#I just wanted to have the OP and ED in clean quality just like the S1 ones knfdfn

[wxtchpilot]

[random-useful-posts]

random-useful-posts Index

This index is not yet complete, but I figure I would post it like this for now. I will continue to edit it with updates and will hopefully be finished soon. Posts from before July 2020 have not yet been indexed.

I do also try to comprehensively tag these posts, but given the limited reliability of Tumblr's blog search function, I figured an index would be useful as well.

In addition to my posts, I include some blogs on this list, particularly for extensive topics that warrant Tumblr blogs on their own. (If you are wondering why you have randomly been tagged here, this is likely why. See the appropriate section. I can remove you from the list if you'd prefer, just send a message or ask with that request.)

Tag List

Tags for categories are linked in the index. Additional tags I use include:

advice: posts which contain their own advice/tips

resources: posts which link to resources

disability: posts aimed at or especially useful to disabled people

spoonie: posts aimed at or especially useful to those with chronic illnesses

free: posts with resources which are available free of charge

open source: posts with open source resources

technology

software

digital media

source unspecified: posts with images or information that do not specify a source. Nowadays I try to only reblog posts with properly sourced information, but sometimes it is ambiguous, such as if the original was deleted or OP was unclear on whether the image was their own. I will also add this to old posts without sources which I reblogged at a time when I was less discerning.

Life Management Skills (Tag: Homemaking)

(Posts may also be under the deprecated tag: Adulting.)

Communication and Self-Advocacy (Tag: Communication)

"The best time to read an agreement is before you sign it. The second best time to read an agreement is when you've encountered a problem." Advice for reading contracts, terms of service, etc. and advocating for yourself using them.

Finances, Saving Money, and Shopping (Tag: Finances)

Personal Finance (Tag: Personal Finance)

Shopping (Tag: Shopping)

Purchasing for quality (with my addition about library Consumer Reports memberships): https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/737396807333707776 (Original: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/702888294530301952)

Thrifting: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/717451125536751616

"Wish list for people who don't want anything" (simple possessions which improve quality of life and are good to receive as gifts)

Food (Tag: Food)

The Sad Bastard Cookbook: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/726371715886759936

Homes (Tag: Homes)

Cleaning not as a moral imperative but for the sake of a safe environment free of hazardous material: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/736921337933807616

Open source and secure smart home/automation tools (alternatives to Alexa, Google Home, etc.): https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/654278061716586496

Practical examples of, "a stitch in time saves nine," and how early maintenance is more sustainable

Wellness (Tag: Wellness)

Physical Activity and Mobility Aids (Tag: Mobility)

Shoelace lacing patterns and Ian's shoelace site (https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/): https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/681919878571147264/white-throated-packrat-feanor-the-dragon

Using zip ties for DIY traction on wheelchair wheels, and wheelchair slippers to protect floors: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/742070321011720192

Sex (Tag: Sex Ed)

BDSM and Kink Sex Ed Books: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/715794717558931456

Creative Pursuits: Arts, Crafts, DIY, etc. (Tag: Arts)

Crafts and DIY (Tag: Crafts)

Bottlecap pins: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/646189293699727361

Visual Arts (Tag: Visual Art)

Stellar photography with a cell phone: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/663253631112495104/zetarays-angeredthoughts

Writing (Tag: Writing)

"Words to replace said, except this actually helps", suggestions sorted by category and usage

"Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters"

"[I]f you’re stuck on a scene or a line, the problem is actually about 10 lines back", with further explanation: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/743635740502720512/epicfangirl01-softestvirgil-melindawrites

Writing Prompts, Generators, and Exercises - WritingExercises.co.uk: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/746902902508011520/thereal-tsuki-llama-impishtubist

Character flaws as versions of their strengths, and strengths as responses to their flaws: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/746903363766173696/i-find-it-kinda-odd-how-people-talk-about-writing

Writing descriptive narrative in scenes like a visual artist works, with layers: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/746904521589030912

Spanish Language Writing (Tag: Spanish Language)

"Words to use instead of decir": Words to replace said, Spanish edition.

Media: Educational, Entertainment, and Otherwise (Tag: Media)

Media Discovery and Recommendations (Tag: Media Discovery)

"Websites that help with content filtering and content warning": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/715794599343521792

Resources for Book Recs: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/704899984721575936/libraryleopard-the-other-day-one-of-my-friends

Research - Libguides: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/737009166571405312/librariandragon-diebrarian

"Films to watch" in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/746900737786839040/films-to-watch

Educational (Tag: Educational)

Nicky Case's games (math, sociology, politics, social justice related): https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/705319423368675328/imtoobiforyou-dumgold-skeptictankj

Language Learning (Tag: Language Learning)

Language Learning Directories - @thelanguagecommunity: Comprehensive directories for this topic in particular, for and in many languages. See the language directory at https://thelanguagecommunity.tumblr.com/languages.

Spanish - @spanishskulduggery : A blog "dedicated to helping people learn Spanish language, grammar, and culture. Send in your asks and I will help you understand Spanish: beginner, intermediate, or advanced."

American Sign Language: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/720521546586882048/naurielrochnur-emorawrites

Free Media (Tag: Free Media)

General/Multiple Formats

"Where to Find Free Digital Media" (my list): https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730895421891887104/where-to-find-free-digital-media

Literature (Tag: Literature)

Books Unbanned library list: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730890268238364672

"99 legal sites to download literature": https://random-useful-posts.tumblr.com/post/654791319704797184/99-legal-sites-to-download-literature

Audio (Tag: Audio)

MyNoise.net (https://mynoise.net/) free noise/soundscape generator: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/656355254807461888

Images (Tag: Images)

"Free Images for Commercial Use": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/717261298263572480

Fandom (Tag: Fandom)

"AO3 filtering for either of two (or more) tags": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/705316900208574464

"Easy Fanfic Library" for downloading and organizing fanfiction: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730895539119554560

"Fanfiction Commenting Guide": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730895479310778369

Web (Tag: Web)

Accessibility (Tag: Web Accessibility)

"Image Descriptions and Accessibility in General on Tumblr for New Users": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730041692924805120

"General guide for image descriptions": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730041575578681344/general-guide-for-image-descriptions

Image Description Templates: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/730041634777071616/image-description-templates

Indie Web, Old Web, and Other Alternatives to Commercial Tools (Tag: Indie Web)

Actually Useful Search Engines: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/721773264635035648/cea-tide-ladyshinga-im-sorry-friends-but

"Beginner's Guide To The Indie Web": https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/702028998517178368/beginners-guide-to-the-indie-web

"What the fuck is there to do on the internet anymore?" list of sites and ooh.directory blog directory: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/731342966582624256/ok-but-like-what-the-fuck-is-there-to-do-on-the

Privacy and Cybersafety (Tag: Cybersafety)

Browsers - Issues with and alternatives for Google Chrome, and Firefox add-on recommendations: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/657901858537472000/firespirited-bamboozled-rainbow-superhell

Social Media (Tag: Social Media)

Blank meme templates: https://www.tumblr.com/random-useful-posts/742069088928579584/meme-templates

[fostersffff]

Hello! I’m an insane man who purchased Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water on blu-ray from eBay last year for an amount of money I’m embarrassed to disclose. I did this because I was under the impression that this series- which was last made available in 2014- would probably be in license purgatory for quite some time. Gkids then announced a few months later that they had plucked it from purgatory, and would be doing a new blu-ray released that was downscaled from a 4k rescan of the original film elements.

After realizing that nobody else was doing it, either because they lacked the materials, means, interest, or any combination of the above, I realized I could do a side-by-side comparison of these two releases! This won’t be terribly in-depth, just a few quick shots from the intro to see the difference.

First up, the logo! Simple white text and clouds on a deep blue ocean and sky clearly highlights the first big difference between the two, which is color. Compared with the Gkids version, the Sentai version looks a little washed out. However, I believe this has less to do with the resolution the footage was scanned at, and more to do with the other big difference between the two...

Digital Noise Reduction, or DNR! If you’re unfamiliar, DNR is the process of removing film grain from older works, and it’s a contentious subject. Most people are cool with getting rid of the grain, but purists will cross themselves at the mere thought of it. The reason for this is that the process of removing grain can also unintentionally smudge detail, which is less noticeable in still shots like the above, but more in heavily animated, less intricately detailed shots, such as these:

I’m not sure how clear that is considering the low detail of the gif format, but you can see a little artifacting around the characters’ linework and shadows in the Gkids version compared to the Sentai release. I can also tell you the Sentai version gif is actually larger in filesize than the Gkids version because of the grain, because it prevents the Sentai version from having color banding as aggressive in the Gkids version, but that’s really only a concern if you’re making gifs yourself.

Now, generally speaking, anime distributors are careful about the application of DNR, so in the grand scheme of things, these are just nitpicks between the two. And ultimately, nitpicks that don’t matter, because if you want to check out Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, of course you’re going to buy the easily available and reasonably priced Gkids release, and not hunt down the out of print, significantly more expensive Sentai release. And if you already happen to have the Sentai release, you’d probably never even think about double dipping for the Gkids release anyway.

This was mostly an experiment for me to see how much better the image quality was on the Gkids version, and as best as I can tell it’s “more color saturation, less grain” where the Sentai version is “less color saturation, more grain”. The most crucial thing is that they’re both native HD, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re a winner either way if you own the blu-ray. Maybe upgrade if you have the original ADV DVDs.

(Oh, and as far as extras go: both versions have a five minute promotional video from before the series aired, as well as a commercial from before the series aired. The Gkids version comes with a physical art booklet, and the Sentai version includes a clean version of the OPs and ED, but they’re upscaled kinda poorly from the DVD quality, which is why they’re not present at all on the Gkids release)

[no-brand-gays]

okay here are my thoughts on and a very loose rating of the discographies of the major idol anime franchises (disclaimer that i haven’t listened to Every Single Song of any of these series and i’m 

-love live: i think...i’d be biased in saying ll has the best idol franchise discography...but i don’t think it’d be a stretch to say that they pour a LOT into their music production. i do think there’s a lot of ll stuf that sounds the same and none of the full groups have a sound that differentiates them from each other but ll’s also good at mixing up sounds and concepts, so there’s no character or unit that’s really locked into just one style. i feel like ll prioritizes catchiness and energy a lot of the time so there aren’t many songs that aren’t fun to listen to, which i definitely think is one of the most important things in idol music. there aren’t even that many bombs which you’d think would mean they play it safe but i don’t think you can talk down the variety in the discography. aki hata is also a lyric writing god and i do think it’s saying something that even 10 years into the run as a series we’re still getting songs that sound new. you can tell when they’re being lazy but that’s a pretty uncommon situation and you’d be damned to find a ll song that isn’t at least fun to listen to. favs: mermaid festa vol 2, blueberry train, angelic angel, snow halation, ps no mukougawa, shoujo ijou, doki pipo emotion

-idolm@ster: before you come at me i want you to know that i have felt this way about idolm@ster’s discography for the last 7 years and my opinion Has gotten better over time but wow. so many idolm@ster songs are so boring. i think one thing you can really say abt love live is they’ve mastered the art of making OPs and EDs and group singles that all kinda sound the same but are still fun to listen to. i think what makes im@s discography good is that they’re not afraid to really jump into weird concepts for their more out-there characters. like what other franchise is delivering to us ai like hamburger. nobody. so those more unique songs are almost always hits but a lot of the generic idol pop songs feel pretty watered down and hard to get into. they do get that right pretty often too but bc their discography has gotten so huge over the years there’s a lot of filler. favs: kyun! vampire girl, do dai, s(mile)ing, romantic now (uzuki mix)

-aikatsu: honestly? i would place aikatsu’s discography at LEAST at 2nd place. they’ve gone through a lot of changes in producers in the last few reboots but there are sooooo many consistent hits and i feel like it gets written off for being a kids series when the music is honestly so top tier. aikatsu doesn’t do big group songs all that often and each season only comes w a few one-size-fits-all generic songs so most of the discography is tailored to one or two characters in particular which makes for some amazing variety. the fact that it’s for kids even means the songs are more catchy and energetic so even the ones that are kinda dumb stick in your head. i don’t know how much i can speak for these past few seasons but you can really feel the passion that went into most of the songs. the general sounds of aikatsu are clean and bright pop and emotional pop rock and theatrical ballads and genuinely i have no clue why the music alone hasn’t made it mega popular. there are definitely duds though, especially when it comes to songs that weren’t made to be performed. favs: diamond happy, koisuru mitai na caramelize, summer tears diary, hello new world, heart skip, dramatic girl 

