#but also transcribing it in a simplified way that makes sense to you

[blocksgame]

Tips on character voices when writing fic

This is written in mind for people writing fic in MCYT/QSMP/DSMP/Life series/etc kind of fandoms. But if anyone finds it useful for anything else, well then, hell yeah.

Character voice is big in all, uh, fiction, and mimicking it in any fanwork is big. But I think it’s especially big in these fandoms where the voices are so distinct – it’s usually how a Real Person Somewhere (the streamer) talks, versus something very scripted that you’d see in a TV show or novel. And it can be a big difference in your character sounding generic versus really feeling true to the original.

Listen to a bunch of your subject talking. If you want to write a character well, watch vods from their point of view, or episodes where they show up a bunch. Take note of what they say and how.

2. If you don’t know how to start doing that: try literally writing down what they say. Transcribe an actual exchange in fic-format. You probably won’t want to publish a literal exchange from canon, but it will give you a sense of how to physically write what they say.

3. If you do this (or just pay attention to how they talk), you will get a lot of: Stumbling, pauses, repeating words, filler words, weird sentence constructions, fragments, etc. I love em! Here’s something that comes through in improv much more than in novels or movies: Most people, even very charismatic people, are not very eloquent when they speak. Writing out conversations or sentences will give you a sense of the unique and delightful way in which your subject is not eloquent. vvvvv way more under cut vvvvv

(People use a LOT of filler/etc when they speak. It’s reasonable to cut back on this if it’s interfering with a nice-looking or readable result. I believe this is the eternal struggle of people who write transcripts – you want the transcript to be accurate, but there are also a lot of things you can obviously simplify and not lose the meaning. So you’ll end up falling somewhere on this spectrum either way. But I do think a lot of mediocre/generic fic dialogue is very stylized – it doesn’t sound like your guy because your guy literally wouldn’t say that. They would say it worse and more confusingly.)

(I’m serious, if you’ve never sat down with a short non-completely-scripted clip or real conversation or whatever and just written out exactly what was said, do it. It will make you better at writing.)

4. Wonda-cat made a really incredible list [link] of characterizing speech patterns for the Dream SMP members. But you can also do your own reconnaissance and come up with your own patterns, common phrases, etc.

5. You do not have to get EVERYTHING right. You’re not going to, like, get so deep into the speaker’s brain that you can produce “exactly what they would have said if they were somehow in your fic.” That is impossible. You’re just trying to evoke a character, and if you get a few turns of phrase to ring true, you’re doing great.

6. A lot of these people are popular because they are hilarious. Include jokes. Yes, even if your thing is angsty or serious. A lot of the most serious lore I can think of from, e.g., the Dream SMP or 3rd Life or the QSMP - the really story-defining, life-and-death moments - were absolutely hysterical. If you’re writing characters who are usually funny, then add some humor. It can heighten angst via contrast and a sense of realism. Ask yourself what a funny streamer would make jokes about if they were possessing a character in this situation.

7. Some people have the mystical ability to “hear” character voices in their head, and read things in their voice. If you can, do this with all of your dialogue during the editing process. This won’t always get you there, but sometimes it can catch things that sound wrong by invoking "that's really hard to imagine them saying". If you don’t have this power, try recruiting a friend who does.

8. So there’s dialogue and then there’s narration that’s still from a character’s point of view. I’ve mostly given you tips about dialogue, but a lot of this is also true for narration. IMO, narration is less about phrasing things the way the subject would, and more about recreating the way they think. I don’t have concrete rules on how to do this, but here is my wisdom:

You can get eloquent again - narration is more of an abstract and artistic process than dialogue.

Spend time with your subject’s source material.

Pay attention to what they notice and care about. How do you think they think?

Don’t be afraid to get weird with it.

That last one also applies to all art ever.

9. MCYT tends to give you a great boon you don’t see in other media: what the speaker says to their chat/audience when nobody else is listening. This can be incredibly characterizing even if you’re writing a story where people don’t have chats. It’s your person talking about their thought processes and feelings! Mine that shit.

10. Some questions that might help guide both characterizing narration and dialogue (that you’d get from dialogue):

How open are they about their feelings?

How often do they lie? What do they lie about?

What kind of metaphors do they use, if any?

How quickly does their mood change?

How can you tell when they’re in different moods?

What kind of things do they pay attention to?

How formal is their speech?

11. Finally, this is a little odd, but I find it’s much, much easier to write a character that sounds good if I, the author, like them and am rooting for them at least a little bit. If a character needs to be there who you don’t love, try to love them. Or at least get a sense of what other people love about them. It just makes everything else easier. I swear to god.

Happy writing out there!

[likeapray3r]

As the night comes to a close for me… I am thinking about when we were young and how we’d do anything to be closer to each other. I wonder if she remembers any of it or feels as fondly about it as I do. We knew each other for 5 years maybe 6 , closely, and then boom… it all just disappeared. Nothing big happened. Nothing bad, not at that point. Even through the worst we were always best friends. Does she remember any of it? How much does she remember? I know I’ve forgotten plenty. I know I remember the important parts the most. I have always been completely enamored by her even as an awkward adolescent—I remember I didn’t know her name for a week when she was the new kid in class. I couldn’t stop looking at her. Once we became friends I couldn’t find the right words at the time so I told her that when I first met her I thought she’d be a bitch… which is so completely wrong. I was outlandishly raunchy in this era of my life, mostly because I didn’t want to be known as the quiet and shy kid anymore, but I also had no idea who or what I was. And it’s easier to get people to like you from a few reactions than to lay all of yourself out on a table to get picked at. Saying the word bitch in this moment to her was like pressing the red button that says “press only in emergencies” and so I did. I didn’t think she was a bitch at all of course, I was just a complete idiot. I literally couldn’t get my eyes off of her. It’s so odd that we went separate ways in life for years and I still can’t stop looking at her. I think the reason why I’m so captivated is because of the history between us but I also feel something more than just history. I just can’t and have never been able to put my finger on her in a way that would make everything make sense. I love who she is completely, but she is so different than I. We are also so similar in so many ways too. I’m sure I can be holding onto a ghost but if that ghost wants to meet and catch up and get to know each other all over again then can I really simplify it to a ghastly entity? If I find her staring at me while I’m looking away, does that transcribe the paranormal? Or do you remember me, and I remember you? Time will say everything I need to know.

[nobody-knose--archive]

hello! i recently re-stumbled upon one of your hawaii part ii music theory posts and i thought id ask about Murders and its wack af time signatures. i havent been able to make any real sense of it other than it feels like its in 3 sometimes??? unless im overthinking and should just accept it as like 1/1 time lol

hm. well, first of all some lovely people on sites such as musescore have transcribed murders themselves, giving a quick & easy look into how those time signatures seem arranged. still, i think i'd like to do my own analysis, because if thinking of good day as including sections of 3 4/4 measures + 1 1/4 measure & interpreting neil cicierega's use of 10/4 to really just be 2 4/4 measures & a 2/4 one stacked on top of each other in a trench coat tells me anything, it's that i can have some personal music notation interpretations. as a treat.

murders is most easily understood when broken down into as many little sections as possible. for example, "i was in the middle ground, looking to find the" is in an easy 6/4. "fountain of infinite mirror" and the whole rest of that chorus is generally all in 6/4 (as one would expect the chorus to be one of the most straightforward/comprehensible parts of a song). however, "flowers in the garden" & other things that can follow the line [format of] "looking to find the" are very different. i'll call that the verse format, and cover it using the first verse.

to cover the first verse i have to say that the whole song starts off with a 9/4 measure that can't be described any other way because the piano chords part, as often as possible, is completely static staccato in articulation, and so where measures line up is most easily determined by other factors such as pitch changes or the lilt/cadence of the words. also, the verses generally start where the lyrics do, for simplicity's sake- if "owls on the night watch," a verse with the same structure as "he was in the forest" has the onbeat on "owls," then the onbeat should also be on "he," meaning everything preceding that first word in the song is just some silly little buildup. a measure of 9/4.

anyway! the first verse. "he was in the forest looking to see the" is a measure of 6/4, as previously stated ("looking to see the" & other similarly ending lines are in 6/4 throughout the song). "trees but none were there" is two measures of 3/4, "he found a girl" is 2/4. "she found the erlking (lalala)" is 5/4, making this whole first chunk a procession of (after a measure of 9/4) 6/4 3/4 3/4 2/4 5/4. i'm not simplifying the two measures of 3/4 in a row into 6/4 or the 2/4 & 5/4 into 7/4 due to the placement of the emphasis. this analysis will be pedantic like that. the next verse follows the same format; this will be called the verse format and is really the only terribly complex sequence in this song.

we break away from the verse format with "i was in the middle ground looking to find the" which, as previously stated, is just more 6/4, and that proceeds into another two instances of the verse format, then this "looking" line. then is the chorus, which as stated earlier, is just 6/4. the 6/4 proceeds all the way into "owls on the night watch," the start of another two verses, then back to the chorus.

"i was in the clearing" to "how they came to be" is in a lovely little 4/4, almost like a cruel teasing of how simple this song could be immediately before a piano break that is nigh-certainly designed to fuck with you. just kidding! it's two more instances of the verse format, complete with a "looking" line at the end. after that comes just a bunch of 3/4, then the slow part, which is in 4/4 (maybe 2/4?), as can be rather easily detected by the hi-hat (hi ross).

"all for nothing at all" continues in 2/4 (sure actually i say it's 2/4 i think we don't get enough of that in music), then the final line in the song is a 6/4 measure and a 4/4 one, just getting very slow. and there you have it! murders broken down as simply as need be.

[kingk8art]

hetalia rant

pls ignore how I won't use any proper punctuation or capitalization because my arms and fingers all hurt from volleyball :( Edit: My arm’s are better now so I’m actually using proper capitalization and punctuation (special thanks to my friends for proofreading and also Google autocorrect.) Special thanks to my friend for helping me out with writing this.

so i'm one of those people who joined the hetalia fandom like REALLY late, having first watched the anime in like 2017 or 18. Nevertheless, when I heard about how the anime was coming back in 2021 I was really excited!! I’ve been reading world stars lately but there’s just something in the hetalia anime that made me love it so much. the voice acting and how it’s animated and everything, it really brings the characters to life! out of curiosity I searched up hetalia on twitter. keep in mind that i’m pretty new to the fandom so i never really got to see the shipping wars, or really any toxic part of the fandom, since i wasn’t there when hetalia was at its peak.

What i saw was really different from what i expected to see. I kinda expected twitter threads hyping up the new season, or things like that but most of ones I found in the top section were hate comments about hetalia, and things about why it shouldn’t come back. I was reading these and I was like, wait why? Some of them actually made sense, and the others had flawed logic. Here are my rants on why hetalia ISN’T anti-Semitic or problematic (as of now).

Misconceptions About Hetalia

1. Hetalia is About Nazi Germany or the Holocaust

If you’ve actually watched the show/read the manga, it’s quite obvious that although some of the events take place during WW2, it never mentions Hitler, Nazis, the Holocaust, or anything like that. and there’s a good reason for it. In the first place, hetalia isn’t meant to be a serious comic. The manga only focuses on subjects like funny things that happened to historical figures/occurrences during a war, weird inventions; generally those kinds of things. It focuses on the cultural differences between countries, or wholesome moments in history (such as when two enemies stopped fighting on Christmas day to play soccer.) Hetalia itself is antiwar. Consider the main character himself: he absolutely hates fighting. I don’t see how hetalia can be anti-Semitic or pro-war at all. But what I will say is fucked up are those certain cosplayers that did the Nazi salute, posed in front of a Holocaust memorial, etc. But I can still guarantee that the MAJORITY of the fandom is not like this. Every single fandom has its bad apples, some more than others. It’s not right to generalize the entire fandom as anti-Semitic, racist, disrespectful shits.

Do people realize that Germany’s character in Hetalia isn’t Nazi Germany?  In the first place the Holocaust wouldn’t be Germany’s responsibility — the depictions of these characters are meant to portray the people as a whole, not their systems of law or government. It’s stated in the series that nations MUST obey orders from their “boss” (which probably refers to the country’s ruler, president, prime minister, or other leaders at the time. Nations can’t choose what their superiors do, or what those under that control do. Saying Germany is humanized Nazi Germany is like putting that label on all German people without considering factors like time period or representation. Hetalia characters are a mere representation of each country’s people, nothing else.

How does mentioning WW2 in a comedy make it offensive? There are PLENTY of movies, novels, and other kinds of media that take place in WW2 and yet are in the comedy genre. Ever watched Jojo Rabbit? If you thought Hetalia was offensive, have you ever watched South Park or looked at CountryHumans? I do get why some people dislike Hetalia, but why does it receive so much hate for something that was never in the series (or generally speaking, for the wrong reasons)? It may have flaws, but there’s a strong definition to what those flaws actually are. It doesn’t revolve around antisemitism or Nazism. 

2. Hetalia is Racist and Stereotypes People

Now this is a pretty controversial topic. Being a comedy about personified countries, stereotypes are really something that HAS to be used at some point to make the characters funny. But does that automatically make it racist? No. I saw this on a YouTube video comment section somewhere, but stereotyping (generalizing) that all stereotypes are ‘bad’ (or have negative connotations/associations) is literally stereotyping. Not all of the stereotypes are bad. Like the way Britain acts like a gentleman or likes drinking tea, which in a way, is a British stereotype. That’s not a bad thing, just funny to see in the show — played for comedy purposes, and not necessarily offensive.

Although Hetalia characters are sometimes influenced by stereotypes that revolve around the actual countries and represent the people in general, they DO NOT always represent what those country’s people are actually like. Also, I’m pretty sure the point of comedy about personified countries is to use some of those generalizations. Specifically, stereotypes that the Japanese have about foreigners. France is portrayed as a flirty man because in Japan France is known for being a “romantic country.” But that doesn’t mean that they think all French people are like that — it’s just a lighthearted joke. And now, Hetalia characters have grown to be more of their own character rather than simply a humanized country at its base. Despite being a personification, they’re like their own person, not just used to depict stereotypes. Just because a character has a certain personality trait doesn’t mean Hima believes that everyone from that country has the same trait. It’s not meant to be racist, and isn’t. 

What I Think Was/Is Problematic

As much as I love this show, there were DEFINITELY some problematic things that people tend to ignore.

1. Korea Controversy

As a Korean American, I have to say that I was quite disappointed when I learned about how Hima portrayed Korea in the manga. I won’t go that deep into this one since it’s not that relevant to what I'm talking about now, but it was definitely a HUGE problem and I’m glad that he was removed from the series.

2. Iron Cross on Germany

The iron cross that Germany wears in Hetalia (in every time period) is a military decoration that was used since the King of Prussia until the time period of Nazi Germany in WW2. Today, it’s considered a hate symbol, similar to and alongside the swastika. To be fair, it wasn’t just a decoration used purely for the Nazis, unlike several other examples of Nazi symbols and memorabilia, so I suppose it could be up to each person to judge whether it should pass or not, despite the surrounding circumstances — it isn’t up to me as part of the fanbase. But personally, I think it should have been removed/not used in the first place. I mean, it wasn’t that necessary, seeing all of the military uniforms drawn in Hetalia were simplified anyways. Perhaps it would be much less problematic if Hima didn’t draw the iron cross, and the same goes for the other presented issues.

