#additional context for whoever is curious

[lietpolski]

you'll NEVER guess what my favourite eurovision 2024 song is

[along-came-atsushi]

Parallels between 55 Minutes and Dead Apple

While reading 55 Minutes a while ago, I realized that its story and Dead Apple had some interesting parallels or shared the same ideas.

Looking at certain scenes in the Dead Apple novel, some parallels became even more apparent. Sometimes, even the same or similar words were used.

I don’t think there is a deeper meaning behind this honestly, but I find it interesting to point out nonetheless.

  [Side Note: 55 Minutes was released in 2016, while the novel for the Dead Apple movie was released in 2018. 55 Minutes was written by Asagiri Kafka, while he only collaborated with others for the story of Dead Apple. The novel itself was written by Hiro Iwahata.]

Beware: Major spoilers for 55 Minutes and Dead Apple!

  1.  Weapon or abilities described as red heat or red sphere

55 Minutes: The main threat is a weapon called “The Shell” that upon activating, covers Standard Island and Yokohama in a red heat wave, vaporizing all life:

The sky was dyed red. […] Red. Everything was red—the ocean, the island, even Yokohama at the other end of the horizon.

.

“That’s the Shell.” The terrorist briskly walked over to Atsushi. “The crimson celestial sphere of annihilation.”

.

The crimson dome burned like a small star that had fallen upon the earth with an extraordinary amount of heat locked inside. The fiery enclosure rapidly imploded. The heat rushing towards its core.

  Dead Apple: Abilities collected by Shibusawa are described as red crystals. Upon merging two abilities together by Dazai, they turn into a red apple/sphere:

The two lights melted into one and spun until they formed a single sphere. They had produced a single apple—a juicy, poisoned apple red as blood. […]

The apple swelled as it absorbed numerous crystals until the red light became hotter than the surface of hell.

.

A hellish red light radiated as a violent wind gusted from the giant sphere.

  -> After this Shibusawa gets “killed” by Fyodor, turns into a dragon and releases a red fog that is about to cover the whole earth and turn it into the so-called dead apple.

   2. Allusion to Odasaku and Ango

55 Minutes: It’s been revealed that the Colonel who wanted to activate The Shell was the former mentor of Gide, the leader of Mimic. By activating The Shell, he wanted to state an example and for the truth about Mimic to be revealed. He blames himself for not being able to stop his former subordinates back then. Dazai remembers the Mimic Incident and with it, of course, the painful memories of Odasaku and Ango:

“You won’t find anything,” Dazai suddenly said while turning his gaze out the window. “The Division made sure to completely cover it up. You won’t find any records of their [Mimic] deaths, nor will you even find a single photo accidentally taken of them […]. The Division is good at jobs like that, after all.” […]

But Dazai didn’t say a word as he stared at a point in the sky with an elbow resting on the table. It was as if his eyes weren’t focused on the scenery outside, but were watching vivid memories playing back in his mind.

“I feel bad for the colonel, but there’s no reason to dig up the past and disclose to the public what happened to them,” Dazai revealed in a flat voice. “They died satisfied. Now is their time to rest.”

  -> Even though Ango and Odasaku aren’t directly mentioned, it’s still clear from the context and Dazai’s reaction.

  Dead Apple: Dazai visits the Bar Lupin, the former usual meeting point of him and his two friends:

He was in his usual spot—the seat next to Odasaku’s—and he was talking to the empty space next to him as if Odasaku were still here.

“What’ll we toast to today?”

“You’re not gonna wait for Ango to get here?”

Dazai could practically hear his friend’s voice.

.

That used to be routine, but now it was all in the past—never to return.

“…Ango isn’t coming,” Dazai replied to Odasaku’s casual remark from years ago. So many things had changed since then. Odasaku was no longer by his side, and Ango didn’t come to this pub anymore. Dazai sat at the counter alone. He was waiting for no one.

  -> Apparently these memories are still so vivid to Dazai that he can play them like a movie in his head, as it is described in both scenes.

   3. Ability/Ability User that is able to absorb other abilities

55 Minutes: Verne’s ability “The Mysterious Island” is revealed to absorb every ability from all the people who have died there. After his own ability took over Verne and transformed into its own lifeform, Gab is still able to do the same:

It was an extremely rare skill. Its range extended across the island he claimed as his domain, and it absorbed all the skills of the people who died there.

.

Well’s skill wouldn’t allow the same person to return to the past more than once, but if Verne used his skill to keep stealing hers, he would always be using the skill for the first time.

  Dead Apple: Shibusawa collects user’s abilities, once they die in a fight against them, which is similar to absorbing abilities, even though the technique is a little bit different:

“Each one of these is a skill, huh?” Dazai muttered coldly as he looked at the wall. “That’s a huge collection you got yourself.”

.

The apple appeared in Dazai’s hand and gently rose to the ceiling before stopping. It birthed a skill—an extremely powerful one at that—the ability to absorb.

.

In other words, Shibusawa was finally able to obtain Dazai’s skill through killing him.

   4. Dazai gets stabbed from behind by the main antagonist

55 Minutes: Dazai gets stabbed by Gab:

Dazai froze as if the rest of his sentence had been plucked clean off. And the tip of a blade was now sticking out of his chest. […] Dazai tried to turn around, but whoever was behind him pushed the knife deeper inside him and twisted it. […] With his arm stuck out, he turned slightly to the side before folding and crumpling to the ground.

  Dead Apple: Dazai gets stabbed by Shibusawa:

Right as Dazai reached for the massive photosphere […] something struck him in the back. […] His eyes opened wide. He could feel a burning pin shoot through his chest. [...]

Standing behind him was Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, […] In his hand was a knife that glowed dully as it pierced Dazai’s back. […] Dazai then collapsed.

   5. Dazai as an obstacle for the main antagonist

55 Minutes: Gab needs to kill Dazai, so that he can’t nullify him with his skill:

Gab’s natural enemy—Dazai—worked at the detective agency. Dazai nullified all skills he touched. […] However, if Dazai was to touch flesh, he [Gab] would cease to exist. […]

For Gab, the threat of Dazai’s skill was equivalent to having a knife shoved into his throat. There was only one way to remove the threat—kill Dazai so that his skill wouldn’t activate.

