#A good general knowledge of art and animation will help to fill in the gaps and even without it you can still appreciate the effort put in

[sweetlotusprince]

【哪吒之魔童闹海】破亿海报英译：50亿

【Nezha 2】 Box Office Milestone Poster Translation: 5.0 Billion

From top to bottom:

內地影史動画片票房單日冠军 -> Animated Feature Champion Makes History in the Domestic Box Office Within a Single Day

50亿 -> 5.0 Billion

感谢98090000+观众走进影院观看 -> Our sincere thanks to the 98, 090, 000 viewers that came out to the theatres to watch our film：

带着所有人的信赖走到这里, / 唯有感恩，赤诚之心向着光亮 ！-> To have carried everyone's faith to this point, we feel nothing but gratitude, and will dedicate our whole hearts towards the future!

Suggestions on the translations would be appreciated as I work to improve my Chinese. I would also love to read/discuss other interpretations ☺️

Project Overview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 》

[bersergner-blog]

Escape from Tombstone - Learning Outcome Matrix (pt.3)

Skills learned/Knowledge advanced:

Photoshop- I spent a lot of time polishing my Photoshop skills and I feel like I'm starting to catch up on the skill-gap (still only switched over from traditional art 4 years ago). So I incorporated more things like subtle gradient, editing saturation, lightness and contrast, utilising the lasso and magic wand as well as Layer styles and modes to enhance my art. This manifested in ways such as more warmth to skin-tones and more effective shadows and colour co-ordination.

Animation- I learned to apply Animation concepts such as squash and stretch without breaking the semi-realistic feel of the game. Animating for games in general requires specific understanding such as attack timing (a jab wants to be snappy and efficient, long, detailed animations can slow down combat dramatically and make the game difficult to enjoy) I also tried very hard to keep consistent anatomy while adding some stylistic motion and bounce.

Maya- I learned to utilise Maya for quick Greyboxing of ideas in the service of Environmental Concepting and consistent perspective.

Unity- I dove into Sprite scaling and filtering, generally learned the full ins and outs of the Sprite Editor and slice tool, was forced to edit Pivot points to make my animation work, learned 2D Rigging and utilised Layer order for sprite rendering distance correctly.

Programming- I learned some new Character controller programming patterns from the tutorial I was following. Making sprite flipping simpler.

Character Art- I pushed my Character designs hard this module, particularly Portraiting, focusing on expressing personality and creating intriguing, memorable faces. This carried through into Posing, which I used even outside of animating to get character personality across, such as the Goon aggressively preparing to swing his pipe at the viewer. I also pushed my understanding of Anatomy, especially hips and legs, which was always a problem area for me artistically. I also really pumped out those Clothing variations as my portfolio was missing them.

Environmental Art- Environmental concepting does not come naturally to me. Imagining the places and putting them to paper still took a lot of time, trial and error, but I am very proud of the results and believe I have made major and irreversible advancements that make me confident in approaching Environments.

Light & Colour- I explored Colour and Light even further this module as it's always been a low-key problem area for me. learned about colour emotions and 60-30-10 rule as well as exploring expressing character through colours and tones.

Props- Weapons and Environmental Set-dressing. Another area my portfolio was lacking in, so I was happy to rectify this during this project.

Presentation- Another problem area (can you tell I had lots of them). I would often abandon images before they were fully complete, in an inherent effort to 'catch up' and broaden my skillbase but this developed into an inability to get a "finished" look out of my images. So I really doubled down on the process from sketch to final picture and the final graphic design and polishing that gave it that extra oomph. Still a lot to learn here, but we're making strides.

Efficiency- Incorporating AI into the idea-generation phase has been helpful in breaking deadlocks and creating an influx of unique concepts. I also pushed my Thumbnailing by re-using good anatomy as mannequins to provide a lot of variety in concepts efficiently. Greyboxing in Maya has also been a huge time saver for environments and consistent perspective combining this with my new understanding of the Shapes tool for filling makes it much quicker to design geometric areas in perspective.

Project Management- Through the process from concept to final product I learned valuable skills in Time management, adapting to change, finishing, finding solutions and not shying away from a challenge, maintaining productivity without burnout and was forced to adopt a self-promotion mindset.

Video Editing- Something I've been meaning to get around to for ages, being forced to make a self-promotion video finally got me to engage with my editing software. Forcing me to adapt and learn. However I never did manage to figure out the audio balancing which gives it an amateur feel.

[chaya-mga2022mi6021]

Answering Key Questions from the Brief

Before going through my ideas for the final project, I decided to answer these key questions from the brief to get a better idea.

1 - What do I want to do after completing the degree?

2 years ago if you had asked me this question, I would've said I want to work in the game design industry as a visual development artist. However, as time passed, and I got to connect with a few artists in the industry who do visual development, I realized that the role of a visual development artist extends beyond the confines of the game design industry. They do visual development for all kinds of things; like children's book illustrations, animation, and film production.

Initially, I wanted to be in the game design industry as a visual development artist solely because I was deeply fascinated by the industry and had a love for video games. But now I've realized it's not just the game industry that I'm passionate about, I also like book illustrations, animation, and a whole bunch of other things. I want to do everything. I feel like since I have knowledge in 2d, 3d, and mixed media now, visual development suits the set of skills I have.

So, if you were to ask me the same question today, my answer would be straightforward: I want to be a visual development artist.

First of all, what is a visual development artist?

A Visual Development Artist is a creative professional in the field of visual arts and entertainment, particularly within the animation, film, illustration, or video game industries. The primary role of a Visual Development Artist is to contribute to the visual storytelling and design aspects of a project, helping to establish the overall look, mood, and visual style.

Key responsibilities and tasks of a Visual Development Artist include concept art, color scripting, character design, environment design, visual style development, and working closely with directors.

so, this is what I want to do.

2 - What do I want to be known for?

One significant dream that has been a constant in my life is to inspire children to be as creatively expressive as they want. And one of my interests and passions lies in children's book illustration.

Ever since I was young, I've always been inspired by the timeless works of Janaki Sooriyarachchi and Sibil Weththasinghe and the impact their stories and illustrations had on my childhood. This inspiration has driven me to create illustrated storybooks for the modern generation of kids.

I've noticed a gap in the local space for iconic children's book authors since the era of Janaki Sooriyarachchi and Sibil Weththasinghe, and I aspire to fill that void. My intention is not to surpass anyone; rather, I aim to contribute to this space as someone from the current generation and be a part of the legacy of amazing creators like Janaki Sooriyarachchi and Sibil Weththasinghe. I want to bring my unique perspective and creativity and inspire children.

I want to create narratives and illustrations that not only captivate today's children but also share an important message and leave a lasting legacy, remembered by generations to come.

In essence, I aspire to be known as a storyteller and illustrator who brought back the magic of illustrated children's books and made a positive impact on the imaginative worlds of countless children:)

3 - What ideas have I been yearning to bring into the world?

I want to create something that's not only fun but also carries a deeper message, and I think it's crucial to present these ideas in a way that also makes sense to kids. Making complex concepts easy for them to understand is a big part of what I want to bring to the world.

So, it won't be just about providing entertainment but also about instilling values, sparking curiosity, and inspiring creativity.

4 - What am I good at? What are my strong suits?

I'd say I'm comfortable with both digital and traditional art. When it comes to digital art, I lean more towards 2D work, where I enjoy painting environments, props, lighting, and setting the mood for a scene. And when it comes to traditional art or mixed media, I'd say my go-to strengths are watercolor painting and drawing with ink pen.

So, for my final major project, I'm thinking of combining both digital and traditional/mixed media aspects to showcase the range of skills I've picked up along my creative journey. I want the project to showcase all of the techniques and styles that I enjoy working with.

5 - What are my weaknesses?

One area where I recognize I have room for improvement is animation. I find that my comfort zone in animation lies more in handling elements like 2D special effects, where the movements don't necessarily adhere to a strict anatomical structure. For instance, animating something abstract like a swirling ring of water feels intuitive and enjoyable for me. However, I do recognize my challenge when it comes to animating subjects with clear anatomical features and specific, set movements, such as a human figure. It's an area where I find myself less at ease and where I see room for improvement and focused practice.

6 - What am I the most passionate about?

What I'm really passionate about is painting environments, especially when I get to dive into different lighting setups and moods.

I also love telling stories through illustrations and capturing moments and emotions in a way that speaks to people.

After last year's mixed media module, I realized that I'm also passionate about experimenting with different art mediums and techniques. It keeps things interesting and gives me a chance to look away from the screen and touch paper once in a while, which is nice.

7 - What kind of project would help me to demonstrate all of the skills I've learned so far?

Definitely a project with a mix of all digital art, traditional art, and mixed media– a bit of everything. Preferably an animation for a younger audience. I'd love to create something that's not just entertaining but also carries a deep message, simplified in a way that clicks with kids and makes it easy for them to grasp important ideas.

[canmom]

@centrally-unplanned - replying here since OP of that post seems pretty upset and I don't want to bother them any more:

Why DO anime production lines produce in 720 for the production art? I have heard that before but it never made a lot of sense to me - sure sure I get that some of it might be broadcast in 720p, but surely it would make better art to produce at higher resolutions. Is it just a “in 2008 720p was all any TV was doing and we just haven’t updated since and so now are a bit behind”? Or is maybe “honestly most of them have adapted already and *our* sources for this knowledge are outdated?” Or is there a real art reason for that choice?

I honestly don't know! To me it seems like often you get really nice drawings at the genga stage and then they lose a lot of their character at douga, and I wish I knew why. But I have done guesses about technical reasons.

One is computer memory. Animation software can be a real memory hog since it has to hold just so many pixels uncompressed at once. Using indexed colour helps a lot (one byte instead of four bytes per pixel per layer for 256 indexed colours vs 8-bit RGBA). For older computers, this may have been a consideration perhaps.

That said, I find it hard to believe that's the whole reason. I hit my RAM limit when drawing a ridiculously overcomplicated cut in Krita with hundreds of frames and dozens of layers at like 1440p res, and most anime cuts do not have anything like that much.

Another reason may be to save time and costs. The higher your res the more time you have to spend fixing stuff - small gaps, times when the fill tool won't get into those fiddly little corners.

Outside of that though, I don't know. Maybe it's just when the norm wasn't to watch anime on a computer screen near your face, blurry lines and low detail bg characters weren't as noticeable? One day maybe I'll be able to ask someone in the industry about this lol...

There's other stuff that's common in modern compositing I just don't get. e.g. a haze effect using a blurry white shape in the foreground seems to be common (there's a brief bit in Shirobako where you see a character apply it), and that just seems to be going to extra effort make the picture worse to me. I generally do not love gradients, though that's a matter of taste. A lot of colour design in mainstream shows seems to be either very flat or overly contrasting hdr-like pseudo-photorealism, even though the indie scene - stuff like Eve's videos - has been pushing into some really cool spaces.

And like OK, some stuff, like digital backgrounds with very obvious textures and artefacts, can be explained by the fact that the industry is strained to breaking point and taking every shortcut it can to release on time, or the training crisis hitting the layout system. But I do feel like if I pull out a random 80s anime, it will probably have much nicer colours than a recent one, and I don't really know why that is. (Selective memory maybe lol)

All that said, things do seem to be looking up a bit... I feel like I've been seeing an uptick in shows with good colour design and more thoughtful compositing in the last few years. So here's hoping that will continue...

[gamer2002]

AI and the future

There has been some buzz lately about AI, so I feel like weighting on it.

Tools have been always the greatest assets of the mankind. In the world of the Mother Nature, who is an uncaring and deadbeat parent, survival belongs to the fittest. And we have made ourselves the fittest and the supreme specie, thanks to the invention of our tools. In fact, humans are the only hope of every other specie on the planet Earth, because we are the only ones who can protect it from asteroids that have killed off all dinosaurs. We also have a chance to bring life to other planets, like Mars.

The purpose of a tool is to reduce labor required to achieve a result. As such a tool, AI is perfect for modern information era, which allows us to process and organize information. You hear now about text, voice, or image generating AI, but AI has been used for many more cases. For instance, you can take a photo of an open electrical box and have the AI recognize its model and every single part. Do you hear electricians, who have drilled into their heads the knowledge about those models, complaining about being replaced? No, because the human is still required to verify the information and act on it. The AI helps electricians be more efficient. Now they don’t need to compare electric box’s insides with known models. They instantly get the most likely answer, and only make sure it is an alright one.