3. Japanese Imperialism

The way Hima portrays Japanese Imperialism was pretty offensive in my opinion. An instance is the presentation of the Japanese invasion of Korea. It wasn’t just like how the colonies were under Great Britain’s rule. It limited much more of Koreans’ rights and was much more gruesome. I don’t know about anyone else and can’t speak for each individual, but as a Korean, portraying all of this as Japan merely patting Korea on the  head is fucked up. This ties to the controversy of Korea’s character. From what I’ve seen, Hetalia is pretty close to a rightist (in Japan, not the US) series. I won’t dive too deep into that, but rightist — or in Korean, 우익 — animes are animes that glorify their country’s past/country, or  use content to make fun of or criticize other nations. Actually, it’s probably much more complicated than that, but as of now I don’t know much about it. It mostly ties to the tension between Koreans and the Japanese, so if you’re not either, there’s not really much to worry about. But (maybe because I’m Korean) I found it weird that the manga seems to give every single character a bad/negative characteristic except Japan. I guess it’s only natural, since the creator is Japanese. But then again, France was basically drawn as a rapist/pedophile, but I have never seen a French person complain about it. Or maybe they just completely avoid Hetalia? If anyone knows about it, I would be glad to listen. Perhaps it’s just a bias that I have as a Korean. It could also be a cultural difference too, since we tend to be very patriotic.

4. The Title: Axis Powers

Although the main character is Italy, and the story revolved (emphasis on the past tense) around the 3 countries that were part of the Axis, Hima should have been more considerate with the title of the show, thinking about what the Axis Powers actually did during WW2. Just “Hetalia” would have been fine. But it also should be considered that when Hima started drawing the manga, he did not expect it to become a long-term thing or for it to blow up so much. Thankfully, only the first two seasons of the anime were titled as Hetalia: Axis Powers, and later seasons were titled more acceptable things, like World Stars (manga) or The Beautiful World.

5. Seychelles

Personally I don’t find a problem with there not being that many African/South American countries in the show. Africa’s country borders (and all of that related material) were very different from what they are today, and it would be really fucking hard for Hima to keep track of all of those while still writing good characters. And unlike Europe, Africa’s history was not transcribed much, and is a lot less-known. The problem with Seychelles was her skin color, which wasn’t accurate. But that’s since been fixed.

Is Hetalia Really Problematic?

My most straightforward answer for this question would be no, it is not problematic as of now. Something I realized while listing all of the aspects of Hetalia that I personally thought were wrong to put in was that most of them don’t exist anymore. Besides Germany’s iron cross, all of them were removed from the show. Korea was banned from the anime, and he no longer appears in any of the manga strips. The manga strays further and further away from topics like Japanese Imperialism or WW2. Most of the time in the manga, countries do not wear their military uniforms anymore, but stick to more casual clothes. The characters stray further away from stereotypes that Hima used to use as a comedic effect when he first started drawing. My point is: Hima learned his mistakes. Which only makes sense, considering all of the criticism he probably received when the series first started. I think that’s a good thing. Now back to what I was ranting about earlier. I don’t get why people are saying Hetalia shouldn’t come back! The new season is most likely going to be based off the most recent Hetalia manga series, which is Hetalia World Stars. If you’ve ACTUALLY READ THE MANGA AND DIDN’T JUDGE THE ENTIRETY OF HETALIA BASED ON ITS FIRST FEW SEASONS, you would know what World Stars is about. It’s about all sorts of things. My personal favorite strips are the ones about ancient Rome! It’s not just drawn to give readers a laugh but it actually teaches you some history. Other than Rome, the manga is also about the trends of clothes in certain countries/time periods, industrial revolutions, or just the interactions between the characters in general. I really don’t see how animating these would be harmful at all. The subjects don’t revolve around what a lot of opposers say/negatively connotate the series with. If you think bringing Hetalia back is a terrible thing to do because the fandom would return and start doing toxic/weird things, I really don’t know how to respond to that. The fandom already died out around the time the last season was released. Now newer fans will come around, and the former fans would return (hopefully) matured up. It's already been 5 years since the last Hetalia season aired, after all. And like I said earlier, toxic fans never represent the entire fandom. If you really hate the fandom that much, I recommend not getting involved at all.

[autumnsky]

That transcription and sociolignuistic analysis of the “does running water hurt vampires” scene! Under cut because it’s a whole short paper. The transcription is done with a simplified version of the Jefferson transcription system.

I still can’t believe I not only handed this in for marks, but got 100% lmao. Prof’s only comment was “I didn't know you could sociolinguistically analyze the speech of a vampire coven until I read your assignment.” 

Transcription

1   Dracula:     Any city (.) built over running water is a place that we (.) as vampires should approach carefully.

2   (3.0)

3   Isaac:         Running water,? (.) I’ve never heard of that affecting vampires.

4   Godbrand: Death by running water hasn’t happened in ma?ny centuries

5   Hector:      Why not,?

6   Godbrand: Look arou?nd. We moved into the middle of countries.

7   Hector:      I’d been told that vampires couldn’t cross running water

8   Godbrand: I’ve been on boats (.) I’ve had baths.

9   Isaac:        When. ((Godbrand gives him a look but does not verbally respond))

10 Hector:      Baths aren’t running water though. are they.

11 Godbrand: Course they are

12  Isaac:        How can baths be running water. The water’s stopped being poured when you get in.

13  Carmilla: The Greeks used to bury us on small islands because the graves would be surrounded by running water

14 Godbrand: I think I would feel (.) like running water would probably kill me.

15  Carmilla: Really? (.) Do you feel like poison would kill you? Of course you don’t <it’s a thing you learn.> It’s not like we’re given a manual for being a vampire=

16  Dracula: =ENOUGH!

Short Paper

           The above dialogue transcription is from Netflix’s Castlevania, Season 2: Episode 2: “Old Homes” and the speech situation is a war council between Dracula and his generals on which city they should focus their troops on, which gets side tracked by an argument over if running water affects vampires and if so, what that affect is. The setting is the throne room of Dracula’s castle. The participants are Dracula, Isaac, Godbrand, Hector, and Carmilla. Each participant has their own agenda in the surrounding conversation but during the part that is transcribed the only ends are the generals to exchange their knowledge of running water affecting vampires and Dracula to make them shut up. Act sequences include line 1 as a warning, line 3 being a statement used as a prompt for explanation, line 4 as either a barely related statement or an explanation for why Isaac hasn’t heard of this vampire lore (rather than elaboration on said lore, which Isaac seems to be prompting), lines 5 and 6 are a question/answer adjacency pair, lines 7 and 8 are a statement and denial, lines 9 and 10 are both criticisms phrased as questions (the implications being “you are unhygienic” and “you’re speaking nonsense”), line 11 is another denial and line 12 is another questioning criticism, line 13 is an unrelated statement, line 14 is a sort of suggestion, line 15 is another criticism (first as a question before being outright), and line 16 is a demand. The key/emotional tone is annoyance and confusion. The mode is spoken, and the type varies between characters but is generally informal. Conventions of interaction are broken multiple times with barely related statements but there are also instances where conventions are followed, such as questions being answered, and statements being acknowledged. The genre is conversational.

           This segment is meant to be comedic, which at least partially explains why it is very informal compared to the formal setting of a throne room in which the conversation takes place. Further explanation may be that the generals are expressing a subtle disrespect towards one another by consistently no-naming instead of addressing others with their proper titles, in addition to their thinly veiled insults. This is in notable contrast to how they usually address Dracula with variations of “Lord Dracula” and “my lord” though it is not evident in this short segment, effectively establishing him as having the highest status but refusing to address other generals in a way that might reflect more than equal or lesser status. Dracula’s power status is evident in this segment specifically by the way he does not involve himself with the side-tracked argument except to put an end to it with a command of a single word (line 16) which the generals obey. Despite being a fair distance from most of the other people in the room, Dracula does not raise his voice or speak quickly in line 1. This may be in part because most of his generals presumably have heightened senses, but it also shows that he is confident that the rest of the room will stay quiet and listen closely. There is also a noticeable beat after Dracula’s statement in line 1, where the generals wait to speak longer than they do with each other, possibly in case he will say more. The generals are much less worried about making sure other generals are finished before speaking, although they do not have a high enough involvement style that they overlap their lines.

           That said, one might interpret the way Isaac and Hector both incredulously question Godbrand (lines 9 to 12) as a show of solidarity. They never directly address each other but they both express doubt about the same subject which might count as an indirect agreement. Isaac and Hector are together second in command to Dracula while also being criticized for being the only two humans in Dracula’s inner court, and therefore have the most reason to get along.

Hector is implied to have lived in the Mediterranean before moving to the castle, so Carmilla’s seemingly random fun fact about old Greek vampire burial traditions (line 13) may also be an attempt to gain Hector’s approval as part of her plan to manipulate him into betraying Dracula. By switching the topic right after Isaac asked a question, even something as unimportant as why Godbrand would think baths count as running water, Carmilla may also be using a positive face threatening act to undermine Isaac’s authority and create a rift between him and Hector.

Overall, the conversation is referential with much expressive, and some phatic, subtext. It is also worth noting that the segment transcribed does not have a very solid opening since the transcription does not start at the beginning of the scene but rather at the beginning of the off-topic tangent.

 References

Ellis, W. (Writer), Deats, S. (Director), & Wan, S. (Director). (2018). Old Homes [Netflix series episode]. In Castlevania. Powerhouse Animation Studios.

Herk, G.V. (2018). What Is Socioloinguistics? Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[georgetownuniversitypress]

Darcy Lear: What will you take back to the face-to-face language classroom post-pandemic?

Like so many educators who’ve moved first to emergency remote teaching then to something more like online teaching, I have been overwhelmed by the information coming at me. At first, I eagerly attended all the Zoom workshops I could to get over the learning curve. Then I settled into a holding pattern that fit within my comfort zone for the online venue. Now I try limit my time on Zoom to the hours I am teaching or otherwise engaging with students.

Once the clutter and confusion cleared a bit, I was able to start to look ahead toward a return to face-to-face teaching. And what I’ve realized is that emergency remote teaching reminds me of some of the most important basics of language education—things I want to take back to the in-person classroom as soon as that is possible.

Here are a few of the things I am doing now that I want to keep doing post-pandemic:

1.     Keep it simple—technology edition

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. And just because a technology exists, doesn't mean you should incorporate it into your classes—especially during forced online teaching due to a pandemic.  

I have necessarily added the online teaching platform used by my campus: Zoom. Otherwise, students and I are using the same tech we've always used—the campus online learning system and the publisher's online textbook and workbook materials.  I know Flipgrid and Flippity and Padlet and Panopto and Quizlet and twelve different recording and transcribing options exist. I believe that some are great pedagogical tools and have true potential in the language classroom. But not now. There have been enough learning curves during the pandemic.

Takeaway Don't use bells and whistles gratuitously. Identify your problem first, then solve it using technology if and only if it meets your needs.

2.     Keep it simple—curriculum edition 

Simplify, simplify, simplify. Are high-stakes tests feasible in the new venue? Do I really need 8-10 course components? Are my own pedagogical materials consistent across different documents and platforms? 

The first two questions were a pleasure to address when we were first forced online in spring 2020: high-stakes chapter tests and the final exam were eliminated and replaced by low-stakes daily online quizzes (this is stuff we've known is better for a long, long time). These were 5-10 item assessments closely tied to content covered in that day's class. I told students, "If you can't complete those quizzes without resources, that's a red flag for you. Did you miss class and so it makes sense that it was hard? Do you need to brush up on a grammar point? Do you need to meet with me outside of online class? Did you forget to do the online homework (from which some quiz items are copied and pasted)?" This is what assessment is for—to measure student progress and see if they are ready to move on.

In the meantime, students’ course-long blogs and research projects formed the kind of project-based portfolio assessment we also have known for a long, long time is a better way to assess student learning than a lot of our old-school achievement tests (the kinds of tests people are fretting over how to administer securely online while ‘monitoring cheating’).

I folded some course components, such as recorded TalkAbroad conversations, into students’ portfolio projects so that students reported on them within the regular blog posts they were doing instead of in separate assignments.  

By the time the spring 2020 course started, there were three major course components: textbook content, an online blog, and a research project. There were a total of 5 grading categories: daily quizzes, daily blog posts, in-class mini-presentations, a course-long research project, and a final presentation of the research project.

A single thread ran through the entire course so that the work to prepare for class led smoothly into the synchronous class period, which was followed by homework and assessments that reviewed all the content before repeating the cycle. Even though this is how it’s supposed to always work, it felt more focused and streamlined than any face-to-face course I've taught in recent memory.

In cleaning up my pedagogical materials, I developed a kind of check list: Do I even need to keep this content? Is there a way to fold this material into something else (portfolio assessments, online quizzes)? Do I use the names I have for assignments consistently? Do they make sense? Why were assignments described as "personal readings" in course documents and grade book columns years after they'd become "blog entries" in practice? Ditto for "documents 1-5" that were really "research project" components. Getting ready to engage in emergency remote teaching forced me to revisit a lot of content that worked inside my own head but didn't make a lot of sense to anyone else, something I know is an issue when designing pedagogical materials, writing instructions, writing academic articles—you name it!

Takeaway Can I simplify logistics for students? Can the various bits and pieces be streamlined so it makes more sense to students and flows better for all of us?

3.     Keep it simple—classroom edition

As the teacher, do most of your work outside of class. With emergency remote teaching, most of my time was dedicated to planning before class, then grading and meeting with students after. In the online class sessions, I mostly just set up activities for students then hang out and listen to them interact. Occasionally, I interrupt to correct or explain, but mostly I wait for students to self-correct or reach out to me for clarification. I’ve noticed a lot more self-correction when I gave students the time and space to do it—well, Zoom did that for me.  

This experience has reminded me of the kind of planning and preparing required of a novice teacher.  I set up my lesson plan, re-visit it after a day or so, then run through it before class starts to make sure I have everything ready to go on my laptop: 

Is the ebook opened to the first page I'll     reference? 

Do students have the link to the Google doc I'll     ask them to use? 

Do I have the PDF opened and ready to click     on? 

Is the PowerPoint presentation launched?

Do I know when I'm going to use breakout rooms     and how many I will need?

At the beginning of each class, I share my screen to show students the lesson plan and run through the major topics as well as assignments that are due soon. It begs the question: why haven’t I been sharing my lesson plans with students all along?

Getting everything set up seems to take more time and energy than the Zoom session itself, but in the Zoom session I also shed the novice teacher and settle into the role of experienced teacher.  

As soon as a Zoom class ends, I go back into planning mode—I post the day's lesson plan and homework online for students to reference, then I prepare the first draft of the next session's lesson plan.  Before I polish the next plan, I spend a lot of time grading—reading/watching students' work, making individual comments on it, and checking their progress with online activities and assessments. In the process, I make sure the homework and quizzes align well with the class sessions (something I haven't dedicated enough time to in face-to-face teaching over the past decade or so). 

Takeaway Be transparent with students. Make most of your work happen in the prep and follow-up so class time can focus on smooth student activities.

4.     Let students learn by doing: Be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage

Zoom is a horrible venue for "teacher at the front of class soliciting responses from individual students"—but so is a classroom if your goal is for students to build communicative competence in the language. But in classrooms it's very easy to fall into old-school patterns of the teacher doing too much of the talking. Online teaching—where everyone is disembodied and there are awkward pauses combined with people talking over each other—forces me to abandon any remnants of the Atlas complex. If I'm talking on Zoom it's very obvious I'm delivering a lecture or a teacher presentation.

