#and is very dependant on many many factors unique to each kid

[anaalnathrakhs]

wait, 8 years old kid, you can be alone all day but we'll drive all the mandatory stuff ourselves! wait, 12 years old kid, you're too independant! wait, 14 years old kid, come sit with us instead! wait, 17 years old kid, i'll take the car and pick you up 800 meters away from home! wait, 18 years old kid, don't you know how difficult and hard and painful it was for us when you didn't do activities you don't like with us, back then!

wait, 18 years old kid, i don't understand why you're not more independant if you want it so badly, after all it's normal at your age!

[findmeinthefallair]

Big "T" and Small "t" Trauma Portrayed in The Owl House

Warnings: abuse and trauma mentions ahead.

I thought of putting together a post of its own to highlight an aspect of trauma that has been incorporated into the show. This post will be added to my TOH-related mental health masterpost that will be uploaded after the S3 finale, Watching and Dreaming, is released.

Big “T” traumatic events are singular, standalone, life-altering events that don’t happen repeatedly. The type that replays in your mind weeks, months or years after it happens. They can significantly change your perceptions and physiology, and aren't necessarily just about physical harm. Examples are a car crash, a life-threatening injury, getting publicly humiliated, or a natural disaster.

Small “t” traumatic events are importantly still very distressing, and can repeat over time. One of my therapists described this as drops of water falling on a rock again and again, eroding the rock over time (while big “T” would be a single big smash against the rock that leaves a pretty noticeable crack or two). Examples of small “t” are emotional abuse, a loud noise along a street, and smaller scale versions of bigger events that aren’t an immediate danger or which happen after you have established/reached safety e.g. seeing something that reminds you of someone, that makes you feel distress. If you were a parentified kid, like Hunter (having to overextend himself in dangerous situations to be Belos's punching bag), you will have definitely have experienced small "t" trauma to some degree.

This concept was first introduced to me by the best therapist I had. Each of these two types would be treated in different ways. Both types can be experienced differently by each person, since we each have unique life histories and unique combinations of risk factors (that may worsen one’s mental health) and protective factors (that can improve one’s mental health).

E.g. a car crash may not actually feel like a big “T” trauma experience for some people, while certain incidents of more intense psychological abuse that don’t involve physical harm, could be a big “T” incident for other people because it is life-altering.

I’m pretty sure almost everybody has gone through both “T” and “t” trauma to some degree. If you have been affected by trauma, managing your symptoms, and the way in which you receive support from trusted loved ones (and if you choose to see one, a therapist), will be different depending on whether it is the aftermath of big “T” or small “t” events that need to be attended to. If you have experienced both types, you'd need to attend to each differently. This will manifest differently for each person.

Big “T” events can really quickly change the meanings you subconsciously give to things about yourself (e.g. how strong you thought you were) and things around you (e.g. How safe is the world I live in? In what ways does the world feel different now?), changing those into negative associations. With small “t”, the same thing can happen on a smaller scale but it may be easier to turn those negative perceptions around and nudge them in a positive direction. You may benefit from being equipped with reframing tools e.g. journaling, hanging out with safe people, creative outlets like dance or art classes, etc.

Hunter is written so darn well and the production crew have overall made good distinctions between the big “T” and small “t” incidents that he experienced.

Big “T” incidents in the show are the big reveal in Hollow Mind, watching Belos 'die' (I'm wondering what must've been going through his mind when watching his friends put up the drawings of their loved ones in the refurbished shack..), being possessed, and losing Flapjack. Can’t deny that they were life-altering:

Small “t” incidents he went through include, and there are..........so many of them:

(The number of them that are in Labyrinth Runners alone is bonkers)

but we need to remember that small “t” can still be very distressing to go through: we don’t wanna invalidate or minimize that.

Even in the therapy room, if I have a client who has experienced both types, I may not necessarily attend to a client's big "T" wounds first, even though at first that may seem like the logical formulaic thing to do. Because if the client finds that too painful, we could always start by working on small "t" wounds. That's how case by case things can be for mental health treatment.

For a few other Hunter scenes it is less straightforward, e.g. his manic behaviour in Eclipse Lake:

And the haircut-related panic attack:

though I’m inclined to think these are small “t” because I don’t think he will look back on these incidents years later and become disturbed just by recalling them.

The kind of note I want to end on however...might not be what you'd expect.

One of the other Labyrinth Runners moments is a small "t" event that is not listed above. To this day it is my fave snippet in the entire show even after watching Thanks to Them, because from a clinical and thematic perspective I find it realistic, layered and powerful, so much contained in just under 15 seconds:

Because this little experience, while obviously unpleasant for Hunter (likely getting him to emotionally flash back to the moments where Belos almost killed him) for a short time, was also good for him because a safe trusted person was present to hold the space for him. There is both bad and good at play here, ultimately good because contact/connection was willingly made between them both (Hunter could have chosen to shut him out, but in the 3rd and 4th frames it is so telling how deep down this kid truly wants to connect...which is a basic need anyway).

We in the audience already know that Gus is a safe person - though Hunter doesn't believe that yet - who has come along at last to cross paths with him, outside of the Emperor's Coven and after Hunter has fled from that coven. And Gus asks out of genuine concern, "What's going on with you?" which breaks the icy layer of avoidance and detachment that Hunter has been trying to put up since he dashed out of the Owl House in the middle of his first panic attack.

Re-experiencing trauma can't be totally avoided, but the connection you could experience 1. with the people you trust while they support you, and 2. with yourself while using helpful tools and resources on your own.....especially when you have #1 and/or #2 while you are re-experiencing something difficult memories: that is the powerful stuff that could keep you going.

As you might be able to tell, I love this kid so muchhh 😭 He has helped me connect better with my inner child than ever before, on top of my past therapy sessions, he helps me as a licensed clinician to notice textbook stuff that is applied in a practical way, without me having to do as much guesswork on the go with real clients! And I have read on this site that his story has helped other fans to notice things about themselves that should be attended to with care and love.

[thygoddessouijathicc]

Learning About Biology Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Disclaimer, I’m not saying that this makes you an expert, or is any substitute for school and furthering your education on biology but it is a simple and fun way to learn difficult concepts that feel out of reach.

While school is always helpful for learning science and you learn many great things, for instance just this year I found out finally how organs work (I am unsure if I’m better or worse for knowing how digestion works, I know it’s a natural process but knowing my food is turning to bolus in my mouth feels like cursed knowledge), sometimes the way it’s taught just doesn’t register. There are many different ways of learning topics and it all depends on your learning style, interests, education, and what you like to do.

What works for me may not work for you, and even if it does you still need school if you want a full understanding, this is just a fun way to learn about evolution.

Now with that aside, let me explain what the hell I’m actually talking about.

As a young child I’d always had an extreme interest in zoology, evolution and fantasy, which of course led me to the very interesting niche type of fiction known as speculative zoology/biology.

What that is, for those who don’t know, is when a writer creates biologically feasible creatures using evolution as a framework, some famous examples of this are C.M. Kosemen’s “All Tomorrows”, the game “Subnautica” and Dougal Dixon’s “Man After Man”. Those stories are pretty specifically dedicated to only speculative biology and not so much plot although there usually is one especially in All Tommorows and Subnautica. I’m sure a lot of you reading this will know at least one of those works.

However, while those projects will teach you biology, and lots of it, they’re more about the results than the process, and they’re also not what I’m talking about.

There is a series on YouTube known as “Alien Biospheres” by the creator Biblaridion. While I would say I learned a lot of things from a lot of places, some things from random videos about animals, some from school, some from really liking spore as a little kid because my parents introduced me to it, some from speculative biology projects like the previously mentioned ones, I’d actually attribute most of my biological knowledge to the series.

Alien Biospheres takes you on a journey as the creator creates an ecosystem from the ground up, starting in a collaborative video with another great science creator, Artifexian (who you should also very much watch) with creating the alien planet itself. From that point on, starting with single celled organisms, he creates a world populated with hundreds of creatures that all seem very possible and interesting. As he goes, he explains the concepts and principles guiding evolution, and how each trait could evolve from what is already there.

You’ll learn about atmospheres, body plans, how flying works, the square cube law, and many other important factors to biology, all presented with the framework of building a creative and unique feeling world. For me, this was always the perfect way for it to be displayed in a way that was easily understandable, but not too oversimplified to the point you really aren’t learning anything.

His videos are the reason I can overanalyze and create theories on unexplained details of many creatures, and create my own biologically feasible (although objectively far more fantastical and unrealistic) monsters.

His videos may not work for you how they worked for me, but if you like biology, zoology, evolution, speculative biology/zoology, or fantasy creatures I would recommend at least giving his videos a try.

Again, I must say that they are a starting point and you still need an education on the topic if you want to be an expert.

However you should go out there and give it a try, Alien Biospheres helped shape my understanding of the world and it might help you too.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Hmm, for Talk Shop Tuesday: for any of your fandom OCs: what parts of canon you can adjust to make them fit in it? And how challenging is it for you? How much % you can manage to diverge without changing it completely?