-pretty rhythm: kinda similar to im@s in that a lot of their music is kinda boring in its early 2000s idol sound but i’d honestly argue that pririzu does that sound better. like it all sounds very nostalgic and classic and gets this quality of timelessness from that. this is probably the franchise i’ve listened to the least though so i’m not the best authority on this. favs: you may dream, cherry picking days

-pripara: pripara is definitely an acquired taste and the franchise i’d be least likely to listen to with my friends in the room but the one thing you can’t deny is that the production is so crazy tight. pripara definitely gets most of its fame for how off the walls crazy it is and since that’s such a part of its identity i can’t fault it for how many songs are similarly whole hog wild but even though i never want to hear the omurice song again in my life pripara has continuously delivered hit after hit. their generic idol songs (like make it and dream parade) are some of the best in the genre and whatever subgenre they’re pursuing they never fail to bring the energy. i do think a lot of their out of the box songs (like the ones that are made for visual-based performances that aren’t really meant to be cohesive songs) are flops but the entire first season is made of 10/10s which is so crazy. the crazy concept songs usually hit too. favs: marble makeup a ha ha, zero week old, suki suki sensor, realize

-bandori: hot take but bandori has some stinkers. i don’t know why the first few months of bandori songs had so many flops (tokimeki experience...yes bang dream...that’s how i roll...) but i do think they’ve stepped up their game since then!! i think...as time has gone by bandori has become a franchise people really care abt and with it the content has gotten better too. like holy shit. NOW you can see how much the producers are putting their hearts into the music but it definitely took a little while (not that there weren’t good songs at the start too, shuwarin dreamin is one of my absolute favorites). i think it’s really impressive how much they’re found their footing w each band’s sound, they all really feel believable as artists, and it’s blown up so clearly they’re hitting it out of the park these days. favs: hidamari rhodonite, kimi ga inakucha, shuwarin dreamin

-bonus shoutout to zombieland saga bc the production is so all over the place. when they wanna write a good song holy shit do they write a good song but sometimes you get To My Dearest. which im still sort of baffled by. could the writers not figure out how to rewrite those 20-syllable lines to sound even half singable or 

[ladyshio]

So I ordered the Kodocha Blurays and the first Box set came in!

It's really cute and really small. I was really surprised.

The material is a thicker high quality paper so it feels delicate.

In this boxset is the Blu-ray discs and a booklet.

The bluray insert I liked more than the outside appearance a bit. It was cute and creative!

The booklet was just like the box appearance wise and just carried information about the staff and snippets of information about each episode. I personally have little idea as to what it says. I am pretty sure it's episode summaries so you can flip to your favorite episode with ease.

And that was that! I'm so happy with it, I checked out disc 2 and it had Clean Versions of both the First OP & ED. Which was really cool especially for the Opening since I've never seen a clean version of it before. I haven't checked out disc 1, but it wouldn't come out of the case and I didn't want to break it. Lol!

I can't wait for the Second Blu-ray!

[tfw-no-tennis]

hunter x hunter thotz so far

soooo ruth and i started watching hunter x hunter woohoo finally! we’re like 10 or so eps in so i decided to collect some thots below on what i think so far (i havent rlly been spoiled so im interested to look back on this once ive watched more)

first off i love gon sm, hes immediately so endearing...hes just a baby!!!! just a little baby boy!!!! hes just so cute and good, im so not ready for him to get put thru the wringer later on as ive vaguely heard happens

the first few episodes were really fast paced which i enjoyed and thought was for the best. the characters came thru really strongly and i feel like we heard juuuust enough about the setting, premise, and what a hunter is 

i wasnt expecting leorio and kurapika to show up in the FIRST EP lmao that surprised me. i love so much how the three of them like IMMEDIATELY became a family unit in like 3 eps lmaoooo it was like ok here are 2 parents and their son bam. also leorio and kurapika having a showdown on the boat (which didnt end up happening) was a wild ride 

i have like zero fucking idea what a hunter is and the more they attempt to explain the more confused i get. its honestly kind of hilarious how little sense it makes. to be clear this doesnt detract from my enjoyment of the show at all (if anything it adds to it)

oh my god fuckgin hisoka is the worst he hasnt done much but i hate him so much already. good villain writing/design so far, hes so hateable

ruth every time hisoka shows up: WE HATE UR PUSSY BIIIITCH 

the character design in this show is....a lot lmao. ruth and i decided its a cross between soul eater, jojo, and one piece in terms of aesthetic. the designs are certainly unique and so many of them are just so ugly hvbjafdbdskgs it reminds me of that post thats like ‘masterpost of jojo characters who look busted as shit’ lmao

i already love this show a lot tbh like the way its structured so far has been kinda atypical for a shounen, at least in terms of fights - we really havent seen a lot of fighting yet. also nen hasnt shown up yet and its reminding me of stands not becoming a thing in jojo until p3 lmao 

anyways in litrally ep1 i already loved the 3 main characters we saw...leorio is a wild dude, i love him sm, especially as a fellow medical binch who wants MONEY. like, thats literally me. and kurapika is also wild, like damn they rlly just dropped their backstory in ep 1 huh. like we rlly are jumping right into this 

also when leorio said he was a teenager i was like WHAT???? just like evryone else which YEA omfg. i cant believe hes that young lmao. kurapika too

so leorio is one of those 19 yr olds who looks 40 and kurapika is the type of teen who looks like a 12 yr old

and KILLUA i love him sm also....hes an adorable assassin catboy and hes perfect. i love how quickly he and gon hit it off (tiny bfs.....) and how hes just like, this extra as hell 12 yr old with a SKATEBOARD and ASSASSIN SKILLS and then he sees gon and is like guess im gonna fall in love 

i gotta talk abt gon again i just love him. hes so polite and cute and kind and good, i just love him...wht a good protag. his motivation is just wild too, hes like well my dad abandoned me to go off and be a hunter (which he isnt even mad abt, what a nice lad) so im gonna do that to see what the deal is

i love how gon (just like the audience) doesnt really know what a hunter does/is and just goes into the exam totally blind lmao. also the fact that his skills seem to include jumping good, being speedy, having the energy typical of a 12 yr old, being a weather sniffer, being nice, and having good instincts/constitution as a result of having eaten random grass and forest shit growing up...amazing. 

is this gonna turn out to be one of those things where its like, wow theyve been using nen this whole time without realizing! tht would honestly explain a lot lmao 

i really enjoy how like....semi-normal the power levels are rn? while also being all over the place and wack as fucks obvs (like hisoka dissolving that guys arms in his first appearance was A Lot, as well as all the card stuff hes done..). like the part wher that blue guys (evil franky one piece) punches the ground and it leaves a crater and everyones like !!!! wow wtf thats unnatural! that literally threw me off bc that kinda thing is so normal in anime lmaoooo. but i like that thats the starting point bc it leaves a lot of room for power escalation w/out it getting too out of hand 

specifially our protags are starting out pretty low on the Shounen Badass scale - especially gon (and leorio, tho i kinda predict he wont be as fight-y? what with him being premed)

i find it kinda hilarious how killua hasnt done too much (aside from murdering those 2 randos in like half a second) despite being so clearly skilled...like when they have to do the 5v5 fight thing in the tower, i wouldve thought hed be the first up cause hes so badass but nope

actually thats what i find interesting - i was expecting all 5 (or maybe 4, we’re in the middle of leorio’s ‘fight’) of the fights to be physical smackdowns but so far nope, theyve been very cerebral. that bodes well, w/how smart the fights have been, bc i doubt the fights will get stale tht way 

tho they might be kinda frustrating sometimes - there are times when u DO just wanna see a good ole fashioned shounen beatdown yknow. but we do get enough of that now (and im sure we’ll get plenty more) to satisfy (like kurapika decking fake-franky) 

oh also the opening. its so charming and cute and i love the song...its also so hilariously basic and classic - like one of those typical 2000s anime openings where theres stock run cycles of all the main characters and theres a little animation of all the characters fighting together (and that fight doesnt actually happen, its just for the op) 

also love that leorios the only one who doesnt fight in the OP, instead getting saved from death by gon lmao. im curious if he’ll end up fighting at all (i assume a little?) and if he’ll use nen (probably healing type nen?) 

also i already wanna fistfight ging for abandoning his perfect angel son. also leorio is literally gons dad already, they even look alike wow 

that guy hanzo has done basically 0 things so far but i rlly like him already, im curious if thatll change. also sorry for calling u ‘hanzo overwatch!?!?!?!’ upon first viewing my guy 

tonpa is str8 up so annoying pls leave u pathetic loser 

tho it cracked me up when he and Evil Mr Clean were facing off and starting getting all detailed/shaded and i was like o shit is he actually badass. are we abt to see like a nen battle or st. but no....lmaooo

i found it interesting that leorio didnt really admit to wanting to be a dr at first...hes such a good dude, he kinda just let kurapika think that his motives were superficial and greedy when in actuality theyre selfless

also wanting to be rich can be a rlly interesting character motivation and i love when its done right

oh my god i cant believe it took me this long to mention the hilariously edge ED....like holy shit, its so 2000s, the song sounds like its been re-recorded like 40000 times bc of how bad the audio quality is, or something, idk how to describe music but its hilariously specific in tone and its rlly funny to see shots of the main characters smiling while this screamo whatever plays in the bg....wow. 

also s/o to killua for being king of edgy with that ‘tear of blood’ shot

i rlly like how much of the plot, especially the early hunter exam stuff, is moved along simply by gon being a good kind polite boy. 

love the fact that he and leorio and kurapika (and later killua) all team up without even saying anything...i love that, most shounen would have them be like ‘che, i cant team up with anyone, i have to prove myself ALONE or my victory wont be EARNED’ or w/e idk. who knows that might happen later but rn i love how they all effortlessly work together (and how they all contribute - without each other they would have all failed at different points) 

oh man also killuas first appearence was so funny when he drank a bunch of tonpas poisoned drinks and was like [smirks] tch, loser, im immune to poison. get dunked on. [skateboard away] i love him so fuckgin much 

omfg that part where killua looks all shoujo/kawaii and is talking abt how hes gonna kill his family or w/e and gon is just like ^_^? i love they

HOOOOLY FUCK I ALMOST FORGOT, BUT 65% OF THE REASON I MADE THIS POST WAS TO MENTION HISOKAS THEME LMAOOOOO his music being like fuckgin, spanish guitar/traditional mexican type music is sooooo goddamn funny to me for some reason, like the first time it played i was like ok whats going ON with this spanish guitar lmao but then i figured out that its his theme and god thats so funny 

hisoka is also so fuckign jojo like he could so easily be in jojo. he and dio would be the fakest best friends ever and would constantly try to kill each other on the lowdown and shittalk each other constantly in private but be super sweet to each others faces. also they would hatefuck. no im not taking criticism bye 

i rlly love everyones backstories also, and i find it interesting that weve gotten to hear/see at least some of all 4 of the MCs backstories. theyre all compelling and interesting and i cant wait to dive in further 

also calling it now but kurapika is totally gonna get way too absorbed in revenge and get fucked up/disregard their own life (maybe in the style of robin in one piece?) we’ll see but i feel like it aint gonna end well. i could be wrong, i really havent been spoiled at all, thats just my guess 

hbahjfbshjf the ep that was called ‘hisoka x is x sneaky’ was SO funny that reads like a dora the explorer ep title 

also i had no idea the ep titles were formatted like that w/the x’s and thats rlly funny 

ok but the part where leorio - who seems to be pretty bad at fighting - tries to fight hisoka - whose literal first appearence involved him effortlessly dissolving a dudes arms - is so fucking funny. leorio rlly b a premed w/no brain cells....same bro. 

also i loved the Cutthroat Kitchen portion of the hunter exam and how not a single contestant was any good at it lmaoooo. do they not have the cooking channel in hxh-verse earth 

ok i love how the main characters are all intuitive in different ways depending on their own skills, like how killua can immediately guess that kurapika has never killed anyone before after they didnt kill evil-franky

kurapika joined killua in the Edgy Corner during that part also. like, they both have legit reasons to be edgy, but the shots of kurapika sitting in the darker tunnel part was kinda funny

also killua, a literal 12 yr old, calling out kurapika for being a murder virgin was pretty hilarious 

ok also i didnt know that madhouse animated hxh which is rlly funny but w/e i love the animation especially the occasional chibi parts and the facial expressions (like killuas ‘i love murder’ catboy expressions) 

oh also when killua murdered those 2 guys and his hand was all vein-y and his nails were pointy, his hands looked like hisokas do...i wonder if thats a legit connection or it hisoka just b getting his nails did 

kurapika talking abt how even seeing a regular spider makes them rlly angry was both very sad and kinda funny. kura u have so many issues god bless 

kurapikas smackdown on evil blue franky was fuckin dope tho. and the red eyes reveal was SPOICY 

rlly love how the individual fights highlights the characters strengths/morals/motivations/whatever....the writing is already really strong tbh 

ugh ok ive ranted enough this is a Lot lmao its so disorganized but w/e 

basically i love this series so far and im rlly curious whatll happen next. also everything seems pretty chill and upbeat so far (relatively) and i know this shit gets dark and im NOT FUCKING READY. 

til next timeeee

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E13 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 539 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 534 Responses

WIT kicked off the arc fantastically according to the viewers! This episode got overall positive reviews, with 95% of respondents giving it a 4 or 5 rating.