I do talk to the whole group at the beginning and end of each Zoom session, with some teacher-like explanations peppered throughout the entire course. But most of the time spent on Zoom has been students in breakout rooms interacting with each other in Spanish—sometimes discussing textbook content in groups, sometimes preparing brief presentations to give to the whole class, sometimes with student discussion leaders who are formally assessed on their performance. I pop in but try to leave myself on mute.  

Takeaway Find a way to put myself "on mute."

5.     Be flexible and go easy on yourself and others 

Right now we’re in a pandemic, but in "normal times" there are always some individuals who are navigating crises. We don't need to know the details, but we can make interactions with us easier instead of harder—extend deadlines, take late work, allow students to make up tests, and be understanding when they have to miss class. 

Takeaway Nobody needs a punitive work or learning environment—ever. Be flexible. Go easy on yourself and others.

Darcy Lear has a PhD in Foreign and Second Language Education from the Ohio State University and teaches Spanish at the University of Chicago. She regularly gives presentations on teaching strategies to departments around the country and has developed languages for special purposes courses at several institutions. Lear is also a career coach, helping people to position themselves to use their language skills in rewarding careers. She is the author of Integrating Career Preparation into Language Courses.

[koinodancesite]

“One and Only”

Coupled with “Tsumetai Kaze To Kataomoi” and “Endless Sky”

Release date: December 29, 2015

Oricon Weekly placement: 1st

Members: Akane Haga, Ayumi Ishida, Erina Ikuta, Haruka Kudo, Haruna Iikubo, Haruna Ogata, Kanon Suzuki, Maria Makino, Masaki Sato, Miki Nonaka, Mizuki Fukumura, Riho Sayashi, Sakura Oda

Morning Musume sing entirely in English for the first time in “One and Only,”, and so far the only time that they have, but it should’ve happened sooner. They somewhat already had all the way back in 1999, with an English cover of “Summer Night Town” by then-new Hello Project group Coconuts Musume -- a unit formed through auditions in Hawaii. Tsunku had his eyes set on the international market only a year after he built Hello Project, and he continued to look outside of Japan throughout the 2000s, producing singers and groups in China and South Korea. An original single sung in a language outside of their native one was not out of the question.

For “One and Only,” the group had a good excuse to indulge in their desire for international exposure: the single served as the title track for J-MELO, a music program of NHK World TV. The musical-like focus on the power of music in the intro makes more sense in this context as well. A few years prior, Morning Musume and their agency Up-Front Works stepped up their efforts to engage with an audience outside of Japan by including closed captions of English translation of their lyrics shown in their music videos. It’s funny now to see the process flipped, with a Japanese translation provided for the English lyrics.

The Up-Front Works translation of Morning Musume lyrics overall have been satisfactory. I tweaked a few with my own takes on it for this blog here and there because it didn’t hit upon a particular nuance, but I’ve often transcribed it directly as it appears in the music videos. More than the literal meaning, what can get lost in translation are the tonal shifts, which necessitates an understanding of Morning Musume songs more than a good grasp of Japanese to fully appreciate. It’s a quirk in their lyrics that we’ve come across over and over again with meaninglessness and meaningfulness sharing the same space, one blurring the difference between the other. But because one line can lack a sense of logic as banal observations suddenly goes into a deep epiphany, a Morning Musume verse can resemble a Mad Libs-like string of random thoughts.

“One and Only” offers a more simplified take on a Morning Musume song. They refrain from dense themes like ambitions for self-progress that informed past Numeral-era singles and instead go for a straightforward love song with an easy narrative to follow. Pop music in the English language is best when its thoughts come through direct and succinct, and the group seems mindful of this. The lyrics feel written specifically to be sung in English, not a Japanese song translated into English.

English does have its letdowns. The sappiness in an earnest lyric from their usual playbook like “just listen to your heart, the answer is in you” comes through more overwrought compared to Japanese, a typically more sentimental pop language. But they make up for it through their impassioned delivery, sounding committed to every word they sing. They communicate a genuine interest in you, the listener, without holding back on how they’ll be perceived expressing how they feel. They even tease to further establish that personal connection: “You are so very, very kind/ but you cry all the time,” they sing as though to remind who’s taking care of who in this exchange.

“One and Only” feels similar to a particular pop-song format: the boy band song. “You are my favorite girl, my one and only girl,” Morning Musume sing right after that tease of a line, putting you as the center focus. The chorus is full of call outs that treat you as the world’s precious jewel. It speaks as a different kind of idol song, where Morning Musume aren’t the ones who need your love and undivided attention but the opposite, with the group as providers to fill the void in your heart. And they perform with a suave persona, playfully flirtatious and sincerely uplifting at the same time.

The group explicitly stating the gender of the second person -- “my favorite girl” -- in the single is an interesting lyrical decision. It certainly blurs the line between the romantic and platonic with their hopes of living a happy life together with “just you and I” teetering the song to the former -- more reason to peg “One and Only” in line with a boy-band song. But it also clarifies who exactly might be the intended audience of Morning Musume’s songs about dreams, reclaiming confidence and a dedication to a special someone. While their songs have been all-inclusive, they dropped hints here and there to connect with other women: “Wagamama Kinomama Ai No Joke” come to mind as a fairly recent one. “One and Only” is as obvious as it gets, whatever the intent, and it’s a directness they can convey only through the English language.

[6]

[philosophicalparadox]

The Twins and Paternity

Ok, this is going to be a LONG post, because there is just SO MUCH to debunk about this whole “the twins have different fathers” thing. 

Because it may not be as true as you think. In fact, it’s more likely given what we know that they really are identical twins. 

Huh? But they look different!

Aaaaaand that is why this post is so long: that’s right folks, buckle up and let’s take a field trip down the road called Epigenetics and Gene expression. (in other words, this is going to get really sciencey)

TLDR: Twins can be identical genetically, but have different phenotypes and even completely different body structure due to gene mutation that occurs during gestation. This gene mutation modifies how genes are expressed, but does NOT modify the genes themselves. The fact that the twins are BOTH half demons, well...we’re going to get into some rather strange examples I have from personal experience about animal hybridization and gene expression, simplified as much as I dare. Also, prepare for wikipedia references, because they may not be superb but they offer a good summary of everything I looked up, via Wiki’s citation page. (Yep, I went there.) You’re welcome. 

More below the cut: 

First, let’s look at what we know:

The twins are Monoamniotic, meaning that they share the same amniotic sac in utero. This is something ONLY achievable in identical twins. 

With me? Good, because here’s where that get’s messy:

Monoamniotism and Size/parasitism

Monoamniotic twins are also monochorionic, meaning that they share a placenta. This, unfortunately, can lead to embryonic parasitism, since the twins in a monoamniotic/monochorionic relationship (called, affectionately, “MoMo twins”) share blood between not just the mother and each of them, but between one another also. As a result, it is not uncommon in “MoMo” twins for one twin to be larger or stronger than the other. 

Also, blood is not sometimes distributed evenly over a placenta, especially in the case of MoMo twins, which have a very large placenta to share between the two. Consequently, it is not unusual for one twin to be short of an adequate blood supply, and therefore become thinner and smaller. While it’s rare, sometimes one twin may die in utero for this reason. 

I say this as a matter of interpretation, not fact, but it appears to me that MoMo twins seem to be one step shy of conjoined, since they share everything from blood and nutrients to hormones, not only with mom, but with one another also. 

The Process

The diagram above shows at what stage during the development of a (single) foetus it can split into twins, and the results thereof. 

Most people have an erroneous assumption that identical twins are always produced during the initial phases of gestation, when the egg is first dividing. (Morula stage). However, this is not remotely true of all identical twins, which is why you get things like the Conjoined twins above, which do not split into separate organisms until the, putting it in layman’s terms, “DNA blueprint” of their entire basic structure is already determined. (Basically, as the Embryonic Disc stage, every cell is primed to divide in a specific way, to become a specific, basic thing -- heart, spine, brain, etc. Before this stage, however, there are still “gaps” in the blueprint -- All of the chromosomes and genes are there, but they haven’t  quite “ordered” the cells to become those fundamental things like organs yet. Now, as the foetus grows, more cells will be “directed” by the DNA they contain to serve a function, but at the Embryonic Disk stage, most of the vital organs “blueprints” are complete.)

DNA replication and Mutation:

Recap, because for some people, high school was a long time ago. 

DNA divides using RNA as a transcriptor, in order to “copy” the DNA -- the RNA can modify the DNA depending on what it’s specific structure is and how it transcribes the DNA during replication. This is how viruses do their business, by transcribing thier RNA into your DNA, and changing what a cell does or how well it functions by screwing up the DNA pattern. (which is why there really IS no limit on what a virus can do or what symptoms it can cause.)

However, errors do happen in transcription naturally, which is also how things like cancer form. When the RNA fails to “copy” the DNA correctly, it can mess with the senescence of the cell, causing it to divide indefinitely. On a less severe note, this is also how gene expression can be modified, even in identical individuals. Once RNA mis-transcribes something, future cells containing the ‘error’ are produced, and produced, and produced unless another RNA ‘failing’ changes the gene expression again. 

Gene expression in twins:

Because identical twins have identical Chromosomes, they usually have identical gene expression, which is basically how a visible a gene is. Now, they don’t ever have 100% identical DNA, due to those naturally occurring transcription errors, but their chromosomes are identical, and so are most of their genes. 

That means, however, that both twins also share not only every dominant trait, but every codominant and recessive trait. And, due to DNA replication errors, identical twins DO sometimes come out looking nothing at all alike, exactly because sometimes, rather than a cell’s DNA replicating to produce the “dominant” trait, it will instead transcribe for the recessive, and continue to do this until the gene becomes expressed as recessive. 

It is not clear, by my findings, if MoMo twins are more or less suceptible to this, so I can not answer from that angle. 

Gene expression and interspecies hybridization:

Ok, trip down memory lane time for me -- I used to work for a snake breeder, who knew a snake breeder, that knew a snake breeder...

Ahem, anyway, did you know that most “corn snakes” in the pet trade aren’t “corn snakes” at all? They’re almost always hybrids of the Texas Rat snake, Fox snake, Milk snake, or other Colubrid species. I once owned one that was Corn x Fox x Gopher snake -- he is currently a whopping Seven feet long, and has a very impressive girth. 

However, when I purchased him, he looked just like a normal corn snake. He had a bit of a different patten, and had very vibrant oranges and yellows and reds, with some seriously high contrast -- he was gorgeous. 

I met his parents at the store I got him from -- Mom was HUGE. I’m talking six feet at least, and with a “fire and ice” colour mutation. She was pretty, but damn was she big. I assumed it was just a fluke, and bought the boy anyway. 

I called her, the breeder, later on, when he got to be five feet long and had a seriously bad attitude, puffing up and hissing at just about anything. I wanted to know if it was a genetic thing, or a husbandry thing. 

She kindly told me he was F3 (third gen) Gopher hybrid, and that gopher snakes tended to be more defensive, claiming that he had “inherited those genes from mom”. 

Point of my story is : He looked just like a corn snake. 

But he was not, nor is any “corn snake” you find in the pet trade anymore, unless it is wild caught. 

using the same example, let’s talk about “high show” and “low show”: 

My corn snake was “High show” for typical corn-snake traits; orange body colour, markings (mostly - he had some barring that wasn’t typical, but that is owed to the barring in gopher snakes being dominant, I think.) and slender, active body. 

Now, that doesn’t make much of a case for twins - but it does offer insight into hybrids not necessarily looking hybrid-ey.

Demon Genes and Human Genes -- where to draw the line?

The following is fan speculation, not anything confirmed in canon:

Eminescu says, sometime in the middle chapters somewhere, that demon genes and human genes can combine in “interesting ways”. 

The question here becomes -- why did Rin get the “demon genes” and not Yukio? 

By sheer fluking chance, I wager. 

From what I can conjecture about, it appears that, at it’s most basic tennet, demon “parasites” being introduced into human hosts causes a kind of genetic splicing, but with the addition of “turning on” genes that, in humans, have been dormant for millions of years.

Demons who inhabit  (at least human) bodies produce atavisms, or throwbacks to ancestral traits. Tails, long canines, thickened fingernails, etc. are all traits humans once had, before they were homo sapiens. Long before. 

It could just be a splice thing, (which I will come back to in another post) whereupon the demon’s genes influence the addition of the tail and whatnot, but I’m of the mind that thier genes couldn’t splice effectively unless there was a genetic weakness to exploit -- the existence, perhaps, of dormant atavistic traits. Which could be why so few of the “host bodies” for Lucifer and crew could not be used. It takes a certain human, of a certain bloodline, to possess these traits, particularly in abundance. 

Now, that leads to some interesting speculations about Yuri, which I shall delve into thusly: 

Yuri and Demon genes

It is possible that Yuri is part demon herself, which would logically increase the odds of demon genes being passed on via copulation with a demon. After all, Satan is going to be dominant for some of the same genes, as the all-father, so it would make sense for those genes to come out when they breed. 

We don’t see any of those genes in anyone but Rin though. Why? Well, that could be the infintessimally small percentage of a chance that Yukio, while he inherited those same demon genes, simply doesn’t “show” them. He has them, but due to the infinitely complicated rules of hybridization, may not show them through. 

Now, a disclaimer: It could be, and is an equally valid point, assuming Katou doesn’t have a biology degree, that they DO have different fathers. However, until we have the answers in canon, it is equally as likely that they don’t. I merely hadn’t seen ANY post claiming the offensive -- that Satan sired them both. 

Feel free to reply with opinions, fact checks, etc! Unfortunately, I can not apparently link anything to add credibility (stupid Tumblr and their anti-linking bullcrap I guess - because Wikipedia apparently isn’t a source, and neither are any of it’s sources) and if I’ve misunderstood anything, please inform me! I spent five hours researching this stuff, but one day’s worth of study does not make me an expert! 

[carma98p16615-blog]

MIDI To MP3 Online Converter

This article gives information on common MIDI file format questions. Step 4: Find the “Format” field and tap on drop-down menu. Choose “Other uncompressed records” as the output file type. Faucet the “Option” button to at least one side of this discipline. Choose the MIDI output type and click on “Ok,” now click “Save” to start to convert the MP3 to MIDI file. The transformed file will save in the Audacity folder. I think you're misunderstanding what midi is. There's no such thing as converting midi to mp3. Midi isn't audio, it's just information. It's directions. Midi only contains observe data and controller data. Through software, midi can be utilized to regulate a digital instrument. But it surely is not sound itself, it's just directions for a program to make use of. First launched in 1995 and developed by the Fraunhofer Society, the mp3 audio format is arguably probably the most recognizable audio file format that ever existed. This digital audio encoding format hails from the lossy knowledge compression algorithm family. The format enjoys widespread help and compatibility with most handheld music gamers, smartphones, computers, and in automobile stereos most of which have native assist for the format. It's also a popular format used for distribution of audio recordsdata over computer networks such as the web. Free mp3 encoders such as LAME and audacity give authors the instruments necessary to createmp3 recordsdata. Bear File Converter is a free and useful on-line audio converter, which may also help you convert WAV, OGG, WMA, MP3 and more stream audio to MIDI file. And the output MIDI audio might be playable in Audacity or game software. What's extra, the converted MIDI file may be very small. However, the imported audio file ought to be 50 MB or smaller in size. Don't be fooled by Youtube "determining" what track is performed: this sort of audio recognition is finished utilizing precise audio signatures, a sort of simplified footprint of a bit of audio, and it's solely adequate to say whether or not or not what you utilized in your video COULD be part of a copyrighted soundtrack of their database. There's no improbable & magic monitor breakdown being carried out there, sorry.I'm almost sure that everybody nowadays loves to take heed to music and it's only a matter of time when many people had a deep love of music and get carried away by the beat and sways on these melodies. We all know that music is an art work that connects souls using the sound and silence in plenty of ways in which most of us can't even imagine. It may presumably merely change the notion of our thinking. Converting a lossless audio file, like WAV or FLAC, to a lossy format, like MP3 or AAC, ends in a lack of constancy. If it's worthwhile to send a lossless audio file to an e mail account with file dimension restrictions and you're apprehensive about sending delicate material utilizing a cloud service, like Dropbox or Google Drive, a file compression software program is an efficient choice. Listed below are a few of our favorite file compression packages.