Ooh it depends! Usually I don’t have to change much to make them fit in to begin with: for Morgan, I just said that Harritess had a daughter that Eowells had to take in (an E1 version of Jesse); for Reyna, I just said that Cynco had a kid that they had to then co-parent after splitting up, but it mostly ended up being Cisco because of Cynthia’s dedication to her job; for Amelia, I just said that Peter had a little sister. I like making my OCs fit into the world by just nudging canon a little (canon-nudged-to-the-left is my favorite thing, can you tell 😅)

For Lucy, it was a little trickier because I had to justify why Obi-Wan would take her in, bringing her in close proximity to Luke, as opposed to letting the Naberries to take her in. Though I think I managed to explain that well enough (and differentiated Lucy and Luke's names enough in-universe 😅)

As for the ripple effects of those changes, and other changes resulting from those...honestly, they’re pretty fun! Lucy requires the least amount of changes to canon (at least in the OT), and it was fun for me to have her be friends with Luke and Leia separately…and that also gave me the chance to introduce some fun Luke & Leia tension (tho ofc Leia never knows about it because Luke's anger at Leia is really anger at Lucy, and he realizes that before he and Leia properly meet). And setting Lucy on different paths from what you might expect of a Skywalker triplet (she goes to Cloud City with Leia and Han instead of to Dagobah with Luke) makes for some fun variety (this trope has been written a fair bit, so it also adds some uniqueness factor to it) and opportunities to explore different relationships!

The same is largely true for Morgan…though mostly that last part about exploring different relationships. While Lucy is heavily involved in the main plot from the get-go (proximity to Luke and all), Morgan is…tangentially involved for a good chunk of s1, and less so for s2. She’s involved in roundabout ways—for example, she met Stein years ago, so they're familiar with each other, and Ronnie is her brother…perhaps if she were older, she’d be in the know about FIRESTORM before Team Flash too. Also in s2, she knows about Zoom before anyone else but is blackmailed into keeping quiet and tries to get the message to Team Flash without alerting Hunter about it…and she’s the one Jesse runs to in 2x16, because Jesse’s not stupid enough to run away to a total stranger in a different city on an Earth she doesn’t know (at least she knows Morgan, even if she doesn’t like her, and Morgan’s apartment is the last place anyone would think to look for Jesse). Etc and so forth.

Morgan and Ronnie being like siblings also makes for some fun Barry & Ronnie exploration (and one-sided tension)—they don’t get time to even so much as talk in canon for more than 5 seconds, but here, they get to have a whole conversation about the sister they share...it’s very sweet!

This also gives me a chance to fix some parts of s1 that I don’t like: Morgan halfway loops Iris in early (for her own reasons), and after enough pestering, Barry loops her in about the rest...multiple episodes before Eddie, unlike canon. Also, the Westallen waterfront kiss in 1x15 will be written out…and replaced with something else. Can’t say too much about that yet tho! (The waterfront kiss will still happen at a later time, post-s1 when they're both single. The kiss is important, but it could’ve and should’ve been written better).

I haven’t planned too many details of this AU past like…s2 (just some small details, but not enough to say much about the plot yet), so I can't say how much s4-s6 will diverge, but I can say that s3 will have some major changes. Though that mostly has to do with fixing—although this AU is not intended primarily as a fix-it, there are some parts so egregious that I have to fix them…and Savitar is one of those things (screwing up “hero turns evil” takes a special level of incompetence smh). With Morgan thrown in the mix…things are bound to get interesting.

Oh, but actually correction to the above, I have planned a fair bit of s5, and it’ll be...mostly as canon-to-the-left as s1 and s2. Though I might have to see if I can fix Cicada because that...was a whole mess.

As for Lucy and the Sequels…that's gonna have some major divergences too. I'm still figuring things out for that, and there's a while to go yet, so I can't really put a percentage on it yet, but…I think TFA will be the Sequels movie that most resembles the version in Lucy AU (and even that will have some significant changes)

talk shop tuesday!

[littleeyesofpallas]

btw the game i've been liveblogging unprompted is Volcano Princess, currently on sale on Steam for under $10 until July 13th.

It's a riff on the old Princess Maker games, which were a cult classic hit of the 90s following the mystique of Princess Maker 2's failed English release. The original Princess Makers games were made by Studio Gainax(yes, that Gainax)'s short live videogame department, and was a unique spin on the stat management and "pet simulator" genres. While some of the series's contemporaries were things Digimon or Tamagatchi, with more fantastical premises of being the custodian of fantasy creatures, Princess Maker opted to take that same approach to raising a (mostly) human child.

Like it's contemporaries, it boasted a complex tree of variable outcomes, with various endgame elements could exist independently yet simultaneously to create a disproportionately large number of unique endings: so daughter's career, her marital status, and relationship with you as her parent could all be mixed and matched depending on different stat levels and story prompts you did or didn't achieve over the course of her lifetime. (There were something like 50 basic endings to Princess Maker 2, all with unique character portraits, and that's before factoring in narrative endings that were only distinguished in end game text, or marriage options that each had their own secondary illustrations.)

It was a great novel little game experience that bafflingly never saw many knockoffs or copy cats, despite being a pretty easy, if tedious, formula to emulate. There have been various super small indie type games in the style in just the past decade or so, but until this none that really capture the proper charm of the original Princess Maker games.

There have been a few extremely sketchy porn games made for things like flash that use some variation on this formula, and one fairly big production by the infamous Illusion studio, all which of course lose the implicit charm of the original. But for a very long time that was it. And then the much more wholesome, but narratively more linear, Long Live the Queen(also available on Steam) provided a much needed breath of life back into the formula in 2012.

Speaking of Steam the first 4(?) Princess Maker games are also available now, most of which are their first English release ever. (When I was a kid I had to have a fansite open with crudely edited menu guides and translated game scripts just to be able to take a guess at wtf was going on.)

Anyway, all this to say that Volcano Princess, with all it's clever subtle little innovations and updates to a familiar and near and dear to my heart gameplay experience is quite literally the game I've been waiting for for decades. So if anything in this weird rant has piqued your interest this is absolutely worth the price of a cheap lunch that they're asking, even when not on sale.

[tvzoonix]

BEST IPTV PROVIDER IN USA:

The rapid world of today has made entertainment more accessible and customized than before. IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is one of the finest methods to keep up with your favorite shows, movies, sports, and more. Of all the IPTV service providers in the USA, Zoonix TV stands out as the best since it provides unequaled features and services to meet a wide range of entertainment demands.

What Makes Zoonix TV Unique:

Zoonix TV is a platform made with the needs of the modern viewer in mind, not just another IPTV provider. The remarkable capacity of Zoonix TV to regularly supply outstanding programming is what sets it apart as the best IPTV provider in the USA. These are some of the main factors that make Zoonix TV the preferred option for viewers across the United States:

1. Broad Channel Selection:

One of the market's largest channel selections is provided by Zoonix TV. Viewers can choose from a wide variety of categories, including news, sports, entertainment, and kids' programs, on both local and foreign networks. Since it can be used by both individuals and families, Zoonix TV is the best IPTV provider in the USA. This flexibility means that everyone in the household has something to watch.

2. Reasonably priced packages:

When selecting an IPTV service, price is an important factor. Zoonix TV provides packages at an acceptable price. Even though it provides premium entertainment, Zoonix TV makes sure that cost is never compromised for quality. Because of its cheap bundles, Zoonix TV is a preferred option for users with limited funds, which increases its standing as the best IPTV provider in the USA.

High-quality streaming:

Zoonix TV's effort to provide high-quality streaming services is a major factor in that it has been named the best IPTV provider in the USA. Even at busy hours, Zoonix TV offers a seamless viewing experience with very little lag or buffering. The service guarantees that you will receive the highest quality picture, regardless of whether you are watching in HD or 4K.

4. Multi-device compatibility:

Zoonix TV knows of the importance of adaptability. Because of this, a variety of devices, such as PCs, tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs, can use their service. For busy households where each member wants to view various content on their favorite device, Zoonix TV is the best IPTV service in the USA because it allows many devices to be watched simultaneously.

24/7 Customer Support:

One of Zoonix TV's unique selling points is its dedicated customer support staff. The staff is always available around the clock and prepared to help with any technical problems or inquiries, making sure that viewers have a hassle-free experience. Another factor contributing to Zoonix TV's reputation as the best IPTV service provider in the USA is its quality of service.

With so many IPTV providers on the market, Zoonix TV continually establishes itself as the best IPTV service in the USA. Its extensive channel selection, reasonable cost, outstanding customer support, and high-quality streaming make it the best option for anyone wishing to enhance their TV viewing experience. If you're looking for dependable, top-notch IPTV services, Zoonix TV comes out on top.

[imperialsmilesdentalclinic]

How Long Does Braces Treatment Take? Insights from the Best Orthodontist in Gurgaon

Braces are a common solution for correcting dental alignment issues, but many people wonder how long they will need to wear them. The duration of braces treatment can vary widely based on several factors. Let us explore these factors and insights from the perspective  of the best orthodontist in Gurgaon to give you a clearer understanding of what to expect.

The journey to a perfect smile is unique for everyone. It’s not just about wearing braces; it's about ensuring they do their job effectively. Let's dive into the key elements that determine the duration of braces treatment.

Top 6 Aspects of Using Braces

1. The Complexity of Dental Issues

The time you need braces depends on your teeth's issues. If your teeth are just a little crooked, you might not need braces for long. But if your teeth are very misaligned or your bite is off, it will take more time. An orthodontist looks at your teeth closely to figure out how long you'll need braces. They check how your teeth are arranged and how they fit together. This helps them make a plan just for you. Every person's teeth are different, so each person's braces plan is different too. The orthodontist makes sure the plan fits your specific dental needs. This is important to get the best results from your braces.