An ideal opening episode in my opinion!

Incredible start for possible the best season yet ♥

Awesome opening episode to set the stage for the arc to come. Pacing was just right, imo.

HYPE MY SOLDIERS

I think it was a great ep and did pretty well with the chapters it adapted. The dialogue was there and so were the scenes, the ending hyped what is coming so much so I'm already in love!

Lack of creavity when it come to the OP and ED visuals, but the ep overall was good.

The soundtrack slaps, voice acting is on point, and the animation proves to be very promising. Overall, it's a great episode to start off the second cour!

Awesome episode with awesome soundtrack.

One of the best episodes of the whole series, which was surprising.

RATE THE OP 533 Responses

Overall respondents liked the new Linked Horizon opening, which was a great summary of the current arc, but overall it fell flat as a song that most would be willing to label as their favorite.

OP depicts the upcoming battle well!

Great adaptation, just wish the opening was a little more original

It is the worst OP of all. The song is disappointing; it sounds like typical, boring song from random shonen series.

The opening definitely had some parts to it that felt recycled from previous openings, but I guess it's just Linked Horizon's way of linking them all together.

SPACE OPERATION RAINBOW!!!

To me it looks like they ran out of time to make an OP so they slapped a green filter on what they had done already.

RATE THE ED 530 Responses

The 104th-centered still-frame ED has some mixed reviews with most of the fandom sitting somewhere in the middle between loving and hating it. Respondents overall are leaning more toward the positive, however.

ED is perfect with the time skip just over the horizon

WE GOT A FEW NEW SAWANO TRACKS. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THEM? 530 Responses

Well over half the fandom are already pumped for new music from the series’ composer Sawano Hiroyuki! A whopping 76% already feel that he’s killing it. 22% need more time to decide how they feel. A small sliver of respondents don’t really care for the OST. Who hurt you?

ost perfect as usual

It was good but at this point everything sounds like it's been reused a bunch of times. Hopefully we get some new great tracks later on..

Hyeh

The bassline in the new rendition of "Attack on Titan" (or however Sawano spells it) is amazing. I cannot wait for the S3 soundtrack to be released.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 532 Responses

The scene with the Beast Titan appearing with his army of titans took 30% of the vote, with Levi attacking Reiner as a close second with 22% of the vote. 10% overall liked the entire episode, and 7% favorited the cliffhanger staredown. We can all agree the battle to come has us all hyped!

I repeated the scene where Reiner appears until the end of the episode tons of times already

Did they really had to skip Levi's frustrated expression after he failed to kill Reiner? It was my favorite moment…

Levi attacking Reiner and everything after that has become one of my favorite scenes in the series. Damn!

Nice Erwin Screentime, nice Levi nyooming behind Eren

Best girl makes her appearance

the last three minutes of the episode where the warriors show up was fucking amazing

ON SCALE OF ARMIN TO ERWIN, HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT GIVING ORDERS? 526 Responses

The majority of respondents relate to Armin’s timid nature a bit more when it comes to overall confidence in giving orders. Just a small 6.3% of you guys feel you have the charismatic swag that Erwin brings to the table.

I loved Armin giving orders politely.

How was Armin overcoming social anxiety a billion times cooler then eren flying over a 60m wall, becoming a titan and basically saving humanity.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO GO HORSEBACK SURFING? 528 Responses

This was in no way a serious question. But at an almost even split, 35.8% of voters would totally try their hand at horseback surfing, while 35.2% would never risk their life doing such a dangerous activity!

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ANIMATION QUALITY IN PART TWO SO FAR? 529 Responses

Overall respondents are pleased with the animation in the first episode of the RtS arc, with 54% stating that it’s the best animation they’ve seen from the series yet. 42% feel it could be better, but is also not the worst. A small percentage don’t find the animation all that impressive.

I can’t believe how clean all of the animation is looking. SUPER impressed with the difference in art-style compared to season 1 as well.

The animation is on the highest level.

i miss the thick lines the show used to have

i really love the colour palette of this season and the op especially.

IMO the color tones on this episode could've been handled better, it was too gloomy on some scenes :(

The animation & art style was almost as good as season 2’s (which is one of my favorite pieces of animation of all time) but still lacked in some areas.

Looks like they went all out with budget on this season and I'm loving it

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CG COLOSSAL TITAN IN THE OPENING? 532 Responses

57% of respondents aren’t too upset about the GCI Colossal Titan in the opening and say they don’t mind either way. 35% aren’t happy at all with the decision to make the Colossal CGI, while a few actually find the effect super cool.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO FINALLY SEE THIS ARC ANIMATED? 533 Responses

The overwhelming majority are extremely excited to see this arc animated after all these years. With its high levels of action and drama, it’s no surprise to us to see that the fandom is looking forward to getting this arc in an animated form!

IVE WAITED MORE THAN 2 YEARS FOR THIS IM NEVER BEEN SO FUCKING HYPED IN MY WHOLE LIFE

I've waited so many years that I'm satisfied and ready to pass now that my favorite arc is being animated

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ADAPTATION OF RTS SO FAR? 532 Responses

67% of respondents are feeling very satisfied with the way the arc is unraveling in the anime, finding that it’s a very close adaptation of the original source material. 23% feel that it’s still too early to judge the adaptation properly, and a few less feel that the adaptation so far is somewhere between good and bad.

Fantastic adaptation.

Good pacing jumping right into the action, while staying faithful to the manga.

Overall very good, but could be a TAD better

I think the adaptation so far has been great, but I need to see how the action is handled before I say for sure whether it's well adapted or not.

It was ok.

It was very well-adapted! All the important details were there and nothing important seemed to be missing, which was something I was sad about in the last arc. It seems like everything I want will get covered.

How do we come back from there without breaking my heart?

PART 2 IS SLATED FOR 10 EPISODES. DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ENOUGH TO ADAPT THE ARC WELL? 531 Responses

Voters are confident that WIT knows what they’re doing by shortening the amount of episodes that will air for this action-heavy arc, with only ¼ of respondents feeling that they haven’t given themselves enough screen time to cover every last detail. 10% don’t want to say either way.

i was disappointed in knowing it was a 10 episode arc, but seeing the quality and taking into account that this is an action-heavy arc, i'm bouncing off of the walls to see what wit has underneath their sleeve. hopefully they don't ruin the best arc

one advantage of the short season is that they cant draw out the serum bowl for too long. God, that was a painful wait when the manga was dropping those chapters.

Really well done, the pacing in particular was great. After seeing it I was convinced 10 episodes was perfect for this arc. A 6-4 split is perfect.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE VERY SPOILERY OPENING? 532 Responses

61% of respondents agree that the opening, while spoilery, is a great summary and teaser of what is to come for those who only watch the anime. Without context, they can’t know what every last symbolic image in the opening means, after all! 23% of voters expressed distaste at how much WIT is spoiling the viewers, however. 9% aren’t even concerned about it.

The whole opening was just one big “fuck you” to people who don’t read the manga.

it only becomes obvious b/c manga readers keep pointing stuff out. Yes, the intros have always hinted at things but it goes so fast that I don’t think every person will know exactly what something means if they’re anime only.

The Opening is good representation of this phase of the story ending.

I don't get why people are making a big deal over the "spoilers" in the opening when they're not even anime-onlies themselves in the first place.

Man, it only seems spoilery for those of us who know what's coming. Anime onlies don't understand the context of the images, so they can't recognise them as spoilers unless it's directly identified as such! We gotta stop judging this stuff from the perspective of someone who already knows what's coming.

It's definitely not holding back on the indications that'll happen in the arc

HOW DID THE NEW ED MAKE YOU FEEL? 527 Responses

61% of manga readers felt nostalgic seeing the images of the 104th during their trainee days coupled with a somber song. 20% felt sad about the ending, and 15% were just disappointed with the entire thing.

Lazy ending.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE RED EYES ON THE TITANS? 533 Responses

Just over half of the fandom feel that the red-eyed pure titans was a cool aesthetic to add to show that they are under some form of control by a shifter. 33% feel it’s a cool addition, but not really necessary. 11% don’t care.

I was on board with the red eyes until the cart titan also had them. No longer made any sense.

I don't get why Pieck's eyes are red when she's not a mindless being controlled by Zeke…

Like the red eyes but why does Pieck have them too.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 530 Responses

Perhaps unsurprisingly, over half of the fandom is most hyped to see the Eren vs. Reiner showdown in Shiganshina. Although not far behind, 28% of respondents are excited about Erwin’s badass unhooding moment as he challenges Reiner.

THUNDER SPEARS FOR NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Even though I totally know what will happen, the episode is written and directed in a way I still get goosebumps and forget I actually know what will happen. And the music, oh god. That's amazing. These two together have a really good effect.

I need the next one RIGHT NOW.

AAAAAHH!!!!

It was an introduction episode, so imo, it's just there to put the basis for the rest of the season. There was a good balance between the "emotionally charged" scenes and the more quiet ones, all this accompanied with an increasing tension in the background.

I wish theyd reanimated the scene of armin talking to eren about the opening instead of just reusing the animation from season 1.

that Zeke smile is like : hey there, i am here to euthanize you all. Love it !

I'm buying tickets into denial islaaand, bye, bye!

Airpipes. AIRPIPES. p.s. cracking soundtrack

Reiner has been enjoying himself some Marley protein, he extra swole now.

Armin was the MVP

PIECK!!!

I don't like the fact that WiT decided to spoil a lot. Some anime onlies already have guessed that Armin is going to be burned and then will become the next CT. So the serumbowl won't be as emotional and exciting for them anymore. I don't understand why WiT decided to do such thing. Don't they want anime-onlies to enjoy the show?

Exactly as expected you'll find a strange titan next to the beasty

I love Mikasa’s improved design and hope they show more of her working in a team like the manga. Focusing on the mission ect without pandering

RIP nameless soldier killed by Reiner.

Very happy to get a glimpse at best girl Pieck

Really no questions about our exactly right girl in this poll ? I am dissapointed :/

Watching this episode is bringing back all the suspense and awe I felt when I read this part in the manga. What a treat to be able to relive it!

They did a great job at keeping the tension and the "well shit everything's about to go wrong" from chapters 73 and 74, and managed to make the explosion at the end worth it, despite the fact I still think Reiner's continued survival throughout the arc is stupid and wish the anime had changed it so it'd be more believable, but here we are.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 514 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino’s Questionnaire *Deluxe* :D

Depending on how this looks and if I can space it out so that people can actually answer it at their own pace (because this is probably too much to do in one go), I’ll tag some friends and the awk squad. Until then, this is just a bookmark for me to get back to later. I’m not keeping it as a draft because I’m going to see if people even like the questions.

But awkward squad members, if you haven’t filled out the previous questionnaire, you can do that! I took out a couple of questions that were already on there.

Tons of RANDOM Questions!

What were you people interested in when you were kids? Of course, there are multiple so any number will do. What phases did you have? Do you still have those to this day?

Often certain OSTs, OPs, EDs, or songs, in general, bring about a sort of "hype" mood. What songs get you in that sort of mood?

Do any of you have "anime crushes"? Do you get them often? 

If you were to have a music artist make an OP and ED (you can have more than one of each) for an anime based about you, who would you hire? And what would this anime about you be like? Think about its synopsis, genre, morals, etc. 

If you were to create an anime, what would it be about? Who are the characters? What's the story and the details of this tale? Add as much as you want. And once again, who would write the OP and ED (you can have more than one of each).

Name a character (of any franchise) that you think is overrated.

If you were to voice over an anime character, who would you choose? 

If you were in a music band, what would you play? It doesn't need to be an instrument you know how to play. And what would you name your band? Who would be in it? What type of music would you play? Would you write the music/lyrics? Describe your imaginary band in detail! 

Do you wear shoes inside your house? 

What is your favourite colour?

What would you want your last words to be in your dying breath like you're in an anime scene about to die?

If you could gain the ability to do something right now (mine would be singing, being fluent in another language, cooking, etc.) what would it be?

