#I think ill post 10 drawings per day to not make it too big

[kaeya-senpai]

Eyyy who missed me *gets booed off the stage*

I REACHED 1K ON TWITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO ILL START POSTING HERE AGAIN AFTER I FORGOT ABOUT THIS WEBSITE IM SOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOO SORRY TO ALL THE OOMFIES IVE FORGOTTEN ON HERE I PROMISE I WONT FORGET YALL ANYMORE

If you want REALLY frequent updates from me then i suggest yall follow me on twt @/Foxiilantern_

[colorful-horses]

💐 ?

💐 - who’s your favourite mlp blog?

I don't know if I have a Single favorite blogger, so heres a list of some of my absolute favorite pony bloggers:

🎨 MLP Art Blogs

@cassettepony - Such a unique art style. Cannot stress enough how unique her art style is! It's very stylistic and the colors are POPPIN- they're so saturated and pretty! Her art reminds me of jolly ranchers,, I also absolutely love the exaggerated expressions and how she draws EYES (when the corner of the mouth slightly clips over the bottom of the eye.........immaculate) + She does something really special that I never see any other pony artists doing, which is giving the ponies little chin hairs or 5 o'clock shadows (I. i don't know what it's called please forgive me). It is so special and cool to see, and it's so recognizable! I ADORE Cassettes art and I've always been too shy to say hi so uhhh. Hi! 👋

@msponies - ponies drawn in mspaint. HIGH QUALITY posts here. I am so inspired by their use of colors- the RANGE in some of these posts is crazy. Some of these drawings have such extremely unique color combos that you wouldn't think would work so well together, but msponies is just a master at using a color palette to its full potential its actually crazy! Their Trixie drawings are some of the best, and I cant help but admire how bold their backgrounds are (yea I know that kinda goes hand in hand with the whole color palette thing but i just really like their art); the bold colors and the dark outlines are so scrumptious

@celebrationcastle - They don't update extremely often, but when they do, you kno its gonna be a top tier post. They have a very flexible artstyle, and they post fanart for every generation. They were the ones who made that Valentines Pinkie Pie design that popped off a while ago, and for good reason; they are extremely good at drawing and designing. Like, they've completely mastered the artstyle of g3 and g4 (and probably every other gen. its nuts), and their g5 fanarts art probably my favorite I've ever seen (sunny starscout, my beloved). Everything they post is a banger. Their blog is just such a big inspiration to me :,)

📖 General MLP Blogs

@yodawgiheardyoulikeponies - absolute FAVORITE pony collecting blog. OP is SO sweet and her collection is AMAZING! I absolutely adore her photos and her posts, and her enthusiasm about collecting is so infectious. The positive energy on her blog is absolutely pure sugar, and I just really cannot stress enough how much effort she puts into her posts. She makes little pony photo shoots! And makes little stories out of them!!! It's so fun to just sit and read through. I always check her blog after new merch is released just because it's it's interesting to read about a Pony Veteran giving their input on modern toys. 1000/10 I love this blog

@ahorseofeverycolor - I only have notifications on for like. 5 or 6 blogs? And this is definitely one of them. They regularly post about ponies and horses (okay, they mostly focus on Breyers, but thats not a negative to me at all- I got my first Breyer the other day BECAUSE of this blog, lol), and their blog is just so clean and organized! They post about so many different kinds of ponies, whether it be comparing flat-footed release to concave foot releases, or custom ponies they made themselves, or just really cool pony finds that aren't necessarily obtainable (prototypes, special custom ponies commissioned by hasbro by professional artists, etc) but are really cool to look at!!! I really like this blog!!!

@mustcollecthorses - This is a blog that I have a super bad habit of opening and then scrolling through for like. 2 hours straight, lol. It's a mix of reblogs and original posts, so it's really my Ideal pony blog; usually when I hear about pony news, it's because he reblogged it! It's a very focused blog, so it's definitely a good one to follow if you need some more horses on your dash! He recently made an edit of Hitch from the new 5 pack to give him brushable hair, which I absolutely love (why did they gotta give him sculpted hair umu) I also like that OP leaves tags on the posts he reblogs! I don't know if it's just me, but I always like a blog more if they add tags with input about the toys and news and things like that. It adds some personality and a Vibe to the blog and I just really like it!!!

ok thats all! i of course follow a bunch of other pony themed blogs, but those are some of my top favorites, and ill limit it to 3 per category for the sake of simplicity. please consider following them! They're all so cool and talented!!!

--

send me pony themed asks

[heatherwitch]

hi! i’ve been struggling with a lot of negative thoughts lately, especially during this social isolation period. do you have any tips for dispelling mental negativity?

Hello! This is a tough time for us all, and it’s completely understandable to be dealing with an increase in negative thoughts and emotions. I’m fairly well-practiced at social isolation/staying at home for long periods of time due to chronic health issues, so I’ll talk about what helps me!

Take care of physical needs.

I challenge you to spend five minutes making yourself more comfortable. Here’s some things you might do:

Change clothes/into something more comfortable. 

Wash your face, neck, arms, etc. with a wet washcloth. 

Brush or comb your hair.

Brush your teeth.

Put on lip balm or lotion. 

Drink some water (at least 3 mouthfuls). 

Go to the bathroom!

Pay attention to sore/stiff areas of your body. Stretch and do what you need to in order to feel better. (Also fix your posture and relax your jaw!)

When was the last time you had fruit or veggies?

Do you have glasses? They could probably be cleaner. 

Get some fresh air, even if you need to hang your head out the window.

Next level physical needs:

Take a bath or shower. 

Go for a walk if you can, or move around your home (dance, yoga, shuffle around in your blanket cloak, whatever).

Set some hydration goals.

Follow your medication schedule.

Eat balanced meals, however that looks for you. 

Go to bed a bit earlier, even if you can’t fall asleep keep the phone put away and just relax. 

Quick mental recharging:

Watch a cute video.

Watch a favorite movie/episode.

Change your surroundings; hang out in a different spot, change the lighting, even just rotate on your bed.

Play some music and fully listen to it. The full song, do nothing but listen. I love turning off the lights and chilling with my headphones in. OR taking a shower with the lights off and the music playing (just be safe!)

Put the phone down for a bit. Even if it’s a designated timeframe (5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour, whatever.)

Write down whatever is bothering you. What are your thoughts? What’s triggering them? Often getting it down can help us release them. 

On that note, do things without your phone. Create, read a book, watch something with your phone in the other room. It’s a wonderful tool, but sometimes it can be too much!

Long-term mental recharging/goals:

Learn one new thing every day. It can be as simple as googling random facts or as complex as learning a new subject/topic/skill. Watch DIY or how its made videos. Just aim for learning one thing per day. 

Clean/tidy one thing per day. Made your bed? Moved the dishes into the kitchen? Put all the wrappers/whatever into a pile for later? Cleaned the entire house? Great! Just one thing, big or small. 

Get a hobby that doesn’t involve screen time. Knitting? Crocheting? Weaving? Sewing? Reading? Poetry? Gardening? Baking? Drawing? Painting? Creating? You don’t have to be good at it, learning is the fun part anyways! You also don’t have to do it every day, but you’ll hit a point where you’re aimlessly clicking between multiple apps and not enjoying any of it--that’s the time to return to your hobby. 

Figure out a schedule that works for you, and be gentle about it. 

Example: I fluctuate quite a bit with what time I’m ready to fall asleep, and I give myself a certain window that I can stay in bed (generally 10 hours is what I need). If I wake up before then, great! I can stay in bed until the window, but then I at least need to get up and take care of my needs before going back to my bed. But if I’m having a bad health day, that’s okay. You know what level of commitment you need to get benefit out of having a schedule. (TL;DR my schedule shifts with my needs, and that makes it work for me). 

Stay connected. Text people. Call them. Video chat. Send snail mail (if safe to do so). Message them. Let them know when you’re thinking of them. 

Related posts:

Bedridden witch: Stale energy edition

Magic to replenish energy

Rejuvenating witchcraft

Mentally ill witchcraft: For your symptoms

How I recovered from depression influenced by chronic illness

Spoonie witch masterpost

[lethendralis-paints]

Artist Meme

Was tagged to answer this set of interesting questions by @kourvo​

(original post is here: https://kourvo.tumblr.com/post/621355098110640128/artist-meme

Thank you so much for that!

Let’s see....

1) What is the character you've drawn the most (Can be original or fanart)

This precious boy. I can never get enough of him. One of the most compelling characters I have ever come across. Love everything about Fenris and can relate to him on so many levels!

2. What colour do you often use? 

Gray and brown are my faves. And all other colours have the same chance of appearing in my artwork :D

3. Any colour you are bad at using?

I don’t think so...I love them all, even the pinks and yellows people usually find hard to incorporate into a colour palette. Tell me in the comments if I’m wrong :)

4. When drawing people, where do you start? 

Funnily enough - either with the front of the hairline or with the left eyebrow. Don’t ask me, why - I don’t know myself.

5. What is a character only your eraser will love?

Hmmmm...any sort of villainous character. I can’t draw evil people convincingly. I’m a huge softy at heart.

6. Which of your works took the longest time? 

Big scale commission I did for @pikapeppa​, featuring all the Inquisition companions, along with Fenris, Rynne and Carver Hawke. That one took almost 3 weeks, due to its sheer scope and my relative lack of experience in such large works. Pika was extremely patient with me though, for that I am eternally thankful!

7. What techniques do you use when you want to improve in drawing? 

Classical art studies. Varying my technique, themes I choose and software I use. I try to experiment and go outside my comfort zone often.

8. What do you think of the art of the person who gave you this ask meme? 

I adore Lillymon’s technical skill, refined style and limited colours! She is a huge inspiration for me!

9. What art tools/media are you good with? 

DrawPile, Photoshop, graphite pencils and liners. That’s about it :)

10. Art tools/media you are bad at? 

Traditional paints. I have no formal artistic education and my lack of knowledge comes to the forefront whenever I have to paint on a real canvas. It’s so much trial and error, you can’t even imagine....

11. What do you think about your own art? 

Lately it’s one of the last few things that were bringing me joy. I hope I won’t lose the passion for it. Because at this point I’m not sure I’ll be able to find some occupation I will be genuinely interested in and good at it. I don’t know if me gravitating towards moody fantasy art speaks about my fear of facing reality. If so, idk what to do with that. I do hope to develop my skills and being able to support myself financially as an artist.

12. Do you consult references for your drawings? 

Yes. A lot of them. Anatomical atlases, schemes for both academic and manga art, photographs found online and taken on my own, copying colour palettes from classical art - anything goes. I think it’s essential to develop your technical skill.

13. What do you like about your art? 

Lately - consistency, both in terms of produced results and in sticking to the timelines I set to myself. I hope this lasts. I would also like to branch out to other themes and not confine myself to quirky fantasy characters, so I’m working on developing my own story behind the scenes (spoilers) :P

14. What habits do you have while drawing?

Only the bad ones, lol. Hunching forward in front of the screen, forgetting to eat, drink and letting my eyes rest. Tilting my head to the side instead of rotating the canvas....I’m an idiot XD

15. Are you good at drawing faces facing right? 

I think that’s the thing I’m good at!

16. How frequently do you draw? 

For the last 1,5 years - almost every day without fail, for good or ill.

17. What do you do when you have artist's block? 

Change occupation and work myself into a depressed state. I changed work places in the last few years a lot, working as an interior designer, draftsman, textile designer, a cook, a bartender to name a few.

18. What must you have when you draw? 

No commotion around me and a cup of some hot beverage.

19. Do you have a lot of stray lines (messy lineart)? 

In the starting stage of my work process - yes, like you wouldn’t believe! If it’s a personal doodle, I sometimes just leave in as am under layer and draw clean lines on top of that mess. It looks cool in a way.

20. What is drawing to you?

An essential part of what helped me to retain my sanity in the last year and a half. Hopefully a lasting profession that will help me pay bills and survive on my own, if my life falls apart entirely later.

21. Your art goal from now on? 

Broaden the themes I depict, improve my technical skill, work on personal creative project and not only fan arts. And most of all - not giving up on it this time.

22. Artists you've had influence from? 

To name a few: @kallielef​ @kourvo​ @shayafury​ @fairsparrow​ who I met here on Tumblr, and many others who I follow and zealously study their works for clues on how to improve my own work.

23. Artists you like? 

I am following them all either here or on Instagram, I also do my best to share their works on my side blog!

24. Which is easier to draw, humans or animals? 

It was animals earlier. But now that I started to diligently study human anatomy, I would say it evened out! I’m quite confident drawing humans/humanoids now!

25. Show us an old drawing 

My first digital drawing from 2010 when I first bought my tablet!