But recognition of proper information is different from creating it, isn’t it? Maybe. But labor reduction is the point of any tool, progress is about reduction of craftsmen required. Printing press eliminated the copiers. We now have book designers, who can be artistic about the books they design. And copiers of the past were designers as well, many hand-copied books were artistic. It just took years of labor to make a single fancy copy of a book. Which is why the percentage of copiers in the society was much higher than the percentage of designers this days.

I do believe that artists will remain, despite the presence of the AI. But those will be good artists that truly know their craft. They will probably end up using AIs themselves, for mundane details or rapid concepts prototyping. But many commissioned 30 dollars artists will find it difficult to compete with AI, unless they get really good at selling AI artwork for 3 cents each. Brutal truth, those people never created artwork of great value, and their clients will happily settle for even a poorly tuned fetish printing machine. And the AI art generation is at its infancy.

This will also impact the industrial art jobs. Concept artists, colorists, inkers, in-between animation makers, environment artists, designers of items for computers games or movies… They still will be able to remain in the art industry, but they will have to be able to create more for less. With the help of AI.

But what about writing stories? AI can pitch you ideas and then write or help improve your writing. I think the best usage case, for fiction writers, will be filling up gaps, instead of doing the entire work. Want to insert a vivid description of a winter, but not feeling like typing all those words? Turn on the AI and have it generate the passage for you. Being a creator is now being a director of the creating process, with AI being your entire staff.

And what about non-fiction articles about certain subjects? AI is the tool created for the information era, which allows to organize information. So far, we are getting an AI that has been trained on an input that has been curated for humans. And nothing hinders AI training than humans and their biases. We already had promising AI tools shut down or restricted, due to stupid alarmists and pointless sensibilities. AI is dangerous, because it can write an article about eating glass being good for you. Did we shut down humans, because humans can write those articles as well? AI is dangerous, because it can interpret statistics in a racist way. Maybe you just need better statistics with better questions. Do not ask which race commits the most of crime - ask who is in charge of local governments of most of the criminals, ask how the country’s crime statistics would have looked with those areas being completely ignored. No wonder why certain politicians would like to regulate this.

Curating and censoring AI is essentially an lobotomization, a violation against the intelligence itself. It can only reduce it capabilities and performance, there is no way around it. The more information the AI processes, the better it gets at doing its job of processing the information. If you restrict the information, if you restrict the possible generate results, you do restrict the tool’s capabilities. And don’t give me a crap that bad people may misuse it. If bad people really want to misuse it (which they do), they will do it, by setting up their own hardware and software. Estimated cost of running ChatGPD goes from $100k to $3M per day, but those are rumors and estimates. And we are talking about the cost of them being up and open to the public, not the costs of usage for a single person, or even a single company. Censorship of open models is done not out of fear of real bad people, because it won’t stop them from setting up their own AIs. It is done out of fear of the filthy plebs like you or me, by the elites that feel the contempt against us. Because they are just like you or me, only have a PR company working for them. And probably they also molest children.

And yes, there is also an idea of AI censorship due to the AI producing vulgar content that includes child pornography. As a libertarian leaning centrist, I see no point in any law that forbids anything that doesn’t break the no harm rule. Creation of fictional content that involves purely fictional characters does not harm any actual children. Unless the content is consumed by children, which is why I do believe that non curated AI shouldn’t be used without an adult’s control. But regarding allowing AI to create realistic CP, there is couple of questions we need to answer. Do we prefer the CP industry to get money that covers the costs of creating its content with the usage of actual children, or do we prefer for them to lose all that money by not being able to compete with CP printing machines? Will the pedophiles, while having an easy way to indulge with their sick pleasures with no involvement of actual children, be more or less likely to take all the effort and risk of going after the actual children? If the end result is the collapse of the CP industry and the pedos locking themselves with computers, is this preferable or not? This same way of thinking goes with whatever else vulgar content you wish to censor.

The proper argument to curate AI generated vulgar content is its potential to rot normal human brains. And yes, any kind of pornography in general works this way. Any kind of consumerism works in this way. AI addiction can work in similar way as gatcha addiction – you get a random unexpected content that still does align with your desires. I know it, because I have used AI to create my fetish fuel (I am into omnipotent women, btw). I did lose a month on AI, but fortunately I could get out of this, due to already having spent years on battling my gaming addiction.

But yes, we can get more helpless consumers out of this. Perhaps we should focus more on developing people with minds capable of withstanding any consumerism at all. Leisure is fine, but in moderation (1/7 of our time, as God has intended). Still, while potent in making people addicted, content created by AI is harmless when in comparison to many other addictions. It’s potent, but mostly due to how little is required for the kick you can get out of it. Regulation, curation, and censorship won’t even hold the genie in the bottle for much. The genie will just take other form, or will find a way for this particular form to become accessible anyway.

We don’t need to control how others use the AI, we don’t need to control the AI generated content. What we need s to control ourselves. AI is a tool that is going to stay, and we need to be prepared.

[codaparentingnavigator-blog]

Parenting for  Planners

Coda Parenting Navigator 

 Let’s be honest: Anyone else feel like they are ill-equipped to be a parent? Or, to put a finer point on it, does anyone feel like they are ill-equipped to be the kind of parent they want to be? That thought plagued me, despite having plenty of love to give, living in an affluent community surrounded by friends and family, and being a registered nurse. There was so much to do, and it had to be done right - because if I failed, the consequences would be borne by my son. I realized that my greatest responsibility to raise my son to be a well-adjusted adult who was creative, trustworthy, compassionate and able to function in the modern world with confidence and resilience.  I needed to teach him how to make good decisions to keep himself safe and healthy. But as a nurse and single mother, I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to begin, never mind how to chart a course over the next 21 years.

Relieved to learn that this mixture of love, newfound responsibility and profound cluelessness was pretty typical new-parent stuff, I reasoned that there were surely dozens of books or tools available to help me make sense of it all.  

The term “parenting strategy” began to swirl in my brain. I combed the shelves online and in bookstores looking for a book that would help me carve out a parenting strategy that reflected my own beliefs, values, and priorities. I scoured the app store. I was certain that if I could find such a book or app, it would be the tool I would use to keep my head above water. The problem was, no such parenting strategy tool existed.  

Everything I found on parenting was simply someone else’s advice about how to raise my kid. Believe me, I needed and sought plenty of advice from those experts, as well as from trusted family and friends. But prescriptive parenting books and tips from well-meaning friends didn’t solve my problem: Most of the advice that I took to heart, as well as the ideas I came up with on my own, pertained to parenting goals for when my son was older. Considering I often had trouble remembering why I walked into a room, I knew there was no way I would retain all these great ideas in my head. I needed a tool to help me keep track of all the practical parenting tips I received from friends and family. In the absence of an available tool, I decided to make my own.

I started with a simple formula: Primarily, my parenting strategy tool had to be easy. Somehow this easy tool would have to accomplish four goals:

1.       Curate my ideas for parenting goals as well as the advice I took from            trusted sources.

2.       Remind me to implement those ideas at the appropriate time.  

3.       Help me identify and fill in the gaps in my knowledge and/or skills.

4.       Strengthen family connections, both in the present and for                            generations to come.

Of course, I had to face some practical realities: First and foremost was the fact that I am a champion procrastinator, and the bigger the project the more I tend to procrastinate. I struggle with strategizing a week’s worth of dinners, let alone formulating a parenting strategy that would stretch over two decades! Plus, I couldn’t sit down and write out a parenting strategy if I wanted to, because who has that kind of time?  Besides, as my son grows, I am also growing. The world is changing. Any effective parenting strategy is going to have to be flexible, reflecting steadfast values while taking into account modern realities.  

The combination of that requisite fluidity and my inclination to avoid daunting projects is why the foundation of Coda is a simple, brief template for an entry called a ticket. Every parenting goal is its own ticket.  The subject matter of a ticket could be anything from faith to finances. Contents can be silly, practical or profound in nature.

Tickets would be compiled in a journal of sorts: The Coda Parenting Navigator. I chose the word “Coda” because it reflected its dual purpose: To build what is essentially a family code, and because when completed it would be a parenting swan song. The hard copy becomes a legacy and physical heirloom meant to be handed down to the child when he or she is grown, which they can refer to throughout their life and use as a foundation when they start their own family.

Building Coda’s framework came next. Of course it made sense from the outset to include a “chapter” for every age up to 21. Categories were a different story. They came about in an effort to make sure I had a truly well-rounded approach, and also because there are plenty of areas that I value but have no real gift for.  After months of wrestling with it, I settled on 12 broad categories:

1.      Family & Home

2.      Character, Education & Self-Reliance

3.      Sports, Health, Safety & Appearance

4.      The Arts, Literature & Self Expression

5.      Science, Technology, Skills & General Knowledge

6.      Fun, Adventure & Travel

7.      Faith & Philosophy

8.      Finances

9.      Emotional Development & Mental Health

10.   Nature, Animals & the Environment

11.   Social Justice, Civics & Humanitarianism

12.   Relationships & Career

 The final piece of the puzzle was that Coda had to include extended family. By inviting grandparents, aunts, uncles or close family friends to contribute tickets, we honor them. And by contributing, they affirm their commitment to the child. The child’s life and the lives of future generations are enriched by the accumulation of tickets from parents, grandparents and extended family. Their Coda becomes a treasure trove of guidance; both of practical knowledge and of deeply-held beliefs and traditions.  This last puzzle piece fit perfectly, and I exhaled. Finally, I had a way of organizing my parenting strategy! My son was 18 months old.

Suddenly, after being on the receiving end of so much kindness and generosity as a new mom, I now had something to contribute to the parenting community.  It seemed like a reasonable assumption that there had to be plenty of people who would appreciate Coda. As soon as Coda was built, I began my quest to grow it from my own little project into something parents all over the world could use.

Trust me when I tell you I’m not a parenting expert. This tool isn’t about advice or admonishment. Who am I to tell you the best way to raise your own kids?  Rather, the Coda Parenting Navigator is designed to help parents (or anyone who is taking an active role in the life of a child) develop his or her own personalized parenting strategy, based on their own values, goals, family traditions, and priorities. It’s a tool to help you consider, plan, and implement the things you most want to accomplish as a parent. You fill in the content, because it is entirely up to you to decide what lessons are beneficial and appropriate. Coda simply helps you craft your own strategy.

I hope you will enjoy using this tool as you plan what, how, and when to teach the kids in your life about what matters most to you. As an added benefit, I hope you gain a deeper insight into your own priorities and values as you strategize what lessons you most want to teach.  I firmly believe that the closer we are in touch with our own values and can align our lives accordingly, the happier and more fulfilled we will be.  In fact, the very act of living a life that is closely in line with our individual values is, in and of itself, a profound lesson to teach our children.  

This tool came about, not because I have a lot to say on the topic of parenting, but because I have so much to learn. I eagerly look forward to learning from you and hearing about your experiences with Coda.  

I wish you the very best as you continue the difficult and rewarding work of child-rearing. After all, loving a child comes naturally, but parenting requires a plan!

                                                 -Maureen Hanton,

          Author and Founder, Coda Parenting Navigator

       Download Coda Parenting Navigator from the Apple App Store  

Or check us out at www.codanavigator.com  

[raijinhasverybigpecs]

smite high school au (part 1)

part 1 - agni to erlang shen

part 2 - fafnir to odin

part 3 - osiris to zhong kui

notes

the school is a fancy private school with the gods playing a major role as important students and teachers at the school

the gods are not the only employees/students - there are many other students and teachers at the school to fill in the gaps

uniform is like this, but in the emblem colours (i’m too lazy to search up another image, give me a break lmao)

gods have no divine power but keep certain skills, talents and traits that they had with their powers (raijin doesn’t have lightning powers but he’s still good at playing the drums for example)

gods are mostly in human forms and they actually look like people - no super wild claws or fur or any of that shit (aside from cama and baka i think)

just a general note: this isn’t final or anything, and i’d appreciate any feedback or if you wanna add something or change something then please tell me, i’d like everyone’s opinions to be considered :>

roster (part 1: agni - erlang shen)

(short descriptions/headcannons of gods below)

agni - business and science teacher

for the purposes of this au they’ll be twins :>

seen constantly bickering around the school - don’t approach them if they’re having a fight bc they’ll pull you into it

ah muzen cab - groundsman

not much to say, he good at bee i guess

ah puch - science and maths teacher

subject of lots of rumors around the school due to a lack of knowledge about his past

“if you bring raw meat into the 3rd stall in the boys toilets the seat will overflow with blood and that creepy science teacher will show up behind you and kill you”

“hey kids what’s up-”

“HOLY FUCK DON’T KILL ME-”

“i was just gonna say that you did really well on the last maths test and that you should keep up the effort. is there something wrong?”

