#i highly encourage zooming in for details | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatsonemorbidcorvid · 2 months

Text

“In theory, group counseling to address the root causes of abusive behavior sounds promising. If batterer intervention programs make abusers less violent and, as a result, victims safer, why wouldn’t it be a preferable alternative to sentencing someone to, say, a year in jail, as Majors faced? But decades after the first programs were established, we have limited and highly contradictory research on how well they work. Some studies have found batterer intervention programs reduce future violence; others conclude they have little to no impact. The National Institute of Justice says results are “mixed.” Complicating matters, batterer intervention programs aren’t a monolith, and curriculum and quality varies wildly from one to another…

But while batterer intervention programs may prove effective when abusers attend, a huge portion of participants simply don’t. Anywhere from 15 to 58 percent of participants fail to complete treatment, often with few consequences. A 2022 state audit of California batterer intervention programs, including those in L.A. County, where Majors is expected to attend, found that probation officers and program providers frequently failed to inform the court about absences and other probation violations, including serious ones, such as contacting a victim under a protective order. In California, like in Massachusetts, those who completed the programs had a lower rate of reoffending than those who dropped out — 20 percent compared to 65 percent — but notably, nearly half of the domestic-violence offenders reviewed by the state did not complete the program. The “system has not adequately held offenders accountable,” the audit concluded, adding that these issues “have plagued the batterer intervention system for at least three decades, creating a critical need for statewide guidance and oversight.” Without proper supervision, these programs can end up functioning as literal get-out-of-jail-free cards.”

One evening last summer, I logged onto Zoom to observe a virtual counseling program for men who perpetrated domestic violence, run by a Boston-based group called Emerge. There were nine men of various ages and ethnicities and backgrounds on the call. Some were at home, video-conferencing from their bedrooms, one was in the car, and another was taking a leisurely walk outdoors, his sunglasses blocking his eyes from view. Emerge has a set format for these classes, which run weekly for 40 weeks and are generally populated by men court-mandated to attend by a judge. Participants begin by identifying themselves and the name of the person they abused, serving, it seemed to me, a dual purpose—centering the victim at the onset of the session and promoting responsibility. At Alcoholics Anonymous, it’s Hi, I’m John and I’m an alcoholic. At Emerge, it’s Hi, I’m John and I’m an abuser.

The walker, whom I’ll call Jeremy, was doing his weekly check-in with the group when David Adams, the co-founder of Emerge and one of two facilitators on the call, asked him a direct question: What was the abuse he committed that landed him in the program? Emerge encourages men to talk candidly and in detail about their abuse — what preceded it, what they did, how it impacted their partner — and accept feedback from the rest of the group about their behavior. The hope is that participants will begin to recognize and interrogate their own patterns of abuse and, over time, undergo the slow and uncomfortable process of change. To be successful, this intervention model requires active, incisive coaching by group leaders, Adams explained in a paper describing the program, as left on their own, “abusive men tend to give superficial or highly skewed reports of their interactions with their partners.”

Jeremy, still walking, began describing his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. They both struggled with insecurity, he said, leading to arguments over stupid things. “We were both wounded birds, just trying to soar through the sky, and we just, kind of like, we didn’t have very good communicative skills,” he said. Adams stopped his digressive answer there. The question, he reminded Jeremy, was how exactly did he abuse his partner? Now, Jeremy’s voice sped up. “Just like … pushing … I like, pulled her down the stairs, but like two … two stairs, you know?” he replied. “It wasn’t like I dragged her down a flight of stairs and she was all beat up or nothing crazy like that.” He went on: “I don’t want to reflect on my past because I am accountable for my actions, and stuff like that. But it was again, like I said, based upon our insecurities and not having good communicative skills.”

In Jeremy’s telling, his physical violence toward his girlfriend was caused by their mutual insecurity. It was only a few stairs. Nothing crazy. It is exactly this type of thinking that batterer intervention programs, as they are called, are designed to combat. Emerge, circa 1977, was the first such program in the U.S., born at a time when feminist activists were demanding national attention to the neglected issue of domestic violence. As hotlines and shelters sprung up for victims, Adams said, the natural next question within the movement was what to do with the men causing harm?

In the years since, programs have proliferated (over 2,500 exist, according to one count) and are now fully integrated into the criminal-justice system. These days, if you are convicted of a domestic-violence offense, it is likely you’ll be mandated to go to one. Millions of men have attended, including celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Christian Slater, and Chris Brown, who bragged about completing the class on Twitter: “Boyz run from there [sic] mistakes.. Men learn from them!!!” he wrote. (Four years later, a judge granted another woman, Karrueche Tran, a five-year restraining order against Brown, who she said he threatened to kill her.) And earlier this month, Jonathan Majors was sentenced to a 52-week batterer intervention program in California after being convicted of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.

In theory, group counseling to address the root causes of abusive behavior sounds promising. If batterer intervention programs make abusers less violent and, as a result, victims safer, why wouldn’t it be a preferable alternative to sentencing someone to, say, a year in jail, as Majors faced? But decades after the first programs were established, we have limited and highly contradictory research on how well they work. Some studies have found batterer intervention programs reduce future violence; others conclude they have little to no impact. The National Institute of Justice says results are “mixed.” Complicating matters, batterer intervention programs aren’t a monolith, and curriculum and quality varies wildly from one to another.

Most states have legal standards that regulate programs, but oversight falls to different departments with distinct goals. In California, for example, the Probation Department is in charge. In Massachusetts, it’s the Department of Public Health. Generally, participants are mandated to attend once a week for anywhere from 8 to 52 weeks (the longer the better for real change, Adams says). While models range, most programs are a mix of therapy and education, covering topics such as conflict-resolution skills, effects of abuse on partners and children, and how to take accountability. With victims’ consent, Emerge checks in with them throughout the 40 weeks to see if there has been any additional violence or threats and assess victims’ sense of safety. If a perpetrator refuses to own up to his actions or suggests he might commit more violence or stops attending, programs are typically supposed to communicate with probation, courts, and even the partner in question. “If we get somebody 12 weeks into our program who’s still blaming his partner, then we put that in a letter,” Adams said, which can be helpful to partners who are trying to make a decision about whether to stay in the relationship.

Adams, a psychologist who grew up with an abusive father, is a true believer in the power of these programs to save lives. When I asked him about the dismal research on effectiveness, he said studies often lump together participants who quit with those who complete it. Truly changing someone’s deep-seated and long-held thought patterns and beliefs takes time, he explained. “Many of the studies look at somebody who dropped out after one session and reoffend and count that as a program failure,” he said. “If substance-abuse programs were evaluated that way, they would all be considered to be failures.” He directed me to a 2015 pilot study conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School that assessed three batterer intervention programs in Massachusetts, including Emerge. It found that participants who completed such a program were 28 percent less likely to recidivate — measured as an arrest for a future domestic-violence-related crime — than those who failed to complete the program. Stated another way, those who dropped out were three times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence again than those who completed the work. (Of course, evaluating a program’s success using future arrests reveals only the tip of the iceberg, as domestic violence is chronically underreported to police.)

In 2016, I was invited to attend a conference on batterer intervention in Dearborn, Michigan. For three days, I listened as leaders in the field, many of whom had been working on this issue since the ’80s, described what they’d learned. Session titles, such as “Real Change, Real Challenges: Moving Forward Through the Backlash” and “Let’s Set the Record Straight!” reflected a sense of frustration with how outsiders perceive the work. I left with the impression that many batterer intervention practitioners genuinely believe that reforming abusers is a critical step — maybe even the critical step — to reducing domestic violence yet is chronically underfunded, the ugly duckling of the movement to stop violence against women. Few advocacy groups are interested in raising money for programs that help abusers, especially if it seems like it might divert resources from victims.

Bringing us back to Jeremy, the Emerge participant. After he finally acknowledged to the group that he pushed his girlfriend down “two” stairs, Adams called him out. He noted that Jeremy kept referring to the core problem as “our” insecurities, as if his girlfriend’s insecurity played a role in the violence. “You’re taking responsibility for your abusive behavior means it’s 100 percent a choice that you’re making. Regardless of how insecure or whatever the other person’s feelings are, right? It has no relevance.”

“I comprehend everything you’re saying,” Jeremy responded guardedly.

Adams continued. “I’m just recommending that you think differently about it, because if that’s the way you continue to think about it, then you’re not responsible. You’re saying, ‘Well, if I get into another situation where both people are insecure, then of course I’m going to be abusive,’ as if one follows naturally from the other.” At this, Jeremy squirmed and frowned. The audio cut out for a few seconds.

Once he was reconnected, he conceded the point. “I should have said ‘my insecurity,’” he said. “I absolutely agree to what you’re trying to say. And my mind-set changes in each group that I come into.”

When asked what Jeremy hoped to get from the program, he said he wanted to learn from his mistakes. “I want this lesson to have an effect, a very big impact in my behavior, my lifestyle and everything.” Of course, it’s easy to say that, whether you really mean it, and some men do fake their way through the classes without genuinely engaging with the content. Regardless, Adams said, “fake it ’til you make it” can still produce an impact.

I asked Adams how Jeremy was doing, nine months after I observed him in class. He’s still attending, Adams said, which is something. He’s taking somewhat more responsibility, but he still deflects from time to time. There’s still more work to be done.

8 notes · View notes

kicksaddictny · 19 days

Text

Nike The Sabrina 2

Nike and Sabrina Ionescu proudly introduce the highly anticipated Sabrina 2 signature collection, a dynamic fusion of footwear and lifestyle apparel designed to resonate with all basketball enthusiasts.

Drawing upon the success of Sabrina's inaugural signature line, the Sabrina 2 collection embodies her essence with personalized design elements inspired by her background and achievements. Notably, this collection marks the debut of Sabrina's signature shoe and select apparel pieces available in kids' sizes for the first time.

Central to the collection is the Sabrina 2 signature shoe, meticulously crafted to enhance agility and speed on the court. Collaborating closely with Nike's design teams, Sabrina infuses the best features of her original shoe with innovative upgrades, resulting in a lighter design without compromising support, stability, or comfort.

The Sabrina 2 boasts a precisely engineered combination of softness and stability, featuring a plush Cushlon 3.0 foam midsole, a first for Nike basketball footwear, encased within a firmer Cushlon foam carrier. Enhanced with a Nike Zoom Air unit in the forefoot, the shoe offers superior energy return and responsiveness. A redesigned band system wraps around the midfoot, ensuring a snug, secure fit. The rubber outsole showcases a new "S"-inspired herringbone pattern for multidirectional traction during rapid movements.

The shoe's aesthetics are striking, with an "S" frame encircling the upper, complemented by intricate stitching and embroidery paying homage to Sabrina's initials and jersey number. The medial side features a distinctive slanted Swoosh, reminiscent of shattered glass, symbolizing Sabrina's trailblazing achievements. Additionally, the shoe incorporates an exposed Swoosh and "i" motif, representing both her surname and the exuberance she brings to her game.

Select colorways feature mirror-finished Swooshes, encouraging the next generation to see themselves reflected in the shoe's design.

In crafting the Sabrina 2, Nike's product design teams prioritized women-specific research and insights, ensuring the shoe caters to the needs of all athletes.

Sabrina collaborated closely with Nike's apparel design teams to curate her signature apparel collection, which includes tees, a hoodie, shorts, and a reversible bomber jacket. The kids' collection comprises a hoodie and shorts, each piece embodying Sabrina's personal style and attention to detail.

The Sabrina 2 signature collection launches globally on June 28, promising an exceptional blend of performance and style. Stay tuned for more updates on the apparel line.

#nike #kicksaddict

2 notes · View notes

tk-storm · 1 year

Text

i had a weirdly detailed nightmare last night

So it was about this spaceship crew on a massive American flag ship orbiting earth. And there was this laser that could target any place on the Earth's surface. And there was this dude who's name was commander Cody and he was in charge of giving out the orders of where to aim the laser.

One day there was an order given over the highly secure comms that said "this is commander Cody, set lasers on *insert coordinates*" and the crew manning the laser was like, "you sure?" and C. Cody was like "yes, prepare to fire".

And right as the laser was ready to fire Commander Cody came into the room and was like "what the hell are you doing?" and the crew was like "following your orders, sir" and he was like "what orders, I didn't give any orders" and over the intercom the person given the orders in an exact replica of C.Cody's voice said "this is commander Cody, you have permission to fire".

