#they’re a great idea honestly if implemented correctly

[mittensmorgul]

8.13, Everybody Hates Hitler.

So, we've finally reached the point in the season where the new plot arc has finally been established, the current mental state of each of the characters has been divulged, and yet there hasn't seemed to be a true Big Bad emerge yet...

Yes, we have Crowley hassling Kevin and the Winchesters over the Demon Tablet, *we* know that additionally there is an Angel Tablet out there lurking in the hazy future (but the Winchesters do not yet), and we have Naomi using Cas like a puppet to do murder before snatching him back off the playing field in 8.10. But who, really, is the Big Bad here? To this point, it SEEMS like a good idea to use the knowledge Kevin is prying out of the demon tablet to learn how to slam the gates of Hell, but honestly... WHAT GOOD HAS EVER COME FROM MESSING WITH THE NATURAL ORDER?!

(honestly if it were me faced with the tablets, I would've ground them into sand, mixed them into batches of concrete all over the world, and scattered them so thinly they'd never be found no matter how many prophets or angels or demons go hunting for them)

But let's backburner that for when it will become relevant again (like, in the next episode, but I just wanted that laid out for context here). Let's look at the pointed context we get for things made out of clay and given unimaginable power by WORDS they contain.

The Golem.

AARON When I was – when I was bar mitzvahed, my – my grandfather gave me this little old book. It was in Hebrew. It was like an owner's manual for a Golem. DEAN Okay. Great. Get that, then. AARON I – I can't, exactly. When I went to high school, I sort of... drifted. I started getting off the academic track, and, uh, I kind of, um... I kind of smoked it. GOLEM The boy smoked the pages. AARON They were these thin, vellum-y pages. I mean, it was perfect for rolling. Look, they were driving instructions for a clay man. Okay? It was nonsense. Right? I mean… I... Okay. All right. Look, I'm sorry, okay? Why can't you just tell me what I don't know?! GOLEM [slamming his hands onto the table and leaning over it] It's not my place to guide the rabbi, to teach the teacher! It's not my place! Yifalchunbee!

He smoked the "driving instructions for a clay man." And now he's got a clay man he's sort of intuitively "reading" and "operating," but no real idea what he's doing with it. Sam and Dean are not comforted by this fact, considering the obvious potential danger the golem potentially poses without the understanding and knowledge to implement his power, you know? Without that knowledge, Aaron's basically flying by the seat of his pants, hoping this magically powered hunk of clay is A Good Thing and not A Dangerous Thing...

Sorta like the Demon Tablet, right? Just a magical bit of clay, powered by word, with no instruction manual and just assumptions and hopes they're interpreting it correctly. There's no warning labels, no explanations, just the Word.

AARON So, that's your plan – taking out my Golem? SAM It's not a plan. DEAN We would just feel a lot better if we knew how. That's all. AARON What makes you think you have any right to make that decision? DEAN Believe me, if we need the right, we will take it. AARON Look, he may be a pain in the ass, but he's my responsibility. SAM Look, the Golem was built to go to war. You're not trained for that. How are you gonna take that on? AARON I don't know.

Lots of unanswered questions. Unanswered BIG questions. Questions that one should really know the answers to before deciding to "take that right" to make unilateral decisions over things, you know? Like they've taken the right to decide to shut the gates of Hell, because on the surface (pffft) it sounds like a really good thing to do. What could go wrong with locking away demons forever, right? Demons have been fucking over Winchesters as long as they've been alive, and what a perfect way to get a lifetime worth of revenge and ensure the safety of the world, right?

More on that as the rest of the season unfolds, but we need to talk about the other half of this episode. The Bunker. The legacy that now belongs to Sam and Dean, and handed to them in the form of a Key, described as not only a secure building warded against every evil, but also a storehouse of every bit of lore encompassing thousands of years. Safety, home, comfort, knowledge, strength... it's everything they could've wished for, you know? Hewn from earth and filled with words... possibly too many words to ever read and understand them all.

But this is a revelation of a legacy for them to have discovered. Sam is fascinated by what makes it work. He can't figure out how they have water pressure or electricity, and yet they do... He wants to understand this building for what it is, while Dean takes immediately to just experiencing it. He literally makes himself at home, exploring it for its resources and claiming them as his own (from wearing the dead guy robe and slippers to casually playing with a sword on display). Sam needs to understand the place before he can allow himself to feel comfortable there, but Dean just... feels comfortable there. (which we'll also see first-hand in the next episode only to have it all stood on its head... so keep this in mind).

So we have Dean just... casually accepting things and saying them out loud without shame:

Dean: The, uh, water pressure in the Letters' shower room is marvelous.

Dean: That's weird. I thought I was being followed earlier. Turned out to be a gay thing. Sam: What? Dean: Nothing. You need a hand?

Dean: Sammy, I think we found the Batcave.

But Sam sees it in a different way, and doesn't even understand that they're still effectively seeing the same thing, but from different perspectives:

SAM Yeah. I still can't figure out how we even have water... or electricity. [He walks to the shelves to get another book.] DEAN Yep, well, I am putting that under the "ain't broke" column.

SAM Look at this. Ham radio, telegraph, switchboard. This was their nerve center.

Sam: Dean, look, I think we might have something here – something that could help us, help humanity. Henry certainly thought so. I mean, you know damn well we could use a break. What if we finally got one? Are you gonna take off the dead-guy robe?

And by the end of the episode, they've both begun to settle in, despite their different approaches to what that means:

DEAN What're you doing? DEAN opens the refrigerator as SAM sits down. SAM Ordering – I'm making a, uh, card entry for our, uh, copies from the Thule's red ledger for our collection.

Yeah, Dean's already installed a small fridge for drinks in the library, already putting his own stamp on the place and making it his own, but in his different way, Sam is also doing the same by putting his mark on the place with an official entry card for the filing system. (Yeah, Dean puts the beer back and instead pours them each some whiskey from a fancy bottle into some fancy glasses, but while Sam studiously works at the table, Dean reclines with his feet up on the table... their two different approaches in one nice image).

That can't possibly last...

The final bit of the whole “legacy” theme-- that the bunker is now a concrete (pffft) part of her family history through the Winchester side-- is one of the first mentions of Mary in a long time:

AARON: Take a seat. So... your grandfather was into all this supernatural stuff, too? DEAN Yeah, grandparents, mom, dad, truckload of cousins – the whole family was lousy for it, but we... [he looks at the GOLEM, which is still pacing] never had a Golem. SAM : Right. Yeah. We, um, we grew up in it, but you... didn't?

as I go to post this, I remember what the final song playing as the episode ends, “Sunny side of the street,” and recalled a tweet I saw this morning regarding the horrific heat wave we’re experiencing rn: Who the HELL wants to walk on the sunny side of the street?! Stay in the shade...

[bufferdriver3-blog]

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[kyulkyungs]

SEVENTEEN: Robot!AU

Another AU b/c I was playing Overwatch and thought too much about Genji :P Also the Vocaloid song “Kokoro” and the Al1 album and bOOM BOOM! This was made!

Pretty U long! Under the cut/keep reading due to length!

S.Coups

The first of the robots to be made out of the group

When he first booted up, Joshua nearly cried and S.Coups was just really confused and learned that emotion straight away

His name was given to him because during one of Joshua’s breaks, he was reading some old history texts he had along with him in the lab and sleepily wrote out S for Seungcheol, but wrote “coups” for “coup d’etat” because his hand was working faster than his brain

He was the only one around with Joshua for a year or so until the others were made, so he’s very attached to Joshua and very caring

He’ll make sure that his creator is eating, drinking, and resting well

He also liked to watch Joshua tinker and program with the others before they were made. He looked like a little kid with his sparkling eyes and wide mouth

Even though he doesn’t need to eat, Joshua built in a program that let’s him do so because Seungcheol was curious about the whole “food concept”

He likes to tease the others that he saw them “naked and in development and they looked all weird”

The strongest out of the members because he’s Joshua’s first creation, so he was somewhat the guinea pig

Because of being one of the first, his speech program isn’t that great and he tends to speak really fast sometimes

Seungcheol knows when it’s about to hit usually so he uses that time to rap some with Vernon

He can be found mainly in the lab because he doesn’t really like to leave Joshua alone in there, since he worries that something might happen to Joshua

He treats the other boys as his own too, partly because he was aiding in creation somewhat, and he’s just as protective as he is to Joshua because they’re really all he knows

When he learned what sports were, he begged Joshua to teach him how to play when taking a break even though it required some strenuous effort

Tends to lead the others around the building because he has that alpha type aura around him and they just kinda follow him

His main emotions shown are confusion and caring honestly lol

He worries a lot over the members and is constantly confused why he has a trail of baby ducklings (the boys) behinds him

Sometimes he looks at the shut down prototypes  that Joshua thinks he has hidden well, he feels kind of sad that he’ll never really be able to interact with them. He sees that there’s hints of blood and numerous scratches and dents on one, so he never pushes Joshua to reboot them

Jeonghan

During his creation, Joshua couldn’t find a battery that would supply him long enough throughout the day, so Jeonghan needs to charge or rest constantly so the battery doesn’t run out

So he’s often found on sleep mode or at a charging station in the lab

He’s developed his laziness there, but it’s also convenient because he gets to monitor Joshua a lot of the time in there

Very close to Joshua as well because of the time he spends around the lab

Gets his mischievousness from Joshua messing around with the emotional and personality programs

The members all try to get him to change it and make him less crafty, but Joshua always denies it and says he’s fine how he is :D

Sometimes likes to follow Dino around and take care of him because he also has that caring instinct for Dino

The main reason is because he got bored in the lab and was allowed to help develop Dino when he confronted Joshua about his boredom

Likes nap time with Joshua and especially likes it when nap time isn’t when Joshua is hunched over some desk

Since he’s in the lab usually he sometimes cleans up, most of the time he’ll watch The8 clean and point out any missed spots lol

Likes to maintain himself even though he doesn’t really need to

Watches beauty gurus online and sometimes uses the other members as test subjects before trying the techniques out on himself

Up and moving around at irregular hours b/c of his unusual battery/charging schedule, and often times he’s the one helping out Joshua at early hours in the morning or getting him to bed

Also the one wandering around the building at those strange hours, so you might scare yourself running into him or hearing him go by