26. What is the charm-point of your art?

I ummm....I don’t really get the question? Is that like the the strongest suit of me as an artist? Intense expressions maybe? Idk. Let me know in the comments :D

27. What is the first thing you would draw if we're talking about fantasy? 

Broody warriors, he-he

28. Please draw your most beloved character:

Here’s a sneak-peek of me drawing him right now! :D

29. When thinking of characters is it mostly female? male? or androgynous/no sex? 

I usually gravitate towards depicting strong-willed, caring, passionate, brave, honest men and women.

30. What did you draw yesterday? 

Started cleaning up that sketch from the last question, actually!

31. What is the funnest part to draw? 

A circle. Mostly because you’d die laughing seeing my struggle to draw a believable one XD

32. What part of other people's drawings do you notice first? 

colours, mood, eyes, hands.

33. Regarding backgrounds, what is your method of making it easier to draw? 

pick your favourite textured brush, find a good reference for mood and colour scheme, zoom out, squint your eyes and start slapping colours like mad. You’d be amazed at how much you’ll be able to achieve in 30 minutes with this approach. Bare white background is the enemy - destroy it! >:)

34. What colour coordinations do you like? 

Gray or brown as a main colour and then deep, earthy, saturated colours to complement the main one. Pink and orange is the combination I strangely enjoy using lately too.

35. What character did you last draw? Fenris and Eris :)

36. Does your style change easily? 

I don’t think so. More like it’s evolving slowly into something more serious and deliberate.

37. What part of drawing do you pay most attention to? 

Facial expression, body movement, mood and light effects. Not so much the composition and framing, he he.

38. How do you feel about drawing adult art? 

Tbh, I don’t consider straight up porn to be ‘adult’ exactly. To me adult art means aiming towards serious topics, exploring complex emotions and ideas, being honest with your viewer. I did doodle a few more steamy sketches of my OTP just to see if I could, but it was definitely a tongue-in-cheek kind of a artwork that I don’t take seriously.

39. Do you like criticism from others? 

If it’s friendly and in done in private - I welcome it always.

40. How many people do you normally draw per artwork? 

1 or 2. Rarely more. Crowded battle scenes are definitely not my thing :D

This was fun! Tagging forward to @shayafury​ @schoute​ @stella-minerva​ @nug-juggler​ @kallielef​ and anyone else wishing to go through such a long questionnaire!

[wearesorcerer]

Ioun Bloodline Arcana

Whenever you have an ioun stone orbiting you or implanted, you bond with that stone. You may telekinetically recall one bonded stone within 20 feet per Sorcerer level, causing it to orbit your head as a swift action. You may use ioun stones as thrown weapons that function as darts and deal bludgeoning damage, and you are considered proficient with them. The stones count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. You lose your bond with any stone out of your possession after 24 hours.

I need to unpack this a little. My evaluation is fairly mean, but this ability is a C+/B- - because of the Bloodline Powers.

First of all, the paragraph needs to be reorganized:

Whenever you have an ioun stone orbiting you (or implanted, for that matter), you bond with that stone. You lose your bond with any stone out of your possession after 24 hours. As a swift action, you may telekinetically recall into orbit one bonded stone within 20 feet per Sorcerer level. You treat ioun stones as thrown weapons with which you are proficient; they function as darts, but deal bludgeoning damage and count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

There we go: actions required before effects, passive abilities before active ones, generalities before specifics, normal rules before exceptions, and relevant tangents in parentheses.

Effectively, this gives you an ability slightly better than a cantrip, but in contradictory ways.

The first contradiction:

As a swift action, you may telekinetically recall into orbit one bonded stone within 20 feet per Sorcerer level.

Bonus Feats: Acrobatic, Craft Wondrous Item, Magical Aptitude, Quick Draw, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Skill Focus (Knowledge [history]), Throw Anything.

You won’t want to use Quick Draw (iterative attacks [like you have any] for thrown weapons) because of the action restriction. Now, the recall ability exists both for the attacking and to combat kleptos from yoinking your stones, so maybe that’s for balance. However, given the capstone power, I suspect it’s because someone thought returning (a +1 enchantment that makes thrown weapons work like how they say boomerangs do) would be too powerful for first level characters to have.

(<3 Bowie-sama.)

The second way it’s contradictory is in range. Most attack cantrips work at Close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels, meaning 25 to 75 ft.). Darts have five range increments of 20 ft., with a cumulative -2 penalty on increments two through five. Yes, your maximum range with recall becomes available at 5th level. However, you will always take a penalty to match the maximum range of the cantrip (even though you can exceed it). Further, since most attack cantrips use ranged touch attacks¹ and you still have to roll against armor, you’re not going to hit shit.

You are still better off with a crossbow, given that to use either you need to be within closing range of, say, an enemy Fighter. (I will make a big stink about this point when I review Reserve feats.)

So, onto the second question: how exactly are these

(DMG 3.0 and 3.5, but art with similarly sized stones exists all over.)

comparable to something like this?

The dart used in D&D/Pathfinder (pictured above: late Roman plumbata) is most closest to today’s lawn dart, not the tiny things used in the game of the same name (though they do descend from the military ones). The comparison this Bloodline uses is a bit of a misnomer chosen for the sake of mechanics.

See, darts are mechanically nearly identical to sling bullets:

One dart weighs 1/2 pound (in D&D, at least). Sling bullets come in groups of 10 and such a group weighs 5 lbs. Math: it’s what’s for dinner. (Bum bum bum.)

Both the dart and the sling deal 1d3 (Small) or 1d4 (Medium) damage.

Both have a crit of x2 with a normal crit range.

Both are simple weapons.

They vary in three respects: price (pft, we’re using magic items, which are loads more expensive than either), damage type (already accounted for), and range. As I explained above, slings have a range increment of 50 ft. (nice!), whereas darts have one of 20 (sad face!). So, the comparison is more to this:

Still, this seems off; ioun stones are usually shown to be really small, like pea-sized. Does any source (3.x, Pathfinder, fifth edition, something else) provide sizes to corroborate or contradict the art? Not that I could find.

Thus, I tracked down the stones’ origins: Jack Vance’s short story “Morreion,” coincidentally also about finding the sources of ioun IOUN stones. The ones in D&D are lifted from that (with Vance’s permission; yes, they are copyright Vance, not TSR/WotC/Hasbro or Paizo). It took me a while to acquire the story (I had to use the regional interlibrary loan consortium), but right there at the beginning of chapter 2 (of 41 pages²) was what I sought:

“each approximately the size of a small plum.”

A brief Wiki Walk told me that plums are about 2 to 7 cm (3/4″ to almost 3″); Google confirmed about 1-3″ plums.

How big is a sling bullet? Well, Wiki claims about 1″ in diameter, though they’re oblong. The key is that they’re often made of lead. Ioun stones don’t get weights, but that’s easily waived (or else presumed to be irrelevant because of telekinetic force).

So yes, this ability is reasonable in principle.

In application, could/should this have been better? In all ways, yes. I will give my version of how this should have worked come the end of the week.

Is it a bad Arcana? Not really; I’d give it a C+/B-, but mainly because of its interactions with your Bloodline Powers.

¹ The main exception to this is telekinetic projectile, which launches an item out to close range as a thrown weapon attack. The trade-off is that it deals 1d6 non-magical bludgeoning (regardless of what you throw) rather than 1d3 magic of an energy type. However, it’s an abomination for one reason: it also deals damage to the object thrown.

² Bear in mind the 41-page count while I explain some things - or, rather, go on a rant.

Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series is one of the primary sources used to develop Dungeons & Dragons - hence “Vancian casting” (and Vecna, an anagram and homage). Had he not inspired the casting system, we likely would have had a spontaneous arcanist from the beginning. (Psionics have been spontaneous since Eldritch Wizardry [OD&D Supplement III, 1976]; had they not earned a reputation for being broken af, the would-be Sorcerer of 3rd edition would likely have been a Psion instead.)

I say all of this because neither H.P. Lovecraft nor Gary Gygax, both noted for their use of strange words, hold a candle to Vance. So horrendous is his diction that it took me several days to get through those 41 pages.

Mind you, I have a Master’s in English with foci in literature (specifically Shakespeare) and linguistics; I’m used to word choices people don’t like and trained not to get annoyed by them.

This did.

It’s like he sat down with a thesaurus and consulted it for the least-used words he could find for every word in dialogue and many words in narration. On top of that, the plot didn’t make a lot of sense (there were lots of weird jumps in logic, in part because of the diction, but also just bizarre behavior). In the end, I felt I had wasted an interlibrary loan (What if I had accidentally damaged the book? I’d have lost ILL privileges on this tripe!) and a lot of reading time I could have put towards The Starless Sea (which is due sooner and has a line waiting for it, but I wanted to get this post done).

I cannot speak fairly of the Dying Earth series because I haven’t read enough of it, but the diction is something that Vance is noted for. I don’t want to write off Gygax’s tastes, but so many of the things I detest about D&D go back to his personal preferences, in particular Jack Vance. I’m unsure if I will try again another time because I think I’m being highly unfair, but seriously, I hated this.

At least we have IOUN stones. (No idea why Vance insists on the capitalization, but he does.) And grues. And robes of eyes. And several other nifty things.

[aliceparsons22-blog]

How to Design a Million Dollars Playing Video Poker

Ill level bearing in mind you  if I knew some ordinary method for making a million dollars on video poker, I wouldnt be blogging right now. Id be in the Alaskan wilderness catching salmon or just sitting on my urge on porch cracking gain access to a beer.

So how can you become a video poker millionaire? The unchangeable is, there is no one unnamed method scr888 malaysia that will slant you into a video poker millionaire. Im suspicious of get-rich quick ideas of any variety. As a general rule, the less do its stuff something requires, the less full of life it is.

I can think of a few outside-the-box ways to put two commas in your bank account playing video poker:

You could win a million dollars playing higher video poker. Of course, youd have to win an unlikely number of future jackpots to sum $1,000,000  video poker later jackpots are considerably smaller than slot machines, resetting to with $500 and $1,500, and rarely paying off more than two or three time the reset amount. Dont forget how scarce difficult video poker games are  you wont find a single cutting edge video poker game on the Vegas Strip or anywhere in Atlantic City. You could sit on putting child maintenance in the machine until you hit an uncanny streak of luck. Lets say youre betting max, $5 per tab and $25 credits per hand. If you could string together sufficient $30 payouts in a row, youd eventually win a million bucks. It would endure 200,000 straight 6-credit wins (to offset the coast of each rounds maximum bet), and would totally lift some eyebrows at the IRS, but I suppose its technically (given plenty decimal places) possible. You could have a essentially gnarly slip-and-fall accident though playing a video poker machine. If its found that the casino was negligent in inspecting and maintaining their property, youll be entitled to compensation, damages, and (in rare cases) a punitive praise expected to tutor the casino a lesson they wont easily forget. Its within the realm of possibility that you could win a million-dollar settlement. Of course, this is abuse of the system, and it would make you a horrible human being. It may backfire too  the court may toss the warfare out, especially if there is no evidence of negligence. Those three ideas are beautiful far outdoor the realm of possibility. otherwise of slipping in a spilled drink, waiting for a mathematical miracle, or losing your shirt chasing progressives, I recommend a more level-headed approach.

The Three Basic Tenets of the Video Poker Millionaire The three tenets listed under arent exactly secret. Theyre freely-available every over the Internet. I can vouch for this fact, as Ive written dozens of blog posts upon these topics beyond the years.

Once youve moot how to function video poker, every you need to realize to (one day) create a million bucks playing the game is follow these three easy rules:

Learn Basic Strategy If you desire to have fun in Vegas and dont mind eventually giving your entire $100 bankroll to the casino, you dont habit to badly affect roughly strategy.

If your plan is to earn a million dollars from video poker, you have to become a graduate student of gambling. It helps if you have a fine library near your home, past some of the books youll desire to get into arent all that genial online. In fact, if you rouse close a own up the academy next a decent research library, youre a step ahead.

While youre at it, subscribe to some gaming magazines. If youre mostly going to gamble in Vegas, subscribe to some Vegas content, too. belong to a couple of forums. Depending upon where you live, you may be accomplished to find seminars in your area teaching legitimate video poker and additional game strategies. By the way, this isnt something you can attain when or twice a year for a couple of years and be curtains as soon as it. subsequently new games arrive extra strategies, and past additional casinos arrive new opportunities for advantage gambling. Youll essentially obsession to become a lifelong student of gambling and game strategy.

Choose Player-Friendly Games Unfortunately, the heyday of +EV video poker is long gone. You can yet locate a few high-paying titles that make a special trip to a specific casino or website worth your time. Specifically, theres plenty 10/7 Double extra and full-pay Deuces Wild upon casino floors in the gambling Meccas of America to save things interesting. If you are absolutely determined to earn a million bucks from video poker, you should probably stick to these titles only, past any new titles are going to keep too much of your maintenance more than time.