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface—it is a file sort with a complex and necessary history, however I principally just remember it because the file format that countless bros in faculty used to make dangerous songs in Garage Band. It serves kind of as a file format that allows instruments to talk to each other and to talk to a pc—play a 'C' notice on a MIDI keyboard, and the computer will transcribe it so to then play it back as a special computerized instrument altogether (these are called "fonts"). Does anybody know of tools or SDKs that exist for creating synths that may be mapped to MIDI tracks or methods to generate and apply SoundFonts programmaticly? If not, does anybody perceive the low level steps involved in a device that may allow me to do that? I've looked for tools to do this with no success. Possibly if I understood the parts involved I could write something to do that, but I wouldn't even know what to lookup. WinGroove is among the most well-identified of these programs. With this program the MIDI output of your atypical sound card will sound nearly pretty much as good as that of a excessive finish card - but beware, magicaudiotools.com WinGroove eats into your processor resources like someone who has been ravenous for midi to mp3 converter скачать на андроид a week. The reason being that behind the scenes, WinGroove converts your MIDI stream into a WAV stream realtime. So it may entail higher sense to truly open a MIDI file in WinGroove and convert it right into a WAV file - after that your WAV file is like every other WAV file.The identical feature can also be used to document from any source accessible in your system, equivalent to line-in, "Wave", or "What You Hear". Line-in can be used to record from cassettes or LPs, for example, or you should use "Wave" or "What You Hear" to document from streaming audio on-line, or anything else you could hear by your COMPUTER speakers produced from the sound card. Audio recordings are saved directly to the output format; no conversion is required.

[laceyspencer]

Examining the Effects of Digital Animation Integrated into the Mathematics Teaching-Juniper Publishers

Introduction

Nowadays, with advanced technology and universal internet, many new developments of computers or calculators can be used to assist mathematics teaching. In addition, research studies indicated that technology can enhance students’ mathematics concept development efficiently [1,2]. The integration of digital animation into mathematics teaching can bring a new bright to mathematics class. Earlier studies pointed out that integrating digital animation into mathematics classrooms can help students’ mathematics learning and raise their mathematics learning interest [3-5]. To sum up, researchers claim that integrating digital animate activities of number sense into mathematics classroom can aid students’ number sense ability development and learning interest [6].

 Based on the above motivation, this study aimed to investigate the situation of integrating digital animation into mathematics classroom and observed the benefit of this kind of teaching method for students’ mathematics learning

Background

The Importance of integrating information technology into mathematics classroom

People in this generation can’t live without technology from earlier computer to recent smart phone, and even Wi-Fi as well, which means that technology integrates into our life insensibly. The significant invention also affects modern classrooms, which is full of advanced and various technology. These tools can make teaching more convenient for teachers and students. It is common for computer projector used in every classroom and with universal of electronic interactive whiteboard, electronic book bag, and IRS classroom immediate feedback system; the blueprint of “future classroom” is more evidently. Therefore, the technology is used as teaching assistant tools in the mathematics classrooms which is common sense [1,7].

The Importance of teaching number sense in primary school

Why is teaching number sense for elementary school students so important? Several reasons can be used to highlight its importance. First, number sense is highly connected to our daily life situations. For example, children need to make sense the meanings of 1 meter, 1 km of 1 kg and so on [6]. Second, number sense encourages students to develop flexible and efficient approaches to solve problems [6,8,9]. For example, when students were asked to find the answer to 24×25÷ (8×5), children usually tended to use rule-based method to calculate the answer: 24×25 = 600, 8×5 = 40, and then 600÷40 = 15

However, if students have good number sense, they should quickly find the relationships among these numbers. This will help them quickly find the answer, such as 24 ÷ 8 = 3 and 25 ÷ 5 = 5 and then the answer is 3 × 5 = 15, which is more flexible and efficient way to decide the answer. Third, earlier studies showed that number sense is a good predictor for future mathematics achievement to primary school children Jordan, Glutting, Ramineni (2010) Yang & Li (2008). For example, the findings of Yang & Li (2008) showed that number sense is significantly correlated with fifth grade students’ mathematics achievement. Fourth, earlier studies showed that mathematics teaching overemphasized on standard written algorithm may limit students’ thinking and reasoning, however number sense can promote students to develop flexible thinking and reasoning [6]

Integrating digital animation into mathematics classrooms related studies

If teaching activities and content cannot attract learners’ attention, they will be distracted easily which leads to decrease their learning motivation and learning effect. Earlier study suggested that the use of technology can attract students’ learning interest and concentration [5]. Interest is always the most important issue to trigger learning; therefore, in a successful teaching, the interaction between teacher and students should be active. According to students’ degree and need, teacher can observe students’ performance by interaction and further can adjust their own teaching method. Teacher only has little time to interact with students using traditional lecture, but if teacher use computer technology, they can let interaction become more frequently

Because mathematics concepts become more difficult and tedious in higher grade levels, many students have given up mathematics insidiously once they enter higher grade levels. If we can use technology efficiently in mathematics classes, then we can raise students’ learning motivation and learning interest. In addition, if we can let students’ concentration focus on the mathematics learning as well as they play video games, learning mathematics would not be a nightmare for students anymore. As a matter of fact, the use of interactive media can support students’ learning [10,11]. Assisted by information technology and multimedia teaching mode, learning mathematics is not merely an abstract thinking system but a concrete and visible method. Integrating information technology into mathematics classroom can change the way teacher teaches which is one-way mode to two-way mode.

Research Design and Method

This study applied structural interview method and the participants were three six-graders which joined the study.  

Sample

Three (S1, S2, and S3) six-grade students from one public elementary school from southern Taiwan. Were selected to join this study. S1, S2, and S3 belonged to low, middle, and highlevel mathematics performance based on the mathematics test scores from school tests. After activities, we started to interview immediately, and the time for interview was about 50 minutes for each student.

Data analysis

We recorded the whole interview process and further coded, categorized and analyzed data as (Table 1).

Interview instrument

The interview outline and questions were designed by the author based on the research purpose. The interview outline for students focused on the students’ feeling about the use of digital animation and the effects of mathematics learning. In addition, the interview instrument included eight items and described as follows:

a) Comparing with previous studying method, what differences do you feel?

b) Did you like mathematics class, and why?

  c) How do you feel that teacher use digital animation materials?

d) Do you like mathematics more if teacher uses digital animation materials, and why?  

e) Do you feel there are any differences between previous and now learning atmosphere in class, and why?  

 f) Is there any inspiration for your mathematics studying, and why?

 g) Is there any help for your mathematics concept if teacher uses the digital animation materials, and why?

 h) Do you still hope that teacher uses the digital animation materials in class, and why?

 During the interview, the processes of interviewing were recorded based on the agreement of participants. After the interview, the interview data were transcribed into verbal scripts.

Reliability and validity of research

The procedure of collecting, transcribing and analyzing data was loyal to the original recording files and we also used triangulation to examine interview context, recording of participants’ problem-solving and so on. In order to reduce researchers’ bias, we must assure that all the data were close to participants’ thought. Therefore, this study had good reliability and validity.

Result and Finding

Each learning level student all agreed that digital animation can help them learn mathematics effectively.

Followings are some students’ responses about integrating digital animation into mathematics teaching, and S1, S2 and S3 are low, middle and high learning level students respectively.

Low achievement student responded that it was clearer to catch the mathematics concepts if teacher used the digital animation materials

Researcher inquired S1 the question “Comparing with previous studying method, what differences do you feel?” followings were S1’s original responses.    

 Q: OK, that’s all right, well…Comparing with teacher’s previous studying method, what differences do you feel? In order words, is there any difference between previous teaching method and now digital animation teaching method?  

S1: Digital method is clearer.    

  As for participant’s answer “It is clearer”, we wanted to know more about the answer so keeping asked for the details:  

 Q: It is clearer! For example, what part do you think it is clearer?  

  S1: mm…  

 Q: What part? The half…  

  S1: Fraction  

The key concept of the digital animation was to compare the fractional size. “Half” in the context was the process when comparing fractional size. Students applied 1/2 as a benchmark to decide which one is bigger or smaller.

Middle achievement student believed that animation materials could make classroom more vivid and interesting and let mathematical concepts easier to understand

Researcher asked S2 to answer the question: “Comparing with previous studying method, what differences do you feel?” followings were S2’s original responses.

S2: Yes, animation is more interesting.

Except for interesting, in order to know more about the S2’s feeling, researcher asked S2 the question “Do you like mathematics more if teacher uses digital animation materials, and why?”

S2: Mm…I feel that it is not that difficult. It is much more simplify.

Q: Mm…you mean animation makes difficult concept easier to understand.

S2: Yes.

Q: It makes you easy to learn.

S2: Yes.

From the above original context, S2 believed that integrating animation into mathematics classroom not only made mathematics interesting, but also let mathematical concepts be easy to understand. As for the understanding, we can analyze the following original context.

Q: Which part of fraction concepts will help you understand?

(The question refers to comparing number of fraction)

S2: Mm…I will find a common denominator.

Q: Oh, you use the common denominator so what do you feel the half method to compare number that teacher uses?

S2: It is faster.

From the original context, S2 believed that integrating digital animation into mathematics classroom helped him understand the concepts of comparing fractional size. Before presenting digital animation, participant used to utilize the traditional strategy, but now S2 could apply the idea of benchmark and agreed that it was the faster way to solve the problem.    

High achievement student thought that animation materials can make interaction in classroom more vivid and interesting

S: More interaction, it is fun if we have interaction.

Q: Oh, so you like the kind of interaction.

S3: Yes

From the above discussions, we could find that high achiever S3 liked digital animation because it provided certain functions that students could operate by themselves and teacher and students could discuss together in classroom. To recognize S3’s thinking about digital animation, researcher asked S3 about her feelings related to digital animation teaching (Figure 1).  

Q: Okay, how do you feel that teacher use the digital animation materials?

S3: Mm…

Q: Do you feel…

S3: It is kind of interesting.

Q: Anything else except for interesting?

S3: Mm…it seems easier to understand the math concept.

To sum up, three different level students all agreed that with digital animation, teacher can express the mathematical concepts clearer, and made tedious mathematics class become more vivid and interesting. Most important of all, they all agreed that digital animation materials could help them learn mathematics effectively.

The changing of liking mathematics from “okay” to “yes”

We want to know whether students liked mathematics more by integrating digital animation into mathematics class or not from this research. Followings were original responses before presenting digital animation. Their answers were “okay” coincidently.

I:

Q: Do you use to like mathematics class?

S1: So so!

II:

Q: Well, do you use to like mathematics class?

S2: Okay…

III:

Q: All right, do you use to like mathematics class?

S3: Mm…Okay.

From the original responses, boring and difficult would be the reasons that made mathematics class to be not popular among students no matter what levels of students. However, after presenting digital animation, students started to like mathematics. Details as following;

I:

Q: Do you like math after teacher uses digital animation to teach math?

S1: Yes.

II:

Q: Ok, use…comparing previous math class, do you a little more like math when teacher use digital animation to teach math?

S2: Yes.

III:

Q: It is easier to understand. Well, do you a little more like math when teacher use digital animation to teach math?

S3: Mm…Yes.

We could find that no matter what levels of students would like mathematics class more after integrating digital animation into mathematics class, and obviously they did not reject the new technology teaching materials.

    Conclusion

Because tedious and abstruse are the common sense for mathematics learning, most students did not like mathematics. Mathematics is always the last choice for most students. In addition, the mathematical concepts of grade 5 and 6 are more complicated so that many students usually give up learning mathematics. However, using digital animation to assist teaching and building a realistic situation and interaction between teacher and students are the method to make mathematical concepts to be easier to study. Students are not afraid of mathematics class because of the vivid and interesting learning environment.

Integrating digital animation into mathematics teaching can trigger students’ learning interest. With learning interest, students will study mathematics voluntarily. Compare with other subjects, mathematics is more difficult to learn, so the fundamental method is to let students have interest in learning mathematics. In this study, no matter what level of students all accepted digital animation and the attitude to mathematics from “okay” becomes “yes”. We noticed that students’ learning interest has high influence on studying mathematics; therefore, how to raise students’ learning interest is one of the key issues we must work on it. From the aspect of triggering students’ learning interest, the benefit on digital animation teaching materials is quite workable and considerable.

    Acknowledgement

This paper is a part of a research project supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan with grant no. NSC 105-2511-S-415-003-MY3. Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

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[theonyxpath]

Enemy Action illustration by Avery Butterworth

    Let’s hope the power stays on as I write this, as opposed to last week!

Had a great time at the strangely yet memorably named GameHoleCon in Madison, Wisconsin this last weekend. There, the preferred dice to roll are the 20-sided and other solids that are classically used for D&D, and that makes sense as they are very much coming from that tradition.

So why did Onyx Path attend when most of our games use 10-sided dice pools?

Well, we are publishing the second edition of the d20 classic Scarred Lands in both Pathfinder and 5th Edition D&D compatible rules versions. Scarred Lands‘ aftermath of a gods-war setting has always been very compelling to me, and I’m glad myself and developer Scott Holden had a chance to review where the line can go as we shared a room at the con.

Plus, we have Pugmire, which uses a simplified d20 system that we thing really makes it easy to get started playing your canine adventurers.

So we figure it is good to get out and both let folks know we have these great games available, and talk with the “d20” crowd a bit about the sorts of things they’re looking for. Adventures, cool new settings, stuff for online gaming venues – I heard interest in all of those this weekend.

Which reminds me: if you or someone you know currently creates, or wants to create, “d20” material, please do reach out to us. We have a good group of folks we’re already working with but can always use more, especially if you have focused on “d20” stuff. Thanks!

In terms of which systems are my preference, I don’t mind new or different systems if they let me play the game that I sat down to play. If they get in the way of the experience I’m expecting based on reading the rest of the core book, then I’m less happy about it. The d20 type games, percentile-based games, our beloved dice-pools, and any games that start with those sorts of rolls and then build out the rest of the systems; I’ve played all sorts, and some worked great and others not so much. So that’s my criteria for our use of systems with our game lines. YMMV.

      Beckett’s Jyhad Diary illustration by Ken Meyer, Jr.

