#Imagine it from Alvin's perspective too

[thousandyearphantombunker]

AATC Meet the Wolfman is insane from Dave's perspective

It starts out with Alvin having nightmares about their new weird ass neighbor Lawrence Talbot because he watches too many monster movies a few of his nightmares are about a guy he's literally friends with (cause last movie your kids befriended Frankenstein's monster).

He claims the new neighbor is a werewolf. He has a tendency to claim everyone is secretly a monster though so you ignore him. He scares the fuck out of his brothers and the Chipettes. Your kids also accidentally destroyed the neighbors garden and said neighbor swings by to shake you around by the shoulders and acts generally off putting. He at one point just appears from the fucking bushes like a reverse homer Simpsons meme. Alvin accidentally blows up the school which apparently has an insurance plan just for him and the accidents he causes and he's causing the principal to retire early. You finally put your foot down because Alvin is doing too much rn. Also Theodore is being bullied and the adults are being useless.

Your sons take over his spot in the school play because instead of actually helping Theodore with counseling to gain some self confidence or confronting his bully or whatever (like punishing him, having a chat about his homelife/telling his parents about his behavior or saying he can't participate in the play of he keeps acting mean- like they literally do nothing) and Theodore is just sucking so hard at the play and everyone is trying so hard to help him. Eventually you help him enough that he remembers his lines and he gets a minor confidence boost- so that's good. He decides to confront something that's been scaring him so double good today went great -but he gets attacked by a dog (I personally would've called animal control and taken my kid to the doctor straight away for a rabies vaccination) and everyone is shaken up because yeah that's genuinely horrifying. He's crying (and yeah no that's genuinely scary)

The next day your Theodore is suddenly a fucking dick and no longer a vegetarian? You have no clue why. Alvin is still fucking around. You during this time somehow don't notice your kid is turning into a werewolf every night- like somehow you don't notice the scratches everywhere of that there's dog crap on the floor. You some how don't notice anything. I have no idea how you didn't notice. Like no clue. Alvin has seemingly broken your neighbor's cane by accident and you want him to apologize to him-but he seems genuinely terrified of him/seems really desperate to keep his minor role in the school play so you decide 'hey I'll talk to him' after all your neighbor Lowkey acts a bit insane. So you go to your neighbors house and he tells you about his family history as you try to apologize on your kids behalf

He starts talking about his grandparents and father were killed by angry villagers who used silver bullets on them and how those bullets got fashioned into that cane that's now broken and your just like 'that's weird. Why were they so mad at your family' then your neighbor turns into a werewolf

You run for your life but you realize you've accidentally led them to your kids school and knock yourself out in the dumbest way possible. You wake up and instantly go 'i have to save my kids' only to arrive at the school and everything is fine? Also the werewolf that was gonna kill you is now a normal guy and the new principal. They are having a party.

(Also from Lawrence's perspective he just woke up at a children's school he was going to work at- after terrorizing the students and it turns out he accidentally previously had turned one of said students into a werewolf- I don't think he was aware of what he did- and is cured through the power of 'deus ex machina')

Dave dealt with Alvin and the School's BS and Theodore turned into a werewolf multiple times without him noticing it despite the fact it happened every night and didn't notice his Alvin and Simon were on a mission to save him (and were told they had to kill their brother to do so- like your kids just got told to murder someone) and you were never made aware that any of this was happening-and the werewolf that was previously gonna murder him ended up being the new school principal because your kid stressed out the original principal so hard she quit.

He was somehow locked out the loop this whole time. Also Theodore wasn't made aware of his curse ever.

[itsbrittanybiitch]

not really a question per se or maybe it will be when I finally get all my thoughts out but throughout the hole and fake I was ruining for Eleanor like so much like I honestly feel bad for her the most out of everyone besides Simon and whatever stuff is going on right now. But now I don’t think I could sympathize with her more as I did in the beginning because like she is getting more un rational to me? like odk how to explain it 😭 but like her are always budging on britney and Alvin for good reason, but then they never make an effort to let them see their wrong ways. They can’t just really say something to somebody and expect them to change. You could yell at somebody all you want, but actions speak louder than words also in like the newest chapter, she was kind of a hypocrite.  like she didn’t like Alvin and britt for talking about those kids from the debate team but yet when she went to her friends, she literally let her friends start talking about Alvin and britney even if she did say it was fine for them to talk and even if she knew some of the stuff they were saying is true that’s kind of hypocritical. 

also, I really like how y’all do both the britney and Eleanor seen where like Eleanor is is having a nice moment with Jeanette and then britney sees it cause I don’t know this whole fanfic I’ve just felt bad for britt. maybe it’s cause I like the color pink but every time I just see something bad happened to her. I just wanna be there to hug her. 😭

i’m like really sad for her too because when the more I think about this whole fan as a whole, I realize how she really doesn’t have that big of a friend group people to influence her well because she was first friends and popular and she’s not like her regular friends I want her to get some friends of her own. 

(IM SORRY FOR THE RANTING IM JUST TOO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS FIC🧍‍♀️)

but yeah, I feel like I’m like misunderstanding at these character on a whole different side like cause she’s such a good character. I love her and I’d like room for her and theater so bad but I don’t know I feel like her and bringing stuff another shout out like they did before

and I really want her to get like out of the drama that she’s in with like all of them popular girls (I forgot there names sorry😭)

but I also want her to stop treating britt as if she can’t handle herself like YEAH I know britt wasn’t OK after the whole thing with Jessica and whatever but still I feel like telling her what help better because it’s technically britt’s fault like as much as I hate to say that, and I don’t think anyone’s really at fault it’s her fault that Eleanor has to be through fear, but like it would help bonding cause y’all both have something to bond over?

But yeah😭 i talk too much and im probably gonna send another ask but I also just wanna see how much I love y’all fanfic It’s like my favorite ever like if I’m not gonna lie like every time I read it just get like the sudden urge to listen to Alvin and the chipmunks songs and watched movies over and over again and watch the shows so I love you all for that



I think you need to try and see the story from Eleanor's perspective. Imagine your entire life has revolved around your sister, and despite going through your own struggles, hers always come at first priority? That would be frustrating, and as a 15 yo girl, Eleanor isn't going to handle all of that (ON TOP of the current threats she just got btw) in a completely mature and rational way. Sure, she is usually the more level-headed of the chipettes, but she is still a child. She doesn't HAVE to be rational 24/7, and she shouldn't have to be! She is also going to make mistakes and say things she doesn't mean. Hell, she was mean to Brittany in the pie chapter, but immediately apologized. There is only so much one person can take before they reach their breaking point.

I don't think she's a hypocrite for letting Dom's friends talk about Alvin and Brittany. They were talking about things the two have done in the past, and Eleanor knows the two very well. She wouldn't let anyone say things about them that weren't true. Little Jimmy and Abigail were talking about individuals that they didn't know very well. THAT was what frustrated Eleanor.

I think you can feel bad for Brittany and root for Eleanor at the same time. Yes, Brittany is going through a LOT, and her realization that her relationship with Eleanor and Jeanette isn't as strong as she'd like it to be is going to contribute to that pain, but it's not necessarily Eleanor or Jeanette's fault either. They are not obligated to make sure that she feels secure all the time. Imagine that one of your siblings is much better at recognizing your feelings and understanding what you need. You too would go to them more often than the other, even if it was unintentional. This is going to contribute to Brittany's arc later, trust.

Don't apologize for sending long asks! If I didn't answer everything it's bc I missed it or misread it but I hope this clears things up! Sometimes things can get misinterpreted which is part of why I opened this up! It's better to see where the creators are coming from. Ask away! I eagerly await your other asks! :)

[livebloggingdeltarune3and4]

(spoilers below cut)

I've had a nap and eaten dinner now, so it's time for another go :]

Attempt 31 at beating Gerson:

Died turn 13

Attempt 32:

Died turn 14

Attempt 33:

Never change, Susie

Woahhhh epic lore drop

Hell yeah Susie outsmarting himmmm. I love you so much. Also I won!! Yippee

I'm so proud of her :]]]]]]

This whole scene is really touching :] I'm so happy for Susie, it's awesome to see her have such an encouraging mentor figure <3

Also here's my current save file time, as a reference for how long that took me:

Oh, also, I was thinking a bit about how the whole Gerson fight feels a bit Sans-y? Like, that attack at the end where you had to move in a circle to avoid the attacks, that reminded me of one Sans does with the gaster blasters. And that's not much of a connection, but then also, the way Susie wins is basically the same as how you beat Sans, right? He dodges the first attack, and is like, 'heh, you missed', and then you hit him with the second one. What a weird connection. Like, that has to be intentional, right? But I have no idea why you'd make that connection. And it's kinda weird to see in a fight with such an extremely different vibe.

I wonder what the weird route version of this fight is like... I could totally see Gerson playing a Sans-like role of stopping a killer, but I couldn't see Susie being that killer. Interesting stuff!!

Well... I guess it is finally time to progress! Not that I minded the diversion :]

Yup, 'make' is still being used confusingly. It's kinda nostalgic lol

Oh hiiii again friend :]

Man their design goes so hard

I like how these swords have eyes :]

That knight pose is kinda funny to me for some reason. Like they're just all casual. Leaning against the air, lol

Can we talk about how incredibly swag these little lights are

I was wondering about this because I knew from the wiki that I haven't reached where the egg is yet

This Susie sprite... it scares me... I don't know what it is about it, but that just does not look right in some primal way

Same. I will always be thinking about that tbh

What, you think I'm some kinda coward?!

Susie tried playing the piano once... Kris could teach Susie how to play..... they could bond over it...... they could kiss.......... I am mentally well about this

The fanfics I'm gonna write about this. Afauihgsjkkbkbjsk

akjgfakdfgsaljd;lkahagylekwaurwhjghfajgehfy3uirhjksdgakjzzadsz

...Although, from a 'I am not Kris' perspective, I shouldn't be making promises for them. But that isn't really an option here, so.... my gay option it is

<3<3<3<3<3

Amazing

Fuck you Toby Fox (affectionate)

Can I pray for all of them? I'd like to pray for all of them. But I guess I'll go with Asriel if I can only pick one. Just to ward off the 'Asriel is dead' theories...

Haha well fair enough, I wouldn't want someone to make me pray either

Hi Gerson lol

Susie's cute when she's freaked out lol

Oh she's seriously freaked out, huh

I mean that's fair, I just didn't expect it I guess

Oh my god..... he was dead all along?!?!?!??!??!? Holy shit I can't beleive it guys

Yeah, at first I thought he did it, but later it seemed like he did. He was one of those cryptic all-knowing type mentors

So, like, are we gonna steal Gerson and bring him to Castle Town, or? That would probably cause too much alarm tbh. Although imagine Alvin coming in later and finding a note from Gerson on his desk and his remains missing. Fucked up lmao

Susie's letter is really charming. It's not how Gerson would've said it exactly, but she's right, she got the gist. Also her spelling mistakes are cute :]

Never change, Kris <3

Kris blushed I'm gonna akfjahkfjhdsab

Susie looks so awesome but look at Kris just standing there like -_- lol

[eretzyisrael]

by Josh Hammer

George Soros is an evil man. In fact, he is one of the most evil men currently shaping American and Western politics, and global events more generally.

