner Bros.’ anxiety about wanting a comic-book crossover of their own. After many long years, they’ve finally made their film. It’s shaping up to be a critical and commercial failure, but it’s over and done with. The Justice League has reached the big screen. They can finally move on, and if the course-correction the film does provide, including its lighter tone and actually inspiring and likable heroes, is any indication, the whole endeavor can still be salvaged, as long as they can understand why Wonder Woman became their critical outlier. The 2018 Aquaman film by James Wan, and the 2019 Shazam! film starring Zachary Levi, appear to be solid next steps though. Justice League may not do its heroes justice, but the fun it provides lays the groundwork for a new visionary, one with a great plan, to avenge them in the future.
Justice League, also starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, and J.K. Simmons, is in theaters now. 
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nphofrph · 8 years ago
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NPHofRPH’s Sing-Along Glossary of Roleplay Terms
The quintessential dictionary for the new RPer, or the veteran RPer who wants to get caught up on all the new-fangled slang them young folks are using.
(Note: does not actually come with any particular melody, but feel free to make one up as you go and hum it.)
1x1: A roleplay between just two people, you and your partner.
2x2: A roleplay between four characters. Not sure why it’s referred to this way. I guess the characters are all supposed to have paired up by the end of it?
4x4: Wait, are we stilling pairing them up, or can this just be eight characters?
32x32: Apparently we just like dividing by two in this neck of the woods.
Activity Check: A time when the admins go through the characters of a roleplay and make sure that they’re all still posting and haven’t run away from home.
Admin: The manager or moderator of a roleplay group; the one who’s in charge of creating the roleplay and keeping it running.
Angst: Piling on the hurt - usually emotional, sometimes physical - for your character to endure. Really fun. You should try it. Be a malevolent god.
Anon Hate: A message someone sends anonymously detailing why they despise you and what they’ve done to your mother, or threatening you in some way. Honestly, it’s hard to be threatened by that little gray fella with the sunglasses, but okay.
Apartment RP: A roleplay in which all or most of the characters live in a single apartment building.
Application: A description of your character to submit in order to be considered to join a roleplay group. Like a job interview, but not as painful.
Appless RP: A roleplay where you don’t have to fill out an application. Just insert a couple of details about your character onto a little form and you’re in. Quality may vary.
Ask Meme: A post containing a list of questions for others to send to your character.
AU: Alternate universe. This is where the characters of the work are placed in a setting or scenario not present in canon. For example, characters who are superheroes in their canon work meeting as ordinary high school students instead.
Backstory: The events of a character’s life that occurred before the beginning of the roleplay. Doesn’t have to be tragic. Is usually tragic.
Bandom RP: A roleplay in which the characters are in a band. It’s a pun, see. A portmanteau of “band” and “fandom”, I think. I’m assuming. I mean, I’m not a roleplay etymologist or anything.
Bio RP: A roleplay in which a detailed description of the character’s background and personality is required in the application.
Blogroll: A page which displays all the blogs that a user is following.
BroTP: Like an OTP (see below), except for best buddies instead of romantic partners.
Bubble Roleplaying: Roleplaying with only a select few characters or members in a group RP setting and ignoring the others.
Canon: The stuff that the original writer of a work made. For an RP group, this consists of the plot, additional info, and any characters made by the admins intended to be a part of the overall story. For other works, it’s simply everything that occurs in the work.
CBR: Could be related. Two faceclaims who could play biological family members.
Celebrity RP: A roleplay in which you play actual celebrities as characters. These exist for some reason.
Charrie: Short for character. Not to be confused with Carrie, a Stephen King novel in which a girl gets a bit power-crazy with her telekinesis.
City RP: A roleplay in which the plot takes place in a single city as its primary or only setting. Like a town RP, but the buildings are taller.
Closed Starter: A starter made for a particular blog to reply to. Sure, you can still reply to it if it wasn’t intended for you, but it’ll just lead to secondhand embarrassment for all involved.
Contained Theme: A theme that is frightened. It tries to hide from predators by curling up and making itself smaller.
Crackship: A relationship between two characters whose pairing seems unlikely or absurd.
Crackship Gifs: Gifs of two characters edited together so that it appears the characters are interacting with each other.
Crossover: A work consisting of elements from two or more works or fandoms.
Cross-tagging: Tagging a post with related things that are not actually in the post. For example, tagging a picture of Wonder Woman with ‘#superman’. Don’t do this. It’s all of the annoying.
CW: Content Warning. Same as trigger warning. See below.
Defiantly: Definitely, but misspelled.
DM: Dungeon Master. The person who is in charge of - wait, hang on, wrong type of roleplay. Sorry about that. Move along.
Drabble: Technically it’s a story of exactly 100 words, but it’s more used to just refer to a very short standalone piece about a character or characters in a particular single scenario.
Dry Docking: The opposite of shipping. When two characters who are a couple in canon are either broken up or were never together in the first place in your fan work or RP.
Event: In a roleplay group, an occurrence in the story in which all characters can participate. Also can be several days in which the verse is altered, such as a Future Week or other AU.
Exclusive: In a fandom-related independent RP, when the mun will RP with only one version of a particular character. For example, an indie RP playing Hermione Granger only interacts with a single indie Ron Weasley blog, and others who play Ron must go elsewhere.
FxF: A romantic pairing between two female characters, usually in 1x1 roleplay.
Face-chaser: Someone who pursues a roleplay or ship with a character based on their faceclaim instead of their characterization or the writing.
Faceclaim/FC: A real-life person used to represent what a roleplay character looks like.
Faceless Gifs/Images: Gifs or images that can be used in roleplaying regardless of the character’s faceclaim, since a person’s face is not visible or present in the gif or image.
Female Ban: An element in some works of dystopian fiction wherein the government or other higher power attempts to suppress a population by eliminating females and thus making it hard to procreate... Hang on, no, I’ve just been informed that it’s when an RP doesn’t allow any more female characters to be added to the group. Presumably, male bans exist too, but I think that’s just an urban legend.
First Look: A type of review based on a quick glance over the roleplay and what first impressions the reviewer gleaned from it.
Floating Timeline: A concept in roleplay that suggests that events in threads that are being written at a particular time do not necessarily take place in that time in-story. So, if a character has multiple ongoing threads, they are not actually in multiple places at once.
Fluff: Scenes that do not involve any significant obstacle and instead are intended to give the characters time to just have fun and be cute together.
Gif Chat: A type of roleplay thread in which each post is accompanied by a gif to illustrate the character.
Gif Hunt: Collection of gifs gathered from throughout tumblr or from various sources.
Gif Icons: Collection of gifs that are 100x100 pixels in size. Sometimes people make them 90x90 or 75x75 for what I can only assume are unsavory purposes. Don’t let your guard down around those things.
Gif Pack: Collection of gifs in which  all of the gifs are made by the person posting the pack, and usually are all from the same source (the same movie, TV episode, etc.)
Godmodding: Collectively refers to powerplaying, metagaming, or both. See below.
Gore: Explicit and/or graphic violence and blood. A challenge to see how many synonyms for “red” you know.
Gossip Blog: A blog affiliated with a roleplay group that talks about and passes judgment on the characters. Sometimes can be fun, if managed well, but often creates all species of drama.
Headcanon: Something that an individual or fandom believes to be true about a story or character, even though it is not shown to be the case in the canon work.
Hiatus: Taking a break from roleplaying due to real life occurrences taking priority. As if anything could be more important than finishing those replies, pfft! The nerve.
IC: In-character. The actions, thoughts, and posts of the character; the stuff that occurs in the roleplay proper.
Icons: Also called static icons, a 100x100 image of the character or faceclaim used to illustrate the character in lieu of gifs.
I’m sorry, what did you say?: An extremely vague starter. For some reason, people keep making this starter, despite it annoying and frustrating people. Like an Alvin and the Chipmunks film.
Independent RP/Indie RP: A roleplay blog or character not associated with any particular established RP group.
IRL: In real life. Don’t worry, you won’t have to use this one often. Nothing ever happens in real life.
Kik: Something that I recently learned is not a dating site, as I had thought. This is all I know.
KRP: A roleplay that uses K-Pop artists as faceclaims exclusively or nearly exclusively. This community has some terminology of its own that I don’t know, but most of it’s similar to the rest of the RPC.
Label: A brief descriptor or trope used to describe a character in an application. Some examples are The Scholar, The Heartbreaker, The Intrepid Reporter, The Lizard Tamer, etc.
Literate RP: An RP that is highly writing-focused and requires longer posts and replies than other roleplays. Despite the misleading name, it is not actually saying that other roleplays are illiterate.
LSRP: Legit Serious Roleplay. Same as Literate RP. Yes, this acronym is ridiculous, just roll with it.
MxM: A romantic pairing between two male characters, usually in 1x1 roleplay.
Magic Anon/M!A: A post for which you invite others to make your character take on a certain trait or action for a select period of time.
Main: In a group, the blog that contains all of the information and updates for the roleplay. Home base, basically.
Manip: A graphic edit of two faceclaims in which they are photoshopped to look like they’re in a picture together.
Mary Sue: A character whose unreasonable ease or difficulty in overcoming obstacles, forming relationships, and/or gaining accolades runs contrary to the intent of the writer and makes it difficult for the reader to get invested in the story or character arc. Also, apparently, a term used to refer to any female character you don’t like.
Mature RP: A roleplay that may contain dark or adult themes, and thus doesn’t allow players under the age of 18. Seriously, if you’re under 18, don’t lie about your age. That’s a dick move.
Meme: A post that features small prompts that others can send in to begin a thread. Elsewhere on the internet, this term refers to drawings of sad frogs.
Metagaming: Letting your character have in-character knowledge that they shouldn’t logically possess, just because the mun has it.
Mod: Another term for admin. We could never settle on one term for them. It’s like the couch vs. sofa dilemma.
Moodboard: A collection of images or gifs used to sum up a character’s personality.
Multifandom: Similar to Crossover, although usually used to refer to a work with elements from three or more works or fandoms.
Multi-Storyline/Multiverse: In independent roleplay, when the character exists in more than one universe at once, such that threads with a character do not impact the events of threads with a different character.
Mumu: Multi-muse. In which a single blog is used to play more than one character.
Mun: The writer/roleplayer. The person who’s controlling the character. You. This is you. Use this power wisely.
Muse: The character that you roleplay. Also, a Greek goddess who presided over the arts, although this definition is usually irrelevant in roleplay.