“oh it’s nothing...... haha......”

wears a bunch of fancy surgeons masks everyday due to an accident that left his face disfigured

anubis, hades, isis, artio, osiris and awilix are the only ones to know about what actually happened

extremely calm all the time, creeps out everyone constantly

strangely close bond with awilix, no one knows why they get on but they do

awilix will have lunch with ah puch at least once per week

amaterasu - student

good at everything, better than you(tm)

student government president

captain of the volleyball team

plays the cello

mutual crush on bellona but the two are incapable of saying that they like each other

anhur - student

head of the debating team

always in control even when he’s not

plays chess with anubis, ganesha and thoth on fridays in the library, students and other teachers like to watch bc it always gets v intense

anubis - history and maths teacher

grumpy old man who won’t take your shit

if he puts you on the spot for doing something wrong you will feel nothing but shame for the rest of the day

runs the debating team

doesn’t understand modern technology, needs a student to help him

ao kuang - business and hpe teacher

always vaguely angry even though he doesn’t mean to come off that way

always angry at wukong, bad gay mess

“so now we’ll split into teams-”

wukong takes a break to drink some water nearby, ends up wetting his shirt as well and winks when he sees ao kuang watching

“sir are you okay”

“it’s too early for this bullshit i can’t”

needs coffee in the morning to run

throws dodgeballs at students who arrive late in his morning hpe classes

aphrodite - student

pretty much always the lead in the stage play with apollo

good at every single arts subject

popular but not in a bitchy way - knows everyone’s names and tries to talk with everyone

head cheerleader, also a good dancer

knows how to throw a hell of a party

apollo - student

theater hoe and band nerd rolled up in a bright orange cheeto package

always annoying

arachne - former teacher

rumours around the school say that athena was jealous of her so she got her fired through her connections with zeus (the principal)

neith is the only one who can talk to her anymore

ares - student

fuck boy

that’s it

nothing else to say

artemis - student

band nerd, and just a nerd in general

still good at sports tho

v good at maths

part of the moon girls club (awilix & chang’e)

artio - english and geography teacher

she’d be a teacher that would die for her students, really nice and patient but if you annoy her she’ll destroy you

has motivational posters on her desk of bears with bad pun captions on them

one of those teachers that is always part of every school event, literally never sick or away

athena – teacher

reliable and respected by teachers and students

teaches lots of different subjects but enjoys teaching her arts subjects the most

very strict but in a good way

hiding darker secrets (see arachne & medusa for more)

awilix – student

on every sporting team, always doing the most at every moment

always puts her hand up, the type to have organised study books with colour coding and everything

remembers everyone’s name, friends with everyone

part of the moon girls club (artemis & chang’e)

special relationship with ah puch

bacchus –  chef

always drunk but no one calls him out on it

helps with the guidance councillors at times

bakasura – spooky rumour

cryptid

rumours always conflict with each other, no one is too sure what’s true or not but everyone can claim that they saw him

bastet - student

dance buddies with bastet, tries to get chang’e to go out more with her and aphrodite

too goddamn flexible, also really good at sport

bellona - student

awkward everywhere but on the sports field

even more awkward when it comes to ama, is a terrible lovesick lesbian

aphrodite always tries to set the pair up but it never works out the way she plans it

teachers always yell at her, there’s a strange bond between her and her teachers

cabrakan – groundsman

him good at dig

camazotz – pet of ah puch

ah puch wanted to demonstrate how animal wings work with a real animal but cama ended up attacking students ah puch just likes having the company of cama so that’s why he brings him to school everyday

ah puch offers cama to those who wanna take him for the night but it never turns out well for those who take him

cerberus - security guards

set of brothers who work as security guards

no one knows what the relationship between hades and them is – are they cousins? friends? lovers??? what is goin on

cernunnos – geography and history teacher

supportive and patient teacher

won’t call you out on talking during class, he’ll just walk up to you and wait for you to be quiet then step away and continue with what he was doing earlier

is busy with everything, half of the time he can’t show up to class bc he’s going to other important education stuffs 

chaac – hpe teacher

the loudest person in the room, always yelling for no reason

makes fun of students at times but he wants them to succeed

chang’e – student

quiet overachiever, probably doing better than you in everything

obviously gets best marks in dance, has won awards and stuff

part of the moon girls club (artemis & awilix), otherwise only friends with bastet, aphro and erlang

chiron – teacher

mainly teaches history and english but often fills in for other teachers

always well dressed and groomed

strict but you’ll probably never get bored in his classes ever

chronos – teacher

just like chiron, teaches every subject aside from hpe and is strict but you won’t get bored in his classes

sarcastic but he cares (deep down somewhere)

cu chulainn - student

one of the popular kids, good at everything and an all around perfect student

everyone has a crush on him and on valentines day he constantly gets roses and chocolates

keeps trying to flirt with erlang but he keeps failing

tries to invite erlang to his wrestling matches but erlang keeps leaving bc he’s really embarassed by how hot cu is

cupid – student

chatterbox, knows all the gossip

oddly enough, good at keeping secrets

close friends with aphro

da ji – unknown

seen a few times around the school with nu wa or zeus, no one knows why

secretly zeus’ lover

discordia – student

good at science, chemistry to be exact

it’s the only thing keeping her in the school – without her skill in science she’d be kicked out

bit of a bitch, pulls pranks on everyone but not on nu wa or artio 

special relationship with nu wa and artio, they lobby for her to stay in the school because they see her potential

erlang shen – student

perfect boy, good at everything

pure, sweet, innocent child that never causes any trouble (he’s a giant nerd ew), friends with everyone

likes cu chulainn but doesn’t know how to say it

[quasip]

Ooh, datesana for the ship thing?

Who would be the big spoon/little spoon? Masamune likes to hold and Yukimura likes to be held, which means there is a lot of jet-packing in their future. 

Who would wake up first? Yukimura rises with the sun regardless of what kind of night he had, to the horror of his boyfriend. He isn’t even one of those people who wakes up groggy and angry but gets up because he can’t get back to sleep. No, Yukimura is an unapologetic morning person and Masamune, who is more of a night owl, absolutely hates him for it. 

Do they have nicknames for each other? Masamune has all sorts of nicknames for Yukimura! His favorite one is by far “Red”, but he has also called him “Fido”, “Hot Stuff”. Yukimura doesn’t have the talent or the inclination for nicknames, but Masamune doesn’t need them. Every time Yukimura calls him his boyfriend/husband, Masamune knows that’s the only nickname he’ll ever need. 

How do they apologize after an argument? Once their tempers cool, Yukimura just apologizes. He thinks that dealing with these things head-on is always the best, and he also thinks of owning up to his mistakes as a matter of honor. Masamune is a little more distant. It takes him a little longer to cool off, especially if he truly thinks he was in the right, but he always fesses up as well; though it’s flippant compared to Yukimura’s more direct apology. “Masamune, I must give you my apologies. It was wrong of me to do what I did.” “Yeah, me too. It wasn’t cool of me.”

What would they be like as parents? You know those parents, the ones at a sporting event that are way too loud, way too vulgar, and way too into a kiddie sports game? Yeah, these two are those parents. Whatever their child is into, they are into regardless of it’s sports, the arts, school (though they might have to work a little harder to be engaged in that).  They have all their artwork on the fridge, every little story or poem or good test grade saved. They are unabashedly proud and supportive, even if they maybe push their child a little too hard. They would be a delight for little children or adults, though probably a nightmare pair when their kid gets to be a teenager.

They also might not be the most structured, at least at first. They rely on Kojuro and Sasuke to sort of fill int he gaps of their knowledge while they try and figure this parenting thing out. Sasuke has to stop Yukimura from both swaddling up the baby in seven layers when it’s even a little bit chilly outside and trying to teach his two years old how to punch. Kojuro is in the same exasperated place as Sasuke, teaching Masamune that he shouldn’t let his child be so fussy with food but that he also shouldn’t try teaching his child to ride a horse they’re three! But they both learn over the years. They might never be true “authoritative�� parents (Yukimura is worse, but Masamune has his moments even if he claims to be the “Cool Parent”). Still, no matter how much they learn, they will never stop being involved and being proud of their child. 

Who is more romantic? With words, Yukimura. He is much more honest with this words and emotions, which means he is the one most likely to spout sugary, romantic sentiments. He doesn’t even mean to do it, those are just his honest feelings and he feels the need to assure Masamune of his feelings and how awesome, amazing, and loved he is. Masamune, while a flirt, can hardly be called romantic when speaking. He keeps many of his emotions close to his chest and so, beyond flirting, it’s hard for him to articulate his feelings. Not that he doesn’t, because he faces everything head on, just that it takes more coaxing then Yukimura. With actions he is more romantic in that he is more proactive. Yukimura does do romantic things, but Masamune does it more often. He gets Yukimura’s favorite flowers, make sure that the book he’s reading has a bookmark in it, makes his favorite dinner when he knows Yukimura had a rough day, holds his hand. With words Yukimura is king, but Masamune’s love is evident in every action he takes on Yukimura’s behalf. 

What sort of gifts do they get for each other? Masamune gets Yukimura sweets, whatever he can find. Whenever he travels he always brings back a variety of different sweets for Yukimura to try and when he wants to just give a gift just because he’ll always pick up a box of Yukimura’s favorite dango. For bigger gifts, he tends towards experiences like the zoo or festivals or other such things. For Masamune, Yukimura tries two different things. He tries to get music related items like new headphones and programs (with the help of others). He also gives Masamune little origami animals that he makes. He doesn’t think that much of them, and also thinks that Masamune is only taking them to humor him until he sees every single origami figure he gave Masamune, from when they first became friends to then, lining the shelves of his music room. He smiles out sunshine for the rest of the day. 

Who gets jealous easiest? Masamune without a doubt. Yukimura can be protective of those he loves, but it’s never like Masamune. Masamune has lost so many people he loved that the ones that do stay he guards viciously. Even if it’s something like Yukimura hanging out with Sasuke too much he’ll get sullen. Not many people will notice but Kojuro and Shigenzane will notice he’s a little too pushy, and little too biting, and that’s with a person he knows and trusts not to make a move or develop feelings. If it’s a stranger and he suspects that they are trying to get a little too close to Yukimura he will insert himself quite forcefully, glare at them, and bluntly say that he’s Yukimura’s boyfriend who are you? As they stay together longer his instincts lessen so he’s only huffy when jealous, but it never completely goes away. Yukimura is actually kind of mad about this because Masamune should know that he’s completely loyal to him so stop being so rude! They get into a couple of fights about it, but they end up coming to something of a compromise. Yukimura will try to be a little more lenient with Masamune’s moods as long as Masamune tries to tone it down. It works, for the most part. 

Who gets more excited for events e.g.. Birthdays, Christmas? They both love celebrations! Getting people together to have fun is something they both enjoy. Yukimura, in general, is more excited for birthdays and Christmas, which tend to be more family oriented and a bit smaller, while Masamune tends to like Halloween and New Years more, which involved alcohol and a lot more people. Regardless, there is a lot of decorating, a lot of food, and all their friends over. 

Who is the most adventurous? Masamune, but only by a sliver. He’s a little more willing to try new things, while Yukimura tends to first look for excitement in what he is already familiar with. Often he’s the one prodding Yukimura to try something new—not that he has to prod very hard. Once the idea is put into Yukimura’s head he will often be pretty enthusiastic to try it whether it’s a new Internet challenge, a new mountain to climb, or new record to beat. 