He’s learned the methods of stealth and can get around the building quickly and quietly

Silent but deadly like a silent fart

Sorry, back to the serious stuff

Jeonghan gets kind of lonely at the random hours when all the others are on sleep mode and/or charging and Joshua is in bed, so he usually leaves the building to explore

The lab is located in a secluded forest because Joshua wanted to get away from all of the fanatics and scientists and people that would attack him

Jeonghan likes exploring, but never goes off too far because he’s afraid of his battery dying and him shutting down in the forest, away from his family, and not being able to return to them

He researches on the flora and fauna found in the forest and sometimes brings back some new finds for the others

Once brought back a beehive that he found and set the other twelve into a mass panic

It was a wonder how he managed to bring the beehive to the building without angering them all

Joshua

The brains behind the entire operation, the inventor, the scientist

He spend some years of his life finalizing and developing a working program that would create artificial life that could think for itself

Along the entire way he was attacked because of people’s fear of AI programs becoming too smart and taking over

So he developed an emotional program as well, a heart

He had been alone the entire span of developing the robots, so he’s very attached to them and highly protective of them

There have been four other prototypes that Joshua created, but they had all failed and not worked out correctly, went rogue on him, or had to be shut down because the emotional program was still in development and going haywire

He can’t bring himself to scrap them or use their parts for something else

Likes to tinker little things for the other boys and adds modules, new programs, or makes little gifts for them every now and then

It’s just what he does, he can’t sit still and has to be holding a tool and using it for something

It doesn’t matter if he’s using a compass as chopsticks, he needs it

During development of one of the shut down robots, it went rogue on him and he lost his left arm up to his bicep, so he built himself a working robot arm

He’s slightly traumatized from that incident, but he keeps pushing himself to create more of the boys because he can’t help it

He was by himself for so long and he can’t bear the thought of being alone anymore

Many people called him a psycho and a mad scientist because of this, and he might have been at one point, but he’s much kinder and more mellow than his lonely lab days

Has fallen asleep at his lab desk on numerous occasions and whenever he wakes up, there’s a blanket around him, his glasses are taken off, and at least one or two of the boys will be sitting nearby with some food and a glass of whatever to keep him hydrated

Yes! He wears glasses!!

Also is often found wearing a lab coat, so it’s very rare to see him without one. Somehow they’re never really that dirty and in such pristine condition

Constantly under the radars of all of the members since they all want him to sTOP WORKING AND REST!!!!!!

Not all that skinny and pale anymore after he’s created them since they all love him and want to take care of him

It especially helped when S.Coups decided that he wasn’t going to sit and just watch one day, so he snatched the tools from Joshua’s hands and carried him to bed

He builds other various machines or offers to fix broken machines for profit so he can buy food and other supplies, he stays anonymous though when the stuff gets sent to him because he’s afraid of his previous attackers or media finding him

Was once asked by all of the members if he could try making some female robots so that the boys could understand what a girl was, but Joshua got really shy at the idea of having to program the intimate parts of a girl >//<

He’s kind of afraid of what will happen when he moves on and the others are left behind with out him

But he tries not to think about that :(

Jun

When Joshua was developing Jun, he was exhausted and accidentally installed a Chinese program instead of a Korean once since he couldn’t see the differences of the alphabets at that time

Decided to make use of the AI system and teaches Jun Korean instead of just implementing one into the programming

Joshua spends a lot of his break time sitting down with both Jun and The8, teaching them both Korean grammar and vocabulary

It’s really cute :)

Joshua based Jun’s mischievous personality off Jeonghan’s, so both of them are pretty cheeky and it’s kind of scary yet funny?

Jun liked the idea of watching both Chinese and Korean drama shows, so he developed a knack for acting by copying their expressions and emotions

He doesn’t truly learn those emotions though, more of how to act them and constantly fools the other members if he so pleases

Likes to spar with The8 even though his code isn’t as advanced as the younger’s, his technique is phenomenal though. S.Coups likes to join in on the sparring too every now and then to give them a change of pace

Wasn’t very talkative from the beginning due to confusion with languages, but slowly becomes more and more open to conversation and joking

With all the new words he learns, somehow he can make use of random vocabulary by making really bad puns

Many of those puns often involve lamb skewers

Has some friends on an online website that he regularly talks with in Chinese as they speak the same main language and Jun can’t leave the building

Often times it’s Jun who guides all the members to their charging stations when they’re too low on battery or puts a blanket around Joshua if he fell asleep working

Taught himself how to make blankets and they’re the softest thing ever and yOU TURN SOFT BECAUSE HE LOOKS SO SOFT MAKING THOSE BLANKETS?!!!?!

He sells those blankets sometimes to have some spending money for the crew

One of the members who frequents runs/trips to the city to get more supplies

A regular at the city’s smaller craft and fabric stores run by elderly couples

The ladies especially love him because he gets really shy and flustered and awkward sometimes and they just adore him

He gets worried about the other members like he does for Joshua really easily and can be spotted lurking around the corners of rooms or behind something fiddling with whatever, but he’s actually keeping a close eye on them without hovering over them

He’s just really awkward around the others because he’s still learning Korean and doesn’t want to be too annoying

But he’s saved at least a dozen projects from toppling over because of the energy of Hoshi or the lankiness of Mingyu

He’s pretty funny to be around though and the others adore him whenever he decides to not be awkward

Hoshi

Has the most powerful and strongest battery out of all of the members, so he can last for a hefty amount of time and has quite a bit of energy

He didn’t know what to do with all of that energy at first and would wreck the lab every now and then

Jokingly, Jeonghan told Hoshi to dance away his problems and that’s actually what Hoshi does and he loves to dance

Hoshi is Soonyoung’s prototype name because Joshua accidentally wired him wrong the first time and he just lit up entirely like a star before shutting down

Likes to download information about various dances and moves into his programming and files

Also has so many music videos and songs downloaded that he just can’t sit in silence, there’s always some music playing in his head

Secretly steals the music files that Woozi creates and thinks he has locked away on the computer

Once gave himself a virus for trying to download all that musical information

He’s up at late hours with Jeonghan sometimes due to his long lasting battery and keeps him company when venturing in the dark building

Banned from being up too late because he was being too loud compared to the oh-so-quiet Jeonghan

Has a bedtime at 9 o’clock at night along with Vernon and Dino

Found out what fanfiction was because of him shipping two of his favorite dancers, and he writes some fanfiction too?

Somehow has the ability to snatch items from the others without them noticing, basically can pickpocket

Due to his heightened amount of energy, he gets bored easily and needs something to entertain him

Constantly snatches things that won’t be missed easily though

He’ll never go to far and deliberately try to take something important. He knows his boundaries and doesn’t try to cross them out of curiosity

He once heard Joshua quietly singing, not humming, to himself while he was working and slid in and started dancing along to the soft singing

The only thing was that the dancing was really different than the genre of the song

He was popping and locking while Joshua sang something similar to a lullaby. Joshua was staring, but kept going while Hoshi started krumping

Hoshi is also the most nimble since his movements are actions are often very quick, which also leads to fast reflexes

Likes to make jokes that he’s a ninja that strikes only when the time is right

“Hoshi, 10:10 at night is past your bedtime that’s an unacceptable ‘time to strike’“

Likes to help the others come out of their shells and have fun with them by playing lighthearted pranks on them or dancing around with them

Has posted some videos of himself dancing online and has quite the fanbase already

Wonwoo

Joshua accidentally made Wonwoo’s vocal programming five levels deeper than it was supposed to be lol, buT do you hear anyone complaining?

His vocabulary is greatly advanced compared to the others because he often finds himself reading Joshua’s notes and blueprints and books found in the lab

He likes to use the internet and hijack all these files too, so Hacker!Wonwoo exists

Even snags some medical texts, manuals, and recipes for Mingyu, but denies he does whenever he’s confronted about it

Follows Jeonghan into the forests every time because he somehow knows of Jeonghan’s fear and he also really likes the plant life?

He doesn’t speak much because at first he was self-conscious of how deep his voice was, but he got used to not talking often so he doesn’t really mind anymore

Once found an entire stack of fanfiction that Seungkwan and Hoshi wrote about whatever they find on the internet and critiqued their writing for them

They meet up in one of the storage rooms for “book/writing club”

Like Vernon, does movie quotes but book version instead

Helps Joshua organize notes and sometimes completely redoes the notes because they’re so messy at times, and it’s extremely aesthetically pleasing?

He could run a studyblr blog if he wanted to

He does

Puts up positive notes around the building everyday because it helps him practice penmanship, calligraphy, and he just wants to make the others smile

Sometimes he writes his own fanfiction about some characters he reads about in those books of his, but he never shares

Mingyu found them once because he thought the papers were one of the medical manuals Wonwoo was supposed to give him lol

He never lets that down

“Remember that one time when X and Y did-”

“Remember that one time when I rewired your legs so that you couldn’t walk straight for a week?”

“... No??”

“Oh, okay. Haven’t done it yet. Let me do it now.”

Joshua wanted to experiment with allergies and such, so Wonwoo is not allowed to eat seafood because his allergy reactions act up and his wiring gets a little funky because the allergy thing is still somewhat in testing

Frequents the city even if no supply runs are needed because he loves to visit the stores and little shops, has made only a couple of friends though because he got passionate about one book he was reading

Visits one of those little flower shops and works there only in the summers

Woozi

Joshua lost some of the parts supposed to be used for Woozi’s legs, which is why he’s a little... challenged height-wise

He doesn’t want to admit that though so he told Woozi and the others that he wanted everyone to have variety in many aspects

Woozi, like Vernon, is the prototype name that Joshua gave to him

He really likes the name Woozi and thinks it’s really special, so he’ll use that over his official name, Jihoon

Woozi learned how to program and build basic stuff from Joshua, or he just kept watching and eventually found the patterns and tried it out himself

He prefers programming more because he isn’t given parts that are already created, he likes making something new entirely on his own

Doesn’t admit it, but was really proud when Mingyu created his own working program

Likes to listen to music while he works, and Joshua doesn’t mind it either so there’s music playing in the labs usually

He stays up for as long as Joshua does, even though he could stay up longer because of his battery life, but he keeps Joshua company when he works

Created some of his own tunes for working in the lab time and enjoys making music as much as programming

He scared Joshua with how aggressive he was being at first towards the other members when they became a bit too much, but he picked up on that quickly and learned to control it better

Instead became really protective over all of them and doesn’t like to show it because he’ll get teased

I’m not kidding, he almost fought the entire beehive that Jeonghan brought in until he realized that bees have sharp pointy butts and the pain sensors that Joshua built in are a negative

Because he’s found programming so often, he’s not that used to physical contact or interaction and can come across as really shy and/or awkward

He’s really soft though when it comes to the others and may begrudgingly allow them to snuggle up to him or ruffle his hair if he knows they’ve had a rough day

Helped program the Siri-like program named Sofia for Vernon because he noticed that Vernon looked a little lonely one day

He’ll help out the others if they experience any wiring problems or coding malfunctions if Joshua is too busy

Acts annoyed but is really concerned and wants to help right away

For some reason, Woozi really likes those ocean animal stickers that the others once brought from a supply run to the city

The others just keep buying entire sticker books for Woozi and he adores all of them and makes sure nothing happens to them

Has his own system of stickers and sometimes uses them as currency?