Musing: Posts that represent the character’s personality, history, or thoughts in someway, such as aesthetic photos, songs, or philosophical rants.
Mutuals: Blogs on tumblr that are both following each other.
MW: Most wanted. A character or faceclaim that admins or members in a group would really like someone to play.
NoTP: When some people think that two characters would make a good couple, and you would like to stab those people with a fork for being so stupid.
Novella: Very long format for roleplaying, in which responses should contain several paragraphs of writing. Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to write a novella; a reply shorter than 20,000 words is still acceptable.
NPC: Non-playable character. A character who is present in the roleplay’s universe, but is not played by any one particular writer.
NPH of RPH: That’s me!
NSFW: Not safe for work. Nudity, sex, graphic violence. Basically, the stuff that you absolutely don’t want to come across while browsing at the public library.
OC: Original character. A character you make that is not part of the canon or not pre-written for the RP group.
One-liner:  Roleplay consisting of only a single line or a few short lines. Sometimes referred to as “action roleplay” wherein actions are interspersed with speech. For example: “*Enters the room and throws confetti into the air.* I have arrived!”
OOC: Out of character. Can be used to denote that the writer is currently speaking or posting as themselves, rather than as a character, or be used to point out that a character does not act that way in canon, what are you doing, goddamnit.
Open Character: A pre-made character in a group who is currently not being played by any member of the group.
Open Starter: A starter that any character is allowed to reply to.
Original RP: A roleplay in which the plot and characters come from the admins’ and players’ creations rather than another source.
OTP: One true pairing. The ship that you love more than all the other ships. Except that most people have at least twelve OTPs, so...
OT3: One true threesome. Like an OTP, except there are three people.
Para: Relatively longer posts, consisting of full-bodied paragraphs or multiple paragraphs.
Playby: Another word for Faceclaim. Used more outside of Tumblr. See the couch vs. sofa debate.
Plot Bunny: A story that you would like to play out or see others play out through roleplay.
Plot Drop: A significant detail or event of the overarching story in a group RP that causes some change to the lives of the characters.
Powerplaying: Controlling another player’s character without their permission.
Private: In indie RP, a blog that only interacts with mutuals.
Promo: A post used to advertise a roleplay group or account.
PSD: Photoshop Data file. A type of file that’s designed to be edited on Photoshop or other image editing programs. It comes with the image separated into layers, so that different parts of the image, such as a background, a border, or text, can be edited separately.
Revamped: Extreme Makeover, Roleplay Edition.
RP: Roleplay.
RPA: Roleplay Advice. Like roleplay help, except, I dunno, maybe fewer resources, more questions answered? This one’s falling into disuse a bit. Oh, also Roleplay Assistant.
RPC: Roleplay Community. The group of us weirdos here who roleplay instead of just posting funny text posts and photographs of flowers like normal people. Alternatively, Roleplay Critic, a blog that reviews roleplays.
RPCHA: Um, Roleplay Critic/Helper/Advice. Seems a little over the top, but all right.
RPCW: Roleplay Critic Writer, I guess? I think. Same as roleplay critic. Think it’s used to differentiate from Roleplay Community.
RPG: Roleplay group. A group. That roleplays. Also can mean roleplaying game, or rocket-propelled grenade.
RPH: Roleplay Help. A blog that offers resources and answers questions to help people with roleplaying.
RPO: Roleplay Opinions. A blog that reviews roleplays. It doesn’t count as RPO if you just have opinions; you need to share them with the class.
RPT: Roleplay Talk. A blog that talks about roleplays and the roleplay community.
RPWCTOHA: This doesn’t stand for anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
Sample Para: A few paragraphs of your writing you include as an example as your work when you apply for a roleplay group. Do not just copy and paste a passage from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” The admins will probably notice.
Secrets RP: A roleplay in which every character has a secret. These secrets are all listed together on a page in the RP, but it’s not revealed which character has which secret; that’s up to the other characters to figure out on their own through interactions.
Selective: For independent RP, when the mun does not roleplay indiscriminately with every blog or character that offers, but rather picks and chooses partners based on personal preference or certain criteria. 
Self-insert: A character who is a fictionalized version of the mun/author, with little to no change from their actual self. If they die in the game, they die in real life.
Self-para: When your character wanders away from the group for a bit to engage in their own sidequest or navel-gazing. Good times.
Semi-appless RP: A roleplay that sits on an ever-sliding scale, requiring more detail in an application than an appless RP, but less than a bio RP.
Semi-hiatus: Like a hiatus, except that you might still show up to the blog on occasion and do a little bit of activity. When your real life is busy, but you’re just that determined to roleplay.
Semi-selective: For independent RP, a blog that’s not quite as selective as a selective blog, but still maintains the right to refuse service to customers should they so choose.
Semi-truck: A truck that’s not as much truck as a regular truck.
Shipping: Holding up hand-puppet versions of two characters and forcing them to make out.
Shoutout: A brief advertisement for a roleplay group (or occasionally other blogs) that can be submitted to the ask box of a help blog.
Skeleton RP: A roleplay in which some details are given for the roles being offered by the group, but the applicant fills in the rest, usually writing the body of the character bio. Alternatively, a roleplay in which every character is literally a skeleton.
Smut: Sex. Doing the do. The horizontal tango. Bumping uglies. Woohooing. Written out in all of its gory detail. Not worth going to jail for, so for the love of all that is holy, don’t do it if you’re under 18.
Starboarding: Shipping a one-sided ship. When you want one character to be in love with another, but don’t necessarily want the feelings to be returned. The most relatable type of ship, honestly. More people should RP it.
Starter: The first post in a thread, one that is used to kick off a scene in roleplaying. Usually, especially in a group, anyone is allowed to reply and start a thread from that point.
Starter Call: A post that people like or reblog in order to request a starter from the person who posted it.
Supernatural RP: A roleplay consisting of paranormal elements such as magical creatures, witchcraft, etc. Not a roleplay about the TV show Supernatural, although I guess such a roleplay would use this tag too. This is a problem the showrunners should have foreseen.
Taken Character: A character in a roleplay group who is currently being played by a group member.
Task: In a group, a (usually optional) prompt or project that can be used for character development.
Thread: The series of posts and replies to said post that make up a scene between characters in a roleplay.
Time Skip: Usually indicated by a line break, this is when a thread moves from one scene to another without covering the time in between.
Town RP: A roleplay in which the plot takes place in a single town as its primary or only setting. Like a city RP, but the buildings are shorter.
Trigger: Something that makes a user anxious, panicky, or otherwise very upset when they see it on their dashboard without warning. Tag these. No, I don’t care if it doesn’t fit your tagging aesthetic, just tag them.
Tumblr: You are here.
TW: Trigger Warning. Used in a tag to indicate that the post contains content that may be a trigger. Please format as “#[trigger] tw”. Not “#tw: [trigger]”, and definitely not “#☾-*.:。-❝✿~~ tw ~~✿&&♛”.
Twitter RP: A roleplay that uses Twitter as its primary platform. Don’t ask me how. I can’t even figure out how to use Twitter for its intended purpose.
Urban RP: A roleplay focused primarily on PoC (person of color) characters in a city setting. Often uses musicians such as hip-hop or rap artists as faceclaims.
UTP: Up to player. An acronym used in skeletons to indicated that part of the bio can be chosen by the applicant.
Verse: Short for universe. A character’s world or timeline.
WID: What I do. A list or page on a help blog that lists what services the blog offers.
X-kit: A browser extension that’s popular within the RPC. It works to make tumblr usable again every time the staff creates a new bug and calls it a feature.
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cecillewhite · 6 years ago
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It’s Showtime! How to Enhance Conference Learning With Online Video
After a decade of explosive market growth, online video has reached critical mass and there’s no turning back. Countless research reports confirm that video is changing our lives profoundly at home and at work. Consider these statistics:
Online video consumption will represent more than 80% of all internet traffic by the end of this year. (Cisco)
68% of people prefer to learn about a product or service by watching a short video. (Wyzowl)
62% of people say they “pay close attention” to video – more than any other type of content. (HubSpot)
Employees are 75% more likely to watch a video than read documents, web pages or email at work. (Forrester)
54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support. (HubSpot)
You get the picture. To engage and educate audiences at scale, you can’t beat the power and reach of online video.
Okay. So how exactly can this work for associations hoping to enhance and extend conference learning? Video may be everywhere we look these days, but effective educational footage doesn’t just appear out of thin air.
Fortunately, you don’t need Steven Spielberg’s talent or the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster. But you do need to invest in some thoughtful planning and production. Here are 10 ideas to get your creative juices flowing…
Educational Online Video – Before, During and After an Event
BEFORE
Does online video have a role in your event planning and promotional outreach? If not, consider ideas like these to improve your educational programming while injecting more personality into your conference marketing:
1) Crowdsource Your Agenda
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RSVP FOR OUR APRIL 25th WEBINAR!
For conference content that resonates with members, why not solicit video suggestions from your community? You can kickstart the process by creating a discussion forum on your website. Then publicly invite members to post clips describing issues and ideas that matter most to them.
Through open dialogue, you can put these submissions at the center of a co-creation process that gives members a stake in your conference success. This may take more time than a private, top-down approach. But imagine the excitement and support you’ll generate as you prioritize topics and build-out session tracks.
2) Showcase Members As Your Video “Stars”
Leverage the most compelling agenda submissions by featuring sound bites from their videos in your conference communications. Then embed calls-to-action on your website, in event-related blog posts, in email newsletters and on social channels. The sky’s the limit.
This is an easy way to put a “face” on your association, while creating interest in the event and highlighting the educational benefits of attending. It’s also a natural way to humanize your organization’s brand and clarify its value proposition.
3) Add Sizzle With Time-Lapse Video
Want an easy, inexpensive way to create cool video content that you can use to attract attention and interest before, during and after any conference? You can’t go wrong with time-lapse video.
As Keith Johnston of Plannerwire explains, for less than $20 you can turn your smartphone into a powerful time-lapse tool. The results can be compelling. Want to see for yourself? The Employee Ownership Association built a photo montage of conference attendees in this short, simple example:
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Or, for a more sophisticated approach, check out this TED Conference pop-up theater build in Vancouver. Fascinating!
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Of course, getting this right requires careful advance planning and preparation, as well as post-production editing. But once you lock-in a video that captures the essence of your conference in motion, you’ll have a highly accessible “evergreen” brand asset.
DURING
To make the most of conference-related video for educational purposes, focus on creating an environment that lets 1000 flowers bloom. You’ll want to capture each moment as it happens, from as many corners of the event as your budget and resources allow. But whatever you do, don’t let those moments pass. Associations invest too much time and effort in conferences to ignore video’s power and reach.