Would you rather be able to read minds or be able to talk to the dead loved ones of those around you?

If you were a writer, artist, etc. what would your pen name be? Do you have a story behind it?

On a scale of 1 to 100, how edgy are you?

What's your biggest fear? You can include a serious one and a weird one. It doesn't really matter. You can obviously state more than one.

Describe your appearance!  

Describe the difference between your online persona and your personality in real life.

Squad Activities

Two Truths One Lie: List two true things about yourself and one thing that’s false. Don’t tell us which is which, and we will guess!

Make some superlatives (those things put in yearbooks for “most likely too” for every member of the squad (or the ones you know). 

Describe your impression of the squad members (compliment them!)

Type "yes" or "no" (with possible reasoning) for each of the questions you feel comfortable answering! 

… injured myself while trying to impress a girl or boy I was interested in. 

… had to run to save my life. 

… eaten food that dropped on the ground (that wasn’t clean)

… taken part in a talent show. 

… broken something at a friend’s house and then not told them. 

… had a bad fall because I was walking and texting (or another stupid reason you can include). 

… broken a bone. 

… cheated on a test. 

… gotten stitches. 

… had a paranormal experience. 

… sung karaoke in front of people. 

… pressed send and then immediately regretted it. 

… accidentally sent someone to the hospital. 

… dyed my hair a crazy color. 

… had a physical fight with my best friend. 

… fallen in love at first sight. 

… had someone slap me across the face. 

… worked with someone I hated on a large project 

… danced while no one was watching. 

… cried in public 

… spent a night in the woods with no shelter. 

… been electrocuted. 

… fainted. 

… looked through someone else’s phone without their permission. 

Now for some more favourites! 

Ice cream flavour 

Fruit 

Vegetable 

Type of Cake 

Pizza toppings 

School subject

Drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) 

Movie  

Here are some quick would you rather: 

dark chocolate vs white chocolate 

pizza vs pasta 

cookies vs cakes 

blueberries vs strawberries 

mangoes vs bananas 

become a vampire vs become a werewolf 

waffle vs pancakes 

Random Deeper Stuff?

What's your Myer-Briggs personality type? If you haven't taken the test in a while or if you want to see what your "personality type" is, here's the test!

Who or what inspires you?

If you could be remembered for one thing and one thing only, what would it be? Basically, what would you want your legacy to be?

What was the happiest moment in your life?

If you knew that this was your last day on earth, how would you spend it? What if it was only ten minutes?

If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for?

What are your pet peeves?

What is the one thing you wish you could do if given the chance?

What is your definition of an incredible weekend?

What are the five things you cannot do without?

Give us an idea of your hopes and dreams.

What are ten things you want to do before you die?

Would you rather know when you die or how you die?

If you could talk to your younger-self  (maybe five minutes maximum) what would the conversation be about?

What is your ideal partner/spouse like? What qualities/traits do they have? What do they look like? What do you look for in a person?

[recentanimenews]

CR Features Argues About the Best Opening Sequence of 2018

Anime Awards voting starts TONIGHT and WE'RE SUPER EXCITED! However we have gotten so loud with our individual opinions on who we think should win that we’ve been told to duke it out via written words instead of continually disrupting our coworkers (sorry fam).

  We’ll hit each category by the time we hit the evening of Anime Awards! Today’s piece gets down to the nitty gritty of Best Opening Sequence, Best Ending Sequence, Best Animation, and Best Character Design. Let’s down to business!

Best Opening

Pop Team Epic from Pop Team Epic

    The opening so nice you saw it twice every episode, and it was a banger every time. It wasn’t just the song, either--the OP was full of little things to keep looking for, so you never skipped it unless you were a total monster.

-Nate Ming

Black Rover by Vickblanka from Black Clover

  The music for Black Clover OPs and EDs has always been top notch, but Black Rover is on another level. The sequence put together by the animators is also the perfect combination of cool, goof, and heart. It’s probably the opening I’ll associate with the series forever.

-Peter Fobian

  UNION from SSSS.Gridman

    This song, like SSSS.Gridman itself, made me so happy. It was light and deft, but somehow perfect for the opening of a show about kicking the crap out of kaiju. For a genre that can sometimes feel as tired as “robot man saves the world (and his friends),” this OP, along with the rest of the show, proved that SSSS.Gridman was going to pay a lot of tokusatsu homage, while still being a breath of fresh air.

-Daniel Dockery

Rightfully by Mili from Goblin Slayer

    I’ve been following Mili’s works since I played Deemo, and their songs always have a way of worming right in and refusing to leave. So when I heard that they were doing Goblin Slayer’s opening, it was a very welcome surprise! Mili delivers a powerful performance that has a calm, yet a very vicious tone to it. Combined with the opening visuals, it really ties it all neatly together to set the mood for the show.

-Nicole Mejias

Adabana Necromancy from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

    Dapper dancing zombies. Super sentai action scenes. Idol dancing. ZOMBIE LAND SAGA’s opening sequence somehow manages to straddle several disparate genres without losing its own unified personality. Set to the theatrical “Adabana Necromancy” performed by the main Japanese cast, main character Sakura’s defiant proclamations of chasing her dreams and the truly unprecedented amount of explosions meld into something strange and charming--a perfect fit for this series.

-Cayla Coats

Best Ending Sequence

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

    You always heard this one warming in the background as an episode would come to a close, and the striking imagery of  “Hibana” just made me more excited for what the next episode of Golden Kamuy had in store.

-Nate Ming

  Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

  Although I’ve still got Hizuru Basho bumping in my head from Fall, no ED in 2018 was as much of a thematic masterstroke as Asobi Asobase. After a misleading opening giving the series the appearance of a serene high school slice of life and a very confusing episode featuring mean-spirited pranks and Hanako shrieking, the ending dumps you straight into hell.

-Peter Fobian

  Book-end, Happy-end from Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

    I feel ya, nervous skeleton man. You had a hard day, and then you just go sit on the floor and read manga. And then you lay in the bed and read manga. What a beautiful life.

-Daniel Dockery

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

    Banger alert! This song is incredibly GOOD! Not only is this song catchy, but the lyrics are a pretty good representation to what Golden Kamuy is all about, with lines about an “erased destination” and “accepting everything, pain and all.” If you skipped this ending, I don’t even know what to say; it’s too good of a song to skip!

-Nicole Mejias

Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

  Peter pretty much nailed it. After the fake-out cutesy pop opening, Asobi Asobase presents us with three middle school girls who make heinously ugly expressions and are just really, hilariously terrible people. The death metal anthem “Pulse” is a perfect fit for the horrible little nightmare children that comprise the show’s main cast.

-Cayla Coats

Best Animation

Violet Evergarden

  You don’t really expect TV anime to look this good--and then it does, and you’re treated to gorgeous, theatrical-quality animation every single episode. I wasn’t invested in Violet Evergarden, but just witnessing it made it worth the watch.

-Nate Ming

Violet Evergarden

    This one is really difficult to argue with. It’s Kyoto Animation on their absolute A game. The studio doesn’t often delve into fantasy but their backgrounds and character designs were breathtaking. Kyoto is always top shelf but they maintained damn near movie quality animation for the entire series run. Even their 3D integration was something to behold.

-Peter Fobian

Violet Evergarden

  LOOK AT HOW PRETTY EVERYTHING IS. Look at the backgrounds! And the shadows! And the way that the hair is animated! I know that that seems like a really small thing, but it irks me sometimes when everyone seem to have immovable Super Saiyan hair (though there’s nothing wrong with your hair, my beautiful shonen bro’s). Violet Evergarden was a bounty to look at.

-Daniel Dockery

Violet Evergarden

    I’d be crazy to not pick Violet Evergarden for this category. I mean, just LOOK AT IT! Absolutely GORGEOUS and BEAUTIFUL animation! I initially thought this was a movie, but nope. Kyoto Animation weren’t playing any games when it came to showing off their amazing animation skills, and my goodness, was it ever a sight to behold! Just look at how they animated the characters’ HAIR! Amazing stuff!

-Nicole Mejias

  Pop Team Epic

If you asked me two weeks ago, my answer here would have been Violet Evergarden for sure. But then my mind was changed when I saw our own Noelle Ogawa argue for Pop Team Epic’s stellar animation in this article. Pop Team Epic employs a wide range of animation styles--from 16-bit video game sprites to the horrifying, MS Paint-esque Bob Team Epic sequences to the use of unfinished storyboards seen above. The series is practically a showcase for experimental animation, and that suits the surreal humor quite well.

-Cayla Coats

    Best Character Design

  Devilman Crybaby

  Akira Fudo and Ryo Asuka are some of the most iconic, memorable, and legendary characters in anime and manga, so seeing them (along with Miki, Siren, and the rest of the cast) get clean, modern redesigns for Devilman Crybaby was a real treat.

-Nate Ming

DARLING in the FRANXX

Just based no sheer amount of fan art, it’s hard to argue with this prediction. Masayoshi Tanaka has developed a well-earned reputation for his designs, in fact one of Atsushi Nishigori’s motivations for working with TRIGGER was the opportunity to work specifically with Tanaka. The character designs are great and so much work from accompanying DARLING in the FRANXX designs to multiple uniforms went into it. It’s probably my favorite part of the series.

-Peter Fobian

Hinomaru Sumo

There’s not a lot of amazingly intricate variety among the characters of Hinomaru Sumo. But I appreciate any anime where all the main characters look like they’d be equally at home being lackeys in a separate anime that get the crap kicked out of them in an alley by the Kenshiro-esque main character. Also, I love this show and so should you.

-Daniel Dockery

Cells at Work

Cells at Work is so beloved for the way it illustrates our hard-working cells as they work night and day to protect our bodies. Keep on kicking ass and taking names, cells! But on the other end of the spectrum are the threats and bacteria that invade our bodies, and some of them are depicted in very frightening ways. Remember to take care of yourself to avoid illnesses! Your cells are counting on you!

-Nicole Mejias

Laid-Back Camp

  There wasn’t a show I watched in 2018 that had more effective character designs than Laid-Back Camp. Everything visual choice made about these characters conveys something about their personality. Nadeshiko’s downward-sloping eyelids and messy pink hair are the perfect compliment to Rin’s alert eyes and neatly tied up hair. These choices echo how the characters themselves play off of one another, and gosh, it’s just delightful.

-Cayla Coats

    Anddd that's all folks! Check back in to see us argue about who else we think should win the rest of the Anime Awards categories. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites starting TONIGHT!

  Do you have a super intense devotion to a 2018 show or character or want your opinions shared to the world about Anime Awards? Send us an op-ed in written or video form. The nitty gritty details are in here and you may get published in a future article!

Who do you think should win: Best Opening Sequence, Best Ending Sequence, Best Animation, and Best Character Design? Tell us in the comments below!

Ricky Soberano is a Features Editor, Script Writer, and Editorial Programming Coordinator for Crunchyroll. She’s the former Managing Editor of Brooklyn Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ramenslayricky.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG vs. Brotherhood: Rush Valley (OG 26, BH 11)

Another 1:1, but the content is actually very different this time.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 26: "Her Reason"

Mustang investigates Hughes' murder and concludes through Armstrong that a high ranked member of the military may be responsible for his death. Izumi Curtis, Edward and Alphonse's teacher, shows up at Central looking for them, but she has missed them by a few days. Edward, Alphonse, and Winry, on their way to Ishbal, arrive in Rush Valley.

We open with Mustang getting an invoice for all of Ed's hospitalization charges. LOL.

Mustang demands to know where the Elrics are. He's pretty harsh and aggressive.

Riza grabs her gun when Izumi barges in.

We're still doing the equivalent exchange intro? This is starting to raise the question of what "those days" are, exactly. From what point in the timeline is Al saying this?

New OP, though! It looks more like a slideshow of scenes from the anime. New characters are in it, most notably Wrath.

Automail girl is told she can't get a cannon arm because it's for men.

How does automail arm wrestling work? Wouldn't it just be determined by the quality of your automail, not your own strength? Despite this, the girl puts up an impressive showing against the champion before he cheats.

Announcer initially propositions Al, but then goes into a bit about how short Ed is. LOL.

Ed is looking more muscular than before, I think? He should be 16 now, so that makes sense.

Extra comedy from Winry when the announcer calls his automail shoddy. LOL.

Ed tears the guy's arm off! Did he use alchemy for that?

The big guy has a tiny replacement arm.

Ah, Ed did use alchemy.

Winry beats everyone up. I think it does lean a bit into "female violence is funny", but that she has a legitimate reason that's treated seriously makes it work, I think.

Now we get the scene with Mustang investigating. He talks with Armstrong in an alley instead of in the open. Thank you.