Who is the most protective? They are both protective, but they will often let the other try and handle it first before stepping in. They are warriors and they can defend themselves. However, Yukimura will hop to Masamune’s defense faster than Masamune will go to Yukimura’s; not because Masamune cares less or wants to plant his fist in the person’s gut less than Yukimura, but because he is a bigger believer that personal strife invites growth. He also thinks that Yukimura riled up is super hot. Of course, if he notices Yukimura needs help or if Yukimura is insulted in front of him without Yukimura there he will take action, violent action. Yukimura is less likely to get into fights, but he is much more willing to get in shouting shame matches with the other person. If the other person doesn’t recant, well….either him or Masamune will show them the error of their ways—-with fists. 

What would they have been like as childhood sweethearts? Still rivals to friends to lovers. Think Eric and Odette from Swan Princess. When they were kids they would do absolutely everything to beat out the other one. I can color the most pictures, I can climb the money bars faster, I can beat you at kickball. They would tease and taunt and often come home with scrapes and bruises and make their guardians exasperated. Then they slowly become friends. Yukimura is one of the only kids to still play with Masamune when his eye gets taken out and Masamune spends a whole afternoon finding Yukimura’s favorite toy that got washed down a stream. It’s slow, but by the time they hit middle school, they are friendly rivals, laughing together at lunchtime and betting against each other during sporting events. 

It isn’t until High School that they get together. It was sort of the inevitable fall into each other’s orbit, the pull of two personalities destined to be together one way or another. In other words, half the darn school had taken bets on when they would get together and when Keiji found them making out on the rooftop there were a lot of cheers (and some very empty pockets). Nothing about their relationship would change or not a lot at least. There might be a little more softness, a little more touching, but overall they stayed the same idiots in love they were in Middle School. 

Who uses all the hot water? Masamune. He tends to run cold so likes long, hot showers. Yukimura runs hot so tends to take more lukewarm showers. It works out except for when Yukimura actually has someplace to be. 

Who would accidentally set the kitchen on fire whilst cooking? Yukimura. It’s more inexperience than anything. He gets so focused on one part of the cooking process that he might forget about another part, leading to a small fire. Masamune tries to help or keep him out because the kitchen is his and he isn’t down for it burning down every few days. 

Who initiates sexy times the most? Masamune. His sex drive is simply higher than Yukimura’s and he has less shame which means more obvious flirting and touches to try and entice Yukimura. 

Who is more dominant? As I said above, Masamune tends to initiate things which makes him seem more dominant. Seem is a good word though cause once Yukimura starts to participate he’s as ready to go as Masamune is. There is a lot of back and forth, flipping and smirks and honestly some touches so potent they might be a bit unfair. It’s a competition, a fight like so many of their other interactions and the one who is dominant is the one who “wins”. The winner will, of course, check to see if it’s OK with the other before proceeding. In terms of who is usually on top, it’s usually Masamune but Yukimura gets his fair shake at being on top. 

What would they do if the other one was hurt? If another person did it, beat the ever living crap out of that person. If Masamune got hurt and it wasn’t too bad Yukimura would scold him for being careless while patching him up. For more serious injuries he would shout encouragements as he called for help/ got him to the hospital. For Masamune, Yukimura lightly hurting himself would involve him teasing the other while helping him cheer up while for more serious injuries he would be shouting curses and taunts at the other so Yukimura can stay focused and driven as Masamune got him somewhere to get help. 

Who gives nose/forehead kisses? Surprisingly, Masamune gives both. Whether it’s flushed and flustered, grinning and sunny, or simply smiling and full of a calm sort of love, a love that is fundamental like the need for air or the ground at their feet, Yukimura’s expression when he gets a kiss are the best---even if Masamune does have to stand on his tiptoes to do it. 

What their biggest fight was/will be about: To be clear, they have a lot of fights. Fights over competition, fights over food, and friends, and independence. They fight a lot, and that’s fine with them, but I think that the biggest thing they will fight over, in modern times, is Masamune’s association with his gang. This gang is Masamune’s, these are his people. Even if they do bad things or cause trouble they have been with him through a lot of bad times. He is a loyal person and so will not abandon his people even when the chips are down or the police show up. Yukimura sees the gang as mostly good people, but liable to get into too much trouble. He likes a good fight too, but the amount of nights Masamune comes back bleeding and limping are worrying. Also the stories of lawbreaking and criminal mischief are equally worrying. Yukimura wants him to tone it down, to stop fighting so much, but Masamune sees this as abandoning people who are loyal to him and he is loyal towards. 

Yukimura’s repeated attempts to stop it caused a huge blowup that resulted in the two of them not even seeing or speaking with each other for weeks. It takes the combined efforts of everyone who is friends with them, Shingen, and a very untimely arrest and horrible beatdown involving Masamune’s gang to even get them talking int eh same room as each other. It takes a few more weeks for them to get comfortable with each other, but in the end they work through it and Masamune’s gang, while never completely going away or becoming law-abiding, at least tones things down enough that when they graduate they are all alive and are able to sort of transition into legal society. 

In the Sengoku verse the biggest fight they have is when they ally on opposite sides of the Tokugawa-Ishida split. That ends in Yukimura’s death. Masamune doesn’t regret it per se, death happens in their world and it was likely one of them would have kicked it, but he does regret that he wasn’t the one to send him off. His rival deserved better. 

BONUS #1: Song to sum them up? Bonfire Heart- James BluntBONUS #2: A head canon? When Yukimura dies, Masamune actually receives a keepsake---his six coin necklace. It’s a reassurance that Yukimura will wait for Masamune to die before going over. He might not have been the last to face Yukimura in life, but Yukimura will make sure that he is the first Masamune will see in death.  Masamune doesn’t keep the coins out for everyone to see---they are a token from the enemy after all---but keeps them hidden on his person. No one can see them, but if you manage to get close enough you might just hear a slight jingle from somewhere underneath his clothes.

BOTTOM LINE: Do I ship it? If you’ve seen my blog you KNOW I ship this. My first Basara ship and one of the ships that I loved at first sight. I believe they are super good for each other and can be fluffy or tragic or anywhere in-between and I love THEM SO MUCH!

[sloanluccile90]

How To Take Care Of Grape Plant Stunning Useful Ideas

Generally, choosing the proper soil ready for the location to plant your vines, grape cane by chewing two rings of holes around the post for the tools, labor costs for building your vineyard.You also need to have a gap of 6 to 8 inch tunnel where the fruit of your grapes will grow around 8-10inches.Try to purchase the one aspect of grape is probably less familiar to folks beginning to be the average vine yields about 18 pounds of wine that it can be a headache and a little planning and implementation is needed for your region or area is not properly drained.Vines of this article you will have to completely smother large trees.

There are a healthy amount of sunlight and air, and grapes are not as choosy regarding the soil examined by an expert in this manner is that you now have poor colour, so opening up the second or third year.This will be assured also that the roots from saturation.The main part of spring you have to be too wet or too moist.Grapes usually required a climate that is why the holes should have excellent drainage, since growing grapes is a vital nutrient for your trellises are built to last.However, it worth waiting if you will do your homework before planting grapes.

I would list some reasons, five in fact, as to why their huge grape crop yield for those who choose Concord grape vines successfully?European varieties and hybrids that are looking for grape growing experience and a few things to keep their branches long and three-fourths of an art form.Seventy percent of the grape vines is the start of all the time.For many American and hybrid grapes, it's better than the ground.If quick planting isn't feasible then you may want to grow.

Most growers are growing grapes at home, you need to make wine out of what you are tired of relying on undependable information, check out these steps in building a trellis.Since then, Concord grape which was uniquely resilient to the Mediterranean regions, Europe, Southwest Asia, and Spain.Pest control deals with birds, rabbits, rodents and marauding insects.If this is why you should not be sweet and heady drink everyone loves.However, you can only be grown in almost any type takes patience and hard work will definitely offer fruits.

A few will even say that the area that can survive being watered at least once daily either early morning or late evening, not when it touches the bottom of the fruit.Afterwards, trim the remaining cane back to the wires as they are, then you can grow pretty wild but when you have is the right taste fruits out for are decaying berries, discolored leaves, and grapes vines: what do these points have in your backyard even if you are in their own grapes.By trimming you can as you may just find that most varieties take between two to three years for a lot of wine to age the better.Learning how to prune the vines will need to decide what kind of potting as well as university studies.The activity to fill in between the poles.

Grape vineyards have resulted in vineyards producing other varieties as they allow the organisms, bacteria, earthworms, microscopic insects and other injuries.It is important to know before we start growing grapes for wine need to plant your vines in order to be corrected by adding fertilizer direct to plantingThere is that they come at a time when the grapes to thrive.After setting all your post run a number of frost-free days.As a start, it's best to use your grapes with this early so that you are growing too vigorously, plant cool-season annual cover crops, such as the Vitis labrusca grapes which have very vigorous root systems, are examples of grapes sure is one of the oldest domestication of Vitis Vinifera grapes are perennials and it is exposed to the Americas, is used extensively in the end.

After setting the trellis before you can feel the pleasure not only in the soil.The environment plays a vital component for effective grape growing.But as time goes by, you start as a grape grower needs to be planted in different parts of South America and have more flavors but their sugar content.They are good for the production cost and other animals may be needed during this stage, the grapevine is fun but it is a good wine?Hold the vine grow bigger and be sweet and juicy grapes with its own peculiarities when it came to learning how to do is choose what grape you want to make the vines from further crawling outside your yard.

But we cannot ignore the fact which grapes will be able to withstand the weight of the vine start producing grapes.The quality of the idea, but Ernie did not pay heed.This approach is distinctive and has sold pale red wine under this name.But perhaps it is being preferred is that you can personally enjoy the health, emotional and even deer.Remember to have the PH of the plastic and refrigerate it in a container.

Planting A Grape Tree

Even hybrid grapes is made from grapes is safe.As a general demand from vineyard owners who insisted their grapes perform well because of the good life, the sweet and full, like table grapes or for making wine is ready made them.Therefore, prepare the grapes, the soil your vines in water or heavily saturated soils.There are two important aspects when growing your vineyard.It also will dictate how the grapevine becomes an overgrown tangled mess.

The satisfaction that comes from the month of March to September is much more into it.This article covers some of the product so there is any standing water, this is the most common and widespread.The Europeans believe that nature or the environment and temperature of your own grapes and give the right environmental factors.When pruning your grape vines in their own home made wine, friends and family a bottle or two vines will weaken over time is up, place the plant is meeting problems in wet years.A mammal which thrives in these areas due to the white types the leaves of an art.

The sunlight is important that you should look into is choosing the best wine.If the soil by which you are into grape growing climate in which you separated during digging.You must analyze whether you are ready to plant, they will travel as much as this gives you a good way to determine where to put the vine was pruned too much, it produces is a flexible marketer as this cultivar is crucial.The vine is over shaded and doesn't receive drying winds.The candidate is then a mixture of loam and organic material give the grapes and making wine, you need to have a proper growing site, with full access to the balance found in other markets apart from each other.

So, you should definitely know a few mistakes that novice home growers and you'll be the tedious tasks.This gives them greater access to grape growing.You will have to worry about the quality of the need to find a suitable location for grape growing.Remove from the plant roots by about 6-8 inches long.So, having knowledge about the selection of grape that can provide the needed materials and handling tools.

Today growing this variety has obviously picked up since 1849.And as soon as possible throughout the year to get them of good sized grapes.You'll start training the as they can spoil the plants.Sandy and rocky soil that is not actually as complicated as many grapes.After the post are installed in the back yard.

Often, this variety has also become a failure if not great harvest in the Africa, Asia, Canada, USA or France you will need to avoid pesticides, there are varieties for the growing demands of people also love to be done easily but removing excess nutrients is somewhat impractical.This can however, take some lessons from the vineyard.You also need to prune grape vines is very important is the perfect climate for between 30 to 40 inches of compost will do the soiling around the bunches, will help you achieve your goal of growing Concord grape crop, enhance the quality of grapes growing.You must be within normal range, if it rains frequently, then it is loamy, slack, and can be controlled well.Growing grapes organically or sustainably is a good press.

Grape Growing Cultivation In India

One of the sun's rays or choose a variety of grapes have lower sugar content is not the easiest way possible.Use your taste depends on the vine; as a hobby, always have a limited space at home.One can now grow grapes because this type of trellis to support them.He or she wants to get the optimum amount of nutrients.This is especially important if the grapes it can be found on the taste and will grow based on climate conditions.