2. The Type of Braces Used

The kind of braces you choose affects how long you will wear them. Old-style metal braces usually take more time than newer kinds like Invisalign. Each brace type works differently to straighten your teeth. Your orthodontist will help pick the best one for you. They'll look at what your teeth need and suggest the right type. In Gurgaon, top orthodontists have many kinds of braces. They'll explain each kind and help you choose the best one for your teeth. Whether it's traditional braces or something newer, they'll make sure it fits your needs. The goal is to get your teeth straight in the best way for you.

3. Patient Age and Responsiveness to Treatment

How old you are matters a lot when it comes to braces. Kids and teens usually see faster results. This is because their bones are still growing. For grown-ups, it might take longer. Their jaws are fully grown already. Also, how well you follow your braces treatment matters. If you do what your orthodontist says and take care of your braces, things can go quicker. This means going to all your appointments and looking after your braces well. So, whether you're young or older, listening to your orthodontist can really help speed up your braces journey. It's about working together with them for the best results.

4. Patient Compliance and Oral Hygiene

The success of braces treatment heavily depends on the patient’s compliance. This includes attending regular check-ups, maintaining good oral hygiene, and following dietary recommendations. Neglecting these aspects can prolong the treatment. It's crucial to take care of your braces and teeth to ensure a smoother and quicker treatment process.

5. Regular Adjustments and Follow-ups

Braces require regular adjustments to keep the teeth moving in the right direction. Missing your orthodontic appointments can delay the treatment. Consistent follow-ups allow the orthodontist to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments. These regular visits are essential to keep your treatment on track.

6. Post-Treatment Care and Retainers

Once the braces are removed, the treatment isn’t completely over. Retainers are usually needed to maintain the new position of your teeth. The duration for which you need to wear a retainer varies. This post-treatment care is crucial to prevent teeth from shifting back to their original position. Your orthodontist will guide you through this phase to ensure lasting results.

Conclusion

The duration of braces treatment varies from person to person, depending on several factors. Understanding these factors and working closely with your orthodontist can help you achieve the best results. If you are looking for the best orthodontist in Gurgaon, book an appointment at Imperial Smiles Dental & Implant Clinic. We have top professionals to take care of all your dental problems. At Imperial Smiles, we understand the importance of a beautiful smile and are dedicated to providing the best possible care to our patients. Let us help you achieve the smile you've always wanted.

Source: Justpaste.it

[cultural-psych-springstudent]

Who Has Painted my Canvas

As a little girl I dreamt of one day getting married. When I was 5 I remember thinking that marriage was a must, it was an inevitable destination that myself as well as my peers would all end up to face. Back then like any other child, I didn't quite understand the meaning of marriage. I remember telling my mom "if I need to get married I will marry my grandpa or my teddybear". In my teenage years I began to wonder if I'd ever be lucky enough to find my "soulmate", my friends and I would curate personalized Pinterest boards of our future weddings, and boy am I glad my tastes have changed. As I began University I started to question the construct of marriage, what is marriage? How can one word have so many different meanings for so many different people? For my parents, marriage was a gateway into adulthood, an excuse to have kids. For my grandparents, its an endless friendship, its passion, pure love, trial, error and triumph. For some of my friends parents, it means a partnership throughout life's battles, but it doesn't encapsulate rules over intimacy. So how is it that 3 different partners who were raised in the same area and took part in the same culture have 3 completely different definitions of 1 word? Are we born with a set destiny and a set of rules we must follow, beliefs that are created just for us? The truth is, everyone is shaped by their surroundings, their personal experiences and by society. Our "destinies" are partially decided for us but also depend on how we perceive our unique experiences. If 3 different people sit down at a table and eat the exact same meal it doesn't mean all 3 of them will like it, this is because we are all inherently different. So we do have a part of us that is set in stone biologically by genetics and lived experiences that have changed our biology. However, there is a huge cultural factor that influences where we end up and what we do. Every place you visit in your life time will have a different set of standards and a different sense of what is "right". It doesn't means that each of those people with be the exact same or have the exact same set of beliefs, it just means they've been dealt a different hand of cards than you have. If you ask a women in India what marriage means to her, she may answer that a marriage is a partnership that she is unable to break that was curated by her parents, something that I have grown up never needing to worry about, but I also understand marriage as a construct of love which is not was some other places believe it to be. The moral of the story is, if you're North American, don't walk down the streets of England and compliment someones "Pants", you could just very well be complimenting their underwear.

[ccil-india]

Does Your Flooring Option Have An Effect On The Interior Grammar Of Your Place?

Flooring is often overlooked when one considers the elements of the interior design of a home. While the main focus becomes walls, furniture, and decor in an interior, we hardly pay attention to flooring. It is a large surface that impacts the visual perspective of space, sensory reach, and the holistic spatial narrative. Picking the best type of flooring for a space relies on our lifestyle and personal tastes. Each type has its unique benefits, and determining the best flooring depends on spatial needs. CCIL is a leading flooring solutions distributor in India, providing different flooring solutions, such as wooden flooring, laminates, flooring carpet, and every other flooring that matches your needs and tastes. Hardwood flooring is extremely pleasing when it comes to aesthetic value. It is visually appealing, and distinct, and can add a touch of elegance to a space. One of the primary benefits of wooden flooring is its durability and versatility to adapt to almost every interior design theme in your home. With any decor element such as mirrors, wall art, decorative accents, or other decor adorned in your home, these floors will always look good and fit the desired theme. Hardwood flooring can also improve the acoustics within a space. Similarly, vinyl flooring is akin to a very large carpet that has patterns and textures mimicking those of marble or wooden flooring. Perhaps the biggest appeal of vinyl plank flooring is the diverse aesthetics it can take on. Patterns, colours, and textures of vinyl planks replicate distinct materials giving your floors the look and feel of the real deal. Vinyl flooring can be an effective choice owing to its durability and easy maintenance. From wood to marble and concrete, the options are virtually limitless with vinyl flooring. Despite hard surfaces, such as hardwood flooring, that takes up many pages of interior design magazines over recent years, flooring carpet has a style all its own. From luxurious and elegant to casual and cosy, a carpet tile can give a space an entirely different feel, just by altering the carpet style. We could consider a short-pile, patterned office carpet for a formal room or a long frieze for a more informal space. Carpet tiles provide excellent insulation value to a space, reduce heat loss, and help in saving energy costs for our homes. Laminate is a high-performing option for flooring in a home or office with numerous advantages. Not only is the composite timber material of laminate wooden flooring hard-wearing, but also offers fantastic scratch resistance. The laminate floorboards will survive high traffic, kids and even pet claws. The property of UV resistance is also less likely to fade the colour of the floors over time. Tiles are a popular option for flooring in most Indian homes. Tiles are smooth, super easy to clean and come in several patterns that are aesthetically pleasing. There are several colours and textures available in the market. Tiles are generally among the affordable type of flooring choices and can be used for waterproof areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Marbles, on the other hand, are a classic option when it comes to flooring with their versatility and aesthetic appeal. Flooring has a significant impact on the interior grammar of space. Choosing the best flooring is not as simple as picking up the best-selling option in the market. Several factors such as durability, moisture, ease of maintenance and cost greatly influence the selection process. We should make sure that the flooring choice balances our needs with our personal style. CCIL exclusively represents some of the world’s leading manufacturers to give you unlimited choices of flooring with world-class quality.

[getpaulhoward]

6 of 9

I love 2013’s Holiday Card image for many reasons… I love the nostalgia, the magic and research that went into creating it.  As a history buff and someone fascinated by WW2 specifically, I love the historical context and connections.  Mostly I love the card because this was the first time (but not the last) my holiday card was also connected to a film project I created.  In this case, my Holiday Short film, Everything Twas (which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/UiGGmQoygZg or by clicking the link in my profile)

The card built upon the film, but important to me, you didn’t have to see Everything Twas to understand and enjoy the card.  The card also didn’t really give any context to the film itself.  They were connected but not dependent on each other.  Inspired by one another!

Production-wise, the card was a much simpler affair shooting.  We tacked it onto the day of shooting I did for Everything Twas.  Hair and Makeup was done by my dear friend LN and Katie would once again help with costuming.

The real work took place in post and that was once again handled by the super talented Gavin Rolph.  We had many conversations, as I am a detail guy, and someone that wants to create something unique and original.  There were “versions” but once we found our footing we were off and running and really worked to finalize the feel and vibe overall.  I had done a fair amount of research (for Everything Twas and then specifically for the card) so I knew that what I was asking for was historically accurate.  Gavin did an amazing job delivering that.  For example, the color palette kept within the palettes used for the late 30’s and early 40’s.  Also, the style of hand painting posters was reproduced here, if you look closely at my hand and wrist for example, the color “bleeds” intentionally.

Inside the card no images appeared but on the right side in red text “SEE MY HOLIDAY FILM, EVERYTHING TWAS: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/GETPAULHOWARD DO IT FOR YOUR COUNTRY!  A cheeky way to promote the film.  On the right side, in black text, “AND EVEN THOUGH THIS CHRISTMAS TIME MAY FIND US TWO APART, I’LL STILL BE WISHING YOU THE BEST, OLD PAL, WITH ALL MY HEART!  A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAYS! PAUL”

On the back, another American Flag with the credits of the project and below, a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt; “The times are so serious that even children should be made to understand that there are vital differences in people’s beliefs which lead to differences in behavior.”  A fitting quote for then, and now as an unjust and unprovoked war continues in Ukraine.