If you dont mind gambling a little (or waiting a few new years to earn your million), you can accomplishment some of the 99%+ titles that casinos still host. These are generally available whether youre online, in Vegas, in Atlantic City, or elsewhere in the USA. The so-called Not consequently ugly Deuces games (which we call 25/16/10) is well-liked and gives the casino a less than a quarter-percent edge, as complete most casinos versions 9/6 Jacks or Better, and the venerable 8/5 other Poker next a recompense of approximately 99.1%.

Casinos love to put sub-99% video poker games sharply adjacent to identical games set high. This is especially legal in the few casinos where you still locate full-pay titles. This means you absolutely have to inspect every pay table since you play.

Manage Your maintenance (and Earn Comps) The nice of dedication it takes to become a gambling millionaire means that it shouldnt be hard for you to rigorously control how much you spend on video poker. But past you should always bet maximum, your wager size and scope are lovely limited. instead of unbearable roughly bet sizing, focus on earning those crucial other relief casinos have enough money their loyal customers. That means joining the players club, exchanging club points for cash, scoring multiple-points promos, entering raffles and drawings, playing in video poker tournaments, remembering to mail in those bounce-back rewards clipping coupons, and pretense every those irritating things that tend to make a casino trip less fun.

In exchange for a tiny bit of what always feels afterward wasted time, youre putting a big dent in the casinos edge. If youre already playing +EV games, using comps basically extends your tiny edge. Not a statistically-significant amount at first, but more than time, it makes a huge difference.

[your-dietician]

2021 NBA Draft Prospect Profiles: James Bouknight

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nba/2021-nba-draft-prospect-profiles-james-bouknight/

2021 NBA Draft Prospect Profiles: James Bouknight

Over the next month, GBB will be profiling various players the Memphis Grizzlies may target in the 2021 NBA Draft. This year we will be breaking it up in to three sections – five to likely trade up for, five potentially available right around pick #17 where Memphis is slotted to pick, and five that surely will be there or perhaps the Grizzlies could even trade back and still select.

Next in our trade-up draft targets is the “Brooklyn Dodger” James Bouknight from the University of Connecticut.

James Bouknight, Guard, UCONN

6’5”, 190 lbs (6’8.25” wingspan), 20 years old from Brooklyn, New York

Two seasons at UCONN: 27.9 minutes per game, 15 points per game, 46 FG% (32% from three, 80% from the line), 4,7 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game, 0.9 steals, 0.2 blocks

ADVANCED STATS OF STRENGTH (per Tankathon) : Usage rate (31.6%)

ADVANCED STATS TO IMPROVE: Ast/TO ratio (0.64), Ast%/Usage (.41), Off Rating (108.7), Effective field goal% (49.8%), True Shooting % (54.6%)

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES: 2020-21 First Team All Big East, 2019-20 Third Team All-AAC, 2020 AAC All-Freshman Team

CURRENT BIG BOARD PLACEMENTS: 13th overall (Tankathon), 21st overall (Ringer), 8th overall (ESPN), 8th overall (CBS Sports), 9th overall (The Athletic)

The Memphis Grizzlies are coming off an injury-riddled second season of a rebuild that saw them exceed expectations by winning the NBA play-in and making the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2017. As great as the playoff performances were from the likes of Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, it was not enough to outlast Donovan Mitchell and the plethora of shooters that supplied the Utah Jazz’s offensive fire power. As deep as the Grizzlies were from a talent and productivity stand point last season, the Jazz series highlighted one thing that the Grizzlies need moving forward: someone not named Ja Morant who can consistently put the ball in the hoop. James Bouknight can be that guy — at a cost. As draft season started, Bouknight looked like a potential steal for teams in the 10-20 range, but now he is rising rapidly up NBA Draft boards as he flashes his potential to be a star in the league.

Bouknight will not be there at pick #17. Honestly, he probably won’t make it past the 8th overall pick. That being said, if the Grizzlies become enamored with the prospect being compared to Donovan Mitchell and long-desired trade target Zach LaVine, I won’t blame them for trying to make a move up into the lottery. Bouknight is not an analytical darling by any means but checks a lot of boxes in the Grizzlies formula that Shawn Coleman highlighted last season.

What He Does Well

IndyStar-USA TODAY Sports

A key element of this current era of Grizzlies basketball has been getting more explosive and modern compared to the “Grit ‘n’ Grind” Grizzlies of years’ past. They don’t get much more explosive than Bouknight in this year’s draft, and much to the Grizzlies blueprint, it translates to both ends.

James Bouknight sent the nets to Hell today in a tough OT loss to #9 Creighton.

Bouk scored 40 Points on 13/24 shooting in his 1st game of the season not seeing zone defense. Scored w/ ease on all levels.

Rare you see a player w/ elite athleticism have such patience & control. pic.twitter.com/rgKWwCay3r

— In Due Time (@League_Him) December 20, 2020

Offensively, there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said. Bouknight is one of those guys that every team wants — an aggressive three-level scorer who can not only make shots, but create the separation to create his own as well. Similar to Mitchell and LaVine, he uses an explosive first step to get to the rim for acrobatic layups and highlight reel dunks. In the same mold of Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant and many other young guards, he is a patient ball handler who can draw fouls with deceptive moves as well as use hesitations and step backs to create space and get to their spots and get their shots off. As his highlight reel above shows, he’s comfortable playing off the ball cutting to the rim as a lob threat.

Defensively, Bouknight has all of the tools to be a more than capable defender at the NBA level. He took a leap on that end his sophomore season, impacting the game by using his athleticism to jump into passing lanes and flash at driving opponents using his wingspan and quick hands to strip opposing ball handlers. As is the case with every young guard, there’s room for improvement — especially in on-ball, point of attack situations — but the established floor is already really good for a 20 year old.

An underrated aspect of his game that ticks another box for the Memphis Grizzlies’ draft formula is Bouknight’s instincts on the glass. While Bouknight may be the smallest of the top-5 shooting guards in the 2021 class, he leads the group in rebounding, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game. This ability only increases his value on both ends and the likelihood of him being a draft night target for Memphis in a trade up situation.

If his play from college translates, he has the chance to be a star in this league that is more than serviceable on the defensive end of the floor thanks to his athleticism.

Where He Can Improve

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

There are two things that analytics will point to for James Bouknight to improve as he moves to the next level. One is his shot making from deep — as he only shot 32% from three over the course of two seasons at UCONN — and his playmaking. Bouknight, in a self-aware answer during the NBA Draft combine, acknowledged that his role as the “go-to guy” in college could lead to “ill advised” and “tough” shots but also stated his three-point shooting is “underrated.”

UConn’s James Bouknight put on an absolutely incredible shooting display at his NBA Combine Pro Day workout today. Shot the cover off the ball, showing phenomenal footwork, touch and body control. pic.twitter.com/XzHdjwLpRK

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 26, 2021

As shown above, James Bouknight put on a shooting display at the NBA Combine Pro Day. This shooting capability may become more of the norm at an NBA level, with the offense less centered around him and his ability to create space.

The college numbers say one thing about his shooting ability but as Elite Media Group’s Reese Holliday points out, his ability to shoot 80% from the free throw line over two college seasons shows the potential to improve into being an efficient three-level scorer on the NBA level.

In college, Bouknight was “the guy,” as all eyes were on him to make plays for offense — which could lead to over dribbling and tunnel vision, a problem a lot of young guards have in similar situations. This is something that can be worked on at the next level. With an improved supporting cast, it is a lot easier to pass out of situations instead of forcing bad shots and turning the ball over.

The Fit

There’s been a lot of discussion about the Grizzlies consolidating at the shooting guard and small forward positions moving into next season. The pipe dream of these scenarios have been Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine. With Bouknight, the Grizzlies could potentially consolidate at a smaller sell than what would be required for the established All-Stars and members of Team USA.

With the addition of Bouknight, there’s a lifted pressure for everyone. Ja Morant has a new lob threat in the starting lineup who isn’t afraid to takeover if he has to. The scoring load for Dillon Brooks lightens, allowing more catch-and-shoot opportunities as the 3rd or 4th option in most lineups. Jaren Jackson Jr. has someone else on the perimeter drawing attention away from him. Bouknight would also add a capable perimeter defender to whoever remains from the trade that would have to happen to get him in Beale Street Blue. Taylor Jenkins would have another two-way asset that can be deployed in a variety of ways in small ball lineups due to Bouknight’s versatility as a defender.

This would be a win for everyone involved.

The Verdict

Photo by Porter Binks

The Grizzlies lucked out twice last year thanks to teams using age as a negative and opting for one and done’s over more experienced players. This will not be the case for the second year guard out of UCONN as his rise up big boards has nearly locked him within the top ten.

The tools he possesses on both ends are too valuable for him to slide far, regardless of him being “older” than the one-and-done prospects in this year’s draft. If the Memphis Grizzlies want to pair Bouknight with Ja Morant, it’s going to cost them something, but the front office moves over the last few years have prepared them for a scenario like this. And if they become the team many think they can become, the picks will lose their value after so long anyway, so strike while the iron is hot and go get a guy that fits the newly established standard here in Memphis and can fill it up as a member of the young core for years to come.

Will it happen though? Only time will tell.

James Bouknight will most likely fall in the 4-8 range on Draft night. The more he falls the more the Grizzlies should entertain trading up to pair him up with a young core fresh off a playoff run.

For more Grizzlies talk, subscribe to the Grizzly Bear Blues podcast network on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and IHeart. Follow Grizzly Bear Blues on Twitter and Instagram.

Source link

[xiahoumiaocai]

Dynasty Warriors - a TV series

So I was having a dream the other day where instead of the Battle of the Bastards, we saw the Battle of Jieting in equal detail - and it dawned on me. What if Dynasty Warriors was a TV show? Similar to Game of Thrones but in DW-style. Think DW cutscenes but turned into an actual episodic journey where we watch the events unfold as if it was a TV show. A cinematic and strong story. I decided to draft up my ideas as to what the seasons would look like. Ultimately, we are telling the stories of the three kingdoms, so we will be following Sun Jian, Cao Cao and Liu Bei quite closely, initially of course. It would be closer to history than DW is, but of course it will still be a unique interpretation of events. I'd have it run closer to history than the novel, however, and allow for new unique models and such.

I managed to draft up a 14-season story proposal, explaining events episode to episode. 10 episodes per season. Very rough and I'm looking for a way to draw the 264-80 stuff into the season that covers 258-63, since I want to portray Wu post-263 as quickly collapsible. I've gone to lengths to avoid dates so characters age slower. It would appear as if the characters age over the course of about 40 years and not 95, but since Koei have no ageing system in place at all, it's an improvement. For example Sima Yi and Sun Quan would appear about late-forties at death and not early-seventies.

Season 1 would cover the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and would present the Han as if it was still repairable at this point, as opposed to the games and fiction which seem to doom it from the get go. Cao Cao (and Sun Jian) would be portrayed as ambitiousless loyalists at first. Liu Bei will show the side from the view of the peasantry who want to make a change. Certain Han figures will have a lot of screen time, such as He Jin, Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and the eunuchs in the background. Also follows the Sima family in Luoyang.

Season 2 would cover the death of He Jin quite early on, Dong Zhuo's takeover, the political scene at the time. It would end with the coalition's collapse, Dong Zhuo escaping with his life to Chang'an. Also shows the Sima family return to the ruins of Luoyang (I know they fled historically beforehand but story purposes)

Season 3 would start immediately with Sun Jian's service to Yuan Shu and death, and show Sun Ce and his father's vassals trying to cope. Cao Cao would be a struggling warlord throughout this season, gaining his lands through charisma or conquest, warring with Tao Qian. Liu Bei will begin to show signs of ambition beyond serving with Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai. Lu Bu will journey from killing Dong Zhuo to being thrown with Yuan Shao and then ultimately attacking Cao Cao at Puyang.

Season 4 will start with Cao Cao setting his sights on Luoyang and his losses at Wancheng; Liu Bei and Lu Bu's machinations in Xuzhou; and Sun Ce paving a name for himself in Yangzhou. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu will be at the centre of this season too.

Season 5 will feature Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Ce working together. Initially they don't trust each other, but all understand that Yuan Shu is a threat to the Han (which they all claim to be loyalists of). Since Lu Bu is now Yuan Shu's ally and Yuan Shao is building bridges with his brother, they work quickly to eliminate Yuan Shu's allies and put him down. Yuan Shu is this season's big bad.

Season 6 will start with Liu Bei murdering Che Zhou to claim Xuzhou but failing. Yuan Shao makes movements against Cao Cao now while Sun Ce deals with Yuan Shu's loyalists and Liu Biao. Culminates in his death at Xuchang after turning against Cao Cao. Liu Bei also abandons Yuan Shao to his death and becomes a bandit.

Season 7 will have Liu Bei find solace in Jing, while Cao Cao removes the last of the Yuans before turning his intentions on Liu Biao. Sun Quan, who is also warring with Liu Biao, must decide whether to give up his quest for vengeance to assist Liu Biao in defending Jing or whether he wants to surrender to Cao Cao to achieve his goal. Season will end with Red Cliffs and it's aftermath, Cao Cao's retreat from Jing.