    Speaking of 10-sided dice pools, I have two things to mention. One, I spent much time waiting in airports on either side of attending the con, and used that time to read the manuscript for Scion: Origin. I’m transcribing my notes for human consumption, or at least Neall’s, and they are mostly about information organization and fixing where the text seemed confusing.

But the StoryPath System that is at the heart of Scion 2nd Edition has almost no notes on it. Neall and the gang did a fantastic job on it, and how Scion builds upon it, and I think you’re going to love how it works!

Also, as we try and find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://ift.tt/2zjnD0c

http://ift.tt/2hhT5Fk

The base app, with a couple of dice choices and board choices, is free and fully functional with pre-sets and manual controls so that every version of the dice-pool system used by any of the games we publish can be configured. Then, there are a selection of game line specific dice for a small charge, and “special” versions for a little bit more. For example, the special Wraith20 dice have numbers that begin to glow brightly, while each EX3 special Lunar die is surrounded by a soft silver nimbus.

We’re really thrilled to have launched this first of what we intend as many electronic game aids. Combined with putting more projects and parts of projects up for our game lines in places like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds, as well as our initiatives to put books onto Amazon and B&N‘s marketplaces, this is part of the start of our efforts to enable players to obtain and use our projects in the ways they are currently gaming and reading.

    Enemy Action illustration by Shen Fei

    When I was at GameHoleCon, somebody asked me about whether a dice rolling app gives the same satisfaction as tossing a physical die, or handful of dice. I’ve had a couple of the apps over the last couple of years, and once they added in the ability to shake the phone and roll the dice that way, like our Onyx Dice Rolling App does, it does get you close to that feeling.

Of course, if what you really want is to roll using that certain special mojo that gives you that impossible success, like rolling four six-sided dice and getting a 6 on each to prove your stat roll like I once did, or like just about every roll I’ve seen former White Wolf CEO Mike Tinney ever make, then I think you’ve got to have the physical dice. But maybe, you just need to attune to our Onyx Dice Rolling App and it’ll happen.

I haven’t tried that yet myself, but I’ll let you know!

    Sample Arms of the Chosen page

    Finally, to switch from a roll to a role, I just want to point out that we’re planning on starting the Kickstarter for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition next week on Tuesday the 14th at 12 noon EST. We are pretty excited to be able to present this to all of you, we think it’ll be fun, and know that there are a lot of people waiting for this. Even so, tell your friends!

And now, I’m going to succumb to the ConCrud giving me chills as I write this, and I’ll leave you with my last non-feverish thought:

Many Worlds. One Path.

  BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Right now, Tuesday the 14th at noon EST is looking good! If things get weird, we’ll fall back to Thursday the 16th. See you there!

Next, our Trinity Continuum Kickstarter will start in early January – since it makes no sense to start a KS mid-December!

  ON SALE NOW:

As we try and find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://ift.tt/2zjnD0c

http://ift.tt/2hhT5Fk

  ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook stores on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble). Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

  And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

    OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

http://ift.tt/2w0aaEW

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://ift.tt/1pOsnTb

    DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

Coming this Wednesday on DriveThruCards, the Pugmire Card Set One (Trick, Condition, and Initiative Cards) are helpful visual aids for your Pugmire gaming fun! Lay them out next to your sheet for ease of reference during play, and to keep track of what you can do, what affects your character, and when they get to act.

      What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! PDF and physical book PoD versions available on DriveThruRPG.com. http://ift.tt/2sV8lZR

You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up. Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing.  There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.

– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone

This book includes:

• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them

• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants

• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires

• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more!

      Is a life of running and hiding a life worth living? We say yes. There’s always something between the running and the hiding, and those moments of grace make it all worthwhile.

The Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology is a perfect companion piece to Changeling: The Lost, 2nd Edition. These stories spin tales of the Lost, of those abducted and enslaved by fairies. Those who escaped, but whose captors will stop at nothing to find them. These fairies summon forth the Huntsmen, primordial hunters who understand nothing but pursuit and capture. The Huntsmen are unstoppable monsters, and the Lost can only look to each other for respite, rare comfort, and rarer trust.

The Hedge has parted and you can get the Advance PDF of The Huntsmen Chronicle Fiction Anthology for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition at DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2z4uZnU

        For over 20 years, the artists of Mage: The Ascension have conjured spirits and constructed hypertech that can transform reality on a whim.

Within this retrospective, those artists and images depict the ever-changing face of magick. From the debut edition to the twenty-first century, this book explores the people behind the pictures, the process of putting such books together, the story behind Mage’s Tarot iconography, and more.

Featuring the artwork of Echo Chernik, Joshua Gabriel Timbrook, Michael Gaydos, Mark Jackson, Leif Jones, Michael Kaluta, Steve Prescott, Alex Sheikman, Christopher Shy…and many, many more.

The Art of Mage: 20 Years and More has manifested on DTRPG in PDF and physical book PoD versions! Here: http://ift.tt/2iwP1Rr

      A Land Where Legends Walk

Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, the revised and re-imagined Scarred Lands nonetheless retains its place as a modern fantasy RPG setting. This is a world shaped by gods and monsters, and only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The most populous continent of Scarn, Ghelspad, plays host to vast unexplored regions, hides unsolved riddles from ancient cultures, and taunts adventures with the promise of undiscovered riches hidden among the ruins of older civilizations.

Yet the myths of the Scarred Lands are relatively recent events. The effects of the Titanswar still ripple through the world, and the heroines and villains of many of these stories are part of living memory, if not still living.

The Award-Winning Fantasy Setting Returns

Scarred Lands has been a favorite fantasy setting since the release of the Creature Collection for the d20 System in 2000. In subsequent years, over 40 titles were published for Scarred Lands, making it one of the most fully supported fantasy RPG settings ever and the premiere product line of Sword & Sorcery Studios.

Available in both 5th Edition and Pathfinder compatible versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW!

http://ift.tt/2fEO9YJ

http://ift.tt/2fELqyx

  Heroes, Villains, and Others in Between! 

This tome is a revision of the original book by the same title, originally published for use with 3rd edition rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game. In this revised edition of The Wise & the Wicked, all the same characters have returned (and we’ve added some new ones, too!), for use with the Scarred Lands Player’s Guide. 

Champions of Gods and Titans 

The Wise & the Wicked introduces a rogue’s gallery of the Scarred Lands’ movers and shakers, characters who carry out the will of the gods or the fallen titans. These non-player characters can be friends, enemies, or simply convenient resources for the player characters in your game.

Inside, find villains such as King Virduk of Calastia, the Black Dragon, along with his wife, the beautiful (and black-hearted) Queen Geleeda; the Grand Vizier to King Virduk, the wicked warrior-mage Anteas; and the sinister general of Virduk’s northern armies, Archduke Traviak the Steel-Fisted. At the other end of the spectrum, meet the gracious Lady Ariniel, the Swan Knight, champion of Madriel; Kimer the Shatterer, bearer of the Earth Sword of Scarn and tenacious foe of the titanspawn of the north; and King Thain the Just, the Aleking, ruler of Burok Torn. And many others beside!

Here you’ll find a fascinating compendium of characters from the Scarred Lands, but easily transported into campaigns set elsewhere. In addition, find multiple appendices full of new magic items and artifacts, class archetypes and prestige classes, new feats, new creatures and races, and more.

Available in Pathfinder and 5th Edition versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW!

http://ift.tt/2zdVHXS

http://ift.tt/2zeEpd8

          From out of the Dreaming, the C20 Jumpstart: Yours To Keep PDF and PoD are now live on DTRPG.com: http://ift.tt/2fmlF3s

There is magic hiding everywhere. You just need to know where to look.

You are a changeling, a faerie soul hiding in a mortal body, fighting the chill of Nightmares and the oppressive weight of Banality with the pure creative power of Glamour. You have lived many lives, but the story of this one? It outshines them all.

In this hidden world, knights in steel and leather clash sword to sword outside the homecoming dance, dragons fly between skyscrapers, and fantastic castles rise from suburban lawns. A world of magic, intrigue, and adventure, and now that your fae side has awakened, it’s your world too.

“Yours to Keep” includes a rules and setting overview, as well as pre-generated characters and a complete introductory scenario for Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition. It’s perfect for jumpstarting a new Changeling chronicle!

    The PDF and PoD versions of C20 are now on DriveThruRPG.com: http://ift.tt/2w4Eq2m

Twenty years ago, White Wolf published Changeling: the Dreaming, the fifth of their promised five game-lines that together comprised the World of Darkness. Seen by some as a lighter, more fantasy-based setting in the modern-day, and by others as the darkest game White Wolf had yet created, players had to face the question of what happens once creativity and magic fades from their world.

This 20th Anniversary Edition of Changeling: the Dreaming returns to that deceptively bright yet terrifying world and both compiles and completes the concepts of the previous two editions. Led by veteran White Wolf and Onyx Path developer “Blackhat” Matt McFarland, our writing team consists of longtime Changeling creators like Ian Lemke, Jackie Cassada, Nicky Rea, and Peter Woodworth, as well as familiar names such as John Snead, Maggie Carrol, Matthew Dawkins, and Krister Michl. One and all are dedicated to making Changeling: the Dreaming Twentieth Anniversary Edition the most playable edition yet – while not losing the wonder, awe, and majesty that Changeling is known for.

A revised and up to date look at the World of Darkness through the eyes of the Kithain – what has happened to the Dreaming in the last 20 years, and what is the state of Glamour and dreams?

Rules for all of the kiths including in 2nd ed, plus fan favorites from other books: selkies, piskies, clurichaun, and both Arcadian and Concordian sidhe.

Rules for the Gallain: The inanimae, the hsien, the Nunnehi, and others!

An overhauled and reimagined system for fae magic, including new Arts and the powerful but dangerous practice of Unleashing!

New full-color beautiful artwork as well as classic Changeling illustrations including remastered full page pieces of the kiths by Tony Diterlizzi.

          Calling all Good Dogs! The Pugmire Core Rulebook PDF is now available on DTRPG.com!

http://ift.tt/2wAaAp3

And the actual physical book, screen, and dice, are available to order on the IPR and Studio2 websites!

Studio2: http://ift.tt/2w0aaEW

        CONVENTIONS!

  This month, the Onyx Path crew including Rich, Matt, Lisa, Neall, Dixie, and Meghan will be at the first ever PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, November 17-19. http://ift.tt/2kBzmfv

  In December, Matthew Dawkins, Dave Brookshaw, and Eddy Webb are going to be at Dragonmeet in London. https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/ Expect plenty of playful class warfare as these three mix it up, represent Onyx Path, and generally redefine the term “hooligans”.

  Planning ahead for 2018, we’re heading back to Midwinter Game Convention in Milwaukee, January 11-14, where we’re going to be bringing a big crew of many of your favorite Onyx Path designers and we’ll be running demos and making some special announcements at the show!  http://midwintergamingconvention.com

    And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

  Redlines

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Scion: Origin (Scion 2nd Edition) – With Rich for approval prior to Editing

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

  WW Manuscript Approval:

  Editing:

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

  Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Cavaliers of Mars – Art meeting this week for sure!

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Scion Origins

Ring of Spiragos

Book of Freeholds

DtD Enemy Action

Changeling: the Lost 2 – Art coming in for Kickstarter, going to WW for approval.

Trinity Continuum – Splats for core book with Mr Jones, sending multi-cover single piece of artwork to illustrator.

Pugmire – Vinsen’s Tomb

Ex3 Dragon Blooded 

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Beast PG

Pugmire/Scarred Lands Community Content

Pugmire Artisan Cards

W20 Changing Ways

  Proofing

Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – Getting it over to WW for approvals.

Wraith 20 – Second layout proof being worked on by designer.

Pentex Indoctrination Manual – With Stew Wilson.

VtR Half Damned – First proof with Danielle.

  At Press

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – At US customs. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – Deluxe Edition cover and Screen in the works. Waiting for Deluxe cover proofs.

Pugmire Trick, Condition, and Initiative Cards – On sale this Wednesday on DriveThruCards.

V20DA Jumpstart – PoD files uploaded.

Prince’s Gambit – Print and Play version updated. Getting specs from printer.

M20 Cookbook – Backer PDF errata done gathering.

CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology  – Advance PDF errata gathering.

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– Backer PDF errata gathering.

C20 Ready Made Characters – Backer PDF going to backers.

  TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Yesterday was the 5th of November, and well worth wearing your Guy Fawkes mask. From history, to custom, to art (V for Vendetta), to protesting in modern life. Quite the path.

[lukes-writing]

Chapter 9: Officially Founded

Project introduction | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Word count: 1900 Warnings: Profanity, bullying

September 24th, 4:02 PM, Heap of Ashes, Trinity Gate

“Oh, take a look, Limpin’ Park is back,” Sienna gives the man a bitter grin.

Parker rolls his eyes. “I hoped that nobody would come with this fucking nickname ever again.”

Whisper giggles. “Limpin’ Park? You’re a genius, Sienna.”

“Ya find it funny?” Parker lashes out. “Okay, that means I’m also entitled to give nicknames. What about Rolling Stoner, does it sound funny to you? I’m standing ten meters away from you and I can already smell the weed from your clothes.” Then he points at Gary. “Fatfro. Funny, right? And you?” He turns to Sienna. I’m gonna call you Museum since everyone has been inside you, but they rarely come back.”

Sienna gasps for breath - Parker’s remark hit her sensitive spot.

The support comes from an unexpected source.

“Shut the fuck up, Parker!” Gary shouts - it’s the first time anyone heard his voice being more than a whimper. Flies start to swarm around the man who is giving Parker an intimidating look even though he’s severely disadvantaged.

Parker takes several menacing steps towards Gary. “Were you permitted to speak, Fatfro?” he spits out. He faces Gary and it looks rather ridiculous since Parker is literally almost half a meter taller than Gary. Parker gives Gary a shove, forcing him to stumble backward. “Don’t open your mouth at me ever again.”

“That’s enough,” the team hears a voice coming from the chapel. They turn around to see Wiccan Salisbury with his hands folded on his chest and disgusted look on his face.

“But they…” Parker starts to excuse himself.

“I don’t care!” Wiccan barks; Whisper has rarely seen him this angry. “What I saw was bullying and threatening. And those are things I can never tolerate. Not when you’re a part of one team.”

Parker cackles. “This whole team can kiss my ass.”

Wiccan approaches the four. “Right now, I have a strong urge to cancel this experiment and find a brand new set of people who are able to work as a team,” he says, walking around with hands behind his back. “But I suppose most of you want to do this job and are able to take it responsibly.”

Sienna dares to speak. “Sir, Parker is the biggest problem here. I have no problems cooperating with Whisper and Gary. But this man is just…”

Wiccan looks at her with raised eyebrows. “I suppose you’ve heard the saying that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Pushing Parker away won’t make you a better team.” Then he turns to Parker. “However, your behavior is unacceptable. That thing with Museum was really nasty. I can no longer call you a man after I heard you telling something like this to a lady.”

For the first time, Parker looks somehow humiliated.

“Okay, let’s get inside,” Wiccan sighs. “We have a lot to discuss.”

The team once again steps in the conference room. The tension between them is still noticeable. Parker, Sienna and Gary keep exchanging venomous looks. Whisper also reacts to the change of atmosphere - she loses her whimsical carelessness and her usually bright eyes lost their light.

Sienna remembers how Whisper talked about being able to sense energies. If she’s really this sensitive, the scene must have drained her to the core. Gone is the girl who gave her the playful kiss yesterday.