“I’ll give you five of my giraffe stickers if you can go outside for a couple of minutes”

“StOP Don’T pUT mY papERS thERE! ThoSE ArE obvIOUSLy dolpHIN STIckeReD pAPErs, theY DOn’T GO witH thE staRFISh sticKEREd Ones!”

Enjoys going on supply runs to the city when he’s available

DK

There was an accident when creating DK’s vocal program, so his voice can come out a little louder than he intended for it to be

DK actually has a hefty amount of control over it and makes sure not to be too loud most of the time

Helps out with waking up the others though with his loud voice, except he’s never loud when trying to wake up Joshua because he knows that the boy neeDS HIS SLEEP

The first thing he experienced when being booted up was when Hoshi made a pun and then he took it literally

Now he can’t help himself from joking around as well and loves to try and make the others laugh and smile because of his goofiness

Likes to look up would you rather questions on the internet and ask all the members the strangest ones he finds

Has a collection of random quotes that he’s heard in his entire lifetime, whether it be from a book, movie, from one of the members, sometimes he makes it up himself

Handles all of the calls Joshua receives for work flawlessly and is extremely cheery whenever someone calls

Secretly steals stickers from Woozi’s sticker books and places them on his charging station

Woozi knows but lets him get away with it anyways out of the goodness of his heart

Like some of the others, Dokyeom is the prototype name for Seokmin. He thinks the name DK is extremely cool though

Loves watching movies and shows with the others, but certain shows he might like to watch by himself because he somewhat prefers it that way

Was the one who discovered anime first out of the others and introduced Joshua to it because he asked if DK had seen anything good recently

When Dino starts picking up Japanese, he’ll try to use the phrases and words he’s learned through anime and it’s such broken Japanese that Dino just... stares

“That’s not a real sentence”

“What do you mean that’s not a real sentence? I asked ‘[what is friend doing now eat okay because have stomach pain]?”

“The word you are looking for is [hunger]”

“Oh... [what is HUNGER doing now eat okay because have stomach pain]?”

There’s an orange tree that grows nearby because Wonwoo once brought the sapling home and both he and DK take such good care of it

That’s where DK learned how to peel oranges so quickly, he got so excited seeing his baby pop out fruits

Didn’t know he had to charge so when one of the boys brought him to a charging station and plugged him in he screeched and broke a couple light bulbs

Mingyu

The tallest robot because the spare leg parts from Woozi were implemented into Mingyu’s structure

Because he’s so lanky though, he often bumps into things without meaning to

He’s also accidentally broken so many things that he tries to fix them

Succeeded in fixing those things so many times that he just learns the structure of things and it’s somewhat beneficial to break things???

Sometimes helps out Joshua and Joshua is lowkey proud

like, “where did you learn where these wires go?”

“lOL i broke the TV so”

Likes to cook for Joshua and also learns all these recipes from the internet just to make sure Joshua won’t have to eat the same stuff over and over again

Because of the tested allergy programs that Joshua implemented for the others, Mingyu made sure to lock that information down in his code when he's cooking for the others

Mingyu is left handed because he saw that Joshua has a robotic left arm and didn’t want Joshua to feel alienated or different or sad because of that

He was originally programmed to be right hand dominant since it was more common, but ever since he booted up and learned new things, he just used his left hand and the dominance of his right hand melted away with the AI programming

Follows Dino into the storage room upon his request

He learns all things medical and in his spare time likes to research many advanced practices in case Joshua needs it

Heck, if he wanted to, Mingyu could go to medical school and get a residency really quickly

When Joshua was too tired to do some weekly checkups on his metal arm, Mingyu offered to do it and listened to the sleepy voice of Joshua guide him through

He even challenged Joshua’s reasoning for tending to one of the parts and used logic the whole way through, and despite his sleepiness Joshua expressed shock, like:

“That actually makes a lot of sense, how did I not know of this? I’ve been using the same exact technique many times before and have never thought of this???”

“Lol I’m just smart like that”

“You nearly gave me expired celery that was roasted over a fire fueled with the notes I needed to use to fix up Seungcheol’s voice program???”

“...lefties come in pairs?”

“I’m not even left handed...”

Without fail he always has a meal prepared for Joshua, and the boys whenever they feel like eating, there’s always three meals in the day and found at Joshua’s main working area

By himself he invented a dream program so that the boys could “dream” while they’re in sleep mode and Joshua was so shocked at how great the coding was and how soundly it worked when Jeonghan tested it?

He admits that he got help from Woozi for learning the basics of coding and programming, but he managed to create this on his own!

The8

Joshua didn’t want Jun to be lonely being the only one to have their main language set to Chinese, so Joshua set it so that Minghao would have Chinese set as his main language too

Jun was so touched that he cried when The8 was booted up and started talking in Chinese to him

The8, like some of the others, has a prototype name. Jun chose it because he really liked the number 8 for some reason

Hoshi decided to take Minghao under his wing and teach him all about the wonders of dancing

Eventually got curious and decided to look up dancing videos online

Proceeds to download all the knowledge he could find on breakdancing because he was so astonished that people could do that?

Was programmed to do Wushu/Kung Fu like Jun, but Woozi did the programming for that instead of Joshua so the code is more advanced, making the skills more advanced

Since he learned about breakdancing so early on in his uptime, Minghao developed the persona of a very rough person because that’s really the most he knew

Eventually learns that some of the things he does is not acceptable in terms of the rules and feelings of others in the lab, so he sticks to learning about Korean culture through Joshua’s Korean lessons

Loves the dramas that the others show him and watches them in secret because he pretends he’s not interested in that stuff

But if the others make references  to one of those series, he might just join in on that little party going on

Went on a trip to the city once with the others and somehow ended up coming back to the lab with a pair of nunchucks

Joshua just kind of accepted it and let him have it

Learned that he really likes climbing trees after he heard a strange sound and decided to just go up that tree to find out what it was

He went to go check out the sound because he became pretty protective over all the members after the bee incident

Vernon suggested they watch the Bee Movie as a joke, Minghao wasn’t having any of that

Once Seungkwan let Minghao hold his pet turtle and the latter just... melted? He was really reluctant to give Seungkwan his turtle back, but did so anyways because Seungkwan looked like his was so distressed

Shyly asked Joshua if he could have a pet too, and Joshua said yes but only if he could take care of it

Proceeds to get this little gecko and he adores it as much as Seungkwan adores his turtle

The others like to tease Minghao for having something that looks pretty small and harmless, but they realized that he didn’t buy that gecko, he took it from the woods and saw that it wasn’t leaving so he kept it

It’s some wild gecko and after some research, it can be kinda dangerous and scary, but Minghao somehow has it under control all the time

Talks gossip with Jun in Chinese because it’s their bonding time and they both love it

Seungkwan

Lol was forced to wait for Vernon to be booted up because Seokmin really wanted a bot to be booted up on his “bootday”

Held a grudge on DK because he just wanted a friend close to his running time

Watches series and shows with DK, mainly likes the dramas

Will abandon DK to watch with Jun because somehow Jun always finds the really good ones that aren’t really popular but should be?

Gained some of the sassy and stubborn traits as his favorite female leads in the dramas so often times he can be somewhat of a diva

Really witty too

While Mingyu cooks and prepares the food, Seungkwan really likes to bake or make some treats???????

Jun made him this little apron and he always wears it when he’s making anything because he adores that there’s a littlE BEAR ON THE POCKET

Asks Vernon to help him bake all the time, he ends up watching but always sticks around to listen to Seungkwan ramble about whatever while he’s making stuff

For one of the member’s bootday, he’ll push himself and make something new by experimenting with the treat weeks or months before

Tries learning English on his own, Vernon always swings by and helps by teaching him what he learned from Joshua

Joshua loves to tease him though, in English of course

Diva Boo comes out

SUCH. A. SWEETHEART. THOUGH. LET. ME. TELL. YOU.

Always offers to help everyone charge up before he charges up himself, helps out with simple tasks when he wants to (and most of the time he does), just wants to spend time with his family and loves thEM ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!

Goes on supply runs as well because he loves to explore the city despite being out there quite a number of times

It’s just so different from the building and seeing all these people and places makes him feel out of place, but he likes to observe and learn

Almost convinced the others to buy a dog and bring it back to the building, but they said that they’d all get in trouble with Joshua

Joshua let him get a turtle though, and he named it Boo!!!!!!

Takes care of his turtle baby and will let no harm ever come to it

Writes fanfiction in his spare time because once in the city he saw some people squealing and talking about their ships from a show

Had no shame in asking them what they were doing and then learned the wonders of being in a fandom

Now he’s obsessed with what the people were squealing over and loves to talk about that when he’s baking

Sometimes DK challenges him to see who can sing louder or scream the loudest and he can’t deny the challenge because he’s p competitive

Vernon

Joshua made a mix of parts from Korea and America because he didn’t have enough parts from either to create a “full” robot

And since there were American parts used, Joshua added the ability to speak English

It helps sometimes too when the both of them speak English to each other because Joshua can connect and it reminds Joshua of his childhood :D

Vernon is the prototype name that Joshua gave to him, and Vernon thinks it’s kind of cooler than his given, programmed name Hansol

Vernon likes to rap because he thought that S.Coup’s speech function where he talks really fast from time to time is really, really cool

For some reason also really likes to eat things even though he doesn’t need to 

He has a program installed into him that works almost like Siri, except it’s named Sofia!