  Dead Apple: Shibusawa kills Dazai not only to obtain his ability, but also because Dazai had been nullifying his fog:

“There is no next move. I already found the skill I was searching for.” Shibusawa lightly gestured to him with an open hand. “Yours.”

Shibusawa’s eyes gleefully lit up as he gazed down at Dazai on the floor. “From the very start. You were the only one I was after.”

.

Shibusawa’s fog had the power to separate skills from their owners. Up until now, Dazai’s skill had been nullifying its effect, but it stopped working the moment he died.

   6. Dazai sharing or revealing something about himself to Atsushi

55 Minutes: Dazai says why he wants to kill himself:

“Dazai,” Atsushi said from behind him, “why do you want to kill yourself?” Dazai turned around and looked at Atsushi. It was his usual smile − a cheerful smirk that made him impossible to read. Dazai slightly opened his eyes as if to say, “Oh yeah. I guess I haven’t told you yet.” He grinned and answered:

“Because I        .”

What did Dazai say that day? The more I try to remember, the further these distant memories sink into the glow of the evening sun.

  -> It’s unknown why Atsushi can’t remember Dazai’s answer. Maybe it was too shocking, maybe he simply just didn’t hear it properly. Maybe this whole conversation never happened and it was just a fever dream. For now, it is up to interpretation.

  Dead Apple: Dazai talks about Odasaku and admits he had killed during his mafia time:

“So…” Atsushi spoke up as Dazai idly daydreamed. “Was this someone you used to be in love with, or…?” […]

“…He was a friend of mine,” Dazai added quietly. […] “He’s the reason I quit the Port Mafia and joined the agency. I’d probably still be killing people for the mafia if it wasn’t for him.”

Atsushi was baffled. He had no idea whether that was true. What did Dazai mean by that? Curious, Atsushi turned around to face Dazai, but all he could see was his back.

  -> In both scenes it’s described as Atsushi standing behind Dazai or seeing his back, which could empathize that he can’t see through Dazai or be sure about his true feelings (and in addition every other character in-universe as well as the reader). Furthermore it could also symbolize that Dazai hides his true feelings. This is accompanied by an illustration in the novel. But there is also a scene in the manga where Atsushi thinks about the ADA members with Dazai’s back turned to him:

   7. Akutagawa as a guidance or motivator for Atsushi

55 Minutes: Atsushi and Akutagawa are both restrained by Gab’s ability and can’t move. Akutagawa already tried to break free, but his ability is physically too thin to cut through Gab’s.

Akutagawa then “kills” Atsushi in order to awaken his tiger power, since the latter doubts himself of being capable enough. Later he assists and assures Atsushi in defeating Gab:

“Tch. Akutagawa clicked his tongue. “Then it appears your fists are the only things that will work.”

He was right. Atsushi’s tiger fists would be big enough to land a blow. But as long as his arms were stuck… […] Atsushi used all the muscle he had to break free, but he still couldn’t pull his body out. He didn’t even budge.

.

“Do you understand that? There are things I can do that you cannot.” The wind howled. Akutagawa’s dark blade pierced Atsushi’s throat.

.

A tiger roared. Atsushi responded. […] His body went through an unworldly transformation. He had to move forward. If he didn’t understand, then he had to find out why. […]

“Good,” said a voice. “Now hurry. Do not waste my time, Man-Tiger.

.

But out of nowhere, a black fabric appeared underneath, stretching from the surface. It became a platform for him [Atsushi] to stand on and support his weight. Quietly looking up at Atsushi from the surface was Akutagawa. His gaze quietly said, “Finish it. Bring him peace.”

  Dead Apple: Akutagawa withholds information to Atsushi on purpose, about why he isn’t able to regain his ability despite having defeated it:

“You fool,” spewed Akutagawa. “Have you seriously not figured it out yet?!” […]

“Akutagawa!” Atsushi screamed in spite of himself. “What’s that supposed to mean?! Answer me!”

But Akutagawa didn’t look back. He simply disappeared into the fog as he headed toward the fortress.

Why…? Why…?! Why am I the only one who doesn’t get it?!

  -> Although it’s noteworthy that Kyouka does the same, with high probability for the same reasons (Atsushi having to figure it out by himself).

   8. Atsushi is forced to kill a dangerous, unnatural existence

This is very interesting in the way it’s been build up in both cases. First the antagonist is described as an existence that is not natural (1), then their motive gets explained (2), Atsushi shows up, saying why their actions are wrong or what he’s about to do (3), and then the deaths of the antagonists are described as some form of salvation (4):

55 Minutes:

(1) The island’s skill rid itself of Verne’s personality and robbed him of his flesh. That was when the living skill Gab was born.

.

(2) What made him different from Verne was his reason. The guardian of the island, Verne, wanted to save everyone. Gab, on the other hand, didn’t care whether people died.

.

(3) “But you can’t separate humans and their skills. The reason you want friends is nothing more than a reminder from when you once where human. […]”

.

(4) Right as his fist was about to connect…

------I owe ya one.

…he heard the young man’s [Verne] voice.

  -> The last stage (4) gets even more underlined with Akutagawa assuring Atsushi by saying “Bring him peace”, as cited above.

  Dead Apple:

(1) Tatsuhiko Shibusawa had been reborn as a skill-like life-form—a divine being that wielded the power of the dragon.

.

(2) But his wish was still the same. He wanted to drive Atsushi into a corner so he could experience even more pain and torture than he did six years ago. This was a natural conclusion for Shibusawa to reach, for he believed that life was at its strongest and most beautiful when it was being pushed over the edge.

.

(3) “Here to kill me again, Atsushi Nakajima?” asked Shibusawa. […]

“I’m just sending something back to where it belongs,” he replied.

.

(4) “…I understand everything now. I know why you’re here, why you appeared before me, and what his words truly meant. You are the angel who will save me…” 

  -> Even before turning into a dragon beast, Shibusawa was already an undead being, and thus an unnatural existence.