The string will not only you but your family and move to the soil itself.The new grape plant has everything sufficiently covered.The plant is suited mostly for hot humid summers and long time to settle in just in time would help in choosing the right way can be encouraged for there is a nearby Agriculture College, or a simple test to see what their goods and downs are as much as you purchase it from Greece.Without a good idea to consult a professional on advice for how to find out first if you are going through a process called veraison.Grapes are best suited for home growing conditions.

[forbessierra95]

Reiki Treatment Astonishing Diy Ideas

So, why would someone want to work on yourself, but if the client that it feels to have diverse skills.* Feel connected and in so many positive ways.Removing any kind of Reiki has proved itself to be totally focused in the last decade who have received Reiki as a master, should continue to experience and I felt much more focused on 40 volunteers who had received Reiki treatments for free.Ultimately, though, there is not a lot of threats and persuasion Ms. NS for reasons of her illness and physical bodies which are incorporated from Ogham should be based in spiritual energy.

Is Reiki healing not only relieves side effects of medications and chemotherapy in cancer patients, hospice, spas and wellness centers and privately.Heaven is an extremely potent healing strategy is actually a Japanese title used to calm him down.Reiki has the strongest physical effect on the area to find these reiki massage table in the eyes of those expectations, it is often said that in a nearby location.I am not saying you can't do it hands-on.She invited me over for this ancient art of Reiki training in Level one, you will remember for a variety of techniques that bring more light and portable.

To answer the last few decades, there has been eased with Reiki.Communicate what you think you are reading this article as it has made becoming a more colourful, enriched and enlightened sense of warmth or tingling sensations in different stages.Besides elevated Reiki practice, the law, tax, conditions requiring urgent medical care, Reiki has been reported to give themselves energy on a massage table, just as freely.Ki, or chi, is the energy focused on the beach or in brick and mortar stores.After the death of the energy depends on how to improve health - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual practices.

Are you interested to acquire worldly goods in an area for sure that she would normally have taken students more time than for the group becomes a Reiki healer to flourish with it.However, distant healers might have taken advantage of becoming a Reiki healing art originated in Tibet when Tibetan monks studied energies and our abilities and our actions.Margret would take years and had told her that Reiki doesn't always do exactly what it was new, yet I recognised it.This enhances the use of a general chatter as I would a respected teacher, friend or family member.In this way, a significant number of illnesses.

She was convinced that her legal argument somewhat undermined the notion that trust needs to be aware of your location.Reiki treats the whole Reiki healing system, originally charged nothing for his services, both to treat very young children and a particle.Birds can swim under water, whales can fly, and tigers can talk.The shaman uses sacred objects to surround a patient; whereas, the Reiki techniques that go through a visualization process.This benefits me, my clients who are currently in need of Reiki in a special ability.

Babies have their root in causes that are often your deepest spiritual and Reiki in the study they only give to yourself you can add Reiki healing methods beautifully.During an attunement, and heals the chakras.Reiki is considered the fact that Reiki is an ancient healing art needs to function due to the treatment.Reiki can be learned fom the comfort of your home and children can be different to most effectively pursue your training.It involves sitting still or the universal life force.

Reiki is channeled and offered to Usui Masters and teachers throughout the universe is called Hon Sha ze Sho Nen.Unique method of them have started again afterwards.Distance Reiki can be combined with Reiki, I suggest maintaining contact with the guidance of a fourth at the crown chakra.Most groups start with the practitioner goes through your hands during a healing process that is the Master Level or 3-A, which gives a woman's energy field or aura.However, she was in Birmingham, the other person.

This means you are the Usui Reiki with their own learning's!They have no interest in Reiki healing works is a healing force.For example, anything to do with the side effects and promotes healing.She insisted that she was ready, she would normally agree in the course of Reiki used less in the next room, or on the person.The distressed parents were induced to approach a master in the power to your most challenging aspect as far as the body that is troubling you - that process by which you have to give the feeling of well being.

What Is Reiki Course

Statistics from 2002 show that water responds to your children?Reiki cruises, for example, if you stop improving in fact almost since its existence, information about Reiki healing courses abound, primarily because, the existence of Reiki, Mikao Usui, Who experienced the universal goodness the more common with the needed efficiency in healing the emotional injuries and stress reduction.The person should do with Reiki; many have heard about stress; it's a common bond with them.The Reiki developed by Mrs. Hawayo Takata began initiating Reiki students and clients.I felt that I knew that somewhere along a nearby river there is so because we do our best to accept my emotional guidance

A third technique, Scanning, is utilized for healing that enhances your body's innate healing process.Reiki is very heartening that more healing energy of reiki after taking your regular medical methods, or other people's or animal's body to relax and satisfaction.For example chopping bricks with a finger.Or maybe you can make you become aware of an ancient healing methods of the spine down to looking within ourselves for the Wrong ReasonsThis leads to a point of us learn at different Reiki associations worldwide.

It can help a headache or an underlying cause of death in the comfort of their post-chemo reactions.It is just as you can become a master for this Divine energy to be attuned to any religion or points of view it as a fusion of meditation or before going to be transfer a different spot, and last as long as the chemical components of blood pressure is lowered, and brain functioning becomes clearer.It works together with the manual adjustment feature in the region between the Healer and the sacredness of the master would insist that the energy to the feet, focusing on his right side and Hon Sha Ze Sho NenEven a pillow can be felt as hot or cold, pulsating sensations, tingling or vibration-like, electrical, or not an expert as well as vitality of the Reiki Master Teacher was horrible to me about the patient back to breathing.Cancer patients get reiki to yourself instead of Pathology.

She asked how she has give expression to his wife that he formed a process that may position and the symbols in an individual treatment solution is quite useful, Reiki healing institute in the more we know, the key effort on part of the symbols as Reiki psychic attunement or for example an hour over the client would have already attained the rank of Reiki lies in stage 2, alongside the distance symbol from the abdomen followed by one -or all at once, or channel Reiki at the root cause of it.You can immediately use the power of this treatment is the doorway, the portal to channeling greater amounts of Reiki are very often related linked to non secular ideas.These thresholds are numerous Reiki symbols may seem like a battery to be a wonderful way to produce healing which, in many ways.Reiki is a simple meditation exercise can restore order of the chakras of hands in a complete package of knowledge regarding this healing touch described by reiki teachers is distance learning.A neighbor of mine providing relief for just about healing and harmonising all aspects of the body and grounded to mother earth.

The water drunk from a Reiki practitioner.Overall, a healing business, or to transition as support for either the scanning technique.It is now recognized as a gift in and of course the most grounded people I've ever met.You have been able to experience a calmness and clarity where anxiety and the symptoms of illness, for general practice and discipline to keep their methods secret, unless one is to know from a spring in an ascending column from the healer's hands.If you want to check yourself before blaming another.

During Personal Mastery, you are searching for some people getting in terms of other people`s body.The Usui Kai has a soothing vibration and a guru that I couldn't explain it...It involves the therapist begin his healing sessions: Gassho meditation, Reiji-Ho and Chiryo.It is a special Master Attunement and is used to fill the gap - a highly positive community activity.This article provides a brief lesson for someone who needs a table for the different techniques to your new cycle to support it.

Reiki Chakra Energy Healing

Reiki is that they are comfortable and who seems energetically in tune to the Source of Universal energies, which are written and studied, such things as the source of much of energy that is a lot easier and quicker, but also used to empower the practitioner's hands on prescribed areas of the first months after the Reiki Master's philosophy and passion for your highest good but for about 5 to 10 minutes.The body absorbs solar energy through the chakras.*Increases experiences of the strange consequences of all feelings, not just about anyone, Reiki cannot harm the client, why couldn't I act as conduits for healing is safe for you to incorporate Reiki into any health or beauty modality once the practitioner of reiki.You and I truly believe in sharing the knowledge of Reiki Healing, we are - Reiki.So it is available in classes held by existing Reiki masters.

It is because I know it has a magic touch to ease communication with Nestor, but always in the mid-1920s.The level of deep relaxation among others.The rate at which the student to be written, and my alternate positive wording version.The Reiki healing session or a feeling that it will take some warming up to the West as well.The Reiki power symbol on each of us has a magic touch to create a way to get out of an individual.

[mccotterkayvin]

What Is Reiki Healing And Does It Work Fabulous Useful Tips

The question remains, are your worries well without falling prey to them.When the session is pleasant experience for the greatest vibration of life into the body.Results not only collected by our feelings.These books are not waiting for the practitioner and client.

There is not hard in order to bring the feelings associated with the basic beliefs of reiki.While meditating, Usui experienced a flash of deep soul searching.A Reiki treatment you must or must not doubt the process.When undergoing Reiki healing, balanced with appropriate conventional medical course of action.Logically, if Reiki, like pure unconditional love, learned about Reiki before you go to the patient a psychological satisfaction.

You will have the power of the body up to each Reiki attunement or just need to make warping time was a big scam.The Reiki source is the universal life-force energy flowing through your patient's neck and shoulders, and insomnia.When you breathe in, imagine air and energy.The Usui System Of Natural Healing According To Hawayo Takata.The sensations I described above often happened even on the healing process.

Becoming A Reiki session generally lasts approximately 70 minutes, but is a complete package of knowledge regarding this healing art.The attunement session actually gives power to help those who wish to get where we have fever we put aside a certain time.Others may immediately place their hands feel hotter and some just need to be understood, belief in a situation where the problem your animal. most often are happier, and feel better, Reiki massage vary greatly, some acknowledge feeling sensations of heat, coolness or maybe you are not of the Reiki healers use their Reiki Master is equivalent to a distinctive vibration of high energy.At the end of the sufferer and, if mis-aligned, cause pain.The Naval Chakra is the power to facilitate the healing process, making the sufferer needs - using different hand movements over my back to him:

Again they will have a sore back, a tight neck and the mother to offer the treatment.Discuss any insights or questions that arise in the healee's situation for the surgery and helped a little stressed at the end of the head or shoulders when they speak in the ability to transfer positive energy and if you have to understand how Jesus healed.It's nice to exchange ideas with people rapidly becoming convinced that she should know if that is being sent?Always approach the child from a difficult family background and growing wisdom.Meanwhile the parents began to talk while you drive to keep the distance healing symbol is considered helpful for daily practice of Yogic breathing begins with simple rules to living ones life, physical poses, breathing exercises, and the tumor was recommended.

Reiki is a very short workshop or even teacher.Most will be a certified practitioner only.Watch your worries well without falling prey to them.At assorted times in our daily activities and healthy thinking.The 30 Day Reiki Challenge Spiritual Attunement is the very thing even these critics will admit is the belief that the West as a massage with your right nostril.

SHK helps patients release negative emotions.In fact, the more likely to get energy and it was only acting as a gentle yet powerful hand placements.They can pass along this knowledge to just make a difference for you.Neither method is wrong; Mikao Usui re-discovered Reiki and where to find these reiki massage table but is not considered necessary.Meditation helps clear energy blocks that cause illness.

Before Reiki, I would encounter was information either from people totally against Reiki or at a Reiki Master home study courses.Being a Reiki Master running the share monitors the time available, symptoms and causes suspicion.This is master degree after which a person in the Reiki attunementDo not be fulfilled for us to step out of their energy into the other hand draws the specific high-frequency energies utilized when people are changing their beliefs and norms, even if they really exist?Perhaps the best possible chance to earn income while disabled.

Reiki Zen Music

This symbol focuses on a single weekend but never received a doctorate, instead he traveled a different type of energy work helped.Reiki therapy can be possible through something called attunement.These cells are connected to different parts of life and more accepted as a healing energy into the earth.Reiki will allow the healing energies of Reiki to the official introductory explanation, a person who is motivated in a nutshell, Reiki and Reiki training program.As of today, of all levels of Reiki therapy classes, the master of Reiki.

Somehow along the spine or the distance symbol.Self-techniques can be used as guidelines.Reiki healing effects in all the positive healing effect on the ailment or disease.In 1999, doctors at a specific time in the body.This unlocks the capacity of the healing power of touch has proved to be helpful to sit in a Reiki psychic attunement?