Season 8 covers Ma Chao's rebellion and Liu Bei's takeover of Jing and Yi. Cao Cao is attempting to recover, he has difficulty governing the land in his grief at first. Season comes to a nice end as Liu Bei and Ma Chao work together to destroy Liu Zhang while Sun Quan is eliminated by Zhang Liao at Hefei, giving Cao Cao momentum.

Season 9 covers Liu Bei's successful Hanzhong campaign while Guan Yu fucks up at Jingzhou. Sun Quan ultimately makes the decision to allow Lu Meng to lead his campaign in Jing. Season penultimate episode is simultaneously Fancheng and Mt Dingjun battles ending. Just as the Han seems as if it can be restored, Cao Cao dies in final episode of the season, and Cao Pi announces his intention to usurp the throne.

Season 10 starts with Cao Pi's coronation. He is shown to be a very conflicting leader, but Cao Rui learns. Covers Sun Quan and Liu Bei's earlier wars before Cao Pi attacks his new vassal Sun Quan while his attention is elsewhere. Zhuge Liang puts down Nanman rebellion and aims north.

Season 11 covers Zhuge Liang's capture of Jiang Wei, showing both as incompetent while Wei Yan is neglected. Cao Pi is also shown to be incompetent too, while Sun Quan scores a victory over Youting. Cao Pi is killed (strayed from history but for drama purposes) and his friend Meng Da is revealed as the killer, who attempts to escape to flee to Shu. Cao Rui recovers by utilising Zhang He, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi to hold off Shu, and Man Chong to destroy Wu's famous fleet at Hefei in the season finale.

Season 12 would show post-Wuzhang. It becomes clear that factions are forming when Cao Rui is on his deathbed after being taken by illness. Sima Yi retires while Cao Shuang messes up. Jiang Wei takes over Shu's military and exhausts them in campaigns while Sun Quan tries to deal with the factions dividing his children. Season ends with Sima Yi's elimination of Cao Shuang and then his own death. He is presented as a Wei loyalist through and through.

Season 13 features Guo Mingyuan and Sun Luban as the big bads for their respective kingdoms. As Sima Shi tries to restore order in Wei by removing political opposition and building his own faction, he is assassinated. Sima Zhao quickly steps into position. Sun Quan also dies and Sun Luban monopolises power in the shadows. Season ends with Zhuge Dan's death, revealing Guo Mingyuan's influence.

Season 14 shows the collapse of Wei after Sima Zhao thwarts Cao Mao's coup attempt, and Deng Ai and Zhong Hui proceed to march towards Chengdu. Ding Feng and Sun Luban attempt to save Wu from Sun Jun independently but end up working against each other. By this point, Sun Hao has already wasted away Wu's resources. The season ends after Liu Shan ultimately surrenders.

Season 15 starts with the end of Shu. Zhong Hui masterminds his attempt to become an independent force in Chengdu with Jiang Wei but is ultimately thwarted. In the meantime, Lu Kang attempts a last ditch defence. Sima Yan usurps the throne and advances on Wu once and for all.

In a way, it will have anachronisms - some characters will be born earlier or later to accommodate their eventual presence as adults in a way that makes the events seem to occur seamlessly rather than over a century. You'll see Zhong Hui as a child while Zhong Yao is still serving Cao Cao, or Sima Shi and Sima Zhao as young teens when Sima Yi joins Cao Cao. Cao Rui as a child/young teen at death (albeit an automatically incredibly wise and mature one) throughout his presence, as he'd be born in season 7 and die in season 12. The timeline will be off but necessarily so for story purposes. Think the Advisors Alliance.

I'll be posting the episodes in detail soon, under the tag "3K TV show" or something, so look out for it if you're interested.

I could also condense it into seven or eight 20-episode seasons instead?

[randomuserno32]

Your Name (Kimi No Na Wa) - Review

To put it bluntly I watch a fair amount of anime, and Anime Youtubers as well for that matter. Mother’s Basement, Gigguk, Digibro, Exclamation Point (who deserves more subs to be honest), you name one: I’ll probably have watched them.

Recently one of them in particular, Gigguk, posted a video speaking about his own personal favourite anime film, the latterly released film “Your Name” (or otherwise known as “Kimi No Na Wa”), which was directed by Mikoto Shinkai. Of course, upon starting up the video, I was greeted with a spoiler warning, which understandably made me click off the video and gave me the urge to watch the film for myself.

Mikoto Shinkai is a name I’m definitely familiar with in the anime and film industry, primarily after watching his 2007 film “5 Centimetres Per Second”, which became one of my personal favourite films, mainly due to its bittersweet mood and the film’s main message of the harsh reality of “not knowing what you’ve got till it’s gone”, I felt spurred on even more to check his latest piece of work out.

First off let’s talk about the fairly obvious elephant in the room, the animation. By god, this film is breathtakingly beautiful. You can tell that Shinkai has put an almost extreme amount of effort into this film as each frame is bursting with colour and detail, specifically on buildings or natural landscapes. So much so that every single one would probably be adequate on your desktop background. Plus, there’s the very impressive tracking shot that flies off from Taki’s house in Tokyo between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, all the way out to Mitsuha’s home in Itomori. It’s a stunning shot and not only is it a complete marvel to watch, it also sells the in-movie distance between the two main characters. There’s another factor that also further improves the quality of the animation and that’s Shinkai’s usage of Licencing. Just as an example, in some of the scenes set in Tokyo during the film, a keen eye would notice that on certain buildings there are logos for such companies as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, the list goes on. This is how much Shinkai pays attention to the detail and it definitely pays off, immersing the viewer further into Your Name’s world.

Secondly, the best part of any film, the story – I’ll be covering the plot and characters of the film here.

The film begins from the perspective of Mitsuha Miyamizu, a high school girl living in the fictional Japanese rural town of Itomori. It’s apparent early on that Mitsuha isn’t keen on living a quiet life in the somewhat desolate town (or out in the boonies as the dub occasionally mentions) and wishes that she could be a handsome Tokyo boy in her next life. Enter Taki Tachibana, a high school boy working a small part time job at an Italian restaurant and living in Tokyo (what are the odds!). Suddenly and randomly every few days, the two swap bodies and are able to live out the other person’s life for a day (think of it a lot like Freaky Friday just not permanently). Thus, the two unanimously decide to work together to keep each other’s lives in check and also attempting to discover why both of them keep switching places, while also improving certain aspects within their lives (Mitsuha helps Taki to strike up a relationship with Miku Okudera, one of Taki’s co-workers, while Taki helps Mitsuha to become more popular at school).

I was considering going into practically extreme detail about the actual plot of the film but I realised that it would take up a large portion of the review and would (obviously) spoil the entire film. I’ll still be briefly mentioning certain characters or events that aren’t extremely important to the plot or that I haven’t mentioned so you may have to ya know, watch the actual film or follow the links below for the entire story overview.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Name#Home_media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHEjDq9Lh1U

One of the main grabs of the film is that it is able to draw you in and can make the viewer really care for Taki, Mitsuha and their relationship with one-another. I’ve heard criticism of Taki and Mitsuha for being too simplistic and somewhat bland, but I would say that while you can’t call them perfect characters, to say that they are bad or mediocre would be just plain lying. They’re simplistic characters - because a majority of normal human beings are like that. Most people don’t have a hidden backstory or an underlying problem in their lives and don’t need to be incredibly complex characters in order to be good characters. The side characters are pretty good too, with Tessie being hot-headed, but friendly and understanding, and Miku being easy-going, yet thoughtful and likable. The actual story itself (which as I previously mentioned I won’t be spoiling here) is a genuinely heart-warming experience and the main twist of the film will definitely catch you off guard (trust me it’s very subtle and is revealed fantastically). The love story is also built up fantastically, and as Shinkai has done with his other films, he is able to accurately understand and portray a teenage romance, making it feel fairly natural and ordinary. The story and characters are comprehensively incredible (well to me anyway).

Next up, the soundtrack. This is a truly sublime soundtrack and the main songs of the film (“Dream Lantern”, “ZenZenZense”, “Sparkle”, etc) by Radwimps are stellar and match each scene perfectly both in mood and tone. Especially when you consider that the music was basically what shaped certain scenes of the film. Shinkai intentionally changed certain parts of the story / script to work around Radwimps’s music. This in turn helps to “supplement the dialogue and monologue of the characters” (to quote Shinkai himself). The music just syncs so well with the moments of the film and the soundtrack in general works wonders during the more emotional, awe-inspiring and light-hearted moments. Overall, a fantastic soundtrack.

Lastly, I’ll be going over the voice acting (subbed AND dubbed). And to be perfectly honest, both were pretty solid. While the dub’s no Cowboy Bebop (cause ya know every dub ever made has to be compared to Cowboy Bebop), Michael Sinterniklaas (Taki) and Stephanie Sheh (Mitsuha) put in a good shift with the exception of the odd occasional line coming across as slightly melodramatic, and (as much as I personally prefer dub to sub) the sub is of course as you’d typically expect pretty exceptional. Ryunosuke Kamiki (Taki) and Mone Kamishiraishi (Mitsuha) portray their characters and their emotions remarkably well. The side characters of both sub and dub are also fairly impressive and there is no specific actor / actress that could be pointed out as a weak point of the casting. The casting overall for both sub and dub was of the highest degree.

Final Word

Your Name was just…wow. This was a very surprising movie to me, as I hadn’t really set the film any kind of benchmark going into it and I haven’t really been a big fan of romance films over the course of my life. But Your Name has changed that for me. It’s heart-warming and charming, upbeat and dramatic, detailed and visually stunning…there’s just no perfect word to describe the film... asides from maybe beautiful. The characters are memorable and are portrayed fantastically, the animation and detail is immaculate, the story just clicks perfectly into place, it is a modern anime classic and is truly deserving of the records it has broken; even if Mikoto Shinkai disagrees with it. Just go see it. Trust me. You won’t regret anything.

Favourite Quote: “This feeling has possessed me when I think from that day...That day when the stars came falling. It was almost as if...as if a scene from a dream. Nothing more, nothing less...than a beautiful view.”

Story: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Voice Acting: 8/10

Animation: 10/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Overall: 9.5/10

Got any suggestions for what i should review next? Just send them to me via messages or via a post on the blog and ill see what i can do! Thanks for any and all support! :)

[legendofgrump]

awkwardarin replied to your post “awkwardarin replied to your post “4, 7, 10 you bet your ass I’m...”

*chanting* DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

You ask, I deliver. Here we gooooo~ (Also I’m going to shame you all I want SO)

As per request, I’ll answer all the asks (that I haven’t already) from the fanfic questions post, but it’s under a read more so I don’t literally kill everyone’s dashes. I’m so sorry in advance

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in? I mean, before I even knew what “fandom” meant, I was writing Twilight fanfiction, so I guess that counts. The first one I actively participated in was the Grump one haha

2. What is your latest fandom? Ouran High School Host Club, but again, if you want active participation, then I guess uhhh Night in the Woods?

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in? Definitely the Grump fandom!! I’ve met all the best people and 99% of my friends through this blog right here!

4. Answered

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for? Uhh Twilight, Big Time Rush, Total Drama, Game Grumps, technically AntiPoppy but it’s not even close to done and not published

6. Answered

7. Answered

8. Answered

9. What are the best things about your current fandom? I mean, for this fandom, like I said, it’s got all my friends in it. Everyone’s super supportive and there’s tons of opportunities to get involved and create stuff and support other creators! It’s probably one of the nicest communities I’ve been a part of.

10. Answered

11. Who is your current OTP? Currently I’m still heavily thinking about Hikaru and Haruhi from Ouran Host Club so that I guess haha

12. Who is your current OT3? The all time babes are Rubbercommanderbang. Also Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy is a ship that @cantolopejeevas made me think about and I love

13. Any NoTPs? Refer to this massive post

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs? Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran, The entirety of the Teen Titans, the monks in Xiaolin Showdown, etc

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love? A n t i P o p p y

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike? I’m more or less indifferent toward Egobang if we’re gonna be real here. I just don’t feel like there’s anything I can add to it at this point.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite? I mean, before I knew what that meant, probably RaiKim from Xiaolin Showdown. And they’re still great, but now I’m a little gayer.

18. What ship have you written the most about? Ironically? Probably Egobang. I wasn’t so cynical about it when I first started haha

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them? Refer to number 16

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking? Hmm probably like Septibang? Or CommanderSeptiBang?? Those were two ships I just kinda stumbled upon and was like? Okay I guess we’re doing this now??

Also Mae and Selmers from Night in the Woods. Surprisingly wholesome.

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote? I think I mentioned this before, but it was self-insert Twilight fanfic. Honestly I wish I was just as shameless as I was in middle school. Writing Mary Sue self-insert fic where you ship yourself with a main character is fun and satisfying as hell.