To straightforwardly opine in this manner is not to traffick in antisemitism or noxious Jew-baiting. It is simply to share one's perspective about one of the most influential political donors, "philanthropists," and social activists in the world—someone who doles out countless sums to undermine and reshape in his dystopian image entire countries, spreading across at least five separate continents.

It is frankly astounding that this even needs to be said. I am a Jewish columnist, podcaster, and public speaker. As such, I routinely share my opinions as a basic feature of my job. I imagine some of those opinions are provocative—perhaps highly so—for a subset of the population, especially those of a left-of-center bent. Some (very) small percentage of my critics may hate me and hate my opinions because I am Jewish, but it is surely the case that the overwhelming majority of my critics disagree with me on the merits of my ideas and contributions to the public discourse. Unless I have a compelling reason to believe a specific critic is acting out of rank bigotry, I operate from a baseline presumption that the critic is not a Jew-hater, but simply disagrees with my position.

Again, this should be obvious. But for far too many, it is apparently not obvious—at least when it comes to criticism of George Soros.

For years, whenever conservatives, nationalists, and traditionalists have criticized the absolutely sprawling influence of George Soros and his left-wing Open Society Foundations umbrella network, Soros' praetorian guard in the elected official class and corporate press invariably shriek, "That's antisemitism! You can't say that!"

What utter tripe.

Soros directly spent $128.5 million during last fall's U.S. midterm elections, making him that election cycle's single largest individual donor. He has spent $40 million trying to elect radically left-wing "reform prosecutors"—something he has been fully transparent about, defending it under his own byline in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last summer—across the country. He has been dishearteningly successful in that endeavor, successfully electing 75 district attorneys—such as Alvin Bragg in New York City, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco (since mercifully recalled), and Kim Foxx in Chicago—who oversee a decivilizational (and oxymoronic) prosecutorial agenda of not prosecuting violent and property crimes. Simply put, Soros is more responsible than any man in the world for the descent of some of America's most iconic cities into anarchic urban hellholes.

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

My HTTYD Books Fanfic Ideas

Greetings, my fellow Dragonmarkers! I just wanted to post this for you guys as I tell you what my plans are in regards to fanfics for the HTTYD Book Fandom.

Besides my “A Birthday to Remember” short story which is still in-progress, and the odd one-shot, here are some projects that I’d like to do for 2020-2022:

Companions of the Dragonmark — Platonic Pairings Series

This work, as you already know from a previous post, focuses on platonic pairings in this series. There will be various types, such as human/dragon, human/weapon, human/human, human/pet, etc. Also includes friends, family, mentor/student, and stranger relationships. This will be the main series I will be working on after “A Birthday to Remember”.

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Antagonistic Pairings Series

This work is something that I’ve just recently came up with, which focuses on antagonistic pairings. This can be pairings between hero/villain, villain/villain, villain/antagonist, hero/antagonist, antagonist/antagonist, etc. Pairings can include, Hiccup and Alvin, Snotlout and Thuggory, Alvin and Excellinor, UG the Uglithug and Excellinor, Madguts and Big Bertha, Snotlout and Hiccup, etc.

I’m liking this because nobody really writes fanfics that focuses on antagonistic pairings. Only romantic and platonic pairings.

What do you guys think?

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Wilderwest Whumpfest

This idea was cooked up thanks to recent posts announcing Whumptober 2020. Granted, I don’t plan on doing it for this Fandom, but I do plan on still doing this work — a collection of one-shots focusing on whumping various characters in the series. I’d LOVE to hear what you’d like to see and if this sounds like a great idea. ^_^

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A Tale of Two Swords

This idea has been stewing in the back of mind for about a year now. This is basically a story told from the perspective of Endeavor, the Dragonsword, as he narrates the story and tells us how he came to be and we’ll see his thoughts and perspective not only throughout the lives of Hiccup the First and his line, but also Grimbeard the Ghastly, Hiccup the Second, and Hiccup the Third, and following up all up into the finale of Book 12. Essentially, this IS a Saga. Somewhere along the way, the Stormblade will be introduced and we’ll get into his POV as well once he is born. needless to say that there’ll be a rivalry between the two — though Endeavor just doesn’t care and ignores Stormblade whenever possible. I mean, the Dragonsword is around 1000 years old already, and the Stormblade is acting all macho for a newborn hunk of shiny metal. In Endeavor’s “eyes”, Stormblade be an infant. lol XD

Also, I just REALLY love Endeavor. (I have an old post that talks all about that here.) One of my favorite characters in the series, despite it being a sword and not a human or an animal character. But I can feel him humming with personality... if that makes sense? But I’ve always had a special love for personification. Ever since I was young and studied literature in middle school, personification has always been my most favorite plot device. I can’t really explain why. Maybe it’s because it’s fun? Getting into the minds of inanimate objects, animals, nature, etc and imagining what they would say and act and feel if they could speak and communicate? It’s fun for ME, at least. ^_^

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Exile on Cannibal Isle

This story idea is another one that’s been stewing in my brain for about a year or less, give or take. (I’m quite proud of the title, if I do say so myself. Hehe.) This is basically a what-if scenario, a canon divergence, that focuses on what would happen should Hiccup and the others were exiled the night that they should’ve been. That would’ve been interesting to see. I mean, of course, it would mean that 800+ Hooligans and Meatheads would perish, but such is the life of a Saga character(s). ^_^

Other alternative (and more likely) scenarios could be:

1) Hiccup, Thuggory, and the others still get banished after the demise of the Green Death (because Vikings are jerks).

or 2) Hiccup fails to get Toothless in time so he ends up being the only one in his group to NOT have a dragon, and thus is immediately exiled (in winter, yay).

(If you guys can come up with better scenarios, let me know.)

Now, Cannibal Isle is on the map on the Book of Dragons extra book. You won’t find it anywhere else. (That being said, the Isle DOES get mentioned by Hiccup in the epilogue of Book 4: “How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse”. Only other time.)

Now in Book 1, while they mention that the kids will be exiled on the Mainland, it mentions cannibals. Of course, in Book 8, it mentions that the Vikings of the Western Archipelago hate sailing anywhere near the Eastern side (the Mainland), so it seems contradictory, in my opinion, for them to send the kids there into exile. So when I saw this map, and saw that there was an island called “Cannibal Isle”, it made sense to me. A place where cannibals exist, and it’s close by from the Inner Isles.

What do you think? Should they be exiled on Cannibal Isle or on the Mainland? Which sounds better?

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Thuggory’s Tale

This story idea is yet another one that I’ve been thinking on doing for awhile now. This essentially is Thuggory’s story, and focuses on HIS POV throughout the 12 books — including and especially his views and thoughts concerning Hiccup. I mean, the guy DESERVES to have a book that’s all about HIM, right?! He’s so cool! I’m such a Thuggory fan! I wish I had a brother like him. I envy Hiccup. lol ^_^

The bromance is strong with this one. lol XD

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Quest for Wilderwest — Quest for Camelot AU

This work, as you already know on a previous post, will be a Quest for Camelot AU involving the HTTYD Book characters. Since I’ve already gotten a lot of feedback on this already, I might end up doing this story first as my first multi-chapter story. But we’ll see. ;-)

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Fishlegs’s Impossible Quest 2

This work I just thought up about a month ago. This is what the title says. Fishlegs SECOND Quest! This time, trying to win Barbara’s hand in marriage — much to Hiccup’s ire. (What is with this guy and these Valkyrie princesses?) I’m debating whether Hiccup should tag along, or if he should stay since he IS the KING. Maybe give Fishlegs Camicazi, instead? Along with some warriors from his Tribe, of course. Him being a Chief and all that. Needless to say, Hiccup and Camicazi will NEEEEVER let Fishlegs live this one down, regardless if he succeeds or not.

Speaking of which, SHOULD I have Fishlegs succeed? Or should I let him fail... again? I mean, would Barbara even be interested in a guy who’s allergic to her CAT?!

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The Wilderwest Saga

The title is what it says it is. It’s about the story AFTER the series, that focuses on the reign of King Hiccup the Third and co. and how the Wilderwest came to be, what Hiccup did during his life, his future wife and family, etc. It’ll also focus on the other characters and their lives as well. I’m very excited about this one as well. And I’m sure you are, too.

Maybe I’ll get lucky one day and Cressida Cowell will read it and be like, “Oh, what a great idea! I’ll write a sequel series focusing on Hiccup the Third’s reign and finally bring a conclusion to Hiccazi.” 

I mean, it’s wishful thinking, but a guy can dream, can’t he? lol XD

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Hiccup the First’s Saga

This work will be a Saga focusing on Hiccup the First and his story, from his birth, to the events of the First Dragon War, to him being the First King and the details of his reign, of his conflict against the Romans and the Uglithugs — essentially filling out the blanks in the life of one extraordinary character that most resembles Hiccup the Third.

Hiccup the Second’s Saga

This work will be focusing on Hiccup the Second’s story, and will be the sequel of Grimbeard’s Saga (or Hiccup the First’s Saga). It will focus on his life with the dragons, his reunion with his father, his life at the palace, his adventures, his conflicts with his father and eldest brother... his death (which, even in a saga, was messed up).

Oh, aaaaand I might have him find love as well. Hehe. Because the books never specify how old he was when he died. And if he was a rebel and went to the library, spoke Dragonese, took the Dragonmark, freed the slaves multiple times, I have a feeling that Hiccup might’ve fallen in love with one of these slaves and married her in secret and had a child through her, whose line eventually led to the Druid Guardian.

So, yeah, this Saga’s gonna get messy... and juicy. Hehe. ^_^

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Possible Projects:

.

Hiccup the Third’s Saga

This work will be a more realistic version of the HTTYD Book series — similar to what you’d see in a Viking Saga, like those for the other two Hiccups. However, this does not mean that the plot will be seriously changed. It just means that I’ll be getting rid of some of the more... exaggerated and absurd parts of the plot that wouldn’t happen in real life. I’ll also be getting rid of the horned helmets and make the Tribes more Viking-y. And I’ll be adding more historical elements into the story, along with those of the previous two Hiccups.

I’m debating whether to get rid of the Dragonese/talking dragons element to the story (having it like the movie franchise), or if I should keep it. What do you think?

Termagant’s Tale

This work will be a story focusing on Fishlegs’s mother, Termagant. How she grew up, how she lived, how she met and fell in love with Alvin the Fake Fisherman, how she felt when he disappeared and how she gave birth... and how she was forced to get rid of her baby. Every single thing. I’m not sure whether to do this from Termagant’s POV, or if I should do it through the eyes of Arrogance, Patience, and Innocence, her Deadly Shadow, and have it be as if they’re telling Fishlegs the tale of his mother from their eyes. 

What do you think?

Grimbeard the Ghastly’s Saga

This work will be focusing on the life of Grimbeard the Ghastly, from his birth to his death. Every detail will be noted, every story shall be heard, and every scene shall be seen. Even the stories of him that you DO know won’t tell you everything. This Saga will further detail and add on to those stories. Including his marriage to Chinhilda, his war against the Uglithugs, his raiding expeditions, his reign as King, his questionable and outright foolish decisions — the whole shebang!

Disclaimer: While I will try my very best, it is most likely that he won’t be such a nice and relatable character to like.