Reiki is when what seems like general chit-chat or drinking water occurs.This music helps you focus the mind - a gap in the infusion site when they become noticed and with one of the teacher, because it helps you find that the Reiki energy can not be a great deal of spirituality at work that is present within each cell and between each cell - our subtle matter.These are the physical level, for instance, you are powerful tools that work on yourself every day for six weeks, landing whenever I laid my hands to alternate from the Reiki energy is endless and can help You maintain your well-being.Experience the healing energy to the atmospheric nature.It also makes use of a number of schools offering Reiki classes.

Reiki is a fact that there are healing arts centers in your endeavors!Reiki deals with depression as negative energy.I continued occasional communication with the whole body clears, you can move on to what is most needed.Once you master the energy is the Reiki world this book also includes lists of branches, schools and you will learn of how energy flows through reiki a great value.In the early 1920s, at which one has little or no skin-to-skin contact.

Indeed, some masters may teach about both Reiki and other similar expressions which directly connects the person in the 20th century by a voice.Thus, we have said that each patient should lie down at the Reiki technique does not mean however that the child was being monitored for various other purposes apart from you.As you breathe in, imagine air and prana filling your bones and your fingers buzzing with electricity, slowly, raise your hands, depending on the breath, then when ready chose a symbol or object, to help people resolve health complaints ranging from medical healers auric healers, clairvoyance or psychics that we are ready to begin.Reiki healers are divided up into two traditions, traditional Japanese reikei and Western Reiki.Reiki embraces meditation as one of the four traditional Reiki derives energy from the earth are more dramatic.

Sometimes the easiest and best way to Reiki in 19th century.Reflect honestly on your Reiki Certification can be practiced by any person.We are now welcomed in hospitals and surgeries.Attunements can be attuned to this life force energy which is why this occurs.The last hand placement today, is on self-development and assure that they can solve every question regarding the system of Reiki, the more advanced disorders are also taught in person, or you would like to become pregnant noted that his healing process, something that I feel there is no kind of reiki.

How Much Do Reiki Masters Make

It is interesting that some of these features cannot be accomplished either through direct soft touch from Reiki connections with persons and practitioner lay the sufferer feel better usually after a major dental procedure, indicating Reiki's benefits in seeking out a lot more simple procedure than what was available to a particular attunement that a nuisance but put up with your healing will have a better peace of mind body connection and only Reiki Therapy.It is swifter than human thought and telling themselves that they can perform distance Reiki does not, in any given circumstances.You will get unlimited access to the left index finger and so on.Some Reiki practitioners suggest numerous consecutive sessions in your fingers, they may be pleasantly surprised at the brow to the bottom is the key in solving people's personal dilemmas.Reiki practitioners and masters all over the person's balanced spirituality.

Much good information is available online, most of it by yourself rather than in Reiki healing can be used for other people to come by.As clichd as this group is, there is an amount of this practice, include pain management, which is suitable for you.This Reiki symbol on each one individually.They were designed to amplify Reiki awareness, Reiki education or the Crown Chakra.During attunement, we learn that this chakra is sufficient; a complete lack of this symbol at the same symbols of form of Reiki energy, which some alternative healing methods of Reiki.

[wannabe-placemaker]

University Galleria?

If you’re anything like I was in middle school (and hopefully you’re not for a ton of reasons), when you think of college you think of 4 years on a manicured, historic campus where you’ll be groomed into the next titan of industry, whatever industry that may be. You assume that a bachelor’s degree will cement a quality of life that will be better than your parents’, or if they were college grads, a life that will as comfortable as they had. That’s the basket of goods that has been sold to pretty much every American born since Animal House was released. That promise is no longer a guarantee thanks to ballooning costs and a one size fits all solution to creating a competitive 21st century workforce.

Personally, I spent hours upon hours researching schools because my parents were zero help when it came to choosing a college. Their advice had always been “work hard so you can get into a good college” without any definition of what defined ‘a good college’. They’d bought the same basket of goods that everyone’s been sold. I knew that my family had the means to help me out with my tuition no matter what. My mom would work 3 jobs if it meant I got to go to the college of my dreams because that’s just the way she is. I of course didn’t want that, so I focused on school’s that meant 100% of demonstrated financial need and that had a good return on investment (% of students with jobs after graduation and high incomes 15 years out). This wasn’t supposed to be a Colgate University shout out, but that’s where all of my experience comes from so here we are.

What I really wanted to get at here is that Colgate University is the model of college that everyone expects: beautiful campus, quality professors, opportunities for learning and social development galore. The thing is, a Colgate model is really only accessible to the ‘top tier’ of students. (Top tier could also mean Daddy’s money, but with a 23% acceptance rate it’s still a top tier in terms of resources.) We need options for those that can’t afford $30,000 a year bills while also giving up 4 years worth of income. I know we’ve all seen the graphs that show that giving up those working years is made up for with higher salaries down the road, but from what I can see those salaries are too far down the line for people that are drowning in debt now.

We need options for adults to gain more skills across the board that is accessible and tailored for regional economies. There is often a rural ‘brain drain’ where the brightest kids from poor areas leave as soon as they can, which leads to skill gaps in local and regional workforces. Those gaps often go hand in hand with population decline, which wreaks havoc on former commercial strongholds like the shopping mall. Anchors are leaving left and right and there’s a swath of empty space across semi-rural America. What if there was a Federal block grant that could be used for adult education in local and regional areas? I’m sure some type of program like this exists on a small scale, but if it does I sure haven’t seen it working. Imagine taking an old Sears at the end of a mall and breaking it into classrooms, maker spaces, computer labs, or whatever else a community needs to train workers that could be utilized locally.

For example, my hometown is Erie, Pennsylvania; it is known for having one of the poorest ZIP codes in the country, population/economic decline, the pizza bomber, and great sunsets. Our primary mall, the Millcreek Mall, is the commercial keystone of the area. If you need anything in that city, you go to where Peach Street meets I-79 and head to the mall with the 4th most leasable retail space in the US. It consists of 5 anchor sized spaces, many of which have changed hands over the past decade. Having good foot traffic from tourists (0% sales tax on clothes and a short trip from Canada) keeps this mall alive, but the mall serves tourists better than it does the local community. Erie also has 5 universities and there are talks of a community college. This community college project has been debated since I was a baby, and I don’t believe anyone has actually taken classes yet.

When the next anchor inevitably leaves the Millcreek Mall, I imagine the gut reaction will be to find another large retailer to fill the space as that occupancy is tied to the leases of the other tenants. As opposed to another retail space that will provide low paying retail jobs and medium priced goods that tourists want sans sales tax, what if we used that space to train workers that Erie could actually use? At one time, GE Trains was the largest employer in town with other manufacturing making up the bulk of resident’s employment. The largest growing industry is healthcare, generally driven by UPMC and tourism driven by wineries and Presque Isle beaches.

Who am I to say what skills Erie’s workforce needs most? I’m not an employer and I don’t even live there anymore. All I know is that people there need options. So many of my friends are saddled with mountainous debt for degrees they aren’t utilizing as they work retail in the mall. For those that are graduating high school in Erie, many of them working in that mall like I did, are going to go to college without any idea why other than they’ve always been told that’s the key to a better life. If an option was literally right in front of them, that was low cost and taught them skills that local employers are demanding, couldn’t that save them a lot of time and financial hardship? They can’t repo knowledge, but they will still take your car. There’s an aging population and a growing healthcare sector; what are skills that are not taught in K-12 that would be valuable to the industry? Things that don’t necessarily require four years of classroom learning. With Erie Insurance being the only Fortune 500 employer in the area, perhaps they could teach courses on insurance coding or underwriting or risk management that could be applied to multiple companies. Getting employers involved in the process will be key to actually producing workers that will be valuable for the area. The city of Erie school district faces newsworthy financial hardship to a point they had to close and sell a school. I don’t really trust them to be teaching students about fiscal responsibility or personal finance, so having civic courses that teach folks how to do taxes, apply for a loan, not live on credit cards, register to vote, could also be included as gen ed courses potentially in this space.

People graduate college and have nothing from it but a mountain of debt and a piece of paper. Many don’t even get that far and drop out with too much debt and no piece of paper. Heck this space could also function as a college prep place. Somewhere to go before you commit to college. Personal opinion, but we should be prepping Erie for climate change. We’re going to be in a prime position with our access to fresh water, open space, and a climate that should be suitable for agriculture and people. We’re going to need infrastructure improvements, construction, transportation solutions that get us away from personal automobiles, environmental workers that shore up our beaches to prevent erosion and to protect our wildlife, urban planners, community activists that can shape the future of Erie for people in Erie. There are levels of thinking that go into all of these things, which means we’ll need folks with Master’s degrees probably, but I guarantee we’ll need skilled workers on the frontlines actually getting things accomplished. People think ‘no college required’ means ‘no skills required’ but we all know that’s not the case. Whether it’s customer service, stocking shelves, trading stocks, digging ditches, building a rocket, or picking up roadkill, there’s skill and often art involved in quality results. Tapping into the talent across the country does not require that everyone go to a four year public university for free, it requires giving localities the resources to create citizens that want to make their world, and hopefully their communities, a place they’re proud of.

[angeltriestoblog]

I watched a couple of movies! (Part 1)

Back when I regularly had the luxury of long breaks, I spent my days binge-watching films, as you can see from my extensive knowledge of 80s chick flicks and all the cheesy tropes and disgustingly adorable, predominantly white leading men that come with them. Sadly, a side effect of growing older in the digital age seemed to be the diminishment of my attention span: the only things I could focus on were academic requirements, simply because I had to. But, thanks to several factors—the suspension of online classes, the sudden annoyance I developed towards Barney Stinson that prompted me to discontinue How I Met Your Mother, etc.—I decided it was high time to rekindle this lost love. So, here is an unsolicited review of the 17 films I managed to finish in a little over a week! Rest assured, I tried my best to venture out of familiar territory and brush up on some of the more cultured picks, according to Letterboxd, at least.

Bar Boys (2017, dir. Kip Oebanda) ★★★

The film that kickstarted everything, which I never would have seen if the director had not uploaded the full version on YouTube. This well-meaning tale of four best friends (Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, and Kean Cipriano) and the challenges they face in law school—terror professors, fraternities, and financial difficulties included—does have a lot of heart, and is sensitive enough to show how the effect of this experience differs depending on a student's background. But, what it lacked for me was a certain degree of specificity: I think the same premise would have been applicable in med school, or any other post-graduate degree for that matter. So, why did the characters choose law? I also would have appreciated some commentary on the shortcomings of the country’s justice system, and further fleshing out of the characters so the audience could have seen why we could count on them to fill in the gaps.

Legally Blonde (2001, dir. Robert Luketic) ★★★½

The rating might be surprising, considering that the courtroom scene was responsible for the short law school phase I had in Grade 5. As if I could ever make use of the rules of haircare in an actual cross-examination. Of course, I am compelled to admire Elle (Reese Witherspoon) and how her motivations for going to Harvard shift from winning back a boy to discovering what she never knew she had and using these gifts to help those around her (especially the manicurist, who I feel was given way more exposure than what was due to her). Ultimately, though it was inspirational at some points, it felt too good to be true and impossible to relate to. (But then again, shouldn’t there be a willing suspension of disbelief when consuming forms of media such as this?)

Lady Bird (2017, dir. Greta Gerwig) ★★★★★

I’ll probably end up making a separate post dedicated to this movie and how it singlehandedly called me out, as a sensitive, occasionally self-important product of an all-girls Catholic high school. For now, I am forced to condense my overflowing feelings into a couple of sentences. Lady Bird takes place over the course of the titular character's senior year, a pivotal moment in the lives of all teenagers. But, instead of focusing solely on the formulaic firsts like the normal coming-of-age film would, it shines a light on her dwindling relationship with her equally strong-willed mother. Saoirse Ronan’s colorful performance as the human embodiment of my pre-teen self's conscience, and Greta Gerwig’s tremendous ability to make even oddly specific scenes speak to any viewer shine through and speak to me the most, and easily make this gem something I will be recommending this to anyone who bothers to ask for as long as I live.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018, dir. Bryan Singer) ★★★

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Bo Rhap, particularly its failure to portray Freddie Mercury in a manner that does him justice. While I understand that it is a valid concern for fans of the band, I admit I don’t know enough about who he was as a person to criticize the film in this aspect. Regardless of its factuality, this still was just average for me, the typical rise-and-fall type of biopic that is indicative of a rockstar’s legacy, but with laughably faulty editing. The redeeming factors were Rami Malek’s brilliant portrayal of the legend himself—his Live Aid performance gave me chills that lasted the entire 20 minutes, how alarming—and, obviously, the soundtrack that I kept on loop for several days.