And because the person in charge of actually setting off the laser was in a different room the laser fired. C.Cody lost his shit because the were the exact coordinates of DC specifically the capitol, so everybody rushed to the viewing port and zoomed in on the coordinates.But lucky the reason the crew had asked "are you sure" is because they were fixing the lasers from a previous malfunction, and it miss and shot somewhere of the coast. And obviously the capital lost their shite at the flagship. And after being explained what happened they began looking into where the fake C.Cody voice was coming from.

Their first thought was soviet Russia because the world basically was like set in the 60s but also in space, for some reason? So they believed it was some sort of spy.But then they realized that the signals were coming from deep space, well beyond where and fleet from earth would be able to travel. And that the signal was weird and didn't match any of the signal patterns from earth, even foreign or heavily incrypted ones.

But the voice keep contacting them, giving orders and very accurate military commands to target certain places on earth or even other American fleet ships, each time using commander Cody's voice with complete accuracy.Eventually they started asking questions to the voice as a joke like "how's the wife Cody" to which the voice would respond "you know we get divorced in 2003, *insert rank* *insert name*" which was horrifying because it implied 1) that they knew very specific details on C.Cody's life and 2) they knew details about the rest of the crew and could recognize their voices. So the tested how accurate the voice could get. They promoted a private with out entering it into any system or telling anyone else so that only the private and the two other people in the room knew.And when the promoted private talk to the voice a mere seconds later, the voice used his new rank.

All this led to Commander Cody having a complete mental breakdown, because the voice knew things that he had never told anybody else, like how he had nightmares for two years after his dog got run over and how he still missed his ex and other facts like his favorite color, hotel, city, dog breed, etc.And he became incredibly paranoid and started patrolling around the ship with a shot gun saying he was "hunting those alien bastards" and started blaming them for everything that went wrong and started threatening random crew members saying they were in league with the aliens or that they were aliens. And the voice would actively antagonize him throughout all of this, like for literally no real reason, it seemed like it was just doing it for fun.And it would actively encourage C.Cody to kill himself or others or to ram the flagship into New York City or DC claiming that it was the better version of him, and that the voice was the true Cody.

And all the while they were trying to track where the voice was coming from precisely and one day they realized, in horror that the voice was moving.And they triangulated where it would end up.And it was heading for the solar system, specifically earth, specifically the flagship orbiting earth.And there were more signals leaving it, heading throughout the universe.

#dream #dreams #nightmare #sci-fi #short story #ig that's kinda what this was #but it was neat #space #space horror #horror #aliens #I think? Idk that's where the dream ended

7 notes · View notes

dolphingreys · 2 years

Text

Multitouch xperia x10

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 INSTALL#

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 UPDATE#

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 ANDROID#

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 FREE#

Also, its pointy corners dig into your hand, which is a basic ergonomics fail! Its buttons also feel rather mushy and wobbly, making them unsatisfying to press. This is largely down to a plastic screen, which instantly gives it a cheaper feel than devices like the iPhone 3GS and HTC Desire that use glass screens. So in terms of external features, the X10 holds up well but sadly when it comes to build quality it isn’t quite so impressive. You don’t, however, get a hardware mute switch like you do on the iPhone – a feature we thought would have caught on by now. In an ideal world the Menu button could also be removed, as a well designed touch-based operating system shouldn’t need a hardware control for this, but this is a minor niggle.Īn unlock/power button sits on the top edge and a volume/zoom rocker switch and camera button on the right.

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 ANDROID#

This is in contrast to many Android phones that include a button for opening the search function and either a D-pad or a roller ball for moving around the phone without using the touchscreen – features that are mostly superfluous though can come in handy if, say, it’s raining and the touchscreen isn’t responding properly. The front is home to just three buttons: Menu, Home, and Back. The number of buttons and their positioning also pleases. The flap over the micro-USB socket is a bit awkward and fiddly but it’s not a deal breaker. We also immediately notice the presence of both a normal headphone jack and a micro-USB socket, which are features often (and highly annoyingly) substituted with a proprietary connector on Sony Ericsson devices. The question is: does it live up to its promise.įirst things first, this is an elegant device thanks to an uncluttered symmetrical front, subtle chrome trim on the sides, and matt black plastic back – we particularly like the single line formed by the Sony Ericsson and Xperia logos, the camera flash, and the camera.

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 INSTALL#

We will get back with more details as to more exact timing and where.With an 8.1-megapixel camera, a 4.1in touchscreen, a slick-looking customised install of Google Android, and more internal smartphone goodies than you can shake a stick at, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 certainly looks on paper to be a barn-storming mobile phone. X10 will be available in selected markets during Q1 next year. We’ll try to post a tutorial video of the camera interface within short, but in short it’s quite similar to what’s seen in our earlier touch screen phones like Satio, X2, and Aino. The UX platform used for Xperia X10 will evolve to Android 2.0 over time.

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 UPDATE#

* Will the X10 receive Android 2.0 update (for those who bought from the initial batches with Android 1.6) ? I noticed the confusion in the communction around this topic, but the correct number is 65,536. * How many colors does the screen support? * Is it based on OpenGL 1.1 or 2.0 for games and other stuff? Xperia X10 has mineral glass to prevent easy scratching and fingerprint coating. => 是用 Capacitive Screen 的，但無 multi Touch! It does not support multi-touch functionality at launch, but is considered for the future. * Will it have multi-touch in future updates? I haven’t been able to answer all of them at this point but have tried my best to get to as many as possible.

#MULTITOUCH XPERIA X10 FREE#

As an example, there is not a document editor preloaded, but there are and will be free and premium applications available in the application store. One of the benefits of using an open operating system is that we can tailor your phone to your specific needs. The design is eye catching and stands out from normal large screen so getting great response and anticipation, but a lot of questions as well…. Using the phone outside the office walls has been somewhat of a relief and it is encouraging to get some remarks and raised eyebrows when people see me using it. I am very happy about the announcement earlier this week.

#Multitouch xperia x10

0 notes

lakelandseo · 2 years

Text

Outstanding Local SEO Takeaways from MozCon 2022

It would be hard to overstate the value of the education offered at MozCon. From the impressive accreditation of seasoned speakers to the novel thinking of newcomers, MozCon 2022’s presenters delivered a level of actionable advice and inspiration that resoundingly reaffirmed why this event is one of the best-loved in the SEO world.

As a local SEO, it’s my practice to attend the livestream with ears pricked to catch any takeaway that could be useful to local businesses and their marketers. Local was the core focus of a few presentations, but while the majority of MozCon talks are not local-specific, nearly all of them featured applicable expert advice that we can turn to our advantage. Today, I’ll provide my personal rundown of the best tips I gleaned for local businesses from MozCon 2022, I highly recommend pre-purchasing the video bundle to go beyond my recap to a detailed understanding of how to excel in your marketing.

1. Let’s really talk about landing pages

The SEO industry has zoomed in on the critical role both location and product landing pages are now playing in marketing. The former will come as no surprise to local SEOs, and the latter has become an increasing part of our world as the pandemic has driven local businesses to incorporate shopping into their websites. Some of the brightest ideas shared at MozCon 2022 surrounded what belongs on these landing pages.

Recently, you may have read my column encouraging local businesses to emulate actionable Google Business Profile features on their website homepages, and I was gratified to see this strategy echoed and expanded upon by both Amanda Jordan and Emily Brady in regards to location landing pages.

Ross Simmonds made a very strong point that content does not equal blogs, and Amanda Jordan emphasized that it isn’t copywriting that makes a landing page great — it’s features, like:

Booking buttons

Reviews

Social proofs

Customer UGC, like photos

Original stats that are strong enough to earn backlinks

Polls and surveys

Awards and recognitions

Emily Brady added to this list by encouraging the inclusion of Google Business Profile attributes on location landing pages. She further urged local SEOs to use the 145 types of local business schema to actually inform content strategy for these pages – a suggestion I don’t believe I’ve ever heard before. She noted that SMBs have few enough landing pages to make it feasible to manually create best-in-market, unique content as a competitive advantage.

Amanda Jordan did a study of the top 10 location landing pages across 50 cities and noted the high percentage of them that emphasized these features:

By focusing on features that customers really want, local businesses can solve the longstanding issues Amanda cited as being associated with location landing pages, namely, duplicate and thin content, low user engagement, and lack of conversions. On the topic of product landing pages, I’ll quote Areej AbuAli who emphasized that, “Filters can make or break an e-commerce website.” Anyone who has ever shopped online knows the truth of this. Her presentation was a deep dive into the care that must be taken to build a strategy for commerce architecture and indexing that takes details like these and more into account:

Meanwhile, Miracle Inameti-Archibong’s presentation on web accessibility was highly applicable to any business that publishes a shopping website and her talk was filled with moments that honestly shocked me. I’ve never used a screen reader before, and I had no idea what terrible UX websites lacking accessibility best practices provide for the 12 million Internet users who have visual disabilities. I also didn’t know that 80% of what we all learn is done through the medium of vision. These facts should be a wake-up call for all website publishers:

1 in 8 Americans have a disability.

People with vision loss consistently report having advanced internet proficiency.

Working-age people with disabilities cumulatively possess $490 billion in after-tax disposable income.

83% of people with accessibility needs shop on sites with accessibility standards, even if prices are higher.

97.4% of homepages have accessibility errors.

Missing alt text accounts for 61% of all homepage accessibility errors.

Miracle Inameti-Archibong had us sit with her though the terrible experience of trying to use a screen reader in this environment and imagine what it is like to try to shop, manage personal finances, or perform other essential day to day activities online, and I was especially moved by her reminder that all of us have causes we care about, but that implementing accessibility is one SEOs actually have the hands-on opportunity to do something about!

In addition to encouraging everyone to download a screen reader to experience their websites in a new way, she extended this Colab resource to help us all begin tackling alt text issues at scale. With a commitment to supporting the agency of all people, we can ensure that both our product and location landing pages are accessible to everybody.

2. Let’s be part of big trends in thought and tech

Local business owners and marketers will benefit from understanding the evolution of both perceptions and possibilities happening in the wider industry.

On keyword research

Wil Reynolds noted that keyword research is how we gain empathy for our customers and Dr. Peter J. Meyers’ presentation of why we need to stop fixating on the bottom of the sales funnel and embrace the messy middle was, in my opinion, some of the best storytelling of the conference.

Both Dr. Pete and Tom Capper urged us to think not in terms of massive keyword volumes but of groupings by human intent, weaving around and about the complex loops of evaluation and exploration. Indeed, an overall theme at MozCon 2022 was that SEOs are rethinking old views of keywords and reenvisioning them in terms of entities, intent, and topics. If we stop trying to continuously sell and focus, instead, on being there in the messy middle, we will be getting so much closer to real journeys than what we see in familiar funnel structures. Tom Capper further advised us to stop thinking of keyword research as grunt work suitable for junior staff and to employ the skillful art of understanding intent so that we end up actually knowing our customers. He also mentioned that this type of research, done well, can help local businesses discover which of their locations are deserving of the most investment.

On content and content marketing

“Google is capable of recognizing first-person expertise,” was a quote from Lily Ray that underpinned her outstanding presentation on why E-A-T should be moving us all to:

Write in the first person on our websites

Provide step-by-step instructions and objective advice without selling

Offer honest pros and cons

Use first-hand experience to back up claims

Publish unique images

Explain why we are qualified to author our content

In her talk on why E-A-T is the most important ranking factor, Lily Ray shared this persuasive screenshot from one of her clients who had been hit by the Medic update and then re-launched a site that emphasized their expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness:

E-A-T is, in my opinion, a gift to local business owners because so many of them possess the kind of expertise that only comes from a lifetime of working in their field. Our role, as local SEOs, is to capture and promote that expertise in a way Google understands.

Meanwhile, Ross Simmonds reminded us all that the phrase “content marketing” includes the word “marketing”. Hitting “publish” is not the end of the journey. Instead, we’ve got to:

I particularly latched on to his suggestion to give out awards and found myself imagining the local links that could flow in if something like a local grocery store formalized giving out awards for “best of county” foods, or a bookstore did the same for best regional authors, or an environmental organization recognized the greenest local businesses. Take this idea and run with it.

Speaking of earning links and publicity, Amanda Milligan told the story of beleaguered local newspapers who are actively seeking content featuring trends in employment and real estate, ways to avoid scams, and “news you can use” articles. She highlighted how some 2,200 local papers have folded since 2005 and explained how those struggling to keep going could be very interested in your contributions to their sections on lifestyle, money, entertainment, sports and news. Gather some original data and offer it to your local and regional newspapers for some highly-relevant press.