22. Is there anything you regret writing? Aforementioned Twilight fanfiction. Though part of me doesn’t because it was my origin story and also, like I said, shameless and for fun.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it. Ahh probably either “You Monster,” which is like my best stuff that I’ve put up so far??? or the massive Big Time Rush fanfic I talk so much about just for the sheer size of it :P

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit? You Monster!!!! I’m gonna write a redux soon I promise.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic? ???? According to Archive, it’s You Monster! How nice~

26. Answered

27. Answered

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of? Literally anything??? I love all fanart of anything I make??? But I guess You Monster haha

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not? Hahaha no I don’t write enough to warrant having one. And also I literally almost never edit anything I write rip

30. Answered

31. Answered

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you? Depends!! Sometimes music really confuses my brain and makes me unable to think of words, especially if it’s really word-heavy music (which is most of what I listen to). If I’m really struggling, it usually helps to do it in silence so I can focus. But otherwise, I used to make little playlists of instrumental music to listen to, or play premade playlists of like study music or something.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics? I really like writing huuuuge epics/multi-chapters but I’m really bad at finishing things ;--; so most of what gets published are requested one-shots/ficlets (one of which was requested the other day and I’M STILL T R Y I N G I SWEAR)

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic? Oh buddy. It’s over 100K.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about? Uh I guess? But I’m not particularly stuck to the “required word count” for the different vocab. I usually only write really short things when people request stuff haha. But it’s kinda fun~

36. What’s your favourite genre to write? Probably just straight angst. Angst that develops character, specifically, but angst nonetheless.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why? Third person. I used to write in first person and for some reason it always seems less?? effective/neat to me? Plus I write very colloquially and I find it easier to do when I can write in third person.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs? Usually canon characters, but if it’s something like Total Drama that depends on constantly changing casts of characters, I’ve definitely made some of my own characters.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer? Uhhh???? Uhhhh????? Does not compute????

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing? Effectively capturing characters, at least that fit my own standards. And then also the anxiety that comes along with thinking its good enough to waste people’s time with. :’)

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading: I’m not...currently reading any...but I will link to five of my favs.

1. Before and After (Shaddic) --Total Drama (also tw for a lot of HEAVY mental illness/abuse/violence) 2. Wu Xing Shield (DragonNutt) -- Xiaolin Showdown (tw: death) 3. If Lost, Return to Phil (thatsmistertoyou) - Dan and Phil (I don’t remember, I just remember it being really fucking sad) 4. Two Roads Meet (pianodan) - Dan and Phil (tw: suicide) 5. The Vibe and The Vibe 2: 2Fuck2Vibrator (by our very own @cantolopejeevas) (tw: gratuitous smut ;) )

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing: 1. @cantolopejeevas​ / @grumpygamersandvibrantcolors for obvious reasons. they’re just!!! so good!!! at all the types of writing. (hey go commission them) The Ultimate Senpai 2. @i-am-avacado oh boy they angst well! current holder of the angst crown (for nooooow~) honestly writing senpai 3. @devilgate-drive provides the Good Quality Rubbercommanderbang Content and also just generally talented 4. @sweetiefiend writes the cute shit!!! like damn!!!! 5. @autumn-feels so??? talented for her age??? and so deep wtf

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you? I mean, all of my friends for one. And my lovely darling @cantolopejeevas who continues to push me forward and compliments my work all the time. But yeah, all my friends make me wanna get better because they’re all so good and I wanna do that tooooo!!

44.  What ship do you feel needs more attention? AntiPoppy. Please.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic? Fuckin’!!!! Wu Xing Shield, listed above!!! It’s the first fanfic I cried reading!!! And it’s so beautifully written!!! If you like Xiaolin Showdown, I recommend it. Plus, it also took stuff from Xiaolin Chronicles and made it bearable. Bless.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why? Ahhh You Monster. It’s probably my best one. Even though it needs heavy editing haha.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why? I mean....Fanfiction.net is where it all began, but I never posted anything on it. I think AO3 is the best for posting fics and keeping track of them. But more people usually see it if I post it on my tumblr. So a mixture of those two?

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not? For the longest time I didn’t because I had major anxiety!!! I was too nervous to leave a comment, no matter what. Plus, I didn’t really make accounts on either ffn or ao3 so I couldn’t have if I wanted to. But now I like leaving tags and stuff on people’s works on tumblr and (if I read more fic) I would leave comments, just because I want people to know they’re doing good work!!

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not? Yeah, I mean, of course! I love seeing comments on all my work, art, writing, or otherwise! It’s just nice to know that someone liked something I made, especially if it’s something I’m self-conscious about like I am with writing. And reblogs help spread it around so it can get more attention, so that’s always helpful!

50. Answered

51. Answered

I HOPE EVERYONE IS HAPPY ESPECIALLY YOU @awkwardarin

[swisscoin4-blog]

From the G League, can Tyler Ulis make a run at Bulls backup point guard job?

It’s been 125 days since the Phoenix Suns waived Tyler Ulis.

The diminutive point guard, who is now a two-way player for the Chicago Bulls, should really update the bio portion of his Twitter account.

He should know better. He’s even from Chicago, and is now playing in Chicago. Or at least in Hoffman Estates, where I spoke to him after his Windy City Bulls defeated the Lakeland Magic 96-71 in their season opener Friday night:

“Literally, a full circle. I went from Chicago, to Kentucky, to Phoenix. Phoenix the weather out there is a lot different. I’m happy to be home, glad to be back around family and friends. I like the guys on this team.”

Ulis attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill. where he was the program’s all-time leader in points (2,335) and assists (578). He played for Chicago-based Nike MeanStreets for AAU. He was a McDonald’s All-American, finished third in the 2014 Illinois Mr. Basketball voting behind the likes of Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander and ended up as a five-star recruit, 25th best in his class.

His sophomore year at Kentucky, he earned SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, a feat only accomplished previously by some obscure Chicago-born player named Anthony Davis. Ulis played two seasons for the Suns, was waived, briefly latched on with the Golden State Warriors, and is now looking for another chance to dig in at the NBA level.

The Bulls point guard situation right now is a smattering of obscure names battling to entrench themselves into the backup point guard role. The Bulls were already thin even before starter Kris Dunn went down with an MCL sprain. Now, there’s minutes to be won and the skirmish to win them has turned into an outright battle. But Ulis doesn’t view it that way.

“Right now, I’m focused on the Windy City Bulls and I can’t really focus too much on what those guards [in the NBA] are doing,” Ulis said. “I’m rooting for those guys to win, I know they’ve had two tough losses lately. But I know for the most part I’m trying to lock in here with these guys. If I’m called up that’s what I’m prepared for.”

If and when Ulis gets his next opportunity at the NBA level, here’s what he can bring to the table.

Mid-range game

Windy City Bulls head coach Charlie Henry is a Fred Hoiberg disciple. He coached under Hoiberg for several seasons at Iowa State. Henry said that 80 percent of what he runs offensively with the Windy City Bulls are Hoiball concepts, and the remaining 20 percent of the playbook focuses on playing to the strengths of his personnel even if that means contradicting Hoiball.

In a basketball world where mid-range jumpers are devalued (especially in Hoiball), Ulis is the antithesis.

In two seasons in Phoenix, 52.1 percent of his shot attempts came from 10 feet from the basket to just before the 3-point line. He’s susceptible to falling in love with these shot and forced a few shots in the game against the Lakeland Magic Friday night.

But, he’s trying to adjust.

“Definitely have to adjust, it’s not just about adjustment it’s also about knocking down the shots that you get,” Ulis said. “Threes I get, make sure I’m making that. Making people guard me [in such a way] where I can get to the spots I want to. But when I’m open, I like to get into the paint and into the midrange.”

In his two seasons at Kentucky, Ulis was a 37.1 percent 3-point shooter and an 84.6 percent free-throw shooter. So the peripherals were there for the outside shooting to carry over to the NBA level.

But it simply hasn’t. He’s shot 28 percent on 1.7 attempts per game in his two seasons with Phoenix. He was 1-for-4 from deep against the Lakeland Magic Friday night (super small sample size alert).

While improving those 3-point numbers is a priority, coach Henry isn’t trying to exterminate a strength of Ulis’ game (mid-range jumpers).

“Naturally, you’d think he’d shoot a little bit better down here than he did at the NBA and he was a pretty good, efficient shooter in the NBA,” Henry said. “The big thing for me is we tell them first seven, last seven. The first seven seconds of the shot clock off of no pass we often discourage it [mid-range jumpers] and the last seven seconds if we’ve explored other options [and] we end up with that, we know that he can make those. We also don’t have a lot of other guys who are going to take those, so Tyler taking his when he’s open later in the clock I’m fine with that.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Ulis doesn’t back down from doing things just because he’s 5-foot-10-inches, 160 pounds and will conceivably be the smallest guy on any court that he steps on the rest of his professional career.

“He competes if you are trying to go at him however you’re going to do it say it’s in the post he’s competitive,” Henry said. “He’s smart and he’s made himself who he is by figuring out what he can get done.”

For most of the first half, the Lakeland Magic matched up their two-way player Troy Caupain against Ulis. Caupain is 6-foot-4-inches and big. There were two instances that I noticed where Caupain got Ulis in the post, ending in an easy floating hook the one time and his teammate having to leave a 3-point shooter to help Ulis out the other (Caupain sensed the double team and kicked it back out to the 3-point shooter who knocked down the shot). Overall, Caupain had a poor game offensively; he needed 13 shots to tally 15 points.

Although Caupain makes this shot, this is an example of Ulis competing on defense. He fights to get over a screen to at least make the shot attempt more difficult for Caupain.

Ulis’ size will make it difficult for him to switch onto anybody which is an issue, but effort is half the battle defensively and Ulis aces that portion of the test.

Additionally, Ulis is smart and he has quick hands. One of Caupain’s two turnovers came when Ulis batted the ball away and grabbed it before Caupain knew what hit him, forcing Caupain to foul.

In the second half, Ulis matched up mostly with the 6-foot-1-inch Jay Wright. The Lakeland guard finished with the same amount of points (2) as turnovers. Everybody on the Bulls was doing something right defensively. The 71 points they gave up to the Magic was the lowest points allowed in franchise history.

Crafty as can Be

Most under 6-foot guards need to be crazy athletic/fast in order to be effective offensively. Think in the mold of Nate Robinson and Isaiah Thomas. Ulis is neither, but he’s crafty and he makes it work.

At the half, he was 2-for-10 from the field, but ended up with 13 points because he hit nine free throws. He ended the game with 13 free-throw attempts and sunk 12 of them.

It’s a part of his game that he never really showed off at the NBA level. In 2017-2018, he finished 14th out of 18 Phoenix Suns players who played at least 100 minutes in free-throw attempt rate. In 2016-2017, he finished 13th out of 15 players.

“It goes back to him being a very cerebral player,” Henry said about Ulis’ ability to get to the line Friday night. “Obviously to get those free throws, when you look at the high free-throw attempt guys in the NBA like James Harden the skill level, the ability to make plays off the bounce, high basketball IQ, knows when he is getting fouled, and will draw attention to it [it’s all there]. He’s [Ulis] very polished in that regard.”

....

Ulis scored 25 points on 6-for-18 from the field and was clearly the best [and the smallest] player on the floor Friday against Lakeland. He said he’s focused on Windy City, but with the Bulls point guard situation in constant flux his next pro opportunity may be closer than he thinks.

“At the end of the day, they still have to respect the work you put in, respect the things you’ve done at the high school, at the college level,” Ulis said. “I feel like I hold my own for the most part and play at a high level. I’m just waiting to get back to the pros.”

Source: https://www.blogabull.com/2018/11/5/18050448/chifrom-windy-city-can-tyler-ulis-make-a-run-at-chicago-bulls-backup-point-guard-job

[daehquns]

( * kyong dae-hyun. )

♡ — * » KYONG DAEHYUN looks so cute on the beach !! apparently, ( he/they ) come from ( south korea ) and are a ( twenty ) years old ( pansexual ) ( demiboy ) ( med student ). other hotel residents described them as ( gentle + sage ), but also ( ambivalent - faint-hearted ). don’t you think they look a bit like ( PARK JIMIN ) ?

WARNING: this is really long, my dudes. so long.

hello hi hi, it’s SKY ( 2-o, she/her, cest tz, but an insomniac ) & this is my smol blob of confusion, so if their story confuses you, i succeeded. also this is easily my absolute favourite character ever, so ,,, idk random info. ALSO: i have an exam tomorrow, my peeps, so i don’t think i’ll be around till tomorrow but !! i can’t wait to plot & interact with all of you.