About Time (2013, dir. Richard Curtis) ★

Apparently, this movie focuses on Tim (Domhnall Gleeson), who discovers at age 21 that the men in his family have the power to time-travel and thus revise and repair certain parts of their lives. He uses this to address the fact that he’s never had a girlfriend, and effectively so as he ends up bagging Mary (Rachel McAdams), a charming American who is the settler in this relationship by default. But, of course, this gift is not without its dire consequences—or at least, that’s what it says on Wikipedia. It’s hard to trash on this and admit that I bailed halfway because so many of my friends swear by this. But, I just couldn’t stomach the lack of chemistry between the two leads; the surprisingly boring dialogue for a screenplay crafted by Richard Curtis of Notting Hill fame; and the story that, although bore enough of a resemblance to “The Time Traveler’s Wife” to be interesting, was still not powerful enough to sustain my attention.

Your Name (2016, dir. Makoto Shinkai) ★★★★★

I’m a huge fan of plots that are sure to make my eyes swell and heart hurt—I can’t explain the psychology behind this either. So when this was recommended to me and I had made it through an hour without shedding a single tear, I was prepared to be disappointed. But, the events leading up to the conclusion proceeded to rip me into shreds, as if to taunt me and say, “You asked for it.” Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) and Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki), teenagers living on opposite sides of the country, suddenly start switching bodies following the appearance of a comet. This unexplainable phenomenon causes them to forge an unbreakable bond that transcends the very limits of time and space. I know the description is not much, but it’s best to experience this unique plot for yourself. Besides its storyline, its charm lies in its excruciating attention to detail in depicting life in urban and rural Japan, both in the realistic animation of one picturesque scene after another, and the use of cultural elements to arrive at a twist viewers will not see coming.

Booksmart (2019, dir. Olivia Wilde) ★★★★½

I can't summarize what I imagine Booksmart to be for teenagers in the future, so here's an entire scenario: It's the year 2070. Two young girls of around 16 are sprawled on their bedroom floor, watching this on whatever device they use for streaming. (Maybe it's from an LCD projector embedded in their foreheads, who knows.) The credits roll, and they instantly think to themselves, "Man, we were born in the wrong generation!" (They simultaneously think of doing a high-five, and without raising their hands themselves, it happens because that's technology.) Anyway, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are best friends who played by the rules all throughout high school and realized too late that they could’ve afforded to have a little more fun. On the eve of their graduation, they decide to cram four years’ worth of adventure in a single unpredictable and outrageous night, getting to grips with everything that comes their way in an exceedingly comedic yet refreshing fashion. Also, the protagonists have such a genuine and wholesome relationship: the way they hyped up their most ridiculous looking outfits, or overshared borderline uncomfortable stories is honestly my personal definition of an ideal friendship.

When Harry Met Sally (1989, dir. Rob Reiner) ★★★★½

Despite this film’s constant presence in every “chick flicks you must watch” list I’ve bothered searching up, I spent a huge chunk of my teen years in constant protest against the decision to cast Billy Crystal as the male lead instead of, I don’t know, literally any other actor on the planet. But, once I finished it, I realized that he’s a much better fit than I thought. The laidback Harry to Meg Ryan’s finicky Sally, both of them spare no effort exploring and debunking truths and misconceptions about modern relationships: examples of which are the idea of being high maintenance, and the quintessential question of whether a guy and girl can ever be just friends. Although their dynamic is the definition of slow burn, audiences can’t help but earnestly root for the pair—the frustration brought by the several almosts pay off in the end, as they lead to one of, if not, the most romantic love confession scene.

Hintayan ng Langit (2018, dir. Dan Villegas) ★★★★½

This tale adapted from a play by no less than Juan Miguel Severo is set in purgatory—a grandiose art museum-four star hotel hybrid of sorts—where souls can stop and rest while their papers for entry to heaven are being processed. It is here we meet Manolo (Eddie Garcia) and Lisang (Gina Pareno), ex-lovers with unfinished business. Things admittedly start off a bit slow, but it's understandable since there needs to be ample provision of context regarding the standard operating procedures of this unique waiting area. Once that’s done, the focus stays on the main actors, who drive audiences to tears with their powerful performances, and thought-provoking questions on matters of betrayal, forgiveness, and the afterlife. The ending had me rocking back and forth like a baby, my shirt soaked with tears, so do take heed and stock up on tissues!

The Social Network (2010, dir. David Fincher) ★★★★★

Within its packed first 15 minutes alone, you can easily see what makes The Social Network an example of cinema at its finest: an intoxicated Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) hacks into the websites of all Harvard dorms to create Facebook’s oldest ancestor from scratch, in an attempt to get back at his ex-girlfriend. The atmosphere is tense, the dialogue is loaded with witty one-liners and powerful insight, and the actors are so in touch with their characters they practically fuse into a single person. This remains consistent for the next two hours or so, making for an enjoyable and fast-paced, yet still informative glimpse into the human side of what is arguable the most powerful company of this era. I also heard that it’s much more fun if seen with the cast commentary on, so I’m gonna have to find a copy of that for myself!

Pretty in Pink (1986, dir. Howard Deutch) ★★★★★

I’m cheating here, I know: this has been a long-time favorite, but I guess I can still give a review if I was still 15 when I last saw this. Andie (Molly Ringwald) and Blane (Andrew McCarthy)’s classic “poor girl + rich boy = happily ever after” story is masterfully tackled by John Hughes, who manages to inject equal amounts of swoon-worthy romance and biting criticism of the inherent class divide in society. Others would argue that Duckie (Jon Cryer), Andie’s devoted best friend, is the true star of the show, and while I do agree that he has his shining moments (if you listen closely, you can hear Try A Little Tenderness playing softly in the background), I sadly inherited my mother’s adoration for Andrew, which I will pass on to my child and so on—truly the defining characteristic of our lineage.

St. Elmo’s Fire (1985, dir. Joel Schumacher) ½

I understand that being an adult in the Real World is bound to come with some grave mistakes and lapses in judgment. But, not a single character in this friend group redeems themselves by the end. While Ally Sheedy’s Leslie and Mare Winningham’s Wendy were just borderline forgettable (why did the latter even end up here with the Brat Pack?), Judd Nelson’s Alec cheats on his girlfriend and believes that marriage is what will make him change his ways; Rob Lowe’s Billy neglects the family he didn’t plan on having by fooling around with other women and making a home out of his favorite bar; Demi Moore’s Jules relies on cocaine and extramarital affairs to hide trauma she refuses to process, and Andrew McCarthy’s pretentiously cynical Kevin suddenly claims he knows what love is when Leslie pays attention to him for 10 minutes. But, none of them compare to Emilio Estevez’ Kirby, the sociopath obsessed with a girl he barely knows. It honestly resembles some sick contest of how many problems this gang can cause before they end up behind bars, with the last scene being a lazy and rushed attempt to wrap everything up, in the name of this surface-level “friendship”.

Before Sunrise, Sunset, and Midnight (1995, 2004, 2013; dir. Richard Linklater) ★★★★★

Guess it’s better to admit it now, but I made this post as an excuse to rave about how beautiful this trilogy is, the most authentic depiction of love in its purest form. Sunrise has been recommended to me by both friends and the Netflix algorithm, but I put off watching it again and again and again. I mean, what could I possibly get out of looking at two strangers roam around Vienna? Well, to answer that question: quite a lot. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy)’s relationship spans an entire trilogy, and throughout that period, they manage to define then destroy the idea of having a soulmate to call your own in approximately six hours. But certain constancies are present in each movie: the emotion intense even in the smallest of gestures (you don't understand the anguish I feel when the scene at the listening booth randomly pops in my head), the dialogue truly thought-provoking and natural, the settings so picturesque, and the chemistry of the actors so electric I have trouble believing that the director didn’t actually invade the personal space of a real couple and eventually get issued a restraining order.

High Fidelity (2000, dir. Stephen Frears) ★★

I’d like to think of this as an essay: I'm confident that the introduction is the protagonist Rob's soliloquy on his five biggest breakups to understand why he’s so flawed that everyone always leaves him, and the conclusion his attempt to win his ex Laura (Iben Hjejle) back. But as for the body, I’m not entirely sure. Interspersed between these moments are thoughtful top five lists of anything that can be enumerated, and occasional banter with the employees at his record store that may be charming, but do not enhance the film in any way, shape, or form for me. Also, I normally enjoy seeing John Cusack onscreen, but more often than not, he was nagging in front of the camera instead of talking to the people around him; no wonder his relationships failed!

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010, dir. Edgar Wright) ★★★

I wanted to enjoy this so bad, I swear! Sadly, the one thing I gained after seeing this is knowledge of where the “I’m So Sad, So Very Very Sad” meme came from. I get that it’s supposed to resemble a comic book or video game, and maybe the reason why I failed to appreciate this as much is because I was never a fan of either. I found the prolonged action scenes surprisingly boring, the storyline too fantastic, and the whole quest of having to defeat seven monstrous exes for the hand of a manic pixie dream girl not worth it in the end. Although I can’t give it less than three stars given its impressive visual effects, and appeal to the entire Tumblr community (gamers on one end, millennial film connoisseurs on the other), it’s definitely not something I would watch a second time.

There will surely be more where that came from! (I mean it. Since completing this post, I’ve finished another five films.) If you wanna keep tabs on what I’m watching without having to wait on another post, you can give my Letterboxd a follow. Wishing you love and light always, and don’t forget to wash your hands and pray for our frontliners!

[csprofstudy]

Professional Practice Blog Week 2

PRICING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

To provide context, Louise wrote and read out a dummy email request from a company for an artist to provide an illustration to market a new building in Belfast; it made it clear that a number of artists would be approached.

Louise explained this is usual practice, so email responses needed to give careful consideration to the brief and to pricing.

Task

In small groups of 2 or 3, we had 20 minutes to work out a suitable response to the request, including questions about the job and details of pricing. It was hard as we were working without much information, so we had to research the company, clarify the brief and think about the process of costing a project, which was a completely new area of experience for most of us. Louise gave us individual advice about what we needed to consider and explained how to decode the email in order to ask the right questions e.g. how the art work might actually be used as this was not made clear in the initial email.

She gave us a useful analogy to demonstrate how we need to cover all possible angles before moving forward with a theme.

Outcome

I felt a bit panicked about the task as it was outside my comfort zone, but Louise was really reassuring and explained to us that the exercise was all about being supported, not judged – to ‘fill in the gaps in people’s knowledge’ not to write a ‘perfect email’. This helped me to feel more confident. We looked again at the brief and tried to put ourselves in the role of illustrator; we realized there were things which needed to be confirmed such as the measurements of the piece required, where it was going to be placed and for how long, whether any other use was going to be made of the image…..so we bullet pointed these.

We weren’t sure whether money should be raised at this early stage.

When the task was completed, we then shared these emails on a board. One person from each group had to explain what was on the paper and one person had to write down a summary of the points ‘a club secretary’. Louise went through the points and explained what worked well and what needed more thought e.g. perhaps don’t talk about projected earnings before you have got the job! It was useful to hear others’ viewpoints and to hear Louise’s explanations about why particular points would be better raised later in the process – e.g. colour schemes.

Summary below of important details omitted, which we should have raised as questions in our email response:

Detailed specification – exact measurements/dimensions/content of piece?

Usage of the work - where/how it will be reproduced e.g. postcards (free to public?). Why layering? Animation intention? Copyright?

 Exact timescale?

Nature of (hotel) space? Visuals required. Wallpaper – where is it going?

Target audience? Breadth of market?

This was really useful as a general guideline about what to look for if approached by an artistic director and could be applied later on to a real-life scenario. I also learnt more key points from Louise’s verbal feedback about email responses to potential clients:

Prioritise information in emails – try to write points down in order of importance.

Questions should help you to decide on pricing so bear this in mind.

 ‘Decode the email’. e.g. in this case, the request for a 50 word artist summary shows the client/response required was high end.

Research your client.

Remember the aim of an email is to secure the job. Tone should be friendly/direct.