Whenever Sofia isn’t functioning properly he goes into a computerized mental breakdown and rushes to Joshua for help immediately because he absolutely loves talking with Sofia and learning new things from her

One of the first things he discovered were the “memes” from the internet, and he’s never been able to not include them in a casual conversation with anybody

“Hey, Hansol. Do you know where the screwdriver went? Joshua needs it.”

“Yeah it’s right here, but first... whAT ARE THOSE????/??”

“Vernon, you know these are, like, my birth shoes.”

“Those are crocs”

“HansOL THESE ARE MY BIRTH SHOES”

“Those arE CROCS”

He’s playing that Jurassic World song with the tune replaced with the guy screaming “what are those” instead

He loves movies and will also make continuous quotes from movies, Wonwoo understands most of the time because most of those movies that Vernon’s watched were movie adaptions of books

Likes to compare the movie versions with the book versions with Wonwoo and get into little, lighthearted arguments about them

Hangs around Seungkwan a lot because they were booted up a few months apart, have charging stations right next to each other, and just really like to hang out with each other?

Vernon was booted up the same day as DK because DK insisted they wait a whole three weeks for Vernon to be booted up on his “bootday”

Sometimes listens to the music that Hoshi dances to and asks Sofia to look up the singers/rappers of the songs if he likes that particular one

Has an existential crisis every time he comes out of the charging station or out of sleep mode

“Are humans like reverse vegetables because when they stop growing and changing some of them get put into the ground???”

“Hansol, you’re at 68%, keep charging”

“Hey that’s p close to-”

“sTOP”

Dino

The most recent robot that Joshua’s made!

He’s also the most well-rounded because the others were a learning experience for Joshua, which helped him discover what he shouldn’t implement

The others did help out some when creating Dino, which is why he’s so doted on. Jeonghan did the most though as he was found mainly in the lab with Joshua

Dino likes to learn a lot of things on his own and is very passionate about learning!

He constantly attends the Korean lessons that Joshua gives to both Jun and Minghao and asks them about Chinese, he tries to learn English with Joshua and Vernon, he tries to learn how to cook with Mingyu, he tries to program and build with Joshua, how to dance from Hoshi, etc. etc. etc.

He wants to be able to do a lot of things and he’s constantly filling his memory bank with new information, curiosity and excitement are his two main emotions

Once he followed Joshua to the storage unit where the four shut down robots are and, he didn’t mean to, but he watched Joshua sit there sighing and then eventually cry

He came out of hiding and sat next to Joshua, looking at the robots made before him but never started up for as long as he

It’s almost an undeclared tradition for Dino to walk with Joshua to the storage unit and just sit with the sleeping machines, there’s no set day either, the both of them just know

Secretly, before another get together in the storage unit, Dino took Mingyu down there and started tinkering with the wiring and programming of the other robots

They’ve only been able to fix up some parts of the robot named Samuel, but not entirely

Dino made the mistake of trying to fix up one of the robots by himself and chose the one that went rogue on Joshua. He made up so many stories and excuses of why he came into the lab with several glitches in his system and a bent up leg

No one knows what to believe anymore, but he spilled to Jeonghan because of how intense his stare was

He absolutely loves to hear stories told of before he was booted up and constantly asks for those stories as his bedtime stories

No matter how many times he has heard them, he will gladly listen over and over again

Another member to frequent going to the city for supplies and stuff

The locals of the areas he go to the most all love him because he enjoys talking to them and learning from them, they hardly suspect he’s a robot because of his attitude being similar to a college kid actually interested in learning

Usually the one to always ask to buy some snacks with the extra cash because they taste good and he knows Joshua likes them too

[ladybuvelle]

// Sona-mun gushes a bit about Pokemon Sun, so I’ll put it under cut since it’s not League related at all.

// Can I just say, I’m enjoying Pokemon Sun more than I thought I would. At first I felt like it was holding my hand way too much in the beginning and explaining things to death (or not explaining certain elements at all and just throwing them at you), but once you finish the first island’s trials and get more free reign, I like it. I like the sense that the game wants me to go exploring, and that there’s more to find if you’re really careful to look for it.

The quality of life choices and changes are great, too. Ride Pokemon are a neat idea for the HM move problem, and they’re handled in a way that both feels SO empowering and satisfying when you get them but aren’t all-out OP.

Four things in particular bother me though. Not enough to ruin the game, but they can get really annoying:

- SOS battles (where Pokemon call for help) are a neat idea in theory. But in practice you can end up wanting to catch a Pokemon you just found and you can’t because he keeps fucking calling for help! Sometimes the call fails, but I’ve been in fights where I literally went through 20 called Pokemon before I was able to get them to stop. I get that you can only find some Pokemon via SOS battles at a low rate, and I have found some, but sheesh... Sometimes I just wanna catch a Wishiwashi without him crying for help every turn. I guess I should be thankful they can only call one partner.

- The Festival Plaza is poorly implemented. One minute you look down at your Rotom Dex and you realize there’s a new button there for something called ‘Festival Plaza’, and some dude named Sophocles is just “Yo hi greet people for me that’s awesome have fun!”. When everything else up until that point had been explained to death or drawn out, this sudden feature felt like it came out of nowhere. And for the most part it feels pointless. There’s a daily lottery you can do, which I guess is fine, though it can give you some really powerful healing/Pokeball items very early and I don’t know how I feel about that in a game that’s already handing out money and items like it’s air. The “mini game” things like the haunted house and the bouncy castle aren’t mini games at all. You just pay and get to read some text about what your Pokemon is doing, and barely that. I really enjoyed the X/Y minigames for EV training. It gave me a sense of agency over it all, and when you got good enough at them you could do the games incredibly quickly and see very clear progress. It was a great way to take the pain out of constant Pokemon battles for EVs. This is just a service you pay for now and bam, it’s done. You don’t even get everything to start with, you have to level up the plaza as a whole to get new and better facilities. I just don’t like it. Maybe I’ll change my mind later, but as a whole it’s just really tedious. Oh, and the “trial” mini-games you can do there are the most mundane, time consuming, and grating thing. The first time I do any of them it’s fun enough as a kind of memory challenge for types and movesets and languages or whatever the subject is, but doing them over and over is just blegh.

- Lastly, it’s way too easy to hit your Pokemon in Pokemon Refresh. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN IMPLEMENT A WAY TO HURT YOUR POKEMON LIKE THAT?! I’m just trying to pet them! But sometimes it registers my touch as a tap and I end up hitting them! It makes me feel awful, and it can happen even when I’m trying to be super careful not to bounce my fingernail or the stylus on the screen by accident.

- I’m disappointed in the lack of avatar customization. Somehow I feel like X/Y had way more to offer, with even more hairstyles and stuff after you beat the initial game (if I remember correctly). But here the styles and hair colors are very, very limited (or they certainly feel limited, but maybe my memory is bad). Hair colors are mostly limited to natural hair colors (with I guess the exception of white sort of, and wine red sort of - still natural enough). No wild colors like green or pink or blue. I would have also liked different eye styles other than constant O-O face. With even just different eyes that would give SO much more differences between players looks. It’s not that I think my avatar looks bad, it’s just that if you want to give me customization options I’d appreciate some dynamism. I’d like to be able to play an older character in general, but hey, I understand the reasons for that at least.

I know that sounds like a lot of complaining, but I am really enjoying the rest of the game! And I’m not even terribly far in yet, honestly.

[bufferdriver3-blog]

What else could you Do About Slow Marijuana Plant Growth

It can turn out to be a annoying experience to get a grower to have cannabis plants that increase slowly, and it’s far worse if those plants quit growing altogether. Here are just many of the causes behind slower herb growth and what to do to improve cannabis progress: Seeds Will be Old As soon as seeds reach a certain time, they lose their ability to germinate or might acquire eternally to do so. If you’re interested around growing cannabis plants, quite obtain your seeds through a reputable cultivator honestly, that is known for having top quality seeds with good family genes. Plants Are Not really Obtaining Enough Light Products or services plant, it’s significant that your own cannabis little ones get the correct amount connected with light and this may differ in accordance with the particular strain. With regard to farmers who’re cultivating interior plants, it might end up being a good idea to adapt lamp distance thus that they can find enough light. The equal applies in order to outdoor plant life. Just shift them to help a better spot and even they should be correctly like rain in virtually no time! Plants Are receiving Too Much Light If a person realise that your seeds will be getting a lot light, possibly move it to a shady area when they’re outside the house or transfer the bulbs so that there is the bigger distance between them all plus the canopy. This is usually one of the major reasons behind slow cannabis development.

Incorrect Light Spectrum The light range is also a great critical consideration to make as soon as plants are going by slower growth. Probably they’re not receiving the right light array for the growth phase that they are going through, which will be some thing that’s worth having to pay attention to as being the vegetable grows from seedling for you to fully-fledged natural herb. In the beginning, it’s often recommended to visit for cooler light which can be recognized by a blue-colored spectrum. As the plant grows bigger to reach often the its heyday phase, it’ll call for some sort of warmer light spectrum along with a reddish hue. Overwatering Even though plants need liquid to outlive, too much involving a good point can easily stunt their ability to cultivate and flourish. Overwatered indoor plants will smother and find yourself with problems like fungal advancement, root rot, nutrient insufficiencies as well as stunted growth. To get the best results, merely water your own personal plants any time you need to and you could gauge this by raising the plant to observe whether it is very light or perhaps heavy. When it’s in thickness, then there is still sufficient water for the plant to help stay healthy, however in case it’s light in that case it is very probably dry and desires water. Nutrient Deficit Just as growing children need their vitamins to aid balanced development, plants likewise require the right kind and amount of nutrients in order to thrive. Right now, the particular nutrients in your potting mix will conclude within 2 to 4 months which means you’ll have to supply your plant life together with more nutrients. These must be administered based on suggested doses on the chemical products now make confident you buy the correct nutrients for your certain plant garden soil. leaf and lion Calcium supplement Deficiency Without this right amount of lime, plants tend to currently have issues want slow plus twisted growth, as very well as discolored shoots that just don’t look wholesome. Dolomitic lime is this best solution to fight calcium supplement deficiency within your plants, in addition to it can be quickly implemented through a foliar spray.

