#Pal Sphere Guide

[fogaminghub]

🌈 Hey gamers! Are you exploring the vibrant world of Palworld? Check out our latest blog post on how to craft your first Pal Sphere! 🎮✨ It’s your key to capturing those magical Pals and boosting your adventures. Discover the materials you need and get ready to catch 'em all!  

[dangraccoon]

Experimentations in Amorous Connection - Chapter 1

Tech/Phee Genoa

|| Fluff || Flirty || No Plan 99 ||

Word count: 856

Content: Neurodivergent/Autistic Tech (social cues? never heard of her), accidental flirting, Tech and Crosshair are twins

Mando'a Guide kaminii - Kaminoan

Tech hadn’t recently transferred the data from the recorder on his goggles. That wasn’t like him, but he’d been distracted as of late. And now, because he hadn’t paid attention to the storage capacity, he couldn’t record the small fits of quiet laughter bubbling out of his companion.

As the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years, Tech found Pabu to be something of a base. Yes, he and his squad would occasionally go on missions to aid the rebellion, but more and more they melded into the community here, who accepted them–and more than a few of their brothers–with open arms.

Now, as he walked along the shoreline with Phee, their conversation flowing easier than it had with anyone–even his siblings–before, he found that he felt settled in a way that he’d only ever felt in their barracks on Kamino or on the Marauder.

“You know,” she said, still smiling. “Most people just call them ‘starfish’.”

Tech blinked at her. “Why?” he asked–bluntly, he supposed. She’d told him he was often blunt. “Asterias rubens do not share visible features with stars.”

“You don’t think the shape looks similar if you squint?” Phee smirked. 

Tech blinked at her. “Stars are luminous spheres of gas–”

“Believe it or not, I do know what stars are, Brown Eyes,” she chuckled. “And as much as I enjoy listening to you explain these things to me, I meant it literally.”

She stopped walking, reaching toward him and pulling the goggles from his face. 

“What are you–”

“Just look,” she said, gesturing out to the night sky above them. “See how the lights of ‘em shine out in points? Kinda like our washed-up pal back there, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I-I believe I understand now,” he said. 

She smiled, handing him his goggles, but kept her gaze towards the sky. 

“Aren’t they just beautiful?” she whispered. 

Tech looked in the same direction. They could see hundreds of thousands of tiny specks of light, and there were millions more they couldn't see without the aid of specialized equipment.

“During our time training on Kamino, we were assigned our roles at a very young age,” he said suddenly, almost startling them both. “I was to be our pilot, though, with my enhanced capacity for knowledge and skill, I was tasked with a heavier workload.” 

Phee didn’t say anything at first, her eyes still taking in the view. She nodded for him to continue. 

“We each spent thousands of hours in individualized training and simulations,” he said, scowling slightly. He had always excelled at every task and test the kaminii threw at him. Regardless, he remembered it mostly as an exceedingly lonely time. “I spent a vast amount of my training in flight simulators. I’ve seen thousands of starry skies, both real and simulated.”

When her eyes finally tore away from the sky, she startled almost imperceptibly to see that Tech had stepped closer to her. 

“That is to say, I have… lost the ability to see beauty in the stars,” he said, begoggled eyes locked onto her. “I have never been particularly adept at seeing the beauty in much of anything; that’s not what we were trained to do. However, the more time I spend in your company, I find that you are a capable tutor in all things beautiful.”

Phee’s curious expression shifted and Tech found himself enraptured by every minute change.

Even in the low light of the evening, he could see her cheeks darken a little. Her lips had parted slightly, then pressed together as they drew into a soft smile. She ducked her face away. 

“Come on, Brown Eyes,” she said, her voice hushed. “We’d better get you home before that family of yours sends out a search party.”

They walked to the Batch’s small bungalow together, enjoying the soft sound of the waves hitting the rocky shore. 

As they approached the door, Phee stopped and turned toward him.

She smiled at him, tapped his shoulder lightly, and bid him a good night, starting the short journey to her own home before anything more than “good night” could pass his own lips. 

He watched her go–the way her hips swayed as she walked muddying his focus slightly–with a growing feeling that something was different now. 

His puzzled expression must have been obvious on his face as Crosshair pointed it out as soon as he entered the kitchen. 

“What’s with you?” the sniper drawled from one of the stools at their countertop. 

Tech explained the evening’s events as he got a glass of water. 

“She simply said ‘good night’ and went home,” he concluded. “I had the impression that perhaps I… misstepped somehow.

Crosshair blinked at him, set his spoon down in his half-empty bowl of ice cream, then stood and left the room. 

Tech scowled momentarily but then saw why he’d left as he reappeared, a confused Echo in tow. 

“Tell him,” Crosshair said simply.

“Tell me what?” Echo scowled at Crosshair. 

“Why?” Tech scowled.

“Because he’ll tell you the same thing I would,” Crosshair shrugged. “But he’ll be nicer about it.”

Chapter 2 ⇢

Thanks for reading! - River

DangRaccoon Master List Tag List Form Read on AO3

Tags: @writing-positivelyexisting @nekotaetae @get-wr3ckered @jediknightjana @lucyysthings @unstable-kiwi @6oceansofmoons @l3xi3luv @winter-phoenix1995 @serenityselene @lokigirlszendaya @nomercyforthewarrior @ravenclawbitch426 @Padawancat97 @idoubleswearimawriter @wishyouthetest @orangez3st @error6gendernotfound @techs-goggles9902

[musings-from-an-elder-goth]

Every October from 1966 until 2020, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" etched itself into across the collective consciousness of young darklings with it's once a year broadcast on network television. (To watch it, click on the above link & jump to 5:45 on the timeline.) The importance of "The Great Pumpkin" to me and my fellows, regardless darkling or normie, cannot be overstated. Elementary school children simply did not miss "The Great Pumpkin." However, it lost much of it's 'weight,' for lack of a better term, once VCR's became available. Prior to those wondrous devices, you literally only had one chance per year to watch "The Great Pumpkin" - that's it. To be a kid & miss "The Great Pumpkin" airing was akin to Linus fainting and missing the arrival of The Great Pumpkin, himself. I recall hearing the tragic tale of one kid on the school bus who had missed the airing the previous night as his house had lost power & we all sat in silent horror at this revelation - a fate worse than death or dentist visit.

Of course, me being me, I had already somewhat prepared for such an unthinkable eventuality by having acquired a copy of the 1967 book adaptation of "The Great Pumpkin." In the 70's, my folks choose to live in the boonies, so losing power for no reason was something that could happen. Fortunately, I never did have to cower in a dark corner, clutching my well worn book copy, silently cursing the Fates for inflicting such an indignity upon me. After all, this was one of those vanishingly rare instances where the book version was objectively not as good as the TV version.

(Just as an aside, my fav Charlie Brown character was always Schroeder. I never gave it much thought, but Schroeder is actually kinda goth with his dark colors, quiet demeanor, & music obsession, so...makes sense. I imagine when he hit his teen years, he joined a goth band, died his hair black, & played wicked dark keyboards at countless gigs.)

Fast forward a few years & I can still vividly recall my profound shock at learning a friend of mine, who owned an early VCR, had recorded "The Great Pumpkin" upon it's previous airing. It was a singular wonder to be able to watch something you could previously only have seen once a year, watch it whenever you want, & not even need to find the most sincere pumpkin patch as prerequisite to do so. It was as if you could reach up into the heavens &, with a simple twist of hand, rewind the celestial sphere back in time to the previous eclipse or passing of Haley's Comet, so staggeringly cosmic in power it seemed. There we sat, watching "The Great Pumpkin" in early December of 1981 & it was a big enough deal to me that I still remember it as if it happened merely a month ago. And I wasn't even really that much into it anymore as I was 11 going on 12 at that point & was eager to put 'childish things' behind me. But I still watched it right the way through. I'm sure it found it's way to most folks VCR's during the 80's, & was officially released on VHS in 1988 & DVD in 2000, so I'm sure nowadays it's a rare household with children which lacks their own copy of "The Great Pumpkin."

Of course, there were other Halloween children's specials eager to rake in the chips like "The Great Pumpkin" did, but none of them ever reached the same level of quality as "The Great Pumpkin." Unlike most other Halloween children's specials, "The Great Pumpkin" has several sequences that, to a child, are legitimately spooky, such as the intro sequence, Snoopy making his way behind enemy lines, & the rising of 'The Great Pumpkin' in the pumpkin patch. I can still recall cynically thumbing through the TV Guide at any given year's new entries & weighing each against "The Great Pumpkin." Be it "Halloween is Grinch Night," "Fat Albert's Halloween Special," or "Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween," all were decidedly lacking. There were some older ones that I'd see on local independent stations that were reasonably good, such as the stop motion "Mad Monster Party" but even that was still a distant second. To this day, no Halloween children's special can hold a Jack-o-lantern to "The Great Pumpkin."

So this Halfway to Halloween, take a 25 minute break to revisit everyone's favorite Halloween special, & may the pumpkin patch in your particular neck of the woods always be the most sincere.

creaturesfromelsewhere 4-29-2024

[fireproofphoenix]

So I've been playing Palworld and it's scratched that itch I had back when Ark was also new and wonky as all hell. I love finding wonky shit that will be patched soon enough that I otherwise would never had seen if it was a polished game already. That's not the point. The point is the day I reached 365 in-game days on my character, I was taken to Hell and God spoke to me.

This is a somewhat long tale because I can't seem to tell a story without lots of details but ehh.

Now I know it wasn't intended as such but I know what I know man. See I'm all about breaking games. I enjoy speed running and clipping objects, and let me tell you about unintended files stored as magic boxes behind a fireplace in Skyrim! Naturally then, I have used some less than authentic things in the year.

Have I maybe held a conversation about the pros and cons between two Chikipi in the inventory of a Black Marketeer while my Quivern roasted him alive in the background so I could loot his corpse of 35k gold? Perhaps.