I do want to address one piece of controversy that came from this card, and I’m not kidding when I say “controversy”, a few strangers who saw the image online lost their minds over the fact that the flag is hung incorrectly in the background.  I think that specifically bothered them because of all the military connections and maybe even the connections to World War 2 specifically.  Speaking of, they are correct, the flag is “hung” incorrectly, and a fact I was aware of.  The stars should be on the left side of the frame, but we made a creative decision based on many factors, but put simply, it looked visually better this way.  It is after all INSPIRED by history and not an actual historical document or item.  I guess you can’t please everyone, even when it comes to Christmas Cards!  2014’s holiday card would take that “inspired by” to a whole other level…

[howcbseschoolsarebest]

How CBSE Schools are Best than Other Schools

Training assumes a huge part in building a kid's future; subsequently, most guardians will generally become confounded about selecting their kid for an ICSE, state, or CBSE educational committee. They accept that placing their kid into an esteemed school will give them potential open doors; consequently, it could be a hard choice to make, and one needs to go through a tremendous errand to choose the legitimate Leading group of Training. One should review each part and look at every one of the variables that guarantee the kid gets quality training in his school.

 

Each board has its advantages, yet according to our schooling specialists, the Focal Leading group of Optional Training has stood the best among its different partners in the period of data and mechanical change. Given major serious tests, for example, IIT-JEE, AIEE, and AIIMS, it is the most perceived Schooling Sheets in India, creating the most noteworthy level of students. Thus, with the initiation of the new scholastic year, we think of the responses to each address annoying many guardians regarding what compels CBSE school in Bangalore the best besides the school's great educational program. We will rattle off a portion of the elements and benefits that will assist you with picking a nationalized Organization, for example, the CBSE board for the present and eventual fate of your kid.

 

Scholastic standing

 

CBSE board school has been guaranteed for its scholarly record and, surprisingly, got honors to give the best instruction. The greater part of the top schools in Bangalore is not entirely settled to loan this office to empower adaptable learning strategies inside their educational program.

 

Gives exploratory experience

 

The CBSE board varies from other training sheets in giving pragmatic involvement with their schedule. Furthermore, guardians are dependably anxious to enlist their youngsters into the framework where the CBSE schools in Bangalore offer different exercises and are not simply worried about scholastics. Such factors carry satisfactory openness to dialects and offer potential open doors for the kid to learn in numerous ways making the CBSE schools the best among all Bangalore schools.

Insignificant charge design and costs

CBSE is a public-level leading group of instruction that focuses on granting incredible schooling. Perceived by the Indian government, the main 10 CBSE schools in Bangalore are respectable in conveying quality training at negligible charges. With a unique learning climate, these schools work on the nature of instructing with a financially savvy spending plan.

 

Schedule plan

 

Not at all like other instruction sheets, CBSE keeps the rules of the NCERT to configure its schedule. It empowers movement-based learning and pushes the children to be free. This element assists the understudies with setting themselves up for testing and troublesome cutthroat tests from here on out.

 

Cutting edge conveniences

 

At the trustworthy top 10 CBSE schools in Bangalore, you can see that these CBSE-based schools likewise have an energetic environment with exceptional homerooms, a library, research facilities, a PC segment, a jungle gym, and a hall. The cutting-edge conveniences that these CBSE schools furnish are magnificent contrasted and different sheets, in this way making them an optimal school for understudy advancement.

 

Advances individual cleanliness

Among the rundown of CBSE schools in Bangalore larger part of these schools underline individual cleanliness, and in this way, they offer central classes about Health in their school educational program. In addition, these great CBSE schools likewise direct clinical trial body check-ups to keep up the great soundness of their understudies consistently.

 

Staff

 

Especially staff-wise, these CBSE schools select experienced and very much-read educators and employees in their labor force. Moreover, the CBSE board guarantees that the instructors get to know the changing innovative climate and take on these techniques to advance schooling. In this manner, they orchestrate ideal meetings to instruct them about progression in the schooling field and help them in carrying out educating strategies.

Summarizing

Taking a gander at all the training approaches in India, one can survey that the CBSE board considerably offers a superior benefit over different sheets. A very much planned more extensive educational program supports intelligent learning, in this way making bestowing information to understudies basic and powerful.

 

By getting ready and achieving better scores for understudies in aggressive tests, CBSE enjoys an unquestionable benefit. Intended to address the issues of the best schools, CBSE sheets are reasonable, and guardians who are contemplating picking this educational plan can be their optimal decision. Hence, taking into account every one of the elements wherein it offers a comprehensive, all-encompassing, and understudy cordial example of instruction, it makes CBSE schools the best and not quite the same as the rest. Understudies and guardians can conjointly work with choices and browse the rundown of schools in Bangalore with the location as there is no big surprise that CBSE is the famous decision of the majority you can also visit Soundarya Central School. I believe this is one of the best schools on the CBSE board

[noisycollectivetyrant]

How to Solve Issues With better power naps

What to understand about power naps

Possible health and wellness advantages of power naps consist of boosted memory, boosted cognitive efficiency, and more powerful logical reasoning. That stated, taking a snooze for as well long can disturb a person's circadian rhythms, which can bring about raised exhaustion. Keep reading for more information concerning power naps, including the optimum duration as well as potential wellness benefits, and also some additional information regarding the relevance of rest. While kids typically take snoozes in the afternoon, adult snoozes typically have a tendency to be much less frequent; nonetheless, even in those who get sufficient sleep (however especially in those that do not), lots of people experience an all-natural rise in sleepiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research study reveals that you can make yourself much more alert, minimize stress and anxiety, and also improve cognitive working with a snooze. Mid-day rest, or a 'power nap', means much more persistence, much less tension, much better reaction time, enhanced knowing, more efficiency, and also far better wellness. Here's what you require to know about the advantages of rest and exactly how a power nap can help you!

What is the excellent time of day for a power nap?

There isn't really an excellent time to take a power nap. The perfect time will depend a lot more upon private factors, such as a person's individual timetable. For those working throughout the day, naps after 4 p.m. are not perfect. Taking a nap far too late in the day can hinder getting top quality nighttime rest and disturb a person's body clocks. However, for change workers or those that function evenings, the optimal time for a power nap may be previously or later. For those working throughout the power nap sound day, snoozes after 4 p.m. are not optimal. Resting far too late in the day can interfere with getting quality nighttime rest as well as interrupt an individual's body clocks. Nonetheless, for shift workers or those who function evenings, the suitable time for a power nap may be previously or later on.

Just How Much Rest Do You Need?

Many professionals agree that the body needs 7-9 hours of rest daily, relying on personal and also genetic aspects. Some study shows that 6 hours or much less triples your danger of an auto accident. Researches show that 20 mins of sleep in the mid-day supplies much more remainder than 20 minutes extra sleep in the morning (though the last two hrs of early morning rest have unique advantages of their very own). The body appears to be created for this, as many people's bodies normally come to be a lot more exhausted in the mid-day, concerning 8 hrs after we wake up. When you rest you go through different phases of rest, known with each other as a rest cycle. These phases consist of light rest, deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and also rapid-eye-movement sleep, or rapid eye movement (throughout which the mind is fixed).

However, research has actually shown that a 1-hour nap has much more restorative results than a 30-minute snooze, consisting of a much greater improvement in cognitive performance. The secret to taking a much longer nap is to get a feeling of for how long your sleep cycles are and also try to stir up at the end of a sleep cycle. (It's in fact extra the disturbance of the sleep cycle that makes you dazed, as opposed to the deeper states of rest.) As there are benefits and drawbacks per size of rest, you may want to let your schedule choose: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! However if you might operate in an hour snooze, you may succeed to complete an entire sleep cycle, even if it means much less sleep in the evening. If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just shut your eyes; even a short rest has the advantage of reducing stress and anxiety and aiding you loosen up a little, which can give you more power to finish the tasks of your day. Yet don't confuse a brief rest with microsleep.