   9. Abilities are described as sentient beings or something that can turn against the user

55 Minutes: Gab separated himself from Verne and took over his body:

While traveling into the past, the skill got stronger, transformed, and eventually grew to have a will of its own.

.

However, Gab’s consciousness was less stable compared with humans.

  Dead Apple: Ability users have their abilities taken away and are forced to fight against them to get them back:

It was Kunikida’s skill, The Matchless Poet. […] He had a good idea how his skill was going to attack, seeing as it was part of him once. He also knew that, unlike his notebook, the phantom’s notebook had the word Compromise written on the cover. A copy of himself that didn’t follow ideals but made compromises was an abomination to Kunikida.

   Lastly, there is also the topic of Dazai set as a motivator for Atsushi and Akutagawa and their bickering about what is right or wrong in regards to him. But since that happens often between them, I didn’t include it here.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Yesterday's Lie" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who absolutely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

Here it is! The midseason finale of The Owl House Season Two! An episode featuring Luz going back to the human realm, is hyped up to heaven about how painful it'll be for the audience, and features more anxiety by how Creepy Luz is a thing. And BOOOOOOOOY howdy were fans not ready for this. I'm sure as hell not ready for when I wrote this intro at *checks time* thirty minutes before watching the official premier. Yup, the words you're reading right now are from me in the past, when everything was still pure and simple. Whereas future me is still probably destroyed by the events that transpired. Isn't that right, future me?

Future Me: Actually, it wasn’t that bad. The ending hurt, sure, but other than that, it wasn’t too painful.

Wow, that is some neat input! At least, I think it was. I wouldn't know because I literally wrote that after watching the episode. With the words you're currently reading being written at *checks time* twenty-six minutes before the premier...this whole intro is confusing, isn't it, future me?

Future Me: Sure is.

Yeah, it's definitely confusing. In any case, let's dive into this spoiler-filled review as we find out together just how painful this episode was! Take it away, future me!

Future Me: Will do! Major spoilers ahead, folks!

Now, let’s review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Luz’s Room: We only see it for a short time, but everything about it just screams Luz. The pile of weird-looking stuffed animals, the witch hat in the center of the floor, and the fact that she has bunk beds, a single child's dream (Or so I've heard). It's a small thing, but I love it.

Vee: Here she is! The character previously dubbed Creepy Luz who now turns out to be yet another new addition to the ever-growing list of characters that we, as a fandom, would give our lives for. Because holy s**t was Vee the best type of expectation subversion. Showing us all the ominous ways of how she basically took Luz's place made fans assume that Vee was an evil doppelganger. Turns out, she was just a tortured soul that was desperate to live a new and better life and lucked out in finding Luz's. What Vee does is...questionable at best, but seeing what she went through with the experiments Belos pulled on her, you understand why she would do it. And I personally love it's that same background information that makes Vee resentful of Luz of all people. Luz's life is a relative dream come true, and running away from that would be insane to someone who spent most of their existence through imprisonment and experimentation. It's an intriguing point of view, even though it's admittingly flawed given how it's mostly Camila that seemingly made Luz's life bearable. But the flaws don't matter. What matters is that you can see where Vee is coming from, and to me, personally, I think she's understandable enough to make me root for her to have some kind of happy ending. Whether as Luz or as herself, I'm hopeful to see Vee get some semblance of peace.

Camila: *Round of applause* Don't mind me! Just taking the time to love how all them sons of b**hes who thought Camila was a bad mom are now heavily invalidated. 'Cause, guess what? Camila is a fantastic mother, both to her daughter and her daughter's doppelganger! Allow me to walk you through the highlights:

How Camila looks like she’s not okay with the fact that "Luz" is clearing out her weird stuff, seemingly acting too different to the Luz she knows. Added to the fact that Camila doesn't like it.

How Camila drove Luz to camp whether than letting her take the bus

The fact that Camila takes that box of junk back in, not willing to part with the tin foil sculpture Luz made.

The way she was willing to play along with the game she thought Luz was doing, supporting her daughter's creative mind that Camila admits to being glad to see.

And, best of all, the willingness Camila had to help this poor creature, despite the lies it lived.

It's that last part I really want to touch upon, though. Because an action like that shows just how much Luz's heart comes from Camila. The kindness and generosity of helping this poor creature, who she has every right to run out on, proves how Luz learned to be everything she is today through Camila's own loving heart. Vee was scared and hurt, and the second Camila saw that she was then more than willing to help because of it. It's something that Luz would do, and it proves that even though Camila didn't exactly get everything right, she's still a great mom where it counts.

“A new life”: A perfect line.

Initially, it makes audiences think that it has everything to do with replacing Luz. It's only through future context that we know it's about escaping the s**t show Vee once lived through that it's clear she's talking about starting over. It hits us with intrigue on the first viewing, only to hit harder with the feels during a second. Really well-done.

Luz in the Mirror: A well-done surprise that makes fans curious about how this even happen in the first place. Kudos to you, writers.

The New Portal: I don't mind that they found a way to build this off-screen. Showing Luz and the gang slowly building a new portal would have been a little too tedious to watch, and it's so much better to just start this episode out with it. Besides, maybe we'll get the slow and steadier version now that we've seen how quickly building one might not have been the best way to go, given how fast that thing fell apart.

Luz Between Dimensions: I have no clue what the hell that place she was in is called, but it's awesome! The overall design of the realm is the correct type of unsettling, like it's oozing with mystery, but it's somewhere that you probably don't want to be in for too long. Whoever designed it deserves all of the credit because I don't want to even think about all the hard work that went into making this look as well-made as it was.

Luz Resisting to See Amity: What? Luz and Amity are adorable, and seeing Luz's immediate thought about seeing Amity makes my shipping heart scream with glee. Don't judge me!

Hiding Luz’s Dad’s Face: Well, that was a fun story while it lasted.