Have I ever intentionally instigated a riot in one of the only civilized parts of this island of nightmares? Have I led that bloodthirsty mob then against the leaders of the cults and/or organizations that control the island with the intent of forcing their leaders and their partner creature into a sphere thanks to an exploit allowing me to catch them? It's possible.

But no, instead me and Immortal the Shadowbeak decided to visit his home realm. See I was doing the now-known trick of butchering a pal and then riding them to prevent them from dying. Didn't realize how it worked, really, i just knew to try riding him during the second loop of the animation. I'd discovered this from dropping the controller in a panic as my cat made a mad dash and knocked over my coffee.

I figured out the rhythm of it. I was killing and harvesting this beast endlessly! It refused to stay dead under my guiding hand. Sure it was eternally blurred out with that pixil-y cloud, but that's because we should not gaze directly upon the divine, as this death transcendent hippogriff clearly was. I explain this in a sleep deprived mania to my roommate. They suggest a nap. I disagree. Another coffee means I can continue the immortal butchering.

Then we Fell the first time. I'm no stranger to being out of bounds in a game mind you. Hell my favorite mining route meant clipping through a mountain in another game. This is Fine™ so I land in the water under the map. Recall people saying online that the dungeons and whatnot are just hidden pockets under the world. Maybe that's where I was? Didn't care. Immortal Shadowbeak was there with me still. I continued the butchering unimpeded. Must get technology books for unlocking more shelves.

Over time I have repeatedly entered the Undersea. Sometimes its from exploring, but no, I have a Rushoar and he is called Sæhrímnir and he will take me to the Undersea every time. No matter what. Every other Immortal has regenerated every reload of the save and lost their pixel cloud, but remains censored to this day. But a man needs bacon for his eggs so I butcher him like his namesake to feed the people.

Now, like every good casserole recipe, the backstory is finally set, so onto the tale. On the day of my character's 365th day I rolled out of my bed and walked out of my keep. I did a full tour, remembering my tiny three walls and a roof to how far I'd come with my Pals. It'd been a long year, but I decided a feast! We must celebrate! Not just me and my party, but all of us shall enjoy Sæhrímnir! No salads for breaks today!

So me and Sæhrímnir get into position on the Bloodstone. I'd read having one stone foundation away from everything helped with not falling through the ground and while it worked for everyone else, Sæhrímnir is more Divine and thus immune to that so once again I'm riding his not-a-corpse down to the Undersea. I figure I need more meat to fill everyone, what with food level 7s everywhere, so i continue meat making.

Sæhrímnir decided I'd been flaunting his immortality I guess because later at the party he suddenly burst from his palsphere and I was like "Weird, but okay" and decided I'd try "petting him and calming him down" before tossing him back into the sphere. I was still holding the butcher knife I guess and started disembowling him on the table in the center of the picnic area in front of everyone. Only the Immortals knew what they were, having been killed at the Bloodstone far from the eyes of the rest, and now they knew.

But I wasn't gonna let Sæhrímnir die, so I went through the rituals the same as always and down to the Undersea we went. I prepare to go back to base via the keep inventory option in conjunction with the die and respawn button in the menu. It's routine at this point.

"Come" I hear an older man and younger woman say at the same time. I just happened to be looking at Sæhrímnir, about to return him to his sphere. His pixilation ended at that one word and then we started falling through the Undersea. In that short fall, I wondered if we'd fallen somehow into one of those dungeon pockets. As we landed I knew this was truly not somewhere I was supposed to be.

See, the grass was much more gray than green, but there was grass and ground under my feet in every direction I could see. The issue was, I could not see that far, only about five to ten feet through the thick white mist that was static and yet animated. No wait, that part just moved, but the smoke texture wasn't animated. I cautiously begin moving through the mist, careful that the ground may end yet again. Try finding Sæhrímnir, but he's gone. My palspheres aren't working, my character not even trying to throw an empty hand.

On the side of the screen, I see my character has eaten another plate of bacon an eggs. I'm still alive and eating, so that's a bonus. Means this isn't unsalvagable, but curiosity has me. I check and I have all my weapons. The firearms shoot into the White Void and my ammo count went down, so they work. I reload and set off further and faster into the mist.

Even fully sprinting there's nothing but knee high gray grass and flowers and the mist that is everywhere. I opened the map and it says I haven't left my base. I know I've been running in the mist for easily five minutes. I encounter a tree. It's texture is on inside out and is more or less just a mass of spiky vectors in a dead tree shape. I continue. Minutes pass, more trees appearing in the fog. I saw a pal fragment node but it vanished as I approached.

eventually as I get bored, I notice the day is about to end and I consider respawning and going back. The Sun turns into a Moon in the dial and I hear a crashing sound like a felled tree. Everything flashes and the grass is suddenly green, but the mist is turning black like ink. Horror movie vibes as hell. I'm rooted in place watching this glitch and needing to know how it ends.

The double-voice says something again, but they're no longer saying the same thing. Too brief to comprehend what it was. Haywire audio files, no big thing. Happens a lot. Sæhrímnir then appears, or perhaps another boar like him. It squeals and does its death animation as the fog finishes becoming black. Night must've finished falling in the Overworld---

Lights start coming to life around me, brightening and dimming slowly. Lifmunk Statue green and data log/fast travel blue lights started pulsing in the void. I made the mistake of trying to run to one. The camera spins as I start running. Moving is controlling the camera now and the camera is moving the character now. No problem, lemme just unlearn decades of gaming muscle memory real quick.

"COME" the Twin Voices cried suddenly, static accompanying the word. Feel backdoor room vibes and get goosebumps. My nerves are suddenly both taught and shot at the same time. My character has fallen into the distortion world ffs. Time to abort. I select Respawn in the menu. My character doesn't die. Try several more times to no avail. Try double jumping and my Galeclaw still refuses to answer my summons. Palspheres are still not working.

As I get the idea to just hard-close out the game, the sun begins to rise. Like a disney movie, rays of gold and orange shoot through the black and dispel it....why are the rays of light twisting? They start bending around and twisting around invisible objects my character doesn't collide with. Wait, that thing over there kind of looks like part of the assembly machine---

The entire screen suddenly turns white and I hear a sound like a dozen digital demons as the game crashes. I reboot the game and I'm standing in the middle of the party, still in full swing around 4 in the afternoon on the 365th day. Nevermind my night going through the Shadowrealms like I'm mfing Ra crossing the Duat. Nevermind that I saw beyond the veil as many Islanders wish for and I found only horrors.

I prepare to log out when I check my party. Sæhrímnir is gone. He never returned with me.

The Immortal Pal Experiments have been halted at this time.

[techetizeofficial]

Unlocking Ancient Civilization Parts in Palworld: Your Guide to Getting Them!

HomeHow to get pal fluids

Unlocking Ancient Civilization Parts in Palworld: Your Guide to Getting Them

byErik•January 20, 2024

If you're aiming to create some of the most cutting-edge items in Palworld, your journey will lead you to the elusive Ancient Civilization Parts. This rare commodity lies concealed behind the challenges posed by some of the game's toughest battles, and you'll need a decent number of these parts to fashion cool items like the Grapple Gun and Pal Sphere Launcher.

Learn More

[gollancz]

hello official gollancz tumblr!

i love science fiction, especially when it involves robots. what is your favourite robot sci-fi novel? and do you have any other recommendations?

also, i hope you're having a great day! :D

I LOVE ROBOTS. I actually ran a robot world cup last summer over on our SF Gateway twitter... probably due another one actually.

While this is probably not an unexpected answer, from our lists I think my very favourite will always be Marvin The Paranoid Android from HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Everything about him delights me intensely in every iteration 10/10 excellent plastic pal who's fun to be with (although Hi I'm Eddie Your Shipboard Computer is a close second).

Other fun ones, Rice Fish in THE RED SCHOLAR'S WAKE is actually a sentient spaceship; Neuromancer from NEUROMANCER is probably one of the most sinister AIs I've encountered in fiction (GLaD0S is a baby girl and poor little meow meow and I will hear nothing against her). EVERSION by Alastair Reynolds has a hidden robot in it.

SEA OF RUST by C. Robert Cargill is such a great book too, a robot scavenger on a post-apocalyptic Earth is trying to resist becoming part of a centralised network intelligence. It's a thriller, a noir, and what would happen if Wall-E went really dark. You might recognise the author name too - he's also a screenwriter, and one of his latest pieces was The Black Phone.

I will admit to also being a fan of small squeaky robots, but those are trickier to portray in text than in other mediums. The Scutters and the DRDs will have my heart forever, because the Star Wars ones get all the attention (although I did build myself a Chaos Sphere at the Droid Depot when I went to Disney last year... then did an accidental New Baby photoshoot with it and my husband in front of the Milennium Falcon. My mother-in-law thought this was less funny than I did.)

For upcoming books, we have the @victoriocity novel in the works and I can't wait to share it because it has one of my very favourite things in the world - Really Rubbish Robots. There are some great ones in that.

[brokehorrorfan]

If the Phantasm Sphere Collection is out of your price range, a budget-friendly alternative is on its way. Phantasm: 5-Movie Collection will be released on September 27 via Well Go USA.

The set contains all five films in Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm franchise on Blu-ray: 1979’s Phantasm, 1988’s Phantasm II, 1994’s Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, 1998’s Phantasm IV: Oblivion, and 2016’s Phantasm: Ravager. Reggie Bannister, A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm star.

Phantasm City Creative designed the cover art. Special features are listed below.

Phantasm: Remastered special features:

Audio commentary with writer/director Don Coscarelli and stars Michael Baldwin, Angus Scrimm and Bill Thornbury

Graveyard Carz episode

Trailer

At a funeral, Mike (Michael Baldwin), watches as a tall mortician clad in black (Angus Scrimm) tosses the unburied coffin into a waiting hearse as if it were nothing. Seeking the truth behind this unusual sight, Mike breaks into the mortuary, where he comes face-to-face with the sinister Tall Man. After barely managing to escape with his life, Mike enlists the help of his brother, Jody (Bill Thornbury), and their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister). Together they set out to uncover the secrets of the Tall Man and those who dwell in his hellish world.