And, finally, Crystal Carter’s presentation on visual search re-emphasized the message that content does not equal text. As she noted, “Visual search makes the camera a primary tool for understanding the world.” Crystal is a Level 6 Google Guide and, reminding us that Google can definitely parse images, she encouraged businesses to strategize for solid, consistent, well-lit, unobscured real-world branding, like this:

She also proffered an excellent tip of auditing the photos your customers have uploaded to Instagram and Yelp. Is your branding on the dinner plates of your restaurant? On the uniforms of your staff? On banners at events you sponsor? What is the “that pic” for your business, where customers pose to photograph themselves? Are you uploading great owner photos to your citations so that customers are encouraged not just to shop with you, but to photograph your aesthetics themselves? All of it belongs on your website and Google Business Profile as we enter a multisearch reality and find new opportunities in an environment in which photos have become, not just great content, but queries.

3. Let’s be aware of trends on our periphery

Pretty much anything SEO-related is also part of our local SEO playbook, but sometimes the things SEOs prioritize for remote businesses may exist on the edges of our strategy, rather than at the center, and yet can still be important for us to consider.

A prime example of this is link building. Most truly small local SMBs will not likely have to invest heavily in earning links because our markets are typically finite with a limited number of direct nearby competitors. Nevertheless, more competitive local brands should pay attention to Paddy Moogan’s mention of the fact that 21 of 35 link building tips he presented at MozCon 10 years ago are still good-to-go in 2022, but that he’s observed four trends that have him worried:

Asking for links isn’t sustainable — more than half of SEOs spend 1-5 hours trying to build a single link

Questionable link relevance — who believes that Google wants to reward a business that builds up a massive, but irrelevant, volume of links?

Too much reliance on campaigns — it’s a mistake to focus on big, shiny link building campaigns instead of on actual business impact

Unintegrated link building — for agency and in-house link builders, if your work is happening independently of other departments, you face the risk of being squeezed out in times of economic downturns.

Paddy called on SEOs to solve these problems by reframing links as the outcome of an effective content strategy, using the actual and very messy customer journey to spot link building ideas, focusing on evergreen projects instead of one-off campaigns, and being integrated in multi-department work from the get-go. All of this advice is applicable even to small local businesses and their marketers who want to get the most out of smaller budgets of time and money.

Wrapping up, there was one other talk given by Ruth Burr Reedy on remote workplace culture which might not have seemed laser-focused on local SEOs and their clients, but which really stood out to me as having universal wisdom. Whether your local business staff is still fully in-office or has become a hybrid or fully-remote workplace due to the pandemic, the development of an atmosphere of “psychological safety” is valuable for every kind of team.

I’ve been a strong advocate for many years here in my column of the reputational benefits that result from employers trusting employees enough to use their own initiative to support and delight customers. Ruth’s presentation depicting a working environment that encourages staff to be able to ask anything without risk made me think more deeply about the hard work local business owners need to put into developing a full and healthy culture behind the scenes that is felt by every customer who walks in the door.

MozCon 2022 was absolutely replete with deeply technical, practical, and cultural tips that I’ve only been able to touch on briefly today. For the full experience, you’ll need to watch the videos, with their speaker enthusiasm, beautiful decks, and bountiful guidance. Pre-purchase today!

0 notes

bfxenon · 2 years

Text

Outstanding Local SEO Takeaways from MozCon 2022

1. Let’s really talk about landing pages

Ross Simmonds made a very strong point that content does not equal blogs, and Amanda Jordan emphasized that it isn’t copywriting that makes a landing page great — it’s features, like:

Booking buttons

Reviews

Social proofs

Customer UGC, like photos

Original stats that are strong enough to earn backlinks

Polls and surveys

Awards and recognitions

Amanda Jordan did a study of the top 10 location landing pages across 50 cities and noted the high percentage of them that emphasized these features:

1 in 8 Americans have a disability.

People with vision loss consistently report having advanced internet proficiency.

Working-age people with disabilities cumulatively possess $490 billion in after-tax disposable income.

83% of people with accessibility needs shop on sites with accessibility standards, even if prices are higher.

97.4% of homepages have accessibility errors.

Missing alt text accounts for 61% of all homepage accessibility errors.

2. Let’s be part of big trends in thought and tech

Local business owners and marketers will benefit from understanding the evolution of both perceptions and possibilities happening in the wider industry.

On keyword research

On content and content marketing

“Google is capable of recognizing first-person expertise,” was a quote from Lily Ray that underpinned her outstanding presentation on why E-A-T should be moving us all to:

Write in the first person on our websites

Provide step-by-step instructions and objective advice without selling

Offer honest pros and cons

Use first-hand experience to back up claims

Publish unique images

Explain why we are qualified to author our content

Meanwhile, Ross Simmonds reminded us all that the phrase “content marketing” includes the word “marketing”. Hitting “publish” is not the end of the journey. Instead, we’ve got to:

3. Let’s be aware of trends on our periphery

Asking for links isn’t sustainable — more than half of SEOs spend 1-5 hours trying to build a single link

Questionable link relevance — who believes that Google wants to reward a business that builds up a massive, but irrelevant, volume of links?

Too much reliance on campaigns — it’s a mistake to focus on big, shiny link building campaigns instead of on actual business impact

0 notes

antiquemotel · 3 years

Text

♡♡{Free Tarot readings Open!!} ♡♡

Hello Everyone <33 I'm

~R~,

a Love ~Witch~ (don't worry I don't worship Satan or practice cursing ppl) but I've been doing a lot of birthchart ships and I will be taking a break from those (closed) and focus more on tarot^^ For all the people I've previously confirmed, you will be getting your birth chart ship soon but moving forward, you guys (Including anons)can request anything Idol related but my personal Tarot readings will be followers only...this is to ensure no chaos ensues T-T and that everything is Organised accordingly ^^ My Celtic cross free contest is still open so I highly encourage my followers to join as not many ppl have yet (higher chance of winning) :3

Rules:

♡ You may request no more than one FREE zoom from this package

♡ you can think of 1 yes or no question that will be answered by my Crystal Pendulum

♡ you may request anything idol related (will be posted publicly but your name can remain anonymous upon request) (zoom is available but the video won't be posted just the reading)

♡all personal readings about yourself and others in your life (your crush, your family, your boyfriend) will NOT be posted publicly and you must provide me with your email address

♡you must provide feedback on the reading (was it good?)

OPTIONAL: I will schedule a zoom meeting upon request for the reading if you choose and the chat feature can be used to communicate from my side...(you can turn on your mic and talk about any of your worries and ask for further details about the 1 question you chose)

!!WARNING!! This is very detailed, honest and accurate so if you prefer something sugarcoated, this package is not for you... you may not record the zoom meeting.

~The zoom meeting option is only open after a few weeks

~ The email and public readings are open now ~(anons can participate)

~ask to your heart's content about the question you requested as I can provide the answer in utmost detail

my normal requests are still open but I won't be able to provide loads of details and the Crystal pendulum unless you specify you want this package <33 (I do this to avoid giving anyone too much information unless they want it)

Regards, -R-

53 notes · View notes

half-filled-inkpot · 3 years

Text

Go Stream Your Name Engraved Herein NOW

I’m tired of people dismissing the depth and beauty of works because they don’t understand the cultural and historical context and are unwilling to delve deeper. I’ve heard the vocal confusion and dismissal of the short film Bao and the complaints that the Mahjong scene in Crazy Rich Asians was too long and too difficult to understand for people who’ve never played Mahjong. But I won’t let this mentality negatively frame the reception of Your Name Engraved Herein. I’ve read too many interpretations of the movie that will influence how many people will watch it and hinder appreciation for it and I cannot sit idly by. So here’s why I appreciated and loved Your Name Engraved Herein and think that what other people interpreted as shortcomings are actually in fact strengths.

In 2019, Taiwan approved same-sex marriage, marking a step of progress in Asia. Reviews of the film Your Name Engraved Herein view that this forward direction should be celebrated more throughout the film, believing that the heavy mood and painful scenes of bigotry hindered the potential of the film. Many have thought that the toxic values of the past dominated the film’s atmosphere, casting a somber mood and making it difficult to stomach. But I think these elements were essential in reminding us that not everyone had the opportunity to love openly and celebrate, and although Taiwan has made progress, what about those that grew up under a time where such rights were denied?

I think the film is an intimate and beautiful homage to the people who lived through such a difficult time and had to fight for such rights--the director’s own experiences, the reference to activist Chi Chia-wei. Despite the tough topics and the painful bullying that we see, I think the film ends with beautiful light and hope.

Spoilers ahead

Where critically acclaimed and famous Taiwanese films like Us and Them and You Are the Apple of My Eye use flashbacks to create an air of nostalgia and to remind us that maybe all we have to share is our past, untouchable memories, Your Name Engraved Herein uses flashbacks and time leaps to instead paint a more hopeful future. Their first love was an epic story. It’s painful realizing that they never got the same privilege as so many of us to have a happy family or spend life together, growing old. But where the protagonists in Us and Them and You Are the Apple of My Eye only have the past, our Jia-Han and Birdy have the future for the taking. Jia-Han’s younger self once held reservation and denial but he has instead transformed into one willing to accept his love and act on it, searching for Birdy despite the years. Despite the time and distance, they still share the same lively and youthful banter. While one may interpret the ending scene of what could’ve been and what they were cheated of, I like to think of it as a reunion instead. They are finally able to return to maybe the most tumultuous but also happiest time of their life. Now, with the recent change in Taiwan, they finally have a chance to make more memories together.

I loved the framing of the story and think it demanded audience engagement. The movie opens with Jia-Han meeting Birdy. We then see that Jia-Han is reminiscing about his story with Birdy to the priest from Montreal that works at the Catholic all-boy’s boarding school. Immediately, Jia-Han’s and Birdy’s connection is apparent. They have furtive glances, genuine concern, and intimate moments. Birdy at first seems free-spirited, without fear of the opinions of others and authority. He’s vocal, righteous, and a bit rebellious. Jia-Han, in contrast, is more timid, constantly aware of the opinions of others and the rules. While he knows what is wrong and feels bad about it, he often follows or acts as a complacent party. But as Birdy and Jia-Han witness the detaining of activist Chi Chia-wei, we see that Birdy is more introspective and serious, unable to turn a blind-eye of the issues still prevalent despite the recent end of martial law in Taiwan. And Jia-Han, in the presence of Birdy, is more carefree and happy. It’s as if they have switched and turned off their outside persona. Birdy’s impulsivity gives Jia-Han joy and only Jia-Han’s presence can qualm Birdy’s inner thoughts and worries. We get to see how these characters deeply value each other. As the evening sets and the world around falls to slumber, it feels as if they are the only ones in the world and we, as viewers, are fully immersed in their story. The cinematography is halting as we see them zoom around in the city alone, untouched and in their own worlds.

Jia-Han feels as if the world revolved only around them. So when Ban-Ban walks into the picture, I was awed by Jia-Han’s portrayal of jealousy and felt his pain because he was unable to walk by the side of Birdy in the way that he wanted to. The actor’s body language sells a stellar performance, but it is the dialogue and outburst at the father who is attempting to tend to Jia-Han’s wounds that show Jia-Han’s raw and powerful emotions. Whether or not it was intentional by the director, I think at this moment we question the timeline and framing of the story. What events led up to this moment with Jia-Han’s major head wound? When the priest says “If he doesn’t love you, don’t force him to” and “care doesn’t necessarily mean love,” I was stunned by this exchange, thinking that it was quite evident that Birdy and Jia-Han had love for each other. But then it made me ponder if this narrative told only from Jia-Han’s point of view was a deliberate choice made for us to question perspective and reality, how our vision becomes tainted when our feelings are involved. The powerful performance and film raised such immediate questions, causing wonder as we viewed the film in real time instead of afterwards, which made for a delightful and thought-provoking experience.

In a truly climatic point, we finally see how all of the events led to the current moment. We see how Jia-Han gets a head injury and how the priest becomes his confidant. This pivotal mark not only has an approximately two hour momentum, but it is also powerfully performed by our two leads who at this point are passionate, protective, and broken-hearted. We witness a full range of love. Initially, at the beginning, we saw subtle and restrained affection, fleeting touches, and silent companionship. But as the story progresses, we see that these feelings can no longer be bottled. There are moments of visible and passionate concern and instinctual attempts at protection. This development shows the complexity, beauty, and pain of love. It is truly a breath-taking thing to see come alive on screen. While Jia-Han at this point becomes ready to vocalize and admit his feelings, Birdy is unable to and their lives diverge.