[devontroxell]

Market Research: Why It’s the Foundation of Any Successful Campaign

Let’s be clear: a business won’t go very far if it’s not based on a great idea. That’s how all great businesses start, right?

It’s true, they do — but an idea isn’t worth much if you don’t know how to make it come to life.

To do so, you need three things: skills, resources, and time. And when you put them all together, you get everyone’s favourite activity: research!

Yes, the secret behind all great marketing campaigns is market research. Knowing who your audience is, who your competitors are, as well as your biggest threats and greatest advantages are just some of the basic components you need to know to market your business effectively.

It doesn’t matter if your idea is unique if you don’t know how to turn it into something real and sustainable. A great campaign is rarely done overnight, and if it is, the research probably wasn’t very thorough, and the campaign won’t end up achieving its potential.

So, let’s take a dive into the fundamentals of excellent market research that, ultimately, leads to great campaign results.

Knowing Your Brand

The first step to executing a great marketing campaign is understanding what your brand’s purpose is. Most call this a mission statement. Once you’ve established what yours is, it needs to be implemented into all of your campaigns — which is easier said than done.

But whether you’re selling a service, or introducing a new product, your brand’s message needs to be a part of it. Your message is what will define your brand. A reason why so many businesses have a difficult time making their mark is because they lack an identity — figure out who you want to be and stick to it.

Strategizing Around Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Once you’ve clearly defined your mission statement, it’s time to dive into the next two critical components — your company’s strengths and weaknesses.

What kind of financial budget are you working with? Do you have enough employees to account for the projects you’re envisioning? Do you have easy access to media vehicles that will promote your message? These are some of the bigger questions that you need to answer honestly.

If you do have all of these, then you’re in luck — things just got easier. But if you don’t, I recommend not having your heart set on a campaign idea that’s too costly. But marketing isn’t all about money. Marketing is about strategy — making the most of what you have and what you lack.

Are you a company with goodwill? Does your company work well as a team? Does your business have actual meaningful stories to share that people will support and care about?

If you ask me, there are two common mistakes companies make that drive their business to the ground — trying to be something they’re not and attempting to do something they have no business trying.

Don’t be the company that spends all of its resources on expensive and unnecessary technology or spends time at trade shows where they won’t bring in the number of customers they need to make it worth it. Instead, be the company that allocates those resources to something that will have a longer-lasting impact and provide your company with actual effective results, such as developing a beautiful website or some online paid advertising.

Understanding some of these basic, yet critical elements of your company will put you in a more successful and sustainable position moving forward — whether you’re a large corporation or a startup. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll be rewarded. Pretending to be something you’re not will be your downfall.

Understanding Your Audience

Even though many of you reading this would like to say everyone is your audience, they’re not. If that was the case, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article. And that’s okay.

If your primary target audience is a niche group of people, and you’re able to communicate to them properly, your campaign will be a success and your company will benefit from it.

However, that’s still easier said than done. Audiences are elusive and their attention span can often be limited. They’re typically picky and they’re constantly changing their desires. Not to mention the fact that there are still most likely multiple subgroups of audiences within your primary audience that you should be considering.

Even once you’ve figured out who all of your audiences are, there are still countless questions that need to be answered. If a brand wants to sustain and even grow its successes, it needs to be able to keep up with the trends — whether they’re gradual changes or drastic. In other words, these trends won’t always be predictable, but they can be anticipated. Nonetheless, brands must be ready to adapt.

Don’t be the brand who’s late to the movement — proper market research will allow you to be there from the start.

Competitors — They’re an Advantage

Spending time researching your competitors can seem like a waste of time ­­­­­— why not spend that time developing your own brand? That’s because knowing what your competitors are saying and doing is a piece to your puzzle.

Understanding what your audience likes and dislikes about competitors’ businesses will give you an edge. What can you do similarly and what should you avoid?

In addition, what are your competitors lacking that your audience is craving? Whatever that may be, find a way to provide it yourself.

Your competitors are a part of your business’ blueprint. Don’t look at them as a disadvantage, use them to your advantage!

Market Research Takes Time — So Take the Time

As mentioned, market research doesn’t happen overnight — it’s a process. But it’s what alleviates the risks. With proper market research, marketers can develop the most effective campaigns and avoid disappointing failure. Understanding a brand’s top needs, objectives, audiences and competitors are some of the absolute fundamentals required to build a successful marketing campaign. In more ways than one, the better the research, the better the execution will be.

All that to say, before proclaiming your next great idea to the world, make sure your research is complete. If you’ve done so correctly, you’ll have a much better chance of turning your idea into a reality.

Market Research: Why It’s the Foundation of Any Successful Campaign published first on https://wabusinessapi.tumblr.com/

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Sees Four BIG Returns In Episodes 120-126!

Welcome back to the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Jared Clemons, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, we covered Episodes 113-119, where Shikamaru’s newly assembled team faced off against the Sound Four and we saw Choji and Neji fight for their lives against two very tough opponents.

  This week we keep the rewatch moving with Episodes 120-126 which saw FOUR big returns from Rock Lee and the Sand Siblings of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro who are now on the side of Leaf Village. Naruto’s very angry and sends a bunch of shadow clones to fight against some body horror while Kiba and Shikamaru have their own fights against the rest of the Sound Four. How will these big returns help out the remaining members of Shikamaru’s squad and are they able to break free to find a way to get to Sasuke while he continues to be carried in his box?

    It’s been nice that both times I’ve hosted the rewatch, we’ve got to see Rock Lee come in and do something cool, even if this time his return might have been a tad rushed. Plus, seeing the Sand Siblings return was perhaps the biggest shock I’ve gotten from this show so far. So, what did the other members of the Crunchyroll Features team think of Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto’s fights or the four big returns? How about what they think about what will happen with next week’s big main event showdown between Naruto and Sasuke?

  Let's check in with the Crunchyroll Features team and see what they thought about this week's batch of episodes.

    We start off these episodes with Kiba taking on Sakon & Ukon while Shikamaru has his hands full with Tayuya and her flute solos. How did you feel about these two fights after the ones we just saw with Choji and Neji? Were they too similar in nature or did they do enough to be different?

  Paul: While I appreciate that Kiba was willing to straight up shank himself in order to stab his enemy, I could have done with less strategic ninja peeing on the part of Akamaru. Likewise, while I enjoyed Shikamaru's intense planning, once again his strategy ultimately proves inadequate in the face of raw power and he has to rely on someone else saving his bacon at the last minute. For me, Choji and Neji's fights were more engaging, even if all of these fights are treading similar ground.

  Kevin: Choji’s fight is in a different category for me, since it is the culmination of his characterization to that point. None of the other fights have been treated with the same weight as Choji finally giving it his all. For the other fights, they’re narratively similar to each other, but all manage to stand apart by having different mechanics and narratives. Kiba’s constantly on the run, Shikamaru’s hiding and plotting while Neji was being attacked from all angles constantly.

  Carolyn: I agree. I did like seeing Shikamaru at a loss for what to do for a hot minute. But it seemed like overall, last week’s fights were a lot more intense and were intercut with character growth and Choji and Neji’s friends learning their strengths. That was definitely more compelling for me.

  Danni: It felt a lot less compelling watching these fights, honestly. A lot less actually happened. Seeing Shikamaru plot fifteen steps ahead is always cool in action, but the lead up to it was a lot of him running around. Kiba’s fight was mostly canned footage reminiscing about how much he loves his dog. It’s sweet, but come on. Who doesn’t love dogs.

  Joseph: The constant back and forth between these fights was fun but made each episode feel the same. Out of the main showdowns I dug the first half of Shikamaru’s the most, but it lost me a little when it became a long-form shadow hug-out.

  David: I think this is the start of where the huge power imbalances in this show start to get in the way of the fights being satisfying. Like Paul mentioned, it really doesn’t matter how well-planned a strategy is when the enemy’s power is so overwhelmingly strong you need someone like Temari to bail you out with a single swing of her fan.

  Noelle: Definitely agree with the rest here, Shikamaru at a loss of what to do when being brute-forced by an enemy is pretty interesting to see. Wits can absolutely help you in a pinch, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. I think the fights all do cover different things—they have similarities, but they’re different enough to not feel like complete repeats. I did think that last week’s was much more action-heavy though.

  Kara: I really like both Kiba and Shikamaru, so I was ready for some epic action with these two in the vein of last week. I didn’t mind the Akamaru reminiscing all that much because Dogs Are Just That Good, but I do feel like they kind of got the short end of the stick. I do, however, appreciate Shikamaru memorizing Tayuya’s hand movements to account for his lack of musical knowledge.

    Naruto slightly gives into the Nine Tails side and we see that side of him pop out again. However, it doesn’t really seem to bother Kimimaro as he just plays his own version of Dynasty Warriors with Naruto’s clones. Should Naruto have implemented a different strategy here or was he too blinded by rage to come up with anything different?

  Paul: Perhaps it's my penchant for all things lycanthropic, but I keep hoping they'll do more with Naruto and his partial fox transformations. Instead we got four or five episodes of Naruto tossing Shadow Clones at a guy who made short work of them with a bone-sword (ewwwwww!), and that is not terribly dramatic staging for a duel to the death. I didn't gather that Naruto was supposed to be blinded by rage; it just felt like they were stalling for time.

  Kevin: He was probably too blind to think clearly, but he also isn’t the kind of character to come up with much of a plan. Outside of the Shadow Clone Shuriken jutsu from the Zabuza fight, his strategies pretty much all come down to “make clones, punch the enemy a lot,” with the new addition of “make clones, use Rasengan.”

  Carolyn: I honestly just could not get over the little “pew” sound every time a clone was taken out.

  Danni: The first time we saw Beast mode Naruto was against Haku, and in that fight he actually fought like a feral beast. It was rad, and the fact that nothing of the sort has happened since has been an utter disappointment.

  Joseph: Naruto has proven in the past that he can have one or two really clever ideas so his reliance on Shadow Clones is kind of disappointing. I could give it a pass as a way to test an enemy before facing them, but he doesn’t seem to come up with much beyond it when facing these stronger characters.

  David: He probably could have come up with a more interesting plan, but honestly I’m not even sure what he could have done in that situation 1-on-1, especially once we see what Kimimaro can do against Lee and Gaara later.