Phantasm II special features:

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli, actors Angus Scrimm and Reggie Banister

Trailer

Released after seven years in a mental hospital, Mike convinces his old pal Reggie to join forces with him to hunt down and destroy the Tall Man once and for all. Mike’s visions lead the two to a quiet little town where a horde of flying killer balls aim to slice and dice their gruesome way through everyone. Exploding with special effects, unparalleled thrills, horror and suspense, PHANTASM II climaxes with a blood-curdling conclusion that you have to see to believe.

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead special features:

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli and editor Norman Buckley

Behind the Scenes

Deleted scene

Trailer

The mutant dwarf creatures are attacking, the silver spheres are flying, and the Tall Man is back with a vengeance! Fifteen years after the original horror classic, writer/producer/director Don Coscarelli reunites brothers Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and Jody (Bill Thornbury) to help their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) destroy the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) once and for all.

Phantasm IV: Oblivion special features:

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli and actors Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm

Behind the Scenes

Trailer

13 years after the original nightmare began, Mike must cross dark dimensions of time and space to discover his origins and those of his nemesis, the evil Tall Man. With only his loyal friend Reggie at hisside, and the spirit of his dead brother to guide him, Mike must finally confront this malevolent embodiment of death. Prepare to be scared witless as the fine line between the living and the dead snaps with a vengeance!

Phantasm: Ravager special features:

Audio commentary with co-writer/director David Hartman and co-writer/producer Don Coscarelli

Behind the Scenes

Deleted scenes

Bloopers and outtakes

Trailer

After battling with the Tall Man in Phantasm: Oblivion, a battered Reggie wanders through the desert in search of his missing friend, Mike. After recovering his 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda, Reggie is targeted by two of the Tall Man’s Sentinel Spheres and destroys them. He awakens suddenly to find himself sitting in a wheelchair pushed by none other than the elusive Mike! Although overjoyed by their reunion, Reggie is in this alternate dimension an aged and weary old patient in a psychiatric ward. And only he remembers their battled and bloodied past with the Tall Man. Reggie must travel between dimensions and discern what is reality in order to confront the mysteries at the heart of a decades-long struggle against evil. He is met with new and familiar faces along the way, and an epic showdown on the Tall Man’s home world awaits!

Pre-order Phantasm: 5-Movie Collection.

[eliteprepsat]

With 2020 in the rearview and the hopes of a better year in sight, resolutions have no doubt been on many minds. New Year’s resolutions can be a great way to reset at the start of the calendar. They allow one to check in with themselves and to assess what deserves greater personal focus into the future.

Whether making a resolution (or two, or three) is new to you or a common practice, here is a list of resolutions specific to high school students that you might consider undertaking in 2021.

1. Improve your grades

Whether it’s resolving to score higher on your weekly reading quizzes or to go from a B to an A in math, try taking actionable steps to reach your goal. What is necessary to better succeed on those reading quizzes? Taking better notes? Going over assigned chapters twice? And what do you need to achieve that A? Staying after class to ask your teacher about the problems you missed? Visiting your school’s tutoring center? Improved grades don’t magically happen to us. Instead, we need to take the initiative to make them happen. So, go the extra step, and see how your grades improve.

2. Become a better student

The best students aren’t simply those with the best GPA. Beyond improving your grades, you can also resolve to become a better overall student this year. Participating more in class, asking teachers about extra credit opportunities, assisting classmates who could use extra help in a strong subject of yours. These are just a few ways that you can become a better student. What other ways come to mind?

Becoming a better student has many benefits. For example, voicing your thoughts by participating more in class can aid in developing your critical thinking skills. It also displays to teachers your interest in their course and your ability to lead. This likely won’t be forgotten when teachers calculate your final course grades, and it will also come in handy when you hope to receive a favorable letter of recommendation from them for college.

3. Focus on actual learning

Grades are important. Even more important, though, is actual learning. This means not just memorizing a vocabulary list for a quiz only to instantly forget it. It means internalizing lessons for greater purpose.

How do you go about this? Build a course schedule that will assist in a career you could imagine yourself pursuing. This might mean taking classes at your local trade school or taking AP classes so that you can test out of required courses in college to focus more on your major. Regardless, in all of your classes, always consider how the material can help you in practical, real-world applications.

4. Expand your mind

Don’t forget that there is also so much to learn beyond the subjects offered in high school. What new things would you like to try to learn or do this year? Learn how to code? How to tap dance? Or throw a pot on a ceramics wheel? The possibilities are literally endless, and so are the resources available to you. Research what kinds of classes are offered to high schoolers at your local community college. Perhaps your own school even offers enriching clubs you don’t yet know about. And, of course, there is no shortage of books, documentaries, and podcasts out there (many of them often free) to assist you in expanding your knowledge, too.

5. Expand your sphere

In addition to expanding your mind, you may also wish to expand your sphere in the new year. “Networking” can be very important for success—in school and beyond. So, whenever you can, reach out to teachers, counselors, tutors, and even friends to build up your network. You never know when you might need to call upon those you know for help.

6. Focus on your school-life balance

Education is extremely important, especially as a young person hoping to succeed in high school, college, and into the working world. But it is also extremely important to experience fulfillment outside of school. For more on improving your school-life balance, see our previous articles “4 Tips For Finding Balance: How to Study and Still Have a Life” and “A Guide to Achieving a Healthier School-Life Balance”.

7. Focus on self-care

After 2020, we could all stand to focus more on our personal self-care. Self-care involves nourishing all facets of one’s mental and physical health. What requires tending to in your self-care routine? Getting more fresh air or exercise throughout the day? Drinking more water or sticking to a regular sleep schedule? Stretching, meditating, or even just committing to flossing every day are all good goals that will add to your mental and physical wellbeing.

8. “Unplug”

While social media keeps us connected, helps us learn, and supports our creativity, it also has damaging effects. Studies have shown that too much scrolling on our phones increases feelings of isolation, inadequacy, depression, and anxiety. This likely isn’t news to you. But how do you break the cycle? If you think that you may spend too much time on social media, resolve to limit your use in the new year. A few tips include disabling notifications, leaving your phone behind when you go to bed for the night, and even removing one or more social media apps from your phone altogether. You can also redirect your attentions from social media to your offline friends and interests.

9. Break a bad habit

Excessive social media use can be quite a bad habit. What other bad habits might you benefit from axing in the new year? Biting your nails? Eating too many sweets? What about gossiping or even cursing? Write your intention on a piece of paper or share it with a family member or friend who can support you in your quitting efforts. And feel free to reward yourself when you’ve made strides toward achieving your goal.

10. Kick procrastination to the curb

But what if your bad habit is putting things off? Kick procrastination to the curb this year by trying to identify the cause of your procrastination. Are you easily distracted? Do your best to eliminate distractions at the outset of tasks. Are you simply overwhelmed by the task at hand? Break it down into more manageable parts on a to-do list. And again, don’t forget to reward yourself—both as you cross steps off of your to-do list and when you finally complete an entire task.

11. Get organized

Can you never seem to find your favorite pen? Your comfiest sweater? Does it take you ten minutes just to locate that history report on your laptop because your home screen is loaded with so many files? Perhaps your New Year’s resolution could be to focus on your organizational skills. Work to declutter your desk, your closet, your computer, or any other area in your life that always seems to be in the most disarray. Clear your space, and you will also clear your mind.

12. Become a better citizen

Once you’ve decluttered your closet, why not donate your unwanted clothes to a local shelter or thrift store? This is just one way that you can resolve to be a better citizen, giving back to your community in the new year. Other ways to help make the world a better place include assisting with food drives, collecting blankets and other necessities for animal shelters, and becoming a reading buddy for young learners. There should be no shortage of volunteer opportunities in your area. And with a simple Google search, you can discover them all.

13. Reach out to old friends and/or family

Miss your best pal from seventh grade? Only talk to your favorite cousin on holidays? Give them a call or shoot them an email to initiate a closer relationship this year. Don’t be afraid to take the first step. It’s amazing how quickly and seamlessly true friends and/or family can pick up where they left off when they reconnect.

14. Make a new friend

Alternately, you can always add to your roster of exiting friends. No number of friends is too many—especially when the friends are quality. Is there someone you know as more of an acquaintance who seems like a potential pal? Ask to sit with them in class or at lunch. Invite them to an event. Though it may be awkward at first, you’ll find that most people appreciate being reached out to as a friend. After all, don’t you?

15. Be a better friend

Although it’s true that no number of friends is too many, it’s also true that—as the dictum holds—quality is more important than quantity when it comes to relationships. So, how can you be a better friend? Practicing being a better listener is a great place to start. These articles from The New York Times and Psychology Today provide great tips on how to be a better listener.

16. Practice gratitude

This can take many forms. For example, you can practice gratitude by more regularly writing “thank you” cards to loved ones. Or you can begin each day by naming out loud three things that make you happy. You could also keep a gratitude journal, board or jar (on/in which you regularly write down things for which you’re thankful). Practicing gratitude can help to make you feel more outwardly compassionate and more inwardly positive and satisfied. According to a Harvard medical study, it can even improve your physical health. So, try one or a few of these practices in the new year, and see how it makes you feel.

A few final thoughts and recommendations

Remember that your resolutions can be as small or as big as you like. Often, setting smaller, more manageable goals is best, since you can more readily and frequently see your progress along the way. But don’t be afraid to set “shoot for the moon” goals, as well. Indeed, the old adage is true that you can accomplish just about anything you set your mind to. But also remember the wise words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said that the greatest accomplishment is “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you into something else.” So, whatever your resolutions for 2021, just be sure that they are right for you.