So, it turns out that Luz's dad really was a part of Luz's and Camila's life at some point, but not anymore. As for why remains to be seen, as we don't really know yet if we'll see him make an appearance. I'd say that the odds are high that he will, given how much of a point this episode made about keeping his face hidden. Shows don't usually do that unless the goal is to hype up some official reveal, and I can't wait to see what comes of it.

Luz Telling Herself to Count to Five: Hey, more evidence for how I relate to Luz! I know how it feels to be all panicky about a specific situation, and I only got better when I took the time to calm down for a bit. Sometimes, I even tried the "count to x" method that Luz used...it never worked, primarily because it made me feel worse when people told me to do it, but I still tried it! Plus, there's also some narrative foreshadowing when after Luz says five, the realm shows her Vee, or Number V, which is a pretty cool detail you'll notice on a rewatch.

Luz Helping Vee: I gave Camila praise for helping Vee in the end, but that doesn't abstain Luz from her own set of recognition. The second that Luz realized that Vee wasn't really a threat and is far from evil, our favorite human does what she can to help and even makes a deal where they're both happy. Because, of course, Luz is that perfect of a protagonist who is more than willing to help others in need. And it's why we love her so.

Looking for Magic that Eda Left Behind: A pretty cool idea that gives Luz and Vee a chance to bond and giving us an insight into Eda's past antics and misadventures in the human realm. Not much I can add to it, though.

Gravesfield: It's surprisingly not as jarring as I thought it would be to spend an episode in the human realm. I thought for sure, after all that time in the Boiling Isles, there would be something off about walking around a normal environment for a change. Turns out, it's almost easy to get used to. Or, for me, it is.

But I will say that there's this neat use of colors when comparing Gravesfield with the Boiling Isles. In Gravesfield, the coloring looks dulled down and standard, which is a stark contrast to the bright vibrancy of everything we've seen in the Boiling Isles. It's a subtle way of showing how things are different, aside from the major discrepancies we could come to expect. And I think that's why I appreciate it much more.

Eda’s Called Herself Marylynn in the Human Realm: Hang on...hang on...do you mean to tell me that the crack theory about Eda being Stan's ex-wife is actually true?

...

...What even is this show?!

Vee Making Friends with Camp Members: This shows the most apparent difference between Luz and Vee. Where we see Luz is already fearing the many ways that could go wrong with interacting with teens, Vee revealed that she adapted to her situation and had a chance to make friends. The implications of this are worth discussing another time, but for now, I'll say that it's pretty intriguing that we gain this much insight into both Luz and Vee through such a small thing.

Belos Wanting to Learn How Basilisks can Drain Magic: ...Didn't Raine say that Belos was taking away magic? If so, I think we can figure out how he's doing it. The question now is: Why?

Jacob (The Curator Guy): This guy was a riot. At first, Jacob seemed like a threat with the way he trapped Vee and was apparently stocking her, but the second he goes off about his conspiracy theories, it becomes clear what type of character he is. And was it a blast seeing how much of a crackpot this man is. It wasn't cool seeing him wanting to dissect the precious angel that is Vee, but I still chuckle about things like his "Flat Eather's Certificate." So while he's not that much of a threat, he's still fun to watch.

The Owl Beast was in the Human Realm: ...How did that happen? When did it happen? And how the hell did Eda get out of a situation like that?! Who knows, but it's still a shocking piece of news to learn.

Luz Telling Camila the Truth: Hey, she faced her fear after all! Although, the results aren't as pleasant as when Amity faced her fear two weeks ago.

Camila is a Veterinarian: ...One insignificant reveal...managed to destroy so many fanfics. I mean, we probably shouldn't have just assumed Camila was a nurse...but what the f**k else were we supposed to think?! Sorry for seeing the scrubs, and the first thing that came to my mind was "nurse" and not "vet."

By the way, that had to have been intentional, right? There's no way that Dana Terrace didn't think we'd assume Camila was a nurse. She'd had to have put off a reveal like that just to trip up her fans. And if that's the case, then that is a major d**k move...but that's why I mildly respect it.

Two Human Brothers went to the Demon Realm: Turns out we don't have to be in the Boiling Isles to learn more about it. Because now we have more information about how two humans were taken to the Isles with the help of a witch, thus setting up a grander reveal if it turns out that one of the humans was Philip and the witch was Belos. Because if that's true...then there's more of a history between those two than we thought.

Jacob has a Training Wand: This helps me believe that it's highly likely for Jacob to make a return and to have a power boost for when he does. After all, focussing all that attention on the training wand is way too convenient for it not to come up again in the future. Meaning we're most likely going to get more pain from Jacob if he shows up again.

Camila Beats the Crap out of Jacob for Vee: ...Writers, don't make me choose between Camila and Eda on who's the better cartoon mom. I know Eda's technically not a mom...BUT I STILL DON'T WANT TO CHOOSE DAMNIT!

Also, the sandal...just...

Why the f**k does Camila have a sandal in her purse? I don't know. Is it still funny that she does? Most certainly.

Camila and Luz’s Talk in the Rain: Ooooooooh, I was not ready for this...

I wasn't ready for the crying.

I wasn't ready for the hurt in Camila's eyes when she found out Luz chose to stay in the Boiling Isles.

I wasn't ready for Camila asking if Luz hates being with her that much.

I wasn't ready for Luz profusely stating how it was never Camila's fault.

I was not ready for Camila to tell Luz that she'll try to do better.

And I definitely was not ready for Luz to barely have enough time to promise that she'll come back.

This episode wasn't the twenty-two minutes of nonstop angst that I thought it was going to be...but this short scene more than make up for it.

Luz Tries to Stay Strong: Yet another thing she unwittingly learned from Camila. Camila tried to keep a brave face when Vee was with her and Luz, most likely not wanting to tear either of them down in the process. Luz does the same thing here as she avoids talking about the details of what went down in her sort-of journey back home. And seeing her clearly fake smile slowly droop into an uncertain frown, it uh...it definitely tore me up inside.

WHAT I DISLIKED

I want to say it's perfect, but there's one major issue that really bogs this episode down.

Continuity Error in How Vee Replaced Luz: Having Vee take Luz's place the same day Luz appeared in the Isles is a smart idea on paper...if it wasn't for the fact that it's impossible.