Mustang makes the same deductions, but his reasoning for the Philosopher's Stone connection is that the Elrics left without telling him, implying they didn't trust the military with information about the Stone. That's more reasonable.

Bechdel Test pass when Winry talks with Paninya.

Cartoon face when Dominic walks in on Paninya. It's a little much, but appropriate given the lightheartedness of this plot.

Dominic knows Pinako as a brilliant engineer.

Ah, a race shows the power of her automail legs as well. That's clever.

Paninya calls Ed a pipsqueak before starting the race. I wonder if Winry coached her on that.

Ed leaps two stories with his shonen protagonist powers.

Ed looks strained while running, while Paninya isn't breaking a sweat.

Paninya leaps from the roof straight onto the ground with no ill effects. Ed does the same thing, so it's not just that automail absorbs the shock. Artistic license, I suppose.

Without the rocket, Paninya's leg collapses and she falls off the building. Ed saves her by extending… rock platforms that break under her? I guess that would slow her a little, but if she's already going that fast that must still be pretty painful.

Winry blushes when Ed says he can't let anyone show up his automail. Aw.

Back in Central, Hakuro shows up to intimidate Mustang. So I guess he's finished razing Liore. Mustang grovels for him.

Sheska wants to continue the investigation, but Mustang says it's been suspended.

Oh wow, Izumi's here already? Thinking about the timeline… it seemed like it only took them a day to get here by train, and it has been a day since Izumi showed up in Central, so that checks out.

Winry is sad that Ed doesn't want automail. I think that's a bit much? She's known he wants to restore his body for a while now.

Cartoon faces when Sig barges in. I think that's reasonable; as a cliffhanger, it is clearly meant to be jarring, and it's a clean break from the seriousness of the last scene.

New ED. The bit with Winry typing with the dog is really cute. Winry inexplicably having her shirt open so we can see her boobs is less cute. And it looks like the text in the background is a plot summary of the story? I wonder if it's notes the mangaka gave them, or their own? I think I preferred the last one's music, though.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 11: "Miracle at Rush Valley"

Edward, Alphonse and Winry arrive in Rush Valley where Edward's state alchemist pocket watch is stolen by a pickpocket named Paninya. After chasing her down, they find she has automail legs. Winry asks the automail's creator, Dominic LeCoulte, to let her be his apprentice, but her request is swiftly denied. Winry convinces Paninya to stop being a pickpocket and return the pocket watch, but first she peeks inside and sees the date when the Elric brothers burned down their house. Meanwhile, Dominic's daughter-in-law is having a baby, and she is unable to travel to a hospital in the poor weather. Winry and Paninya deliver the baby, resulting in a successful birth. Winry asks Dominic again to be an apprentice, and this time he directs her to another automail mechanical engineer. With that, Edward and Alphonse continue onward to Dublith.

We're doing the alchemy intro again.

Recapping the last episode, again.

We start in Rush Valley this time. Curiously, we don't get the ship-teasing of Winry behaving exactly the same way as the girlfriend who wants her boyfriend to buy her the expensive ring; Ed is just exasperated over her fangirling.

Ed is really grouchy.

Cartoon skit where everyone crowds around Ed's automail and… strip him? That's pretty awkward.

Cartoon skit when Ed realizes his watch is gone.

Cartoon skit when the villagers ask to see Ed's automail again.

We get emphasis on how hot and inhospitable the region is. Dominic apparently lives in the mountains, rather than a back alley.

Winry and Ed yell at each other. I can just feel the romance wafting off them.

Ed and Al somehow recognize Paninya despite not seeing her earlier, and are able to see the watch in her hands even though she's only a speck from their perspective. How.

Cartoon skit when Ed sees her.

Ed uses alchemy to make steps carving a direct path to her.

Then he makes a huge wall to cut her off, about on part with Izumi's levee.

Ed then makes grasping arms out of the ground. How are they bending?

Al ambushes her and makes a metal cage. They did say earlier that this area is rich in metal ore, so that makes sense.

Paninya has a blade in her leg instead of a rocket, and it… can cut through the metal bars, somehow.

Ah, her other leg has the cannon.

I'm just now noticing she does not have an automail arm.

Winry catches her. How? Did she sneak ahead?

Comedy when Winry wants to look at Paninya's automail.

Al's head falls off, which is amusing.

Winry nuzzles Paninya's knee. Uhhh.

Instead of being amazed by Winry's work, Dominic scolds her for making the limbs too heavy. This is where we get introduced to the possibility the automail is stunting Ed's growth. Of course, in this continuity that will come to nothing because consequences are for losers.

Ed has a fantasy of towering over everyone. This is actually very funny. We see him still daydreaming while we resume in the present, which is also funny.

Why is Al constantly turning into a cartoon, though? I think he's spent more time in cartoon form than not this episode.

We get a cartoon of Ed being a single-celled organism when Dominic calls him one. It amuses me.

We get a picture of the fetus when the brothers touch the pregnant woman, which I find unnecessary and kinda gross.

The brothers gush about how miraculous childbirth is.

Paninya says her stumps ache when the weather turns bad, which is a nice detail showing that automail isn't perfect.

When Paninya gives backstory, there's no flashback to the accident, but there is a flashback to Dominic because the man is what's important here.

The whole conversation places much more emphasis on Dominic, how grateful she is to him, how she wants to pay him back, etc.

Winry argues with her to stop being a pickpocket.

Ed sealed his watch shut with alchemy.

Cartoon where Winry opens it.

Cartoon when Ed tells Winry about the labor.

The labor scene is similar to Elicia's birth, so I guess OG moved this there. No line where she snaps at them for making a fuss, though. It has way less emotional impact and context here when it's just some rando, and the men's incompetence is less excusable when they're adults. Winry has to do basically everything herself.

Ed notes that Winry's a doctor's daughter so she does actually know this stuff… and then immediately undercuts it by saying she probably didn't absorb any of it because lol women thinking they know stuff, amirite? We've seen no indication Winry is doing anything wrong. Why are you being a dick, Ed.

Shot of Dominic riding through the rain.

Winry goes in to help with the birth, but we stay focused on Ed whining about how sad it is he can't help.

Cartoon Al when he gushes over the baby.

Same line about mothers accomplishing what alchemists can't, but Winry tells him not to compare alchemy with "the mysteries of life".

Ed is mad at Winry for opening the watch.

We get a flashback to them burning the house.

Winry is determined to stay with them because she's ~so amazed by Ed's resolve~. Also explicitly says she wants to get better just so she can help Ed.

Comedy and slapstick when Ed demands his watch back from Paninya. I guess slapstick targeted at women is sort of equality?

Dominic melts when doting on the grandson. Ed notes it's out of character and gets glared at and turned to cartoon.

Ed has to push for Winry's referral; she doesn't think to ask herself.

Paninya is called a "tomboy", and is invited to come visit. So I guess their relationship isn't as close here?

The Elrics run past a wanted poster of Greed. Nice foreshadowing.

Ed tells Winry to get better so she can make him better automail when he leaves.

Conclusion

So these are really two completely different episodes. There are similarities in characters and the basic plot, but they're portrayed very differently.

Taken individually, I'd say they're both good. Like with the Resembool episode, when comedy and lightheartedness is actually appropriate, Brotherhood does great at that. The episode is a fun low-stakes adventure with a lot of good jokes. Conversely, OG making its own plot was also a good move. It's still a breather episode, but sticks to the more subdued, less madcap energy characteristic of the anime, so it doesn't feel out of place. We get clever use of elements and lots of people talking about their feelings, which is exactly what I want out of OG. The episodes are both good examples of their series' respective ethos.

But one of our things to watch is female representation, and they don't compare nearly as favorably there.

OG's episode is about Paninya from beginning to end, and develops her into a full character with her own motivations. In Brotherhood, she's just a plot device to introduce us to Dominic, and is then swiftly forgotten about. Winry's conversation with her is also a lot friendlier in OG, and more focused on Paninya herself. I also find it very interesting that Dominic is only amazed by Winry and Pinako's work in OG; there's no question of her becoming his apprentice, giving the very clear implication she is already a master herself.

For all that people say Brotherhood is so much better at female characters, OG sure seems to care about and respect them way more. It does give us that weirdly gendered thing about the arm cannon, but it's not pushed very hard – Paninya doesn't have to give up her rocket leg, and she's not forced to give up her tomboyishness like Clause did.

Quite frankly, Brotherhood's "feminism" feels very manufactured to me. It does the exact bare minimum of what it thinks people want out of female characters, but no more – then, having paid its dues, it goes right back to gushing over how awesome the boys are. OG seems to be coming from a more traditionalist angle that leads them into some blunders, but I don't see any malice behind them; they've shown again and again a willingness to seriously engage with even minor female characters, even at the expense of the male ones, and that feels much more genuine to me.

[trylkstopocket]

Brain Food: Tribal Information, The End, and Letting Go of Our Story

FS | BRAIN FOOD

Good Morning,

Welcome to Sunday Brain Food: a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and insights for life and business.

(Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)

FS

"The thing that’s very clear is that when people hear information that comports with whatever their tribe believes, or whatever their tribe supports, they’re willing to accept it without doing a lot of digging into the quality of the source, the quality of the information, the implications of the rest of the information that goes with it. Anything that challenges what their tribe believes they are going to be more dismissive of whether or not it comes from a quality source."

— Making Better Decisions with Todd Simkin ( YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Join our membership to get transcripts )

Explore Your Curiosity

★ "I said no a lot to what seemed like a lot of money ... What's good for you in the short run is not always good for you in the long run."

— Anthony Bourdain

★ "When an academic wins a Nobel prize, they have achieved a pinnacle of expertise. At which point they often start to wax philosophic, and writing op-eds. They seem to be making a bid to become an elite. Because we all respect and want to associate with elites far more than with experts. Elites far less often lust after becoming experts, because we are often willing to treat elites as if they are experts."

— Experts vs. Elites

Insight

"Groundedness does not eliminate passion, productivity, or all forms of striving and ambition. Instead, it is about ditching an omnipresent and frantic anxiety to begin living in alignment with your innermost values, pursuing your interests, and expressing your authentic self in the here and now. When you are grounded there is no need to look up or down. You are where you are, and you hold true strength and power from that position. Your success, and the way in which you pursue it, becomes more enduring and robust. You gain the confidence to opt out of the consumer-driven rat-race that leaves you feeling like you are never enough."

— Brad Stulberg in The Practice of Groundedness

Tiny Thought

Have you ever asked yourself why you are afraid of death? It's normal to be afraid, of course. But exploring why we are afraid might be instructive on how we are to live. Do you have unfinished business to accomplish? Are you enjoying life too much? Are there too many dreams not pursued?

Recommended Reading

"We stick to the wrong thing quite often, not because it will come to fruition by further effort but because we cannot let go of the way we have decided to tell the story, and we become further enmeshed even by trying to make sense of what entraps us, when what is needed is a simple, clean breaking away."

Consolations by David Whyte

I'm a huge fan of the Poet David Whyte. Consolations was given to me as a gift from a remarkable friend. The book explores the underlying meaning of everyday words. Naturally, I looked up friendship and noted this remarkable passage: "The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone."

Et Cetera

+ Morris Chang pioneered the semiconductor foundry industry, kicking off a revolution in the business of chips. Pair with this interview, for a short history of the entire industry, the key players, and the incredible importance of Taiwan.

+ Kayne — "For every escalation of his celebrity, Kanye’s songwriting suffers. Kanye’s albums are increasingly about his fame and its discontents, and this is becoming his only idea about anything. .... At some point in the past decade—when, exactly, depends on your own taste and patience—Kanye West stopped earning your admiration with his music and started demanding it with everything but."

+ A simple rule I follow in business based on mirrored recpirocation.

Sponsored by Royce

The Royce Funds. Small-cap specialist

Stay safe,

Shane

Decision by Design—our course that teaches you the skills and systems you need to master decision making— is opening again in October. Join the waitlist and we'll send you more information.

P.S. This father-son moment will leave you with watery eyes.

Overwhelmed by email? No need to unsubscribe. Try a 30 day break. You won't get any emails from us for 30 days. Update your profile to change your email address or unsubscribe from everything.

201-854 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 3W3

[wesleybates]

15 Tips for Designing Your Own Writing Portfolio Website

Designing any website can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. Trying to put together a writing portfolio website may be challenging, but having the right tools and tips at your disposal will definitely help.

Why Design a Writing Portfolio Website?

Freelancing continues to become a more popular way to make money than ever before. With a current shift to work at home, one of the best ways to make extra money is by becoming a freelance writer.