SORTA BIO THING:

[ MISCARRIAGE TW ] kyong daehyun was born in daegu, south korea on the 22nd of february 1997. they were sort of a miracle baby bc their mom went through two miscarriages before them ( she’s rh negative & the babies were rh positive n ,,, i wont explain the biology behind it, im sure yall know that ). they’re an only child. they’ve always wanted a sibling ( an older one ,,,, they always want the impossible things smfh ). so yeah, they were a bit lonely while growing up

they were a very weak child who’d fall ill quite often (their family used to call them aga/aggie/babybc of it … sorta stuck with them to this day ), so much that it affected their education. the poor bean skipped a lot of classes, so eventually their parents decided it was best for them to leave school. they were homeschooled !! altho they now have incredible work ethic bc of this, they didn’t have many friends while growing up :( they sorta didnt even get the chance to develop n test their social skills. they came in contact with their parents, nannies, parents’ business partners, etc … long story short, they were surrounded by adults. this made them VERY mature for their age, even back then.

the greatest discovery of their life was the internet. they had little interest in sports & going outside, so they’d spend their free time glued to the screen of their laptop, either watching movies, youtube videos & tv shows or getting to know strangers from across the world thanks to various websites & apps. they’d often stay up all night n ruin their sleep pattern in order to talk to their friends from other timezones. they made them so happy. so. happy.

their parents sort of made them pursuit a medical career, though, they literally have -10 interest in it. not 0. -10. they just want to make them proud, ok ?? especially since they’ve always been an incredible student n studying came easily to them. they were praised while growing up, so naturally they started thinking they were exceptional as well.

COLLEGE ! they. hate. it. hate it. like, they are fallin apart n are like “wow so what is this, i thought i was smart ?? they told me i was the most intelligent kid in the world wHY cant i do literally anything now w o w im so average yUCK”.  i mean, they still get good grades, but they ARE struggling.

[ PROFESSOR/STUDENT RELATIONSHIP THING TW ] … idk maybe someone’s triggered by that. anyway, there was a class that made them 11/10 done with life & they were sure they’d fail it n ruin their entire life, so they approached the professor ( who ,,, was rly hot n made hyunnie weak in the knees ok ) n were like “i will literally do ANYTHING in order to pass this class ,,,,,, pls”. like, they had 0 shame bc they were so done with it. n ,,, long story short, they ended up sleeping with the professor … ,,, multiple times. t was bc of the grade the first time, but … they’re pretty much in love with him now. and they’re a bit foolish, they hope he’s in love with them too. n idk they sort of dream about being in a real relationship with them.  l mao … my poor kiddo.

COOLER INFO THING:

nicknames include: hyunnie, dee, mochi ( i have to steal that from jiminieeee bc yes. my squishy bol of cuteness ), aga/aggie/baby. or just call them dae or  hyun honestly

daehyun is a demiboy ( they/them or he/him. if you refer to them as she/her, they will feel uncomfortable, but they will not have the guts to correct you. lmao one time they watched a woman make them european-style pancakes with nutella & cherries, even though they asked for a nutella/banana combo. they did not correct her. they ate half of it, left with a pout on their face n were sad for the rest of the day tHATS HOW ANXIOUS N SHY THEY ARE BYE ). anyway, as i said   ——   demiboy. panromantic ( very romantic, a huge dreamer. the type to imagine cute scenarios with their crush before falling asleep ). pansexual, though the most attracted to masculine physique buT !! they’re too self-conscious n emotion-dependent that they can’t have sex with just about anyone. n o. byee. like, the thought of getting naked in front of someone is terrifying to them, so they really need to trust n know the person. i wouldn’t call them demisexual though, since they do experience sexual attraction without having an emotional bond, they just … can’t let go of their ~stupid insecurities~

[ FOOD TW ] they don’t eat meat. yes, they do love animals n feel sad about those poor things, but that’s not the main reason why they don’t eat it. the smell, the look, the taste of meat makes them incredibly sick. when they were smol & had any sort of meat for lunch, they’d sit at the table for 5 hours n eat everything BUT the meat. most of the time, they used to give it to their dog who was v chubby bc of them. lunch was the worst time of the whole day for them, it was suuuuuuuper bad, especially since their parents didn’t understand their problem n called them spoiled. now that they are away from home, they’re super happy cause they can eat whatever they want ( sweets n pastries ). this bish ALWAYS has a lollipop in their mouth n a candy bar with them.

why are they obsessed with lollipops ? thanks to them they destroy their nails n cuticles LESS when bored, since their mouth is occupied. you can determine how life’s goin for daehyun just by looking at their hands. when everything’s good, their nails are painted ( the execution n design also say a lot about how much free time they have n how clear their head is ). when everything’s shit, they aren’t painted, they are bloody and sore, skin completely damaged, so much that it hurts to touch items with the very tips of their fingers. everything burns n they’re wincing 25/8.

they always have literally everything with them. you need a tissue, a comb, a hair brush, a band-aid, a hand sanitizer, a nail polish, some water, something sweet, a set of stem cells & a cure for every illness in the world ?they have it all. they’re always prepared for every situation. this is bc of their huge fear of facing a situation for the first time unprepared. also … you should never make them order food on their own or make a serious phone call or wtvr bc .. they can’t do that.

they’re fluent in english, but pls don’t throw big words at them :( they feel so embarrassed when they don’t know what something means. they go home & write the new word on one of their colourful cards, along with its translation to korean, a smol explanation & an example sentence n they have loads of those cards that they reread whenever they have time. when they learn a new word, they love showing off lmao dumbass

while they were back in korea n spending time on youtube, they used to watch a lot of kpop mvs + makeup tutorials n fell in love with makeup n wanted to look as beautiful as the people in those videos. they started stealin their mother’s makeup n used to be awful at paintin’ their face, but got better with time. they used to save money for eyeliners n primers n highlighters n all sort of shit n they’d hide all the products in their room n play with them whenever they were home alone. they know it’s their true passion& call, but they are so discouraged by the fact that they can’t even walk outside wearing makeup. they aint confident enough & still don’t think they can pull it off.

they made a new youtube account with the intention to post their own tutorials, but … mm, there’s still 0 uploaded videos on that channel

i’ve been struggling to decide which hair colour to go with … black, platinum blonde, silver or pink n i chose …pink.

they’ve never been in an actual relationship. never cuddled, or did couple-y things. their professor took their virginity, so … ya. that’s one of the reasons why they’re refusing to let him go.

[MEDICATION TW] as i mentioned before, they were a weak child who was often sick and had bad migraines ,,, this sort of got them hooked on medication ?? like, they will convince themself that their head is hurting and jus pop a pill without any need to do so ,,,, like, they are 110% sure they need pills to function normally every single day.

nature !! the world !! they love it.

aesthetics hoe !!!!!!!!! will sell their soul for the things that please their senses

they know how to draw well. they lololololove drawing comic book characters. like, they have their own characters already

dancing !!! especially contemporary ! bc ,,, i have a lot of those gifs n icons that i gotta use

loves apples ?

wants a cat. d e s p e r a t e l y

PERSONALITY:

i think it’s quite obvious that they’re a very anxious, shy & alert person 24/7 and i guess that you can see how their upbringing had a lot to do with it. i don’t view their shyness as cute and adorable, but they definitely aren’t grim either. they’re just closed-off. they’re not used to sharing personal stuff with other people, at least not face to face. online, everything’s different.

most of the time they’re like … “uhhhhh, people - i’d rather not. that can get me in a lot of awkward n uncomfortable situations n i’d rather avoid that’. they don’t find solitude depressing. they enjoy their alone time, they find comfort in it. they are very aware of the fact that their social skills suck & as i said a part of them doesn’t give a damn, but … another part is worried bc if they truly want to be in the makeup world, they will have to learn to be a people person, have a fantastic charisma n ,, talk to people ? lmao

their zodiac sign is pisces n they HATE IT lol they’re like “i’m not a whiny baby emo dreamer ew go away” so they keep telling people that their zodiac sign is aquarius bc it’s close enough n they find them cool n admire the description of the seemingly stoic sign that goes through life with their brain rather than their heart. they love to think that they’re strong n logical, that they’re not emotional … but that’s not the case. it’s all an act really

once you demolish their shell, you’ll find the most adorable creature in the whole entire universe ?/ they also love tellin stupid jokes. they almost never finish them bc they laugh too hard at em

they get attached to people VERY easily n then they can’t live without them n that freaks them the fuck out. like. they fall in love ten times a day. im. not. kiddin.

they’re all about living life to the fullest, they just have a bit different vision of what true livin is lmao

philosophical af ? hates small talk, always wants to talk abt deep shit

the type to send you memes and stuff that reminds them of you

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

this is so important. online friends. they met online a couple of years ago ( we’ll figure out how ) n now they’re both here and ? hyunnie is so scared to meet them bc they’re afraid that person won’t like them irl, but the desire is bigger than the fear !

similar to the previous one, but it was a long distance relationship ( it ended bc the distance was too much ig ). they only chatted, but they know everything about each other. they were infuriated every single day bc they couldn’t physically feel each other, but they still planned a future together, or at least meeting irl … maybe they now finally have a chance ?

crush. as i said, hyunnie falls quickly for a person. it can be unrequited. it’s just someone they daydream about n sigh over. or it can be the other way around, but hyunnie is quite clueless n doesn’t pick up on their hints.

friends ?? the plot depends on your charrie tbh but dw about it, i usually have 57430865026701348 ideas, so ya.

i have no idea what else ,,,, imma go make a wanted connections tag n reblog some plots probably. bUT HEY feel free to send plots my way, i luv that

[dachyun]

( * kyong dae-hyun. )

✧—* » [PARK JIMIN, DEMIBOY, TWENTY]—-oh shit! is that [KYONG DAEHYUN], [MEMBER] of [ALPHA TAU OMEGA]? [HE/THEY] is/are a [JUNIOR] and a [BIOCHEMISTRY] major. That’s probably because they’re [MAGNANIMOUS] but have a tendency to be [TIMID]. I guess you’ll just have to see.

WARNING: this is really long, my dudes. so long.

hello hi hi, it’s SKY ( 2-o, biochem student myself, she/her, cest tz, but an insomniac ) & this is my smol blob of confusion, so if their story confuses you, i succeeded. also this is easily my absolute favourite character ever, so ,,, idk random info

SORTA BIO THING:

[ MISCARRIAGE TW ] kyong daehyun was born in daegu, south korea on the 22nd of february 1997. they were sort of a miracle baby bc their mom went through two miscarriages before them ( she’s rh negative & the babies were rh positive n ,,, i wont explain the biology behind it, im sure yall know that ). they’re an only child. they’ve always wanted a sibling ( an older one ,,,, they always want the impossible things smfh ). so yeah, they were a bit lonely while growing up

they were a very weak child who’d fall ill quite often ( their family used to call them aga/aggie/babybc of it … sorta stuck with them to this day ), so much that it affected their education. the poor bean skipped a lot of classes, so eventually their parents decided it was best for them to leave school. they were homeschooled !! altho they now have incredible work ethic bc of this, they didn’t have many friends while growing up :( they sorta didnt even get the chance to develop n test their social skills. they came in contact with their parents, nannies, parents’ business partners, etc … long story short, they were surrounded by adults. this made them VERY mature for their age, even back then.

the greatest discovery of their life was the internet. they had little interest in sports & going outside, so they’d spend their free time glued to the screen of their laptop, either watching movies, youtube videos & tv shows or getting to know strangers from across the world thanks to various websites & apps. they’d often stay up all night n ruin their sleep pattern in order to talk to their friends from other timezones. they made them so happy. so. happy.

their parents sort of made them pursuit a medical career ( currently biochem major ), though, they literally have -10 interest in it. not 0. -10. they just want to make them proud, ok ?? especially since they’ve always been an incredible student n studying came easily to them. they were praised while growing up, so naturally they started thinking they were exceptional as well.

they moved to the states bc COLLEGE ! they. hate. it. hate it. not the country, but the classes they are in. like, they are fallin apart n are like “wow so what is this, i thought i was smart ?? they told me i was the most intelligent kid in the world wHY cant i do literally anything now w o w im so average yUCK”.  i mean, they still get good grades, but they ARE struggling.

[ PROFESSOR/STUDENT RELATIONSHIP THING TW ] … idk maybe someone’s triggered by that. anyway, there was a class that made them 11/10 done with life & they were sure they’d fail it n ruin their entire life, so they approached the professor ( who ,,, was rly hot n made hyunnie weak in the knees ok ) n were like “i will literally do ANYTHING in order to pass this class ,,,,,, pls”. like, they had 0 shame bc they were so done with it. n ,,, long story short, they ended up sleeping with the professor … ,,, multiple times. t was bc of the grade the first time, but … they’re pretty much in love with him now. and they’re a bit foolish, they hope he’s in love with them too. n idk they sort of dream about being in a real relationship with them.  l mao … my poor kiddo.