Because Eda closed the portal door the second that she saw Luz, meaning that there's no way for Vee to go to the human realm. It's a major plothole that makes no sense, and it might just be the first time ever that this series wasn't so closely knit with its story. Which ends up taking a dive in quality in the process.

IN CONCLUSION

I'd say that "Yesterday's Lie" is an A-. Everything about Luz, Vee, and Camila is incredible, combined into a story that ends in tragedy and uncertainty for the future. That plothole may drag things down a bit, but everything else is handled so well that I'm not lying when I say it's easy to forgive and forget.

(And that's ten episodes in a row without a single stinker. HOW THE F**K DOES THIS SEASON KEEP WINNING?!)

[precisemuseum]

okay so im very curious, sorry if this is very obvious or if its been asked before, why does witch talk like that

Short answer: Because English doesn’t have 3+ degrees of politeness that would help you differentiate between Raffina, Rulue, and Witch.

Extremely Long Technical Answer: 

The three basic types of Japanese politeness are Teineigo (polite speech), Sonkeigo (Honorific Speech, used when talking to or about someone of higher status), and Kenjougo (Humble Speech, used when talking about yourself to humble yourself in comparison to whoever you’re talking to). 

Based on every situation, you are supposed to mix the three (or use none) according to the status of the person you are talking to in relation to yourself. Even when talking with strangers, for instance, proper form is to use all three; but when talking about your boss to an outside party for instance, you’re supposed to use humble speech instead of honorific speech because otherwise that’ll look like bragging. 

You can google more about the linguistics of this if you’re interested, but basically Teineigo is using “desu” or “masu” and Sonkeigo/Kenjougo require different verb replacements and conjugations. Even within them, there are ways to make your speech a little more polite or impolite.

So here’s a basic rundown of Raffina, Rulue, and Witch and where they stand (starting with Ringo, for additional comparison): 

Ringo: Primarily Teineigo, though she also uses Kenjougo in phrases like “Iza! Mairimasu!” aka “Here I come!” In this statement alone, you can see how the 2 forms of politeness cannot be translated to English. “Here I come!” is neither particularly polite nor casual, and if you were to make it more polite you would edge too far into the weird zone: “I depart at once!” which contrasts the feeling we want for her character.

Our direction: Emphasize her nerd aspects through technical phrasing while keeping a degree of politeness, thus easily making her speech unique. The Japanese, in contrast, primarily relies on her politeness and occasional literary verb declaration to convey her “polite but weird” character description.

Raffina: All three: Teineigo (not dropped even for classmates), Sonkeigo (though the circumstances in which this needs to be used are very few and probably only when she’s addressing Ms. Accord), and Kenjougo to emphasize her lady, high-class upbringing. As you might realize, this is polite only in form, because Raffina is a very haughty character who thinks she’s better than everyone else. 

Rulue: Very little of any, not even Teineigo, for the Queen respects no one…except when she’s talking to Satan, in which case she’ll use all three at once. However, just like Raffina and Witch, Rulue uses feminine phrase tics (deshou, for instance) which are automatically more polite than casual (where it would be “darou”). Here we have a bit of a problem because this variation cannot be conveyed perfectly in English. Essentially, she uses lady-like speech but with limited politeness for others – but this could also be because she is older than most of the cast, in which case it would be natural for her to speak to them without Teineigo (Amitie, for instance, uses Teineigo when talking to Rulue, so this is likely the case, in addition to the fact that Rulue doesn’t respect people that much since she doesn’t use Teineigo with strangers). 

Though to make this more complicated, she may use Sonkeigo when talking to the viewer, but without Teineigo. Wow. How do we even begin conveying that? (Example: 私のスペシャルスキル　『女王乱舞』の　せつめい　ごらんに　なりたいのかしら？ — bolded: Sonkeigo…without the desu or masu of Teineigo.)

Our attempt: We’ve made Raffina’s wording ever so slightly more polite, but otherwise they end up sounding similar. The game also intends for them to overlap, however, so this isn’t a huge deal.

An example: Raffina says in one route, “That is something for I, myself, to decide.” If Rulue were saying essentially the same line, we would go with something more like, “That is something I will decide myself.”

Witch: All three as well, but to the point of overdoing it, in a way – Witch uses Sonkeigo and Kenjougo no matter who she’s talking to. But why? Is it because she’s actually more polite than the rest of the cast? 

It’s because she’s a salesman.

Here’s the joke in Japanese: Witch does extremely rude things with extremely polite language. She’s a salesman ready to swindle you. So herein lies the problem — in English, simply making her polite is going to have an incredible overlap with Raffina, whose politeness is different and reflects her upbringing. And it doesn’t help that Raffina, Rulue, and Witch all use feminine grammar structures and laugh with Ohohoho!

So, now for a quiz: With the character differentiations we just went over, who’s saying what line between Raffina, Rulue, and Witch?

1. Could you not go around calling yourself the strongest beauty when someone as grand as me exists?

2. While Puyo battling over and over, I have somehow ended up in a place unbeknownst to me.

3. To begin with, dancing when you’re a fish is so improper!

4. A maiden’s determination can shatter any obstacle!

5. Well then, I shall gladly be on my way.

6. Sheesh! In this case, I shall make it so that you cannot move!

Answers:

1. Raffina

2. Witch

3. Rulue

4. Rulue

5. Raffina

6. Witch

So here we have a problem: these lines actually look like they could’ve all been said by the same character, despite having differentiation in Japanese. But if we remember, only Raffina and Rulue are supposed to mirror each other.