Modern AU series

This work will a collection of one-shots focusing on the HTTYD Book characters in the modern day. The reason why I have this here, rather than farther up, is because I don’t have many ideas for one-shots in this AU. So I would appreciate any prompts and character choices to help me in this, and maybe I might just get working on this if I end up getting enough.

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Anyway, these are the projects that I hope to do in the next couple of years. (If I’m still alive by then, that is.) These stories will probably take time and I’ll probably be focusing on the top 3 since they’ll be one-shots, basically, so they’ll be easier for me to write. But I will be choosing a multi-chapter story idea and working on it.

While I won’t be working on these quite as much since I have other accounts and other Fandoms that I place higher priorities on, I will be working on these as much as I can, despite my schedule. This Fandom holds a special place in my heart and I want to contribute as much as I can so that fans can continue reading recent fanfics for this precious Fandom. ^_^

So tell me what you think? Any titles that interest you? Let me know either in the comments or reblogs.

[angelkyrrieobsioma]

•Personal Development Daily Journal

Reflection #8: “Building and Establishing Harmonized Relationship with the Society/Community”

“The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they — at some distant point in the future — will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely… because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.” — Alvin Toffler

— “This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.” — Robert Kennedy.

“We believe that to confront the challenges our communities face, people- — not just their advocates- — need to define issues and develop strategies for action. [We] foster leadership, literacy and language development among its participants and provides them an enriching job experience that prepares them for college and for careers in community organizing, advocacy and services delivery.” — Youth Action Research Group

12th of March 2021.- Throughout the entire session, We haven’t able to meet with Miss KV because of urgent meeting that she had and so what we did was to accomplished the task she had given to us while she was not around & that is to have a GROUP STUDY whereas our section will have a discussion about the Unit 10 which tackled about •Our Roles and Responsibilities in the Community, ��� Comparing Perceptions of One’s Self and How Others See Them, and lastly, •Filipino Relationships.

To start off, These important relationships not only include family and personal friends but also the wider groups and communities we belong to. Forming connections and a sense of community with work colleagues, neighbours and the various groups that make up our identity (such as sports, hobbies, religious and community groups), all contribute to our well-being. Forming a sense of belonging with other people around a shared mission or identity is a major contributor to our sense of personal meaning in life. Our personal resilience is interwoven into resilience of the communities to which we belong. It is from the web of our relationships and connections with other people that we draw our strength. Such communities can lift us when we are down and give us the capacity to deal with whatever challenges come our way. Social Responsibility can be “negative,” in that it is a responsibility to refrain from acting or it can be “positive,” meaning there is a responsibility to act. Being socially responsible not only requires participating in socially responsible activities like recycling, volunteering and mentoring, but to actually make it a lifestyle.

Empathy, an ability to recognize other’s feelings and perspectives and understand other people’s needs is crucial in leadership. Being empathetic means you can step into another person’s world and this character trait is essential for success due to several reasons.

It’s impossible to effectively lead people you don’t understand. You can effectively motivate and influence someone if you know their feelings. Empathy is one of the keys to successful leadership because it helps build relationships with people they lead and create an environment of open communication. Luckily, empathy is natural for humans and we can even learn to be more empathetic and demonstrate this ability to people around us. Moreover,A leader is the one who conducts, acts as a guide to others in action or opinion, one who takes the lead in any enterprise or movement, one who is ‘followed’ by disciples or adherents, the most eminent member of a profession, a person of eminent position and influence. A real leader is one who not only inspires others but also understands each member of his/her team. While communication, attitude and commitment to get the work done are the essential ingredients of a good leader, other traits (or characteristics) that enable real leadership in a leader are Creativity, Empathy, Ethics, Ability to take responsibility, Ability to challenge failure, among others. A mind blowing pioneer will fight the temptation to freeze in the midst of a disagreeable condition. Make usage of most of the resources available and intelligibly find a path towards the conceivable arrangement. Conveying that initiative can make you worried can cause commotion and negative confirmation among associates, so stay positive and tell the best way to change trouble into a phase forward. Leadership is made up of processes where you cooperate to influence and motivate the other members with the goal of attaining goals. These processes are:

Reciprocal. It involves the leader, the members or followers, and the

situation of the group. In this process, the leader’s responsibility is not just influencing the group; rather, the leader-follower relationship is considered

as mutual. In an interactional perspective, leadership is not separated from followers-hip (the qualities and skills that are shown by non-leaders). Both of them are related to each other.Transactional. This perspective views that the leaders and members work together. They exchange efforts, time, and their skills to achieve joint rewards. Transformational. Leaders increase the motivation, satisfaction, and confidence of the group. This is done through the act of uniting the members and modifying their values, needs, and beliefs. Cooperative. This is a process that promotes legitimate influence instead of the use of power. Leadership is voluntarily given to a person by some or all of the members. When it is done, it is expected that the leader is influenced by the collective needs of the group instead of his/her interest. Adaptive and goal-seeking. Leaders organize and motivate the attempts of the members to achieve both the personal and group goals.To remember the leadership processes, think RTTCA:

R – eciprocal.

T – ransactional.

T – ransformational.

C – ooperative.

A – daptive and goal-

seeking.

Furthermore, sealing this overall with the self-concept is not created overnight. It is a product of experiences and feedbacks that you get as you grow up. The self-concept is not just composed of positive beliefs about the self but also the negative which can produce negative emotions. Plato believed that there is wisdom when you begin to gain knowledge about yourself. This was echoed by philosophers and human behavior scientists throughout the ages. A self-knowledge is a powerful tool in building the self-esteem and confidence of a person. Although there are things about you that can be too painful to admit, they can also be helpful in making you more sincere and true to YOURSELF!✨💜💜

@krishavanessa

[maddie-grove]

Little Book Review: The Plot Against America

Author: Philip Roth

Publication Date: 2004.

Genre: General fiction (alternate history).

Premise: It’s 1940, and the Republican Party has nominated Charles Lindbergh, celebrity pilot and Nazi sympathizer, to run against incumbent Franklin Roosevelt. To one working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey--insurance salesman Herman, his wife Bess, their two young sons Sandy and Philip, her schoolteacher older sister Evelyn, and his ne’er-do-well nephew Alvin--Lindbergh’s victory seems ridiculous and/or remote; only Bess, apolitical yet blessed/cursed with the best political instincts of the family, thinks it’s a matter of real concern. After Lindbergh’s fame and isolationism win him the presidency, though, the nation slowly descends into fascism and open antisemitism. 

Thoughts: The Dear America books were everywhere when I was a kid, but I never read them because the covers scared the shit out of me. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Dear America books were written as though they were the diaries of young girls at different points in American history, and they had titles like The Winter of the Red Snow, I Walk in Dread, and (mysteriously/ominously) Standing in the Light. They also had informative subtitles that let you know when the heroine was in a particularly intense situation, like the Salem Witch Trials or the Great Depression. I loved history, but I didn’t want to get so stressed out that I vomited in a McDonald’s parking lot again (like I had after reading a description of oubliettes). Once I was at a more psychologically robust age, though, I read some of them, and they were really good: immediate, evocative, and good at putting the reader in the headspace of a kid while still imparting plenty of historical context.

All this is to say that The Plot Against America is at its very best when it most resembles a Dear America book (or, rather, My Name Is America, the spinoff series with male narrators). It’s narrated by Philip, the younger and quieter of the two kids; he’s presumably looking back on his experiences as a middle-aged or elderly man, which explains his ability to describe the political situation and analyze the motives of his family members from an adult perspective. The strongest parts of the novel involve Philip’s observations of how the rise of fascism impacts his nine-year-old self (an elaborate anxiety disorder) and his immediate family members. Herman and Bess are particularly well-drawn as admirable, frustrating, thoroughly ordinary people who try to protect and provide for their family under extraordinary stress (including the heartbreaking, albeit temporary, loss of Sandy to the fascist mainstream). 

The stories of Aunt Evelyn and Cousin Alvin offer additional perspectives of how people react to a fascist government that hates them. Aunt Evelyn, like Sandy, finds herself affiliated with the Nazi-sympathizing government; unlike Sandy, who’s largely drawn by Lindbergh’s star power and a healthy-in-other-circumstances need to rebel against his father, her reasons are more personal. She’s in love with the chivalrous, educated Rabbi Benglesdorf, Lindbergh’s Designated Jewish Friend, and he loves her in return; after a life of caring for her mother and having unsatisfactory affairs, she’s all too ready to accept the baggage that comes with him. Cousin Alvin takes the total opposite approach, running off to Canada after Lindbergh’s election so he can fight for the Allies; he just wants to kill some Nazis. Although I liked the inclusion of both characters, they’re both better-served by the HBO adaptation, which I saw first. Winona Ryder brings a wistful, human delicacy to the role, while Roth portrays her as an opaque sexpot. With Alvin, it’s a little more complicated. In the book, he’s pretty much just a mean lowdown punk who nevertheless suffers unjustly (amputated leg, treated like a traitor by his fellow Americans when he gets home). In the show, he’s self-destructive, yet principled and a hunk. In a WWII story from our timeline, he’d be a bonafide hero, but in the timeline of this book, he’s considered a traitor and driven to wonder if he lost his leg for nothing. It’s less impactful if you’re led to believe that he never had a chance.

Hot Goodreads Take: Yikes. I should’ve stuck with contemporary published reviews of the novel, which merely seem hopelessly naive now. Here’s a sentence that made me laugh out loud, though: “Maybe I lack imagination, but Charles Lindbergh was not president of the United States and I was unable to ‘suspend disbelief’ long enough to get through the book.” I can’t tell if this is a wholesale rejection of fiction, or if this lady is sitting around thinking, “Boy, Philip Roth sure is dumb! I know that Charles Lindberg was never president!”

(Also, the name of the hypothetical My Name Is America book is Their Country Now: The Lindberg Presidency Diary of Philip Roth, Newark, New Jersey, 1940-1941. Yes, the character is named Philip Roth, which is nicely meta but frustrating when you’re trying to write a review.) 

[aleteia-ff]

tell us something (anything really) about PotA2 OR draw 25

Sure! I guess something I haven’t really talked about so far is Eret’s storyline! I’m currently doing a lot of plotting in my head for one and it’s becoming more and more interesting - I’m really starting to fall in love with it. So I’d like to share a bit!

The Eret we’re introduced to in the first act (I think the first chapter, in fact) of The Phantom of the Archipelago is 6 years older than the one we met in HTTYD2, making him 31 years old. He’s been a dragon trapper for most of his life, out of necessity more than choice. He comes from a poor village in mainland territory controlled by Drago, and after both Eret’s older sister and her husband passed away, his nephew, Nilas (12 years old), and his niece, Rana (5 years old) came into his care. Living at a dragon trapper fort is better than as orphans, after all. Even if it’s only just a little. 

His story starts with that same fort being destroyed by an unknown dragon rider with an ice-spitting dragons. All the dragons he captured have been released, so he doesn’t have anything to deliver to Drago. He only sees one way out, and that is to flee. He knows Drago’s goal is to start conquering the mainland - he thinks of the Archipelago as fairly insignificant. Hence, he takes Rana and Nilas with him further into the Archipelago. 

That’s the starting point of his storyline. 