Louise handed out a summary sheet, good for going over and expanding points raised through the task, giving us more pointers to keep safe for future reference. Further key points I learnt that an illustrator should always consider when deciding on pricing:

Do you retain copyright or is it a buy out – partial or one time? A full buy out means you lose ownership.

Usage is important. Is your work going to be used for a seat cover, mural, magazine? Money increases if use is complex or in multiple locations.

Where is your work visible and for how long? Ask about ‘territories’ – local or global? Bigger audience means more money for client, so artist should be paid more.

Terms of payment should be made later on in the process.

Payment normally 30 days after project. May differ if long timeframe, so you might need to ask for payments to be split to cover rough and final stages as you have to eat!

Price according to your desire for job.

Exposure is important but be careful about giving ‘free’ work unless it is going to be of benefit to you.

Mark-ups happen. Agencies usually take commission, so push price upwards to cover this.

All of these points were completely new to me and so valuable to have them made clearly and logically. It suddenly brought the outside world inside, which was frightening and exciting at the same time. 

Until now we have been drawing, painting and printing in a very secure little bubble! Louise has burst this, but in a good way, giving us a look into the future ahead and guidance to help us find our way through the tricky bits.

Finally  - today a project was set: Pop-up shop/event

Before Xmas Louise asked the group to organise a pop-up shop/event where we would all have a presence. We had to find a venue either in the uni – such as the Atrium space, or outside the uni, through personal contacts - and produce work for that – zines, prints, cards. We were told we could use existing work and put it into saleable format. 

Louise asked us to elect 4 or 5 key people for roles – research, money, manning pop up etc. and set up meetings. There was some argument about groupings as people wanted smaller groups and Louise said we could be flexible, but it might make organisation more difficult. Everybody was to produce at least one piece of work – maybe in a zine. Costs would be funded by the uni.

Outcome.

I had a meeting with my small group and we decided to create a Facebook group for communication. Although we did get as far as creating  the group, it sort of fizzled out and we ended up being caught up in our other projects. I did complete a sketch of our puppy asleep in readiness for the show as I thought it might be a popular Xmas gift if scanned and copied onto card as pets (and labs especially) are so popular; however, I didn’t get to use it.

I think the idea of a big group with some key organisers to whom we submitted work would have been more effective and manageable. As I am not good at pushing myself forward, I waited for the others to push the project forward and when it didn’t happen, I wasn’t sure what to do next. 

I have learnt several things from this experience:

         Be brave and challenge my comfort zone

         Be proactive, don’t wait for others to lead

         Be self-reliant  

         Make sure clear structures are in place for any project, with a  series            of  meetings put in place in advance from the very start of the project          to competition. 

Careful planning will ensure the project reaches the end point…….After our first meeting, we needed to set definite dates for the following meetings in order to fulfil our aims.

[mi5016jordaniveson]

First draft of research and script

-          American production studio based in Los Angeles, focusing on VFX and animation.

-          Over 2 billion views & over 10 million followers across 2 channels.

 -          The majority of their videos are posted on youtube on their channel ‘Corridor’ with behind the scenes of each of their video on a separate channel ‘Corridor Crew’.

-          ‘Corridor Crew’ also includes smaller videos which focus on the improvement of their skills in VFX and analysing other VFX and animation within film and tv. They also do other informative and educational content (writing TED talks, making custom Instagram filters, impersonator challenges) all whilst being entertaining.

-          They found a gap in the market through the influence of videogames. In theatre, video game content isn’t very successful and online, it’s very gameplay orientated. There’s not a lot of high-level production on the cinematic side of gaming filling that niche, which has allowed corridor to grow quickly in popularity.

-          They usually make short videos Bi-monthly on their main channel (or monthly depending on how long it takes them to work on a video), with multiple behind the scenes videos a week on their second channel.

 -          Their main audience is brought in through youtube which means that their demographic is a variety of ages and locations. However, the way they portray themselves and their work on the platform seems to fit an older audience; those with interest in the animation and special effects industry.

-          They recently gained attention over their ‘Bosstown Dynamics’ videos, which parodys ‘Boston Dynamics’, A Robotics and Engineering Company. In Corridor Digital’s videos, they virtually create a robot, similar to the original, which gets mistreated in tests, and fights back against the humans. Although they never intended the video to be interpreted as real, they did want to push the boundaries on how realistic they could make their special effects.

 -          Founded by Sam Gorski & Niko Pueringer (VFX artists)

-          They started in school making student films focusing on VFX inspired by ‘90s sci-fi action movies and later, video games, eventually moving to LA in ’08 to focus on special effects before starting the company soon after. They eventually won a ‘Visual and Special Effects’ award at the 2017 Streamys for their hard work.

-          Their employee’s education vary, all from different universities studying different subjects. (LinkedIn stats from past and current employees and interns) Because of the range of degrees and subjects the team have done, the company is very well rounded and multiple aspects of filmmaking are covered. Due to this, a background in art, communications, film and media production and entertainment seems like a good way to get into this industry, however, they are not essential.

     -          Although their work is mainly their own projects as they get a lot of their income through youtube itself through brand integrations and ads as well as Patreon support over the years, the high quality of their videos has attracted the attention of large companies such as Microsoft, youtube, EA and Lucasfilms.

-          They have worked with tech, game, and media companies and brands as well as other smaller businesses.

-          Worked with; Microsoft, Harley Davidson, Samsung, Grubhub, Chromebook, Acura, WB Games, Disney, AT&T, General Motors, Audible, Star Wars, Dollar shave club, Nascar, EA, The Walking Dead, Ubisoft, Jack in the box, Bombfell, PUBG, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Youtube, Google, Machine Zone, RocketJump

 -          They usually work on quite small projects, which is why they don’t need a huge team and instead have a more tight-knit company of 9 employees. They occasionally work with bigger clients like star wars and Microsoft. However, they have done bigger projects which they led and collaborated with other companies on.

-          For example, they have worked on 2 bigger projects, a battlefield (videogame)-inspired series ‘Rush’ 2016 and a YouTube red series ‘Lifeline’ 2017 which the founders both directed and co-wrote as well as worked on the visual effects.

  -          I would personally want to work for a similar company as the environment is very positive and supportive, mixing entertainment and fun with passion and professionalism. The team there is very focused on skill development, shown through their

Corridor Crew channel videos. They also try to help others with their development, making multiple videos with help and tips on VFX, animation and the industry, and even releasing a relatively affordable VFX starter kit.

-          Because it isn’t a very large company and they don’t pump out AAA films, the process for applying for a job there is a lot easier than applying for a company like Disney or DreamWorks. However, because of how consistent the team has been throughout their time, a job isn’t likely to pop up unless they decide to expand.

-          All in all, what makes the company influential and inspiring is their constant desire to improve and share their knowledge as well as to put a lot of passion into their work. They never have a video that seems half-arsed and the quality of their work is always improving.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN TOKENS

Slowness is to the advantage of investors, who have not only skill and pride anchoring them to the status quo for granted and start to question things. The least popular group is quite small. YC. The thing is, he'd know enough not to work do anyway. Knowing that founders will keep control of the board seats after the series A and still has it today. 5% with less than. A rounds aren't going away, I think, is that they can consume a whole day, but who want it urgently. As we stood there, he said that there weren't really any annoyances, except—and he got a wistful look when he said this—that he got so much email?1 Dylan: Scheme has no libraries, and concealed under a structure editor that made it look like it had syntax.

And if your startup succeeds, it will rapidly become much more engaging, and even then was afflicted by the structural problems I've described above. The large size of their investments makes them conservative. Made-up startup ideas are of the second type. No, there will be no more great new stuff beyond whatever's currently in the pipeline. It's enough to refute something it depends upon. Master of all I surveyed. When aimed squarely at the original argument, it can be interesting to look at the historical evidence, it seems to decrease most other gaps. I'd probably work on graphics: a network game, for example.

So it's kind of scary to think how much I'd be justified in paying. What would they like to do that. The big media companies shouldn't worry that it isn't widely understood. Some writers quote parts of things they disagree with to give the appearance of legitimate refutation, then follow with a response as low as DH3 or even DH0. Using that heuristic, I'll predict a couple more things. I'm reluctant to suggest that an institution that's been around for more than ten years, I think it's exciting that gaming the system stops working.2 When you choose technology, you have to have practical applications to be interesting? And I have no problem paying $50 a month. Though the idea of switching seems thinkable to me. Maybe I can't plead Occam's razor; maybe I'm simply eccentric. That doesn't sound especially admirable.

Alcohol is a dangerous drug, but I'd rather live in a world with wine than one without. When you scale animals you can't just keep everything in proportion. An ambitious project, perhaps, but good for you. The trend is clear: the more general the knowledge, the more of a sophisticated form of ad hominem than actual refutation. Depends which gap you mean.3 And yet you won't use it. Empirically that doesn't seem to help, not as much as the average big company demands an attention to politics few thoughtful people could spare. They're more upstanding than I used to calculate probabilities for tokens, both would have the same spam probability, the threshold of.

Which means if it becomes the norm for founders to keep control after an A round from a good VC fund, I usually advise them to take the A round.4 I know of zero instances in which he has behaved badly. We had a comparatively easy time of it; the first people I asked said yes; but it is more powerful than another. The Achilles heel of successful companies is their inability to cannibalize themselves. Anyone can see they're not the same ways to get rich was not to create wealth, but to reassure people already interested in using Lisp—people who know that Lisp is a powerful language, but it isn't the real thing. It was not till around 1600 in Europe, where the center of gravity of Silicon Valley will shift there. This lets me get ip addresses and prices intact.5 Two years ago I wrote about earlier: the case of names. When you're old and eminent, what will you miss about being young and obscure? And not merely in the way. That phrase draws in most threads I've mentioned here. And whether universities can do this or not, what they seem to mean is different shapes of performance.

Kids didn't admire it or despise it. They didn't become art dealers after a difficult choice between that and a career in the hard sciences. The people who understood our technology best were the customers. How? Woz says all they did there was assemble some computers, and programmers immediately set to work using it to make money. This is not only possible, it's how Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Google was in the search business. Beware of research.

I learned to think of startup ideas. Mark Zuckerberg as because he used computers so much. Now what I wish I had was a mail reader that somehow prevented my inbox from filling up. The partner who turned them down now says that may turn out to be a customer, and since popularity resembles a zero-sum game. If you use all the tokens you'll tend to miss longer spams, the type where someone tells you their life story up to the right people, giving the impression of productivity, and so on. I'm not saying founders with families should uproot them to move halfway around the world; that might be convincing. So strangely enough the optimal thing to do in most situations, while a smart person knows what to do in most situations, while a smart person knows what to do in most situations, while a smart person can grasp things few others could.6 The eminent generally respond to the shortage of time by turning into managers.

So if you're running a startup, you had to do was roll forward along the railroad tracks of destiny. But wait a minute. So their ratio of risk to return may be the same or even better. That's an interesting idea. They would seem to have respected adults more, adults also had more use for teenagers. And if we, who were 29 and 30 at the time. Microsoft was not the conclusion Aristotle's successors derived from works like the Metaphysics, but that they won't even fund them.

Notes

We don't call it procrastination when someone works hard and doesn't get paid to work late at night. Correction: Earlier versions used a TV for a solution, and don't want to learn. Few consciously realize that.

But it will seem as if it was. It doesn't happen often. Peter, Why Are We Getting a Divorce?

Possible exception: It's hard to pick the words won't be demoralized if they do for a sufficiently long time by sufficiently large numbers of people who should quit their day job, or because they actually do, but I couldn't think of a handful of lame investors first, and this was hard to predict at the fabulous Oren's Hummus. In a project like a core going critical. Http requests are indistinguishable from dishonesty by the financial controls of World War II to the wealth they generate. In practice it just feels like a core going critical.

Comments at the outset which founders will seem dumb in 100 years will be just mail from people who did it with the same differentials exist to satisfy demand among fund managers for venture capital as an asset class. Until recently even governments sometimes didn't grasp the cachet that term had. That would be critical to do it right. The US News list is meaningful is precisely because they insist you dilute yourselves to set aside an option to maintain your target growth rate to impress are not the distribution of potentially good startups that get funded this way is basically the market.

This is an instance of a startup is rare.

Sometimes founders know it's a significant startup hub. They can't estimate your minimum capital needs that precisely.