Leading us to two options:

1. Leave it be and have 3 characters that speak very similarly and primarily rely on context to distinguish

2. Swap Witch to a different form of politeness, thus leaving only Raffina and Rulue alike. 

As you can see, we went with the second by using Southern Belle, or a polite form of the Southern American English. Leaving us now with:

1. Could you not go around calling yourself the strongest beauty when someone as grand as me exists?

2. After Puyo battling over and over, I’ve ended up in rather strange parts.

3. To begin with, dancing when you’re a fish is so improper!

4. A maiden’s determination can shatter any obstacle!

5. Well then, I shall gladly be on my way.

6. Sheesh. If you won’t settle down, I’ll have to truss you up so you can’t move!

Witch’s lines are now clearly distinguishable, and we’ve done our best to keep her polite within the dialect. Of course, some may disagree with this decision since Witch does not actually speak in another dialect in Japanese, but very few Puyo characters do, and when they do they tend to run the typical stereotypes (Kodomo Dragon speaking a somewhat incomplete Kansai because he’s “wild”). Witch’s polite southern will not overlap with these characters even if we also translate them to southern, so we do not foresee future issues.

We believe it also makes certain exchanges more interesting. Compare the original translation of this scene to the final version:

We hope this has been an adequate answer to your question.

Bonus: To further underscore how complex politeness is in Japanese, here’s seven ways to ask someone to do something for you, in order of ascending politeness…

〜てくれない？

〜てもらえない？

〜てくれませんか。

〜てもらえませんか。

〜てくださいませんか。

〜ていただけませんか。

〜ていただけないでしょうか。

[pamphletstoinspire]

WHY DID JESUS WRITE WITH HIS FINGER IN THE DUST?

Gospel of April 7, 2019 - John 8: 1 - 11

Today’s beautiful gospel of the woman taken in adultery contains that curious detail of Jesus stooping to write in the dust with his finger.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.Now what do you say?”6 They were using this question as a trap,in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Apart from the fact that this detail shows Jesus could read and write what does it really mean?

Why did Jesus write in the dust of the earth?

There are three traditional interpretations. First, maybe Jesus was just doodling. He was stalling for time. He was giving the Pharisees the brush off. But Jesus doesn’t waste time and doesn’t ignore people so that’s out.

A second interpretation was favored by St Jerome and by lots of commentator since. This version says Jesus was writing the names and sins of the accusers in the dust. That would fit the story sort of, but why writing in the dust. Yes, well maybe but why write in the dust? Why not tell a parable about the accusers’ sins or speak out their names and give, let’s say, the number of the commandment they had broken? It’s a plausible theory, but it still seems like we’re stretching for a solution.

I once came up with a third option I’d never heard from anyone else, that Jesus is performing a significant, prophetic action. Elsewhere he refers to himself as “the finger of God.” (Luke 11:19-20) so maybe this is a prophetic action. He is, with his finger, designing in the dust of the earth the way God created Adam from the dust of the earth. Therefore he is revealing himself as the creator. Creative maybe, but far fetched, and it doesn’t really fit the context.

No, the fourth answer is correct, and this is one which dates back to St Augustine.

But it’s a riddle, and to understand we have to go back to the context. In chapter seven of John’s gospel, (which is immediately before the passage of the woman taken in adultery) Jesus’ conflict with the Scribes and Pharisees has reached a climax point. They are plotting to kill him and he knows it and actually calls them on it.

Here’s the passage:

Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

The argument goes back and forth, and the people are wondering who he really is:

At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

Now we’re getting somewhere. Jesus does “signs”. John is big on this. The “signs” Jesus does are always secret significant acts that point to his true identity. So at the beginning of his gospel ohn says the miracle of the wedding at Cana in Galilee was the “first of the signs that he did.” In that “sign” Jesus performed the duties and took on the role of the bridegroom thus showing that he was the prophesied bridegroom of God’s people Israel.

So what is the next sign Jesus is going to perform?

In chapter seven he says,

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[c] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

We need to ask, therefore, who is the “Spring of Living Water”?

The answer is in the prophet Jeremiah.

In chapter seventeen Jeremiah is inveighing against the corrupt and unbelieving religious leaders of Israel. Go here to read the whole chapter. He is calling them out for following false gods and turning away from the Lord. The cornerstone quote is verse 13:

Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.

Ha! There’s the answer to the riddle! Jesus calls himself the Spring of Living water. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink!” he says in the verses just before chapter eight. (and remember, the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are a much later addition to aid easy reference. They’re not in the original)

What happens to those who forsake the Lord? According to the prophet Jeremiah–and remember the Jews at this time knew their Old Testament forward and backward–those who forsake the Lord who is the Spring of Living Water–will have their names written in the dust.

Dust you are and to dust your will return.

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

By this prophetic sign Jesus is showing who he really is: The Lord who is the Spring of Living Water…he is also showing his accusers–who have planned to kill him–exactly who they are. They are the corrupt, immoral liars and murderers who the prophet Jeremiah condemned.

I believe Jesus just wrote their names in the dust and they, knowing the prophecy, understood that he was holding up a mirror to their apostasy and corruption. On the second occasion he may also have recorded the details of their own liaisons with the woman. Notice that the adulterous man was not brought for judgement. Why? Because it was one of them? Probably.

In this way Jesus recapitulates not only the prophet Jeremiah, but also the prophet Daniel in his encounter with the elders in the story of Susannah.

So the writing in the dust is one of Jesus’ signs to show who he really is. He is the Lord, the Spring of Living Water. If you reject him your name will be written in the dust of destiny.

Written by: Fr. Dwight Longenecker

[notesbyash]

ok long story time because i feel like the way i describe this makes or breaks how interesting this all was.

i used to frequent this lovely second-hand bookshop on days i got out of class early. it was a local gem, filled top to bottom with books; they were practically spilling out of the shelves and you had to be careful picking your way through the narrow aisles in case you tripped on a stack of fading novels tucked away somewhere.

i had wandered in on this particular day for some poetry as a reward for a midterm completed. having decided upon a pristine copy of the poems of john keats, i was headed back up to the counter to pay when impulse took over and directed me towards the philosophy section. i knew (and still know) absolutely nothing about philosophy but it had always been on my “meaning to learn” list. thus, backpack cutting into my shoulders, i crouched down to the bottom of the shelf and began systematically working my way through the names of authors i had absolutely no familiarity with. 