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REPLAY THE WEBINAR NOW
Just how valuable is video, anyway? According to Digitell, 20-40% of those who live-stream an event will attend in-person the next year. This upsell effect is just one reason why smart conference planners cast a broad online video net and think creatively about how to recombine video DNA. Here are some methods that work:
1) Live-Stream All Sessions
Live video is a natural way to leverage educational content for any conference. Organizations large and small are seeing significant results, as these cases illustrate:
•  In 2016, more than 1,000 advertising, marketing and media leaders gathered to share ideas and insights at the 4As Transformation Conference. But that was just the beginning. 16,600 more professionals tuned-in via live stream, and another 25,000 attended on-demand. Thanks to innovative video technology, the total audience ballooned 41x.
•  Also in 2016, more than 170,000 people traveled to San Francisco to attend Dreamforce – the annual conference devoted to empowering the global Salesforce community. But thanks to live-streaming and on-demand video, session attendance actually totaled a whopping 15 million, worldwide.
Of course, live-streaming access, alone, doesn’t guarantee learning. Passively watching informational video isn’t nearly as effective as a virtual experience that connects with you at an emotional level. As event strategy consultant, Dave Lutz says, it’s important to shift the focus from mindless content “delivery” to meaningful content “discovery.”
2) Ask Ambassadors to Share Their View
Every community has its own influencers – industry observers, respected professional experts and valued association members with unique qualifications. Tap into these trusted sources by asking them to post impromptu video blogs – capturing educational experiences as they happen and offering their own take on the topic. For instance, SHRM does a great job of weaving HR “thought leader” commentary into its annual conference presence on the web and across social channels.
3) Talk With the “Man on the Street”
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REPLAY THIS ON-DEMAND WEBINAR!
Deploy roving reporters to capture short interview clips throughout the conference – asking attendees what they’ve learned from their favorite sessions, how they plan to apply those ideas and which topics they want to explore more deeply.
You can share these clips on social media to generate real-time buzz. Plus, you can use this valuable feedback when developing additional learning resources and programming for future conferences.
4) Capture Candid Thoughts in a Video Booth
Building on the popularity of photo booths, invite attendees to share conference insights in “private” unscripted video snippets that everyone can share on social media. To focus the content, it helps to structure comments with guidelines like this: “In 60 seconds or less, tell us the most useful thing you’ve learned at the conference, and how you plan to apply it professionally.”
5) Let a Hashtag Be Your Calling Card
Don’t forget to create a “virtual water cooler” on social media by establishing a conference-specific hashtag and promoting its use early and often. By teaching your community to use this identifier before, during and after the conference, you’ll energize social channels with diverse conversations that transcend event space and time constraints.
Want examples? Check the latest Twitter posts for #HIMSS or #ATD2019 or #SXSW. The beat goes on all year long.
For conference hashtag best practices, I recommend reading advice from David Kelly, EVP at The eLearning Guild. David has inspired backchannel activities and content curation for countless learning industry events.
AFTER
The moment your closing session ends, all the video footage you’ve captured can become an educational goldmine – but only if you repackage it thoughtfully. Be prepared to compile, curate, edit, and recombine that video DNA in ways that are useful for your members and your broader community. Consider these ideas:
1) Tie-In Videos with Existing Online Courses
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REPLAY THE WEBINAR NOW!
Enhance your existing LMS content catalog by adding on-demand conference sessions as standalone courses or integrating them into learning paths as companion resources.
2) Create a “Best of…” Event Video Collection
Develop a special library of short-form videos, based on excerpts from conference sessions. Promote these “top takeaway” clips as bite-sized educational content that anyone can view individually or as a series.
You can also leverage these short-form clips by featuring them in promotions for full recorded sessions, embedding them in related narrative blogs and offering them to session attendees as searchable “refresher” clips for on-demand learning reinforcement.
3) Time-Lapse Video
This is where my recommendations come full-circle. If you move forward with any of the ideas I’ve suggested, you’re bound to have more than enough footage to create the kind of time-lapse event video I outlined in the “BEFORE” section.
I’m repeating this idea as an “AFTER” action because it’s also a great way to remind participants of your event’s impact long after other conference memories fade. Think of this as an ongoing source of pride that will have timeless appeal for members and others you want to attract.
Conclusion
Video-related tools and technologies are advancing at breakneck speed, thanks in part to phenomenal market demand. In this kind of environment, the possibilities for video-based learning experiences seem endless.
This list of ideas only scratches the surface. So I’m curious – how have you used video to enhance educational experiences before, during or after a conference? What has worked for you? What hasn’t? And what would you like to try next?
Tell me about your ideas and experiences. I look forward to hearing from you, so I can write a follow-up post focused on lessons you’ve learned and fresh ideas you want to explore.
Thanks for reading!
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Strategies for developing a compelling theme and programming
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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years ago
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The Greatest House Safety Programs We have Examined
http://tinyurl.com/yywmmcks Chris Monroe/CNET Tech is in all places in our lives and in our houses, and that is led to an simple increase in your house safety and monitoring choices. Together with professional systems that have been around for decades, there is a newly established bumper crop of less-expensive DIY systems that you install yourself, in addition to devices like cameras, smart locks and video doorbells which are price contemplating, too. It is admittedly loads to absorb — and at the moment’s residence safety suppliers do not at all times make it straightforward to comparability store. However hey, that is the place we are available in! Maintain studying for our breakdown of the most effective DIY residence safety methods, professionally put in monitoring companies and standalone devices like video doorbells that we have examined to this point. Learn extra: Nest vs. Ring vs. Abode vs. SimpliSafe: The smart home security systems with the best privacy policies  Greatest residence safety we have examined Greatest DIY system SimpliSafe $230 upfront Monitoring begins at $15 monthly, $25 monthly to incorporate app controls and integration with Alexa. See it online Greatest professionally put in system Comcast Xfinity Home $99 upfront Monitoring prices $40 monthly throughout first yr, $50 monthly after that; bundling reductions accessible with TV and web. See it online Greatest video doorbell Nest Hello $230 upfront Steady recording beginning at $5 monthly. See it online Greatest for part-time monitoring Abode $299 upfront Monitoring accessible for $20 monthly. See it online Disclosure: CNET might get a share of income from purchases made by way of the hyperlinks on this web page. Set up-it-yourself methods If a professionally put in system appears like overkill, then it can save you some huge cash by shopping for a system that you simply set up your self. For my cash, methods like these supply among the greatest worth on your residence safety greenback. You are not lacking out on a lot when it comes to performance. Although professionally put in methods would possibly supply a fancier touchscreen to manage the security cameras, sensors, alarms and displays, the remainder of the {hardware} is essentially the identical as what you may get in case you go the DIY route, relying totally on wi-fi, battery-powered sensors that you simply stick up round your home. When DIY methods first began popping up as a low-cost different to going with the professionals, few, if any, got here with an possibility for skilled monitoring or customer support. That is now not the case. Most DIY methods now supply the choice {of professional} monitoring — and most of them cost much less for it than the professionally-installed safety suppliers do, too. Automation and sensible residence units have helped decrease the overhead value for third-party monitoring, which ends up in financial savings handed on to you. And the truth that most DIY methods do not require any type of service contract or month-to-month payment is one other good a part of the pitch. Greatest we have examined: SimpliSafe House Safety Chris Monroe/CNET SimpliSafe’s easy-to-install, easy-to-use system is well-positioned as the most effective values in residence safety. It gives a complete set of options and an excellent mixture of battery-powered sensors, all of which carried out reliably effectively in our exams. Starter kits begin at about $230, or you’ll be able to construct your individual customized system with the precise mixture of units you are focused on. Skilled monitoring begins at $15 monthly, however you may virtually actually wish to spring for the $25-per-month plan, which provides in issues like app controls and voice help by way of Alexa and the Google Assistant. That additionally signifies that you need to go along with one other choose like Abode or Ring if you don’t need skilled monitoring however nonetheless wish to management your system out of your cellphone. Total CNET rating: 8.5 $229 at SimpliSafe Read full review One thing else to maintain a watch out for: all-in-one DIY safety units designed for smaller houses and residing areas. Mainly, simply single-point, tabletop cameras filled with additional sensors and detectors for issues like movement, temperature and ambient gentle, these units generally is a good match for one thing like a studio condominium that does not have storage doorways or many avenue home windows to guard. Names to have a look at embrace Canary, Honeywell, and the Abode Iota — although our favourite of the bunch, Piper, is now not available on the market after Alarm.com purchased its parent company in 2016. If we discover one other different that we like as a lot as we favored that one, I am going to replace this area. Abode’s glorious DIY system is well-worth consideration. Chris Monroe/CNET Different choices we have examined Abode Our prime SimpliSafe different, Abode’s well-thought-out system helps each Zigbee and Z-Wave, it really works with Alexa, IFTTT and Nest, and it gives a lot of flexibility with regard to skilled monitoring — together with the choice of solely paying for momentary monitoring throughout the instances whenever you’re really out of city. Total CNET rating: 8.3 See at Abode Read full review Ring Alarm A subsidiary of Amazon, Ring’s safety package is fast to put in and straightforward to make use of. Other than a new “Works with Ring” program to convey suitable sensible locks and different third-party devices into the fold, there’s nothing all that progressive about it, although Alexa customers will admire that they’ll arm and disarm the system utilizing voice instructions, and that they’ll use Ring’s sensors to set off Alexa routines. With a buy-in value of $199 {and professional} monitoring accessible for simply $10 monthly, Ring Alarm stands out as a worth choose. Total CNET rating: 7.5 See at Amazon Read full review Nest Safe This DIY possibility from Google-owned Nest works nice, however the upfront value of $399 is way larger than the competitors. It is a respectable system, however actually solely price it in case you’re trying to lock your self right into a Google sensible residence ecosystem. Total CNET rating: 7.2 See at Walmart Read full review Professionally put in methods These are are mainstays of residence safety — names like ADT and Brinks that you have most likely been aware of for years, together with residence safety methods provided by main telecom suppliers like Comcast and AT&T. The pitch is fairly related throughout the board. Along with fundamentals like movement