A time leap gives us privy to Jia-Han’s closure. After he visits the resting grounds of the priest from his high-school days, he is able to offer his support to who is hinted to be the priest’s lover, reassuring that he was a good man, that the love was true, and that he will go to heaven. The reveal that the priest is gay encourages viewers to rewatch the dialogue with this new information to help drive our new interpretations.

Already, I have re-watched this tear-jerking film a number of times. The steady pacing makes each scene seem essential despite the long 1 hour and 54 minute run time. Yet it passes quickly and we are left yearning for more. Aesthetically pleasing, the beautiful shots underscored by the accompanying, swelling music provide stunning visuals. As the camera focuses on the two leads, their outbursts don’t appear as overly done or too dramatic. Rather, the performances feel heart-breakingly real. In part, I think this is built on the focus on the details. The camera seems to linger a little longer on the faces of the actors, making us fully digest what they are conveying to us. This attention to detail highlights everything spoken and unspoken.

I highly recommend this film. It reminds us that not everyone is fortunate and we all still have room for progress. But simultaneously it is tender and heart-warming, moving and touching, poignant and thoughtful. The powerful dynamic between the leads, the artistic filming, and the strong performance elevate this film to a truly inspiring, epic love story. Everything about it feels deliberate, personal and handcrafted gift for us to truly treasure. So I will cherish it and share it and I hope you do too.

#Jia-Han #birdy #your name engraved herein

267 notes · View notes

lady-plantagenet · 3 years

Text

Unsolicited Book Reviews (n6): Cecily

Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Even before I had an account, I tended to go to tumblr to see people’s opinions before buying a histfic. Certain books are either severely underrepresented, where I feel like there needs to be something on them, whereas others, though talked about enough, something more can still be said about them. So for my quarantine fun, I have decided to start a series where I review every medieval historical fiction novel I read. Hopefully, it will either start interesting discussions or at least be some help for those browsing its tag when considering purchasing it.

TL;DR: Perhaps I’ve been especially generous with my rating. There are two possible reasons for this: a) I have a bit more of a sense of the backstory that went into this book (thanks to the afterword and the talk I attended on Zoom with her and Laynesmith) and it made me appreciate some aspects of it which I might not have otherwise - or at least understand them. b) I have been so traumatised by the abysmal and derivative writing of other books from this genre to the point that a book like this, which in other times I would have, perhaps, considered average in terms of historicity and prose, now leaves me impressed… basically I’m surprised because this book was actually really good?

When I heard it was coming out I thought there was no way I was going to buy it. A book which purports to give me a ‘feminist’ retelling of the life of a historical figure? NO WAY. It got worse when I found that the said figure purportedly ‘ignored by history’ was the same Cecily Neville who atm surpasses two of her sons in terms of volume of written material about them. Then @pythionice told me about the talk with Laynesmith and one thing led to another… not to mention the goodreads reviews were stellar and full with comparisons to Mantel’s Wolf Hall. This was highly encouraging. So I sat down with a couple of others (@nuingiliath and @feuillesmortes to name some), decided to buy the book and see what the future of TWOTR histfic has to offer…

Plot: We follow Cecily Neville Duchess of York (and only Cecily Neville Duchess of York - keep this in mind as it’s important later on) from her tween years all the way to her son Edward’s ascension in 1461. Even though I’m familiar with the first phase of TWOTR, I must confess I don’t know it historiographically like I know the York in-fighting period. Therefore, I can’t heavily comment on the inaccuracies or details. Although, at certain points I do feel like the author inserted Cecily in situations where the players were other people and in which she played no part to give her greater agency eg Cardinal Beaufort’s intercession for Jacquetta, the various meetings RoY held with his stewards and war council… etc. The first years of Cecily’s lives are skimmed over and the bulk of the story focuses on her life between the time of Richard Duke of York (RoY)‘s Norman governorship and the aftermath of Towton. While I would have preferred to have seen more of the childhood Cecily shared with RoY in Westmoreland’s home - since I would have liked to see some more ‘young Cecily’ instead of the old woman we are used to - I am happy to have once again dipped my toes into the decades prior to when York vs Lancaster became (in any way) a thing. This way I got to read a narrative more geared towards assessing the individuals one by one, as the author was prevent from falling into the red vs white rose dichotomy plot device, which I have seen swallow up too many of the weaker authors who throw subtlety out of the window because of the dramatic promise a York vs Lancaster story offers.

There is not much more to say about the plot per se. Although, I do recommend this book for anyone who wants to see RoY’s Irish lieutenancy in prose. I have no complaints about how the Irish situations was portrayed and these segments (though too few) were my absolute favourite parts. I also have great admiration for how the author managed to convey to the reader, throughout, a sense of how and why the tensions between RoY and HVI’s circle had so escalated by the beggining of the 1460s. The portrayal of this was chalk-full with history, recounting each and every minor event and external cause and their significance; painting a robust cause and effect chain for the reader to understand how the hot-war, we all know with great clarity, came to be. I believe the author’s greatest feat was managing to interweave information into the narrative by showing and never telling. I’m serious when I call this a feat. Not once did Garthwaite break out into history textbook dryness - a la Sunne in Splendour - to get the reader understanding what was going on. She also appears to have chosen her timeline well enough to not give us ‘as you know bobs’, with the main characters digest the aftermath of each news and council meeting as they came. Could the prose being in present-tense have helped? I wonder. Although it was quite a gamble as it may have cost the novel in atmosphere (more on that later).

Characterisation: Well, I suspect this is the review heading that will be most controversial. We are so fixed in Cecily’s head to the point where the plot is essentially only reachable through the filter of her opinions and personal convictions. Therefore, if you have any qualms with how history is portrayed in this book, you ought to take it up with the choices made in Cecily’s characterisation. I really do feel like Garthwaite was strong enough a writer to have established that Cecily is not wholly reliable as a narrator (this book is written in third person limited POV) - although you may disagree with me. For example, Margaret of Anjou and Jacquetta of Luxembourg (who are sort of like Cecily’s most developed antagonists/rivals ) are shown to act in ways that don’t match Cecily’s impression of them and this happens several times. They are nothing but courteous towards her when she almost faints during the My Lady of Walsingham pilgrimage in 1453/4, and they outwardly seem to be genuine while Cecily is show to have only joined them for ulterior motives. The author is unapologetic about this. We also see Cecily’s attitude towards them soften for one hot second during that chapter ; only to turn with the escalation of the political conflict after St Albans when she turns back to enmity but for good reason. Also, she is constantly shown to have underestimated Margaret of Anjou’s strength as early as when we first meet her on her way to become Henry VI’s wife. Basically, Cecily thinks she’s the most hard-ass women of the late 15th century, but the reader can keenly see that she has competition. Even Jacquetta which is a bit of a flirt and over-interested in gossip occasionally hits Cecily with a subtle remark (eg when the latter asked the former about Edward of Lancaster’s legitimacy) or is shown to read the room perfectly even when Cecily often doesn’t credit her (and sometimes she does).

In a genre like this where we get certain quasi-medieval archetypes recycled e.g. the protective lioness mother and her cubs, the ice queen, the mater dolorossa, the spunky feminist heroine, the gruff hard bitten warrior with few words to spare, the cold and ambitious chief advisor etc etc. You can, then, imagine that I found it a bit disarming yet refreshing to behold the modern, middle-class, middle aged businesswoman inserted into a 15th century setting. Genuine authenticity imo is almost impossible to achieve in this genre without a rich background in the literature and culture of this era (not to mention Catholic religiosity). Mastery of these is often a lot to ask of a regular novelist and I think that sometimes it’s good to just quit while you’re ahead. I think it’s a good strategy to unapologetically add your own twist to the story, as Garthwaite did, letting your own experiences guide the way you interpret the ambiguities in history. I loved seeing the author’s business background squirrel itself into Cecily’s characterisation and some of her speech e.g. ‘good we needed one’ (in response to one the Irish chieftains rising against RoY) or ‘they know what I tell them’ etc (these are just some of the few examples I tried to find while skimming through - but you’ll get it when you see it). The sprightly cover, present tense of this book really harmonised her business-like characterisation of Cecily with the snappiness of the prose - yet somehow this novel still felt more in-period than some other novels that try way harder? While picturing Cecily in my mind, I could hear her voice and imagine her life-like facial expressions and mannerisms as they were familiar to a 21st century ready… but what I saw was still a medieval woman and not one in a power-suit. I really like to see an author harnessing her own personal experiences, contributing her own spin to the canon of TWOTR fiction. The unapologetically modern bent on certain aspects of Cecily’s speech and views also helped me relate to her (through both her good and bad qualities) and I feel like the author’s decision to trade some of the authenticity for reader-character relatability was a strategic success.

And what of the other characters? Well, I wasn’t joking when I said this book really is rooted in Cecily’s head. Some of the other characterisations are so bare that we often get a figure reduced to one thing/personality trait - Warwick: Swaggery, Holland: His dogs, Elizabeth and Richard Woodville: their hair colour. Ngl, down the line I found the repetition of the ‘Golden Woodville’ or Holland and his slobbery dogs endearing and quite funny. I also felt like the repetition of these traits was so constant that the author was trying to show that certain figures, Cecily didn’t consider consequential in her life (although I think Warwick will get more development in the next book) so she just reduces them to one trait. This just reinforces how limited the POV is. It’s a good save for anyone who would accuse the author of being reductive/ dismissive towards certain figures - because Garthwaite surely couldn’t mean the historical Henry Holland to just be his dogs , but through Cecily we don’t get much more complexity and that’s just a limited POV thing not a statement that certain historical figures were inherently menign and we should consider them so. Contrast this to the Sunne in Splendour which does the opposite and purports to give us a full picture of every single figure that interacts with Richard III yet fails to do so leading to some portrayals which have genuinely given me second-hand offense. I already spoke about the women around Cecily, what about her husband RoY? Although I would have wanted a bit more depth, I still felt for him boomer-like and a bit naïve as he was - but by the time we got to his breaking point I would have liked to have seen a more radical change to his attitude towards the crown and a clearer turning point in characterisation in his ‘I’ve had enough’ moments. Nevertheless, I will applaud how the author showed RoY’s turn to rebellion as the culmination of a subtle and slow-burning disillusionment festering in him - but it might have been too slow and subtle in the end and I remember asking myself ‘when, when, when do we get the foolish and flamboyant Duke of Yor ?’ while I was approaching the end. Just like with the other figures - I feel like it’s safely hinted in the text that there is more to RoY than we see in the book but we are just not going all the way there. It made sense as there were many times when Cecily seemed obtuse towards him, not trying to understand the situation from his POV. P.S I really loved William Oldhall - a minor character but one I loved seeing on the page each time and really felt for when he died. Also shout-out to me feeling warm and gooey when Warwick was a proud papa at Isabel’s birth or whenever George’s Irish birth was referred to (her little Irish dragon 🥲).