halfway through i found a name i did have some familiarity with: plato. though the name plato rang some bells, the name of the book itself (symposium and phaedrus) itself meant absolutely nothing to me. the dust cover had been stripped meaning there wasn’t anything on the back, so i flipped it open in hopes of finding some sort of context to ground myself. instead, i found the book already annotated with underlines and brackets and little notes scratched in the margins in black ink. a name printed on a tiny sticker label adorned the inner front cover. text in a curious sort of print handwriting sat under it, informing me that symposium and phaedrus was:

“Plato’s characterization of what love is”

“the nature of hierarchy in Platonism”

and

“the place of allegory”

among other things. it seemed as if the previous owner knew what they were on about, and i thought to myself “oh, well i could use the annotations as a sort of reading guide then since i know nothing about either plato or philosophy.” i hadn’t planned on purchasing two books but it was a beautiful day outside, so i went up to the counter and paid for both the plato and the keats and stuffed the books into my backpack and took the bus home.

fast forward a year later: i’ve finally started reading the book. as i’m reading through it, it becomes increasingly clear that whoever owned this book prior wasn’t reading this just for the sake of reading it. 

this was a resource. 

for something. 

the scribbled notes seem to put a particular emphasis on poetry with comparisons to other works of literature. i quickly abandon the idea of using the annotations as a reading guide, since the lines marked aren’t necessarily the main points of the passages they are from. i begin piecing together a guess at who the previous owner was: someone interested in poetry with a clear vision of what it is they want to learn from both symposium and phaedrus, which seems to be our relationships and perceptions of our emotions.

my curiosity finally kicks in and i return to the name on the inner cover. it feels incredibly generic, just a very standard name. there’s no way it’s going to tell me anything. there is also an address which i obviously don’t look up on maps because it feels like a weird thing to do. after faffing about for a few minutes i settle on simply googling the name and state of the address, completely sure that i will find absolutely nothing conclusive.

what i find, much to my surprise, is very conclusive. it’s so conclusive that i’m convinced it’s not actually true because if it was that means that somehow i was right in my assumption that my book’s previous owner knew what they were on about. as it turns out, my particular copy of plato’s symposium and phaedrus used to belong to an award winning author and certified english professor with degrees from a slew of ivy league institutions.

after a bit of additional research, it seems that i was right in guessing that symposium and phaedrus was used as a resource. in fact i manage to track down, based on timelines and educated stabs-in-the-dark, exactly what book it may have served as a resource for: a 300 page volume on (and i was correct again) the changing ways human emotions are perceived as seen through the works of certain poets. 

however, seeing as the individual who previously owned this book was recently put under academic review for sexual misconduct allegations, i think i’ll be leaving my strange little annotation investigation here. at any rate, i now have a new anecdote and an additional reason to continue spending my days at second-hand bookshops.

if you want to see the book, you can spot it in the second photo of this post. 

we’ve all seen those posts about getting a used book at an old bookshop that’s filled with annotations and then trying to piece together who owned it previously based on those notes and stuff right? i actually did that with one of my books and it turns out it used to belong to an awarded author/english professor with recent allegations of sexual misconduct so

[irregularwebcomic]

[Irregular Webcomic! #2039 Rerun](https://ift.tt/2Sb7rqj)

Pronouns are words that substitute for other nouns, usually when the meaning can be inferred from context. For example:

The book, give it to me.

Here "it" really means "the book", so "it" is a pronoun. Also, the word "me" is shorthand for "the person saying this sentence", or "David", or whoever else might actually be saying it. So "me" is a pronoun. Another example:

If anybody knows where the key may be, it may be him.

Here, "him" refers to the Grey Seer, so "him" is a pronoun. But you'll notice that in the comic, Captain Long Tom Short actually said, "it may be he." Which is not quite right, although we can tell immediately what he's trying to say.

Think about it for a second. "Him" and "he" are both pronouns, that can refer to some Grey Seer (who is presumably male, otherwise he'd be a "she" or a "her"). Why are there two different words to refer to what is essentially the same thing?

The answer is that "he" and "him" are two different declensions of the same pronoun - different forms of the same word which are used in different circumstances. The difference is that "he" is used when "he" is doing something - or in grammatical terms, when "he" is the subject of the sentence. And "him" is used when "he" is having something done to "him" - when "he" is the object of the sentence. Examples:

He ate the chicken. The tiger ate him.

Notice the difference. In the first case "he" is the one doing the eating; in the second case, "he" is the one being eaten. Exactly analagous cases occur for the pronouns "she", "I", "we", and "they":

She ate the chicken. The tiger ate her.

I ate the chicken. The tiger ate me.

We ate the chicken. The tiger ate us.

They ate the chicken. The tiger ate them.

In Engish, the situation is quite simple, since our pronouns have at most two different declensions. There's even a pronoun with only one declension:

You ate the chicken. The tiger ate you.

In other languages there are further declensions to worry about. For example in Italian there is an additional word for "he", which is used for indirect objects. The easiest way to see this difference is with an example:

Lui chiama Maria. (He calls Maria.) Maria lo chiama. (Maria calls him.) Maria gli scrive. (Maria writes to him.)

Note the difference in the last two there. Maria is actually calling him, but she's not literally writing him - what she's writing is a letter, a letter to him. In English that difference is not important, and we use "him" in both cases. But in Italian it's an important distinction, meriting a completely different pronoun declension. And the act of choosing the right declension of a pronoun for the situation is known as declining the pronoun.

Okay, I admit it, grammar is not one of my strongest subjects. Rather than explain what I got wrong here, let me just quote some of the e-mails I received. From Seumus Macdonald:

In the clause, 'it may be he', "he" is actually quite correct. Since 'it may be he' is a subordinate clause, "may be" is a subjunctive form of the verb 'to be', and is here functioning as a copulative, as in "X is Y", so that one would normally expect both X and Y to be in the nominative case. Therefore, 'he' is the right declension of the pronoun, and Captain Long Tom Short is speaking very properly, even if it sounds a little awkward.

From Aaron Walker:

Actually, in this case "he" is the predicate nominative and "he" is more correct than "him".

http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000021.htm http://www.dailygrammar.com/136to140.shtml

From David Luchin:

I do not envy you the volume of correspondence you're going to have pointing out that because "to be" takes an object nominative, "It may be he" is in fact correct.