sensors and entry sensors for doorways and home windows, these varieties {of professional} setups will even promise to seamlessly combine issues like door locks, cameras, keypads, thermostats and touchscreens, and so they’ll typically help voice controls by way of Alexa and the Google Assistant, too. Most cost an upfront tools or set up payment and most require multiyear service contracts. As for the month-to-month payment for skilled monitoring, these are necessary, and can usually vary from $30 to $50 monthly. Greatest we have examined: Comcast Xfinity House Joshua Goldman/CNET It is not accessible in all areas, however Comcast Xfinity House left us impressed when CNET Senior Editor Josh Goldman examined the system out at his residence in northern New Jersey. It is a strong, well-thought-out system that performs properly along with your sensible residence gear, together with longtime favorites like Lutron Caseta gentle switches and the Nest thermostat. “What Xfinity House confirmed me,” Josh wrote, “was how sensible residence units make way more sense when absolutely built-in with the sensors and cameras of a house safety system.” You may get the most effective worth in case you’re prepared to bundle Xfinity House with Comcast’s web and TV service, however you need to use it as a standalone service, too. I additionally appreciated that the gross sales strategy was much less pushy and extra useful than the competitors after I gave them a check name (I used to be capable of get a quote for my residence in about 10 minutes, and the one piece of non-public data I gave was a zipper code). Total CNET rating: 8.5 See at Xfinity Read full review Excessive-end methods like these will typically make it powerful to comparability store. As an illustration, head to ADT’s website and you will find loads of advertising copy touting the worth of the corporate’s numerous residence safety choices and customer support — however you will not discover a lot by the use of pricing specifics. As an alternative, the positioning directs you to request a “free quote,” both by calling the corporate’s gross sales workforce or by submitting your title, zip code, cellphone quantity and e-mail handle. Doing the latter ensures that “an ADT Specialist will name you, occasionally, about ADT gives.” Learn the high-quality print, and you may see that these calls are “supplied” utilizing “automated dialing expertise.” Thoughts you, ADT is hardly alone right here. Some are much less egregious about it than others, however you may discover related techniques — and related high-quality print — on just about every website for professionally installed systems like these. If the web site is unclear about what a system constructed on your residence would value you, then your greatest guess is simply to name the corporate instantly, inform them what sort of setup you need, and ask for a quote. Your expertise would possibly range based mostly on the salesperson you are talking with. As an illustration, after I first tried calling ADT, the salesperson advised me that he could not give me a quote without running a credit check first. I politely ended the dialog and known as again one other day, and had a significantly better expertise with a salesman who priced a core system for me inside 10 minutes, no credit score examine or different alternate of non-public data wanted. Purchasing for a professional system Base upfront value Month-to-month value Contract size How lengthy it took me to get that data after I known as What private information I needed to give to get it ADT $129 ($229 for a system with a doorbell digicam) $47 ($67 for a system with a doorbell digicam) 3-year First try would not give a quote with no credit score examine, second try took 10 minutes None AT&T Digital Life $550 set up payment $40 2-year Simply accessible on the web site None Brinks $399 set up payment $29 3-year Simply accessible on the web site None Comcast Xfinity House $99 set up payment (waived if bundled with TV and web) $40 for first yr, then $50 ($175 if bundled with TV and web) 2-year 10 minutes Zip code Vivint $99 set up payment $40 plus financed value of units (for a bare-bones setup, about $10 monthly for 60 months) None 17 minutes None Whoever you find yourself calling, do not be afraid to place your foot down over your individual privateness. Firms that use robocalls and unsolicited mail as a gross sales tactic haven’t got a proper to your handle or different private data till they’ve earned your online business, full cease. That caveat apart, the benefit with methods like these is that professionals will come to your house to put in all the pieces for you, and you may usually count on the next stage of hands-on tech help and customer support in case you ever wish to make adjustments to your setup, too. Decide an expert system from a telecom supplier, and you may possible be capable to bundle your property safety along with your TV or web service. That is a comfort that may additionally enable you rating a reduction. Vivint’s system works effectively, however the tools does not come low cost. Chris Monroe/CNET Different choices we have examined AT&T Digital Life It is not low cost, however we favored this glossy system and the truth that simple pricing specifics have been accessible on-line. Our service professionals made positive to optimize the energy of sign for every system in our setup throughout the set up — a pleasant contact that helped make the professional strategy really feel worthwhile. Total CNET rating: 8.3 See at AT&T Read full review Vivint Good House Vivint is a stable system that labored effectively after we examined it out, however the tools is a bit costly. A primary starter package with the necessary touchscreen, a movement sensor, and two entry sensors retails for $599, which you’ll be able to pay upfront or unfold out over 60 months. Need to add cameras? Each will add an additional $5 to your invoice every month, along with the additional tools value. One good factor with Vivint: no contracts. Total CNET rating: 7.6 See at Vivint Read full review Video doorbells Should you do not want a whole safety system, and as a substitute simply wish to control exercise at your entrance door, then you definately would possibly contemplate putting in a video doorbell to maintain watch. You’ve got received a lot of choices proper now, and because of automation, all will ship an alert to your cellular telephone or sensible system every time somebody rings to indicate you who’s on the door. Some additionally observe for sudden movement or permit for two-way speak — and we’re seeing lots of new options which are capable of recognizing faces, too. That features our prime choose: These methods are faster to put in, simpler to handle and infrequently do not require any type of month-to-month payment or prolonged service contract both. Greatest we have examined: Nest Good day Tyler Lizenby/CNET Nest’s trendy video doorbell is a great, glossy choose that aced our exams. Options like individual detection and geofencing are useful and easy-to-use, and you can too improve to the Nest Conscious cloud subscription service to allow facial recognition and entry to saved recordings. It is clearly greatest for households which have already dedicated to Google and Nest’s sensible residence ecosystem, however Nest’s doorbell additionally works with each Alexa and IFTTT, which helps make it a really stable selection for almost anybody. Total CNET rating: 8.5 $229 at Walmart Read full review Costs for doorbells like these usually vary from about $100 to $250, and most additionally cost an optionally available payment for viewing saved video clips. To choose one, first work out in case your entrance door has a hardwired doorbell connection or in case you’ll want one thing battery-powered. Then, contemplate options — as an example, do you retain a porch gentle on at evening, or will you want one thing with evening imaginative and prescient? From there, take into consideration which sensible residence platforms you need your doorbell to work with. On that entrance, you may discover a lot of choices that work with Alexa and many that work with IFTTT, and with Google and/or Nest, too. Siri continues to be taking part in catch-up, although — the one HomeKit-compatible video doorbell we have gotten our fingers on so far is the Netatmo Welcome, which debuted at CES this previous January. Evaluating sensible doorbells August View Doorbell Digital camera Ring Video Doorbell 2 Ring Video Doorbell Professional Nest Good day Video Doorbell Worth $230 $199 $249 $229 Coloration end Black, pink, white, blue, brass, satin nickel, midnight grey, bronze Satin nickel, venetian (each finishes included with buy) Satin nickel, venetian, satin black, pearl white White and black Energy supply Detachable, rechargeable battery Hardwired or detachable, rechargeable battery Hardwired Hardwired Decision 1,920×1,440p HD 1,920x1080p HD 1,920x1080p HD 1,600×1,200p HD Discipline of view No info 160 levels 160 levels 160 levels Dwell streaming Sure Sure Sure Sure Cloud storage Sure, free primary plan, plus 15-day storage for $Three monthly and 30-day storage for $5 monthly Sure, 60-day storage for $Three monthly Sure, 60-day storage for $Three monthly Sure, free 3-hour picture historical past; steady recording beginning at $5 monthly Native storage No No No No Cellular app Android and iPhone Android and iPhone Android and iPhone Android and iPhone Net app No Sure Sure Sure Night time imaginative and prescient Sure Sure Sure Sure Alerts Movement Movement Movement Movement, individual, facial recognition (with Nest Conscious) Exercise zones No Sure Sure Sure (with Nest Conscious) Dimensions (HxWxD) 5.2 x 1.Eight x 1.Three inches 5.1 x 2.5 x 1.1 inches 4.5 x 1.9 x 0.Eight inches 4.6 x 1.7 x 1.Zero inches Third-party integrations Alexa; Google Assistant; Nest Alexa; IFTTT; Wink Alexa; IFTTT; Wink Alexa; Google Assistant; Nest Working temperature vary -Four to 122 levels F -5 to 120 levels F -5 to 120 levels F 14 to 104 levels F Most of the main residence safety methods now supply video doorbells of their very own, and a few supply compatibility with standalone video doorbells and keypads like these, too. Maintain that in thoughts in case you assume you would possibly wish to broaden to a full system afterward down the road. Oh, and need extra recommendations on selecting out the appropriate video doorbell? CNET’s Megan Wollerton has you covered. Ring makes quite a lot of in style video doorbells which are price a glance. Chris Monroe/CNET Different choices we have examined Ring Video Doorbell 2 We’re massive followers of the detachable, rechargeable battery on this model of the favored Ring Video Doorbell — although it additionally makes the factor just a little bit bulkier than common. If it’s going to match in your door body, it is a fantastic choose that performs properly with Alexa and IFTTT. Total CNET rating: 7.4 See at Amazon Read full review August View One of your newest options, the August View appears nice and was splendidly straightforward to put in, however the app was annoyingly laggy every time we might attempt to view the stay feed. That is the very last thing you need if somebody’s within the technique of nabbing a bundle off of your porch. Total CNET rating: 7.1 $229 at Amazon Read full review Initially revealed April 17.Replace, April 22: Up to date pricing data for Vivint: $600 will get you the necessary touchscreen together with a movement sensor and two entry sensors, and never simply the touchscreen as initially reported. You’ll be able to both pay that tools value upfront, or unfold out over 60 months at 0% APR. Source link
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fazeupmag-blog · 6 years ago
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New Post has been published on Fazeup
New Post has been published on https://www.fazeup.tk/2019/05/use-tasker-to-take-android-to-the-subsequent-degree/
use Tasker to take Android to the subsequent degree
Most individuals describe Tasker as a activity management and automation app. I see an Android programming app for the plenty. As an alternative of scaring you with code traces, Tasker allows you to use a pleasant interface to create mini Android apps that do your bidding.
Studying the best way to use Tasker exhaustively is past the scope of this publish. As an alternative, we’ll go over the fundamentals of utilizing Tasker to program your Android machine to do what need in keeping with guidelines you specify. Let’s get began.
Determining Tasker’s UI
Tabs
Tasker has been optimized for easy navigation and the UI may be very clear. There are 4 tabs on the high of the interface: Profiles, Duties, Scenes, and Vars (brief for variables).
Profile — Some type of container or package deal for contexts and linked duties. You’ll be able to outline a number of contexts for a single profile, and all these circumstances should be true for the linked duties to run.