Prose: Everyone who follows me for some time knows that pretty much everything flies under my nose as long as the prose in which it’s written is good enough. This is why I never miss the chance to sing Jarman’s praises no matter how often she defames my favourites or busts out with her extreme Richardianism. One of the first things I noticed about this book was the prose. It was really really good (although far different from either my style or the style of my favourite novels and not actually my ideal). Not only was the word choice great at many times (successfully conveying what I’ve been describing above) but the sentence structure was extremely varied and dynamic. The goodreads reviewers really weren’t kidding when they called it the next wolf hall (although from what I know of WH the styles are a bit different with Mantel being a bit artsier and more philosophic than Garthwaite but less clear). I’ve seen it avoid prose pitfalls we find in certain histfic classics: slamming the brakes in the plot at certain points to give us meaningless and long-winded vignettes or expositions of certain figures, their feelings (or motivation - yuck! - or events. Whenever Garthwaite does this it’s usually a tiny sentence or two and ,so, doesn’t take you out of the story. Physical descriptions of nature, people and jewellery were done with great originality and often contributed to the themes e.g. the river-emotions motif (particularly with regards to how Cecily’s attitude towards her fertility/pregnancy). The wit and snark throughout the book did not prevent certain scenes packing an emotional punch eg Cecily’s reaction to RoY’s death, her daughter Anne’s jabs at her, that one scene with the Irish stone which will forever live rent free in my mind (and served as an excellent example of how a scene can be both emotive and humorous/light-hearted), the story behind RoY’s ruby ring…

The characters really really felt real and there was not a moment where we lost sight of that even though at certain points I did feel like the book was being heavy-handed about Cecily’s excellent political qualities to the point of unrealism (she coming up with most of the plans, strategies and schemes). The dynamic, original and bold prose really saved much of this book from its weaker plot/characterisation choices and breathed life into certain plot devices (eg Woman that knows better than her husband) that had otherwise long dried up by the time of this book for overuse. The prose may not be original or rare within modern fiction as a whole (although I wouldn’t know as I only read post-1940 fiction when it’s historical fiction) , but I certainly think it is in TWOTR /medieval fiction. I’ll say it again - too often authors not particularly well versed in the cultural-literary-artistic side of this era, try their hand at constipated purple prose in an attempt to create atmosphere. I will be honest. I don’t think ‘purple prose’ can be avoided if you want to create an authentic atmosphere (you’ve surely noticed how overblown the literature and even normal speech of that time was in terms of vocabulary and adjectives when compared to ours) - minimalism and crispness wasn’t a thing in at that time. Thus far, I can only say Lytton-Bulwer’s purple prose was successful, with Jarman’s coming close as well. Everyone else I’ve read, tries their hands at medievalising their plot through prose but roots all their other aspects such as characterisation and plot arcs into their times and have failed imo. Garthwaite doesn’t even try. She sits halfway between modern-medieval in all things: characterisation, prose, plot arcs etc so we don’t end up with an awkward pastiche that reads like a bodice-ripper. Oddly by bringing her own spin to the prose by making it snappier, wittier and some of the dialogue more modern and reminiscent of a modern business environment rather than a poor attempt at Shakespeare, we end up with an overall experience that feels engaging and smart as we are both appealed to through the closeness we feel towards characters who speak and think in a similar way as we do, but are transported to a different time via the instances when medieval culture and attitude is interweaved to provide us with colour and a rich backdrop. This sets our aforementioned feeling of proximity to the historical premises making for a successful novel. It’s a self-aware book… that’s what I’m getting at. Its no Brothers Karamazov, and nor does it try to be. This makes it more unforgettable to me than its topic, which on the face of it isn’t so unique (there have been many other books written about Cecily).

… In conclusion, this author clearly put her heart into this book and it really shows that she wasn’t out to just get a quick buck. I still don’t consider it as good as Jarman and Lytton-Bulwer in terms of artistry, power or ‘quality’ so I take out one star to show this. While Lytton-Bulwer’s work is objectively superior and transcends historical fiction even when focused on the same events, this one has no ‘deeper meaning/insight into the human condition’. Neither does Jarman’s works, so I suppose my rating of this book over hers is arbitrary? I guess they are both great in different ways. However, I think the fact that certain innacuracies and oversights didn’t seem to have been made for any genuine artistic reason (this is actually also the case in Jarman’s We Speak no Treason but I’ll get to that later) I will neg a star. Having said that, while I was very pleased with this book, some of the foreshadowing made me very very scared that I won’t like the sequel nearly as much. I’ve seen too many good books utterly ruined by authors’ whose Richardianism know no limits, and I believe I am right to be scared. Well here’s hoping.

#lady-plantagenet’s book reviews #will add read more function soon #wrote this a bit in a rush #would LOVE LOVE to know anyone else’s opinions #but just really wanted to post it today #Cecily Neville #cecily #wars of the roses #historical fiction #richard of york #the white queen #Cecily 2021

18 notes · View notes

namjoonchronicles · 3 years

Text

worst | hs

↳ genre fluff, domestic, established relationship

↳ words 1.9k

↳ summary To think that the world has conspired for you to love Hoseok is highly unlikely, but everything is possible with a little faith.

↳ song pink sweat$ ‘at my worst’

↳ author’s note the 7-day writing challenge is 4/7 done, I had much fun with this one and I toyed around a concept I have been trying to write better off. Enjoy <3

I need somebody who can love me at my worst. No, I’m not perfect but I hope you see my worth.

Soulmate. The concept is mesmerizing. To think that there’s such a person for each and everyone, that one person that was created by the universe specifically for you. From the time that they were born, down to the events that happened which led them to you, they are all orchestrated in order for you to meet. You always thought that those who eventually found their soulmate are the luckiest person in the world. Like you said, the concept is mesmerizing. To think that the stars in the sky, conspired for Hoseok to happen. How he is a gift to your dull life.

Even as he is jumping on the couch and walking towards one end to the other when his feet were vacuumed by the robot vacuums that he himself bought. You wiped your face down. “I get it now, why you said it was scary, I get it now,” Hoseok yelped. You puffed your cheeks at him. You’re pointing the remote at the screen, swiping on the Netflix, before you paused to look at him. He was sitting beside you, hiding his face behind the striped cushion. “Are you sure you want to watch this with me? You’re absolutely sure?” your brows knitted as you grew doubtful. There’s a number of movies on your watch list but you had been wanting to watch Alice in Borderline since you heard about it. It stirred your interest, knowing that your friends have a knack of watching good movies. Your husband must have watched the thriller without you because he looks traumatized. You feel sorry for him and tell him again that he doesn’t have to do this with you if he doesn’t want to. “What do you want me to do? Sleep in the room alone while you watch it here?? That’s even more scary, sleeping alone…” he pouted. Voice muffled, hugging the cushion like his life depends on it. “I’m strong…” he said, enthusiastically. Before he tracts back into the cushion, putting on his defensive mode. You laced your fingers with him and leaned your head on his shoulders. He jumps at every scare, and hurls the cushions he could get his hands on, then screams his head off when the jump scares arrives. You’re so different from him. He doesn’t really like coffee and only drinks them when he needs to. He would walk into the room and be friends with everyone just by smiling. And in communication, he would much rather speaking out front on what he wants. He is excellent at reading the room but unlike you, he doesn’t dwell on the softer side and the easier way of solving things, instead, he focused on solving the problem and it didn’t matter what it looked to others. His goals are immaculate and crystal clear. He will fight hard for what he wants and even if he is shaken by the pernicious stage of it all, he will give it, his entirety. The way that he is fierceless, firm and throttling towards his goals are admirable. He might be pulling your PJs by the sleeves in an attempt to hide from the monster in the screen, sweating profusely and chanting your name; but this much is true, he would do anything for you. You remember it so clearly, these hands that hold you so tight, his wedding band shimmering in the dim light, was the same that rainy night. Those veins protruding, wet from the heavy rain, dripping down his chin and determination in his eyes--as he held the door open. Leather jacket, black shirt, black damaged jeans. His black Chelsea boots marched forward, had you cornered on the wall behind the door. Pinched your chin so gently, his lips ghosting over your cheek, to finally trail down on your lips. Strange it was that it wasn’t him that was shivering, it was you. He had his eyes fixated on the view of your Cupid’s bow. “Do I believe in forever, you say?” he smirked against you, “Of course no.” He clasped your lips with his own, exhaling hard through his nostril and moaning in your mouth while his hand ravages all over your body. He shifted his hand down your arms to the phone you’re holding and left them on the kitchen counter. “I don’t want to pretend anymore,” he growled. It’s really hard to string that Hoseok to this one. When he gestures for you to keep your arm around him so he sleeps better. When he pulls the chair you sat on so you could be closer. When he writes little love notes on every surface you touch. When he sends bouquets of flowers at work or at home. When he wanted a couple shoes that matched the couple shirts with the couple phone case. When he stole a spoon of your ice cream when you stole his. When he threw glances across the room at you and looked away smiling. Or when he insisted on driving you home that late night in September after a barbecue party when you looked like a mess and smelled like charcoal. When he dropped on one knee to tie up your shoelaces in the middle of the mall. When he spent his day searching for the laptops with you even when he doesn’t know much about technology and was texting Yoongi at every tech terms he had never heard of. It’s easy to dismiss the love you are poured with when you’re the one receiving. It’s easy to look over the details of the meticulous feeling one would carefully thread. Hoseok was, to put simply, a tapestry torn at the seams. His family was not supportive of his passion for dancing. He ran away at a young age to fight. On Christmas, he was asked why he didn’t return home and he swiftly walked away without answering. The answer was, he didn’t know where home actually was. A home was supposed to make you feel safe, to make you feel at ease, protected and loved for being yourself. His home was anything but that. He was at war with himself for the longest time. Left his emotion behind for as long as he knew. Filled with ambitions from early on, Hoseok had nothing to lose, or so he thought. You could not have interfered at the worst time. He danced till his body broke. The sores and bruises that covered his body, they were the badges he wore. As he lay motionless on the hospital bed, tears trailed down the tails of his eyes, staring helplessly on the ward’s ceiling from the pain he couldn’t speak of, he whispered, “I can’t do this anymore.” The loudest whisper you’ve heard him let out. “What are you saying, Hoseok?” you uncrossed your arm and sped to the side of his bed, fingers clawing on the edges, “Have you not seen yourself on stage? You’re the happiest on it… You forget everything else, even this pain.” You clasped Hoseok’s knuckle, looking hopeful into his eyes, “You were born to be on stage, you’re a performer, I refuse to let you feel like you’ve turned every stone. You haven’t. You mustn't give in… Pain is temporary.” Life is regret. Life is all about regretting the choices we didn’t make. Life is also about accepting the regret we feel from the same choices. And if it means to tell yourself over and over again, that this is good for you, one day, you might eventually believe them. For all that you care is if when the storm comes and swept everything you know away, it’s Hoseok’s hand you want to hold on to, it’s Hoseok’s eyes you want to get lost in and it’s his voice you want to live on for. Maybe that’s what soulmate is. Maybe soulmate is a person created by the universe specifically for you, for you to fight head on with, for you to nurture, for you to lose your mind at so they can put you back together. Maybe soulmate isn’t the perfect mirror of you, but a perfect contender for you. Maybe he is the one that showed you what exactly was wrong about you so you can be better. Maybe he is the one that calls you out on your mistakes so you could fix them. Maybe he is also the one who pulls you close when you’ve pushed him away. Maybe he is the one who wipes the tears he puts on you. Maybe he is the one that puts a smile on your face when the world is against you. Maybe he is the person who would fight the world for your hand. The concept of soulmate is again, mesmerizing. To know just how much the universe cared enough for you that they conspired to create a soul for you, from the beginning of time. They say their names are written on your palms when you were conceived. With these dazzling thoughts, you took Hoseok’s hand in yours, examining each line that crosses its path. “What is it?” He lets you, he himself munching on cereals. You zoomed into his palm more, tracing the lines. “They say, the name of the soulmate is written on the palms, I am trying to see if mine is on yours,” you monotonously explained. Hoseok stares at your head and slowly, but surely, a smile grows on his face. His cheeks rose and his ears turned red. He didn’t fight you off and even encouraged you on it. “Do you see it? Is it in english or kanji? Hangul?” He teased you. You dropped his hand when you realised that he was joking with you. He protests, “Why did you put them down? Keep holding on to my hand…” “I had a really good dream last night, but because you’re being mean to me, I am not going to tell you what it was…” you told him in a sing-song voice. He pesters you. Pouting and poking your sides relentlessly. You usually share with him your strangest of dreams. Sometimes they are the exact opposite of what happened. But the way he listened, and the face that he wore always encourages you. Hoseok listens with his whole body. “I dreamt of you in the kitchen. You have a baby draped over your shoulder and it was crying, and you were cooing it gently,” you told him. He paused for the longest time. He took one spoon of milk from the cereal and sip on them slowly. He lifts his face up, thinking and glancing over the clock on the wall and he said, with a serious face and tone, “Are you sure it wasn’t Mickey*?” .

. *Mickey refers to Hoseok’s Shih Tzu dog.

57 notes · View notes

krisingtons · 3 years

Text

Happy Birthday Toshinori Yagi / All Might!

To celebrate the Symbol of Peace's birthday, here is my take on Toshinori's potential astrology natal chart, complete with explanations and reasoning. Buckle up for the highly specific, mashing up two niche interests post that literally no one asked for.

For BNHA Fans:

I will do my absolute best to explain the chart below step-by-step. If there's anything you want to know more about, feel free to ask or consult an online resource with the terms I used.

All the placements I've chosen are based on what we know in canon. Any new information we receive in canon may change this post.