Ophelia and Kirlian are already waiting for them. This time, Kirlian is vesseled into a store mannequin with several working joints, enough to allow him to sit like a human. His vessel is dressed in a T-shirt and jeans and it has no face, only a smooth, blank head.

“God, this is creepy,” Whisper greets him. “I liked you better when you were Obi-Wan.”

“This is probably the closest to a human form I can get,” Kirlian replies. “I know some people find it unsettling. I will vessel into something different once the meeting is over.”

“What’s the matter?” Ophelia asks Wiccan after he takes a seat next to her. She is sensitive to the slightest shifts in her husband’s mood and she also senses when he is angry or disconcerted.

“It’s nothing, I just caught them bickering a little,” Wiccan replies. Then, when the whole team pays attention to him, he starts his speech. “Here is something from the Capital Branch,” he says, handing every team member a card similar to an ID. “Your official Enforcer identity cards.”

Sienna carefully examines the card she received. It contains her photo, birth date, gender, just usual things you can find on an ID. The only unusual thing is a box which reads RACE. The answer is, obviously, Human. She is let down a bit. She expected something… fancier.

She turns the card around. There she finds a picture which is supposed to depict a simplified dreamcatcher made of circles, lines and triangles. Next to it, there is another box of text:

The wielder of this pass, Sienna Joy Corwin, is officially authorized to work for The Society as a member of Team Dreamcatcher. The wielder is authorized to act in the name of The Society and use restraining and lethal forces if necessary. Anyone who displays violent behavior against any official Enforcer will be punished according to the inhuman law.

“That’s cool,” Sienna grins. “A permission to kill.”

“These passes give you authority, bigger than you can imagine,” Wiccan explains. “But, as you probably know, responsibility goes hand in hand with it. Members of The Society are respected everywhere, but you will also be under constant supervision of the Capital Branch. If you ever misuse your authority or abuse it, it won’t end well for you. And those aren’t just empty threats.”

“I got it,” Whisper says, looking reverently at the ID card. Parker just tucks it into his wallet without any sign of thrill or any other emotion.

Wiccan then turns to Kirlian. “And about you. Since you change your physical forms often, you once again have to pick one of your teammates which will carry the card for you.”

“I choose Whisper,” Kirlian says without hesitation and the mannequin’s head turns to the girl. She blushes, flattered by this gesture. Wiccan hands her Kirlian’s card and Whisper takes a look at it. There is no photo and the race is listed as Idean.

Also, his name is listed as 𐠑𐠴𐠴𐠖𐠫𐠜𐠜𐠓 “Kirlian”. Whisper comes to a conclusion this is a way to transcribe the mysterious Idean language.

“Congratulations,” Wiccan spreads his arms. “Team Dreamcatcher is now officially founded and can start its job in the inhuman law enforcement.”

“That’s all?” Sienna asks. “Isn’t there some kind of… initiation ceremony?”

Wiccan laughs. “Do you think we’re some kind of Freemason’s lodge? If you want to throw some kind of party, you can, but make sure to invite me.”

“I suppose there will be some kind of training now!” Whisper says.

“You read too much. There’s no need for training.”

“What?” Sienna scowls. “So you’re just gonna throw us in the water and let us sink or swim? When we know nothing about those… inhumans? It could cost us our lives!”

Wiccan gestures towards the library in the room. “There. You can find everything about inhumans in the library. You will be also granted access to the digitized version. And you have Kirlian who has some experience in this business. No worries, you will be alright.”

“You’re joking, right?” Whisper’s voice ascends into falsetto.

The man sighs. “Okay. All of you have some kind of special power or talent, right?”

The whole team nods.

“And do you know how to use it?”

Another nod.

“So why the fuck would you need training? You can hone these skills in private if you feel they need improvement. And also… no offense, but most of you could use some physical exercise. Consider a gym. The main thing is: what you need to improve can’t be just taught the way you learn, for example, a martial art. Only going through some things together can teach you that.”

“And what is it?” Sienna asks.

Wiccan gives them a scolding look. “You really have no idea?”

Of course they do. They remember the scene from just a while ago. Sure, Parker poured the most fuel into the conflict, but the others got carried away and fanned its flames. “Teamwork,” Sienna whispers. “We are going to fail if we keep arguing and segregating members of our team.”

“I’m glad you realized,” Ophelia speaks, keeping a serious expression on her face. “When Team Menhir assembled, we quickly became friends. Wiccan and I were already dating. Tara was that type who befriends everyone. And when it comes to Kazuki and Kirlian… we got used to them soon, even though it was a bit of a shock for us. However, it seems you are a different story.”

Guilt appears in the faces of the team members. Even Parker’s.

“I know it’s hard to just create a group of four people and one being which isn’t even human and immediately expect them to act like a team, but your start is so far the worst.”

“He started it!” Sienna points her finger at Parker.

Ophelia stands up, menacingly looming above the Team Dreamcatcher. “Now answer me this,” she speaks, her voice getting even deeper and darker than usual. “Are you new members of a secret society which protects one of the mankind’s biggest secrets? Or are you school children on the playground who blame each other for petty things? If you feel like the first, then act like it. All of you. Every argument needs two sides, remember?”

She lets her words sink in.

“Every little quarrel between you can cost you life in action,” she adds. “Only a few chosen ones can become a part of The Society. It’s a privilege, not some kind of weekend hobby. The rewards for doing this job are handsome, but The Society also asks for something in return.”

“Got it,” Parker says reluctantly. “I admit I was probably overreacting. I will try not to act like a dick, but no promises,” he gives a crooked smile, then he turns to Gary. “Sorry for shoving you.”

“I...it’s okay,” Gary says, but doesn’t look Parker in the eyes.

Wiccan raises his eyebrows. “There’s one more person who would welcome your apology.”

Parker looks at Sienna. Unlike Gary, she returns his look with a steady gaze of her blue eyes. The two look at each other for some time with mixed feelings. “Sorry,” Parker finally says. “Gotta admit, that thing I said to you was pretty hardcore even for my standards.”

“Accepted,” Sienna replies curtly.

“Good,” Wiccan nods his head; even though the tension between the two didn’t cease, it’s a good start. “Maybe there’s some man in you after all. But now, I have a surprise for you. I said there’s no initiation ritual, but it’s actually not true. There is one thing new teams do. Since you have your passes now, you can take a look around the inhuman enclave for the first time.”

Author’s Note

I wholeheartedly thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment, send me a message or share and let more people know about this story! You can also consider a small donation at www.paypal.me/lukassladky. Have a great day and stay tuned for the next chapter!

[7men]

Imagine the boys as university Professors.

Josiah's one of those cool profs you go out for drinks and talk about life with and always has the best advice and the coolest stories and seems to always have a small entourage of bewildered freshmen at the beginning of the semester, which amuses him. He always has a big stack of books and papers with him and loads of book recommendations and there is no maximum word count on the papers for his class. He tends to go off on a lot of strange tangents in his lectures but they're always so interesting no one cares.

Nathan has very high expectations of his students but understands that they're under loads of pressure so he has lots of office hours and will answer any question no matter how weird or obvious it is and always makes lots of accommodations for anyone who asks for them. He brings (healthy) snacks for the students for exams and has been known to give out disgusting hangover remedies to those who need them in his first morning class(after that, you're on your own). He does bring candy with him for exams though. By then, everyone needs it.

JD gets mistaken for a student at least three times a week, which really pisses him off until he starts having fun with it. Sometimes he acts as a spy, occasionally sitting in on his own class and listening to what his students think until five minutes before they're allowed to leave and getting up and starting to lecture. He exhausts his students just by existing because he has to much energy even first thing in the morning but his enthusiasm is also so infectious. His students produce the coolest term projects. They're also all convinced that he has an espresso IV or something, because there's no way anyone, much less any professor, should have that much energy, and especially not for the first class of the day.

Chris terrifies his students into good grades and regular attendance by accident. He once accidentally made a student who was stupid enough to cheat on an exam faint in the middle of it because he looked at them. There are lots of stories about Chris's family life, or lack thereof, and the smart students are careful to not say anything. He's a tough instructor and doesn't tolerate anyone checking their phones or eating while he's talking. He can and will humiliate you in front of the class if you do. On the other hand, if you talk to him before class and give him a valid reason, he'll probably be cool with it.

Vin blushes a furious red at least once a week because he's one of the Faculty heartthrobs and his attendance is always suspiciously high because of it. He makes all sorts of accommodations for anyone who wants them but he always catches someone who's leading him on right away. He has been known to sign all his lectures for deaf students without a problem and make someone confess to a deception with a Look. There is a (very)small corner of the internet devoted to RPFic about him, and he gets a smoking chili pepper on RateMyProf. He has been known to hold class on a rooftop or on the quad for no other reason than it's a beautiful day out and why not?

Buck is very careful about his interactions with female students and absolutely refuses to allow any harassment/misogynistic bullshit in his classroom. He usually cancels class for Pride day/march and has dated almost every non-student woman on campus. He's also the best matchmaker-prof ever and when he organizes the groups for projects and if he bothers with a seating plan that's always the reason behind it. He gets a wedding invite at least once a year for students he got together. He knows all his student's names within three classes of the term beginning and accurately identifies and remembers students from years ago instantly. He's one of the most casual lecturers and often sits down for them.

Ezra's lectures can be a nightmare. He has been known to cancel 'morning' lectures because he hasn't bothered going to sleep yet. He isn't seen on campus until ten a.m most days, and you don't see him without his coffee until at least noon, and does not teach before 9 a.m. He always arrives five minutes late and manages to pack two hours worth of information into one, and does not simplify his vocabulary for students. The only way to survive is to tape them and transcribe them later(there is a thriving black market of his transcriptions/tapes, which he is aware of and gets a cut of, for both studying purposes and... other purposes.) If you fall behind you are left behind, but if you screw up the courage to ask for help he will bend over backwards to help you understand something and help you catch up. His wicked sense of humour and how fast he goes ensures everyone stays awake during his lectures. A grand total of three students have ever fallen asleep in his class. One is excused because they had a long list of reasons going back a week. The other two weren’t so lucky, and have passed into legend.

At least once a month Vin pops his head into Chris's dead silent classroom and makes Chris bellow at him and/or blush (They're one of the most popular prof pairings in the school and Vin uses it to his advantage and Chris's eternal embarrassment/exasperation.) The students are forever in awe of Vin and JD's ability to pull off spectacular pranks that they live to tell the tales of, and there are persistent rumours of Ezra's hand in some of the more devious ones, and his retaliation when someone made the mistake of targeting him. Buck has been known to help organize flashmob proposals for his students if he thinks they'd like them and gets asked for help. Josiah works counselling whenever he can and Nathan volunteers at the foodbank and clinic as well as teaching. Raine is a doctor at the university hospital and sometimes guest lectures for him. Vin's often spotted by observant students sitting on top of buildings as though it's nothing, either marking or reading or just sitting. He knows all the secret passages on campus and uses them to his advantage. JD has resurrected more computers than anyone can count and does not accept 'my computer ate it' as an excuse - he will, however, accept the computer and retrieve it himself in five minutes or less with no deduction in grade. They all have lunch together in a lounge and tend to attract quite a crowd, being the collective heartthrobs of the campus. They also have a poker game once a week, on their own time, and mark in a large group at times so they can moan about spelling/defective arguments/get help deciphering handwriting from each other.

[pets-beaty]

via How Webs

at sign @ History to Generation Next

Read about at sign or symbol as a noun

The at sign or at symbol (@) for the word (at), used for mostly example in email addresses to separate the profile username from the domain name and in internet social networking platforms before a username to send a message or comment to that user.

at sign @

At sign @

The at sign @ is also commonly called the at sign, ampersat, apetail or commercial in English - and less often a wide range of other terms. The fact is that there is no any word in English for the symbol has led some writers to use the French arobase or the Spanish and Portuguese arroba - or to come up with new words such as asperand, ampersat - but none of them has great value achieved. 

Originally it is an accounting and trade invoice abbreviation, meaning "at the speed of", and it was not included on the keyboard of the first commercially successful typewriters, but was on at least one 1889 model and the highly successful Underwood models of the "Underwood No. 5 "from 1900. It is now universally recorded on computer keyboards. In recent years, its significance has grown to the sense of "being on", "and" or "focused on", especially in email addresses and social media, especially Twitter. The brand is coded on U + 0040 @ commercial on.

at sign definition

The at sign (@), which stands for the word 'at', has become known worldwide for its use on internet e-mail addresses and Twitter names. Officially called it fixly an "asparagus", the at sign separates in the recipient's name from the domain name in email; for example me@insurancewill.com. A Twitter symbol The at sign is a prefix of the name of a member on Twitter; @Trump, for example, is the Twitter name of President Trump.

That little "a" with a circle around it that is found in e-mail addresses is usually called the "at" symbol. Surprisingly, however, there is no official, universal name for this sign. There are many dozens of strange terms to describe the @ at sign or (at) symbol. The at-sign is used on Facebook to "tag" someone in a message, When you "tag" someone in your Facebook message, their name is linked to your message and the message is displayed on both your Facebook page and yours.

AT Sign @ can refer to the following:

1.Abbreviation for advanced technology, AT is an IBM computer that was first introduced in 1984. The basic AT computer model included an 80286 processor, 256 k RAM and a 1.2 MB floppy disk drive. The AT was also available with 512 k RAM and a 20 Mbyte disk. Today, an AT-class system is any computer with a 16-bit, 32-bit or 64-bit system. Previous computers (8-bit) were known as PC / XT class systems. All new computers used today are considered AT-class computers and you are unlikely to encounter any previous computers. A PC / XT class computer can be identified if it uses the older 8-bit ISA expansion slot.

2.Ampersat, asperand, arobase, bee, at sign or at symbol is the name of the "@" symbol above 2 on an American keyboard. When describing an email address, this can be described as "support - at - computerhope - dot - com", which is the same as support@howwebs.com.

3. IBM includes support for this code page in the 5150 hardware, known as "IBM-PC", considered the first personal computer.

4. The operating system of this model, the "MS-DOS", also used this extended ASCII code.

5. Almost all computer systems nowadays use the ASCII code to display characters and texts. (275).

6. Before the @ Keyboard Standard

The origin of the symbol itself, one of the most graceful characters on the keyboard, is something mysterious. One theory is that medieval monks, looking for shortcuts while copying manuscripts, convert the Latin word for "direction" --ad - into "a" with the rear part of the "d" as the tail. Or it came from the French word for "at" —à — and scribes, striving for efficiency, swung the tip of the pen along the top and side. Whether the symbol originated from an abbreviation of "each bee" - the "a" is encapsulated by an "e". In history the first documented used in 1536, in a physical letter from Francesco Lapi, a Florentine trader, who used at-sign @ to designate units of wine called amphoras, which were shipped in large clay jars.

Brief history of ASCII code:

@ History tells us that the @ symbol came from the tired hands of the medieval monks. During the Middle Ages before the invention of printing presses, each letter of a word had to be transcribed by hand for each copy of a published book. The monks who performed these long, tedious copy jobs were looking for ways to reduce the number of individual strokes per word for common words. Although the word "om" is quite short at first, it was a generally enough word in texts and documents that medieval monks thought it would be faster and easier to shorten the word "om" even more. As a result, the monks placed the "t" around the "a" and created it in a circle that eliminated two strokes of the pen.