Activity — A gaggle of actions. Normally linked to a set off or context, however may also be a free-floating, standalone activity executed manually.
Scene — A custom-made consumer interface. You’ll be able to create your individual format of buttons, menus, popups, and different UI parts.
Variable — A reputation for an unknown worth that may change over time, just like the battery degree or the date.
Tasks
You’ll be able to create Challenge tabs, which basically work as folders for organizing profiles, duties, scenes, and variables. These can be displayed alongside the underside of the UI, subsequent to that lonely dwelling button icon.
These are merely a technique to maintain issues so as inside the app. You would create initiatives for electronic mail instructions, location settings, trip time, or no matter you would like.
Foremost menu
The primary menu button is positioned within the top-right nook. Faucet it to show all settings and choices. It will possibly get fairly complicated in there, so attempt to not play an excessive amount of with it at first. We’ll use it briefly within the subsequent part, so don’t go enjoying with it simply but.
Arrange permissions and grant entry
Tasker has the facility to manage your cellphone extensively, however you could first give it permission. Be sure the app can do all the things you need it to from the get-go, because the pop-ups and entry requests can get annoying.
Open Tasker.
Hit the Foremost Menu button.
Choose “More.”
Choose “Android Settings.”
You’ll be offered with an inventory of settings. Undergo every one and ensure Tasker has entry to all the things.
In fact, you may at all times select to not give Tasker entry to particular issues, however that may clearly have an effect on the app’s performance.
Profiles and duties
In a nutshell, profiles decide while you need Tasker to do one thing, whereas duties dictate what to do.
It could additionally assist to consider a activity as a sequenced listing of issues to do. As an illustration, it’s possible you’ll need to arrange an evening mode. This might drive the cellphone to enter Do Not Disturb, decrease the brightness, and switch off pointless options (GPS, Bluetooth, and extra) at a sure time.
On this state of affairs you’ll use a profile to inform Tasker when to activate this night time mode. You’ll be able to then arrange actions within the duties part.
Making a profile and activity
For instance the idea of duties and actions extra clearly, let’s attempt truly creating this night time mode activity.
Create a brand new profile:
Open the “Profiles” tab.
Faucet on the “+” button.
Title your profile. I’ll name this one “Night Mode.”
Choose while you need duties to happen. I’ll choose eight p.m. to eight a.m.
Hit the again button.
Create a brand new Activity:
You’ll be prompted to create (or choose) a activity. Create a brand new one and identify it “Minimal.”
You’ll enter the “Task Edit” web page. Press the “+” button to create an motion.
Choose “Audio.”
Choose “Do Not Disturb.”
The “Mode” part will mean you can set your particular preferences. You’ll be able to let alarms or precedence contacts come by, for instance.
Hit the again button. Now your first motion has been created. On to the subsequent one.
Faucet on the “+” button once more.
Choose “Display.”
Choose “Display Brightness.”
Below “Level,” choose your required brightness. Then hit the again button once more.
For the subsequent motion we’ll flip off GPS. Merely hit the “+” button once more.
Choose “Location,” then choose “Stop Location.”
To show off the Bluetooth, we merely press the “+” button, choose “Net,” choose “Bluetooth,” and set the choice to “off.”
Hit the again button and your night time mode is prepared!
That is the essential technique to automate actions in your cellphone utilizing Tasker. It’s simply the tip of the iceberg, although. You’ll be able to ask Tasker to work together with apps, present notifications with custom messages, use location to launch duties, and far more.
Our thought is to indicate you the way Tasker capabilities. For extra superior automation you may at all times search the web or just give you your individual duties and profiles! We’ve additionally offered hyperlinks with custom Tasker tutorials on the finish of this publish.
Including an exit activity
An exit activity will inform Tasker what to do when a profile is not lively.
Let’s stick with our instance above. At eight p.m. the cellphone will decrease the display brightness, flip Do Not Disturb on, and switch off GPS and Bluetooth. What occurs after that?
You’ll be able to create one other activity that does the alternative of what “Minimal” did. Then merely go to the profiles tab and long-press the duty identify. Faucet on “Add Exit Task” and choose your exit activity.
Importing and exporting
To import a saved activity into Tasker, simply faucet the “Tasks” tab, choose “Import Task” from the menu, browse for the file, and faucet to import it. Importing profiles, scenes, and initiatives works the identical method.
To export a activity, long-tap on the duty identify, then faucet on the menu button and choose “Export.” Once more, exporting different parts works the identical method.
delete a profile, activity, or scene
To delete a profile, activity, or scene, long-tap on the identify, then faucet the trash icon. For variables the trash can is changed with an “X” button.
Rearranging actions in a activity
To maneuver an motion up or down an inventory of actions, simply faucet and maintain on the motion’s icon on the rightmost facet of the motion identify, then drag and drop the motion identify to its new location.
Operating a activity manually
Open the “Tasks” tab. Faucet on the duty to be run, and the “Task Edit” display will open. Faucet the play button on the backside of the display. That is good for testing whether or not your duties truly work.
Scenes
Scene creation is definitely a complicated subject that deserves its personal separate tutorial, however I’ll briefly discuss it right here.
A scene is a custom consumer interface you construct from scratch. It will possibly use parts you normally discover on UIs, together with buttons, doodles, photographs, maps, menus, shapes, sliders, textual content bins, textual content enter fields, and internet viewer bins. Every component is customizable.
Variables
When you’ve ever executed some programming earlier than, you’ll be acquainted with the idea of variables. They’re shut kin to the variables you hear about in algebra class. To outline it merely, a variable is a reputation for a price that modifications over time.
Identical to scene creation, Tasker variables are additionally advanced subjects that deserve their very own separate tutorials. I’ll speak briefly about them although, simply so you recognize what immense energy you’ll get should you simply patiently climb the steep hill of studying the best way to use Tasker.
Tasker variables at all times begins with the % (%) image. Variables in all uppercase are built-in variables. They’re normally derived from system data, machine states, or occasions. Some widespread examples are %TIME (present time), %DATE (present date), %BATT (present battery degree), and %WIFI (whether or not Wi-Fi is enabled or not).
Except for built-in variables, there are two different variable varieties: native and international. Each are user-defined and user-created. The primary distinction between them is that native variables can be utilized solely inside the activity or scene wherein they’re created, outlined, or used; international variables are accessible to all of Tasker. One other primary distinction is in capitalization: native variables use all lowercase however international variables have at the least one uppercase letter in its identify.
Okay, almost executed. If you wish to be taught extra about the best way to use Tasker, or evaluate in a visible method what I’ve mentioned thus far, watch our video tutorial within the subsequent part.
Some superior Tasker initiatives to check out
Conclusion
Tasker is a strong, advanced, and versatile automation and programming app, however it may be intimidating. It has a steep studying curve. It takes time to turn out to be acquainted with it, and far more to be proficient, however the time will certainly be price it. It’s a small worth to pay for the facility, flexibility, and management that Tasker means that you can wield over your Android machine.
Do you employ Tasker? What do you employ it for? Or, are you new to Tasker? How’s your expertise with it thus far? Share your Tasker experiences with us. Pontificate within the feedback.
Supply
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terabitweb · 6 years ago
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Original Post from FireEye Author: Moritz Raabe
This blog post continues our Script Series where the FireEye Labs Advanced Reverse Engineering (FLARE) team shares tools to aid the malware analysis community. Today, we release ironstrings: a new IDAPython script to recover stackstrings from malware. The script leverages code emulation to overcome this common string obfuscation technique. More precisely, it makes use of our flare-emu tool, which combines IDA Pro and the Unicorn emulation engine. In this blog post, I explain how our new script uses flare-emu to recover stackstrings from malware. In addition, I discuss flare-emu’s event hooks and how you can use them to easily adapt the tool to your own analysis needs.
Introduction
Analyzing strings in binary files is an important part of malware analysis. Although simple, this reverse engineering technique can provide valuable information about a program’s use and its capabilities. This includes indicators of compromise like file paths and domain names. Especially during advanced analysis, strings are essential to understand a disassembled program’s functionality. Malware authors know this, and string obfuscation is one of the most common anti-analysis techniques reverse engineers encounter.
Due to the prevalence of obfuscated strings, the FLARE team has already developed and shared various tools and techniques to deal with them. In 2014 we published an IDA Pro plugin to automate the recovery of constructed strings in malware. In 2016, we released FLOSS; a standalone open-source tool to automatically identify and decode strings in malware.
Both solutions rely on vivisect, a Python-based program analysis and emulation framework. Although vivisect is a robust tool, it may fail to completely analyze an executable file or emulate its code correctly. And just like any tool, vivisect is susceptible to anti-analysis techniques. With missing, incomplete, or erroneous processing by vivisect, dependent tools cannot provide the best results. Moreover, vivisect does not provide an easy-to-use graphical interface to interactively change and enhance program analysis.
I encountered all these shortcomings recently, when I analyzed a GandCrab ransomware sample (version 5.0.4, SHA256 hash: 72CB1061A10353051DA6241343A7479F73CB81044019EC9A9DB72C41D3B3A2C7). The malware contains various anti-analysis techniques to hinder disassembly and control-flow analysis. Before I could perform any efficient reverse engineering in IDA Pro, I had to overcome these hurdles. I used IDAPython to remove various anti-analysis instruction patterns which then allowed the disassembler to successfully identify all functions in the binary. Many of the recovered functions contained obfuscated strings. Unfortunately, my changes did not propagate to vivisect, because it performs its own independent analysis on the original binary. Consequently, vivisect still failed to recognize most functions correctly and I couldn’t use one of our existing solutions to recover the obfuscated strings.
While I could have tried to feed my patches in IDA Pro back to vivisect or to create a modified binary, I instead created a new IDAPython script that does not depend on vivisect. Thus, circumventing the mentioned shortcomings. It uses IDA Pro’s program analysis and Unicorn’s emulation engine. The easy integration of these two tools is powered by flare-emu.
Using IDA Pro instead of vivisect resolves multiple limitations of our previous implementations. Now changes that users make in their IDB file, e.g. by patching instructions to manually enhance analysis, are immediately available during emulation. Moreover, the tool more robustly supports different architectures including x86, AMD64, and ARM.
Stackstrings: An Example
The disassembly listing in Figure 1 shows an example string obfuscation from the sample I analyzed. The malware creates a string at run-time by moving each character into adjacent stack addresses (gray highlights). Finally, the sample passes the string’s starting offset as an argument to the InternetOpen API call (blue highlight). Manually following these memory moves and restoring strings by hand is a very cumbersome process. Especially if malware complicates value assignments using additional instructions like illustrated below.