The only official astrology information we have in canon is Toshinori's Sun sign, which is Gemini based on his June 10th birthday. (I'll get into this.)

After looking at some of the Sun signs Horikoshi gave to different characters, I'm convinced the man knows at least a little bit about astrology because they're very on point for everyone.

For Astrologers:

I only focused on the seven personal planets, even though I believe the generational planets have a big impact on the BNHA universe. It was just more than I could focus on.

I did not bother with the decans other than to vaguely have a sense of it, especially for the angles. I messed a few up slightly.

I also did not bother with retrogrades, even though I suspect Toshinori has one or two (I suspect Mars in particular).

I use Whole Sign Houses. To calculate houses, start with the AC, then move one sign counter-clockwise for each house. (Here, Leo is the 1st, Virgo is the 2nd, etc.)

For the moment of truth...

Toshinori Yagi's Astrology Natal Chart

(Yes, I drew it by hand. I'll zoom in for specific parts)

Sun, Moon, Rising

Since the only piece of information we have to work with from canon is Toshinori's Sun sign, let's start there.

The bigger circle surrounding the smaller circle represents Toshinori's Sun. Born on June 10th, this makes him a Gemini Sun. The Sun represents the ego, how the outer world sees us, and Geminis are very talkative, sociable, playful, and charming, but can be reluctant to engage with deeper feelings and are often restless for activity. As far as an astrological starting point goes, well done, Horikoshi. These themes clearly show up in Toshinori/All Might's external identity, and as I'll share, it plays a big part in his career, too, since I put it in the 11th house of community and serving others. (Note that conjunct MC, astrologers.) Next, let's talk about Toshinori's Moon.

This is the symbol for the moon. I feel pretty strongly that Toshinori has an Aquarius Moon. The moon represents our emotions, our inner life, and sometimes our mother. Aquarius is all about society, community, an unconventional way of doing things, and an idealism for what could be. Aquarius' often feel a push and pull between needing independence and needing to connect with others emotionally and intellectually. Not only does this seem to cover Toshinori's inner life well, but his mother figure served those ideals, too. Let's move on to the Rising Sign, also known as the AC. The Rising Sign indicates what sign was on the horizon at the time someone was born.

I placed his Rising Sign in Leo for two reasons. First, Leo is ruled by the Sun, and since Toshinori clearly embodies many of the traits of his Sun sign, it made sense to double down on that. Second, Leo Rising perfectly places his Sun in the 11th house of friendship, community, hopes and wishes, and social goals.

Mercury and Venus

Moving on to Mercury and Venus, these two planets go well together because they have rules about their distance from the Sun. Mercury can never be more than one sign away from the Sun, while Venus can never be more than two signs away due to their physical proximity to the Sun from our viewpoint on Earth.

First, Mercury.

Mercury is the symbol next to the Sun that (ironically) looks like it has bunny ears. Mercury indicates how we communicate things and how we learn. It is at home in Gemini, and people with a Gemini Mercury are often witty and knowledgeable. With it so close to the Sun and the Midheaven (which we'll get to later), it indicates how much his words were a part of his "brand" in his career, both through catchphrases and through frequent media appearances.

Now, Venus.

This was probably the toughest one to place for me (and for the astrologers paying close attention, I probably placed the degree too far from the Sun, my bad). I decided to put it in Aries in the 9th house for a couple of reasons.

First, Venus rules Toshinori's 10th house of career, and the 9th house represents, among other things, international travel and higher education. All Might's career was largely based on his time studying abroad and branding himself with symbolism from a country other than his own. Venus also represents things we love and our creative energy, and All Might clearly has a love of all things American.

Then, I placed Venus in Aries because Aries is ruled by Mars. It's a sign and planet of action, demonstrating Toshinori's drive in his career. However, Mars is also a planet that is considered violent, symbolizing war and things that literally cut. This pairs well with where I've placed Mars as shown below.

Mars

Alright, Mars is important canon-wise. As I just mentioned from Venus, Mars is a planet that cuts, which indicates war. And I've placed it in Cancer, which is Toshinori's 12th house. The 12th house, among other things, indicates service, sacrifice, mental health, and enemies. Toshinori literally sacrificed himself, his body, his life, by fighting a long-time enemy, an enemy he trained years to fight (hello again, 9th house Venus). Cancer is ruled by the Moon, which pairs well with his sense of service, too, since it's in Aquarius.

Jupiter and Saturn

Here's where we get into the meat of canon.

Jupiter first.

Jupiter is at home in Pisces, a sign that's all about dreams, saving the world, charitable giving, but also elusiveness. Jupiter, meanwhile is one of the best planets in Toshinori's chart, not only because it's in Pisces, but because Jupiter is all about good fortune, blessings, and opportunities. I've put it in the 8th house, which, among other things, signifies things that are inherited. That's right, my take on Toshinori's astrology indicates him getting One for All.

Planets in the 8th house can also indicate how someone handles a crisis, and Jupiter gives Toshinori the strength and positive attitude to handle a crisis well.

Finally, Saturn.

Saturn is like the Dad of the sky, indicating structure, discipline, and order. I've put it in Sagittarius, which is Toshinori's 5th house. Jupiter also rules Sagittarius, doubling down on the power of Jupiter in his chart. More importantly, the 5th house represents children and other ways we leave our legacy in the world. Saturn in the 5th house often indicates people who raise children that are not their own. This can be through adoption, step-parenting, or... mentorships. Hello, Izuku!

People with Saturn in the 5th house also are not inclined to relax, choosing to work more in lieu of leisure time.

What about all those lines?

Alright, I admittedly don't want to get too much into the aspect lines (the red and blue ones) because that goes more in-depth than I wanted, but they are purposeful. If you're interested in aspects, I encourage you to look up Squares, Trines, and Oppositions in particular.

I will mention the Midheaven, though. The Midheaven (MC) is the highest point in the sky, but not an actual physical body.

The MC represents a person's calling or vocation. If the Midheaven is not in the 10th house of career, it imports the themes of the house its placed in into someone's career. I've placed it again in Toshinori's 11th house of community since that's obviously a big part of his career. I also did that because the MC is always countered by the IC, which indicates someone's home and family life. Tumblr won't let me add another image, but if you go back up to Saturn, you can see the IC is also in Toshinori's 5th house, doubling down on the idea that mentor/mentee relationships play a big part in his sense of family.

As one final note, some of you may have noticed that I did place the north and south node in Toshinori's chart in the 5th and 11th house respectively. I won't get into detail here, but I wanted to give you the term in case you wanted to look it up. It's actually pretty significant this year, though, because the nodes indicate which signs eclipses happen in for that year, and it just so happens that there is a Solar Eclipse in Gemini today!

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed my wildly specific birthday post for Toshinori Yagi, better known as All Might. I'm wishing the happiest of birthdays to our favorite sunflower!

#toshinori yagi #yagi toshinori #all might #dadmight #happy birthday all might #natal chart #astrology natal chart #zodiac signs #bnha #mha #astrology #birth chart

19 notes · View notes

yourfavouritebella · 3 years

Text

Theatre Techniques

#1 Post - Acting Tips through Meisner’s technique

After being self-isolated for so long, you’ve finished watching all of the Netflix shows and cook every possible dish in your fridge, now what?

Well, maybe it’s time to touch upon acting through Meisner’s techniques at home.

Sandy Meisner is a well-known actor based in New York. He was one of the curious actors along with Stella Adler that adopted Stanislavski’s technique (also known as Method Acting) til he felt the need to develop his own acting form, which is known as Meisner Technique that conveys naturalism and playing with the tension between acting partners.

Using these techniques, it will help you become a better actor by embracing yourself to be in the moment with your scene partners. You may have to create a zoom meeting with your scene partner for one of the exercises, but what could be a better way to make a reason to meet people again than to rehearse on your own!

The Meisner technique has three main components that all work hand in hand:

Emotional preparation

Whilst reading the line, learn to delve into a given circumstance that will generate real emotions. Be in the character’s shoes and think how would you react when the situation happened.

Repetition

By repeating your lines, it can make you rely on their organic instincts.

Improvisation

As you are getting used to the flow of the lines, it will encourage spontaneity and reduce an actor’s self-consciousness.

1st Exercises:

Actor 1: Your hair is long.

Actor 2: My hair is long.

Actor 1: Your hair is long.

Actor 2: My hair is long.

A: (Noticing B scratched their arm) You scratched your arm.

B: I scratched my arm.

From this exercise, it removes the over-thinking part of acting that after even a short period of time, one realises the ‘text’ becomes essentially irrelevant, and it is the subtext and relationship that really matter. It lets you be more observant of your acting partner and being able to be more perceptive in the body language of each other.

2nd Exercise:

When reading the lines, recall a memory where you were in that circumstance and apply that emotion to the scene.

If it’s not a circumstance you had any experience of, you can draw external sources of research, eg. asking friends or family, watching interviews, reading books, and people-watching, to gather a library of additional material to provide inspiration.

In conclusion, as you try out these exercises, you will feel differently when acting because you’ll be facing the “given circumstances” of the character with different points of view. It gets you to be more observant and analyse the tension between you and your partner to be inspired and provoke your acting decisions. Hence it will make you listen and react with clarity.

#2 Post - Acting Tips through Adler’s Acting Technique

With so many acting techniques nowadays, how will you be able to choose? It’s like contemplating which crisps do you want to eat, sometimes you feel like getting Tangy Cheese Doritos and sometimes you’re feeling for Flamin Hot Cheetos. The choices are endless, but don’t fret! In the end, it’s always good to give a try of each technique to see which suits your taste.

As we had previously touched on Meisner’s technique, today we’re going to go through Adler’s acting techniques that you can try out yourself! :)

Stella Adler is a daughter of two professional actors, hence debuted her acting career at the age of 4. She is regarded highly in the industry due to her professionalism and proficiency in her acting as she learned and earned through experience. After learning Stanislavski’s and Strasberg’s acting technique, she evolved her own acting technique that has more involvement in imagination.

Now, shall we delve into her techniques? whispers yes, we shall!

Here are the three main components of Adler’s techniques:

Analysing Text

She has a great emphasis on script analysis and respect for the playwright. When teaching, she, “gave young actors more responsibility by asking them to understand the play themselves rather than relying on a director to interpret it.” Actors must look into the script to analyse the character’s personality and lifestyle then align their actions with the character’s circumstances. When reading text, you need to ask yourself, “What is my character going through that would produce that experience?”

Cultivating Imagination

As an actor, there is a need for constant observation and curiosity when developing an actor’s imagination. Rather than drawing up your own personal experience, Adler implies to actors to use real observations to fuel their imagination and create in-depth characters.

Elevating Characters

Adler famously told her students, “Don’t be boring”. In context, there is the need to think seriously about human nature and communicate important ideas to let actors reflect something larger than life within the characters.

Since you got the idea of what she aims for actors to achieve, let’s look into exercises that can help cultivate your acting skills.

Exercise #1 - Imagination

Pick an object and describe it. You can talk about the texture, colour, shape, anything just to describe the object. It may be awkward at first, but once you practice on describing things, you will find yourself to be faster in developing your imagination. Then take this exercise to next level by letting your thoughts travel through your mind. For example, a red lamp can remind you of ruby earrings a woman wore at a party you went to which reminds you of the music that was playing and so on and so on.

Exercise #2 - Paraphrasing

Pick a book and write down one idea from the book in your own words, then present it onstage to others. This lets you understand the idea, then respond to it and make it your own until you feel a real need to communicate it.

Exercise #3 - Inner-Justification

Randomly pick a simple line from a play you don’t know and bring it to life by imagining in details the reason why you’re saying that line. Try to make a strong choice, something that stirs you and creates conflict. This exercise helps actors experience their lines instead of just saying them.

In conclusion, Adler constantly challenges her students to think imaginatively and her techniques require a lot of hard work and dedication. All of these techniques are easily done at home whenever you have time and keep yourself occupied when being in the same room starts to bore you.