Serious about keeping your New Year’s resolutions? Check out Day by Day, Habitify, or Habitica—just three of many apps  that allow you to keep visual track of your goals and your progress in achieving them. Such apps can help you to stay better focused and motivated on resolutions, and each is unique—from the more analytics-driven Habitify to the RPG-style Habitica.

And if you would prefer an app that is more tailored to a specific resolution, check out this list from PCMag, which includes apps for working on better eating, exercising, budgeting, and more.

Stacy G. is a writer and teacher who has taught composition, literature, and creative writing courses at a number of public and private universities across the U.S. She has also taught SAT, AP English, and Literature SAT Subject Test courses at Elite Prep. She likes poetry, dogs, and poetry about dogs.

[lyricfulloflight]

Writing Year in Review

This is the first year I’ve ever had such a productive fanfic output, so I thought I’d do a ‘Year in Review’ style post for my writing.

Amazingly my tumblr followers have grown hugely this year as well - i think I have about double the followers I had when I came back to tumblr after a couple years hiatus.  So if your new to following me, this is a good guide to all my recent writing!

Everything I’ve written this year is Cherik centric.  Somehow I managed to write 12 stories and post over 180k words to AO3.

The List

1) Downstairs Distraction: Originally a smutty little tumblr drabble. Charles meets Erik the morning after a very loud night of sex with his current fling. Things...happen. PWP. 2939 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19357660/chapters/46054333

2) Home Visit: Just a little tumblr drabble in response to the prompt: Family.A sweet, heart felt domestic cherik fic. Fluff. 714 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20114530

3) Airwaves: Charles is working as a DJ for the on campus radio station when he meets the newest addition to the on-air team: Erik Lehnsherr. Though Charles falls head over heels for Erik in an instant, he doesn't have the confidence to introduce himself - his whole life has shifted since his accident and romantic relationships have been off the table. Will Charles get the confidence to take a risk on love? 14,995 words.

Sweet little fic written for the Cherik Big Bang with lovely art by @ireneadonovan.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169118

4) The Fall: Written to fill the prompt: "Raven seduces Charles' boyfriends to "check they're faithful". Charles finds out about Raven's sisterly interference and goes a bit off the deep end. 2673 words.

Written for the lovely @akasanata who sent me the prompt.  This fic mostly focuses on Charles and Raven.  Someday (I swear), I will have a follow up Cherik fic for this one!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432939

5) The Things I Do For You: Charles brings a stray kitten to Erik's apartment. Taking it in is but one of the many things Erik is willing to do for Charles. 931 words.

Sweet and fluffy.  Written for the ‘They Deserve Better Challenge’.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20854652

6) You Are My Fire: A fluffy fic set during XMFC. A 'what could have been' snippet from the Westchester Estate. Inspired by the prompt: Fireplace. 698 words.

Another fluffy little fic for the ‘They Deserve Better Challenge.’

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20948093

7) Rumour Has It: Erik has just arrived to the US as a foreign exchange student for the year. It takes him less than two weeks to learn through the rumour mill that Charles Xavier is the biggest slut on campus. Thankfully, he has never had any trouble ignoring rumours. Until he and Charles are paired up for a group project that is, and Erik finds himself suddenly in Charles social sphere. Is Charles who everyone says he is? Or is he something... more? WIP, currently 2 chapters and 3998 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21021653/chapters/49998035

8) The Consequence of Hiding: Charles is completing his PhD at Oxford when he finds himself in dire need of a new job to support himself and Raven. Erik is a grumpy Mutant Student Counsellor who has yet to fill his student assistant position. Enter Prof. MacTaggert and her matchmaking ways to bring her student and her friend together (in platonic, professional compatibility, of course). Will things stay platonic for Charles and Erik? Only time will tell.

My big project.  Finally completed after working pretty much all year on it. Over 115K words.  23 Chapters.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995308/chapters/45107560

9) It’s Just a Summer Thing: Erik, new to America and not fitting in at all, gets the opportunity of a lifetime: an invitation to an elite summer soccer camp. Erik is hoping to improve as a player, his mother is hoping he'll make friends. Over the years he does both, and maybe, just maybe, he finds something more than a friend.

Tooth Rotting Fluffiness. 6 chapters. 12,573 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21427033/chapters/51053647

10) Hollow: Added scene from X-men: Days of Future Past. Charles and Erik have a confrontation in a Paris hotel after the plane scene, but before the go to find Raven.Sometimes its the people who know you best, the people you care about the most, who can push you over the edge.

Written for the X-men Secret Exchange.  Angst, cherik style. 1516 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21595765

11) Someday I’ll Find You: Charles has spent the entire school year writing to his German pen pal. Though initially a class assignment, his pen pal has turned into his only friend. They talk about their lives, their dreams, their studies. They play chess and exchange book recommendations. Charles has never felt closer to anyone in his life. Until one morning at the Xavier estate, Kurt catches him writing a letter to his pen pal and all hell breaks loose.

WIP.  Collaboration with the incredible @msfbgraves. Currently at 13 chapters and 18,251 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20661824/chapters/49067759

12) At First Glance: Erik-- the CEO of a multinational company-- is always dressed to the nines fine suits. The people who surround him are no less. They're all well groomed, fit, and some better looking than top end models (men and women). But one day Erik meets a frumpy Professor in a fluffy cardigan, thick glasses, full cheeks and a slight pudge. Charles Xavier. His life will never be the same.

Written for X-men Madness.  Fluffy holiday goodness. 4,729 words.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815806

And that was my year!

I think I will do another post tomorrow about the projects I have in the works for 2020 :)

Happy reading and writing fellow fic fans!

[vintagerpg]

My pal Shawn remembered having and being terrified of this book as a kid (bought, apparently, at Toys R Us), so he asked me to track it down for him, I guess so he could be terrified all over again. I got him a copy. And as soon as it showed up, I knew I had to share it with y’all. This book is WEIRD.

I give you: The Tourist’s Guide to Transylvania (1981). Yes, that is Christopher Lee in the flames. No, there is no further connection to Hammer Films. Rather, it is as if the publishers had a pile of random, lurid horror and fantasy paperback cover paintings laying around and decided to figure out a way to publish all of them in one book. There is no real through line or clear art direction here. This is basically a random collection of stuff.

Cool stuff, no doubt! But random. I only recognize two names in the credits – Alan Lee who delivered the amazing title page painting, and Les Edwards, who did the barbarian, the creepy face and the ghoul that will be familiar to Call of Cthulhu players. Terry Oakes is credited for the pig man painting which is clearly the cover of the Sphere edition of William Hope Hodgson’s House on the Borderland. Alan Hood’s hideous carnivorous worms appears to be a clear inspiration for the Dinosaurs Attack “Trilobite Terror” card art.

Possibly the best part of the book is the text and the contortions it goes through to stick to the travel guide pretense while justifying the presence of increasingly un-Transylvanian art. There are a surprising number of Conan-esque barbarians, for starters. I would quote, but there are too many gems and not enough space here. But it is fantastically atrocious.

I will leave you with this: This book was for kids. It was sold in Toys R Us. And it has a gigantic painting of a man being gruesomely eaten alive by earth worms. And that is kind of just the tip of the ice berg. I love the 80s.

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[every-angel-is-terrifyingg-blog]

Raphael

I won’t lie, I’ve wanted to put off this post.

There are a few things I need to get off my chest and a few elephants I need to address before I can really talk about my boy Raphael.

 If you’ve ever spent five minutes in the Good Omens tag, then you’ve heard of the “Crowley is Raphael” headcanon. It’s compelling to some people because the Archangel Raphael is a healer who looks out for humanity and snakes have a traditional connection to healing. Not to mention we don’t see Raphael in the show.

When I first saw this headcanon, I thought it was an interesting “what if.” However, it’s a “what if” that presents complications. Crowley doesn’t perfectly align with Raphael’s lore, which I’ll be getting into today. It also presents a bit of a paradox. There would need to be a pretty good explanation for why we humans know about Raphael and why we consider him one of the Big Four Archangels (ie Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel) if he’s fallen.

I’m not here to try and change minds. I’m here to enthuse about angels. So, if you like the Raphael headcanon, please understand that you need to find a good solution to a few roadblocks to make it work. I also hope the information I’ll provide is helpful.

If you headcanon Crowley as a different named angel, any named angel, I’m happy to talk lore and give information. Again, not here to change minds. At the end of the day, I just want more excuses to talk about angels without people assuming I’m religious. Also, I sometimes worry that the Raphael headcanon will drown out other voices/ideas and, well, that’s just not cool. The wonderful thing about fan communities is creativity and the stifling of creative expression is always something to be mourned.

My personal take? I think Crowley was a worker bee angel who very accidentally got where he is today. I also kind of like the idea that he was one of the fallen angels who taught humanity about astronomy/astrology as mentioned in the Book of Enoch, but my preference is that Crowley was essentially a nobody. It’s more satisfying to me to think that a nobody became the serpent in Eden and what not. If you disagree, that’s fine.

Okay, I’ve delayed things long enough. Let’s focus on Raphael, Archangel MD. Who is he and what is he about?

Raphael (God has healed) is one of only three angels that are named in any canonical text, the other two being Michael and Gabriel. This alone makes him the third most important angel we have.

He is first mentioned in the Book of Tobit, a text that is outside of the Hebrew canon and Christians are split on (Catholics say canon, Protestants say not canon). In the Book of Tobit, Raphael heals Tobit’s blindness and acts as a travel companion to Tobit’s son Tobias. He disguises himself as a a human, claiming to be a relative named Azarias (Yahweh helps). After a long journey and some miracles, Raphael reveals that he is one of the seven Archangels who sit by God’s throne.

After the big reveal, Tobias and Raphael reach their destination. Tobias wants to marry a woman named Sarah, but the demon Asmodeus keeps killing her husbands before they can consummate the marriage (rude). Raphael tells Tobias to smoke the demon out by burning a fish’s liver and heart. It works and the two humans can get married.   