In US Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASCII code @, was created in 1963 by the "American Standards Association" committee or "ASA", the agency changed its name in 1969 by "US National Standards Institute" or "ANSI" as it has been known since.

                at sign @ This code stems from the reordering and expansion of the series of symbols and characters that were already used by the Bell company in telegraphy at that time.

Initially it only contained uppercase letters and numbers, but in 1967 the lowercase letters and some checkmarks were added, which is called US-ASCII, ie the characters 0 to 127.

So with this set of just 128 characters, standard was published in 1967, with everything you need to write in English.

Before the at-sign became a standard key on physical typewriter keyboards in the 1880s and a standard on QWERTY keyboards in the 1940s, the @ at sign had a long, somewhat about history of use around the world. Some claim that the symbol dates from the 6th or 7th century when Latin scribes adapted the symbol of the Latin word ad, meaning to, to, or in the direction of. The scribes, in an effort to simplify the number of pen strokes they used, created the ligature (combination of two or more letters) by exaggerating the ascending stroke of the letter "d" and bending to the left over the "a".

At Sign or At Symbol

The @ symbol tells the command processor to be less extensive; to show only the output of the command without executing it or instructions associated with the execution. When used, it is added to the beginning of the command, there is no need to leave a space between the "@" and the command.

When "echo" is set to "off", it is not necessary to use "@", since setting "echo" to "off" causes this behavior to become automatic. Echo is always set to "turn on" by default when the script execution starts. This is why "@echo turn off" is often used to disable echo without performing the disable operation.

echo extended

@ echo less extensive

Pause

When you enter @ filename.ext, SQL * Plus searches for a file with that filename and extension in the current default folder. If SQL * Plus does not find the file in the current folder, it searches for a system-dependent path to find it. Some operating systems may not support path search. Consult the originally platform-specific Oracle documentation for operating system for throughout specific information regarding operating system environment.

Another story tells that the @ symbol was used as an abbreviation for the word amphora. Amphora was the unit of measurement that determined the amount that was preserved by the large terracotta pots that were used to ship grain, spices, and wine. Giorgio Stabile was an Italian scholar and he discovered the @ at sign or at symbol in a letter written in 1536 by a Florentine trader named Francesco Lapi. It seems likely that an industrious trader has seen the @ symbol in a book that has been transcribed by monks using the symbol and has appropriated it for use as the abbreviation of the amphora. This also explain why it became in which purpose and common to use the symbol in relation to quantities of something.

How to make the @ symbol

Create the @ symbol on an American keyboard

To create the at symbol with an American PC keyboard, hold down the Shift key and press number 2 at the top of the keyboard.

To create the at symbol with an Apple keyboard, hold down the option key and press number 2 at the top of the keyboard.

Create the at-sign @ or at-symbol on a smartphone or tablet

To create the at symbol on a smartphone or tablet, open the keyboard, go to the section with numbers or symbols (sym), and press the @ symbol with your finger.

Create the @ symbol on keyboards outside the US

Generally Computer users in other parts of the world, as country such as Italy, can find the at-sign @ symbol on a different key. In the figure below, a keyboard key with the @ symbol is on the same key as the Ç and Ò keys. To use this key in keyboard, hold down the Alt-key and press the key with the at-sign or at-symbol on it.

Conclusion

The at-sign has become so widespread as a way to tag someone on social media that people started using it as a verb, with or someone, or "mention someone directly in a post." The verb is especially common in the sentence Don't @ me. This sentence nods to the function of the at signto tag users in messages. When a social media user says "don't @ me," he shares a potentially unpopular opinion and humorously asks those who disagree with them to refrain from responding, especially by putting them in an answer tagging. Someone who posts 'don't @ me' acknowledges that they have shared a controversial opinion and that they are likely to debate. This does not make me a signal of playful controversy instead of a serious request not to be @'d or atted (with a fairly general verb on Twitter).

Outside the internet, people use the at sign as an abbreviation for the word at in daily writing, usually with reference to times, dates and places of planned events (see you soon @ the restaurant @ 7 p.m.!).

Thanks for reading about at sign @. Please share it to others for spreading information and knowledge about writing.

https://ift.tt/2YFaACW August 02, 2019 at 11:28AM https://ift.tt/2IPp48y https://ift.tt/31ejtAT

[a-non-sequitur]

Rogue One: Catalyst: Thoughts

- link to my other Rogue One blabberings -

Finally finished reading Rogue One: Catalyst by James Luceno, or as it's also known by:

Lyra Erso: Badass;

Lyra Erso: They Could Have Easily Created Parallels Between You and Chirrut+Baze in the Film Instead of Ignoring Your Existence;

Lyra/Galen OTP Fever: How to Write a Strong, Balanced Couple While Still Giving Them Relationship Hurdles;

"I'm Thirsty for You and Your D, Galen," Screams Krennic Into the Rain

with foreword by Galen Erso, "Who Is This? And What Does He Mean By My D?"

and annotated by Lyra Erso, *The dickbag is talking about the Death Star, honey.

Tarkin/Krennic: Hux/Kylo Ren Got Nothing On This Hate Couple

and finally: Jyn Erso Is A Normal Human Child: how this makes her future character arc 1000x more painful

NB: Have only seen the RO film and have now read this book. This is going to be long and about 90% quotes related to characterization.

General Impression:

Writing was okay. Not great, but not bad. (This is especially apparent since I've just started reading the RO novelization, and the difference in quality is pretty startling.) Nice quick read.

Lyra is fantastic.

Galen is pretty interesting.

Jyn is adorable and normal, and it breaks my heart.

Krennic is... wow, I just want to laugh because he's so absurd but also a Terrible Human Being.

Tarkin is fascinating (see waaaay below for details).

Lyra Erso

No one holds this bitch down.

"She had no recourse. She wasn’t built to hold things in; to be complacent or compliant."

"Some of Orson’s remarks had made her wonder whether she and Galen were under surveillance, or even whether her personal comlink might be bugged. But she didn’t care either way. Orson may have drawn the line in the sand, but she would be the one to step over it."

Lyra loves exercising and exploring. She wants to go everywhere in the galaxy!

"She needed wind and rain, cyclones, quakes, and the threat of avalanches. Unpredictability. Natural forces at work."

She sees the galaxy with very, very clear eyes.

“Who knows to what ends Dooku might have put this crystal.”// “I can guess,” Lyra said carefully, “since Dooku loosed a droid army on the galaxy.”

"This is the Emperor’s dream,” [said Galen.] // Lyra wrinkled her nose. “Can’t we just call him Palpatine—in private, I mean?

Lyra is probably mildly Force-sensitive.

She was against coming to Vallt, where she and Galen would later be imprisoned, from the start. 

"Her reverence for the Force had evolved from an enduring love of nature."

"... even if she wasn’t able to use the Force, she could at least feel it."

"But being pregnant with Jyn—especially while in captivity—had made her aware of the Force in a way she imagined the Jedi experienced: a profound connection with life that went beyond mere understanding."

"...she was secretly glad that [Galen] was no longer attempting to synthesize or create facsimiles of kyber crystals. One might as well try to clone the Force itself, or turn to magic in an effort to simulate the power."

"She would often sky-cab to the Jedi Temple grounds and exercise there, basking in the energy of that elegant site, surrounded by a nexus of the Force."

"The Jedi killed by the thousands, their Temple the scene of a battle, scant survivors scattered to the stars, the Force dispersed…She was as heartbroken as if she had lost a family member, and had cried for hours."

[Saw] pulled his datapad from his pant pocket and showed them the image of a green, black, and blue planet with a wide ring. “It’s called Lah’mu.” / Papa looked at the image and said, “It looks unspoiled.”

this is significant because Lyra talks a whole bunch about “untouched” nature and its strong connection to the Force throughout the book.

Galen Erso

has a very interesting brain

"he felt as if he already held the entire galaxy in his thoughts."

"He had a greater fear of attention than he did failure, refusing even to celebrate his birthday much less receive gifts or acclamation. With romance he was hopeless, pretending disinterest when in fact he was confused by his changing body and how it sometimes took him out of his mind, out of his deep thinking."

"...inability to find refuge even in his thoughts; to find what one of his mentors had called the still point in the turning world."

"He was suddenly lost without his research; torn between uncompromising tenderness for Lyra and Jyn and a sense of burden in being able to provide a flawless future for them."

"In his daily life he would sometimes go out of his way to introduce imperfection—in his drawings, his routines, his attempts at housecleaning—as a means of keeping himself from becoming overly occupied with results."

"It wasn’t that he didn’t wish to see the world as others did; he was unable to. He saw more deeply into things, and was attuned to nature’s own musings and inner dialogues."

"At times it seemed as if, in attempting to unlock the secrets of the kyber, he was trying to decode something about himself."

is very plain-spoken and direct.

"Most would have remembered him as the one who was always speaking out of turn."

"Galen merely shrugged. “Normalcy has taken leave of the galaxy.” / [A scientist named] Herbane’s jaw dropped a bit and he looked at Lyra. “Is your husband always so confrontational?” / “He speaks his mind,” Lyra said."

"But he was a terrible liar; he had no practice in the art. Never wanting to be involved in games, he had always spoken his mind. Where he was forever attempting to simplify his thinking, lying introduced complications."

“You could have at least made him work to get the current data,” [said Lyra, after escaping with Galen from Coruscant.] / “He’s welcome to whatever he finds. I could have sabotaged everything, but I don’t want to give the Empire a reason to hunt us down. We’re simply dropping out—although covertly. Besides, what I left will keep them occupied for a while.” / “Revenge was never your style.” / Galen considered it. “Orson may have worked me, but he didn’t force me.” 

Galen has such a rigid sense of principles that even though Krennic had blatantly lied to Galen and was weaponizing his research - the! very! last! thing! Galen! wanted! - Galen didn’t sabotage or delete anything because technically Krennic didn’t force him at blasterpoint.

And this, plus the quote about the inability to lie, makes me see RO!Galen in a whole different light? Because Galen ends up changing fundamental parts of his character because of the trauma Krennic puts him through (aka losing his family). And Jyn ends up irrevocably changed from who she was as a child because of Krennic. And it makes me wonder - what would have happened to Lyra if she had not died? How would she have been changed?

so basically the only reason Galen isn't known throughout the galaxy as a genius of the highest caliber is because he can't write scientific papers.

 when Krennic shows Galen the ruins of a facility on another planet, Galen (rightly) assumes that the scientific team there fucked up duplicating his kyber research, causing the experiment to explode.  Galen says, "I was very precise in my notes."  But when Krennic had interviewed the team a couple of chapters earlier, they said that the data and methods they'd be given "aren't specific enough in many instances" and that provided equations were "in a shorthand difficult to decipher."

Galen sent out his research findings to his colleagues in his own special shorthand without thinking of defining anything

And it's mentioned throughout the book that the way he writes is very rambly and with tangents and he'll write in different directions on a page and cram every bit of space with words

what makes this even funnier is that it's Lyra who he trusts to transcribe his notes. Which means that she transcribes all this down, doesn't get most of what it means but assumes any of Galen's scientific peers must understand it, and sends it on as is. And Galen trusts Lyra, so when she doesn't ask for further clarification on the notes, that must mean they're okay for sending!

like, i imagine galen could never figure out why he never got published, and Lyra's just like, "Honey, they'll realize they're missing out on something great soon." and on another planet, scientific journal editors and peer review boards internally scream when looking at the gibberish this supposedly hotshot scientist is sending them AGAIN and they throw everything into the trash compactor AGAIN because what the fuck they had told him to clarify, not write more nonsense

you don’t understand. this is h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s.

headcanon:

one way that Galen slows down work on the Death Star is that he takes his terrible research writing habits and exaggerates it to the max.  You know how Leonardo da Vinci used to write backwards, right-to-left?  Galen starts pulling off that shit ASAP but adds vertical/diagonal/loop-de-loop writing, too.

Krennic had to actually hire codebreakers to be part of the "Transcribe Galen Erso's Notes" team just because Galen's notes became so illegible.

Galen used to take the time to simplify and re-simplify and re-simplify whatever crazy, complicated idea was in his head when he talked to Lyra until she could understand.  On Eadu, when scientists and engineers ask for clarification, he'll restate whatever concept in equally if not moreso confusing terms, using long weirdass metaphors. Or he'll just completely ignore them, saying, "Leave me be! I'm at a breakthrough!" And woe be those who interrupt Galen when he's breakthrough-ing.

Dr. Erso is such a nice - if quiet - man, think his coworkers. But every time he writes some indecipherable equation on his lab's boards, they have the intense, passionate urge to wring his neck.

Lyra/Galen, my OTP (with Lyra/Galen/Bodhi being my OTThreesome that will never be, apparently):

They're hot for each other:

"[Lyra] recalled the first time she’d set eyes on [Galen] on Espinar, thinking: If this guy was any more magnetic, pieces of metal would fly across the room and start sticking to him…"

"that what [Lyra] interpreted as hostility was actually a ploy that allowed [Galen] to maintain a safe distance from her while he sorted out what she wanted from him and solved the calculus of their relationship."

"what Galen had found in [Lyra]: his opposite."

"The expedition lasted six local months, and by the end of it they were lovers. She had made the first move, but he had gotten the hang of things very quickly."

aka: Galen was a virgin or with little experience, and the two ended up fucking like bunnies.

They have an incredibly healthy relationship where they respect each other's abilities?!

"With her maternal instincts running strong, she had to resist an urge to intercede [on Galen's behalf]. After all, she wasn’t Galen’s parent; she was his partner."

Lyra to Krennic, who is trying to shame Lyra for making Galen's work "harder for him": “He’s his own person, in any case, and whatever stress I introduce isn’t going to cripple his concentration or interfere with his work.”

"She restrained an impulse to touch Galen or send him any kind of reassuring message. The job was his choice and she was determined to stay out of it."

“I’m hardly sacrificing myself, Galen. Being here was as much my choice as yours.” She looked from Galen to Krennic and back again. “Anything else either of you want to say about my life?”

But are also incredibly devoted to each other and hold the other's opinions in the highest esteem?!

Galen to Lyra, regarding providing his research to the Separatists, who'll probably weaponize it: "Should I simply accept their terms? I will do it—for your sake, for the sake of our unborn daughter. You need only say the word."

Galen, while experiencing moral conflict over his research on Coruscant: "Would Lyra understand? Or would she accuse him of being so driven by a need to measure up to the challenge that he had not only abandoned caution and scientific discernment, but also dragged her and Jyn down with him? What would his legacy be then? Lyra might not see it as a noble lie so much as a grand betrayal."

When Jyn, Galen, and Lyra are doing research on a different planet that ends up being targeted by Separatists, they end up trying to run away from their over-run town but end up being cornered by Separatist droids. Galen is constantly putting himself in between the droids and Lyra/Jyn.

[Galen] turned to face [Lyra]. “I had myself convinced that I was doing it for you and Jyn and to safeguard future generations. Instead I failed as a husband, a father, and a scientist.” He snorted in a sad way, then said: “I can’t do anything about being a failed scientist, but I can correct the rest—if it’s not too late.” / She smiled in encouragement. “Don’t be an idiot. I didn’t fall in love with your research, Galen. I fell in love with you.” / He took her into his embrace and held her tightly, saying into her ear: “I love you and Jyn. You’re all that matter to me.” He’s back, she thought, resting her head against his chest.