#3 Post - Acting Tips through Chekhov’s Techniques

Now that you have Meisner’s and Adler’s acting technique in the bag, why not learn one more and get yourself well rounded with techniques! As Michael Chekhov said, “Don’t we have the freedom to make the most of the best in all techniques? There are no prohibitions against it. All it takes is a little wisdom, imagination, and courageous experimentation.” I think you guessed it, but we’re going to teach you some Chekhov’s Techniques that you can try out yourself! :)

Mikhail Alexandrovich Chekhov was a Russian-American actor, director, author, and theatre practitioner born in Saint Petersburg. He was a nephew of Anton Chekhov who collaborated with Konstantin Stanislavski to do production of his plays. He was called Stanislavski's brightest student and was invited to join the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre. It was until 1927, when he did a production of The Case, he was "denounced by Bolshevik officials as an 'idealist' and 'sick artist'", so he forced himself to leave Russia and the Moscow Art Theatre to dodge arrest. He then came to Hollywood, where he taught film stars including Ingrid Bergman, Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, and Gregory Peck.

The aim is to find truthful moments onstage in a “psycho-physical” approach that develops your imagination while establishing emotion in physical action. This technique relies upon drawing emotion from both the mind, and the body as it helps for actors who are beginners because “psycho-physical” focuses on connecting their body more when saying their lines.

When approaching a script, these are the following steps using the “psycho-physical” technique:

Step 1: Create a gesture in your mind.

Your body is considered as an instrument and trained your body like a musician, constantly learning to move and portray with virtuosity. As an example, let’s look at the line, “Please don’t go.” Think about how your body will react to the line.

Step 2: Begin to rehearse the gesture. Make it huge, full of energy, and abstract.

Now that you got the gesture in mind, this time you got to test it out and give your 100 percent! Also, there’s no one way of doing the gesture, so it’s good to explore your body to find the intention of the gesture. Always be mindful of the intention in the gesture, so that it lets your mind remember physically.

Step 3: Continue doing the gesture in a large, non-realistic way, while saying the line.

When doing naturalistic acting, it always limits you to how you should express yourself as a character, so it’s best to be exaggerated as much as possible.

Step 4: Begin to make the gesture more realistic, while saying the line. Keep the energy!

Now you can tone down the actions, but make sure to keep the same energy when doing it exaggeratedly because the gesture should represent this desire of the character’s intention.

This is not part of the step, but always make time to reflect your experience on what you had experiment and see if the gesture is working out or not. Chekhov always makes his students question whether the gesture is helpful or not. The purpose of this technique is to make a bridge between your body and mind requires a lot of practice, but it does portray your character in an organic sense because the gestures come in naturally once you understand the significance.

In conclusion, Chekhov repeatedly challenges his students to use their body to find the intention of the character and build a strong relationship with your imagination. Hopefully, this technique works for you and you don’t scare off your friends or family when rehearsing at home (I will not be responsible for the weird looks :)

4 notes · View notes

retronator · 4 years

Text

The last 10 years of pixel art

Retronator the blog is exactly 10 years old right now (+ an hour or so more since I can’t seem to stop editing this post)!

I want to take this opportunity to look back at the teenage years of the 21st century and reflect on how the pixel art scene has grown over the years. I only promise a personal perspective, pieced together from my faulty memory and a bit more reliable archive of 1,700 posts on this blog.

2010

Social media sites emerged already in the late 2000s (Facebook launched in 2004, Twitter in 2006, Tumblr in 2007), but it took quite some time before they caught on, especially outside the US. I joined Tumblr in July 2010 and there were relatively few pixel artists active on the site. @jinndevil and @unomoralez go the farthest of those that I followed. The first post I reblogged was a Back to the Future piece from @megapont (via some blogpost share, since Megapont duo didn't join till 2013).

What was huge on the network however was sharing retro-gaming artworks by blogs like @it8bit and @gameandgraphics. This included many pixel art pieces and it helped grow a community of fans that adored both old games and pixels.

2011

I'd put 2011 down as the start of the hi-bit era of pixel art games, championed by the release of the iconic adventure game Sword & Sworcery. Pixel purism of the initial pixel art movement was left behind by mixing pixels with high-res special effects like soft shadows and vignetting. Also, spaghetti legs started their fad period.

Artists such as @probertson, @drewpixel, and @merrigo started their days on Tumblr, gathering huge audiences over the years. Meanwhile, Retronator grew to a whooping 100 followers by the end of the year.

2012

Tumblr's fan spirits were going stronger and stronger, to which I threw my own logs on the fire by releasing Tribute, my biggest and most popular piece of fan art I created so far.

The highly anticipated FEZ got released (to critical acclaim and other more controversial consequences), further bringing pixel art in front of the mainstream gaming audience.

From newly-followed artists, @johanvinet was damn inspiring with his smooth animations. Anything GIF did immensely good on the Tumblr dashboard.

2013

This was THE year for Tumblr. So many new artists joined, it was hard to keep track. Anyone from established names like Mojang's art director @jnkboy and @konjakonjak of Noitu Love 2 fame (later Iconoclasts) to pixel art beginners such as @waneella, now one of the most well-known illustrators in the scene.

The push for modern art direction with pixel art games wasn't stopping either. Not that amazing, more traditionally styled titles (with fresh color palettes) weren't present, as Chasm's debut on Kickstarter showed, but it was Hyper Light Drifter that really stole everyone's heart (machine) on the same crowdfunding platform. Gradients and smooth dynamic shading became unapologetically part of the pixel art (gaming) vocabulary from then on.

When Papers, Please got released at the end of the year to universal appraisal, a new example was set for showing that pixel visuals don't necessarily need to be the most polished, technically-impressive pieces of artistic expression, they can also be simple—the majority of detail-filling can be offloaded to the player's imagination.

2014

Pixel purist ideology was a highly debated topic. Dan Fessler, the background artist on Chasm, did a strong push against the tighter set of constraints which said you should only use 'clean' tools such as the pencil and color fill to complete your artworks. Dan instead only cared about clean results, pioneering in the process the technique of HD Index Painting that used the depths of Photoshop layer magic to get otherwise identical results. And there were plenty of others right around the corner that wouldn't even care about keeping the results married to traditional pixel art ideals.

Still, the majority of pixel art at this point was very orthodox. I started the Artist Feature series that showcased my favorite artists and none of them did anything controversial (nor they needed to). The biggest break from the old days was mainly highly increased color counts that allowed for subtle transitions without dithering, and free color picking without creating predefined color palettes. Octavi Navarro started his highly iconic @pixelshuh scenes, and the completely unknown @8pxl started her journey towards experimentation with pink sky gradients.

Even more importantly, Pixel Dailies were born on Twitter, following Ben Porter's 365 days of doing pixel art daily.

2015

I called 2015 The Year of Pixel Dailies in the end-of-the-year article in my newly started Retronator Magazine. The Twitter community really exploded this year, bringing in many new artists to the medium, with Pixel Dailies serving as a platform to raise visibility to everyone, old and new. I found out about @weilarddrake and @orange-magik this way, Slynyrd, @iceztiqarts, @igorsandman … Other freshly-discovered people on tumblr were @kirokazepixel (one of the most prolific artists on the scene), @faxdoc (his learning journey was inspiring enough for its own article), and Talecrafter with @deathtrashgame (starting a whole new style of aliased, low-res painting without caring about individual pixels).

The discussion whether pixel art could survive past its nostalgic roots was still in the air, stirred by opinions such as A Pixel Artist Renounces Pixel Art. History is proving them wrong however, with pixel art stronger than ever in 2020. It's not a visual language people born after the 80s couldn't understand.

New-school voxel art pieces started trending with the advent of Magicavoxel, pioneering the development of pixel art's sibling in 3D. The first pixel art convention Pixel Art Park was held in Tokyo. And (important for me personally), I came up with Pixel Art Academy, an adventure game that would take my ambitions in pixel art education into the future.

2016

After 9 years in development, Owlboy released! Also Hyper Light Drifter! And Stardew Valley! And Kingdom! Pixel art games were not dying, they were on the rise.

Edge (the popular British video game magazine) published a special 200+ page issue called Art of the Pixel. It featured contemporary artists outside the gaming context, championing the aesthetic's transition from its video game roots into its own art form.

Pedro Medeiros of @studiominiboss started his famous series of GIF tutorials, subsequently encouraging many others to share their knowledge in the popular square format. Tumblr still saw new artists joining the platform, such as @motocross-arts and @apolism (two thirds of the Japanese trio The Ultimate Pixel Crew), while others like @6vcr started their first pixel explorations that year. @brunopixels, an old-schooler on the platform like me, sparked the Octobit movement, a pixel art alternative to Inktober.

2017

Further new names on Tumblr included @guttykreum (outdoorsy perspective pieces) and @scrixels (one of the most consistent daily posters with over 1,000 artworks by now).

The annual Shibuya Pixel Art Contest joined Pixel Art Park at promoting the art form in Tokyo, Japan (and worldwide really). Lospec became the new go-to resource site for pixel art, picking up the mantle from PixelJoint and Pixelation that—while still active—stagnated technologically and feature-wise.

More than anything, pixel art games were everywhere. Maybe it only seemed to me this way since I was able to go to the Game Developer's Conference as press and had the chance to interview many many people in the scene, leading to over half a year of daily content on this blog. Indie games felt stronger than ever with so many of us full-on realizing our dreams of creating our own games professionally. The one that left the biggest splash on the scenes was no doubt The Last Night, announced front and center in-between AAA titles during Microsoft's E3 conference. The brothers Soret pushed the art direction even beyond the hi-bit era moniker, fusing 3D, shaders, and modern cinematography with pixels in an iconic combination that, like Sword & Sworcery's spaghetti legs, was so atmospheric that it couldn't be resisted by future imitators.

2018

Another game that pushed technological boundaries was Pathway, finally stepping into full light in 2018 and releasing one year later. I still think it has the most advanced pixel art graphics engine to date, using voxels and other tricks under the hood to deliver a completely dynamically lit environment while retaining the pixel-perfect 3/4 view aesthetic. Pixel art games were firmly part of mainstream gaming by now, with Celeste winning many awards alongisde pixelish Return of the Obra Dinn, further cementing the presence of pixels as an ever-evolving medium capable of expressing very different art styles.

I decided to focus solely on developing Pixel Art Academy in 2018, putting this blog on relative hiatus with very sporadic updates towards the end of the year. But I never let it die. I thoroughly enjoy writing about the scene and my interest in the art form only grows with time.

2019–2020

Ironically, the closer the years are to the present, the less I remember what things stood out most. Maybe it's because my brain hasn't had the chance to automatically prune my memories yet from the overload of information that is the interwebs these days. Pixel art seems so out there, so much of my everyday life, encompassing me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, DeviantArt … Even on TikTok you see kids zooming out of their freshly pixelized Minecraft photographs they call pixel art. The medium is alive, and more than ever.

As for the Retronator blog, from its zero followers exactly 10 years ago, it grew to 100 after a year and a half, 1000 the year after, 10k when it was 5 years old, and 30k just last month. Tumblr is still the platform where most of you follow my pixel art reports and I don't intend to stop anytime soon.

Here's to the next decade! Thank you all for reading. <3

#Retronator #Pixel Art

73 notes · View notes

italian-pastry · 3 years

Photo

CHART TIME CHART TIME (I highly encourage you to zoom in and look at everyone I spent a while on them)

Also, if you look closely enough, you’ll see two new faces in the crowd ;)

Underneath the cut, I’ll explain the lines between people, and go into detail for the newbies! Basically, there’s a lot of stuff under the cut that you might wanna check out ;)

Name Reference (in case you forgot or you’re new here): Starting at the very tippy top with the Purple-To-Yellow lady, this is a list of everyone going counterclockwise. (the bolded ones are the new guys) 1. Nozomi Togota - 23 2. Chieko Ojirou – 22 3. Kosuke Kirishima – 19 4. Mieko Kirishima-Bakugou – 17 5. Toshi Midoriya – 17 6. Takeo Shinaro-17 7. Tozen – 17 8. Arisu Tetsukendou- 17 9. Takiyo Asui– 16 10. Kazumi Yuyu- 16 11. Satoshi Yaoyarozu - 15 12. Utano Yaoyarozu - 15 13. Minako Ashido - 15 14. Ezumo Uraraka – 14 15. Makairo Yuyu - 13 16. Akio Kirishima-Bakugou – 13 17. Yukio Aoyama - 12 18. Arakan Midoriya - 12 19. Hiroki Kirishima-Bakugou – 11 20. Akihiko Tetsukendou - 10 21. Ryuji Oirou – 9 22. Teruko Iida - 8 23. Koharu Iida – 8 24. Kinuyo Shoji – 8 25. Youdai Midoriya – 6 26. Nikko Togota - 5 27. Kana Kirishima-Bakugou - 3 28. Tatsuhiro Kirishima-Bakugou – 3 29. Taishiro Ojirou - 1 30. Tsuki Asui – less than a year 31. Masashi Shinaro - Newborn 32. Maemi Shinaro - Newborn Yes there are 32 of these clowns and I love all of them.