Now, there are several things you will want to think about on the path to becoming a successful freelance writer. One of the most important things is figuring out not only how to get jobs, but also how to get your work and name out there.

One of the best ways to do this (if not the best way) is to design a writing portfolio website. This will allow you to get the word out about who you are, what type of freelance writing you do, and most importantly, allow you to show off a writing portfolio.

This is important because it allows potential clients to see the quality and type of work you do. These representations of you not only save time and questions from a possible client, but they also justify your pricing and timetables of your work.

So basically, when thinking about reasons to build a writing portfolio website, the three main ones should be:

Help get work

Sell work (when applicable)

To build an online presence

How to Start the Process?

Aside from the tips I am going to give you below. This may be the very best question to ask. Not only are there a ton of different options to choose from when it comes to web design, but there are also different web hosting options as well.

A portfolio website can be tricky because you want to push your content and brand without seeming overly aggressive. Not only is that an issue, but trying to decide how to lay out a portfolio and what to put in it can be daunting as well.

The best place to start might be with a simple writing blog. However, even with this type of thing, you need to have a lot happen for it to fall in place the right way.

With that being said, the very best place to start is finding a web host and choosing a CMS. I recommend WordPress and everything that comes with it. This will definitely help get your writing portfolio website off on the right foot.

Not only is it very user friendly, but there are also a ton of tutorials and resources that you will be able to access at any time. These will help you get through any issues you may have while you build your portfolio of writing.

Once you start the process, the issue may become what exactly you should put into your writing portfolio. Let’s take a look at some suggestions.

What to Add in Your Writing Portfolio Website

One of the main obstacles people face is figuring out what exactly to add into their writing portfolio website. The answer to this will depend on what kind of writing you are actually doing, or willing to do.

However, let’s take this from a standpoint of a freelance writer who writes about anything, and performs a number of different writing jobs. You can pick and choose from this list, as this will give you some good ideas about what to add.

Remember, this is going to showcase your work and help get you more jobs. We want it to be clean, crisp, clear, and professional. You want to try to add a wide range of items to showcase your abilities. Here are some writing portfolio items to consider adding:

Blog Posts

Community Writings

Press release

Promotion Material

Essay on Controversial Topic

Profile on Interesting Person or Place

Short-Form Piece

Breaking News Articles

Long-Form Piece

Research Paper

An Editorial and/or an Op-Ed

Personal Essay

Multimedia Story (storytelling structure)

Collaborative Piece

Content Marketing

Resumes

eBooks

Business Plans

Remember, many of the above will be in the “if applicable” category for your writing portfolio. However, they are all excellent things to add.

Extra Tip: Adding a spreadsheet of all your published works could add even more to a writing portfolio. You can include all sorts of items like articles, eBooks, documents, and more. Include all titles, publication dates, links, and any other relevant info.

Always show real work, and it doesn’t hurt to even add and show your prices when relevant. Possible clients like detail, so the more you have in your writing portfolio website, the more likely you are to land the job.

15 Tips for Your Writing Portfolio Website

Now, you have a lot of the process in place from above, and you now have a pretty good idea of the types of things you should add to your writing portfolio website. Here are 15 more tips to think about using during the build process.

These will all help you put forth the very best writing portfolio website possible.

1. Make it Easy For Clients

Simply put, one of the most important aspects of a writing portfolio website is how easy it is for clients to access and navigate. You want to make sure the site is clean, smooth, flat, mobile-friendly, and easy to understand.

You also want to make sure your site page speed is fast, otherwise you run the risk of people leaving your site. The average page speed load time should be 2-5 seconds. Anything more than that is too slow.

Furthermore, the actual portfolio part of the site should also be easy to view and understand. Keep in mind, less is more. So, think minimalism when it comes to how easy you want to make it for clients.

2. Use a WordPress Portfolio Plugin

Earlier in this article, I wrote a little about where to get started with your website. That included finding a host and using WordPress. One of the main reasons I suggest WordPress is because they have a plugin repository that includes over 50,000 plugins.

In this case, you should use one of their portfolio plugins to help build your site. Not only will this make the process of building the actual portfolio easier, but it will also allow you to show a dynamic and clean portfolio to possible clients.

There are a lot of good portfolio plugins to choose from, so get one and use it.

3. Choose Quality Over Quantity

This can get tricky, especially if you are new to the game and don’t have a lot of content yet either way. That being said, if you do have quite a bit of content to choose from, then always make the right choice of selecting quality over quantity for your writing portfolio website.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t add a lot of content for potential clients to view. It simply means if you have 1,000 different things to choose from, don’t put them all in. Choose all the top of the line items and use those.

4. Keep Your Portfolio Design Clean, Smooth, Simple, and Mobile-Friendly

This may seem like a lot, but it actually isn’t. This is kind of a combination of some of the items above. If you are using WordPress and a plugin, then automatically you will have a mobile-friendly writing portfolio website.

Not overloading it with items will keep it professional, and having a user-friendly layout with plenty of minimalism and whitespace will keep it clean.

5. Don’t Display Full Articles

Don’t display full articles inside your writing portfolio website. Instead, provide links, images, and samples that open into other pages that are free from distraction. This is how someone can properly view your work.

6. Keep Portfolio Up-To-Date

Your portfolio should always be treated as a work in progress. This isn’t a bad thing at all. You will need to add new items periodically, clean it up from time to time, and make sure all articles and links are still relevant and working.

It doesn’t get much worse than someone trying to click through and view an outdated portfolio where half the content is old and/or missing.

7. Tailor Your Portfolio

By all means, add as many types of writing samples as you like. However, more than likely, you do have some sort of client base or a niche that you are good at. Tailor your writing portfolio website to that niche.

Are you better at content writing than you are and resume writing? That’s great, tailor your portfolio to show that and you will land the type of clients you enjoy most.

8. Use Thumbnail Images

This may be something you haven’t even thought about since this is a portfolio built around writing samples. However, it is still important to use thumbnail images as part of the layout.

Proper use of thumbnails will encourage site users to click through items, read content, and explore your writing portfolio. Plus, they add a level of professionalism and help tremendously with the layout.

9. Add a Portfolio Description

Whether you have one singular writing portfolio on the website, or several different ones broken down into different types of writing, it is always a good idea to add a description.

You can do this at the top of each portfolio page. This will give the user a better idea of what type of writings they may find on the relevant page.

10. Make Sure Portfolio Navigation is Simple

We spoke a little about navigation earlier in the article. However, it is definitely important to remember that you want to make portfolio navigation as easy as possible.

All links should be working properly, and it shouldn’t take a site user 3 or 4 clicks to get to a portfolio item. That is just too many and you will lose a lot of interest that way.

11. Don’t Treat Your Portfolio Like Your Blog

Try and limit certain types of writing samples to just a few. This is especially important if you have a lot of different types of writing on display. 3-5 pieces in each writing niche is plenty.

You don’t need to have 20-30 of the same type of content pieces laid out in your portfolio. It isn’t a personal blog roll. Keep the content tight and smooth.

12. Show

Paid and Pro Bono Work

Just because you did something for free does not mean it isn’t good. Matter of fact, this can be some of the best material a freelance writer produces. Go ahead and show both paid and pro bono jobs in your portfolio.

Personal and pro bono projects usually have a lot of passion behind them. Show them off!

13. Let the Work Do the Talking

Earlier in this article, we talked about adding a portfolio description. That is a good thing. However, that is about as detailed as you need to get about portfolio items. You may want to add a sentence or two within each item, but try not to oversell or overcrowd the layout.

Instead, let the work do the talking for you. That is the whole point of building a writing portfolio website.

14. Use a WordPress Page Builder

We touch on the importance of using a WordPress portfolio plugin above. The same can be said for page builders. If you are having a tough time with design and layout, then use a WordPress page builder to help you put the writing portfolio website together.

These offer a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) layout design. This makes it much easier to put out something that is clean and smooth.

15. Add a Call to Action

Last, but definitely not least, add a call to action (CTA) to your writing portfolio website. After all, the whole point of doing this is to gain clients and showcase work.

Make sure you have something in place that is easily accessible and will help you close the deal. Having a call to action will also act as a little push for the site user to get in touch with you.

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t yet built a writing portfolio website, then now is the perfect opportunity to do so. You have a lot of the information above, along with some great tips on how to make your site a success.

This will act as a terrific marketing tool for your services, and will help to get your name and work out there to clients who may be interested in hiring you.

While it may take a little elbow grease to get your portfolio how you want it, the final product will definitely be worth the effort. Remember, always keep the portfolio updated and fresh as well. This is important.

Finally, have fun with the process. Use some of your own personal touches along with the above. Good luck!

By using professional Website Designers in Arvada, CO you’ll have a site built that is pleasing to the eye, intuitive to use and packed with valuable content that helps serve as a valuable tool for your customers.

[skinflesh97-blog]

All Out of Luck

Last week, many felt that a line was crossed when the Instagram account of a new restaurant in New York City’s West Village, called Lucky Lee’s, purported to serve a “clean” version of American Chinese food, sans MSG and the supposed “oily,” “salty,” and “icky” feeling with which American Chinese food leaves you. Owner Arielle Haspel argued to Eater NY that the concept “celebrated” Chinese food, but positioned Lee’s version of it in contrast to the Chinese-American food developed over decades to cater to, well, American palates: “I made some tweaks so I would be able to eat it and my friends and other people would be able to eat it,” Haspel said. “There are very few American-Chinese places as mindful about the quality of ingredients as we are.” She has since apologized. But the controversy has made clear a divide over the co-option of the term “lucky” by modern restaurateurs, and brings into question its relevance in Chinese food culture.

Perhaps Haspel could have been more mindful of her restaurant’s name, too. Lee is the first name of owner Haspel’s husband, and they are both Jewish American. As Esther Tseng pointed out in an Eater NY op-ed, “It does not signal respect when Haspel uses her non-Asian husband’s first name in her alliterative branding in a manner that suggests Chinese ownership.”

“Lucky” is a common word used in Chinese restaurant names in the U.S., likely coming into prominence in the early 20th century, as restaurant owners tried to grow beyond their all-Chinese clientele and chose names that were Western equivalents, instead of transliterated versions, of their business names. It’s now ubiquitous enough that its use is an almost-immediate signal to diners that it’s a Chinese restaurant. That shorthand is so pervasive that it’s increasingly common among white owners of Chinese restaurants, some of them controversial: Andrew Zimmern’s Lucky Cricket, Gordon Ramsay’s upcoming Lucky Cat, and Jacob Hadjigeorgis’s Lucky Pickle Dumpling Company, in addition to Lucky Lee’s.

For many Asian Americans, a white business owner cherry-picking parts of Chinese culture for their own version of Chinese food can feel like it’s poking fun at longstanding traditions: In an interview that started the appropriation conversation surrounding Zimmern’s Chinese concept, the celebrity chef responded to questions about appropriation by noting the restaurant sold shirts printed with “Get Lucky” on the back. “It is interesting that all these people think it’s clever and funny to refer back to these classic tropes, and no, it’s not, it’s stupid and it’s not even that clever,” said Diane Chang, a Brooklyn-based personal chef and caterer of Po-Po’s. “When I read about [Lucky Lee’s] I was like, ‘Why is she trying to convey that feeling that you’re going to an old takeout place, but then you’re getting this other experience that is purporting to be better for you?’”

Chinese restaurateurs, especially in earlier generations, often give their businesses auspicious names based on beliefs dating back to antiquity. The word “lucky” holds deep meaning and significance in traditional Chinese belief systems. The Chinese character 福, or “fu” in Mandarin, can be translated as “luck,” “prosperity,” or “fortune”; anyone who might want to bless their restaurant with success might use the word luck, or something symbolic of it. In a 2016 Washington Post survey of Chinese restaurant names in America, “lucky” and “fortune” appear prominently in the word cloud, as does “fu,” albeit less frequently. (When transliterated from Cantonese, “fu” is actually spelled “fuk,” which is probably why it’s not in too many names stateside.) These words figure into many Chinese restaurant names, as do other traditional Chinese auspices of good luck, such as bamboo (symbolic of strength and resilience), jade (which represents 11 Confucian values of virtue), and the number eight (which sounds similar to a word meaning wealth or fortune).

“I just think good fortune and auspiciousness is essential to every aspect of Asian culture,” said Danielle Chang, founder of Lucky Rice, a lifestyle brand that hosts the Lucky Chow dining event series. She explained that luck is intertwined with everyday living in China, and has a strong connection to food. “Back in the days when China was primarily an agricultural society, praying for a good harvest — much of that has to do with good luck, like the amount of rainfall you get, and so on. So it’s tied to the harvest,” she said.