Figure 1: Disassembly listing showing stackstring creation and usage
Because malware often uses stack memory to create such strings, Jay Smith coined the term stackstrings for this anti-analysis technique. Note that malware can also construct strings in global memory. Our new script handles both cases; strings constructed on the stack and in global memory.
ironstrings: Stackstring Recovery Using flare-emu
The new IDAPython script is an evolution of our existing solutions. It combines FLOSS’s stackstring recovery algorithm and functionality from our IDA Pro plugin. The script relies on IDA Pro’s program analysis and emulates code using Unicorn. The combination of both tools is powered by flare-emu. Fe, short for flare-emu, is the chemical symbol for iron and hence the script is named ironstrings.
To recover stackstrings, ironstrings enumerates all disassembled functions in a program except for library and thunk functions as identified by IDA Pro. For each function, the script emulates various code paths through the function and searches for stackstrings based on two heuristics:
Before all call instructions in the function. As stackstrings are often constructed and then passed to other functions, i.e. Windows APIs like CreateFile or InternetOpenUrl.
At the end of a basic block containing more than five memory writes. The number of memory writes is configurable. This heuristic is helpful if the same memory buffer is used multiple times in a function and if the string construction spans multiple basic blocks.
If any of these conditions apply, the script searches the function’s current stack frame for printable ASCII and UTF-16 strings. To detect strings in global memory, the script additionally searches for strings in all memory locations that have been written to.
Using flare-emu Hooks to Recover Stackstrings
If you’re not already familiar with flare-emu, I recommend reading our previous blog post. It discusses some of the interfaces the tool provides. Other helpful resources are the examples and the project documentation available on the flare-emu GitHub.
The stackstrings script uses flare-emu’s iterateAllPaths API. The function iterates multiple code paths through a function. It first finds possible paths from function start to function end. The tool then forces the emulation down all identified code paths independent from the actual program state. This extensive code coverage allows ironstrings to recover strings constructed from many different emulation runs.
A key feature of flare-emu are the various hook functions that get triggered by different emulation events. These hooks, or callbacks, enable the development of very powerful automation tasks. The available hooks are a combination of Unicorn’s standard hooks, e.g., to hook memory access events, and multiple convenience hooks provided by flare-emu. The following section briefly describes the available callbacks in flare-emu and illustrates how the ironstrings script uses them to recover obfuscated strings.
instructionHook: This Unicorn standard hook is triggered before an instruction is emulated. ironstrings uses this hook to initiate the stackstrings extraction if a basic block contained enough memory writes, for example.
memAccessHook: This Unicorn standard hook is triggered when memory read or write events occur during emulation. In the stackstrings script this function stores data about all memory writes.
callHook: This flare-emu hook is activated before each function call. The hook’s return value is ignored. In the stackstrings script this hook triggers the extraction of stackstrings.
preEmuCallback: This flare-emu hook is called before each emulation run. It is only available in the iterate and the iterateAllPaths functions. The hook’s return value is ignored. ironstrings does not use this hook.
targetCallback: This flare-emu hook gets called whenever one of the specified target addresses is hit. It is only available in the iterate and the iterateAllPaths functions. The hook’s return value is ignored. The stackstrings script does not use this hook.
The code in Figure 2 shows the callback functions that flare-emu’s API currently supports, their signatures, and examples of how to use them. All callbacks receive an argument named hookData. This named dictionary allows the user to provide application specific data to use before, during, and after emulation. Often, this dictionary is named userData in the user-defined callbacks, as in the examples below, due to its naming in Unicorn. ironstrings uses this to access function analysis data and store recovered strings across its various hooks. The dictionary also provides access to the EmuHelper object and emulation meta data.
Figure 2: flare-emu example hook implementations
Installation
Download and install flare-emu as described at the GitHub installation page. ironstrings is available, along with our other IDA Pro plugins and scripts, at our ironstrings GitHub page.
Note that both flare-emu and ironstrings were written using the new IDAPython API available in IDA Pro 7.0 and higher. They are not backwards compatible with previous program versions.
Usage and Options
To run the script in IDA Pro, go to File – Script File… (ALT+F7) and select ironstrings.py. The script runs automatically on all functions, prints its results to IDA Pro’s output window, and adds comments at the locations where it recovered stackstrings. Figure 3 shows the script’s output of the recovered stackstring locations from the GandCrab sample. Analysis of this malware takes the script about 15 seconds.
Figure 3: Deobfuscated stackstrings and locations where they were identified
Figure 4 shows the disassembly listing of the stackstring creation example discussed at the beginning of this post after running ironstrings.
Figure 4: Commented stackstring after running ironstrings
After analyzing a sample, the script provides a summary and a unique listing of all recovered strings. The output for the ransomware sample is shown in Figure 5. Here the tool failed to analyze two functions due to invalid memory operations during Unicorn’s code emulation.
Figure 5: Script summary and unique string listing
Note that you can modify various options to change the script’s behavior. For example, you can configure the output format at the top of the ironstrings.py file. The script’s README file explains the options in more detail.
Conclusion
This blog post explains how our new IDAPython script ironstrings works and how you can use it to automatically recover stackstrings in IDA Pro. Overcoming anti-analysis techniques is just one of many useful applications of code emulation for malware analysis. This post shows that flare-emu provides the ideal base for this by integrating IDA Pro and Unicorn. The detailed discussion of flare-emu’s hook functions will help you to write your own powerful automation scripts. Please reach out to us with questions, suggestions and feedback via the flare-emu and flare-ida GitHub issue trackers.
Go to Source Author: Moritz Raabe FLARE Script Series: Recovering Stackstrings Using Emulation with ironstrings Original Post from FireEye Author: Moritz Raabe This blog post continues our Script Series where the FireEye Labs…
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connecticut-seo-adwords · 6 years ago
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3 Ways SEO Metrics Can Help Demonstrate Content’s Effect on Sales and Revenue
70% of business leaders expect marketing to drive revenue growth, but know how to demonstrate the impact of their efforts on business revenue. Content marketers who struggle to provide revenue-impact data may find that it’s increasingly difficult to secure future funding and earn budget increases.
But demonstrating the impact of content marketing on revenue isn’t impossible. One simple option is to use common SEO metrics to tie content efforts directly to sales and revenue. By establishing some goals in your analytics program and framing nebulous metrics in a context that business leaders understand, you can highlight the value of content marketing in a demonstrable and irrefutable way.
Measure Visibility to Highlight Content Marketing Effectiveness
Increased traffic and social shares may lack significant meaning on their own, but in the context of increased visibility and brand awareness, they’re powerful. Content that performs well in organic search provides as much visibility as participating in your industry’s biggest trade shows—but it happens all day, every day.
When reporting increased site traffic, consider framing it in the context of increased visibility to provide more meaning for the importance of the metric. Additionally, highlighting content that’s outperforming competitors for high-value keywords and topics illustrates how content marketing is adding value from the perspective of both visibility and competitiveness.
Visibility doesn’t necessarily equal revenue, but no visibility certainly equals no revenue.
Executives can often be skeptical about the value of visibility metrics, and they should be: increased visibility may or may not result in increased revenue. To establish proof of the connection, you’ll need to take additional steps to connect visibility to more valued metrics.
Correlate Content Metrics and Sales Trends
By comparing trends in sales-ready leads or closed deals with top-performing content, you can look for correlations between content and leads/conversions.
For example, Propecta helped one of our clients build a wireless networking guide that quickly became one of their top-performing pages in organic search. For about a year after that, they noticed a significant increase in the number of leads pertaining to wireless networking. The correlation between the increased leads and a high-performing piece of content pointed to content’s role in driving those leads.
Correlation doesn’t necessarily prove causation, but it certainly presents a stronger argument than an isolated increased-visibility metric.
To find top-performing pages in Google Analytics:
Expand the “Acquisition” tab.
Select “All Traffic.”
Click “Organic Search.”
For “Primary Dimension,” select “Landing Page”
This report shows which site pages are driving the most organic search traffic. Next, you need to compare high-traffic pages with trends in sales-ready leads and closed deals to connect increased visibility to increased leads and revenue.
Recommended for You
Look for spikes in demand for specific product or service categories, and compare the timeline of leads/sales in those categories with timelines for organic traffic increases. If the timelines follow the same pattern—spikes in sales happen in conjunction with spikes in organic traffic for related content—you can make a strong case for content’s role in driving increased revenue in those categories.
If you don’t have access to the sales data needed to compare trends, you can also ask sales teams to provide insights on the types of questions they’re being asked the most. High-performing content often leads to sales teams receiving more questions in relevant product/service categories, and this data could be used to demonstrate how content is generating more leads.
Set Up Goals in Google Analytics to Measure Content Marketing Success
Increased organic search traffic is a great indicator of content marketing success, but as a standalone metric, it lacks context. To demonstrate the value of traffic increases in terms that executives and stakeholders will appreciate, organic search traffic needs to be tied to metrics the business values, like lead generation and conversion activities, and specifically to dollar amounts when possible.
By setting up goals in Google Analytics, you can track revenue-driving interactions. Goals allow for tracking the number of users who arrived from organic search, social media, or guest posts on other sites (referrals), and performed an action that signifies revenue impact:
Filled out a form
Viewed pricing pages
Requested a product demo
Completed a purchase
Created an account
Open Google Analytics.
Select the “Admin” tab.
Select “Goals.”
Click “+ New Goal.”
Select the “Custom” radio button.
Click “Continue.”
Give the goal a descriptive name, and then select the “Destination” radio button.
On the next screen, enter URLs of pages that signify an acquired lead or completed conversion. Most often, the URL will be for a thank-you or confirmation page that appears after content is downloaded, a request is made, or a purchase is completed. Enter the URL that applies to the first goal, and save the goal.
Create a separate goal for each page that signifies a revenue-generating activity.
Once goals are established, you can view goal completions to see how many visitors downloaded gated materials, requested demos, or completed any other specified action. Then, view the source of that action—how the user arrived on the site initially—to determine how many of the goal completions arrived from content marketing sources like organic search and social media.
With this information, you can report real numbers of leads and conversions earned through content marketing efforts. Additionally, if a specific value can be attributed to actions, include that value when creating goals to see the amount of revenue that content marketing has generated.