  Noelle: He’s blinded by rage, but I didn’t think that it was too jarring. Naruto can be creative, but strategy definitely isn’t one of his stronger points. It’s hard to think clearly when you’re running on mostly instinct.

  Kara: I really like the Shadow Clones when they’re used as a basis for something else—like I’ve said before, I think it’s such a good metaphor for more mundane differences in learning styles in the real world. I hesitate to say he “should have done more” or “could have done better” because I sure as heck can’t think of what he should have done.

    Rock Lee makes his return to help Naruto out in his fight with Kimimaro and debuts a new fighting style by accidentally getting hammered. What did you think of his new drunken style? Do you think the speed of his recovery back into fighting shape matches up with him being able to fight at all given the last time we saw him he wanted to just climb stairs?

  Paul: Drunken Boxing is probably my favorite cinematic kung fu style, and I liked that the animation got a little loosey-goosey to go along with Lee's inebriated state, but it's really hard to pull off that martial arts style within the constraints of TV anime production. What we got was a little bit Jackie Chan, a little bit Bruce Lee, and a little bit of “The Sleeping Wizard” from John Woo's Last Hurrah for Chivalry. As for Lee's recovery, it was a lot of build-up for very little pay-off. After all of that business about having a nearly 50/50 chance to live or die, Lee has the surgery off-screen, and he's mostly fine afterwards!

  Kevin: I would find Drunken Fist way more entertaining if it was in basically any other part of the narrative. Seeing Lee not being allowed to climb stairs earlier the same day really doesn’t work well with how fluidly he fights, especially before becoming drunk. If he can still do a modified Leaf Hurricane, I’m not sure why Tsunade was holding him back. That being said, Guy’s cutaways to the restaurant when Lee went out of control still got me to laugh a little, so clearly something is working correctly.

  Carolyn: Rock Lee! It is weird that he’s OK already. But I don’t care. Give me more Rock Lee. Rock Lee all day every day. Honestly, not sure I care for drunk Rock Lee. It’s a new version of him, that’s for sure. But I like goofy, socially awkward, good boy Rock Lee.

  Danni: It REALLY bothered me when he showed up out of nowhere, but then we got an awesomely animated taijutsu battle. Then we got to see freaking Drunken Fist Rock Lee and I forgave any and all plot contrivances that had led up to that moment. It was stupid and cool in all the best ways. Now I really wanna watch Drunken Master.

  Joseph: I thought the whole point was that he wasn’t okay but was there anyway. Getting drunk was a good way to mitigate any potential issues with fighting stiffly and injuring himself further. I would have rather they planted the seed for this earlier, though. It would have been more satisfying if we had seen his restaurant destruction as a goof in a previous episode rather than Guy shoehorning the whole alcohol issue in right before this went down.

  With that said, I still love Rock Lee and enjoyed his fight! The animation wasn’t quite capable of handling drunken style fighting, and I wish he didn’t sober up so quickly, but it did the trick.

  David: I really don’t mind how quick the turnover was from when we last saw him and now, because the journey from his fight with Gaara to his recovery took way too long in the first place; we’re just making up for lost time, really. Also, taijutsu is the coolest stuff in Naruto, so I’ll take any excuse to see two ninja really duking it out.

  Noelle: Drunken fist is such a classic martial arts cinema thing, and I am always here for that. It’s a great and fun battle! As for his turnover time, it is pretty fast all things considering, but it doesn’t matter to me- we get more Lee. Enough said.

  Kara: As soon as I saw we were getting Drunken Fist action, I could not have been happier. That was freaking awesome. My thought going into this week was that I wouldn’t mind his ridiculously speedy recovery provided it was in aid of getting to see something really cool. That’s kind of how it worked out, so I’m happy.

    This set of episodes is return-palooza as we also get the return of the Sand trio of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. They’re also now babyfaces having transitioned from being heels by aligning with the Leaf village. This return was perhaps the biggest shock I’ve had so far in watching Naruto, but what did you think of how their return was handled? Should we consider them true allies or more in the vein of mercenaries who will go help anyone for the right price?

  Paul: This was another big reveal that was spoiled for me because I had to scroll through the list of episodes to find where I'd left off last week, and the episode titles and thumbnails give away that the Sand Siblings are back and antagonistic to the Sound Five. I wish I hadn't known that going in. As for their loyalties, they seem fine so far, and Gaara especially seems to have absorbed the lessons that Naruto lovingly walloped into him. Do I spot the first sparks of romance between Shikamaru and Temari?

  Kevin: I have no idea how to answer, and that’s probably my biggest problem with these episodes. We never got a scene with Tsunade debating whether to send help, or a cutaway to what the Sand Ninja were doing, or anything else that would’ve hinted at them returning in any way, then they just show up as full on allies. If they were mercenaries, that would actually make MORE sense and would be an interesting plot point, since whether to tell their village how weak the Leaf is at the moment would serve as a character moment for them, testing whether they were truly just in it for the money or if they were truly becoming allies.

  Carolyn: It was very strange to me to see Gaara and Rock Lee fighting together like everything is hunky dory after Gaara broke Rock Lee and then returned to try to kill him while he was stuck in the HOSPITAL.

  Danni: I definitely spoiled myself on this by scrolling ahead to see what episode to stop on, but their appearance was still one of the coolest things in this batch. It also just makes sense to me. They’re soldiers acting on orders. Yesterday’s enemy can be today’s ally. Interestingly, Gaara of all people seems to feel the most sympathy for the Hidden Village shinobi now. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

  Joseph: I loved it. I knew it was coming but they each had such cool entrances I didn’t care!

  David: They are some of my favorite characters, so I was happy they showed up—I’d completely forgotten they were in this arc, actually. However, they also represent the power disparity I mentioned in an earlier question, so it’s a double-edged sword. Lee shows up and kicks butt, but when whatever he can do is basically immediately rendered moot by Gaara’s powers, it’s kind of disheartening.

  Noelle: What can I say but the power of friendship. I like the sand siblings a lot, so I was just really happy when they reappeared. They do appear at extremely convenient times, which can feel a little anticlimactic, but I’m glad they’re around. Gaara! I missed you, Gaara.

  Kara: I’m divided. On the one hand, I’m not a big fan of badasses being saved from certain doom by badasses who arrived slightly later. On the other, I’m all about getting to see these sand kiddos as allies. Also, Gaara’s got a sort of Season 3 Zuko vibe going on (or maybe Season 3 Zuko had a Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc Gaara vibe going on).

    We are building toward Naruto vs. Sasuke happening for real next week. For you first time watchers, what are you expecting from this fight and for those who have watched, has the build matched what you remember?

  Paul: If I were writing the show, I would have Naruto suffer his first serious defeat by having him be unable to convince or conquer Sasuke. This would force Naruto into a deep moment of introspection and require him to examine what it truly means for him to follow his own “Ninja Way” in his efforts to become the next Hokage. I have no idea how it will actually play out, though.

  Kevin: Having watched before, I actually thought that the Sound Ninja Four stuff went by more quickly. I seriously thought that we were going to end this week at the climax of Naruto vs. Sasuke. Instead, I hope you like Kiba bleeding to death, Shikamaru sitting in a tree, and Naruto running through trees, because you’re going to keep cutting from one of those options to one of the others for the majority of the runtime, with the occasional reminder that Lee’s somehow not killing himself by fighting.

  Carolyn: I thought the hospital roof fight came about inorganically. “You must fight me!” This time it does feel like there’s much more of a reason for a showdown. Sasuke’s gone rogue!

  Danni: I’m expecting some real cool-looking animation from this fight, some flashbacks, and a whole lot of “SAAAAASUKEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

  Joseph: I know what to expect from reading the manga but it’s been just long enough for me to not be totally sure I remember it correctly, so I’m excited! I do know how it shakes out, but that’s fine. This is going to be another good batch.

  David: It feels like it’s happening sooner than I remember, but in a good way?

  Kara: I’ll be shocked if Naruto bests Sasuke right away. There’s just too much going on here for it to be one and done. Plus, so much of his motivation has been about how he stacks up against Sasuke, I feel like beating him in this state would settle the score way too easily. I could be wrong, obviously. I’ve been wrong before.

    Finally, what were your high points and low points for these episodes?

  Paul: My high point is Gaara using his sand to gently cradle Lee and protect him from harm, which was a very satisfying reversal of what happened when last they met and also a welcome evolution of Gaara's character. My low point is the sheer incredulity I felt when I realized that Sakon and Ukon were slain by a glorified game of Pop-Up Pirate(TM). Talk about going out like a complete chump!

  Kevin: High: The Sand Ninja assisting the Leaf. Why they’re there is a complete mystery, but I loved seeing them absolutely dominate the Sound Four/Five. Most people already know that the Naruto franchise pretty much drops its ninja credibility over time in favor of insane power scaling and everyone basically being a wizard, and we’re starting to see the power creep get to the point of changing the landscape. The kid in me loves the sheer wanton destruction, so I have fun with this kind of escalation. Low: Lee fighting. As a Lee fan, I love seeing him back in action flying all over the place with crazy Taijutsu. Narratively though, he’s what, a day out of major surgery? The simpler motivation of just wanting to climb stairs would’ve been a great story to progress over time. There are 100 episodes left, every 10 episodes just give a scene with Lee to show noticeable progress from the last time we’ve seen him.

  Carolyn: I actually loved Kiba promising to protect his perfect doggie in the future. That’s my high point. Good boy doggo saving the day and good boy Kiba wanting to do right by his pupper. Low point, sadly, probably drunk Rock Lee. Just because I love him as he is and there is no reason for him to change and I completely agree that his struggle is more compelling than this goofy arc.

  Danni: High point is easily Drunken Fist-style Rock Lee. It’s the dumbest plot contrivance used for the best purpose: turning Rock Lee into a drunk badass. It’s so transparent that it’s laudable, and the resulting fight just looked real good. Low point was the complete drag watching Kiba and Shikamaru fight was. I watched every episode hoping the Sand shinobi would just show up already.

  Joseph: I, too, love drunk Lee, no matter how stupid it may be. That’s my high point along with the story about his restaurant destruction. For my low point, it would have to be Naruto basically gawking as Kimimaro musou-style thrashes his clones. Such a dull way to kill time and a little too on brand for our tactics-adverse ninja boy.