Chang doesn’t think that the full meaning of “fu” is very well understood in the United States. There is often hidden meaning and wordplay in Chinese restaurant names, she notes, even in how they’re written. Traditional Chinese characters can be written with an intricate combination of strokes that are considered beautiful to the eye, including those for “luck” and “happiness.” “That’s part of the beauty of Chinese language,” she said. “Everything is a pictograph and has all these different connotations.”

There is also a trio of deities known as the “three stars,” which are fu, lu, and shou (roughly “luck,” “status,” and “longevity”); combined, they represent cultural values about success. In fact, “fu lu shou” was the Chinese name of Cecilia Chiang’s pioneering San Francisco Chinese restaurant, the Mandarin. It isn’t so unusual for restaurants to have different English and Chinese names — “the Mandarin” was perhaps much more salient for a non-Chinese American audience because it called out the fact that the restaurant specialized in Northern Chinese cuisine at a time and place where that wasn’t the norm. (Place-specific names have always been common for American Chinese restaurants, too — Nom Wah refers to Southern China, which its cuisine is based on, says its owner, Wilson Tang.)

Restaurant owners would also find that use of words like “Lucky” drew in non-Asian customers, growing restaurants’ consumer base. As John Jung, a professor emeritus in psychology and a historian of Chinese-American history, writes in Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants, Chinese restaurant owners courted tourists “with remodeled restaurants designed with a stereotypical Oriental motif both inside and outside” as early as 1900. In addition to decor, they’d attract non-Chinese customers, who would struggle to remember transliterated Chinese names, by selecting restaurant names “that evoked images of the exotic Orient to appeal to Westerners’ romantic images of China.”

However, by the mid-20th century, changing conditions in both countries saw a shift. When Mao Zedong and his People’s Republic of China party took power in 1949, the country was declared an atheist state; as part of the Cultural Revolution he led, social values were upended, ancient religions were banned, and traditional Chinese pictographic characters were simplified to fewer strokes. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Jung writes that “as non-Chinese customers became better acquainted with Chinese names and more tolerant toward Chinese culture, it became fashionable after 1950 to return to Chinese names.”

That leaves the “lucky” name with a smack of old-timeyness, but there are still plenty of them — American-Chinese restaurants often don’t change names when a new owner takes over, for consistency’s sake. In other cases, restaurant owners might lean in on the “lucky” name to intentionally create a sense of nostalgia; many of the new restaurants from non-Chinese owners employ it alongside a cheeky, retro feel to their decor and branding. Think old-fashioned poster art or cigarette labels with women in Mandarin dresses, old Chinese newspapers, or Tiki bar aesthetics. Nostalgia is a big ticket in U.S. restaurants today: It’s the secret sauce in everything from dishes to decor to cocktails at such esteemed restaurants as the Grill and Rocco Dispirito’s new Standard Grill, both in New York.

For Chinese restaurant owners, many might look to the example of Nom Wah Tea Parlor, a restaurant in its 99th year of existence in New York City’s Chinatown; it hasn’t modernized its look. Perhaps for many non-Chinese restaurant owners, “lucky” evokes an era of Chinese restaurants that they grew up in. But Chinese restaurants stateside are evolving and expanding, and these nostalgic sensibilities can feel like an inaccurate representation of where the cuisine stands today. Coming from high-profile restauranteurs like Gordon Ramsay and Andrew Zimmern, who are already immensely popular — and powerful — it can look like the spotlight is in all the wrong places.

And when the food at a pricey restaurant from non-Chinese owners isn’t even very good — even the rice isn’t cooked properly, as Soleil Ho noted of Lucky Cricket, and as Gothamist observed of Lucky Lee’s — yet the restaurant proclaims that it’s “saving” people from “horseshit” Chinese food (as in Zimmern’s case) or from “icky” and “bloated” feelings afterward (as in Haspel’s case), well, that can zap any intended fun out of the experience. In other words, it can leave you with an “icky” feeling.

Danielle Chang says she’s noticed the word really cross over to non-Asian restaurant owners in recent years, citing Lucky Bee, a now-shuttered New York City Thai restaurant. She thinks that David Chang’s Momofuku, which from Japanese translates to “Lucky Peach” (also the name of its former magazine) and its mainstream success may have something to do with it. For her, using the word “lucky” in her company name was a way to bridge cultures. She thinks of it as fun and universal — something that everyone can grasp to some extent.

This all goes to say that the associations of “lucky” may be generational, and have everything to do with where you’re coming from. Today, there are plenty of young people who want to shake up that sense of old-fashioned branding when it comes to Chinese food. Diane Chang named her business Po-Po’s, which translates to “grandma’s” in Mandarin. “I couldn’t think of a better name because that’s why I started cooking, it’s a tribute to my grandma and her recipes,” she said. She was well aware of the confusion and unfortunate connotations that the name might cause for an American audience — the results when you Google “eating po-po’s” are unsavory — but she felt it best represented her.

“To this day I still have to explain whenever I call in orders, but for me, it was like, why should I bend with a quirky, cute name, because that’s just not me,” she said. She’s come to embrace the confusion, owning it with a smile when people mistakenly call her “po-po” thinking it’s her name. And on the flip side, she describes the warm feeling of familiarity as a “secret handshake” when people understand the meaning.

Rich Ho, chef-owner of the Taiwanese noodle soup restaurant Ho Foods, can relate to the confusion with vendors, because his restaurant sounds similar to “Whole Foods” — then, there’s the other, slang usage of “ho.” But he thinks his restaurant’s name is evocative of its clean, pared-down aesthetic, and it’s a sort of “dad joke” that it sounds like Whole Foods.

Growing up, Ho says he was made fun of a lot for his last name, even, he thinks, by his fourth grade teacher. But he’s come to embrace the name with pride. “At the end of the day it’s my name, and it’s just an Asian name and I’m proud of it, so I’m not gonna change it.”

Whereas earlier Chinese restaurants tended to stick with contrived Chinese restaurant names for mass branding’s sake, these relatively young, American-born business owners are picking names that are personal to them, despite the confusion or so-called negative connotations they may provoke for a Western audience. As Jung wrote, “Changes in the characteristics of Chinese restaurant names occurred over time provide a barometer of the acceptance of the restaurants in the larger society.”

In the end, it’s not so much the nomenclature as the superior marketing positioning that’s problematic for these white-owned Chinese restaurants today. One need not understand all the nuances to enjoy something. But there are layers of complexity in the “lucky” terminology, and meanings and generational attitudes evolve. And as a young group of Chinese Americans fights an uphill battle to be seen amid the stereotypes associated with their culture, they may be more inclined to leave “lucky” behind.

• How Lucky Lee’s Could Have Gotten an ‘American Chinese’ Restaurant Right [ENY] • Gordon Ramsay Hit Back at Criticism of His ‘Vibrant Asian Eating House’ [ELON]

Cathy Erway is the author of The Food of Taiwan: Recipes From the Beautiful Island, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, and the host of the Heritage Radio Network podcast Eat Your Words and the upcoming podcast Self Evident. Emily Chu is an illustrator and visual artist from Edmonton, AB, Canada. Editor: Erin DeJesus

Eater.com

The freshest news from the food world every day

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy.

Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/4/16/18311375/lucky-lees-cricket-cat-chinese-restaurant-controversy

[agentstegosaurus]

Taegi Celebrity!AU

Summary: Just a bunch of HCs ft. Actor!Taehyung and Rapper!Yoongi ninja dating

-Yoongi is the lowkey sort of artist. He’s the sort to come out with an awesome album that became everybody’s anthem, became a classic at one point in time and then he just suddenly disappears lmao. But he produces lots of quality music for other artists since he sometimes venture to other genres other than R&B, house and etc so ppl just know that he’s actually around and didnt just MIA-ed.

-Taehyung is the sort of actor that, at one point, appears in a lot of dramas and movies during his teen years till he reached an older age and starts choosing his works. 

-While Yoongi may have appeared in one online article when he was suspected of dating a non-celebrity, Taehyung always had LOADS of that; none of which were true and none of which his company never bothered clarifying since some were borderline “??????” bcs ��Um no. Mr. Kim is very busy being secretly gay” (but of course they didnt say that lol). 

-In actuality, both of them never got around to dating people because they were already busy dating each other. YEs. They were the ninja couple in the flesh. They were the sort that came from different backgrounds, from different entertainment companies and had no connection what so ever (as far as the public was aware of) + both of them were very privy about their personal lives anyway. They never even mentioned their sexual orientations, tho Yoongi did collaborated with other rappers, RM and HS, on a song that celebrated freedom in expressing one self (ft. lyrics talking about accepting all sorts of love) and Taehyung made an ambiguous remark on national tv during a talkshow, commenting about how a western LGBTQ movie he watched gave him hope or something ((idek)) and netizens were surprisingly chill about it (only bcs Tae always maintained a good, clean image and never caused any controversies even when he was at his peak so the article was just meh and got lots of downvotes for some homophobic comments).

-Both of them are known to be very generous donors when it comes to giving charity (also how they initially met). 

-The ONLY one time they were EVER photographed together by a journalist was during a charity event during one summer. Nothing glamorous. The photo was also very shaky with bad lighting + Yoongi’s eyes were closed when the camera went off. It was just a photo of Yoongi with model-turned-actor celebrity, Jin (they were really close friends) smiling at the camera. Taehyung was at the very back of the photo. His arm was the only thing included in the shot LMAO. 

-How they got together was nothing special. They just had many common friends like Jin, NJ, HS, JK (solo artist) and JM (choreographer). They just started dating from there. 

-Why journalists never suspected anything is bcs even when they hung out a lot as a group, they do rlly mundane stuff at rlly mundane places like chilling at anybody’s house, playing video games at anybody’s house (lots of activities within their own homes), eating at food stalls in less crowded areas, going to far away beaches etc. 

-As a couple, they were rlly good at being LOWKEY even tho on several rare occasions, their respective fans would see them together and make posts on the Internet 

((Blurry photo of Tae hollering at Yoongi’s concert; dressed in all black from top to bottom with snapback and mask and a merchandise light stick))

OP: OMG! Is TH friends with YG??? I saw him at the concert just now! Other ppl also saw JM and JK next to him. He had a huge bouquet of roses with him??? 

((Shaky photo of Taehyung and Yoongi’s backs at the beach))

OP: I saw two rlly good-looking men today at Jeju!! Do you guys think they are celebrities???

Comment: ??? Isnt that TH? That also looks like YG????? 

-but nobody rlly pay mind to them bcs it’d always boil down to ppl saying: “looks like YG’s manager. YG’s manager is tall after all” or that “lmao this is so random. why would they hang out with each other” and “pls stop posting stuff like this” or at the very least “maybe they’re friends. It’s not weird”.

-Otherwise, no blind items and no suspicions. Tho at one time, both of them went MIA for a period of time and people found out (much later after that) that coincidentally, they were both in Daegu for a few weeks and then a month after that, both of them were doing activities in the US with Taehyung being casted for a role in a Hollywood movie and Yoongi on break/holiday. But there were still no photos of them together. Also, it was normal for artists to coincide at the same places for different occasions. 

-How it DID break out was via accident. 

-It broke out via Hoseok’s instagram account. There was a post of a photo of two males with no caption. It was a photo with dim-lighting, there were fairy lights around, flowers everywhere, both of them clad in tuxes and a number of people around them. It looked like they were dancing and it seemed like a very private occasion in the attendance of a very selected few. 

-Though it was too dim and of low quality and the faces of the two males couldnt be seen in the photo, the post was quickly deleted and any articles on the net was rapidly removed. 

-Hoseok’s fans kicked up an uproar, thinking that it was Hoseok but he clarified as quickly as it started that it wasn’t him in the photo ((but he never mentioned who the couple was either, he refused to)).

-In the end, nobody knew what that photo really meant. But Hoseok later posted another photo of similar setting with 5 pair of hands in tuxes forming a huge ass love sign with the caption: “We are proud of you. Pls have lots of babies <3″ 

 ***((Taehyung was the one who went on to Hoseok’s instagram account and made the post bcs BTS were drunk one night of chilling/hanging out at JM’s house + he lost a bet + Yoongi was whining about how he wanted Tae to stop having dating rumours with leggy girl group idols lmao. So Tae, in his drunken state, thought “why not let the public know that I am already happily married to Min Yoongi for almost 3 and a half years just so they can stop shitting with us?”)) 