Kyber Crystals

How kybers are found:

“In most cases, kybers are brought to the surface by seismic activity—movements along slippage fault lines, and typically only when an oceanic plate is sliding against a continental plate. But even then the movement has to be horizontal. The crystals rise, gathering impurities or other minerals along the way. That’s why it has always been said of kybers that they are more often grown than mined."

Characteristics:

Close and extended contact with kybers is detrimental to sleep.

"Even on the nights when sheer exhaustion overwhelmed his racing thoughts, the crystals infiltrated his dreams. The Jedi were believed to have been able to establish a kind of rapport with the kybers through the Force. Was it possible that the crystals could affect non-Force-users as well?"

“The internal structure is unlike anything I’ve seen. It’s almost a bridge between organic and inorganic, as close to alive as a stone can be—which I suspect is why the Jedi were able to interact with kybers through the Force."

"It warmed as he curled his hand around it, but he knew from previous research that the crystal would show no change in temperature; and he knew also that it would not warm a sheath or a towel or any inanimate object. It responded only to life, even plant life. Which made the Jedi’s use of it to power their lightsabers all the more ironic and mysterious."

"kyber’s mix of transparency and opacity—characteristics the ancient Jedi had referred to as “the water of the kyber.”"

"By rights lightsabers shouldn’t have been able to cut through meter-thick durasteel and yet they could, which lent credence to the notion of their being augmented by the Force itself."

"One Jedi commentator had called the kyber a somnolent stone that needed to be woken up to perform its purpose. But that same commentator had cautioned that the crystal was also easily insulted and a Jedi needed to take care."

Galen: "Now that he’d found a way to alter the internal structure of the crystals, the kybers seemed in turn to have found a way to alter his."

Kyber Necklace

Krennic had showed Lyra & Galen some kyber crystals as a way to tempt Galen to continue his kyber research. Lyra is the one who realizes that they came from Jedi lightsabers. Later on in the novel, Galen reveals that he keeps one of those crystals in his pocket. There's never any mention of Lyra's necklace throughout the book, so I'm pretty sure that Galen gives Lyra the kyber crystal post-escape

WHOSE LIGHTSABER DID IT COME FROM

c'mon, someone write about how that Jedi hangs around Lyra and Jyn as a Force Ghost. please please please.

Orson Krennic

started as an engineer.  Helped design/build a bunch of buildings, including on Coruscant

actually thinks, "Vader’s eccentric fashion sense notwithstanding"

[Krennic] turned back to Galen. “I wasn’t born brilliant or especially talented, but I’m capable and I’m driven, and that’s brought me to where I am."

Gotta give him credit: he really is a great manipulator. Tricked Has Obitt - the smuggler who would later smuggle the Ersos off Coruscant - and Tarkin into starting an all-out war between the Empire and an independent star system.

Krennic/Galen

One-Sided As Fuckkkkkk

I tried so hard to figure out how to describe their relationship.

Krennic is a Nice Guy (TM).

Krennics's that Guy who hangs around you a lot and you're kind of ???? about it but don't really say anything for or against said hovering, so he makes this epic love story between the two of you?  And gets weirdly jealous around your friends?

Krennic is kinda like the Star Wars version of Severus Snape, with Galen serving as Lily, Lyra as James, and Jyn as Harry. Except the "friendship" is pretty one-sided all the time, Krennic doesn't have any redemption attempts for his shitty-ass decisions, and Lyra was never a bully. Jyn as Harry seems pretty damn accurate, tho.

“except it seems I no longer have to fight your battles,” [said Krennic.] Galen wiped the drink from his face and nursed his fist. “You never did.”

“It can’t have escaped your attention that you have a powerful ally in Orson Krennic,” [said Tarkin.] / Galen raised his eyes from the carpet. “We were acquaintances in the Futures Program. Years ago.”

Quotes showing Krennic's Thirst for Galen:

[After rescuing the Ersos from Vallt:] Once inside, Krennic whirled Galen into an embrace. “How wonderful to see you after all this time!”

“We have to put some meat back on those bones of yours,” he said as he crossed the cabin to Galen, “but I think I could get used to the beard.”

"... and on a couple of occasions [Krennic] had been Galen’s protector in fights or brawls."  

[Lyra said,] “You realize that he’s never going to stop looking for you, Galen. You’re in his blood, crystal research or no. He’s never going to let go of you entirely.”

[When Krennic suspects the Ersos are escaping, but Krennic's stuck in traffic.] The anger and despair he had felt in the airspeeder returned and settled on him like a great weight. “Galen,” he said, as if orphaned. Then: “Galen!” shouting it to the busy sky.

Yes, Krennic just shouted Galen's name into the sky.

Krennic haaaaaaates Lyra omg (the feelings becomes increasingly mutual)

Krennic thinking about Lyra/Galen's courtship: "Still, he hadn’t expected the love affair to last more than a couple of months, and was shocked when they wed."

Thinking about the courtship again: "[Krennic was] being entertained by [Galen’s] bright-eyed confession that he had fallen in love. Galen, who would scarcely raise his eyes when a pretty woman entered a room, in love? It had to be a joke. The thought of Galen’s genius being undermined by some grasping creature drove him to distraction."

drove him to distraction

those words were actually written and published

Krennic said, "The Emperor has made reparations and reconstruction a priority, and one way he hopes to achieve this is by being able to provide sustainable energy to worlds that have suffered on both sides of the conflict.” He gestured with his chin to Galen. “Even your own Grange [Galen's home planet].” / Lyra’s brows quirked in a sign of doubt. “This is the same Palpatine who couldn’t get anything done as supreme chancellor?” / Krennic stared at her. “He defeated the Separatists.” / “With a lot of help.”

[When Krennic tries to make Lyra resent Galen for "holding her back":] [Lyra] regarded [Krennic] frankly. “I haven’t put my life on hold, Orson. My career, maybe, but certainly not my life.”

[Krennic said to Galen,] “You know what I find interesting—or maybe ironic is the word. It’s that each of us wants what’s best for you. In a way, we’re competing to make you happy, as old-fashioned as that sounds. And each of us has a different idea about what you should be doing. Especially now that you two have a child, Lyra wants you to be settled on a course that will mean the most for the family—fulfilled in a somewhat conventional way—and I maintain that you’re meant for bigger things, and will continue to do whatever I can to bring opportunities to your attention.” / Galen smiled thinly. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate it.”

[Krennic, regarding Lyra:] "That left only one person who still needed to be broken."

[Krennic said to Galen,] “Don’t you see what Lyra’s really trying to do? She’s using these alleged concerns to persuade you to abandon your research. Her goal is to keep you to herself—to stand in the way of your legacy.”

[Lyra, when thinking about Krennic's machinations:] "Was Galen to become the prize in a contest between them? Well, hadn’t he always been that?"

Krennic also hates Jyn

probably because she reminds him how Galen didn't Choose Him (the Snape parallels are strongggg)

he forgets her name 2/3 of the book and calls her "it" in his head

"Orson tracked [toddler Jyn], his upper lip curled in what seemed disapproval. “She’s feisty.”

“Yes, how is the child?” Krennic asked, all but sneering. “Into everything, I’ll bet.”

"The fact was that work on the superlaser was stalled, and Galen’s insights were needed more than ever. After all [Krennic] had done for Galen! Fame would have come to him. Grandeur. Legacy. Without his science, Galen was a nonentity. And Lyra… Flushed with anger, he peeled his gloves off as he walked and threw them violently to the polished floor. He would leave no stone unturned in the search for them.

Two things:

one: he's walking down a hallway in this scene. he literally throws his gloves to the ground and keeps walking down a hallway. our fave drama queen.

two: i honestly cannot decide whether that last line was a massive piece of dramatic irony purposefully written by the author. It's just... so good?! And hilarious?!  Looks like Krennic forgot to give that order on Lah'mu to his troopers.

Tarkin/Krennic: A Never-ending Dick Measuring Contest

"The two officers [Krennic and Tarkin] had begun to circle each other as they spoke. “Our main weapon will have more firepower than ten vessels that size,” Krennic said. / Tarkin looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Should it ever reach completion.”"

Ok, so I'm not going to get into all the scenes/lines that the two had between them (mostly because I didn't highlight them on my Kindle), but:

the greatest reveal of this book (other than Lyra's awesomeness)

is that the reason the Ersos escaped to Lah'mu in the first place

is because Tarkin facilitated their flight

ok, it's not confirmed, but it's heavily implied

remember that unexpected war I mentioned earlier that Krennic tricked Tarkin into fighting? So Tarkin saves Has - originally Krennic's agent, who betrayed the Empire after being Shown The Light by Lyra - in order to question him, and realizes that Krennic had played both of them. and so Tarkin is PISSED (and relunctantly impressed). And Tarkin knows Has is anti-Krennic. So Tarkin goes, "Hey, I'll let you live if you play as MY spy in Krennic's employees," and Has thinks quickly and goes, "Oh, sure, but let me send out this message to Coruscant to make my return seem natural," and  sends a message to the Ersos that BASICALLY says, "Yo, you want me to grab your family and ditch?" Like, five minutes prior, Has had confessed to Krennic that Lyra Erso had Made Him See The Light. Tarkin ABSOLUTELY knew what Has was planning to do.

and that's how Tarkin's dick grew a centimeter the next time he and Krennic compared

Jyn Erso

born on the first day of Vallt's spring.

is technically a Vallti citizen

nicknamed "Stardust" by Galen because her eyes changed colors and "became flecked."

“Stardust,” Galen said. “That’s what’s in her eyes.”

YOU MONSTER:

"Having hurried over to have a look [at the kyber crystals], Jyn said: “I want one!”

“Maybe someday,” Lyra said.

Jyn is an incredibly normal child, and it friggin HURTS to think about what she’s forced to become

3 year-old Jyn used to travel around in the Coruscant research facility on the Star Wars equivalent of a hoverboard. Her parents forced her to wear a helmet. a;lsdkjfasdf socute

She's a pretty independent child, able to entertain herself for hours

She'd run around around with a toy sword in a scabbard and her stuffed animals.

"Instantly adopted by everyone, Jyn—indefatigable as ever—reveled in being the center of attention, entertaining everyone with her antics, watching closely, learning.

There's this kids' holodrama called The Octave Stairway, which Jyn is obsessed with

one: i had to shoo the Discworld reactions away.

two: the story is about this kid Brin who wants to go home, but to go home, he has to go down these eight floors of challenges in a castle. And at the very bottom he'll get the item that will help him fly up through all of those floors and out of the castle and back home

two-a: so in the book, Galen directly compares himself to Brin (he thinks Jyn drew Brin to look like him), and this scene is basically where he breaks down and realizes how he's pushed his family away and he cries and asks Jyn for forgiveness and Jyn is sweet and says, “It’s okay, Papa. Can we follow Brin home now?”

two-b: but you know how in my Second Viewing post I mentioned how falling/climbing (or, more accurately: going down/going up) seemed to happen waaaaay too often with Jyn for it to not be some sort of theme?  

two-c: WELL THIS STUPID HOLODRAMA JUST ADDS TO MY CONSPIRACY THEORY.  and possibly gives me a better idea as to what the dichotomy symbolizes.  

Saw Gerrera

"[Saw] wasn’t shouting, but he might as well have been, such was the force of his personality."

[Saw talking to Has during the unexpected war] “Cheery thought. Throw dirt in your enemy’s face, get crushed underfoot.” / Saw stopped what he was doing and walked over to him. “Look at it this way, Has. If we can persuade enough people to start throwing dirt…” / Realizing that he was supposed to finish the thought, Has considered it, then said: “Eventually we bury them.”

Random Bits and Pieces that Didn't Fit Above

“You [clonetroopers] are never less than predictable,” [said the smuggler Has.] / “Yeah, we’re made that way,” the other clone said.

“Is there some equation that can put an end to all this, Dr. Erso?” one of the shaken insectoids asked. Galen set himself down on the floor to join him. 

 “If sentient beings were moved by the same laws that govern nature, there might be. But as we’ve come to embody entropy, I don’t hold out much hope.”

A second Lokori countered: “Surely the Jedi have unlocked the secrets of reversing chaos and will be able to outwit nature at its own game.”

“The Force derives from nature,” Galen said somberly. “Against such chaos, even the Jedi are capable of accomplishing only so much.”

oh my god the Death Star project is codenamed "Project Celestial Power" POWAAAAAAH

names of Cantinas: Malicious Moondog on Suba, Contented Krayt on Tatooine,

The Hiitian [a member of the independent solar system that wars with the Empire] agreed. “Occupation? Captain Obitt, you’ve obviously visited worlds that have chosen that route. How is life there?” 

Has smiled in solidarity. “I’d rather fight.” Again he glanced at Saw and his fellow smugglers. 

“That’s why all of us are here.” The humanoid flexed his feathered back. “What we fail to protect, Captain, we will leave in ruins.”

There's a celebration called All-Species Week on Coruscant

GIMME THE HISTORY OF SPECIESISM IN THE GALAXY

- link to my other Rogue One blabberings -

[vgm-in-irregular-time-of-the-day]

DAY 580) Kirby Planet Robobot - Galacta Knight

Composer: Jun Ishikawa

This is an arrangement of Strongest Knight in the Galaxy (and the track goes by many other names) from Kirby Super Star, I picked this version because Planet Robobot has easily my favorite audio production feel of any Kirby game, but all of the versions are cool and have the same time signature changes.

Here’s the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhoMYXb-tYU

It was also reused in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69cqx_lDAWQ

Although it’s mostly in 4/4, it has one of the absolute most ridiculous time signature moments in the entire series, if not the most ridiculous.

Starting at :40, it goes:

12/16, 12/16, 9/16, 9/16, 12/16, 7/16, 7/16, 4/16

and then goes back into 4/4 for the rest until the loop again.

It’s made even more ridiculous because this whole thing is at 170BPM, so the x/16 time signatures feel even more jagged than they would at a slower tempo, you rarely hear music this fast use x/16s.

I think it’s really cool to hear the idea that starts in the first 2 bars of :40 break apart and destroy itself, even if it’s only for 8 bars, you still get to hear it deconstructed, mixed around like that with the crazy fast mixed meter, which is really energizing to me.

I especially like how you’re not just hearing the end of the motif cut off at different points, you’re hearing the beginning of it chopped off as well, which is notably rarer, but just as cool if not cooler feeling or even more unpredictable.

In regards to transcription technicalities, you could count it with “simplified” time signatures for the ones that can be reduced too like 3/4 in place of 12/16, but it’s SO erratic and consistently 16th-note-based-feeling that I think keeping them written as all x/16s is the best way to transcribe it all, by far the easiest way for someone to read/conduct/whatever it.

You could also append the 4/16 to the 7/16 at the end (which would really just make the weirder time signature of 11/16, but I feel like the last 4 16ths before it goes back into 4/4 seem like a distinctly different piece that make sense to be separate (11/16 is actually a time signature that has special meaning to me but OH WELL it doesn’t feel like that’s what it is to me)).

Some might also do something like append it to the beginning of “it went back into 4/4″ and count a 5/4 bar either there, or somewhere shortly after in the 4/4 there section.

So yeah as always transcriptions have some level of subjectivity, though this one is actually pretty hard to deny what any part of it is because the barline divisions are so harsh.

This is a long post for something that is only in odd time for 7 seconds, but it is a very good 7 seconds.