While Hiccup’s storyline will mostly revolve around Berk, and everything he left behind there, my goal with Eret’s story is really to show the Phantom’s “ripple effect”. While in The Phantom of the Arena, the story was solely focused on Berk (as this was simply the most important place to all the main characters), the Phantom certainly left his mark on the rest of the Archipelago too. Viggo, Dagur, Alvin, they all made decisions based on Hiccup’s existence as the Phantom. The Phantom’s terrorist are widely known, and so is the revelation that he turned out to be Hiccup Haddock, the son of Berk’s Chief, with his own bastard son walking around on Berk as well. The entire Archipelago knows it, and has formed opinions and taken actions based on it. That’s why this story is called The Phantom of the Archipelago; because we can’t simply focus on Berk in isolation anymore. 

Eret will interact with these people, such as Dagur and Viggo, whose opinions we haven’t heard before, whose perspectives on the Berkian situation differ hugely from Astrid’s and Stoick’s. And from most readers’ too, I imagine. Most of you are on Hiccup’s side, or on Astrid’s, or on the dream of a Berk that lives in peace with dragons. But all the Archipelago knows is that there is a dragon master still out there, who has terrorized them before. And that’s what people - or at least, those who consider themselves to be smart - base their judgement on. And their opinions matter. I am going to make them matter. 

Weaving it all together will be Eret’s story, which is going to be deeply personal and turbulent, but which I can’t say too much about without treading too far into spoiler territory. He simply wants to protect his small family, and to do right by Nilas and Rana. But he finds himself caught up in much more than he thought there was. He is very much an outsider to the Archipelago, oblivious to the wider picture... And he will take you, the readers, along with him on that journey of discovery. 

It’s got some wonderful highs and lows, with quite a large part for Nilas to play in particular as well (in general, the story’s going to have quite some teenage side characters, to complete the cast of what are now adults). Eret’s storylinecontains more than just, as I revealed earlier, both Viggo/Eret and Tuffnut/Eret. It’s about family, about doing what’s right by you, about the strength of common (mis)beliefs and peer reinforcement. 

I hope that’s a satisfactory answer to your ask, anon!

[junglewrites]

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Book Review

In my experience, when people think of Native American peoples, they tend to think they know all you need to know: they got screwed over, it was bad, but it’s done and over with now.

But that’s not all there is to it, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown will illustrate a more complete picture of the past, and how the past has shaped our present. If you’ve ever wondered in despair how the United States could have come to what it is today and seek a genuine answer, I don’t think you’ll find it without including this book in your search for truth and knowledge.

This is not a happy story. It isn’t meant to be. Nor is it one that ends. But even more than being a recounting of the terrible atrocities white people have committed against their fellow humans, I think this is a story of the fragility of truth and history, and the importance of voice. It is amazing that these stories can even be told at all hundreds of years after they happened, and throughout the books 400+ pages, I never stopped marveling at the preciousness and delicacy of our history, and lamenting the depths of our depravity.

If you live in the United States, in reading this I think you will be hard-pressed to find at least one name in the book you won’t recognize. Having lived in both Colorado and Ohio, my own personal history is saturated with the names of people in this book. I was dismayed to know that some of our most beautiful places were named for terrible people, and both humbled and horrified to know that the cities and places I frequent were the sites of violence against Native Americans. Going into these places, you’ll find art sculptures along the road of horses, hearts, fish- but nothing to indicate the truth of what happened there, what really should be recognized about that place.

Even more surprising was seeing the names of reservations and Native Americans I have seen before- not on local maps, but in a faraway place. I saw them in the museum of Norrköping, Sweden. The museum was located at the edge of a river, in fact right beside the city’s famous Work History Museum. I used to walk by it several times a week just for the pleasure of walking by the river, and one summer before my parents were due to visit me, I saw a sign hanging outside the museum about a Native American exhibition that would be there. Surprised to find something about Native Americans so far away from America, I made a point of going to the exhibition. There were a few artifacts. But mostly it was photographs, photographs taken at the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, by a Swedish-American photographer named John Alvin Anderson. I haven’t seen his pictures anywhere else, and it’s hard to find more than just a handful on the internet.

Reading this book was an exercise in fighting the surreal. The quotes by the Native Americans in this book are all things I had not read before... in a strictly word-for-word sense. But the things they spoke of were largely not new. They were things that people still rage about today, and it’s heartbreaking to realize that after all these years, very little has changed, and the changes that have taken place were won with tooth, nail, blood, sweat, and never should have been anything that needed to be fought over to begin with.

More than that, it is knowing that the full extent of so many of the languages and cultures of these people have been obliterated and lost to time. It is not just our history that is fragile, but the way we speak, think, live, celebrate, mourn. The world has lost so much color, texture, perspective, life, knowledge, for the loss of these people, all because a handful of ignorant and hateful individuals failed at the very basics of what it is to be decent and human. And imagine, we put the same exact kind of people in power today. Imagine- the same thing could happen to you, if it isn’t happening already.

Astoundingly, there is humor in this book. Rarely will the author insert a wry comment- no, this humor comes from the Native Americans who faced these horrors and still somehow found the strength to laugh in the face of their aggressors. Sometimes literally. For some, it didn’t seem like they could cope any other way.

Not only that, the humanity of these people who were treated so inhumanely is sobering and heartbreaking. It is disturbing to know how many tribes were truly willing to simply share their land even after having been lied and betrayed so many times, and completely understandable how many of them refused to even before seeing this behavior. It is clear from a historical and modern perspective that the Native Americans were between a rock and a hard place, whether they chose to acquiesce or resist. Even those who forfeited their lands were not treated well, or with kindness. Their suffering did not end there, and that is absolutely a lesson that should be remembered today.

Although the book doesn’t delve into the intricacies of the different tribes much, through the accounts given by Native Americans it does give some very general and cursory insight. I will preface this by saying that this is the first book on Native American history I have read and am highly aware that this is a very limited representation of a wide group of peoples, and it is viewing a small portion of their history and that this observation could be an inaccurate one. However, I found it interesting that many of the Native Americans in the book seemed to make some of the choices they made, or were coerced into making them, because they did not want to be perceived as “womanly.” Even back then, and even in a different culture, many men still thought it was unmanly to cry, or to try and reach a compromise instead of for a rifle. In the end though, neither compromise nor bullets saved anyone.

I wouldn’t say this is my favorite book. But I think it’s definitely the most important book I’ve read thus far, as the thread of it can be tracked through almost every other social issue I’ve been reading about. It broke my heart, and I hope you’ll find the courage to pick it up and break yours a bit, too.

[sammyhale]

J2 PittCon 2017 Main Panel

J2 came running through the crowd from the back of the room. 

Jared: Welcome to our wonderful dysfunctional family. 

Jensen was yelling for Jim Beaver (also at the convention) to come back when he was in the glass walkway above the panel room.

Jensen teasing Jared: Hearing goes at 35...

Jared apologizes for back problems in ops. Jensen: What’d you do? Jared: I think I turned 35 and everything stopped working. 

Jared: Are you done yammering, Mr. Ackles? Jensen: Never :P

Jensen thanks everyone for being here opening day of football season since Pittsburgh is the most sports city on the planet apparently lol. 

Someone yelled that they love Jensen and Jared said, “I love him, too,” so another fan yelled that they loved Jared and he said, “I know” lol.

Danneel wanted to FaceTime Jensen during photo ops because Arrow was saying “Dada.”

Jensen’s favorite ep to film was Baby. Jared mentioned The French Mistake, Changing Channels, Hollywood Babylon.

In Hollywood Babylon, they got bigger trailers for the actors in the ep and J2 were like, “We’ll take them.”

Working with kids on set depends on the parents. 

Jared says that sometimes kids would rather Game Boy...Jensen: Game Boy??? 

Working with kids is logistically challenging because they can only shoot so many hours. Jared says it’s tough when kids don’t seem into it but have pushy parents, but it’s great when the kids love acting. Jensen says it’s nice to have innocent energy on set. Child actors don’t overthink characters like adults do.

J2 talking at the same time :P

Jensen says watching father-child relationships on television affects him more now that he’s a father. 

Fan: When is the s13 promo coming? J2: I imagine pretty soon. Maybe this week or next week. They’re not sure, though. 

Jensen: We’ve lived these characters, and have people to remind us of our real life. Each other, our wives... 

Jensen jokes that he hasn’t read a script since s3. Jared: He gets a flip book version. Jensen: Really trying to get popup. 

Boys cracking each other up :)

Jensen: The Winchesters don’t live in a world with superheroes. They live in a world with real heroes. 

Fan: Would you guys do an Arrow crossover? Jensen: Oh, sure. Let Misha go over there. 

Jensen just called Stephen Amell a “crossover slut” and that he needs to “lock it up” on the Arrow crossovers lol.

Except each other, Jared liked working with Gabriel/Richard and Ruby/Gen. Jared said it was a lot of fun to have Richard around because such crazy things happen on set with Gabriel.

Jensen liked working with Briana. She helps stretch his comedic muscles.

Jensen just said posse magnet and Jared said: “You’re confusing reality with porn again” :P

Favorite lines? Jared: Low sodium freaks.

Reaction when they found out so many characters were killed in the finale? Jared: I don’t like it, but it makes great TV. 

Jensen’s reaction was the same as when he reads a scene when he dies: “Meh. I’ll come back.”

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Jared: Vancouver and Austin because that’s where my family is. Jensen: *pretends to snore* 

Jared would travel to Florence, Italy. Jensen would travel to one of the Scandinavian countries. Would also love to go back to Japan. 

Every time the room starts to vibrate (like from helicopters flying by) Jensen looks for Transformers lol. 

There were a lot of things behind the scenes during the end of season 11 that made things complicated with the last three eps. 

They don’t usually shoot stuff they can’t use in an episode. Jensen says they’ve gotten it down to a science. Things are rarely on the cutting room floor. 

There is enough gag reel footage for a 30 min. gag reel just from the first 2-3 episodes. They want the gag reels to be longer, but they don’t budget for it.

Jared: I’d watch a season of gag reels. Everyone: Us, too!

Fan asks a tech question and mentions Jensen may have more perspective because he directs. Jensen: I usually do hehehe. 

Jared: I haven’t seen Magic Mike. Jensen: All the way through. 

Jensen watches The Change-Up a lot. Jared sings along to Alvin and the Chipmunks when he puts it on for his kids and watches it even after his kids will go take a nap. 

Jared’s favorite big bad character is Lucifer. Jensen agrees, then gives honorable mentions to Azazel and Alastair. 

One of Jensen’s favorite scenes in s11 was when he was talking with Chuck. 

J2 are open-mouthed about a fan’s amazing binge-watch of Supernatural. 

Jared’s favorite dramatic TV show to binge is Breaking Bad. J2 both like BB. 

Jared is fangirling over Jensen’s Eric Brady character :P

Jensen’s favorite show to binge is Arrested Development. 

After mentioning a few shows they enjoy, Jensen says, “But that’s enough advertising for other TV shows.”

J2 haven’t pranked each other in a long time. It got too dangerous. They usually work together when doings pranks on other people. 

Jared is waving his foot over Jensen’s crotch lol. 

Their usual prank target is Misha. Recently made him mess up and when the director was like, “Misha, what’s up?” J2 were like: “Yeah, Misha!” 