[charlieharry1]

Fee powerful digital advertising stratagies

The covid-19 pandemic touches every a part of our lives, and it's miles swiftly converting the manner that we do enterprise. If it’s left your reeling, recognise that you’re no longer by myself. Entrepreneurs everywhere have had to shift gears and adapt to those remarkable instances. While it’s tempting to step at the brakes, now isn't the time to halt your advertising and marketing activities. It's time to pivot to cost-effective advertising procedures that supply effects now and in the future. With live-at-home orders  Digital Marketing Company in Leeds in effect across the u.k, digital marketing is extra relevant than ever earlier than, as people are staying interior and on their gadgets. Nielsen reports that there’s been a 60% increase in the quantity of content consumed. Human beings are online and your commercial enterprise wishes to be there too. Following the 2008 recession, harvard enterprise review studies confirmed that those businesses that invest for the duration of financial downturns recover extra fast than their counterparts. They percentage reassuring advice that:

Read Also:-  How to use your free time to become a digital marketing expert?

 “in recessions, entrepreneurs need to live flexible, adjusting their techniques and approaches on the assumption of a protracted, difficult hunch and yet be capable of respond fast to the upturn while it comes.”

of course, it’s now not enterprise as common both, and it’s up to you as entrepreneurs to determine the best balance. How do you manipulate charges, honour and solution your customers’ converting desires, and prepare to respond while the economy starts offevolved bouncing back? How do you do all this at the same time as nevertheless ultimate sensitive to the nation of disaster so many are in? The advertising techniques underneath offer realistic solutions to those questions. They’re no longer new, but they have been framed to reply to our modern-day fact. As you implement the strategies that are right for you, always continue to be empathetic on your clients’ desires and the global crisis. Bear in mind how to relate to your customers and decide what it's far they need from you. And, as continually, be useful. Now, let’s dive into how you can put into effect price-powerful client acquisition techniques like search engine optimization, electronic mail advertising, and social media. Create content material for seo and lead technology

content is the foundation of an effective seo approach and investments now will pay off in the future. Focus on content material for each the covid-19 pandemic and your consumer’s adventure. What’s beneficial right now? The first precedence is addressing your clients’ present day concerns approximately how to do business with you. How have things changed since the covid-19 pandemic? What questions are your customers asking? Update your homepage with a company statement, for instance. In case your consumers are asking a variety of the equal questions, answer them in advance. Offer as a whole lot facts as they need. If operations have modified, add a pop-up with that facts, linking to any relevant blogs, information merchandise, or services that your commercial enterprise is imparting. Ensure all of the data that your client desires is proper at their fingertips. Now, allow’s look beyond covid-19. If you’ve had content at the again burner, now's a terrific time to create it. Begin via accomplishing an audit of your present content and create an inventory list. Then, ask your self:

 what am i lacking? Do i've content material for each step of the customer’s journey? Do i've content material for key phrases that i need to rank for? Are there often requested questions that i can reply to proper now? Do i want to sell a particular product or service line? After you’ve recognized the gaps in your content material inventory, you could begin filling them in with fresh, high-quality content. You might imagine that creating content material expenses quite a few money or takes quite a few time. Instead of beginning from scratch, use your stock listing for concept. Are you able to integrate old articles into a new ebook? Or maybe take a conference presentation and create a new blog collection? What approximately an present technical manual that may be parsed into an faq? Right here are some types of content material that you could start on:

 comprehensive ebooks:

like i simply cited, now could be a notable time to create ebooks, white papers, and webinars. When you have an active blog, you likely have already got the facts you need. Check your blog and notice if you can integrate articles around a not unusual subject matter. With a bit elbow grease and clean facts, you could create a outstanding e-book that you may use as a lead magnet. Begin constructing a pipeline now to capture and nurture leads, then you may be equipped to meet the call for that is certain to come back. Checklists:

all people loves an awesome checklist, in particular if a person else is growing it. You probably have already got checklists which you use on your business. Talk along with your customer support and account representatives to look in the event that they have documentation or checklists that they proportion with new customers. Or possibly the income group uses a checklist while they’re discussing products or services blessings. Use this records to create checklists that make your clients lives’ less difficult. This doesn’t need to be fancy or complex, just ensure which you’re including cost. Checklists also make awesome content material improvements. You can “improve” a blog publish by means of including a name-to-action to down load a applicable tick list. Use the weblog publish to rank for goal key phrases after which convert the tourist with the content improve. Faqs:

now, extra than ever, humans have questions. Masses of them. Like i noted above, you first need to create an faq web page or website section that addresses covid. Speak how the pandemic has impacted your business’ operations and what meaning on your clients. After your covid-19 faq is stay, spend some time considering other questions your clients regularly ask. Do you locate yourself constantly answering the same questions about social media? Can your customer service representatives discover statistics gaps? What questions are human beings searching for? Create faqs to answer these questions so that website users can effortlessly locate the answers they want. Faqs can be standalone pages or they may be sections added to the bottom of related services or products pages. Make certain that you upload faq schema code for your webpages. If you do, you may be able to snag a rich snippet, which dominates the hunt engine consequences web page and can growth site visitors for your internet site. Faqs additionally improve your internet site’s person enjoy, which ultimately allows you change extra traffic into clients. Right now, you want to make every visit rely. Case research and testimonial pages:

in case you haven’t created any case research, now could be a terrific time to accomplish that. Exhibit how you helped your customers acquire brilliant outcomes. Thinking about highlighting customers that didn’t purchase your top class product or top-tier service. Humans are fee-touchy right now, so show how small investments can make a distinction. As soon as your case research are live, attain out to your featured customers and request that they proportion the case examine throughout their channels. This can assist boom brand consciousness and could assist generate backlinks, that are critical for search engine optimization fulfillment. Content material and hyperlink constructing move hand in hand; now, allow’s dive into what you may do to generate greater one way links. Growth link constructing efforts

now is a great time to strengthen your search engine optimization method and build hyperlinks to the existing (or new) evergreen content you need to rank well in search engines. With most physical locations shuttered, it’s greater vital than ever that your on-line content material ranks well and draws effective visits

 people nonetheless need to resolve issues, and the first area they go to is their search engine. Search engines like google and yahoo use incoming links to decide a web web page’s function in its effects. The more extraordinary links which you have from reputable websites, the higher a given internet web page will rank. Here’s are three instantly-forward tactics to construct links:

 write visitor posts:

that is a attempted-and-real technique of building links. Companies are seeking out approaches to aid each other at some stage in this difficult time. Write a visitor publish for your companies or suppliers. Or ask unswerving clients if you may write a guest put up about the way you helped them. Offer your information and assist to their target market. Write a joint press launch with fellow enterprise owners:

covid-19 is impacting different organizations for your area. Paintings with other enterprise owners to publish a press release that discusses how you’re navigating this case, the effect on enterprise operations, and the way you’re contributing in your nearby network. In addition to being published at the twine, each business can submit the clicking release to their website with links to the opposite agencies. Write op-ed pieces:

when you have a completely unique angle associated with covid-19 or can offer expert recommendation, write an opinion piece. Human beings are seeking out data and solutions. Don't forget, this isn’t approximately being promotional. It’s approximately helping. Those link constructing strategies serve purposes. Similarly to constructing back-links and strengthening your search engine optimization approach, you’re speaking to your clients and network what you’re doing to address the covid-19 pandemic. Get social with on-line video content

human beings are spending more time than ever on social media channels. In step with an inmobi observe, human beings are spending seventy three% greater time on their mobile devices, and 29% of that group reported that they may be spending more time on social media apps. If you want to hook up with your target audience that’s on line, you need to ramp up your social media activity. Humans are seeking out academic and inspirational content material, and video is a notable way to deliver each. Video receives extra engagement than another form of post on facebook, instagram, and linkedin. Thru video, you may show which you recognize their wishes, are empathetic, and prepared to help them get thru those tough times. Video for social media marketing

 motion pictures don’t ought to be high-finances, either. When you have a telephone, you can begin creating low-price motion pictures for social media structures like fb live, instagram memories, and linkedin movies right away, normally of fairly respectable fine. Make sure your video content material assessments as a minimum one, if now not more, of the stipulations under:

 informs

connects

entertains

facilitates

right here are three recommendations for developing effective video content material with your cellphone:

 hold it quick and simple. As a general rule, shorter, extra concise videos perform better, in particular in social channels. Document in a quiet surroundings to get rid of historical past noise. If you’re outdoor, reshoot if it’s too windy or a vehicle is going with the aid of. If you’re internal and your family or canine is making quite a few noise in the historical past, wait until a quieter time to reshoot. Purchase a tripod or spend money on a cellular phone gimbal stabilizer. This will reduce digital camera shake and make your videos greater expert. Searching out more recommendations? This content advertising institute article stocks extra facts on a way to create effective motion pictures along with your smartphone. Build e-mail advertising and marketing automation workflows

e-mail advertising automation is cost-effective advertising method

 advertising automation improves the performance and effectiveness of your e mail communications. While it takes time upfront to build automatic workflows, they’ll serve you for a long time. Plus, you probably have more time to do it now than you've got inside the past! There are low-value automation options which can be fairly intuitive along with mailchimp, activecampaign, and convertkit. And there are many methods that you can use advertising automation, as follows:

 easy email advertising automation

create a blog subscriber welcome collection. If you don’t have a blog welcome e-mail, ensure you create it now! It is able to be as simple as one e-mail that welcomes new subscribers to your weblog. Or, you may build a multi-e mail marketing campaign that stocks relevant sources and encourages engagement. Beautify your confirmation emails. You probable already ship order confirmation emails, however consider how you could make them extra productive and useful. Include hyperlinks to applicable records, how-to articles, or case research. Use them as an possibility to move-sell or up-promote. Showcase different merchandise your clients is probably interested in. Put in force a client anniversary e-mail. Display your clients you admire them and their loyalty. Thank them for being a customer and take into account presenting a unique bargain on your products. Sophisticated automation

integrate e-mail marketing along with your internet site. Electronic mail advertising automation software program, like activecampaign or hubspot, can combine along with your website and cause e mail campaigns primarily based on unique website hobby. As an instance, if someone visits a product web page but doesn’t region an order, you may ship them an email that explains the advantages of the product or addresses ability purchasing limitations. Revive deserted carts. Marketing automation is extraordinarily useful for purchasing users back to their abandoned carts. When incorporated with your internet site, you may use marketing automation software to send website traffic a observe-up electronic mail with a coupon to lure them to finish their purchase. Email continues to be one of the simplest virtual advertising and marketing techniques to be had. Use this time to study and overhaul your email marketing software so you can speak with users when they’re maximum probable to respond. Marketing in the time of covid-19

none people have ever confronted a international pandemic this big before. Remember that we’re all in this together, and all customers and entrepreneurs are usually within the equal boat. Now's the time to pay attention for your clients, crew up with your fellow commercial enterprise owners, and create beneficial content that is empathetic to our shared  Digital Marketing Company in London state of affairs. Simply because everybody is at domestic does now not imply that commercial enterprise has to shut down. And there are approaches to transport the needle through smart, strategic virtual advertising with out being opportunistic. The recommendations above are sensible, practical locations to start.

Follow On:  Facebook & Twitter

Connect With: Linkedin

Subscribe On:

Youtube

[laidbackgardener]

California Isn’t Green, Clean Or Sincere

(Op Ed photo courtesy of American Lung Association)

Everyone has an opinion.  This one is mine about fresh air and the quality, or lack there-of, since we have seen things change with the Coronavirus.  It might also be about hypocrisy and being too big for their britches but you’ll let me know that later.

A report from IQAir, a company that monitors pollution levels, says the air in Los Angeles hasn’t been this clean since the 1990’s.  Now, we know that California is the leader in over the top Green responses and they tend to be a trend setter when they make decisions.  Why is that?  It’s based on sheer size, not on them having better information or a better way of doing things.  Since they are such a large consumer of goods, many companies do what they want because they don’t want to lose money.  

The government and people of California are truly serious that we’re better off now sheltering in place, telecommuting and social distancing.  If that’s true, they should restrict anyone from using a car within city limits.  They have great air quality now, and they value the environment, so why doesn’t Los Angeles just put in a law that bans cars in the city?  

And by no cars, I mean NO cars.  It wouldn’t matter if you owned a company, or a big-time movie mogul or a guy working at the local burger joint.  You would only be able to use public transportation like busses, trains, subways and shuttles.  The only other things allowed would be delivery trucks and emergency response vehicles.  

What an ideal response time you would have from police, fire and ambulances with no traffic.  Your sidewalks would be open for foot traffic and your air would be cleaner.  It would even open up new business investments like parking garages and more job possibilities like shuttle operator.  You would have lots of people and companies shuttling to and from the airports, too.

Perhaps they should put their money where their mouth is because I would pay to see the mayor, a celebrity or some big wig in a shuttle van.  That would be well worth it.