Raphael is attributed as a doctor angel in a few other places. The Zohar states that Raphael is the one who is in charge of healing the earth and is a protector of humans. In other stories, Raphael helped Abraham heal from his circumcision, fixed Jacob’s leg after some celestial wrestling, and gave Noah a book of medicine.  

In the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Raphael is further established as an angel of healing. After the fallen angels mucked things up on earth, Raphael was tasked with fixing the planet. Along with this, Enoch names him as a Watcher and a guide to Sheol, the underworld.

Being a very important angel, Raphael is referenced to a number of times in other stories.

It’s thought that Raphael’s equivalent in Islam is Israfil, the angel who will blow the trumpet to announce the Days of Resurrection. Some believe that he tutored Muhammad before Gabriel delivered the Qur’an and that he cries three times a day over the vision of Hell. What’s fascinating is how Israfil is depicted. He’s gigantic, hairy, covered in mouths and tongues, and has four wings: one to cover his body, one to shield him from God, one that stretches east, and another that stretches west.

Here’s what I’m wondering, are the mouths separate from the tongues or does he just stick all his tongues out of all his mouths?

The Midrash Konen says that Raphael was once the angel Labbiel. Before God created humans, there was huge argument in Heaven over whether or not humanity was a good idea at all. Labbiel and a number of other angels supported God’s desire to make humans. Because God is God, He got final say. The angels who disagreed with God were burned (rude) and Labbiel got a promotion and a name change.

In Jewish mysticism, Raphael along with the other Big Four (Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel) observe all the bloodshed in the world and watch over the Four Rivers of Paradise.

In the Testament of Solomon, King Solomon needed help building the Temple, so God sent Raphael. Raphael gave him a magic ring engraved with a pentagram (the Seal of Solomon). This ring had the power to control demons and so Solomon completed the temple thanks to demonic slave labor.

Some traditions place Raphael as a guardian of the Tree of Life, which grants immortality. He also oversees evening winds and is a champion of science and knowledge.

Raphael’s angelic rank is...tricky. He’s called the chief of Virtues, second sphere angels who ensure that miracles are preformed on earth (so, in Good Omens, are these the angels who told Aziraphale he was preforming too many frivolous miracles? I like to think so. Virtues do outrank Principalities after all.).  However, he is also called a Seraph, a Cherub, a Power, and a Dominion.

I’m going to go with the rank my pal Johnny Milton gave him, which is Seraph. I also just really like Seraphim. They’re second to Thrones in my book.

Well, I invoked Milton, so now it’s time to talk about Paradise Lost.

First, Raphael is an important character in Paradise Lost because he is sent to go visit Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and tell them what’s what. Second, I’m pretty sure Adam has a crush on Raphael.

When Raphael is introduced, Milton spends a lot of time describing how beautiful Raphael’s six wings are and just how hot Raphael is in general. He’s so hot that his “glorious shape” is proof alone that he’s from Heaven and not Hell. Raphael tells Adam and Eve that he’s there to answer some of their questions. Eve decides to leave Adam and Raphael alone, presumably because Adam won’t stop making heart-eyes at the angel and it’s embarrassing.

Well, the narration says it is because Eve wants Adam to explain everything to her later, but I like my read better. It’s way less sexist and more fun.

So, Adam and Raphael sit and down to eat and this is A Big Deal. Scholars have argued for millennia on whether or not angels have physical bodies and if they operate like human ones. I’ll do a separate post on this another time, but this whole scene with Raphael is Milton making his stance known -- angels have bodies and they need to eat.

Milton also takes the opportunity to be much more woke than anyone expected. Adam gushes about how amazing sex is and asks Raphael if angels do it. After blushing, Raphael says yes.  Angel sex is the kind of sex that has no lust. It is instead a celebration of love among pure entities. Some scholars believe that Milton wrote this to argue that sex can be enjoyed without shame and sex can be beautiful.

Adam asks Raphael several more questions about Heaven and the nature of existence, which Raphael does his best to answer. One question is about the movement of the stars and Raphael teaches him some quick astronomy.

(I’ve seen several people comment that Raphael has a connection to the cosmos and this is the only piece of evidence that I can find. Did everyone get this from Paradise Lost? I’m genuinely curious.)

Regardless, Raphael being the “sociable angel” tries his best to explain God in a way that Adam can understand. None of the other angels have tried to get on Adam’s level like this, so it makes him stand out. Most importantly, Raphael tells Adam about the war in Heaven and Lucifer’s fall.

This conversation takes place in Books V-VIII. So, this lasts a while.

When Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden, God sends an angel to tell Adam how much life is going to suck from now on. You’d expect it to be Raphael, but sadly, it’s Michael. Michael is a much more distant angel, so it really drives home that Adam and Eve no longer have that same personal relationship with the divine.

Also, they can never ask their angel friend TMI questions about Heaven sex or admire his hotness ever again. And that’s why they call it Paradise Lost.

Dumb jokes aside, Raphael has very much earned Milton’s title of “sociable angel.” As both doctor and angel, he is closely tied to human affairs and has excellent bedside manner.

Could he be Crowley? That’s ultimately up to you. This Internet Person says no, but I’m just an Internet Person.

Sources for this post can be found under the “My Resources” tab. Check out the “Who Am I” tab for more info on this blog and the author.

[brokehorrorfan]

The Phantasm Sphere Collection will be reissued on July 13 via Well Go USA. The Blu-ray box set was originally released for Phantasm's 40th anniversary in 2019 but quickly went out of print.

The six-disc box set contains all five films in the Phantasm franchise on Blu-ray and a bonus disc loaded with special features, along with a full-scale replica of a killer sphere. Aaron Lea designed the cover art.

Phantasm launched in 1979 from writer-director Don Coscarelli. It was followed by Phantasm II (1988), Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998), and Phantasm: Ravager (2016). Reggie Bannister, A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm star.

The extensive list of special features can be found below.

Phantasm: Remastered special features:

Audio commentary with writer/director Don Coscarelli, co-producer Paul Pepperman and visual consultant Roberto Quezada

Audio commentary with writer/director Don Coscarelli and stars Michael Baldwin, Angus Scrimm and Bill Thornbury

Dunes Cantina Party audio commentary by writer/director Don Coscarelli and the cast and crew

Graveyard Carz

Interviews with Don Coscarelli and Angus Scrimm

Deleted Scenes

Cast interviews - Phantasm: Actors Having a Ball

Phantasm Behind-the-Scenes Home Movies with commentary by Don Coscarelli and Reggie Bannister

Additional home movie footage

A Horse Drawn Hearse – Remastered black and white flashback footage

TV Spots

Radio Spots

Angus Scrimm Introduction

Fangoria TV Spot

Theatrical Trailer

Still Gallery

At a funeral, Mike (Michael Baldwin), watches as a tall mortician clad in black (Angus Scrimm) tosses the unburied coffin into a waiting hearse as if it were nothing. Seeking the truth behind this unusual sight, Mike breaks into the mortuary, where he comes face-to-face with the sinister Tall Man. After barely managing to escape with his life, Mike enlists the help of his brother, Jody (Bill Thornbury), and their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister). Together they set out to uncover the secrets of the Tall Man and those who dwell in his hellish world.

Phantasm II special features:

Director’s cut with X-rated gore sequence

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli, actors Angus Scrimm and Reggie Banister

The Ball is Back – documentary on the making of Phantasm II

The Gory Days – an interview with Special Make-up Effects Artist Greg Nicotero

Deleted Scenes

Workprint Scenes

TV Spots

Theatrical Trailers

Behind the Scenes

Still Galleries

Released after seven years in a mental hospital, Mike convinces his old pal Reggie to join forces with him to hunt down and destroy the Tall Man once and for all. Mike’s visions lead the two to a quiet little town where a horde of flying killer balls aim to slice and dice their gruesome way through everyone. Exploding with special effects, unparalleled thrills, horror and suspense, PHANTASM II climaxes with a blood-curdling conclusion that you have to see to believe.

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead special features:

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli and editor Norman Buckley

Balls of Steel: Bob Ivy’s Stunt for the Ages - The Phantasm III Car Stunt – Behind-the-scenes footage of the film’s dangerous car stunt, including recently rediscovered material

It’s Never Over: The Making of Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead – Interviews with Don Coscarelli, A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Gloria Lynn Henry, stuntman Bob Ivy, director of photography Christopher Chomyn, composer Christopher L. Stone, sphere designer Kerry Prior, special makeup effects designer Dean Gates and production assistant Kristen Deem

Behind the Scenes Compilation

Audio commentary with actors A. Michael Baldwin and Angus Scrimm

Phantasm III: Behind-the-Scenes

Deleted Scene

Radio Spot

Still Gallery

Trailer

The mutant dwarf creatures are attacking, the silver spheres are flying, and the Tall Man is back with a vengeance! Fifteen years after the original horror classic, writer/producer/director Don Coscarelli reunites brothers Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and Jody (Bill Thornbury) to help their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) destroy the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) once and for all.

Phantasm IV: Oblivion special features:

Death is No Escape: The Making of Phantasm IV: Oblivion – Interviews with Don Coscarelli, A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, special makeup effects artist Gigi Bannister, stunt co-ordinator Bob Ivy, director of photography Christopher Chomyn, composer Christopher L. Stone, sphere designer Kerry Prior, cameraman Justin Zaharczuk and special makeup effects artist Robert Kurtzman

Behind the Scenes Compilation

Phantasm Sequels Conceptual Art Gallery by Justin Zaharczuk

Audio commentary with director Don Coscarelli and actors Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm

Phantasm IV: Behind-The-Scenes

Trailer

13 years after the original nightmare began, Mike must cross dark dimensions of time and space to discover his origins and those of his nemesis, the evil Tall Man. With only his loyal friend Reggie at hisside, and the spirit of his dead brother to guide him, Mike must finally confront this malevolent embodiment of death. Prepare to be scared witless as the fine line between the living and the dead snaps with a vengeance!