Jensen hit Jared in the balls when Jared was hugging Misha during filming on Friday. Jensen says that Jared then said, “I hope that was you, Misha.” Jared: I was trying to break him! Jensen says that Jared was squatting a little in front of him during the hug so he just brought his foot up a little... lol

Jensen: “I already worked with the actor I wanted to work with.” Jared: Aww!! Jared then hugs Jensen. Then Jensen says, “Actually, my Dad...” lol.

Jared would have loved to work with Robin Williams <3

J2 fist bump at the end of the panel :)

Info via: Fangasm, Michael, Cherie, Sil’s livetweet list 

[junker-town]

The reason behind Brandon Ingram’s emergence and how Zion Williamson’s return complicates it

What Zion Williamson’s return can tell us about Brandon Ingram’s career year.

Williamson’s injury gave Ingram the spacing and platform to play like a future star. Is that still possible with Williamson coming back?

On Oct. 21, 2019, a 48-word New Orleans Pelicans press release put a mammoth damper on the beginning of the new NBA season. Zion Williamson, the rookie sensation that looked even more exciting than advertised in preseason, would miss 6-8 weeks after knee surgery. Nobody with a pulse was happy with this development.

But as the old adage goes, one man’s misfortune is often another’s gain. Without Williamson, something beautiful has happened: Brandon Ingram is becoming the star he was supposed to be when he entered the league in 2016.

With Williamson out of the lineup, Ingram’s slid up a position to power forward and gobbled up the lion’s share of Williamson’s usage. The results have been spectacular, at least from Ingram’s perspective. He’s averaging more than 25 points, nearly seven rebounds, and almost four assists per game, all while dramatically upping his usage and scoring efficiency. He’s become a reliable No. 1 scorer in crunch time and is playing with a freedom and confidence he’s never displayed.

Ingram’s emergence is coming at the perfect time, considering his scary past — a blood clot in his shoulder threatened to ruin his career last year — and his lucrative future as the headline restricted free agent of next year’s weak class. Without Williamson’s injury, it’s hard to imagine this happening. Zion’s absence isn’t the only factor in Ingram’s rise, but it sure provided the platform, floor spacing, and featured role Ingram needed to maximize his game.

Williamson’s return is on the horizon, so can Ingram still be his best self when they share the court? The answer has significant implications for the Pelicans and Ingram’s own career arc.

The reality is the current on-court conditions with the Pelicans are built for Ingram to thrive. Without Williamson, coach Alvin Gentry has leaned even further into his high-tempo ethos. Sixty-eight percent of Ingram’s minutes have been at power forward this year, compared to just 18 percent last year with the Lakers. That setup is uniquely built to maximize Ingram’s strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Ingram’s offensive skill, off-the-dribble power, and shaky spot-up shooting (at least before this year) meant he needed to play with the ball in his hands. Give him time and space to build up speed, and he’s always been able to use his core strength, long arms, and point guard-like shake to thrive.

At the same time, his high center of gravity limited the efficient openings he was able to create for himself and others. Without a spread floor, Ingram-centric possessions often looked like this.

Ingram is at his best when he’s able to attack quickly and decisively without having a lot of bodies in his way. He needs teammates to space the floor so he can get downhill more easily, but also requires others to push the ball to get him a running start. On top of that, he also needed ways to go against bigger defenders that lacked his foot speed, rather than smaller wings that could dig into his legs.

That’s a tough environment to engineer while using Ingram as a more traditional wing, but it has suddenly become easier if he’s slides up a position. Without the injured Williamson, New Orleans’ base look now supplies Ingram with three perimeter players that’d be undersized even for shooting guards, plus a role-playing center to set screens and/or dive to the basket. That’s not a great lineup to use if you want to play passable defense, and the Pelicans unsurprisingly stink on that end.

It is, however, perfect for making a guy like Ingram look better. As a 4, Ingram gets the benefit of playing with ball-handlers like Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball that can initiate the offense, floor-spacers like J.J. Redick, Josh Hart, and E’Twaun Moore that suck help defenders away, and big men like Derrick Favors and Jaxson Hayes that can lay the wood on Ingram’s primary defender (in Favors’ case) or offer a vertical threat rolling to the rim (in Hayes’).

Those elements combine beautifully in set plays that give Ingram a head start, such as this staggered pick-and-roll.

Or this dribble-handoff sequence — which, by the way, is the exact same one the Pelicans regularly used for Williamson in the preseason.

Pelicans 21 Keep Cut 4 Pitch Action to get Zion downhill. pic.twitter.com/2mkEV2s2NR

— Half Court Hoops (@HalfCourtHoops) October 8, 2019

Or in isolation sequences like this. Ingram’s hesitation to get to the cup is devastating, but he needs the space his teammates provide to set it up properly.

They also help when Ingram attacks in transition, something the Pelicans actively seek out whenever possible. On most missed shots, Ingram advances up a wing, either by himself or after a pitch-ahead pass from the rebounder. When there, he sees blood, attacking the retreating defense using the precious running start his game requires. In these moments, he becomes a poor man’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is plenty fearsome in its own right.

Look at how the rest of the Pelicans lurk along the three-point line.

Even if he can’t dunk, Ingram has all the space in the world to flow into New Orleans’ early offense.

The Lakers gave Ingram these opportunities, too, and the Pelicans will even after Williamson returns to the court. But with one less perimeter player to push tempo, run the wings, and/or occupy help defenders along the three-point line, Ingram will have less space to exploit. That means fewer chances to attack and more annoying help defenders nipping at his heels when he does.

Plus, Williamson’s supposedly decent at going coast-to-coast with the ball in his hands, too. The Pelicans might want to explore that skill. Just a thought.

Bottom line: while Williamson’s return is great for the franchise and the NBA, it’ll force Ingram to leave his personal Camelot. Can Williamson and Ingram both live their best lives for the next decade without bumping into each other?

One emphatic reason for optimism is Ingram’s emerging three-point shot, which has been shockingly wet this year after looking ugly in his three Lakers seasons. As of Jan. 7, Ingram is shooting over 40 percent from downtown on nearly six attempts per game, a massive improvement from his 33-percent mark on less than two attempts per contest last year. Incredibly, Ingram is shooting more than 40 percent on above-the-break threes, which puts him in the 87th percentile at his position, according to Cleaning the Glass. I knew Ingram’s jumper was improved and I still did a double take when I saw those numbers.

One must exercise caution when proclaiming a broken jumper fixed based on just half a season of data, but there’s ample evidence that Ingram’s new sharp-shooting is here to stay. He’s nailing off-the-dribble looks when defenders go under ball screens.

He’s splashing wing threes on the move.

He’s even pulling up in defenders’ faces.

His form rising up for his shot has improved dramatically. Notice all the mechanical differences between these two spot-up jumpers from the exact same spot on the left wing. Credit Ingram and the Pelicans’ player development staff for smoothing all those abnormalities out.

If his new jumper is here to stay, he can certainly find ways to score while playing off Williamson. Defenders already open up driving lanes for him by closing out too hard on his shot. He’ll get more chances to make moves like this with Williamson sucking attention away.

Still, I have concerns. Even if Ingram is a more capable spot-up shooter than he was in the past, it’s still a waste of his talent to use him that way. I worry that sliding him down a position will force him to go against more of those quicker defenders that can slide into his low center of gravity.

I also worry about the other end of the floor. Ingram’s body is not built to fight through screens and he’s too easily wedged out of the play as the primary defender on pick-and-rolls and off-ball action. Returning him to the wing will put him in more of those types of actions.

Yet there is one tantalizing possibility that could solve two problems in one: what if Williamson slides up a position so Ingram can stay as a power forward? What if that’s the Pelicans’ frontcourt, traditional center be damned?

Don’t dismiss this idea offhand. As The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks noted, Williamson’s skill set could lend itself beautifully to being a small-ball center. He’d be less likely to muck up the Pelicans’ spacing that way on offense, and he did anchor one of the nation’s best defenses at Duke with his combination of speed and length. Meanwhile, Ingram may actually be better off playing more like a big man on defense instead of as a wing. His length could be one hell of an asset on the backside.

An Ingram-Williamson frontcourt with three small guards may not seem like the ideal way to fix New Orleans’ leaky defense, but it can’t get much worse than what it is now, even if Favors’ return has shored things up a bit.

Making Williamson a center to keep Ingram at his best offensive position might be too bold in the short term, but it’s worth considering in the long run. Williamson is the franchise, yet Ingram’s been too brilliant in his absence to scale back his role too much. Embracing small-ball may be the only way to ensure Williamson’s knee surgery remains a blessing in disguise instead of merely a curse.

CLOSEOUT OF THE WEEK

Three-point shooting is essential, yet there’s no good stat that credits defenders for the essential act of preventing a three-pointer from being taken. We must reward these efforts.

Fred VanVleet’s steal at the end of this sequence is nice, but the closeout before it is even more impressive. It’s not humanely possible to be any closer to a shooter without fouling.

REBOUND JOUST OF THE WEEK

Last year, I wrote about the rising trend of teammates fighting each other for defensive rebounds. These moments usually end harmlessly, but occasionally, they can cost a team. Here’s to over-aggression!

This clip is more than a week old, but screw it. Anytime there’s a THREE-MAN REBOUND JOUST, it must be celebrated.

[daddyconfessions]

daddy’s journal: 3/23/16

daddy’s journal 3/16/16

Monday Mar 7th Even though Firecracker and I had ended things, I woke up feeling pretty good. I’d thought I’d be miserable all day. All week even. But nope.

About mid morning, Pops (my boss) walks into my office. “Is your report ready?” I told him it wasn’t ready yet. “Come on. I need you to get it done. I want to read over it before we submit it.” The Board of Directors were meeting Wednesday and I had to submit my departments report. I don’t’ have to present to the board. They just take my report and read over at some point, if at all. But, if they have questions one needed to be ready to answer. I barely even worked on mine since I I thought I was getting fired all last week. Pops chewed me out about it. Then said, “Get ‘er done. By the end of the day.”

Lowkey I had kind of been looking forward to the layoff. I’d much rather be in the San Francisco eating some Italian food with Antonia. Or, smoking some good weed down in L.A. Fucking around on Venice Beach. Definitely wanted to turn up in in Hollywood.  Oh well. Its all for the best I suppose.

Tigress texted me in the afternoon wanting me to meet her. “We can just meet for drinks,” she said. “Something informal. I know you’ll like me once we meet.” Old chicks can be thirsty when they like you. Its a big difference from dealing with a young 20 something. I told her I’d get back to her but never did. It was all good though. It kept my mind off FC. I still had questions about why she was acting weird the past 4 weeks and then ended things. Lots of things just didn’t make sense. In a rare moment of bitch-assness, I felt I needed closure. Time to consult the Oracle.  

Tuesday Mar 8th Firecracker texted me that morning to tell me to have a nice day. It was going to be raining really bad and I needed to be careful. WTF? Is this chick playing games or what? Definitely got to consult the Oracle later tonight.

Pops came by my office again. “Is your report ready?” he asked. I told him I was putting the finishing touches on it. “Good,” he said. “We’re deciding bonuses tomorrow too.”

My mouth dropped. “I thought we wouldn’t be getting bonuses this year?” I asked. He chuckled and asked, “ Why not?”  I told him with the downturn and all the layoffs I figured we wouldn’t have one. He smiled: “All the layoffs increased revenue. We all think the Board will be happy with the actions we’ve taken. We have our core staff now and the sentiment is we need to send a message to everyone. We should have some good bonuses this year.”