A marketing automation platform can be configured to track the same metrics. For example, Marketo’s engagement platform can be configured to treat organic search as a program channel, and organic search visits can be configured as Interesting Moments. The Opportunity Influence Analyzer can then be used to show organic search’s impact on closed deals.
[Want to learn more about how Marketo specifically can be used in these ways? We’re working on a more detailed guide. It’s still in its early stages, but make sure to subscribe for updates.]
How to Measure Content Marketing Success via SEO
To prove the importance and effectiveness of content marketing campaigns and initiatives, content marketers must learn to adopt the reporting tools utilized by SEOs and other departments. General metrics aren’t enough to impress leadership—they want to know how their investment in content marketing is earning revenue for the company.
By tracking goals and sales trends, and pointing directly to content’s influence on those activities, you can highlight exactly how content is generating leads, driving conversions, and earning revenue and visibility for the business.
Source
http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/3-ways-seo-metrics-can-help-demonstrate-contents-effect-sales-revenue-01830074
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dorothydelgadillo · 6 years ago
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21 Award-Winning Website Designs & What They Did Right
The internet is full of some amazing and inspiring websites.
These special snowflakes are the ones who find innovative ways to utilize every possible design and technological boundary to their advantage to create experiences that many organizations wish they had.
Finding these diamonds in the rough can be an incredible challenge, especially if you are unsure of where to start.
Fortunately, sites like CSS Awards, Awwwards, Webby Awards, etc. exist to help highlight the sites we should push our own to reflect.
To help showcase some of these awarding winning sites, I dove into each of these award-honoring sites and pulled the ones that are not only beautiful examples of modern design, but also exercise UX, UI, information architecture, conversion rate optimization, video marketing, tactics to their fullest potential.
When looking at each site, it’s important to understand that these should not be seen as templates you should attempt to copy. Instead, analyze them and find the parts of them that utilize design/marketing/content strategies that could be repurposed and revised into that fits your own audience.
With that being said, enjoy these 17 killer examples of award-winning website designs done right.
Rather watch? Here are 5 of my favorites!
    1. ESPN Sports Programming
Featured on Awwwards
ESPN takes their sports content and programming to the next level with this dynamic and eye-catching site filled with large, high-resolution images and video. The site utilizes background video to keep up with the sports network’s energy and sections with subtle hover and transition effects and to keep the user experience smooth. The ‘featured sports’ slider is thoroughly entrancing, and does an excellent job of showcasing each of the sports alongside interesting statistics and informative details about available programs. 
2. Montage
Featured on Awwwards
Montage takes showing-off their product to the next level with this easy to maneuver homepage that clearly outlines what their product is, how it looks, product quality, and testimonials. The site is an excellent example of one approach you can use to highlight your product and the most important points your users would be concerned with finding answers to. The sticky sub-navigation allows users to easily navigate around the page to find exactly what they're looking for.  
3. Zillow
Featured on The Webby Awards
Finding the perfect home is all about being able to conveniently research exactly what you’re looking for, save and store what you like, and make it easy to find it all later on. Zillow hits the nail on the head for all three of these points with their intuitive real estate site. The search area within the hero area makes it easy for new users to quickly select and search listings without having to look for some hidden search page. 
4. Revols
Featured on CSS Design Awards
Revols takes a bold approach on its website by enlarging their small, sophisticated headphones using macro photography and video. The photography and video make the site incredibly product focused, so their users slowly become more and more immersed into the experience these headphones can give you. The large font treatment on this site is also a nice touch and adds to the larger-than-life earbud photography. 
5. Fiftythree Pencil
Featured on SiteInspire
Fiftythree captures all the features and benefits for their Pencil Stylus throughout this standalone product page. These features and benefits are accompanied by images to illustrate the product in action so the user has an easier time visualizing them and how they can apply the product. The layout and visual treatment of the product's anatomy section are also very unique and act as a dynamic way to lead users to read more about the product, as opposed to static sections one after another. 
6. Morgan Stanley
Featured on The Webby Awards
Unlike traditional product-focused sites, Morgan Stanley headlines their homepage with an article they hope to drive a significant amount of traffic to (especially since it connects with the holiday family gatherings we’re expected to attend). The rest of the layout beyond the homepage hero plays with a grid-focused layout to organize the assortment of recent articles they’ve posted. 
7. Boosted
 Featured on Awwwards
Boosted took what could have been seen as an average skateboard to the next level by introducing amazingly detailed photos of their product accompanied with detailed descriptions on their site. The sites gray tones and white backgrounds help keep the focus on the orange call-to-action buttons and the brightly colored skateboard they use as an example of the product. I also love the fact that they have a blog which seems to highlight issues they have/are addressing with the product, adding a wonderful level of transparency to the company.
8. Wozber
Featured on SiteInspire
Wozber did a killer job breaking down the step by step process it takes on making sure your resume is perfect for that dream job you are looking for. There homepage clearly outlines the steps upfront, which are then further explained in individual sections below.
The site even has examples of some of the resumes they’ve made, making it easy for you to see exactly what the finish product could look like before you decide to signup.
9. Opus Grows
Featured on CSS Winner
Opus drives home the organic, natural, and healthy benefits of their soil by adding bountiful amounts of greenery throughout the site. With so many different options for potting soils out there, it can be hard to decide which one is the healthiest for your plants or garden. Opus proves their product is best by addressing the ingredients and physical properties there soils offer that segment it from your traditional brand. I was also very pleased to see they blogged and occasionally mixed in more delightful posts to help reach wider audiences such as this one.
10. Zero Financial
Featured on Awwwards
Far too often do software companies have very beautiful websites that completely lack any images of their product. If you’re currently in this position and looking for inspiration on how to do so, Zero is a fantastic site for inspiration. The use of images accompanied by descriptive text that explains each makes the product that much more real and relatable for people interested in using the product. 
11. Cap HPI
Featured on Awwwards
Cap HPI helps provide a wide variety of automotive data to a variety of different personas. With that in mind, Cap HPI has built their website so those personas have an easy time finding the type of solution they're looking for. To facilitate this, they have a very optimized navigation so you’re able to quickly understand whether or not CAP HPI can help you or not, and pages that follow suite. On top of all this, the sites design, subtle animations, and unique color palette make for a delightful and refreshing visual experience in a market that might otherwise have a very bland, corporate layout.
12. Quiver
Featured on Awwwards
Although the site is smaller than others, Quiver still manages to shine among the rest. I love the fact that they utilize emotion immediately when you arrive on the homepage with the background and the copy. They even managed to get a signup form in their, rather than only incorporating a button that sends them to a separate signup page. Their product and features pages do a beautiful job of displaying the appearance of the software accompanied with small interactive elements to help show how the product works.
13. Wordstack
 Featured on CSS Winner
Wordstack did an excellent job keeping their website small, condensed and organized, while still delivering all the value the product offers. The large, full-width imagery and consistent use color palette and styling throughout the pages make for an incredibly uniform design that pairs very well with the color palate of the software. 
14. Campos Coffee
Featured on CSS Design Awards
Certain customers love indulging in products they know is craft and created by companies who want to deliver quality products to their customers. And companies like Campos Coffee know exactly how to cater to those personas. Campos uses their website as a way to highlight the time and effort they put into their coffee, how it benefits the community, and why you’ll feel good buying it. All these points get wrapped into a wonderful story that they display on their homepage throughout every other site page.
15. Kin
Featured on SiteInspire
Rather than only highlighting features, Kin takes it to the next step and utilizes homepage to showcase their products benefits so people know exactly what the product can be used for before venturing off to other areas on the site. In terms of design, Kins use of the larger serif font throughout the site accompanied by real office photography really helps add a huge about of credibility to their brand. It also lets the customer know there are real, personable people behind the amazing product, rather than leaving it up to guesses.
16. SeaStreak
Featured on Webby Awards
Looking to travel by ferry but not sure where to go? SeaStreak’s got you in good hands. Their sites UI is organized so you’re able to quickly build a ferry schedule that works for you. I also find their navigation extremely interesting. Their routes and schedules menu item drops down to show you all the available options, and the daytrips and getaway menu item is already segmented for users who are on the site looking for exactly that. These elements help create convenience for the user AND speed, so they aren't left in a dark hole of the site trying to figure out how to search for what they want. 
17. S Bottle
Featured on CSS Winner
S Bottle’s sleekly designed product is given special treatment throughout the design of their website to highlight its innovative beauty and benefits. Utilizing the bottle in the various animations they have make the site more engaging and adds interest to learning more about the product. 
18. Ocean Health Index
Featured on W3 Awards
Ocean Health Index helps bring the beauty of the ocean to the web with their stunning layout, visual imagery, and cool tone color palette. The large use of font across the website also helps keep the website easy to read while keeping and professional.
19. WealthSimple
Featured on Awwwards
The use of space on Wealthsimple makes it incredibly easy to segment each section of its pages. The beautiful GIFs throughout the page also make for a exciting experience, especially since they don’t relate directly to investing.
The site makes investing seem that much more fun. Rather than showcasing spreadsheets, stacks of cash and tacky language, they make sure they differentiate there image so it doesn't seem like every other investment software/service.
20. Toggl
Featured on CSSDesignAwards
The quirky animation on Togg’ls homepage page really draws the users attention immediately on arrival. This style imagery is carried throughout the remaining sections with simple groups of content boxes directly next to each.
Toggle also pays careful attention to how things animate in on page load. For example, Toggl’s pricing page fades in the hero and then each pricing area from left to right. Attention to these details make the feel of the site that much more polished.
21. Shademaster
Featured on CSSDesignAwards
Looking at roofing may not sound terribly enjoyable for the average homeowner, but Shademaster made sure it was on their site.
They strategically segmented the type of work they did into roof designs in their nav which send the user out to individual pages where they can plan and design their ideal roof and receive a quote. This approach makes the roof buying process that much more autonomous for users, there’s no need for someone to visit your house just to get something started.
Looking for your own website redesign?
Your website is meant to be the face of your online presence and a way to represent your brand virtually. If you website doesn't uphold a design that matches the way you want to be perceived, then it will ultimately fail to perform optimally. IMPACT loves to work with other companies in a collaborative effort to understand what you want your website to truly look like so we can help you through the strategy to make it into a reality. Think it's time for your website to get the facelift it deserves to better represent your brand and ultimately increase its performance? Talk to us and tell about your website's goals and aspirations.
from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/18-award-winning-website-designs
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thelazyplumber · 6 years ago
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Affilorama Review – Is It Really The Best Affiliate Course?
Affilorama Review - A Comprehensive Look (2018)
Does it live up to its lofty promises?