Phantasm: Ravager special features:

The Making of Phantasm V: Ravager featurette

Interview with actor A. Michael Baldwin

Interview with actress Kat Lester

Interview with actor Stephan Jutras

Behind the Scenes Promo with Angus Scrimm Tribute

Phantasm V Red Credit Sequence

Audio commentary with co-writer/director David Hartman and co-writer/producer Don Coscarelli

Behind the Scenes

Deleted Scenes

Phuntasm: Bloopers and Outtakes

Theatrical Trailer

After battling with the Tall Man in Phantasm: Oblivion, a battered Reggie wanders through the desert in search of his missing friend, Mike. After recovering his 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda, Reggie is targeted by two of the Tall Man’s Sentinel Spheres and destroys them. He awakens suddenly to find himself sitting in a wheelchair pushed by none other than the elusive Mike! Although overjoyed by their reunion, Reggie is in this alternate dimension an aged and weary old patient in a psychiatric ward. And only he remembers their battled and bloodied past with the Tall Man. Reggie must travel between dimensions and discern what is reality in order to confront the mysteries at the heart of a decades-long struggle against evil. He is met with new and familiar faces along the way, and an epic showdown on the Tall Man’s home world awaits!

Bonus Disc:

Phantasm: Ravager: How It Was Made – Feature-length documentary

Phantasm and You – Comic recap of the first 4 films by Phantasm: Ravager director David Hartman

Flashback Weekend Chicago Convention Panel Discussion (2008)

Flashback Weekend Chicago Convention Cast Panel (2014)

Flashback Weekend Concert Performance by Kat Lester

2016 Fantastic Fest Premiere and Q&A

Phantasmagoria: a documentary containing new and archival interviews with cast and crew

Phantasmagorical Mystery Tour with your host, Reggie Bannister

Phantasm Genesis

Phandom

Fangoria TV Commercial with Angus Scrimm

Angus Scrimm 1989 Convention Appearance

Pre-order The Phantasm Sphere Collection from Amazon.

[themattress]

The Myth Arcs of the Pokemon anime

Which one is your favorite? More details about them under the cut.

Diamond & Pearl: The Sinnoh Time-Space Legend

In which the Legendary Pokemon trio of Sinnoh’s great lakes choose Ash, Dawn and Brock to be their human champions and protect Dialga and Palkia from the clutches of Team Galactic.

DP001: Following a Maiden's Voyage DP004: Dawn of a New Era DP036: A Secret Sphere of Influence DP040: Top-Down Training DP060: Journey to the Unown DP069: Enter Galactic DP078: Pruning a Passel of Pals DP096: Losing its Lustrous DP097: Double Team Turnover DP110: Steeling Peace of Mind DP111: Saving the World from Ruins DP130: Frozen on Their Tracks DP133: Uncrushing Defeat DP136: Gateway to Ruin DP150: Unlocking the Red Chain of Events DP151: The Needs of Three DP152: The Battle Finale of Legend

Best Wishes: The Heroes of Truth and Ideals

In which Ash and Pikachu gain the power and position of the Black Hero of Unova, meet N the White Hero, and fight Team Plasma who seek to use the Hero legend for their own plan.

BW001: In the Shadow of Zekrom BW002: Enter Iris and Axew BW007: Snivy Plays Hard to Catch BW009: The Bloom Is on Axew BW023: Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma (Part One) BW024: Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma (Part Two) BW066: Explorers of the Hero's Ruins BW111: New Places...Familiar Faces BW112: The Name's N BW114: Team Plasma's Pokemon Power Plot BW116: Saving Braviary BW119: Team Plasma's Pokemon Manipulation BW120: Secrets From Out of the Fog BW121: Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry BW122: Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals BW123: Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony BW124: What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals

XY: The Power of Mega Evolution

In which Professor Sycamore of Kalos and a bunch of characters connected to him seek to understand the power of Mega Evolution and where it came from, for noble or ignoble ends.

XY001: Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin XY002: Lumiose City Pursuit XY009: Clemont's Got a Secret XY010: Mega-Mecha Meowth Madness XYSP1: Mega Evolution Special I XY028: The Bonds of Evolution XY030: Mega Revelations XY031: The Cave of Trials   XY032: The Aura Storm XY033: Calling From Beyond the Aura XY034: Bonds of Mega Evolution XY043: Origins of Mega Evolution XYSP2: Mega Evolution Special II XYSP3: Mega Evolution Special III XY068: Garchomp's Mega Bond XY092: Cloudy Fate, Bright Future XY093: All Eyes on the Future XYSP4: Mega Evolution Special IV XY094: From A to Z XY095: Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes! XY096: A Giga Battle with Mega Results XY098: Dream a Little Dream from Me XY101: Meeting at Terminus Cave XY102: A Cellular Connection XY106: A Meeting of Two Journeys XY107: An Explosive Operation XY111: Unlocking Some Respect XY116: The Synchronicity Test XY118: Championing a Research Battle XY119: A Full-Strength Battle Surprise XY121: Seeing the Forest for the Trees XY123: A Diamond in the Rough XY129: Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare XY130: Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted XY131: Down to the Fiery Finish XY132: A Towering Takeover XY133: Coming Apart at the Dreams XY134: The Right Hero for the Right Job XY135: Rocking Kalos Defenses XY136: Forming a More Perfect Union XY137: Battling with a Clean Slate XY138: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life XY139: Facing the Needs of the Many XY140: Till We Compete Again XYSP5: The Legend of X, Y, and Z

Sun & Moon: The Mythical Secrets of Alola

In which Ash comes to Alola and is chosen by Tapu Koko to get involved with all of the region’s legends, myths and secrets as they emerge into reality and endanger its inhabitants. 

SM001: Alola to New Adventure SM002: The Guardian’s Challenge SM003: Loading the Dex SM004: First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style SM009: To Top a Totem SM010: Trials and Tribulation SM019: A Guardian Rematch SM020: Partner Promises SM027: A Glaring Rivalry SM031: The Island Whisperer SM036: Trials and Determinations SM037: Rising from the Ruins SM044: A Dream Encounter SM045: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t SM046: Deceiving Appearances SM047: A Masked Warning SM048: Night of a Thousand Poses SM049: Mission: Total Recall! SM050: Faba’s Revenge SM051: Family Determination SM052: Revealing the Stuff of Legends SM053: Rescuing the Unwilling SM054: 10,000,000 Reasons to Fight SM055: The Professors’ New Adventure SM061: A Mission of Ultra Urgency SM067: Love at First Twirl SM069: Rise and Shine, Starship SM073: Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime? SM074: Tough Guy Trials SM075: Some Kind of Laziness SM076: A Battle Hand-Off SM077: Guiding an Awakening SM078: Twirling with a Bang SM079: Showering the World with Love SM084: The Shape of Love to Come SM085: The Long Vault Home SM087: Filling the Light with Darkness SM088: Full Moon and Many Arms SM089: The Prism Between Light and Darkness SM090: Securing the Future SM095: Sparking Confusion SM100: Battling the Beast Within SM101: Parallel Friendships SM104: That’s Some Spicy Island Research SM105: Showdown on Poni Island SM106: Evolving Research SM107: Run, Heroes, Run! SM108: Memories in the Mist SM109: A Grand Debut SM114: Beauty is Only Crystal Deep SM116: The Secret Princess SM124: Living on the Cutting Edge SM127: Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams SM140 - SM146: Ultra Legends

[yogaadvise]

10 steps for a happier Side Plank

Recently I took part in a class where my buddy taught us a brilliant sequence that integrated layers as well as layers of Side Plank (Vasisthasana) variants. We went with knee down, staggered feet, stacked feet, top leg raised, top leg ahead, leading leg behind, side Tree, huge toe hold, as well as 2 of the maximum expressions that included a back flex right into the extensive leg large toe hold and also a backbend comparable to Dancer's pose.

What I enjoyed greater than anything was not just the myriad of ways this present might be exercised but the limitless shift opportunities urging such dexterity, power and also poise. We spiraled, undulated and spilled our method from Downward Confronting Pet, Lunge, Plank and also from standing poses - such an attractive, detailed and tough dancing. I left my pal's course so satisfied and light, really feeling spacious, solid and complimentary. And also with such an admiration for the strength of my two side bodies!

Safe action by 10 step process for Side Slab

Since this course, I have actually been adding a lot more Side Slab variations into my class sequences. Very quickly I bore in mind why I had actually permitted Side Planks to vanish from my asana training collection. Side Plank is difficult! As well as if not experimented a strong, secure and incorporated foundation, this present can place a great deal of wear and also tear on the connective tissues in the shoulder, elbow as well as wrist joints. A foundation must be established as well as a step-by-ten-step process (from lower center of mass to greater) must be followed!

1. Shoulder and wrist warm-ups

Side Plank requires much required shoulder, joint and wrist strength, stability as well as integration to be practiced safely. Begin your exercise with heating up these joints (and also the muscular tissues that go across these joints) with postures such as Arm-of-the-Clock in gentle Reclining Twist, dynamically relocating in and also out of Threading-the-Needle in Tabletop placement, and dynamically relocating in as well as out of Eagle and/or Gomukhasana arms in seated postures. Wrists rotations and also stretches can additionally be presented lying down, on all fours or seated.

2. Warm-up as well as wake up the core

If you consider your core as it is described in the Apple Core Concept (your axis from crown to tail) it makes good sense that you need to heat up and also get up the muscular tissues that will sustain your spinal column in the lateral-parallel placement of Side Plank.