COOLER INFO THING:

nicknames include: hyunnie, dee, mochi ( i have to steal that from jiminieeee bc yes. my squishy bol of cuteness ), aga/aggie/baby. or just call them hyun honestly

daehyun is a demiboy ( they/them or he/him. if you refer to them as she/her, they will feel uncomfortable, but they will not have the guts to correct you. lmao one time they watched a woman make them european-style pancakes with nutella & cherries, even though they asked for a nutella/banana combo. they did not correct her. they ate half of it, left with a pout on their face n were sad for the rest of the day tHATS HOW ANXIOUS N SHY THEY ARE BYE ). anyway, as i said   ——   demiboy. panromantic ( very romantic, a huge dreamer. the type to imagine cute scenarios with their crush before falling asleep ). pansexual, though the most attracted to masculine physique buT !! they’re too self-conscious n emotion-dependent that they can’t have sex with just about anyone. n o. byee. like, the thought of getting naked in front of someone is terrifying to them, so they really need to trust n know the person. i wouldn’t call them demisexual though, since they do experience sexual attraction without having an emotional bond, they just … can’t let go of their ~stupid insecurities~

[ FOOD TW ] they don’t eat meat. yes, they do love animals n feel sad about those poor things, but that’s not the main reason why they don’t eat it. the smell, the look, the taste of meat makes them incredibly sick. when they were smol & had any sort of meat for lunch, they’d sit at the table for 5 hours n eat everything BUT the meat. most of the time, they used to give it to their dog who was v chubby bc of them. lunch was the worst time of the whole day for them, it was suuuuuuuper bad, especially since their parents didn’t understand their problem n called them spoiled. now that they live alone they’re super happy cause they can eat whatever they want ( sweets n pastries ). this bish ALWAYS has a lollipop in their mouth n a candy bar with them.

why are they obsessed with lollipops ? thanks to them they destroy their nails n cuticles LESS when bored, since their mouth is occupied. you can determine how life’s goin for daehyun just by looking at their hands. when everything’s good, their nails are painted ( the execution n design also say a lot about how much free time they have n how clear their head is ). when everything’s shit, they aren’t painted, they are bloody and sore, skin completely damaged, so much that it hurts to touch items with the very tips of their fingers. everything burns n they’re wincing 25/8.

they always have literally everything with them. you need a tissue, a comb, a hair brush, a band-aid, a hand sanitizer, a nail polish, some water, something sweet, a set of stem cells & a cure for every illness in the world ? they have it all. they’re always prepared for every situation. this is bc of their huge fear of facing a situation for the first time unprepared. also … you should never make them order food on their own or make a serious phone call or wtvr bc .. they can’t do that. literally, coming to the US all alone was so tRAUMATIC you don’t even know.

they’re fluent in english, but pls don’t throw big words at them :( they feel so embarrassed when they don’t know what something means. they go home & write the new word on one of their colourful cards, along with its translation to korean, a smol explanation & an example sentence n they have loads of those cards that they reread whenever they have time. when they learn a new word, they love showing off lmao dumbass

while they were back in korea n spending time on youtube, they used to watch a lot of kpop mvs + makeup tutorials n fell in love with makeup n wanted to look as beautiful as the people in those videos. they started stealin their mother’s makeup n used to be awful at paintin’ their face, but got better with time. they used to save money for eyeliners n primers n highlighters n all sort of shit n they’d hide all the products in their room n play with them whenever they were home alone. they still do that now that they are in america & they know it’s their true passion & call, but they are so discouraged by the fact that they can’t even walk outside wearing makeup. they aint confident enough & still don’t think they can pull it off.

they made a new youtube account with the intention to post their own tutorials, but … mm, there’s still 0 uploaded videos on that channel

i’ve been struggling to decide which hair colour to go with … platinum blonde, silver or pink n i chose …pink. they’ve been dyeing it pink ever since they came to the states.

they’ve never been in an actual relationship. never cuddled, or did couple-y things. their professor took their virginity, so … ya. that’s one of the reasons why they’re refusing to let him go.

[MEDICATION TW] as i mentioned before, they were a weak child who was often sick and had bad migraines ,,, this sort of got them hooked on medication ?? like, they will convince themself that their head is hurting and jus pop a pill without any need to do so ,,,, like, they are 110% sure they need pills to function normally every single day.

nature !! the world !! they love it.

aesthetics hoe !!!!!!!!! will sell their soul for the things that please their senses

they know how to draw well. they lololololove drawing comic book characters. like, they have their own characters already

dancing !!! especially contemporary ! bc ,,, i have a lot of those gifs n icons that i gotta use

loves apples ?

wants a cat. d e s p e r a t e l y

PERSONALITY:

i think it’s quite obvious that they’re a very anxious, shy & alert person 24/7 and i guess that you can see how their upbringing had a lot to do with it. i don’t view their shyness as cute and adorable, but they definitely aren’t grim either. they’re just closed-off. they’re not used to sharing personal stuff with other people, at least not face to face. online, everything’s different.

most of the time they’re like … “uhhhhh, people - i’d rather not. that can get me in a lot of awkward n uncomfortable situations n i’d rather avoid that’. they don’t find solitude depressing. they enjoy their alone time, they find comfort in it. they haven’t actually made an effort to make friends here ?? like …,,,.., i don’t think they care. they are very aware of the fact that their social skills suck & as i said a part of them doesn’t give a damn, but … another part is worried bc if they truly want to be in the makeup world, they will have to learn to be a people person, have a fantastic charisma n ,, talk to people ? lmao

their zodiac sign is pisces n they HATE IT lol they’re like “i’m not a whiny baby emo dreamer ew go away” so they keep telling people that their zodiac sign is aquarius bc it’s close enough n they find them cool n admire the description of the seemingly stoic sign that goes through life with their brain rather than their heart. they love to think that they’re strong n logical, that they’re not emotional … but that’s not the case. it’s all an act really

once you demolish their shell, you’ll find the most adorable creature in the whole entire universe ?/ they also love tellin stupid jokes. they almost never finish them bc they laugh too hard at em

they get attached to people VERY easily n then they can’t live without them n that freaks them the fuck out. like. they fall in love ten times a day. im. not. kiddin.

they’re all about living life to the fullest, they just have a bit different vision of what true livin is lmao

philosophical af ? hates small talk, always wants to talk abt deep shit

the type to send you memes and stuff that reminds them of you

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

this is so important. online friends. they met online a couple of years ago ( we’ll figure out how ) n now they’re both here and ? hyunnie is so scared to meet them bc they’re afraid that person won’t like them irl, but the desire is bigger than the fear !

similar to the previous one, but it was a long distance relationship ( it ended bc the distance was too much ig ). they only chatted, but they know everything about each other. they were infuriated every single day bc they couldn’t physically feel each other, but they still planned a future together, or at least meeting irl … maybe they now finally have a chance ?

crush. as i said, hyunnie falls quickly for a person. it can be unrequited. it’s just someone they daydream about n sigh over. or it can be the other way around, but hyunnie is quite clueless n doesn’t pick up on their hints.

professor’s kid. yup, hyunnie is sleeping with their dad. n they found out ?? yikes.

first irl american friend. they literally helped them so much, explained how things work n stuff. they’ll forever be in their debt.

friends ?? the plot depends on your charrie tbh but dw about it, i usually have 57430865026701348 ideas, so ya.

i have no idea what else ,,,, imma go make a wanted connections tag n reblog some plots probably. bUT HEY feel free to send plots my way, i luv that

[hammeraction07-blog]

From the G League, can Tyler Ulis make a run at Bulls backup point guard job?

It’s been 125 days since the Phoenix Suns waived Tyler Ulis.

The diminutive point guard, who is now a two-way player for the Chicago Bulls, should really update the bio portion of his Twitter account.

He should know better. He’s even from Chicago, and is now playing in Chicago. Or at least in Hoffman Estates, where I spoke to him after his Windy City Bulls defeated the Lakeland Magic 96-71 in their season opener Friday night:

“Literally, a full circle. I went from Chicago, to Kentucky, to Phoenix. Phoenix the weather out there is a lot different. I’m happy to be home, glad to be back around family and friends. I like the guys on this team.”

Ulis attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill. where he was the program’s all-time leader in points (2,335) and assists (578). He played for Chicago-based Nike MeanStreets for AAU. He was a McDonald’s All-American, finished third in the 2014 Illinois Mr. Basketball voting behind the likes of Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander and ended up as a five-star recruit, 25th best in his class.

His sophomore year at Kentucky, he earned SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, a feat only accomplished previously by some obscure Chicago-born player named Anthony Davis. Ulis played two seasons for the Suns, was waived, briefly latched on with the Golden State Warriors, and is now looking for another chance to dig in at the NBA level.

The Bulls point guard situation right now is a smattering of obscure names battling to entrench themselves into the backup point guard role. The Bulls were already thin even before starter Kris Dunn went down with an MCL sprain. Now, there’s minutes to be won and the skirmish to win them has turned into an outright battle. But Ulis doesn’t view it that way.

“Right now, I’m focused on the Windy City Bulls and I can’t really focus too much on what those guards [in the NBA] are doing,” Ulis said. “I’m rooting for those guys to win, I know they’ve had two tough losses lately. But I know for the most part I’m trying to lock in here with these guys. If I’m called up that’s what I’m prepared for.”

If and when Ulis gets his next opportunity at the NBA level, here’s what he can bring to the table.

Mid-range game

Windy City Bulls head coach Charlie Henry is a Fred Hoiberg disciple. He coached under Hoiberg for several seasons at Iowa State. Henry said that 80 percent of what he runs offensively with the Windy City Bulls are Hoiball concepts, and the remaining 20 percent of the playbook focuses on playing to the strengths of his personnel even if that means contradicting Hoiball.

In a basketball world where mid-range jumpers are devalued (especially in Hoiball), Ulis is the antithesis.

In two seasons in Phoenix, 52.1 percent of his shot attempts came from 10 feet from the basket to just before the 3-point line. He’s susceptible to falling in love with these shot and forced a few shots in the game against the Lakeland Magic Friday night.

But, he’s trying to adjust.

“Definitely have to adjust, it’s not just about adjustment it’s also about knocking down the shots that you get,” Ulis said. “Threes I get, make sure I’m making that. Making people guard me [in such a way] where I can get to the spots I want to. But when I’m open, I like to get into the paint and into the midrange.”

In his two seasons at Kentucky, Ulis was a 37.1 percent 3-point shooter and an 84.6 percent free-throw shooter. So the peripherals were there for the outside shooting to carry over to the NBA level.

But it simply hasn’t. He’s shot 28 percent on 1.7 attempts per game in his two seasons with Phoenix. He was 1-for-4 from deep against the Lakeland Magic Friday night (super small sample size alert).

While improving those 3-point numbers is a priority, coach Henry isn’t trying to exterminate a strength of Ulis’ game (mid-range jumpers).

“Naturally, you’d think he’d shoot a little bit better down here than he did at the NBA and he was a pretty good, efficient shooter in the NBA,” Henry said. “The big thing for me is we tell them first seven, last seven. The first seven seconds of the shot clock off of no pass we often discourage it [mid-range jumpers] and the last seven seconds if we’ve explored other options [and] we end up with that, we know that he can make those. We also don’t have a lot of other guys who are going to take those, so Tyler taking his when he’s open later in the clock I’m fine with that.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Ulis doesn’t back down from doing things just because he’s 5-foot-10-inches, 160 pounds and will conceivably be the smallest guy on any court that he steps on the rest of his professional career.

“He competes if you are trying to go at him however you’re going to do it say it’s in the post he’s competitive,” Henry said. “He’s smart and he’s made himself who he is by figuring out what he can get done.”

For most of the first half, the Lakeland Magic matched up their two-way player Troy Caupain against Ulis. Caupain is 6-foot-4-inches and big. There were two instances that I noticed where Caupain got Ulis in the post, ending in an easy floating hook the one time and his teammate having to leave a 3-point shooter to help Ulis out the other (Caupain sensed the double team and kicked it back out to the 3-point shooter who knocked down the shot). Overall, Caupain had a poor game offensively; he needed 13 shots to tally 15 points.

Although Caupain makes this shot, this is an example of Ulis competing on defense. He fights to get over a screen to at least make the shot attempt more difficult for Caupain.

Ulis’ size will make it difficult for him to switch onto anybody which is an issue, but effort is half the battle defensively and Ulis aces that portion of the test.

Additionally, Ulis is smart and he has quick hands. One of Caupain’s two turnovers came when Ulis batted the ball away and grabbed it before Caupain knew what hit him, forcing Caupain to foul.

In the second half, Ulis matched up mostly with the 6-foot-1-inch Jay Wright. The Lakeland guard finished with the same amount of points (2) as turnovers. Everybody on the Bulls was doing something right defensively. The 71 points they gave up to the Magic was the lowest points allowed in franchise history.

Crafty as can Be

Most under 6-foot guards need to be crazy athletic/fast in order to be effective offensively. Think in the mold of Nate Robinson and Isaiah Thomas. Ulis is neither, but he’s crafty and he makes it work.