[pushpinsheep]

Hopefully this puts things in greater perspective because some tourists just don’t get it and need to hear this. For those who are curious and looking to travel in the future I hope you find this is informative! :) We could all use more perspective on linguistics and traveling imho. I have made some of these mistakes in the past too. We can all learn to be better guests/tourists. This mindset people have that not only is it okay for tourists to exploit and mistreat local populations, but it’s something that should be encouraged is wrong. You’re not entitled to anything special as a tourist just because you have enough money to play around somewhere “exotic” for a few weeks. Regardless of where people travel to. As a guest in someone else’s home you should put more effort into not being a total asshat. You will have a better time and you might learn something cool along the way. I will mostly be using France as an example since I live here and have more insight, but everything I say applies outside of France as well. Note: This information only applies to tourists. Immigrants and refugees are a unique situation and thus face different challenges and have different needs. A tourist chooses where to go and has time (and money) to plan for their trip, which is often only a few weeks or days. Immigrants and refugees often don’t have that same luxury and remain in the country for far longer. (in many cases permanently) Moving to a country places a greater linguistic and cultural demand on an individual. Remember to check your privilege. tourism =/= immigration/asylum. A) English is not the only language in existence. It might be a widely spoken language, but it’s not the most widely spoken language (that honor goes to Chinese) nor is it the only lingua franca. Chinese, Hindu, Spanish, French, and Arabic are all widely spoken across multiple borders and where you are on the planet will obviously dictate which one of these people go with. If you expect that to be English because your sphere of the internet happens to put you in that bubble of “my language or bust” ignorance then like... that’s on you pal. Get with the times and stop assuming everyone should just speak English. English speakers are not the only tourists and English, though widely used, is not the only other language a person might need. I have a friend from Laos who speaks absolutely no English. He doesn’t need it and never has. (even now) He speaks Lao (the regional dialects can be as different as Thai is from Laotian btw), Chinese, a bit of Thai, and French because they still use a lot of French for business dealings there. (something I didn’t know ngl) Assuming he should just speak English because “everyone else does” is ignorant. It’s rude. It puts no thought into his situation. It’s entitled. He’s traveled to visit friends in England and he has an English phrase book. He doesn’t need a lot of English so like... the phrase book is absolutely perfect. Most of what he does in England is sight see and speak Chinese with his friends. Be more like my friend from Laos. B) Official languages may not be the only language a country speaks within its borders. Regional and native languages exist and expecting the locals to speak a 3rd language on top of all that is unbelievably entitled. France has a number of them. There are people who are born and raised in France who don’t speak French in their day to day life. (or at all) Basque, Breton, Occitan, Alsatian, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic and a number of others are all spoken within French borders. Many are at risk of being permanently lost (that’s why our new regional language law is important btw) and as a result a greater emphasis is placed on preserving them as opposed to learning something new. Most people have to learn the official language as it’s the only language a lot of countries will accept for paperwork, but anything else is up to the individual and you can suck an egg if you don’t like that. (this also applies to immigrants and refugees btw) Heck there are places in the US where people don’t even speak English day to day! Some places actually speak French or Spanish. I heard more Spanish in my day to day life than I did English where I grew up in NC! (moved to Florida and Spanish exploded. loved it!) C) Borders are a thing. People working and living across borders exist and English is often not the language they chose to go with as a result. France borders Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, England, and Switzerland. People who share these borders often choose to go with these languages. English is in there, but please note it’s not the only one. D) Culturally speaking a country may not like [insert common language here] and as a result may refuse to speak it. That’s entirely their choice. If you don’t like that then don’t visit the country. It’s really that easy.  Colonialism is often a major factor at play in these situations. Respect that choice. You do not get a say in how people reclaim their identity. As for France? This might come as a shock to some people, but France doesn’t like England. I’m 100% certain these two places exist solely to punch each other in the nuts. (ball tap. an international past time) As a result getting English people to speak French or French people to speak English is about as easy as pulling your own teeth. I’ve been spit on for speaking English because people here just assume I’m from England or they hate “annoying Americans” and after seeing how y’all responded to the last post I made... yeah I totally get it now. Granted, that’s no excuse for someone being hostile, but it is something to keep in mind when you visit and applies to more than just France too. E) Retail workers and small shop owners don’t owe you shit. You have absolutely no right waltzing into a shop and demanding the staff speak your language (I don’t care how common it is) for the two weeks you’ve decided to play around in their home. Always ask them first. If they can’t or choose not to then tough luck. This is why a phrase book is important!

Retail workers and small shop owners get treated like shit enough. Some of y’all have never worked retail a day in your life and WOW does it show. Please respect retail workers and small shop owners. You don’t know what their day or life has been like. If they’re tired and don’t want to speak to you in a foreign language then that’s their right. I have had no issues using my phone or a phrase book to help communicate concepts when there is a language barrier. (and I fucking live in France. I’m not even visiting) Emergencies also happen and a phrase book or medical card in the native and/or official language is absolutely essential! Even if you just have an allergy to something! This is a great way to stay safe! When you visit another country being aware of and researching cultural differences includes linguistic differences. Tourists are guests. You don’t live here, you don’t get a say. Remember, learning a second language (esp if you don’t use it often) is really hard. If you’re visiting a country do not expect them to just use whatever language you speak. Mind you a phrase book is also important because people within a country may not have a strong grasp on English even if they do speak it. You can very easily get lost or injured without a phrase book to help you. These things allow you to better experience a country and communicate without actually having to learn the entire language... or any of it. And, once again, they exist for free online! You do not need to learn an entire language to visit somewhere, but you need to be prepared for there to be a barrier. People assuming I mean you need to learn a whole language are uh... really something else. Like do you guys think half the people bending over backwards to communicate with you know the full language? Go ahead. Fuck around and find out. ;) Obviously I’m not saying you should be treated poorly when visiting if you don’t know the language. Unfortunately no matter how much effort you put in there will always be someone who’s a jerk and I’m sorry for that. All I’m saying is as a tourist you owe it to yourself and others to be better prepared. Trust me. You’ll have a better time in the end. (and if you did the research you’d find that Paris is not the best first place to visit... even if you’re french lol) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS64ZT4eWUA Please watch this guy’s video. It is hilarious and touches on a lot of the same points I just made. Thank you for your time. :) ---------------- Cultural tidbit for those who are curious about where I live in France: I live in Alsace currently! (moved from Lyon, but my spouse is from here) In Alsace you might meet people who speak English, but it’s also entirely likely you won’t! Alsace is also a very tourist heavy area because it looks like a German fairy tale and has a lot of tiny villages with cool stuff to do! I highly recommend visiting here over Paris! We have so many storks! (clackclackclack)

Our logo is a pretzel!

That being said, Alsace has its own regional language!

It’s not uncommon to see bilingual signage or to pass someone on the street and hear them speaking Alsatian. You’ll usually hear it from older people, children, or those from rural areas. It’s really fun to listen to and absolutely wild to see written on museum signs!  Kids here will start school learning French, regardless of what they speak at home, which has resulted in a downswing of Alsatian speakers in recent years. That’s why the new regional language law I mentioned waaaaaay above is so important. It’ll allow schools to teach most of the day in Alsatian instead of French with the goal being fully bilingual adults! :) As of right now, most kids here choose German or English (depending on the school) as their second language. Some kids pick Alsatian and honestly? Good for them! I’m glad!

[camxnoel-updates]

Cameron Monaghan brought the character of Ian Gallagher to life on Showtime’s hit series, Shameless. The series aired for a total of 11 seasons after originally premiering in 2011. It ranked as the network’s no. 1 comedy, longest-running series, and had the youngest-skewing audience of any Showtime series. Monaghan also joined two legendary universes with roles in both Gotham and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which I got to ask him about too!

The final season of SHAMELESS finds the Gallagher family and the South Side at a crossroads, with changes caused by the COVID pandemic, gentrification, and aging to reconcile. As Frank confronts his own mortality and family ties in his alcoholic and drug-induced twilight years, Lip struggles with the prospect of becoming the family’s new patriarch. Newlyweds Ian (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey (Noel Fisher) are figuring out the rules and responsibilities of being in a committed relationship while Deb embraces her individuality and single motherhood. Carl finds an unlikely new career in law enforcement and Kevin and V struggle to decide whether a hard life on the South Side is worth fighting for.

Along with the final season, fans also got a six-episode series that featured new Shameless scenes juxtaposed with a retrospective look at each character’s journey over the prior 10 seasons, titled, Shameless Hall of Shame. The first episode followed Ian and Mickey, showcasing their unique relationship and its evolution from a teen fling into a loving, complicated marriage.

I was able to chat with the actor over zoom and ask him all of my burning questions regarding the series finale, Ian and Mickey’s future, the show’s open ending, the representation his character provided to those watching, what he kept from the set, his future projects, and so much more! Keep reading to find out everything he told me.

So first of all, I want to say a huge congrats to you for wrapping Shameless after 11 seasons and bringing this character to life, who has inspired so many and that so many relate to. I wanted to ask, what has your time on the show meant to you and how would you describe how it helped you grow as an actor?

Cameron Monaghan: I mean, it’s so difficult to distill 11 years into some sort of concise answer, but it’s meant a lot for so many reasons. I think that obviously it’s been important for my career and my life in a sense of how it’s not only given me exposure but also given all of us a platform as performers to be able to tell interesting and challenging stories and to really develop and grow. Obviously, we had a couple of old pros on the show– when I say old pros, I’m not calling them old, just that they’re professionals and they’ve been doing it for a long time, but like William H. Macy, Joan Cusack, and a number of people who had very storied careers. Then we had actors on the show who had never appeared on anything prior and for a lot of us, we were somewhere in the middle, where we’d been working for a number of years, but hadn’t been given the opportunities to really put ourselves out there in such a significant way.

So being able to get an audience over the course of 11 years– and the show grew steadily, it was a marginal success at first, but it wasn’t until like season 4 or 5 that it really started to be seen by people and really connect on a larger platform, and a lot of that had to do with Netflix. When that happens we had such an influx of people kind of saying how they related to it and I think that that’s something that I’ve really taken away– I think we’ve all taken away, to be able to hear a lot of other people’s stories and how they’ve connected these stories in entirely different ways. Everyone has had different favorite characters or storylines and they have brought their own personal experiences to that, but for people to say that they feel seen or heard in some ways by these stories, I think is very special. You know, the character that I was playing was an LGBT love story, as well as a story about mental illness, and coping and struggling with that. I had so many positive responses from people regarding those things, and it was amazing to hear people’s responses. So I think that not only was I able to grow as an actor but being able to hear that response and feedback helps you grow as a human being too. I guess that’s what one of my major takeaways is.