Dynamically relocating in as well as out of Cat/Cow (including lengthy levers by extending one arm and also opposite leg) and also Threading-The-Needle in Table top or Gate posture will certainly wake-up the extensors of your back and also two of the three layers of your stomach muscles: your back extensors that will stop your from tipping onward, your rectus abdominis (your eight-pack abs) will certainly stop you from tipping back, as well as your obliques which will sustain the ribs and prevent them from breaking down in your Side Slab.

3. Wake-up the deep core

A huge helper in keeping the side body from dipping and also sagging in this posture is the intimate awareness and assistance of the deep frontal myofascial meridian that runs from the bottoms of the feet, up the heel and also arches, inner as well as back of the calves, internal as well as back of the knee, internal and also rear of the thighs into the pelvic flooring where it blooms out like a flower to sustain the inner hips (pelvis, ilium as well as ischium arrangement) as well as the internal body organs. Without the recognition and support of this deep core fascia, it is quite simple and also typical to collapse right into the lower leg, hip, ribs, shoulder, elbow and wrist in Side Plank.

My new preferred way to bring awareness into this deep core connective tissue is from a fun variant of a present called Vishnu's Couch (over). Existing on your side with your hand or arm as a cushion, flex your leading knee as well as get to past the inner upper leg for your huge toe. Do a couple of vibrant motions to heat up the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf bone muscular tissues (inhale expand and breathe out flex at the knee joint). This will also heat your legs, inner upper legs as well as groin for later Side Slab variations!

Once you have actually warmed up dynamically, at some time you will have your leg as straight as feasible for you, approximately vertical to the ground (feel free to cover a band around the foot and also hold band with top hand). Locating your legs in a little bit of a L-shape position, flex both your ankle joints and spread out all your toes (really active feet ... feel your arcs!) After that, start to lift your reduced leg off the floor as well as hover it anywhere from a few millimeters all the method approximately where you might touch reduced leg to top leg (without tipping backwards when possible). This variation on Vishnu's Sofa will help to wake-up the inner leg lines from arcs of feet all the way up into your pelvic floor. The deepest layer of the abdominals (transverse abdominis) is also awakened and strengthened in this exercise.

4. Shoulder Integration

With the knowledge that tendons are not elastic and also as a result once extended will certainly not return to their initial state we can not, particularly in higher center of mass, weight bearing/load birthing poses,' hang' on our ligaments. 'Socializing' in Side Plank is simple if one does not incorporate (' plug in') the humerus bone into the sizable, shallow joint produced by the clavicle and also the scapula. In order for this shoulder joint integration to be effective we need to use our Perfect Chaturanga muscle mass: infraspinatus, externally turning the head of the humerus into the 'sphere' of the clavicular-scapula joint, serratus anterior, dispersing (adducting/protracting) the shoulder blade to the outer ribs: latissimus dorsi, trying to draw (adduct) arm in the direction of the side body producing underarm hollows and lower trapezius to maintain shoulders far from the ears. When all these steps are launched and practiced, a solid and also steady foundation is developed to support various variations of Vasisthasana.

Learn a lot more in class: Shoulder assimilation in Side Plank

' Adduction? Reach?' Have a look at A beginner's guide to anatomy terms

5. Hasta Bandha

' Little puffs of air in the middle of the palm' is typically just how Hasta Bandha is described. Bandhas are internal 'locks' that as soon as shakti power is prepared into the body allow the power to be 'secured' in. The 3 most common bandhas are Mula Bandha (origin lock situated in the pelvic flooring area of body), Uddiyana Bandha (upward fly lock in the navel/diaphragm location of the body) and also Jalandhara Bandha found in the throat area (throat lock). Lesser recognized Bandhas exist, both we read about the most on the yoga floor covering are Hasta as well as Pada Bandhas (hand as well as foot locks). The function of drawing energy upwards into the body has numerous physical, mental and also energised advantages. For the objective of practicing a risk-free and secure Slab, Hasta Bandha will both enhance the muscles of the hands, wrists and forearms and also will certainly encourage agility versus thickness (keep in mind ... gravity is ALWAYS a factor) on the bones of the hands, wrists, elbows and also shoulders.

More on the Bandhas

6. Deal knee down alternative initial - not as an afterthought

Often a yoga educator will give all the positioning cues for Side Slab position and afterwards, virtually as a second thought, claim something like, 'If you need to, lower your knee to the ground' or 'If you're having a tough time in this position select the knee down (gateway) variant'. What is always much more encouraging as well as sustaining of correct alignment is to provide the knee down variant first.

Students constantly feels more encouraged when they can exercise the reduced center of gravity (simpler) variation initially and after that relocation (step-by-step) towards the greater center of mass (tougher) variant. The 2nd crucial factor to provide easy-to-hard alternatives, especially in Side Plank, is that lowering the knee from Side Plank will inevitably have the knee land at a strange angle - as opposed to straight under the hip socket (developing a L-shape at hip and also knee) which is the form we wish to produce in Gate posture. And also sadly, the majority of the moment, the pupil that needs to decrease his or her knee is already doing something past their physical fitness/strength degree and also over-exerting themselves to the factor where they generally 'drop' their knee to the mat (for safety ... there must be no 'going down' of body components).

7. Shift Back Prior To You Pile as well as Roll

Although we desire the shoulder to be piled straight over the elbow joint, wrist and also hand in both Slab and Side Plank, we can not roll straight right into Side Slab from Slab and have that best bone piling alignment. What really takes place (for most of us) is that in the change to Side Plank our shoulder moves onward of Slab bone-stacking alignment. This leaves us extremely little room to perform the required shoulder combination we discussed above.

By shifting backwards toward our heels in our Slab position we find ourselves behind our stacked arms, elbow joints, wrists and also hands in Slab. Then we can launch the Side Slab shift from the hand weighing down, the Hasta Bandha raising up, the external turning of the humerus bone and the kidnapping of the serratus anterior, the anxiety of the scapula with lower trapezius and the adduction of the latissimus will maintain us from collapsing down. When we execute all those actions we will certainly be right back in our perfect bone-stacking alignment we remained in during Plank.

8. Knife-edge or flat foot?

When we count on become part of Side Plank there are a couple of options for the feet: stack, stagger, reduced the lower knee so just one foot remains in Side Slab variation, action top foot in front of hip area (a transforming lunge variant) or tip the foot behind (an expanded Side Slab variation of 'Wild Thing'). The lower foot in Side Plank variations can either be placed in ankle joint flexion with the knife-edge (tiny toe side) of foot on the ground (arc of foot dealing with upwards) or in ankle joint eversion with the 4 edges of the bottom foot on the floor covering and the room between the distal end of the tibia (what we take the external ankle bone) and the external side of the calcaneus (heel bone) lowers. This 2nd variant sustains fuller expressions of Side Plank present where we raise the upper leg as we have a broader surface as a foundation.

9. Overlook before spiraling down

There is popular Drishti saying in specific systems of yoga exercise: 'Where the eyes go the body will certainly comply with.' In Side Slab it befits us to seek out if we can because the power of the position will certainly then be of an upward lifting power (much less compression of the bones with that kind of higher energetic shift). As we practice all the various other actions and also offerings right here in this short article, a last breathing in the position is wonderful with the coming with sign of 'breathe in to rise as well as search for'. On the exhale, to sustain a secure and calculated descent, we look down initially and also the top shoulder band as well as extremity of the arm will naturally follow the descending look. Additionally, the obliques will normally start the down turning of the upper body as well as aware of enable a risk-free and supported return to Plank posture.

10. Counterposes

To securely exercise Vasisthasana there is a great deal of shoulder assimilation needed. To efficiently stretch that which has actually been strengthened as well as utilized for stabilization, helpful counterposes consist of Gomukhasana arms (specifically the lower arm), Purvottonasana (Higher Slab), and also Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge posture). It is always crucial to extend that which was strengthened throughout the technique in order to aid the body's mission for homeostasis (consistency and also equilibrium).

[tewaharangatahirealist]

COMM515_2022_S2 Assignment 2:Blog 1

I'm not one to sit and watch the daily news, or read articles online. Let's be honest most people my age get the news through TMZ or other social media based news sites. It's simple and reliable right? Stumbling across those large captions about a semi famous celebrity is much more joyful then the political nonsense that crowds the news.

Well I was scrolling twitter and found myself reading media watches article Mediawatch: Mounting fake news prompts calls for action. Quite frankly it has me stunned. Mainly at the behind the scenes being done to fix misinformation and I'm all for it.

The author Colin Peacock, Mediawatch Presenter  spoke about behind the scenes, Commenting on what the government is doing to prevent us from ‘harm’ - and how the digital platforms are diving into new ideas about the reduction and eventual removal of hate speech online. He references this podcast which I find extremely boring about the prime minister and her ex flatmate. RNZ Audio Player.(7th.August.2022.).

Using the podcast to bring about an example of misinformation. As if any of the public care about that. He doesn't realise the extremely graphic misinformation being shared about all kinds of celebrities and politicians. Sure the article is relevant to the prevention of hate speech, so I guess he's okay in that sense.

There are plenty of articles showing how to be safe online, explaining what fake news is. Netsafe has a Q&A on spotting fake news which seems helpful for the older generation.D, S. (2021, September 12). I think in  today's day and age, I merely speak for people my own age. I WANT FAKE NEWS. The world is so boring and although it's so easy to spread, it ruins politicians lives, celebrities are hurt.

To be realistic the average 19 year old could not care one bit. I'm ranting on here, but the majority of us don't even vote, why would we care about what they say? I was talking to an old pal of mine and we spoke about a quiz that tells you what political party you are most aligned with. We both got the green party and that was it, Doesn't mean we will vote. It's a big issue in the eyes of the older generation and I guess it's something I should start doing but for now it seems uninteresting, doesn't seem to affect me. I can't speak for anyone else, only myself but today's teenagers would rather watch some kid beat another kid in a Walmart than watch Jacida cut more taxes. This blog is not informative nor do I want it to be.