Onto the new guys!

Kosuke Kirishima: I refer to him as Sasuke in my head. He is the only son of Natuso and an OC of mine, Emiko! Emiko is also Kirshima’s older sister, which is where Kasuke got his last name from, so no, he is not an affair baby or secret twin sibling.(You can bet your ass Natuso would take the first chance he got to ditch his dad’s name and so here we are.) He is 19, very handsome, and is starting work in Hero Support! His name means “Rising Sun”

Kinuyo Shoji: Created simply because I had a cool idea for her quirk. She is the only daughter of Shoji and a Still-Unnamed OC of mine. (I feel bad I still haven’t named her. She’s been here for a while.) Kinuyo is a lil spider lady and does ballet! Her name means “Generation of Silk” (because haha spider)

Now to the lines! This might take a while....... Please note that some things I won’t be going into detail for because of either story/character reasons, or I want you guys to imagine your own reasons as for why these folks are connected!

Red (Crushing?) [please note that the crush only applies from where the arrow is coming from to where the arrow is going]: - Kazumi -> Toshi and Tozen. You’re typical “I’m in love with two boys and I don’t know what to do!!!!!” Storyline (Extra points since you’ve got the Bad Boy and the Boy Next Door aesthetics). I think it fit well with Kazumi’s Trope-Filled life and could lead to some fun humor. - Makairo -> Satoshi. I think it’s more of an admiration sort of thing. Makairo thinks Satoshi is super cool because she’s cool and punk and not like those other preppy girl Makairo knows. - Koharu -> Akio. This is one of those little puppy crushes kids get. It’s also Koharu - once again - trying to seem cool and mature by crushing on an older boy (although if she rlly was trying to pull that off, there are better choices than a 13 year old himbo) - Nikko -> Mieko. Man the Kirishima-Bakugous sure are irresistible aren’t they. Yet again another puppy crush. Nikko thinks Mieko is super cool for being strong and heroic. I didn’t include this, but she also thinks Kazumi is awesome for being a real life Magical Girl.

Orange (Best Friends) [friend groups will be listed all together]: - Mieko, Toshi, Tozen, and Arisu - Takeo, Satoshi, and Utano. Their parents visit each other a lot, so these guys saw a lot of each other growing up. Fancy Boy, Pastel Punk, and Sk8r Boi. - Minako and Kazumi. - Ezumo, Arakan, and Hiroki. Middle Child cluuuuuuub. - Makairo, Akio, and Yukio. These three would be the funniest thing together. Makairo is always yelling at Akio for being a “Typical Jock” cough cough Himbo and Yukio is constantly keeping her from punching people. Akio is here for moral support. I just....... THE POTENTIAL YOU GUYS. - Koharu, Teruko, Kinuyo, and Youdai. Koharu, Kinuyo, and Youdai all attend the same dance lessons, and Teruko is here because wherever her sister is she is right there behind her to make her laugh. - Taishiro, Tsuki, Masashi, and Maemi. Babies. Their parents got them together and they kinda just stuck. Babies don’t care about nothing, and they get into as many shenanigans as 4 literal babies can get.

Yellow (friends) [I don’t really know why I made this and orange separate but here we are]: - Kosuke, Akio, Kana, and Tatsuhiro. Cousins doing dumb cousins things together like cousins do. They do experiments with Kosuke’s gadgets a lot, and cause the appropriate amount of destruction an inventor and children who share blood with Bakugou would. - Mieko, Toshi, Takiyo, Takeo, and Arisu. (If this were to be a full blown story thing, these guys + Tozen would be the main characters. Takiyo maybe less than the others tho since he is still baby (haha 16 year old)) - Minako, Satoshi, and Utano. - Minako and Ezumo. Fashion buddies! - Akio and Akihiko. Their families practically live at each others houses, and these are two idiot boys around the same age. They get into harmless trouble a lot. - Yukio and Hiroki. Nervous kid cluuuub. They’re less nervous when they’re with each other, and they like talking about movies. - Arakan, Akihiko, Ryjui, and Nikko. Hero Club! They talk about heroes and how cool they are! Their research includes current heroes (their parents) and cool heroes of the past (Like GrandPa Toshinori!!!)

Green (Complicated) [complicated]: - Chieko, Ryuji, and Taishiro. Chieko moved away when Ryuji was 4 and Taishiro wasn’t even born. She wants to be involved with them, but she’s so far away and avoids their parents, so it’s hard. Ryuji doesn’t entirely understand, but he likes it when he gets to call his sister and she can tell him about all the cool America things she’s doing! - Makairo and Kazumi. Not actually not that complicated. Makairo hates heavily dislikes Kazumi for being a prep, but Kazumi believes it’s just a phase (which it probably is), so she’s not as respectful of Makairo as she should be and is patronizing. It’s tense.

Blue (hostile) [just means someone is a rude lil punk]: - Makairo and Akio. It’s just Makairo saying “Jock (derogatory)” and Akio saying “haha cool” every 10 minutes - Masashi, Tsuki, and Taishiro. Masashi is a little brat, and the other two are babies, so none of them really mind. Masashi just makes angry faces at them.

Purple (Had a falling out): - Chieko and Nozomi.

Familial relationships will be spelled out in my family tree post, whenever that comes out because GOD KNOWS how long that’ll take.

Hoooooo that was a lot. See y’all next time!

@questionableholidayreally ;D

#bnha next gen #bnha fankids #bnha #ugh imagine if I had to tag all the individual kids #gross #I am also not tagging all the individual parent ships #anyways #haha Tozen doesn't have a last name #and I won't explain why he has friends #haha #heehoo can't wait to see the theories this may spark #lookin at you bird #the more I think about Akio and Makairo the funnier it gets #and I'm happy I have all these headshots to use for the family tree #but AHHHH I STILL HAVE TO DRAW GROWN UP CHARACTERS #IT'LL TAKE SO LOOOONG #UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH #But I wanna do it bc I like looking at and making Family trees UwU #ngl a lot of this stuff was come up with on the spot #like all the crushes #I thought of those practically as I was drawing the lines #OH ALSO #not all the relationships are here because I didn't want the chart to be too messy #Mieko Kirishima-Bakugou #Akio Kirishima-Bakugou #Hiroki Kirishima-Bakugou #Kana Kirishima-Bakugou #Tatsuhiro Kirishima-Bakugou #Toshi Midoriya #Arakan Midoriya

14 notes · View notes

shoeshacks · 3 years

Text

2021 Top 5 Best Basketball Shoes - Shoeshacks

In this article, we'll take a closer look at the best basketball shoes on the market and discuss features that can help you differentiate yourself from other similar shoes.

I am an avid basketball player who has been playing for over 20 years. At that time I had a lot of shoes. By incorporating experience and combining it with additional research, I was able to properly disassemble all the detailed shoes in the guide below.

Of all the best basketball shoes, my personal favorite is the Kyrie 7. This is to promote flexibility, agility, and overall performance. Maximize your comfort with the latest large, state-of-the-art air zoom turbo unit and highly responsive shoes with excellent cushioning. The 360 degree traction pattern is unique and the overall durability is maintained for a long time. It's pretty light.

There are also many other good basketball shoes, depending on the position you are playing, your personal taste and your budget. If you want to take a closer look at Kyrie 7 or other top models, the guide below is looking for the best. Who should receive it? Of course, you can't play basketball properly without the right shoes. However, what works best for your game or style depends on your personal taste. There are many different shoes on the market, each unique to the player or position.

What is best for you is not always best for someone else. That said, all the shoes in this article are complete and durable shoes for serious players. They can withstand a long time on the track and are designed to allow you to run, jump and cut to your heart's content.

From those who like to run collection games several times a week to those who have to practice for hours, all serious players will enjoy shoes here. If you play a lot of basketball or are on the court on a regular basis, you are happy with the following pairs.

2021 Best Basketball Shoes

Detailed Review

This section describes each shoe, its individual characteristics, and its market suitability.

1. Killy 7

Optimal application: Overall

Main features: Durable rubber sole. 360 degree traction pattern. Additional cushions and air zoom turbo unit. Reactive design. Elegant appearance. Sole: rubber

Fit: Fits size

Weight: 12 oz

Packed with a sleek open design and some of the best pillows on the market, the Kyrie 7 is a great shoe for both security guards and big guys. The unique design helps agility and greatly encourages your game on the track thanks to incredible energy savings and responsiveness.

Another thing that pushes this shoe to the top of my list is the pillow. Not only does it have a powerful zoom unit that spans the entire model, but the quilted collar further supports the Achilles tendon. A good combination of function and form.

A 360 degree draw does do its job, but there is no doubt that it could be better. You can see a lot of grip on the front, but over time everything becomes slightly unstable. Also, it should only be used indoors. It wears quickly when used on asphalt. Page 5

Ideal use: Gym use

Key features: More comfortable, soft and flexible material. Strong outsole and strong durability. Zoom air strobel. Multi-directional draw. Supports edging. Above: Gauze

Sole: rubber

Weight: 15 grams

If you are one of those who want to play indoors, the PG5 is one of the best basketball shoes you can buy. This option is a good combination of the highest quality damping system and support base, making it ideal for hardwoods. It allows you to run hard and also limits any discomfort or pain.

Another reason to choose these shoes, mostly when playing indoors, is multi-directional traction. They have a star grip that really enhances the power you can cut, jump or take off during the match. Therefore, every player in every position can benefit directly from the shoe.

PG5 is a true indoor shoe. It's great for many reasons, but it's not very durable. You will be able to wear it quite a bit, but keep in mind that it wears faster than other options made differently. Some may find it a little more flexible.

3. KD 13

Ideal use: Jump

Main features: Soft upper with a comfortable structure. Light and not very beneficial. Air unit with double zoom. Indented in the midsole to reduce weight.

Weight: 3.15 lbs

Cushion: Air zoom

Jumping is a basic part of basketball. Therefore, many players use the KD13 when they need extra air. The shoe takes it one step further with a long zoom cushion that provides comfort and responsiveness. You can generate a lot of energy with it.

Especially useful for expanding the industry is that it is lightweight in all the right areas. Not only is the soft construction breathable and non-educational, but the shoe has a special cut in the midsole to further reduce weight. High color also acts as a support.

The only downside here is the appearance. The KD 13 allows you to fly in the air, but its appearance isn't as well organized as other popular shoes. If you just focus on performance, that's great. If you want to rotate something, it's not good.

Dame 7

Optimal use: Security guard

Key Features: Great feel on the track. It is well-balanced and has excellent response. Stylish design and attractive appearance. Protection from extreme impact. Weight: 15 grams

Sole: rubber

Upper: textile

Lady7, the Guardian and Wing, looking for shoes that directly improve agility and mobility. Can be enjoyed a lot. This pair provides excellent balance and energy return to help you run, cut and dribble to your full potential. There are also a large number of pillows throughout the sole.

If a much lighter or more agile focused model is lost a bit in front of the support, the Lady 7 works with its strong ankle support and additional safety. The shoe is fully attached to the foot, providing a better base for repulsion and an additional layer of protection.

It happens in many ways, but it's important to note that the outdoor lanes aren't durable. Those who play a lot outdoors or who need asphalt power will need something more suitable for their work. If you stay in the gym, it will give you good results for a long time.

5.5. Hard retreat

Ideal use: Ventilation

Main function: Soft synthetic mesh structure. Durable sole. wonderful. Large ventilation. Cushioned forefoot and excellent flexible insole. A wide variety of colors. Sole: Synthetic

Material: Synthetic mesh

Weight: 1.98 lbs

One of the biggest drawbacks of many basketball shoes is that they get too hot. If you overheat or sweat while playing, the backside of the Harden step is best. It is a shoe with a mesh structure that has good breathability no matter how hard you try. It is also lightweight. A big part of what makes these shoes special is their comfort. Part of it is ventilation and part of it is a flexible insole. Wider forefoot is also great as it gives you more space in the area. If you like the style, it also comes with different color options.

These shoes are very rounded, but they fit tighter than most people are accustomed to. This can affect usability, especially for players with wide legs. The arch is also a little narrow. If possible, increase the size in half to prevent too many blisters and cramps.

1 note · View note