  David: My high point is also drunk Lee, with the best part being when he ‘wakes up’ and realizes he was drunk because he has a headache and an injury he doesn’t recall having before. Low point is, also, the Naruto fight, simply for being the only downright boring segment this week.

  Noelle: Gaara and Rock Lee teamup still makes me so hyped, even after all this time. Some things don’t let you down! The Naruto clone musou segment felt a little dull- I don’t recall feeling that when reading the manga, but I definitely felt it here.

  Kara: High point was the Black Ant. Oh my God. Kankuro’s puppet skills have always been super creepy to me, but dang. It was quick, efficient, and absolutely horrifying. Low point was Akamaru’s aerial pee ballets. He’s a good boy and I love him but you’re gonna put someone’s eye out.

    COUNTERS:

Nothing new this week!

  Total so far:

Bowls of Ramen: 42 bowls, 3 cups

“I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52

Shadow Clones Created: 352

  And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Here's our upcoming schedule:

- May 24th, NICOLE MEJIAS plays referee for Naruto vs. Sasuke, Round 2!

- May 31st, NOELLE OGAWA will start us off on a journey back into the land of filler.

- June 7th, DAVID LYNN keeps us going as we get even deeper into filler.

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 120-126? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

    ---

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

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

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[dustiarab]

Personality-driven brands: a theory

I have a theory.

Over the past 10 years, I have almost exclusively worked with brands that were led by someone with a powerful personal brand.

I call these businesses personality driven companies. They are almost always solopreneurs or small businesses – and they like it that way.

When it comes to a powerful personality driven brand, the people running them are unmistakable.

If you follow them, you could name three things off the top of your head that matter to them. You probably can name one of their programs, their book, or something that they work on year after year.

And what do they do?

Usually, a lot of different things.

They refuse to be penned in by a particular job title, even if they used one to give people a shorthand idea of what they do.

They create programs at the intersection of their unique areas of expertise. They offer them annually or biannually. They offer a variety of ways to engage with them that ranges from one-on-one to group coaching to DIY programs.

They are generous. The giveaway so much of what they do for free.

They have the systems in place for their success to stay sustainable, across their life and business.

But it’s one thing to notice the similarities across these brands. It’s another to figure out if it’s a repeatable pattern that other business owners could use.

I’ve wondered what separates them from brands led by a strong personality that don’t achieve sustainability.

They may gain some traction, but ultimately, many of these brands fail to survive.

Including mine. I was never able to achieve real sustainability on my own as an entrepreneur.

For me, I had mastered systems, but I didn’t have the support to be consistent. My content may have been excellent, but I didn’t have the ability to maintain predictable output or a schedule.

Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly developing a framework of what makes these brands so special. I wanted something that was simplified enough to be useful but also had the depth to consider that we are not all operating on the same playing field.

And now? I can analyze any brand and break it down and show you exactly why it works – or why it doesn’t – in a half page of bullet points. Not only that, I can drill down beyond the strategy into the tactics with you.

(I hate that people brush over tactics like they don’t. Not only that, I can drill down beyond the strategy into the tactics with you matter. They do. Tactics are your day-to-day – and really? They are what make or break you.)

As it turns out, it’s a pretty short list when it comes to what a brand is lacking: support, systems, or subpar content.

Support is without a doubt the most important of these. Why?

Because this is the part of that’s where we acknowledge systemic injustice, racism, poverty, mental illness, and more.

Not acknowledging the realities of these things is akin to putting your head in the sand when it comes to some of your biggest barriers and business.

Let’s be real. It is harder to build a personality-driven business when you don’t fit the blond-haired, pale skin archetype. It’s harder still when you’re struggling to maintain basic levels of self-care.

(And I’m not talking about going and getting a pedicure. I’m talking about things like getting enough movement, human interaction, and taking the right meds consistently – that shit is hard enough when things are going right, let alone when they aren’t.)

When you feel like your entire house of cards could come crashing down at any time, it’s hard to maintain consistency. A missed bus could mean missed networking opportunities. A late check from a client means you got late fees now because you don’t have the wiggle room to be able to afford that.

I want to make it really clear that these aren’t things to be ashamed of with a personal story.

This summer, I found myself unexpectedly unemployed for 4 months. I had some work, but not enough. Never enough to make it happen on my own.

So you know what I did?

I started cleaning houses. I actually cleaned houses through December because I really enjoyed it. By December, it was clear I was ready to be on to what was next.

Honestly, I probably would have done a lot more of that kind of work this summer if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to have a significant other who could help me financially while I figured out what was next. And I am really lucky to have that. It’s not something that I’ve ever had before, and it certainly isn’t something I take for granted.

My journey over the past couple of years and entrepreneurship has seen more than a few ups and downs. It’s certainly hasn’t been a linear process to finding my way into, of all things, a job – one that I really, truly love.

And I am keenly aware that I’m not alone in this. I have watched colleagues in similar situations to me have fantastic seasons in business, only to watch it all slip away when life got in the way.

Depressive episodes, crippling anxiety, the empty bottom of a client pipeline, the inability to pay for the systems that you know you need to be successful – these are the things that haunt people like me. And maybe, people like you, too.

Support comes in a lot of different forms.

Whether it’s having the financial backing in order to confidently take risks in the pursuit of an idea, having a community that supports youregardless of if it works or not, or a partner who is understanding and supportive when it comes to what you want to create, everyone deserves to have this kind of support.

But not everyone does.

And if you don’t, finding solutions to that it’s going to be crucial in order to create your best work. I know this can be the hardest part of the work you’ll ever do. I know because I’ve done it. Many times, it wasn’t pretty, I had to make hasty decisions, often I was postponing things for the future when hopefully I’d be able to deal with them better.

As a result, I’m paying off tens of thousands in student loan debt. I’m twice divorced. (I didn’t want either marriage.) I moved out to a farm to do a work trade for rent is that unsurprisingly ended up being a complete dumpster fire. I stayed in an abusive relationship. I even lived in the backyard of a Christian cult trying to get back on top of my finances, my relationship, and my life.

When you don’t have the support you need, you make decisions so you can survive.

For the entrepreneur who is struggling to find adequate support, life’s little moments of hardship turn into insurmountable obstacles quickly. That’s real life.

Support is paramount. Even if you’re in this by yourself, you need to identify your pillars, build them up, and begin to build your sustainable business from there.

Next, let’s talk about systems.

As your Millennial friend, I’m just going to say it. Most of you just need a basic course on how to use the internet correctly.

All due respect, but if you don’t know how to Google the answer to a question the right way, you’re doomed.

But let’s go beyond that. Let’s talk about how the tech that powers your business can be simple, easy to understand, and easy to hand off to someone else to run.

That’s probably what you expect me to focus on here, right?

Sorry, I’m actually going to tell you that you’re talking tactics which, while they’re probably holding your brand back, are not the most important things you should be focusing on.

When I think about the systems that have to be in place for success and when I think about the people who are already doing it right, you know what I noticed? They have consistent fitness routines. They tend to be pretty honest about whether or not they’re hitting their workouts. And usually, they adhere to some sort of diet. I’m not talking about restricting what they’re eating. I’m not talking about trying to fit a particular body type or weight goal.

What they’re doing is consistently investing in the body that carries them to and from meetings. They are practicing an act of self-devotion by doing their best to care for their one precious self.

They have a way of working with social media that isn’t toxic for them. They aren’t constantly scrolling, watching people they wish they were more like or seem to have it easier. They aren’t engaging in Facebook groups where they’re not getting any return on the investment they’re putting in. They’re not trying to curate their life so carefully that it’s all about the gram.

When it comes to systems in your life and business, they’re the hardest thing to pin down at the beginning, but eventually, they’re the thing that keeps you most grounded. Your systems are rooted in your personal support systems. It’s why without adequate support it can feel impossible to implement new systems.

If you’re in a place where financially you can outsource some of this, awesome. That’s exactly what you should be doing. But, you absolutely should not be doing it until you actually understand it. It’s too easy to hire people who are incompetent, unreliable, or otherwise cheap for a reason.

Yeah, I said it.

It’s a balancing act, wanting to give people the opportunity to be great and also looking out for your best interests.

You should do both to the best of your ability. Also? If you’re a white person, you have a responsibility to make sure you’re doing your part in dismantling white supremacy, which includes reparations.

And trust me, you’re going to screw it up. I certainly have over the years. (IMHO, capitalism is a huge part of why. But that’s an essay for another time.) But we keep trying because it’s the right thing to do.

We learn how to educate ourselves. We pay for the time of those who help educate us in whatever way we can. And when we arrive, we take as many people up with us as we can because there is room for all of us at the top.

I said earlier that tactics matter, but I’m not going to go into them here. (But if you want help working on your systems, I’m here for that.)

Lastly, we get to your content.

To be honest, I think this is the least of most of your worries. Most of the people I work with are brilliant and have comprehensive, deep knowledge in whatever it is they are teaching, exploring, or creating.

The format of your content may need work, but the vast majority of creators in my experience have already created a body of work that is enviable.

Fortunately, as someone who is a content marketer for a living, this is also my deepest area of expertise. If you need help building at your content, I would love to help you.

Now, I’m not saying this has to be done sequentially. Far from it. I literally did this backwards. (That is something I do not recommend to anyone, for the record. It takes like five times longer tbh.) Because I have done everything the hard way, I am particularly good at helping you avoid those pitfalls.

I am looking for a few brands to test my theory with. If you’re interested in a brand audit, I would love to talk to you. It’s 100 for the hour, and at the end of it I will give you a page of recommendations based on our time together. hmu.

The post Personality-driven brands: a theory appeared first on Dusti Arab.

from Personality-driven brands: a theory

[idontreadmangamotionposter]

Motion Poster

Ideas:

When this task was set, I had three initial ideas that came from my creative vault storming my brain; the first was creating a book ad for my favourite book, The 48 Law Of Power.

The book tells stories from eras all across history and breaking down the moral of the story and how to implement that into your life to achieve ‘Power’. Originally I wanted to do an edit that resembles a title sequence, but instead of the names of the people involved it had different laws, for example there was a Law based on King something of somewhere, and for that I wanted to put the laws name and add a 3D crown with stuff going on through the background, it was going to be like the Vikings title sequence.  

But then I decided that I might save that for my 3D tracking project even though I have a different idea for it already.