We talked a bit more and then he left. I set back like

I went from getting laid off to getting a bonus? I was kicking myself from being paranoid. Then I thought about all the people that had lost their job and how I was benefiting from it. It was bittersweet. Corporate America...cold af. I decided to spend a little extra time on my report tho :)

That night I called the Oracle and told her everything about FC. “You know you’re not going to believe this,” she said. “But sounds like your girl is or was pregnant. I told you about my abortion before. I did all the same shit. I cried my heart out. Quit talking to every man in my life but my daddy.” I laughed out loud.

“Now it all makes sense,” she continued. “ The last time you were together she was crying. There’s only a few things that would make a strong chick cry to a man. Especially given your situation. And the way she was crying it had to be something pretty serious. I thought it was another guy but nah. This chick was pregnant. I’m telling you, I did the same shit. I got pregnant and I was mad at every dude I was talking to, even the ones I wasn’t talking to anymore. Nah she didn’t have a STD. Her ass was pregnant.”

I told her that was pretty far fetched. I mean, the Oracle usually gives good advice and 95% of the time she’s right. I think this was one was falling into the 5% range. The Oracle was like, “Think about dude. Put everything in perspective. She kept missing your dates. Then when you met, she cried like a baby. Needed you to give her a big hug. Then the next week she suddenly needs money. The amount she asked for sounds about like the cost of an abortion. Then she comes up with this discharge stuff and how she’s going to the doc and she’ll have to see you later.

“Then the next day she orchestrates the breakup. I’m telling you, she just needed an excuse to put you off. She was really playing you to let her symptoms clear up. Sounds like she went to the doc and realized she couldn’t have sex for several days after the abortion. And wtf happened to the money she needed? Mom or Dad probably gave her the money for the abortion. Or the dude she was pregnant by. And you better be glad you been wearing a condom. If it was your baby trust me she would be keeping it. Dude...give her about 2 weeks. She’ll be back. I put that on everything.” The Oracle went on with her read telling me how FC probably feeling pretty miserable and how after the abortion and things cleared up she’d feel like she got her mojo back. “My advice is to just pass on FC when she comes back around. Just concentrate on Bubbles.”

I had to admit it was the only thing that fit into the strange behavior, if nothing else explains the big crying spell she went through. Still it was pretty fantastic. I told the Oracle if FC came back I’d give her $100. She laughed. “Dude. Go ahead and give me my money now. This chick is coming back. I’m telling you.”

Then I admitted FC had already texted me today saying to say have a nice day. She was like, “Yea that $100 I’m getting may nails and toenails done...maybe I’ll put that on some shoes.....” We ended the call and I felt a sigh of relief.

Jynx texted me right before I went to bed. “Don’t forget about me daddy,” she said. Truth was I had forgot about her with all the FC excitement. But with FC gone I suddenly had more time on my hands. I texted Jynx back and told her I’d see her next week.

Wednesday March 9th Board of Director’s meeting. I put on a suit and got to work early. Not my one of my tailored ones. Some of the rack stuff. Had to down play my image a bit. If I got called into the BoD meeting I’d be ready tho.

However, the hours ticked by and nothing but closed doors and muffled voices from the Executives. Meanwhile, Tigress had been texting me. Still pushing to meet. She was a persistent little monster. And confident. I liked that shit even though I was really interested. But, with Firecracker out of the picture, I had a little free time.  I text her back and told her we could meet briefly that afternoon at Starbucks. By then the board should be done. She agreed.

A little bit before the meet, she texted “Can we meet at Alvin’s for drinks?” I told her I preferred to meet at Starbucks. “Well I’d prefer to meet for drinks,” she said. WTF? Now she’s been difficult. So I replied, “Do you want to meet or not?” We kept it at Starbucks.

Tigress was a pretty good looking woman. Definitely old enough to be some 20 year olds mother. She still could hold her own tho. Old cougar -- fucking with a young guy like me.  “I didn’t mean anything by wanting to change and meet for drinks,” she said. “I just had a little more time this afternoon and figured we could have drinks.”

“We can do something more formal next time,” I said. “I just wanted to get this meet out of the way.”

She smiled. “I’m used to getting what I want. So when you asked me if I want to meet or not, that kind of turned me on. I’m not used to a man being like that with me. “ I smiled back. “There’s not a lot of men like me.”

We talked for a good 30 minutes. Tigress was older than me but never said how much. She has her own house. Her kids are teenagers and decided to go live with their father so she’s in the big house all by herself. I told Tigress I was sorry for being so hard to schedule with. She told me she had a feeling about me. “I don’t know,” she said. “Its just something about you.” I was like, “How’s that? You hadn’t met me. We’ve only texted.” She was like “Yea, but you can tell how a person says things. Their word usage. Nah. I knew I had to meet you.”

We ended things with promises to meet again soon.

Thursday March 10th The board meeting went good. I didn’t get called into answer questions or anything. Overall the board was happy with the way things were going. Things were looking good at work.

I was leaving work for the day when the Payroll manager called me to her office. We’ve been cool since I started working there. Tight like frog’s ass. She let me know I was getting a bonus and how much it would be. I was like

I was in a pretty good mood when I pulled up to the restaurant to meet Bubbles. Firecracker picked the wrong time to break up with her sugardaddy. Bubbles was inside waiting when I got there, wearing some cute little denim one piece, hair up in a bun and what not. “Oh I love your outfit,” the hostess told her as she grabbed a couple of menus. She gave Bubbles the once over. I swore it was some lowkey lesbian shit. Appropriate since Bubbles is bi-sexual. The waitress wasn’t bad looking herself. For a moment I imagined what it would be like if we all got a room together.

“I’m sorry for cancelling so much,” B told me. “I’m feel so bad for doing that to you.” I told her not to worry about it. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I really like you,” she said. “And that mouth of yours. Oh my god.” We both laughed. We talked for almost an hour about everything. I brought up the subject of an allowance again. “I’m still open to giving you an allowance baby. Something more structured than per meet. If you want to keep doing per meet that’s fine. But I’d like to really help you out. Maybe I can help with your rent and stuff.” I almost said pay her car note, but then I remembered that old bucket was paid for.

“That’s perfect babe,” she said. “I quit my job.  Well I didn’t really quit. I just didn’t go in one day and I haven’t been back since.” I asked what happened. “With you, my friends and my son, I just couldn’t keep up with it.” She grabbed my hand again. “I defnitely want to spend more time with you. I want to do more. See you more than once a week.” I smiled. It all sounded good to me. But curiously she never said she accepted the offer. I let it ride for now. “Let’s get out of here babe,” she winked her eye. “Let’s go have some fun.”

I got the check, paid the waiter and we were on our way. “Bye,” Bubbles told the hostess as we left. The hostess was like, “I love your hair like that. Its cute.” I better get Bubbles out of there before these two chicks start tribbing.

Bubbles had parked near the door. We talked about her following me to the hotel but I gave her the address instead.  Her trying to follow me in her car was torture. It was slow as hell and she’d always get stuck at a light when following me. As I looked at the car again, I figured it probably wasn’t a good idea to be looking at Celine bags for Bubbles. Shit I’m thinking the bag probably cost more than her car. Later for that one.

I was in the room waiting by the time she showed up. We were both kind of tipsy so the clothes just seemingly fell off us. I spun her around and made her crawl onto the bed. I crawled on behind her and starting licking that kitty from the back.

She came quick and literally collapsed on the bed in front of me, her body and a steamy pulp. While she was out of it, I flipped her over and went back to work, sharing my knowledge with that clit. I sucked it while I licked it. “Fuck!” she yelled. “Eat my pussy!” And ate it I did.

She grabbed my head and as she came she squeezed it tight. Her orgasm were always violent IMHO. Her back arched up off the bed and her body contorted like she was in the Exorcist or some shit. She let out this long moan and then went limp. I stopped for a bit to let her gather her faculties. I started licking again. “Baby you eat my pussy so good,” she said. I put my hands under her little ass and lifted her up so that the kitty was level with my face. She started gyrating, rubbing that wet muff all in my face. Before long she was coming again. She let a long “Ooooooooo god“ and started convulsing again. I let her down on the bed while she grabbed her breast and squeezed the nippples. “Shit.” she growled.

I let her rest for a few minutes before I went all Moses on her again and parted the pink sea. The kitty was tight as usual. I went in slow at first and surprisingly I was able to get most of Bart in. “Fuck me,” she yelled. “Please.” I went to work, half scared to give her the full onslaught. We got a pretty good motion before she stopped me. I think she’s sort of paranoid that I might actually hurt her somehow. After a baby though? That kitty is ready. “Let me get on top,” she said suddenly.  “Are you sure?” I asked but she was already pushing me off her. “Seems like that might be more painful.”

I let her get on top she and she actually got Bart in pretty far. But she doesn’t know how to ride dick. It was kind of funny watching her bounce up and down but not actually putting the dick inside her. It was the weirdest shit ever. She was just making a bunch of movements. I almost burst out laughing from the shit. Sometimes I love the sugar bowl. I grabbed her hips and guided her down on the dick to help out.  “Oh fuck,” she said. “That feels good.” That did the trick. Not too far down, just enough to make an impression. She came again. “Shit,” she said. “I didn’t expect that.” What the hell was she expecting? She tired to get up but I wouldn’t let her. “Get you another one,” I instructed her.

“Huh?” she asked. “Get you another nut baby,” I repeated. She frowned and said, “I can’t baby. I’m done.”

I took her by the waist again and made her go up and down on Bart. She took over, and started riding him, yelling all kinds of expletives. “Fuck. Shit. Jesus. Damn.” Then she came. This time she jumped up off the dick and just laid on me. I kissed her neck and upper body while she grappled with the pleasure in her body.

“Babe you always  make me cum,” she said after a moment. We kissed and then she stopped and got wide eyed again. “Fuck I’m cumming again.” She raised up on her knees and started rubbing her pussy violently. “Oh God!” she screamed. I thought she was about to squirt the way she was rubbing that clit. NO sooner had she started then did she stop. Her head and neck was twitching and her eyes were going back in her head. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. I got some good dick but I can’t really take credit for this stuff.

I let her rest for a bit then tried to get her back on me for my final climax but she wanted me to finish in her mouth. I’m starting to think she like this shit. I relaxed and let her finish me off with some of that cranium.

We both laid there and fell asleep for a second before one of our phones went off. We both jumped up realizing the time. I needed to get home to the wife and kids and she needed to get home to her son. We freshened up, got dressed, and said our goodbyes.

[rosepeckhamacademia]

The Problem of Evil / Final Paper

The Problem of Evil

Final Paper Assignment by Sariah Rose Peckham

Philosophy 1010

2017

                                            I have chosen to dissect the philosophical problem of evil and its given implications. For a large portion of society, the belief in God has always been reverently debated while also remaining as a strongly upheld religious ideology for centuries. One might argue that the question, “Does God exist?” holds the title for the most examined question and debate the world has ever had to morally deal with.  To quote David Hume, “Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” [1] Here, Hume adequately summarizes the conflict that the problem of evil produces. This is the most powerful argument that gives society reason to believe that God does not exist. I am going to provide two solutions that I have researched to help bring closure to the problem of evil.