What was that final day of shooting like for you, and how did you feel when you officially wrapped?

It was a bit surreal. I don’t think it really set in at first. It’s always funny when you wrap on a project, I feel like it comes in waves, and with something like a TV show, you start to feel it on the last few episodes of like, “Oh, wow, it’s going to be over.” You start trying to find your little ways of saying goodbye to people and understanding that these conversations are obviously not the last for everyone; we’re still close with each other, but you start to recognize that within the context of the show they’ll be your last so that’s a difficult thing. I’ve never been particularly good at saying goodbye, you know? I feel like in general, I’m kind of a person that just likes to be like, “I’m just going to walk away from it cause I don’t know what else to do really.”

So, we were shooting pretty late at night and we were all there hanging out and cracking jokes, and it was just of like, “Oh, I guess that’s it.” We all kind of looked at each other like, “Well, what do we do now?” A bunch of us stuck around for a few hours afterward, we popped a bottle of champagne, and we sat in each others’ trailers and just kinda hung out until pretty early in the morning, the next day. Then we’ve all kind of just been hanging out and seeing each other since. Everyone’s been really busy, thankfully. So we’ve been traveling and going to different cities for work, but when we’ve been in town we’ve been trying to see each other. I had dinner with Jeremy and Ethan, who played my brothers on the show last week. Noel Fisher, I just saw yesterday. I’m going to see Shanola Hampton in a few days. We’re all still staying in touch with each other is what I’ll say.

Were you personally satisfied with the ending of the show? I think it was very open-ended, which was kind of nice and left a lot open for the future. And was there anything you wanted to see for your character that we weren’t able to?

Endings are difficult in general, but I feel like, especially with a show like Shameless, which is a show about a slice of life and sort of how existence doesn’t really fall into a perfect narrative; it tends to be messy and kind of just continue in spite of itself, and it’s a stream of these little victories and these constant mistakes. So you can’t really cap off a pure ending to a story like that. I think that what John Wells tried to do with writing it is not really conclude the stories. He concludes certain aspects, but the way that he explained it to us is he wanted it to feel like if you were walking through the streets of Chicago, maybe you might bump into these characters. Maybe they’re still out there and maybe they’re still doing things. Some of us had more resolution than others.

I would actually say that the Ian and Mickey storyline was one that did have a fair amount of resolution for the final episode. It was about their anniversary, how they were going to deal with their future, and they’ve kind of figured out some sort of life with each other. There are still large questions, whether or not they’re going to have kids and what the terms of their marriage will entail in the future, but those are questions that are lifelong questions, and ones that I think that we know these characters well enough and we understand their relationships well enough that we can draw our own conclusions for. I think there is something beautiful about the fact that the audience will project what their future for these characters will be.

I think it was a challenging final season because of so many extenuating factors in the world. All shows, businesses, everything was trying frantically to keep up with a changing landscape, and the fact that we were able to make it in spite of all of those things, I think is a victory in itself; one that we are all proud of and happy with. I do think there’s still a future, years out, where we might return to these characters and explore them further. I think that I’m happy putting them to bed for now, I think we all are, but I would like to maybe check in with these characters in 5 or 10 years, and just kind of see where they’re at and what they’re doing.

Kind of like a little Shameless movie, just to play catch up for a little bit.

Yeah, I think that’s something that is kind of more possible now with these streaming networks. They’ve done it with a few series, to sometimes success and sometimes mixed results, but I do think there is a possibility of a reunion season or something like that, depending on where the show fits into the public consciousness in a few years, you know? It’s an open question, but one I’d be excited to see.

How you would describe Ian’s evolution and journey on the show?

I think that Ian has come a long way in terms of confidence and assuredness in himself and his own decisions. I think that’s what a lot of the exploration of the character was, especially in the middle seasons between seasons like 3 to 8 or 9, are this guy who sort of just doesn’t necessarily know what he wants for himself and he’s dealing with a bunch of surprises about himself that he doesn’t necessarily understand, or hasn’t really come to terms with. I think it’s amazing to see Ian in these earlier episodes where he’s kind of getting kicked around by his relationships and by his family. He’s kind of a forgotten kid a little bit. He’s like a middle child, who’s just sort of– people aren’t really looking out for him. His brother does to a certain extent, but also his brother is kind of telling him what he wants for himself and Ian isn’t as active.

At a certain point, he starts to really come into his own as an adult and as a human being. I think it’s amazing how we see him as not only a big brother by the end of the series, but also sort of– there’s something a bit paternal about him. He becomes a bit of a father figure, even a little bit in his relationships. I think it’s interesting how Mickey was always sort of the commanding force and deciding factor for so much of the series; when Ian was really struggling with mental illness and down in the dumps, Mickey is the kind of guy who was looking after him, but by the end of the series, Mickey is a bit childlike in certain ways. Ian is kind of protecting him to a certain extent, and even with his older brother, Lip, Ian is sort of looking out for him in a slightly paternal way, which I think is kind of interesting. He really comes a long way in sort of being confident enough in himself to start looking out for other people that I think is a really great quality. It makes him a character who has made a fair amount of mistakes but mistakes that we understand, and I think that ultimately he’s a guy that I understand and really relate to because he does have this quality to him.

So I have to ask you some questions about Ian and Mickey. I personally love them together, they were one of the reasons I started watching the show. In the end, as you said, we kind of get some closure, but also an open ending with them and it’s a happy one; they’re together and celebrating their anniversary. In your head, what do you think that their future holds? Do you think kids are in the picture; do you think they’re going to be parents? Ideally, what is your version of their happy ending, if you could create it?

I think that they both still need to do some work. I would say that they need to do work as a couple in their marriage still of just defining the terms of what is it that they want financially, sexually, intimately, personally, all of these things. It’s a show full of people who aren’t great at communication or dealing with their own feelings– I mean to a certain extent, most human beings aren’t, but these guys, especially, come from a rough background and they have that tendency of just kind of wanting to push that stuff down. Ian has really opened up Mickey and Mickey to a certain extent has really opened up Ian over the course of the series, but I still don’t think they’re fully all the way there. Mickey has a lot of emotional baggage when it comes to parenthood, his father, and dealing with responsibility.

I don’t know if Mickey is fully there. Hopefully, he would be one day in the future. And hopefully, Ian would be patient enough to give him the space to make that decision and to not want to rush into it. I do think that it would be something in their future. Parenthood was a huge motivating factor for Ian earlier in the series, going so far as to steal someone’s baby at some point because he wants to be a father. I would hope that they would be able to provide that for him and for themselves, but there’s no way to know, we have to sort of make that assumption for ourselves, but I think so.

Ian and Mickey have been this fan-favorite couple that means so much to the LGBTQ+ community in terms of representation. What was the moment that you personally started rooting for them?

I think it was pretty early. I was rooting for Ian from the first episode, from the pilot, but the second that Mickey gets introduced to the show, he brought such a fun dynamic with him. Obviously, a massive amount of charisma that was coming from Noel Fisher. The scenes were always fun, exciting, and felt steeped in a lot of dramatic tension. Whether or not they were destined to be together was kind of a question that still was developing. In the first season to the third season, the Mickey character is pretty rough emotionally and physically; he is at points pretty, extremely abusive in a way that is great for a character and for a story, but if I was talking to Ian as a person in real life, I would probably say, “Get the hell away from this guy. He’s awful for you.”

But within the context of the story, we’re able to get the internal life of these characters and we understand them well enough to really want to be rooting for them and see them succeed. It builds into this pretty epic love story of these characters that really do feel kind of intertwined by fate and something greater. It feels like you have these forces pulling for them in a way that you want with every fiber of your being to see it work out for them because you care for them. So obviously, Noel and I had been rooting for these characters the entire time, but it was really fun playing some of the ridiculousness of the situations of the two of them, where they were just very at odds with each other at times. It was a joy bouncing off of each other in both the highs and the lows of the character.

Is there sort of a message that you hope their love story gives to viewers that see themselves in these characters?

Well, I think the aspects of the characters, especially for Mickey, that I’m sure a lot of people relate to, and it is sort of the greatest tragedy of the character, is how he is deeply in the closet and he feels that he can’t embrace his own self and also this beautiful love because of this situation that he’s in; a traumatic home life, specifically an abusive father, and also an environment that doesn’t allow him to be what he wants to be. I guess the message that I do hope that people who are relating to that get is that there are places where you can be accepted and there are better options for you, and sometimes that takes time, but as cliched as it is, it does get better. So hopefully people are able to find these safe environments for themselves to be able to improve the quality of life and to get better situations. I hope that people find hope in the story ultimately.

Another relationship of Ian’s that I have to discuss is his relationship with the whole Gallagher family; that was a focus of the series since day one. What was your favorite part of their dynamic and playing off that?