The second idea was to do 3 motion posters for the upcoming game, Battlefield 5, which is set in world war 2, I had a great plan for it but it also required a bit of 3D so i decided to save it for later since i don’t want to bite of more than I could chew.

My final idea and the one I ended up executing was creating 3 motion posters for Footasylum, a street wear store that focuses on trainers.

About Footasylum

By no means is Footasylum the biggest trainer retailer in the UK, it would probably be JD or Footlocker, but I decided to create my motion posters for Footasylum because it is the only one out of the two that appeals to the streetwear culture. They do this by endorsing Youtubers and UK celebrities that are big in the streetwear culture. They also adapt street brands that the other two retailers avoid such as Glorious Gangsta

JD has a foot in each playing field, streetwear and sportswear, because most of the streetwear fashion is taken from sportswear, the tracksuits and trainers especially, so making a motion poster for them would make me adapt the sport aspect in the poster. Footlocker is completely focused on sportswear, and I’m just not interested in sports at all so I’d rather avoid spending a whole project on creating a sports motion poster.

Posters

Vans

For my first motion poster, which is the one that involved the Vans.

I wanted to create a illusion box like the ‘Supreme illusion coin box’, but instead of just checkers I was going to have the Vans checkered print on there.

But then I wasn’t convinced that it would look good and decided to go for my second choice which is the hanging shoe piece which is inspired by the old trend of having shoes hanging over wires.

Vans is a skateboarding brand, it is deep in the streetwear culture and has a history in it. So something like this is like paying homage to it’s journey and that it survived for so long.

I wanted the show bouncing result, as if someone has just hung them over, so I asked my friend to hold the shoes from a high place then drop them but pull them up again.

This achieved the desired result but was a pain to rotoscope which resulted in a lot of wobbly lines.

This clearly isn’t enough by it self, so I added the green outline since it is a Footasylum motion poster, and their colours are black and green.

Then I added a brick wall to emphasise the streetwear aspect. Then I added a shadow using a black solid, but it still looked plain so I added a Vans store sign which bought it all together, blurring the sign made it seem more real, because after the sign was added I had to take it into account and that’s when I added the blue.

Finally what really bought it all togther and made the piece miles better was a dirt overlay that helped hide all the mistakes.

Problems and Solutions: 

The biggest problem that really slowed me down was the laces on the body of the shoe, not the ones hanging the shoe. Rotoing them would’ve taken for AGES so i just settled with the laces I had and decided to mask over them and make them look as if they’re part of the body.

Also to achieve a nice base effect and make it look like rubber I rotoed out the bottom and applied a layer effect to it to make it look better and more like rubber. 

I also filmed this in 50fps without realising so I had to rotoscope even more, I had to keyframe once every 5-9 frames whenever I could to stay in the time limit.

Evaluation:

Overall with this particular motion poster I didn’t commit much research for, it was more of a creative spike that just hit me so that’s why this didn’t mention any inspiration because there wasn’t really any, I didn’t have time to even explore because I spent way to long rotoscoping the shoe.

Which brings me to my next point, the rotoscoping of the shoe was 50/50 I’d say, the upper body was solid and the gum surface was ok too, but the sole and the sole rubber which is the black line going across was wobbling like crazy, I guess I added too many keyframes, but also there was so much motion blur that it was kind of difficult to place the mask correctly. But with everything together, the brick wall, the sign and the dirt overlay, I’m not too mad with this piece. The only thing I forgot to add was the “Available at Footasylum” text at the end, I even left a bit of space for it but it just slipped my mind.

TN Vapormax

This is defiantly my favourite and it came out exactly how I imagined it, I actually managed to add to it and make it look even better. 

So this piece is obviously inspired by the carpet photoshoots where they have a print of the networks logo behind the star, and since the TN Vapormax is a new shoe and foot-asylum was trying to introduce to the world I decided to put it in the star position and have Footasylum’s logo everywgere because it is their event.

The colour choice also came from Footasylum’s website, it consists of a lot of greens, and whites with a black background. Its huge part of their brand, instantly recognisable colours.

Originally the print was all footasym, and the print was animated to go up, all of it.

I found out that it kind of irritated  my eyes and it caused blurriness because all the greens will merge. So I decided to add a nike column and animate it to go downwards instead and it looked much better.

A thing I’m really pleased with is the nike neon sign as the bottom left, it just felt like that the side was empty and needed something to fill it, I’ve also been trying to find an easy neon effect and I finally manage to accomplish it, it also helps that it is small and not the centre of the screen so people wouldn’t really notice how bad and simple it is.

After I finished this piece I looked at it and thought why don’t I have a go at adding camera flashes since this was inspired by the red carpet shoots, plus it was a little plain, just a little, the camera flashes where the cherry on top.

I also used to different images of the shoe to make it look like a 360 view, I had them animated as if they were striking poses for the cameras.

Problems and solutions 

There were a few problems with this project, not much though. The main thing is that I probably precomped ALOT, more than I should have, but sometimes I just did it to get rid of the mess in the main comp, because the print used up a lot of layers and it would’ve been a nightmare to animated each print separately. Another small problem was the shoes looked plain so I had to give them ‘life’ essentially and make them look desirable. 

Finally I just added blur and contrast on all layers to make it look smoother.

Loop Poster:

Ok so this is the one that i had the highest hopes for, and the only thing that let it down was how fast everything was animated, plates were barely on the screen for more than a second at times, but other than that, if you play it slowly it’s a decent piece.

This piece was inspired by a scene of an anime called mob Psycho, skip to 13 sec.

Out of all the whole opening I was excited to attempt the phone transition the most and then make it loop from there, but sadly I didn’t have enough time to attempt it.

I like this opening because it is trippy and it is filled with assets, there’s always more than one thing going on. And that’s how I feel footasylum treat their posters, always full.

I ended up with a phone transition to promote footasylum’s instagram but it was animated too fast so you didn’t really get to see it.

Not much to say about this one honestly since I didn’t have time to screen shot it and explain what I did like the others.

Conclusion:

In conclusion I feel like I really, hit the mark with promoting Footasylum, I used mainly their colours in my work, black, green and white, the quality of the motion posters is sort of consistent across all three, apart from the last one where I miss calculated the time. 

I would’ve liked to do something with the ‘asylum’ in ‘footasylum’ since it is halloween, I thought about putting shoes in cages and having them wobble about like they’re trying to break out and kill you, but I literally came up with that concept on Thursday and the deadline was Friday so sadly I didn’t take an attempt at it. Also the trippy phone transition is something I really wanted to do but time is always against me I REALLY need to start planning my time.

But its not all bad because the red carpet type motion poster featuring the TN Vapormax was phenomenal in my opinion, probably had a bit to many camera flashes but they go overboard in the red carpet too so I don’t really know. 

Overall I am content  with this project and feel like I gave it my all.

[mrwilliamcharley]

Employee Benefits: 6 Steps for Successful Implementation

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by Zenefits, an organization focused on helping small and mid-sized company empower their workforce and stay compliant at the same time. Check out this article from Zenefits CHRO Beth Steinberg on how they are working to create an open and honest workplace culture. Enjoy the post!)

I know that I don’t have to remind you how tough recruiting is these days. The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts the U.S. unemployment rate for June at 4.0 percent. When the job market is this competitive, organizations start looking for ways to differentiate themselves. And one of the ways they do that is by introducing new employee benefits and perks.

This idea of increasing employee benefits is supported by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Strategic Benefits Report. It indicated that nearly 20 percent of HR professionals have altered their benefits program to help recruit and retain talent. Which means that organizations should make sure the benefits they’re adding or enhancing have maximum impact. Even the best perks and benefits can be perceived poorly if they’re not implemented correctly. Execution matters.

How to Successfully Implement New Employee Benefits

Before we talk about the best way to implement an employee benefit, I think it’s important to note that these are those moments when policies, procedures, and guidelines bring value. As a human resources professional, I’m well aware that there are times when companies create policies that never needed to exist. This isn’t one of them.

Policies can offer structure and consistency, which helps with the overall implementation. For example, I was a little surprised to discover the number of organizations that don’t have a guideline for implementing flexible work arrangements, given how popular the benefit is to employees. According to Zenefits research on the state of flexible work arrangements, 53 percent of employees say there’s no official flexible work policy in place.

So, when it’s time to implement a new benefit, don’t shy away from creating a policy. Here are 6 steps for implementing a new employee benefit (or changing an old one).

1.    Make sure everyone is on board with the decision. And the timeline. I know this might sound obvious, but naysayers can derail the implementation of an initiative. Take the time to get buy-in from every level of the organization. That includes setting goals, developing a timeline, and establishing success metrics.

2.    Confirm the details with your legal advisor. Benefits laws are incredibly complicated. Ensure that the new benefit is compliant with federal, state, and local law. Also, find out if there are tax implications in case the new benefit will impact employee’s paychecks.

3.    Align other company policies and procedures. Sometimes benefits can impact another existing benefit or policy. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad, but organizations do need to be aware. It’s possible that other organizational policies and procedures will need a little updating at the same time.

4.    Develop a benefits communications plan. Once the company has information to share, it’s time to plan out the best way to share it. We’ve all heard that old adage about needing to hear something a half-dozen times before it sinks in. It mightprobablydefinitely will take multiple messages. Consider a variety of communication mediums: online, in-person, and paper.

5.    Consider designating benefit ambassadors. Speaking of communication, often some of the best ���explainers’ of a new benefit are co-workers. Consider having a small group of employees learn the new benefit inside and out. They can help explain the advantages of the benefit. They can also help to put any misinformation or rumors to rest.

6.    Conduct a post-implementation debrief. Once the benefit is fully implemented, don’t forget to do a short debrief. It doesn’t have to be long or elaborate. Simply ask two questions: 1) What went well? And 2) What would we do differently next time? This helps future implementations.

Don’t Let Employees Lose a Great Benefit

I honestly believe that organizations want to do the right thing and give employees benefits they like and will use. The keyword is “use”. If employees don’t know about the benefit OR they don’t know how it works, then they can’t take advantage of it. A well-thought employee benefits implementation strategy *benefits* everyone. (No pun intended.)

If you want to learn more about how to implement a new employee benefit, download Zenefits new communication guide for offering a new perk. I can see this being one of those documents I keep on my desktop and review every time I’m working on an implementation strategy. And given today’s labor market, that might be a lot.

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