              A simple Google search for ‘God’ defines: “(in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the Supreme Being. Human evil is suffering caused by humans acting in a way that is considered morally wrong (rape, murder) while natural evil is suffering caused by events that have nothing to do with humans – i.e., earthquakes, tornadoes. [2] If we exist in a world that offers such harm, how can God allow these threats to continuously happen? If God is omnipotent, then wouldn’t he have had the power to stop Hurricane Katrina? If God is omniscient, shouldn’t he know how to prevent suffering? If God is omnibenevolent, that would mean is he is all-loving or infinitely good. Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people? This seems contradictory.

                          Peter Kreeft, an American Philosopher, has four parts to his solution that rallies for the existence of God and solving the problem of evil. Kreeft states, “The unbeliever who asks that question is usually feeling resentment toward and rebellion against God, not just lacking evidence for his existence.” [3] He elaborates to quite a depth, but essentially the four parts are as such. (1) Evil is not a thing, but a wrong choice. (2) The all-powerful God gave us a share in his power to choose freely. (3) The Cross is God’s part of the practical solution to evil. Our part is to repent, to believe, and to work with God in fighting evil by the power of love. (4) The phrase, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” makes assumptions. Who is to say we are good people? Who is to say suffering is bad?

            I am trying to keep an open mind as Kreeft considers these fundamental parts of Catholicism and Christianity. Overall, if you share this belief, his reasoning is sound. I find it totally difficult to accept as you would have to believe you are on this earth to repent for God. That you are “here” because someone gave you the will to be. I think there can be adverse reactions to this belief.

From American philosopher William Lane Craig, “When one says ‘solved’ one means ‘philosophically resolved’”. He references an admission explored by Alvin Plantinga, another well-known American philosopher that resolves with, “As the Christian sees things, and God does not stand idly by, coolly observing the suffering of His creatures. He enters into and shares our suffering. He endures the anguish of seeing his son, the second person of the Trinity, consigned to the bitterly cruel and shameful death of the cross. Some theologians claim that God cannot suffer. I believe they are wrong. God's capacity for suffering, I believe, is proportional to his greatness; it exceeds our capacity for suffering in the same measure as his capacity for knowledge exceeds ours. Christ was prepared to endure the agonies of hell itself; and God, the Lord of the universe, was prepared to endure the suffering consequent upon his son's humiliation and death. He was prepared to accept this suffering in order to overcome sin, and death, and the evils that afflict our world, and to confer on us a life more glorious that we can imagine. So we don't know why God permits evil; we do know, however, that He was prepared to suffer on our behalf, to accept suffering of which we can form no conception.” [4] So basically, God created the universe and has permitted this evil and has a good reason for doing so. This would mean there is no contradiction in theism. This definitely puts things into a different perspective that I found very fascinating. From what I understood, the evil is justified because God has endured it already. The question then changes to how can God be justified to us in this world, but how we can be justified to God.

              There are of course many other conflicts with the problem of evil. William S. Hatcher would say it is logical to deny altogether that evil exists – therefore an all-knowing, all-powerful God is plausible. [5] C.S. Lewis, well known author, has the idea that evil is a necessary good, therefore God can exist too. [6] Everyone seems to have complications with everyone else’s ideologies. I have found there are always holes to one’s thought process, no matter which way you try to configure it. It’s a complex problem that everyone seems to think that they have a simple solution to. I have found this isn’t the case but at least I have been given the chance to reflect on other perspectives as well as my own.

            Bibliography

  David Hume, Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, ed. with an Introduction by Norman Kemp Smith (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1980), Part X, p.198.

BBC - GCSE Bitesize: The two types of evil." BBC News. BBC, 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Kreeft, Peter. Fundamentals of the Faith. 1st ed. N.p.: Ignatius Press, 1988. Print

Craig, William L. "The Problem of Evil | Reasonable Faith." ReasonableFaith.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017. <http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-problem-of-evil>.

Hatcher, William S. God and the Problem of Evil . 1st ed. N.p.: Blackwell, 2001. Print.

Lindsley, Art. The Problem of Evil. C.S Lewis Institute, 2003. Journal.

[nishantwap]

NFL OTAs roll call: Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski skipping workouts - NFL Nation

New Post has been published on https://www.hsnews.us/nfl-otas-roll-call-tom-brady-rob-gronkowski-skipping-workouts-nfl-nation/

NFL OTAs roll call: Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski skipping workouts - NFL Nation

Organized team activities have begun across the NFL and will continue for the next few weeks.

While OTAs are not mandatory, some notable players are attending while others are sitting out this spring. All players are expected to show up for mandatory minicamp, which is being held by some teams June 5-7 and others June 12-14.

Here’s a rundown of key players missing and key players attending OTAs:

Not on hand: WR Julio Jones

Impact on team: Big deal

Reaction: Word circulated to ESPN more than a month ago that Jones wanted a pay raise based on receivers such as Antonio Brown and Mike Evans surpassing him in average per year. But Jones is not a malcontent, so he’s not likely to publicly lobby for a new deal or be a distraction to the team. Yes, Jones is worth more than $14.25 million per year with three years left on the deal. And as one NFC executive said over the weekend, “If Matt Ryan is getting $30 million per year, Julio Jones damn sure should be getting at least $20 million per year because he’s their best player.” This will become a bigger issue if Jones skips mandatory minicamp in June and then the start of training camp. Based on how much the Falcons value Jones, the guess is they’ll find a creative way to meet his desires. Jones has to collect now because unlike Ryan, he won’t be getting that huge deal at age 33. — Vaughn McClure

Not on hand: DT Aaron Donald

Impact on team: Big deal

Reaction: Donald was named the Defensive Player of the Year last season despite not participating in the offseason program and training camp because of contract negotiations. A year later, Donald enters the fifth season of his rookie deal with a new contract still not in place. His absence will affect the development of a defensive line that now includes Ndamukong Suh. — Lindsey Thiry

Not on hand: QB Tom Brady, TE Rob Gronkowski

Impact on team: Big deal

Reaction: It’s a big deal in the context of this being the first time I can recall Brady staying away from voluntary OTAs for non-injury reasons, and how he’s spoken in the past about how it’s a time to build a foundation and trust with his pass-catchers. At the same time, no one should doubt come the start late July and training camp that everyone will be aligned with the same goal in mind: Putting in the work to vie for another Super Bowl title. — Mike Reiss

Not on hand: RB Mark Ingram

Impact on team: Big deal

Reaction: I hesitated to call this a big deal because it probably won’t affect Ingram’s on-field performance too much once he returns from a four-game suspension in October. He is expected to participate in the Saints’ mandatory three-day minicamp in June and, presumably, he will also show up for training camp, since that is mandatory. But it’s a significant development because it’s a surprising one. Although Ingram, 28, is heading into the final year of his contract and recently switched agents, it’s hard to picture what his endgame is here. It’s impossible to imagine the Saints will re-sign Ingram to a lucrative long-term extension while he is holding out from camp and facing a four-game suspension to start the season — especially since they already have another No. 1 running back in last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, Alvin Kamara. So unless Ingram is simply trying to avoid injury, it feels like this could create a divide between player and team. And it seems even more likely that this could be Ingram’s last year in New Orleans after he has been a core player for much of the past seven years. — Mike Triplett

On hand: WR Odell Beckham Jr.

Impact on team: Big deal

Reaction: Beckham is doing everything in his power to prove to the Giants that they can trust him and he’s worthy of a significant financial investment. He’s now been at the start of OTAs, minicamp and the start of the offseason workout program. Now he’s hoping the Giants start seriously negotiating that new long-term deal he so desperately desires. Beckham is also not falling behind learning the new offense.

Not on hand: DT Damon Harrison

Impact on team: Not a big deal

Reaction: It’s not a big deal for now, but it’s definitely worth noting. Coach Pat Shurmur wanted all his players at OTAs and around this spring to learn the new offensive and defensive schemes. Shrumur said he’s aware of Harrison’s absence and they’ll “leave it at that.” But it’s definitely something worth monitoring moving forward considering Harrison ended last season as the team’s defensive captain and is among the team’s highest-paid players. — Jordan Raanan

Not on hand: LB Reuben Foster

Impact on team: Not a big deal

Reaction: Foster has been away from the team throughout the offseason program as he awaits resolution to his pending legal issues. Clarity could come Wednesday when a Santa Clara County judge is expected to rule on which, if any, of the three felony charges (including two related to domestic violence) against him will move forward to a jury trial. Obviously, Foster’s legal issues are a big deal. From a team and football perspective, Foster’s absence doesn’t help, especially because he’s expected to take on more communication responsibilities in the defense in 2018. But there’s plenty of time left to acclimate if his legal situation is cleared up soon. In the meantime, the Niners can give valuable reps to young players such as rookie Fred Warner. — Nick Wagoner

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[animeindoblog-blog]

3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

New Post has been published on http://animeindo.org/blog/2017/11/28/3-gatsu-no-lion-2nd-season-06-07/

3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

「小さな世界 / 手紙」 (Chiisana Sekai / Tegami) “Chapter 56 Small World / Chapter 57 Letter”

End Card

「梅雨の始まり / 蜂谷」 (Tsuyu no Hajimari / Hachiya) “Chapter 58 Start of the Rainy Season / Chapter 59 Hachiya”

Hina’s Predicament

Throughout these two episodes, Hina’s suffering continues on with no end in sight. Her teacher keeps brushing her off, and no one will stand up to the bullies. However, she does find solace within her household, although there’s a dire lack of permanent solution.

I think that we’ve been seeing an exploration of potential approaches, only to find out that these types of situations are truly delicate, and tricky to a fault. Too little effort, and you may as well have done nothing. Too heavy-handed, and some undesired consequences may arise. We see that even Takahashi’s intervention can only provide a brief respite, by momentarily raising Hina’s spirits. In fact, I would argue that his involvement only exacerbated the issue, since it gave the bullies a perfect narrative to push. They wasted no time in framing Hina as being a slut, who was fooling around with Takahashi.

Upon his immediate reaction to the unwelcome news, it was terrifying yet awesome to see Rei flare up in such a way. If we exclude his vulnerable outbursts from the first season, I’ve never seen such powerful displays of emotions coming from him, and it is here that we can see how the Kawamoto sisters have formed a cornerstone in his character development. No longer is he the pushover of old. Rather, he constantly strives to be a dependable person, who can look after the people he cares for. That said, he is still the same old, awkward Kiriyama, unintentionally startling some animals when he suddenly raises his voice in solidarity. Then again, who wasn’t on the same page? I personally feel an indescribable rage towards the bullies first, then towards the teacher above all else.

For someone who usually maintains a solid composure, it’s been really interesting to be reminded that despite being a mother by proxy, Akari is still a young woman with her own insecurities. Although Someji and Misaki are capable relatives, she worries about an extenuating situation, where she will have to go to school and confront the parents of Hina’s bullies. To be honest, I can see why such a concern would be legitimate. Imagine a middle-aged mother, who effectively enables her daughter’s terrible behaviour. Such an individual would be quick to protest her daughter’s innocence, and assert herself over Akari by ruthlessly putting her down. Even with all her love and best intentions for Hina, I could see Akari crumbling under such an unprecedented crisis. Let’s hope that the worst-case scenario doesn’t come about, right? I would hate to see such a beautiful smile getting fractured.