Obviously, the chaos of the family is always really fun to play. We had these scenes that were kind of an amazing balancing act of like 8 or 9 people in a scene, all messing around with these different storylines that are bouncing off of each other, intertwining, and you have this really biting sharp satirical dialogue that all had a very specific rhythm to it and was a sort of flow that was established early in the show that was kind of kept across the entire series; one that was a genuine joy as a performer to play. But I think that specifically the relationship that I’ve always been a fan of and I love from the start, is probably– it’s definitely one of my favorite relationships on the show– was the relationship between Ian and Lip.

There’s not a lot of depictions of brotherhood and intimacy between men that are deeply sensitive, close, and uncomplicated. Those are definitely scenes that I felt very personally moved by, of two brothers who have just had a world of shit, a lot of complicated and messed up things that have been dropped on their heads that they’ve been dealing with for the entirety of their lives, but they’ve sort of made a pact that they were just gonna be there for each other no matter what. If they weren’t there for each other, who knows if they would have survived. I think that there’s something really amazing about those scenes in that they’re just very open with each other, and that’s something that’s established right from the start and was kind of one of those key relationships for the show that survived until the very last episode and that I’m very proud of, cause I do think that those are some of my personal favorite scenes of the show.

Here’s a fun three-part question: most challenging, fun, and insane storyline for you as an actor?

Most challenging would probably have to be… we reached a point in the series around season 8 and they were trying to contextualize the characters in a modern way, put them into new circumstances, but try to retain what the characters were, but they’ve moved a lot from where they originally were. We were at a point where we were getting so many new writers onto the series, and the show I feel struggled for a second, which happens with any series that’s been on for a while. It felt like there was a point where they didn’t know what they wanted to do with Ian. There were a couple of episodes where I was kind of looking at the story and being like, “What are we doing here? It doesn’t really feel like anything is happening with him and we’re kind of floating across these relationships.” I wasn’t sure what we were trying to say, but that being said, that is kind of true to life, to a certain degree, where we do find ourselves sometimes in these ruts where we don’t know what we’re doing with our relationships, our lives, and ourselves. There is a little bit of a struggle there and that is kind of real to a certain degree, and I do think having those episodes make when they started finding the way with the character and relationships again, kind of more satisfying cause he sort of loses his way and he comes back. So it was kind of a challenge, but I think it all worked out ultimately.

Craziest would have to be… so this is one that no one would even know is like a thing really, no one would even think of it as a thing, but the scene in the pilot episode, Lip and Ian jump out of like a window and they run out of a house to escape an angry parent, right? And they’re kind of running in a rush. So they run out in their socks, down the street, and it’s the middle of January in Chicago and the streets are covered in mud, water, and ice. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever felt in my life that I actually thought my feet were going to like fall off. I thought we were going to have to amputate a toe because of frostbite. We did the scene a bunch of times, and because Jeremy and I were young, we were just sort of trying to be tough, just like, “Yeah, whatever, it’s not a problem. We can do this over and over, not a big deal.” Then I definitely learned a lesson of like, when something is a problem, you have to say, it’s a problem.

Most fun… I don’t know if I can distill it to just one scene. I think the most fun was just getting to interact with all of the wildly different personalities of our show, and just kind of get to sit around and hang out with everyone. There were times that we would just be laughing so hard that one of us would start and we just end up crying, laughing. Usually, it was because of Howey cracking jokes or something like that, but it could be just the dumbest to smallest thing, but it’s the kind of thing when you become so comfortable with people, it just starts to happen. Sometimes it was just the downtime and these little small kind of boring or mundane moments that really ended up being some of my favorite experiences.

Did you take anything from the set at all?

I did. So in the final season, there’s a storyline where Frank steals Nighthawks, the Edward Hopper painting, and that was actually done in cooperation with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Edward Hopper estate. They did these really high-resolution prints of it that were then painted over by hand, and they even took pictures of the back and mimicked the way that the canvas wrapped over, the small writing, and everything. It’s a pretty damn good forgery of Nighthawks. So I stole one of those and that’s hanging up in my living room. I also stole one of the mugs cause in the show we’re always having breakfast and drinking coffee, so there are these rooster mugs and I stole one of those.

Since you’re talking to The Nerds of Color, I have to ask you about Star Wars and Gotham. What stood out to you about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order compared to your other work, and what did it mean to you to join that iconic universe?

I mean, what stood out pretty quickly was that it had a tone all of its own. Star Wars is a very specific tone. It has sort of its own language, pacing, style, and rhythm; there’s something very specific about it, something that I’m a big fan of. I grew up watching the Star Wars movies and that was definitely… you know, anytime that you’re jumping onto something with an active and passionate fanbase it’s going to be slightly intimidating. There’s no way around that. Thankfully, I’ve at this point done enough projects with really passionate fanbases to kind of understand what that entails, which is that there’s going to be a lot of opinions. A lot of people are really excited about things and no matter what, even the smallest things, someone’s going to be very, very angry about it. That comes along with the territory, but that’s kind of fun to a certain degree; it’s fun to hear such minutiae and being examined, and these conversations are ones that are being had on set too.

There’s so much conversation between the Lucasfilm story group, Respawn, and EA, who are the production companies behind the game, and also the cast, directors, and everybody involved are sometimes discussing, “How does a person stand? How does one get onto a speeder bike? What kind of sound does this monster make?” And there’s always a genuine deference and respect to the series. We know how much people care about it. We know because we care about it a lot, and everyone on this project are huge fans of the source material. So that was exciting to be a part of, obviously; I mean, that should go without saying. It’s so freaking cool to be a Jedi and to be the face of this massive franchise, and to be able to not only be a part of a really well-known property and part of this large project but also to be able to tell an interesting and intimate story within it. For as bombastic as all of the action is, and as big as the Star Wars universe is, I feel the story of Cal Kestis and the people that he interacts with is a somewhat smaller one and a more intimate one. It’s ultimately, at least for me, a pretty emotionally resonant one and a story that I actually very much care about and relate to. I think that was probably the most exciting part about it, was being able to within the framework of this big machinery of what Star Wars is, still tell a story that might actually affect people and make them feel things, I think was just really cool.

Could you describe how it felt to take on the role of the Joker?

Exciting, intimidating, an honor, and challenging; it’s a role that I didn’t take lightly. I understood what it was, which is that a lot of the people who were seeing me in the role had never heard of me and didn’t know who I was, and it was a way to prove myself and to show off my take of what I could do with this. It was really cool too with that show that we were getting to do something that had never really been done before with the character, which is to show multiple versions and possibilities of what that character could be, and to kind of tip our hat to some of the famous stories that came before, and then kind of give a unique spin and show off some new things with it as well.

Obviously, that show was heightened to a certain degree and kind of existed in this wacky over-the-top violent, but also slightly cartoony universe that was kind of its own little thing. That was really fun to play around with it and to totally get to do something kind of different with that, something that we hadn’t seen before. But I think it was specifically really intimidating because, at that point of casting when I performed the episode in the first season of that show, no one had played the role since Heath Ledger had posthumously won the Oscar for the role. So the only people who had touched it in live-action had been Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, which are just massive, massive shoes to fill and two people that I deeply admired. Again, it’s just sort of a case of respect and wanting to kind of come in, just do my absolute best with the material, and to try to pay a certain level of honor to the people that came before.

Anything you can tease about what you’re going to do next? Any future projects?

Absolutely. It’s always difficult with this stuff because there’s only so much you can say. I can say that I just shot a film that hasn’t been announced yet, but I was out of town shooting it for a while. It’s the starring role in the film, and that will come out to theaters in the near future. I’m also working on another project over the course of the next year that I will be working on and off for. Again, thanks to the joys of NDAs, I can’t actually say what it is. I have a movie that I will be doing in June and then also I’m starting to move a bit behind the camera as well. So I’m working on producing and starring in a feature in August or September. And I’m writing a couple of projects right now as well. So it’s a loaded year for the next year, but it’s all very exciting that’s happening.

[urmomsstuntdouble]

nation lore hcs while i procrastinate!

nations have a lower resting heart rate than everyone else, and as a virtue of that, have a colder body temperature. their hearts have long since fallen apart, but since their countries live on, so must their bodies. what makes the nations live is the spirits of their people, rather than things like oxygen and blood flow to the brain and immune systems (although that stuff does help!) so their bodies don’t quite function the same as ours. they’re for different things, after all

the nations were all born of woman. it’s something that just sort of happens around the time it looks like a new nation is cropping up, or something that could be considered a nation. it’s sort of like immaculate conception, although they do have “biological” fathers. people can sort of tell there’s something off about this particular baby whenever its born, but don’t really know what’s up until the baby stops ageing or says they’re a nation or has another nation come over to see what’s up

the nations are immortal and can’t die of anything other than their nation not existing anymore. much like deadpool, their bodies can regrow from a single cell, which is often a very painful process.

tangentially, there’s someone in each military whose job it is to scrape up bits of their nation if anything happens and like. put it in a jar until something starts to grow. 

they do get scars from their injuries. however, when there’s a situation of a whole body regrowing, they regrow without scars.