I want this blog to accurately represent my age group, a voice for older more serious generations to understand why we don't care. I really want to relate it to the Woodstock documentary. TV Guide Commented on the documentary saying it's odd that the young person's “idea of fun is committing crimes with a mob of dehydrated, drug-addled frat boys.”Mathews, L. (2022, August 2). Although he was commenting on the absolutely F–ked Vibes of Woodstock 99, I guess what I'm saying is that the young person's attitude in 2022 is very much like that. We frankly care much less about the world than previous generations and it's because we have so much more of it. Fake news or real we sit here for hours a day watching what other generations never did.

I'll put the question to you: Is it the fake news ruining our online sphere, or the attitude towards modern politics? Targeting those in charge has gotten so much easier, it's not secluded to the press like the old days. Anyone can tweet at any time about anything, target anyone and we rely on those social media companies to manage hate speech. Seems odd doesn't it? Let's go back to Colin Peacock's blog.

Peacock Quoted Tova O’Brien in the podcast with reference to the implementation of a misinformation minister. “It is time now for a government ‘misinformation minister',” she said - acknowledging the job title could be misconstrued. I personally think it creates an even larger divide between ourselves, the people, sub groups of the young people and those in charge. I can acknowledge that's partly my fault with not “being involved”. But if I don't vote I should be excluded. I can't remember the last time I was personally affected by any government. Is there a Declining political interest/involvement? There is a massive decrease  with Young people who are disengaged from party politics. In the NZ 2017 election the voter turn-out was 79.01%. Voter turn-out for the 65-69 age bracket was 88.21%. Voter turn-out for the 18-24 age bracket was 69.27% and for the 25-29 age bracket it was 67.56% (NZ Electoral Commission. DeSilver, D. (2021, May 28). So you can see my point. We're all disconnected to the main news points And arguments are boring or interesting. You've probably seen countless ads with young people beingAll cheerful to vote, most people our age skip them, more nonsense that blocks our day. It's rebellious.Us young people are rebellious. We have a large grudge to the older generations who have “run our country into the dirt”, or “killed our planet by fixing it”. It's the same attitude for all of us. I wanna know: Was it always this way?

The woodstock documentary i mentioned earlier had some good points about the feeling of young people

In the 90s. The hate towards the wars, or Bush. the race debate, heaps of issues. The documentary also

Mentioned that the concert was attended by a large number of young white men, men who did not have

Many issues to be worried about during that time. This anger that ruined the festival was formed from

What? Maybe it's the rage that makes us enjoy targeting those in charge, our way to get to them? I'm just

Waiting to find out like the rest of us.

[digitalmarketing12121]

Search Optimization in Lahore

Social Media Optimization (SMO) 

A Guide for Content Marketers All manufacturers possibly need a captivated and religious social media following. https://digitalmarketingtrust.com/

Why wouldn’t they?

It’s a low-fee manner to and marketplace products. But developing the sort of social media following isn’t clean. And it’s now no longer sufficient to certainly be gift on a platform. That’s in which social media optimization (SMO) comes in. It’s the manner to get greater engagement to finally boom your business’s attain. According to there are 3.499 billion lively social media customers worldwide. You have the possibility to attain lively customers, however you want to optimize your social media so one can do it. We’ll give an explanation for what social media optimization (SMO) is and the way it pertains to seo, provide a few SMO pointers, and proportion a few examples of B2B corporations which might be killing it on social.

What Is Social Media Optimization?

SMO includes locating out what content material plays properly to your agency on social structures and repeating that success. Easier stated than done. To do this, you’ll discern out what content material your target target market is calling for, see in which you healthy withinside the social media sphere, and finally, execute (after which reassess) your method. You can also additionally apprehend that it’s a comparable system to The massive similarity? The aim of having your content material in the front of greater humans.

The Connection between Social Media and Search

It’s clean to assume that every one you want is a quick web website online with complete content material and . However, Google’s algorithms take many alerts into account, and overall performance on social media is one. Performance on social media and such things as quantity of fans and degree of engagement may be effective alerts for Google. Basically, in case your social media is optimized, you’re possibly to carry out higher in seek as properly.

Source: Google seek performed on 12/09/2019:

According to a observe from Ascend2, that warfare with search engine marketing also are now no longer integrating social media advertising. But making sure that search engine marketing and social paintings collectively is non-trivial. Teams want to paintings aspect-via way of means of-aspect with the know-how that seo and social media optimization strategies pass hand-in-hand. https://digitalmarketingtrust.com/

Improve Your Reach with These SMO Tips

There’s absolute confidence that social media optimization is important, however how will you pass approximately optimizing your presence on social so you enhance your attain? Here are some SMO pointers that could assist.

Choose the proper platform(s) to your target target market

Where do your potentialities and clients cling out while they’re online? In their private lives, they could take to Pinterest or Facebook. However, while they’re the use of social media for paintings, they’re much more likely to be determined on web web sites like LinkedIn or Stack Exchange. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute determined that rated LinkedIn because the best B2B social media platform. When you’re optimizing your social media efforts, you don’t want to be on each web website online. But you do want to pick out the proper structures to your target target market, then double down for your efforts and optimize your presence in the ones areas.

Encourage personnel to proportion

Social media is a hit as it offers humans a social outlet at the internet. But social media isn’t only for fun – 67% of humans use social media for paintings, in accordance to. Additionally, humans are much more likely to hook up with humans they already understand than with manufacturers. In fact, humans are to examine a submit approximately a logo from a pal than from the logo itself. That’s why it’s vital to inspire personnel to proportion branded content material on social. To optimize your agency’s social media presence, create an prepared worker advocacy software and undertake sharing equipment that make it clean for personnel to unfold the word.

Leverage visible content

Material Visual content material catches the attention as a person is scrolling via their social feed. The greater you could comprise visible content material into your method, the higher. This is manifestly genuine on image-heavy structures like Pinterest and Instagram, however it’s additionally genuine on greater B2B-pleasant channels which include Twitter. According to a , Tweets which have pix get 18% greater clicks, 89% greater likes, and 150% greater retweets.

Have a youtube presence

Video introduction is a boatload of paintings; however it has massive payoffs, specially in case you’re on YouTube. That’s due to the fact YouTube is owned via way of means of Google, and Google regularly serves up motion pictures of their seek consequences. For example, in case you seek “the way to edit a picturegraph the use of Photoshop,” you’ll see 3 video consequences earlier than you even see maximum of the articles. Use it in your gain due to the fact, agree with it or now no longer, YouTube is the , proper in the back of Google. Your motion pictures don’t need to be fancy. You can create motion pictures that solution questions on your product or document photos from an occasion or conference. Having a YouTube presence can pass an extended manner towards optimizing your social media presence for seek?

Use hashtags, however don’t overuse

Hashtags can assist boom discoverability. For example, Instagram posts with a hashtag can assume to than a submit without a hashtags. But nobody desires to hit upon a submit this is jammed with hashtags. This takes away the true sense of a submit. So, what number of hashtags ought to you use? Well, it relies upon at the platform. On Twitter and Facebook, it’s . Using greater is connected to a lower in engagement. On Instagram, the use of much less than 10 is a great rule to comply with.

Five Steps to Social Media Optimization

In order to optimize your social media channels, you want to provide you with a social media optimization plan after which execute on it. If you comply with those 5 steps, you’ll possibly be for your manner to an optimized social media presence that performs fine with seek.

1.   Analyze your target

 target market As referred to above, you’ll want to pick out the proper structures to awareness on, and those ought to be those your target target market makes use of maximum regularly. In this step, your aim is to discover what social media structures your target target market makes use of and in which they need you to be. It’s additionally a great concept to test cutting-edge social media engagement. Which channels presently carry out best? Some can also additionally see a truthful quantity of engagement, even as others ship lots of visitors at once in your web website online.

 2.   Perform aggressive analysis

  The subsequent step is to carry out a aggressive analysis. You need to discern out the way you stack up in opposition to the competition. How plenty social media engagement do you notice vs. them? What forms of social content material are working (or now no longer working) to your competition or different enterprise leaders? To do this, you could use the Content Exploration Tool inner of your Alexa Advanced Account. Input the web sites of competition into the Content Exploration device to look which in their articles get the very best engagement.

 3.   Build a method primarily based totally on findings

 Once you apprehend your target target market, in addition to benefit a few perceptions into the competition, it’s time to that will help you attain your goals. A method is a keystone of social media optimization; however 28% of corporations have stated that a loss of method is a pinnacle barrier from turning into a social business, in accordance to.

 4. Execute on that method

 A method is not anything with out execution.A method is completed via way of means of a team, and search engine marketing leaders and content material entrepreneurs want to paintings carefully beside social media and network managers to make the imaginative and prescient a reality. Because social media optimization is so carefully aligned with seo, those groups want to paintings collectively in the direction of the equal goals, and ensure the message is comparable on each channel. When a logo posts on Instagram, they could direct fans to a weblog submit or an in-intensity manual in the event that they need greater information.

  5. Analyze consequences and regulate accordingly

 Once the method has been completed on, consequences ought to be analyzed and modifications ought to be made. In your preliminary method, define how regularly you’ll test in at the consequences. That manner, you won’t discover your self guessing while the proper time is to weigh in. https://digitalmarketingtrust.com/

 .Social Media Optimization Tools

 You’ll want the proper social media optimization equipment to assist make this a reality. Thankfully, there are some of equipment accessible that permit you to for your social media optimization journey. Here are some that is probably capable of assist.

  • Social media scheduling services,

 • Search, social media, and target target market studies equipment

 • Marketing automation equipment

 • Image introduction equipment

 Optimizing Your Brand on Social Media

  Social media optimization is an vital pillar of any sound advertising method. Social isn't a separate, siloed area, and there’s plenty you could do to optimize your channels for higher consequences. If you’re curious approximately what content material will assist you optimize your logo on social, you could flip to Alexa’s Content Exploration as a part of our Advanced Plan. https://digitalmarketingtrust.com/