Affilorama has been around for years and is the course many respected affiliate marketers used to get their start. But how does it hold up in 2018? We take a deep dive into what we think of this popular affiliate marketing course.
Learn More About Affilorama
Usefulness
Has lots of good content mixed in with content that badly needs to be updated
Value
Monthly costs are a bit steep, but includes hosting and other useful tools
Ease Of Use
Mixture of text and video training. Easy to navigate but feels dated.
Support
Support is responsive and has a pretty active forum
Affilorama Pros
The Premium membership option contains an immense amount of useful written and video content.
The course is well-laid out and easy to understand.
You can use Affilorama to start up your business in a matter of days.
The forum is somewhat active.
60-day money back guarantee.
Affilorama Cons
Outdated content
Upsells can get expensive in a hurry.
Questionable link practices
Not possible to contact Mark Ling personally.
If recent statistics are anything to go by, affiliate marketing is not dead. On the contrary, it is thriving but if you’re looking to make money via affiliate marketing, you’ll have to move with the times. Successful entities in this sphere understand the need to constantly change the game if they wish to continue finding goldmines.
If you’re a blogger/solopreneur, chances are, a significant portion of your online revenue comes from passive income via the promotion of online services and third-party products. If this isn’t the case, perhaps you need assistance? If so, or else you’re a newbie, there are a variety of programs designed to help. Affilorama is one of the best known but is it worth your time and money? Read our detailed review to find out.
What is Affilorama?
It is an online course created by famed affiliate marketer, Mark Ling, back in 2005/2006. It is effectively a one-stop shop for all your affiliate marketing needs. It is initially free to join and its information should prove useful to neophyte and experienced marketers alike. The training lessons come in the form of blog posts, long & detailed articles, and videos. It is theoretically possible to earn a six-figure income from scratch if you utilize all the tools Ling lays at your disposal. Affilorama’s community exceeds 300,000 people globally at the time of writing and with affiliate marketing also set to grow, it seems certain that Affilorama will follow suit. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer.
Affilorama’s Packages
At the time of writing, the site offered five packages including its much-vaunted Free Membership option. It used to include Affilotheme, a premium WordPress theme, for $97 but it has been absorbed into the AffiloBlueprint package.
Free Membership
What sets Affilorama apart from most of its rivals is the depth of great information you receive for free. Once you sign up, you receive instant access to the following:
Affiliate Marketing Quick Start Guide: Learn the basics of how affiliate marketing works and discover the traps you’ll need to avoid.
Roadmap to Success: If affiliate marketing confuses you, this downloadable roadmap should make things clearer. It is in infographic form which makes it easier to digest.
Video Lessons: There are over 120 video lessons that illustrate the ways to build your affiliate marketing business.
Overall, there are over 20 hours of free content. While there is plenty to like about getting lots of information for free, we were a little surprised at how much of it is outdated. If we were cynical, we would say it is a case of getting what you paid for!
Affilorama Premium
You could argue that this membership is Affilorama’s flagship product. You can begin by investing just $1 for a 30-day trial and then it costs $67 a month.
As you can see, there is a 60-day money back guarantee for extra peace of mind. What we really liked about these initial packages is that you have lots of time to absorb the very useful information before committing financially. We recommend eking everything you can from the Free Membership before the upgrade. However, it is the Premium Membership option that gives you the information needed to hang with the professionals. With Affilorama Premium, you receive the following, among other things:
Monthly web magazine which covers an affiliate marketing sub-topic in detail. Given the fact that successful marketers pick a niche and stick to it, this information could be essential.
Webinars and interviews with successful affiliate marketers where you learn their tips and tricks.
Web hosting for 15 domains.
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AffiloTools is also included.
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30 premium quality articles a month.
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2GB Disk Space
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75GB monthly traffic bandwidth
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10 FTP Accounts and 10 MySQL Databases.
AffiloTools
As well as being available with your Premium Membership, AffiloTools is a standalone product designed to help you boost your search engine ranking. Please note, we don’t recommend utilizing AffiloTools unless you’re a relatively experienced marketer with an up and running website. If you’re an affiliate marketer that doesn’t track data, you’re making a huge mistake. You can connect AffiloTools to a Google Analytics account and keep track of the following information:
Rankings for every keyword.
Rankings on various search engines and regions.
The amount of money you earn from ClickBank.
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The number of retweets and ‘likes’ you get on Twitter and Facebook respectively.
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The number of pages indexed.
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Details about how your rivals are performing in key areas.
There are four options ranging from the Free ‘Basic’ account to the ‘Gold’ package which costs $97.
As you can see, the Basic option is fine for newcomers to affiliate marketing as it monitors one website, ten keywords and two search engines per site with monthly ranking retrieval. Clearly, you’ll need to upgrade once your business expands.
AffiloJetpack
According to the site, its Jetpack option can “earn you a huge income on autopilot” and it’s yours for a one-time cost of $997. However, click on this Affilorama link and you receive a $250 discount! Mark Ling also offers two guarantees:
60-day money back guarantee.
An extra $100 refund if you follow Ling’s instructions on using Jetpack and don’t make good money within 60 days.
With Jetpack, you receive a variety of tools including:
Content creation ‘cheatsheets’ that show you how to create hundreds of blog posts and unique articles quickly and easily.
WordPress website setup with a year’s worth of free hosting and AffiloTheme.
Free reports designed to help you increase your emails’ opt-in rates.
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Professionally written email templates.
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eBook Graphics.
Ling believes that you can create your business in less than six days when you use Jetpack, compared to the minimum of six weeks it takes you without it. Also, you receive Jetpack in 18 profitable niches which certainly increases your chances of success. To sweeten the deal, Ling allows users to choose five websites in five different niches.
Ling makes some pretty incredible claims when trying to sell Jetpack. For example, he suggests that the ‘big shots’ go through a seven-step process and if you follow his instructions to a ‘tee’, you could earn up to $20,000 in a single day! For the record, the process looks like this:
1
A visitor comes to your website.
2
Your site offers him a free report (or another gift) which serves as bait.
3
The visitor takes the bait and you send him several emails that week automatically.
4
The informative nature of the emails builds trust.
5
You begin including recommendations for affiliate products. Gentle persuasion is key here.
6
You continue emailing recommendations and begin making sales.
7
It happens so often that you can quit your day job!
Despite what Ling claims, you have to put a lot of work into your business even if you purchase Jetpack. While it does have a host of useful tools, it is not the ‘magic bullet’ that Ling claims.
AffiloBlueprint
Ling claims this is a ‘foolproof’ blueprint for creating profitable affiliate marketing websites.
Once again, this is a product backed by a 60-day money back guarantee. For a fee of $197, you have lifetime access to hundreds of informative videos that show you how to create your site, write excellent content, and ensure it ranks well. Ling suggests that his system is:
Capable of killing indecision.
Easily achievable.
Explains everything about affiliate marketing.
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Futureproof.
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Repeatable.
One of the best aspects of the Blueprint is that you’re given ‘homework’ after each lesson which is tremendously helpful. Here is a quick overview of what to expect with the Blueprint:
Learn how to perform research and find the most profitable niche for your needs.
Create and customize your own website.
Discover how to attract more visitors to your site.
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Optimize your website for more sales.
As a bonus, you receive AffiloTheme which used to cost $97 by itself. It is designed to help you create beautiful looking websites that include SEO-friendly layouts. There is a total of six themes in one so you have the flexibility to develop something special.
Affilorama – What’s Good?
The Free membership is very helpful for newcomers because it contains plenty of useful information. Its content is well-laid out and easy to follow, even for those with no affiliate marketing experience. Of course, if you’re vastly experienced in this industry, there is probably nothing new in the content.
Mark Ling IS a well-known marketer with 14 years’ worth of experience and he brings it all to the table. Therefore, you know that Affilorama is most certainly NOT a scam. You learn the following without paying a cent:
How to build a great website.
How to attract visitors and boost your SEO ranking.
Ideas for marketing.
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Affiliate outsourcing.
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Content creation.
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Market research.
However, and we can’t stress this enough, you WILL need to invest money in Affilorama if you want to bring your business to the next level. The Premium Membership option is where the best information is located and you can pay just $1 for a month’s trial. We were very impressed by the amount, and quality, of content received and believe it is well worth paying the full price of $67 a month. If you follow Ling’s advice, you will make your annual fees back in weeks or less!
You also receive a reasonable level of customer support. Get in touch with the Affilorama team via phone or email. You can also go to the forum which is fairly active. For example, at the time of writing, there were a few replies within the last 24 hours on different topics.
There are numerous positive testimonials on the website and online. Customers enjoy:
The way the information is laid out.
The capacity to achieve financial freedom.
Skyrocketing sales.
Affilorama – What’s Bad?
Incredibly, Ling and his Affilorama team have done nothing to eliminate the outdated information that has been on the free version of the program for years. In some cases, members are warned that the content they are reading or watching is out of date. Why doesn’t the site remove it? Examples of outdated content include information on creating PLR (Private Label Rights) articles and creating backlinks. PLR content is nothing more than copied content and while you can tweak it to avoid search engine penalties, it offers nothing to your visitors.
To be fair, backlinking is still an important aspect of SEO, as long as it is utilized correctly. Things have changed in this sphere. Once upon a time, adding a ton of links from anywhere on the Internet increased your search engine ranking. Today, backlinking is more nuanced. Relevancy of links is crucial but is only part of a more complicated SEO tactic. We don’t believe that Affilorama’s information on backlinking is up to date in the free version. You need to pay for the Premium membership if you wish to get a better handle on things.
We were also not impressed with the additional fees and the confusion over pricing and what you actually receive. For example, AffiloTools is supposed to be free with a Premium Membership but it is also available as a free trial with Blueprint. Marketers have also complained that Ling sends them emails promoting services and products from known scam artists. This does nothing for his credibility.
Is Affilorama Worth It?
Overall, it IS worth your time and effort to join Affilorama. We advise you to spend as much time as you need absorbing all of this useful information before deciding whether or not you wish to upgrade. We believe that the Premium Membership option is essential for serious affiliate marketers and $67 a month is a bad price to pay in our opinion. It is a bit more expensive than Wealthy Affiliate, but has more useful features.
If you wish to move to the next level and have money to spend, the Jetpack and Blueprint packages are fine options but you have to decide if it is worth the cash. For example, a $997 one-time payment is a lot of money to throw away if you don’t get the most out of it. On the flipside, if you get it right, four-figure days are a genuine possibility.
Learn More About Affilorama
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