it takes a couple weeks for the worst injuries to grow back, and about a month for a nation to regrow their whole body. while things do grow back, they’re not the same quality as they were before. for example, if someone got their leg cut off, it would be weaker, less flexible, and their joints would be stiffer. This isn’t super dramatic, and there are things that can be done to reverse this, like physical therapy, but it will never be the same as the first iteration of the leg

anyone can wound a nation, whether they’re human or not. it’ll all heal the same, unless they’re like. on the way out or something

illness is also a bit different for them. they can get sick with regular human things, like pneumonia, but it’s super mild and they’ll get over it in like a day. they do, however, get nation illnesses, which are caused by economic, political, or social turmoil (because of this they’re sort of always a little bit sick, rip)

nation ageing is caused by a few factors: political and economic development, cultural development, and time. because of this, nations can spend centuries as children or grow up faster than a human. by the present day, many have reached the human age of at least twenty, but that’s not 100% garaunteed for everyone. this also means that nation a could be older than nation b and look younger, and stuff like that

they learn and retain languages differently than humans. some things are automatically known (like germany knowing german, for example), and some things they slowly gain knowledge on over time and an incresed population of people speaking that language. they can also learn a language the same way people do, but that’s a bit more rare, because when you can auto learn, doing it manually is a bit less common

while it is true that the nations are not their governments, they sort of also are? they represent all the people in the nation, which gives them unique perspectives on politics, but also means that they are deeply aquainted with both sides of any argument or conflict that might arise. this is very annoying

they basically always have a migraine because of this

nations can get pregnant/produce a pregnancy, but the risks associated are much higher. miscarriages are super common, and if they did manage to actually have the baby, it would die shortly after childbirth because of the whole immortal parent thing, and cause of that thing where humans go crazy if they’re around nations too much. i think the effect this would have on the baby would be that it just might not be able to function. if there was a human carrying a nation’s baby, they might have more success in having a live birth, but it would still not fare well and probably also die young. 

that being said, they’ve all had many many kids, the grand majority of whom died before developing a personality.  

some nations do consider themselves parents to other nations, but that doesn’t actually make them parents. it really depends on if both of them see themselves in a parent-child relationship, which they often don’t. 

that being said i will say that a lot of nations have kids in my writing. this is purely vibes based 

[gem-rewatch]

SU rewatch- S1E11- Arcade Mania

Hey, long time no see!

I’m desperately bored in solitary quarantine at university right now, and decided to try and pick this SU rewatch series up again for fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched through the show in order. Plus, now that this show is completely finished, there’s plenty more connections to make. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with this, but at the very least I can have fun trying to make a few more posts at my leisure.

Anyways. With that business out of the way. Let’s get right on to the show!

We begin with yet another mission Steven’s guardians have brought him along on! I believe this is the fifth mission we know of that he’s accompanied them on so far. (Lunar Sea Spire, Inverted Pyramid, the unknown mission he returns from in Tiger Millionaire, the desert, and now this one.) It’s really sweet seeing the Gems begin to trust him tagging along more often. There will come a day in the near future where missions become routine for Steven, but in these early episodes, you can really tell that each and every one is a brand new adventure.

In terms of plot, though, this episode is honestly Future Vision: The Prequel.

We learn a lot about Garnet’s abilities and her role in the team here, even if all of these details aren’t spelled out word-for-word quite yet. Hints towards her future vision we see this ep include:

Garnet moving ahead of the group to be in the perfect spot to catch Steven when he falls.

Her flawless moves while fighting and dodging the monsters.

Her becoming a master at the rhythm game later in the episode.

Like, damn. Look at this.

Look at her go.

My Q U E E N!

I had to gif all of this just because it’s such a beautiful and smooth sequence of animation.

If there’s one thing all of the Crystal Gems can 100% agree on, it’s that Garnet is friggin’ amazing.

Garnet: “Let them go. They’re just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they’ll have to answer to me.”

So, does this statement mean that- at this present moment- her extended stay at the arcade was entirely beyond her future vision? That the only futures she saw were ones where she was actually present to deal with containment of the Gem parasites? Given that later scenes insinuate she’d never been to the arcade before, and would have no “data” about its games to factor into her internal understanding of the world, this seems likely.

I adore the gradual palette change here, from shadow, to setting sun. It’s a nice detail that adds so much more life to what could otherwise be a rather mundane transition scene. It seems like unique palettes were more common in early SU- I wonder why Crewniverse stopped implementing these as often later on?

Pearl, entering the arcade: “Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.”

Thanks, Pearl. Love you too. <3

This sequence of Pearl failing at playing a car chase/road rage game hits so much different knowing what happens in Last One Out of Beach City. It’s genuinely radical how far she grows in confidence from this point, because here, she seems so shackled to rules and guidelines. Now that we know about her rebellious past, it might be tempting to write this characterization off as “early series weirdness,” but... I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

Instead, I wonder if she’s working through grief-related regression.

Think about it... the pain of Rose’s passing is still so fresh for her. She was a rule breaking rebel once, yes, but she spent all of those days at Rose’s side. And I get the sense that she’s poured so much of herself into keeping Rose safe, into the rebellion against Homeworld, that without those, she’s caught in a vacuum. What IS her purpose now, when the very person she rebelled for is gone?

So she slips back into old pearl-like habits. Chronic rule following, and a fear of deviating from norms. How familiar. Thankfully, much of her arc throughout the show is her directly growing beyond these habits to live boldly as her own Gem.

The friggin video game when Garnet knocks its head off: “TELL MY WIFE I’M SORRYYY!!!”

Yo, what the fuck. This line is both hilarious and messed up, all at once. Please tell me the game isn’t sentient.

Aaaand here we finally introduce Garnet to the video game sensation that is Meat Beat Mania! This game is perfectly suited to her and her power of foresight because its patterns are algorithmic and not vulnerable to spontaneous deviations, and thus easy to predict, with enough input. She’s probably getting a quick rush of satisfaction with every correct move, and she barely has to exert any energy with her future vision to get that rush. After years and years of wading through endless possibility at every avenue, this video game’s patterns must be a rejuvenating breath of fresh air.

It’s addicting.

...Kinda makes me think of how I get sometimes when I play solitaire on my phone for an hour straight. After a while, I barely even think, I’m just shuffling through my deck and moving cards almost on automatic. I don’t have to use much energy to play, and it gives me animated fireworks every time I finish a match. It’s a win-win.

Amethyst: “I’MMA WIN AN AIRPLANE!”

I don’t know what it is about the way Michaela Dietz says the world “airplane,” but this makes me laugh every time. Does... does she think she can win a genuine airplane here because she saw Onion win a tiny motorbike from the ticket booth?? Amethyst, oh my god. XD

She’s got the spirit, this wild child.

So, moving on- we meet up with our crew later the next morning, Garnet nowhere to be seen. There’s an interesting exchange I’d like to highlight real quick-

Pearl: “If we’re supposed to fight a giant foot, Garnet would let us know.” Amethyst: “Yeah, Garnet’s the boss!” Pearl: “Well, we’re all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives.”

Considering the specific phrasing Pearl uses here- “heightened perception” instead of “future vision-” did Garnet outright tell the two of them to not explain her powers, just like she told them not to mention she’s a fusion? Because I’m pretty sure no one ever uses the phrase “heightened perception” again in reference to her powers.

Given the fact that Garnet chose to keep the knowledge of Ruby and Sapphire under the table until she felt Steven could understand her better, my guess is that this is a similar scenario.

Ahah, I genuinely can’t tell if this is Steven being gullible, or just impulsively playing along with Amethyst’s antics. Still- gross, kid. Don’t wipe your wet cereal face on your shirt! Ew! :O

When he goes outside and starts to use a kiddy metal detector to scan for quarters... so THAT’S where he finds his arcade money! Because I can’t imagine Greg is financially able to give him that much to spend on non-essentials at this point in the show.

Okay, so... I just want to bring light to the fact that Garnet has literally been in this arcade ALL NIGHT LONG.

It was evening when she first arrived here- the sun was visibly setting in the background, and when Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl left, the sky was dark. But now it’s morning. Steven was just seen eating breakfast. And Garnet is STILL HERE.

Does this mean Mr. Smiley locked her IN? I have so many questions... Did he try to get her to leave, only to be intimidated by her complete lack of response? I would kill to know more about this interaction. Poor Mr. Smiley. That man deals with so much bullshit in this town, huh?

Geebus, is Garnet a solid wall. Previous episodes have shown Steven forcibly shoving whole tons of food, and swinging a mini-freezer over his head, and yet he can’t get her to budge even an inch.

I absolutely adore how he climbs up her frame like a koala, though, ahah. Cute.

Meat Beat Mania announcer: “That’s rare!!” Steven: “Oh my gosh...!”

I take these two lines as evidence that this is the first time Steven’s ever seen Garnet’s eyes. Specifically, the fact that there’s three of them. Which, makes sense- since Garnet is still really reserved emotionally at this point, and is only begins to get in the habit of taking her visor off to show Steven her full face later on in the show.

This expression deeply hurts me.

Steven’s so distraught here- because the others are in danger, the town is in danger, and he doesn’t have his trusty, dependable guardian who catches him when he falls and beats up scary monsters for him. Without her, the whole team is vulnerable and blind.

He feels alone. He feels... powerless.

And so he responds to that confusing, powerless feeling by trying to compensate with his own power. When all other routes he can think of fail, he smashes the video game console.

It... uh, it works... but once again, Steven entirely fails to consider the consequences, huh? He experienced a little bit of character growth in this regard in the episode Serious Steven, but even past that it’ll remain an recurring issue for him. Hell, his impulsiveness is a general character flaw even stretching into SUF.

In summary, though:

Poor Mr. Smiley. He works so hard, and doesn’t deserve this BS. ;-;