Rei vs Hachiya

In my opinion, this was the best shogi game depicted thus far in 3-gatsu. Due to the opponent, it was highly kinetic and fairly intense. Plus a new kind of difficulty arose. Rei’s perspective fantastically conveyed the unpleasant experience of playing against someone like Hachiya, who would fidget and make loud noises at sporadic intervals during a match. Often times, I found myself experiencing second-hand discomfort and irritation. By the way, these kind of physical reactions are a testimony to Shaft’s incredible directing. Anyhow, I wouldn’t blame people for thinking it’s a cheap tactic to unsettle shogi opponents. However, Hachiya strikes me as someone who suffers from ADHD. For those reasons, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and you could never really deny his sincere passion for the game. Combine all these quirky traits, and you might even find him endearing. I’d say he won me over, after knuckling down on Kiriyama in the post-mortem, while demolishing parfait after parfait.

Concluding Thoughts

Rei forges ahead into the semifinals, and with Nikaidou hot on his heels, I look forwards to seeing what the next few matchup brings. Just how far can his newfound determination take him, or even better, what will he do if he falls short?

So far, the pacing has been nothing short of amazing. Where most other shows would struggle to follow up from a climax, 3-gatsu just seems to naturally transition between moments, continually moving from strength to strength in its depiction of Hina’s problem with bullies. Shaft deserve credit for faithfully following on, but most of my praise has to go to Umino Chica, who set down the entire groundwork that made everything possible. Both her character and story-telling feel organic in their construction,

Anyway, I’d like to play the Devil’s Advocate for Hina’s teacher because reading the manga grants me the benefit of hindsight, thus altering my initial preconceptions. Otherwise, I suspect that I would also be up in arms over how she chose to handle Hina’s situation. While it’s true that the teacher’s passivity is utterly despicable, humans all have their reasons for acting in certain ways. Righteousness is typically the natural course upon which our feelings run, but over time, disillusionment over the system can slowly erode away our capacity to do what’s right. That is to say, we become paralysed by an indescribable fear of failure, to the extent that we’re prevented from taking proper action. Not that it justifies losing courage, when the weak and vulnerable are crying for help. However, it’s completely understandable that not everyone has the same kind of conviction we see within Hina.

Zaiden’s Anecdote

Early on in my school days, I remember that I was quick to stand up for my friends, getting in tussles with larger kids who picked on anyone I cared about. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for those who I thought were my friends. What I’m about to tell you precludes my most bitter memories from secondary school.

This guy who could never beat me at Pokémon battles thought it would be hilarious to dump an entire plate of spaghetti over my head out of spite. Not saying I was perfect, considering I was as arrogant as they come and a sore winner. But what shocked me was that none of my friends tried to help me, stand up for me, and all left the scene as soon as they could.

What’s more, this kid went straight to our Head of Learning, and straight up lied to them about how I was the one who threw food at him, landing me into two weeks worth of detention. The kicker? Not one person who I thought of as my friend stood up for me.

Their shallow reasoning was as follows. Judging by my character, they thought that I would be quick to forgive and forget. That is to say, by not choosing a side, they thought could keep both friendships, even though one side had clearly wronged. And the worst thing? I never got an apology from this scumbag.

The ridiculous thing? My ‘friends’ told me to forgive and forget, and ‘make up’ with the perpetrator. Water under the bridge, making life easy for them. The dumb thing? I did exactly that, just to make my ‘friends’ happy. But he always continued acting like he was somehow the victim, and it felt horrible having to stick around someone who had wronged me in such a vile way without remorse. And what my ‘friends’ did was enable his lousy behaviour. One ‘friend’ told me they let him get away with it, because he never directly hurt them, making it okay for them. Needless to say, I don’t speak to that person anymore.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried at the time, cleaning up the floor covered in spaghetti, while the rest of the school kids in the dining room looked on in glee. Much like Hina, I also cried on some random nights, because I felt really abandoned, and the incident messed me up for a long time. However, I managed to come out stronger, and eventually found the genuine friends I had always wanted. There’s one in particular that comes to mind, that I want to talk about.

End Card

A Heartfelt Message to My Best Friend

Dear Alvin,

I know you sometimes read these Random Curiosity posts. Whether you’ll read this one is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, I just wanted to say, I love you lots and thank you for being my best friend over these past few years!

A lot of people in our secondary school misjudged you, readily dismissing you for being ‘lame’. Not only were they completely wrong, but they utterly failed to see your true worth and value. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful and blessed to have you as my best friend.

While you may be awkward at times, that does not refute the fact that you’re a truly good person at heart, who holds a deep sense of compassion for your peers. You would stand up for me without any hesitation, and properly listen to me when I needed someone to confide in. As I would do for you as well.

Had I known you prior to the spaghetti incident, I know I wouldn’t have experienced such loneliness. As such, it is my regret we couldn’t have been best friends earlier on during our time at secondary school, since I wish I was there to help with your hardships too. I will always have your back, and if I needed someone to have mine, I’d trust you for time immemorial. I hope we can continue to be best friends, till death do us part.

Yours sincerely,

Zaiden

[junker-town]

Which NFL records will probably never be broken?

Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, and Brett Favre will probably be in the record books forever.

Records fall often in the NFL. The reasons for that vary. The sport has short regular seasons. It’s just 52 years into the Super Bowl era. Rule changes have made scoring and offensive success easier than ever.

In 2017, the New England Patriots became the first team to win nine consecutive division titles, Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara became the first running back tandem to each eclipse 1,500 yards from scrimmage, and Super Bowl 52 smashed 17 records.

But even though records are rarely safe in the NFL, there are a few that are so far out of reach that it’s hard to imagine they’ll ever fall. Here are a few of the NFL’s most untouchable records:

Most career rushing yards: Emmitt Smith, 18,355

Between 1991 and 2001, Smith had at least 1,000 rushing yards in each season and led the NFL in rushing four times. The 11-year streak topping 1,000 yards is an NFL record and it provided the majority of a career rushing mark that is well out of reach of today’s group of running backs.

While Barry Sanders and Curtis Martin each had 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons, Sanders retired after just 10 years and Martin only played in 11.

Smith’s 15 NFL seasons and 226 games are numbers few running backs ever approach. Even Frank Gore — the NFL’s current immortal running back — is at 196 games over 13 seasons and 4,329 yards behind Smith.

For any player to reach Smith’s numbers, he’ll need to have remarkable longevity and produce at levels that are rare for the modern running back.

If a running back somehow managed to play for 15 seasons like Smith did, he’d need to average about 1,224 yards per season to take the record. A grand total of three running backs even topped that in 2017 — Kareem Hunt (1,327), Todd Gurley (1,305), and Le’Veon Bell (1,291).

All three players are young — Bell is the oldest at 26 — but would need to keep up their current play for at least a decade to get into Smith territory. Don’t count on it.

Unless Gore plays until he’s 40, nobody is going to touch Smith’s record for a long time, if ever.

Jerry Rice’s receiving records

You would think that the NFL’s increasing emphasis on the passing game would jeopardize receiving records, but nobody will be touching Rice’s all-time marks any time soon.

He owns the records for:

Receptions: 1,549

Receiving yards: 22,895

Receiving touchdowns: 197

To put in perspective how far ahead he is, these are the players — all of whom are either elected to the Hall of Fame or will be soon enough — in second place:

Receptions: Tony Gonzalez (1,325)

Receiving yards: Terrell Owens (15,934)

Receiving touchdowns: Randy Moss (156)

Yeah, that’s a nearly 7,000-yard difference between Rice and the second closest receiving yardage total.

Rice played 20 NFL seasons, topped 1,000 yards 14 times, and most of the passes thrown his way came from a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks. He retired when he was 42 and that’s still rare for wide receivers, even as quarterbacks are playing longer. The bar to reach Rice is just way too high for anyone to come close.

Most consecutive starts: Brett Favre, 321*

*includes playoff starts

Beginning when Favre took over the starting job for the Green Bay Packers in September 1992, he started every single week until he suffered a shoulder injury with the Minnesota Vikings in December 2010.

It was 297 consecutive starts in the regular season and another 24 in the playoffs to make a staggering 321 games in a row.

To approach the record, a player has to:

Play a minimum of 17 seasons, but likely about 19 or 20

Avoid injury every step of the way — making it unlikely for a non-quarterback

Play well enough to avoid getting benched

Eli Manning got to 222 starts before he was benched by the Giants in November. Now the nearest active player is Philip Rivers who’s at 201 consecutive starts, despite suffering several injuries in his career including an ACL tear. He’ll turn 37 during the 2018 season and would need another seven or eight seasons to top Favre.

His Chargers teammates believe he could do it, but that’s a tall ask — especially for a player who commutes more than an hour to work every day due to his choice to keep his family in San Diego. Tom Brady may be playing well after turning 40, but expecting Rivers to play until he’s 44 or 45 is asking a lot.

Every major interception record

Interceptions used to be a much more prevalent part of football. In 1985, there were 602 picks thrown and 598 touchdowns. But there have been more touchdowns than interceptions in every seasons since — and the gap is widening.

In 2017, there were 741 touchdowns and just 430 interceptions.

With a higher emphasis on offensive efficiency, and rule changes making it more difficult to defend the pass, interceptions are becoming increasingly uncommon. And that means a lot of records are safe. These four, in particular, will probably never be touched:

Most career interceptions thrown: Brett Favre (336)

Most single-season interceptions thrown: George Blanda (42)

Most career interceptions: Paul Krause (81)

Most single-season interceptions: Night Train Lane (14)

The only one that’s even feasibly in reach is Lane’s single-season mark from 1952, but the last cornerback to even have more than 10 was Everson Walls, who had 11 interceptions in 1981. Long live the interception kings.

Every major extra point record

When the NFL changed the rules to make extra points 13 yards longer, the goal was to make the play more exciting. Instead of more than 99 percent of extra point attempts going through, the number has hovered around 94 percent in the last three seasons.

But more misses hasn’t been the only byproduct of the rule change. Teams are kicking extra points less often too.

While there are more touchdowns than ever, the 1,134 extra point attempts in 2017 were the fewest since 2005. It makes more mathematical sense for teams to go for two, and slowly but surely it’s becoming an increasingly common choice.

That means the rule change left a lot of records out of reach:

Most career extra points made: George Blanda (943)

Most single-season extra points made: Matt Prater (75)

Most consecutive extra points made: Stephen Gostkowski (523)

Prater’s record was set in 2013, two years before the rule change made 75 extra points an unrealistic number for a kicker to match. Prater was also kicking for Peyton Manning and a record-setting Broncos offense. The leader in attempts in 2017 was Wil Lutz of the Saints with just 50 — 47 of which he made.

Before the 2018 NFL season ends, Drew Brees will likely take over the all-time passing yards record. He needs just 1,495 to top Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, and then Brees will be the owner of one of the NFL’s most prestigious records.

After Brees, there’s a list of candidates — including the ageless Brady — who could eventually take the top spot.

But not every record will get touched. The evolution of the sport preserved several records in stone, and there are more marks that are well out of reach of ever conceivably getting topped. Names like Favre, Smith and Rice will be in the record books forever.