At the half, he was 2-for-10 from the field, but ended up with 13 points because he hit nine free throws. He ended the game with 13 free-throw attempts and sunk 12 of them.

It’s a part of his game that he never really showed off at the NBA level. In 2017-2018, he finished 14th out of 18 Phoenix Suns players who played at least 100 minutes in free-throw attempt rate. In 2016-2017, he finished 13th out of 15 players.

“It goes back to him being a very cerebral player,” Henry said about Ulis’ ability to get to the line Friday night. “Obviously to get those free throws, when you look at the high free-throw attempt guys in the NBA like James Harden the skill level, the ability to make plays off the bounce, high basketball IQ, knows when he is getting fouled, and will draw attention to it [it’s all there]. He’s [Ulis] very polished in that regard.”

....

Ulis scored 25 points on 6-for-18 from the field and was clearly the best [and the smallest] player on the floor Friday against Lakeland. He said he’s focused on Windy City, but with the Bulls point guard situation in constant flux his next pro opportunity may be closer than he thinks.

“At the end of the day, they still have to respect the work you put in, respect the things you’ve done at the high school, at the college level,” Ulis said. “I feel like I hold my own for the most part and play at a high level. I’m just waiting to get back to the pros.”

Source: https://www.blogabull.com/2018/11/5/18050448/chifrom-windy-city-can-tyler-ulis-make-a-run-at-chicago-bulls-backup-point-guard-job

[francu-s]

Laments in 3 parts

Lament part I

Not Les Mis related just sayin’... what you find here are: feelings, life and a couple of progress pics to lessen the pain.

I know my posts are... sparse in number, to say the least. I also know that most of my followers started to follow me due to my les mis related drawings. So every time when I felt like sharing some personal details, or write a random post, I was like “ow no, don’t do it, you just waste others' time, nobody cares about your shit and so-called 'problems', they are just whinings anyway (fuck, if you want to know what 'problem' really means, check out the news)."

Almost everyone knows this feeling I guess - when your bitch of mind is your worst enemy.  

But... maybe we should take it as a challenge.

Take it as a challenge and resist the urge to say 'sorry' after telling what needs to be told, or taking the blame for something what has nothing to do with you. Say 'no' to things what you don't want to do, and don't feel bad about it. Say 'no' to shame, sorrow, doubt and fear.

Harder than one might think! I try to live like this since last month and still fail in it every day. Like, I have deleted 5 'sorry'-s and 14 self-degrading sentences so far. I do not want to say sorry for my feelings anymore, or see them a burden what's unfair to share. If writing them out helps me then I have to do so.

To be honest, I wanted to put a "keep reading" button at the very beginning, but then I realized - that's exactly the root of the problem. The need to hide away even from myself, to feel unworthy, and frightened by exposure.  

And the sad truth is that whatever happened in the past, I did this to myself. It was not a conscious decision to close up like a seashell of course, but it's time to take responsibility for myself. I have to open up. I have to re-learn how to let things in, and out. How to let a person close, be an old friend or a stranger. How to trust.

I want to be brave and happy again. I want to get better.  

So I refuse to put that "keep reading" button there.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lament part II

And now... let's practise this "sharing" thing.

I work as an au-pair right now, and the little girl I look after always asks somebody to check on her after bedtime. This person is usually her mummy but she travels a lot (like, for 4 days or one whole week) due to her work, and the task then falls on me. Her mom said it isn't really necessary to do so, though - if she is sleeping she will never know if you checked on her or not. The surprising thing is that this possibility of cheating has never occurred to the little girl. Well, I skipped the check-ons many times (still do) I admit that, but I felt bad about it so I usually crept to the door as she asked, but did not go into the room. Mostly bc she was a very poor sleeper in my first couple of months with her and did not wish to wake her up accidently and screw up my night with it.

It was too good to last for long. After the third time period or so alone, she finally stated the logical question:

"How will I know if you checked on me?"

Lol, how indeed...

So that night I made her very first bedtime note. Just a silly drawing on a piece of paper, a little girl in her bed and a short message (something like "I was here at 21:15"). I made three more at that week.

It worked. She loved them.

And the thing is, her mom loved them even more. She liked them so much that she asked me to draw some more so she can collect them and put them on the wall in a nice frame, well how lovely that would be.

I was flattered and happy, said OK but from that minute I just didn't feel so thrilled about this whole bedtime note thing. As that Lakota proverb says: "Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance." I have made more than 60 bed-time notes so far but only 10 or 15 which I really felt like, "wow I got I good idea for this one, let's do it" (I might share some of them later on). And this - to be unhappy while drawing and almost unable to perform - made me wonder if it was a good idea to pursue this utopia, to draw for a living. And I don't really dare to look at the bottom of this question bc the next logical one is this: "What to do, then?"

And the answer is... nothing. I don't want to do anything. I feel no calling, no enthusiasm by anything, or not for long enough. And I am tired and numb by fear.

The worst thing that maybe drawing IS part of the problem. ("Am I a part of the cure? Or am I part of the disease?") I can't say I'm happy when I'm drawing but I'm in this flowing, timeless state and I feel nothing then. Nothing in a good way. I thought that helps. But maybe this is just a defensive mechanism on my part - I draw bc it makes (made) me feel safe. I draw to isolate myself from the world in body, mind and soul. To shut down, don't think, just be. To procrastinate dealing with Real Life.

All I know that it makes me angry when I feel like drawing and I can't, or when I have to draw something else what I feel for (even if the former is for free and the latter is for money... especially then).

Btw money - let's get back to my host mom/boss. 2 weeks ago she asked if I would draw a picture for her company. She offered 20 pound for it and I said yes bc it actually did seem interesting, so why not? So I asked about the details but haven't gotten much, only vague ideas. I made sketches, made modifications as her idea got more clear (but not much clearer). Never, ever say yes to a job where the customer has no idea what she/he/they actually wants! (yep it seems evident now...).

I have shoved her every progress, she was happy with them.

Then, at the very end of the project, she said there was a different style in her mind. Hand-made watercoloured picture to name it.

For God's sake, man... She knew how my style looks like. She knew I was working on the computer. She saw all the WIP pics.

I thought back the late week then - all the hours I spent drawing it, all the night I could have spent working on something else, or just sleep. I mean, there was at least 3 days when I did not get away from the computer for 5 constant hours, not even to pee. I was thinking of the burning sensation in my eyes (not crying, just too much hours in front of the computer). I was doing some quick maths then - how much time did I waste on this, exactly?... Let's be gracious here - 20 hours or so.

Let's just pretend for a funny moment that I actually hold a proper job, and also pretend that a proper job can be compared to art.

The minimum wage over 25 is currently 7.20 pound per hour in the UK, I just checked it. If you are an apprentice then 3.40, this is the minimum of minimums.  

When I said OK to this project I did not do it for the money, but anyway, let's just take out our pocket calculator, shall we? (if you mess with the zero then you don't even need one:)

20 x 7.20 = 144 20 x 3.40 = 68

So. At that point, all my sense of humor has left me.

And the worst part? I felt disappointed - in myself. I felt I failed her. That the whole shit is my fault. And that after all this work, I still owe her. I owe her a finished piece of art, watercoloured as she wants, even if watercolouring (OK, colouring in general) is as far out of my comfort zone as it is possible. I am the line-art type and not the colour type of person. But I felt I have to become a master of watercolour for next day no matter what and DO THE THING.

She has been so kind to print the line-art for me. I told her that I try to do my best but for watercolouring you have to use aquarelle paper.

Some harmful, ill determination and maximalism what made me finish this project. I bought paper, brushes, watercolours, all from my own money. I was not even thinking anymore. If any HR manager asks me during a job interview if I am a dedicated person, I shall tell them this story. (Then they can send me away for being such an idiot.)

Yes, I know I am an idiot. What else can I be when I still feel disappointed in myself, convinced that she did not like the final piece and only that damned English Politeness made her say what she said, and that I almost refused to take the 20 pound when she gave it to me today?

I reckon everyone reading this has already guessed that the whole post is about "releasing some steam". Here, I release some of the progress pics, too, out of gratitude that you haven't clicked on the "unfollow" button yet:

The original concept what I got: 1) hares 2) big hats.

Some random sketches and stages:

 She wanted only 3 hares having tea and cylinders like the Mad Hatter's in Alice in Wonderland. (couldn't you just say this much at the very beginning?)

Line art without the hats

Final line-art

Here is the flower border what she asked for (and what I spent one of those constant 5 hours on), and which was not needed after all.

Before colouring

Finished colouring (it's a fabric company and they wanted to show off their new collection on the hats)

Desperate attempt to make it less line-work-ish

Final watercoloured shit

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lament part III

The gall of me. I am not only an idiot, but an ungrateful, selfish one.

I hesitated to post this as my mind has been mocking me with one word during the whole time while writing it:

fanfiction

I plan to dedicate a proper post for this topic alone some time. For now, I just want to say that reading fanfictions is, shame or not, one of the most important aspect of my life. I have been reading them for more than a decade now, but they were my fuel of life in the last for 3 years or so. I can't be grateful enough for all the stories which kept (and still do keep) me going, and the authors who share their work, not for 20 pound or for one million as they deserve, but for free, without any lament.

If I were religious I would say: God bless you all. I wish you the very best and everything what you might wish for yourselves.

[arythusa]

New Year’s Resolutions 2017!

I’m forcing myself to make a New Year’s resolution post! So here it is!

-Raise at least four small plants without killing them immediately

-Frame and place at least four photos of real human people (not illustrations, that is)

-Overhaul and restock the merch in The Glass Scientists shop

-Stop shaming your ancestors: arrive on time for shit

-Read one book per month

-Do studies of one film per month (which to my shame I have never really done before)

-Reply to messages within one day of receiving them (exception: tumblr asks, because that is … it’s just not happening, guys)

-Keep no more than one page worth of unanswered emails in inbox

-Learn more about: Shinto, Japanese internment, story structure.

Posting this stuff feels really fake and self-indulgent and I kinda wanna barf right now! I’m tempted to find some small picture to post to say, “Sorry about posting something you have no reason to care about! Here is a drawing you might care about!” But I’m not going to do that because it would take too long and eventually I’d just tell myself to scrap the entire post.

Anyway, I’m also going to list out some highlights of 2016 because I like reading about this crap when it comes from other people, so maybe someone will like to read about my crap:

Yearly favorites:

-Movies: Moana (!), Arrival, Deadpool, Zootopia, Kubo and the Two Strings, Hidden Figures, La La Land

-Shows: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (!), Fleabag (!), Shirobako, The Great British Baking Show, Stranger Things, Westworld

-Books: Infamy (!), Uprooted, Luckiest Girl Alive, Farewell to Manzanar, The Last King of Scotland, Americanah, A Tale for the Time Being, a People’s History of the United States

-Podcasts: NPR Politics (!), Switched On Pop, basically every Gimlet show but especially StartUp, Millennial, 99 Percent Invisible, More Perfect, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, Terrible, Thanks for Asking, Mental Illness Happy Hour, You Must Remember This

-Also I’m not sure how to categorize this but Lemonade was so important okay

2016 Life Highlights:

-I again feel self-indulgent claiming this, but I feel like I improved my skills at storyboarding on a “board-driven” show. I’m still not fully happy with my boarding style but I think it took a big jump in the right direction this year and I think my communication skills with my bosses got better (either that or I just annoyed the heck out of them for 9 months with my 1000 questions).

-I tried and epicly failed to finish a pitch for an animation series. I’m generally a goal-oriented person, and I’m usually pretty good at setting and achieving goals, so my 100% failure to finish shook me up a bunch! I feel like my decision to stop developing it was the right one (I’d rather put it on hold than kill the idea by pitching it half-baked) but still a huge bummer.

-I was a mentee in a new mentorship program at Disney TV. I was being trained to be a director! Let’s see how that pans out.

-Was on the first-ever LGBT panel at Calarts. Everyone did such a great job!

-Also did a talk at USC with some Star folks.

-I spent an insane amount of time constructing a Star Butterfly Halloween costume. It took way more effort than I thought it would, which kinda wrecked my schedule, but it looked nice on Halloween and I got a fun wand prop for my office! But then it gave me a massive allergic reaction and I can’t wear it anymore so … win-lose?

-Kind of melodramatically ended what had once been a really close friendship? Conflicting feelings about that. In retrospect, the best way to draw emotional boundaries might not be stomping around declaring, “I am drawing a boundary! I am drawing a boundary!”

-Continued to date Zack! He is good and has a nice smile.

-Saw QUEEN BEY IN CONCERT!!!!!!!!!

-Tabled at ECCC and, afterwards, went on a 10-day roadtrip from Seattle to Los Angeles. Big Sur is still A-MA-ZING.

-Went to New York to visit Zack’s family, and went up to NorCal to visit Amelia’s (board partner) family with Kristen (also board partner).