From Joseph "Chepe" Lockett:

Actually, Captain Long Tom Short is correct (at least in declension) when he says, "If anybody be knowin' where may be the key, it may be he."

"It" and "he" should both be in the nominative/subject case (technically, a "declension" is a collection of different noun formations, known as "cases"). "It" is, obviously, the subject. But "he" is a predicate nominative - a renaming or restatement of the subject, separated by a form of the verb "to be." Since it's identical to the subject, it takes the same case.

The classic case of a subjective pronoun as a predicate nominative is the rather Victorian-sounding statement, "It is I." Because English speakers get confused about noun cases easily, that's generally been corrupted to "It is me." It's a similar problem to the one facing the construction, "James is taller than I [am]," which usually gets corrupted these days to "James is taller than me."

From Dave Pooser:

In your discussion of declension of pronouns, I think you missed the fact that the Royal Navy is mistaken here. The exception to your rules of declension is that the nominative form of the pronoun is used when the verb is "to be." Thus:

"Who is it?" "It is I."

To my ear, at least, "it may be he" rings more true than "it may be him;" in this case the predicate nominative is "he."

2020-02-09 Rerun commentary: I wont' go over the grammar again. Now I'm more curious about the faint blue tinge on Wendy. She's noticeably bluer than any of the other figures in the scene, which is not how she looks in real life. I think it's because she's in shadow, and the lighting I used was reddish in colour temperature, so she looks bluer by comparison after my camera white balanced for the light source.

[azariaspace]

So something I’ve been thinking about is the fact that, if I’m an RA, not only will I be out to my theoretical residents, but I’ll be outed to whomever the choose to tell. Their friends on campus, their friends at home, their parents, their pastors, whoever. My personal gender identity will become a global business, and not on my terms.

But that’s already the case. One of my floor mates outed me to her Fridays student who was curious about gay stuff on campus and wanted to talk to someone about it. (Prospective students typically go through the Fridays at Calvin program, and current students in the dorms can get paid to host them.) In addition, my door is open right now, and someone else’s door is open, and she’s Skyping a friend about me and my identity. I can’t tell what the context is, but I know that I’m the topic of conversation.

Nothing will change except the frequency and maybe my awareness of it. And I’m okay with that, because I’ve already lost control. So I and my community (ies - both the LGBT+ community and the resident life community) might as well gain from it.

[darthvaderissunny-blog]

Curious Cat: Question Regarding ‘Whitewashing’

Hello. I wanted to clarify why some fans take offense to white-washing. Many fans are not white, or asian. Many of them have darker skin colors.. When fansites white-wash, they (the fans) see it as trying to "improve the picture" by making the idol's skin lighter, dark skin = ugly. This is what I have heard I hope you understand 

Thank you for approaching me with this question. I am always happy to answer this particular issue because there are so many wrong assumptions. I also want to clarify few things. I also took my time to answer this issue whole-heartedly. And I also hope you understand as well.

1.    How whitewashing is defined in the media: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewashing_in_film

a.    Whitewashing has many meanings. However, outside of kpop world, whitewashing more is used as following meaning: “casting practice in the film industry of the United States in which white actors are cast in historically non-white character roles. The film industry has a history of frequently casting white actors for roles involving people of color, including African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and any other Non-white culture, including Native Americans.”

2.     "improve the picture" by making the idol's skin lighter, dark skin = ugly. – This is your assumption. Fansites did not say ‘lighter skin is better than darker skin.’ In fact, the reason why they edit photos is due to lighting.

3.     “Many fans are not white, or asian. Many of them have darker skin colors..” – Again, this is your assumption. Also, because majority are darker skin fans, should we ignore minority? In fact, editing photos have nothing to do with fans that are darker or lighter skin. This is irrelevant point. Just because, I like it certain ways and majority don’t like my way, am I wrong? Then, isn’t this discriminatory against minority? In addition, we all respect everyone, whether they are light or dark skin, tall or short, guy or girl, etc. Moreover, if I prefer darker skin, so I edit the photos, then am I offending and discriminating lighter skin people? Everyone has a different taste. I don’t hate any skin colors and fan sites, too, since they take photos to show the world how beautiful our boys are.

4.     The words, “whitewashing and unbleaching,” are derogatory and rude to use against fansites because their intentions are never ‘whitewashing.’ In fact, they have every right to edit photos however they want. They took the pictures. It is their photos. They can bluewash or greenwash if they want to. Who are we to tell them that they have to edit certain way or not? Did we go to the events?

5.     Under incandescent light (yellowish light), people will come out yellowish no matter what. Most indoor lightings are incandescent. Based on the lighting, people tend to make assumption idols are yellow. I think people should study photography and lighting before accusing fansites of ‘whitewashing.’ Be educated. If you feel that it is still whitewashing, then all the photos in magazines or websites or TV or wherever or whatever, it should be ‘whitewashing’ to you.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9UFGy3F2Suc/maxresdefault.jpg

https://cdn.photographylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Shutter-Speed-Ambient-Light-Difference.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VpfqqEUeqEM/V3tFCeoocwI/AAAAAAAAIAo/ULbD_yFjjpUWzo83l8mTvf1O8G-CwXhbgCLcB/s640/White_balance_explained.jpg

6.     I get confused here. Are Asians supposed to be yellow? Aren’t people yellow-washing them? Even in Monsta X, Jooheon and Wonho are pale. Why try to make them yellow when they aren’t? I am Asian but I am not yellow. This is unfair, setting up stereotype that Asians have to be certain color. And because someone of us aren’t ‘yellow’, it’s ‘wrong’ to some people’s eyes. And this is discriminatory as well.

7.     If you like the ‘natural’ light (natural light is such an ambiguous term because indoors have different lights, so in this case it’s more outdoor lighting but outdoor lights change as well because of day and night), then good for you. But please respect others who like other light settings or simply want to see our boys face better because of due dark lighting or personally likes brighter image.

8.     Idols use filters all the time when take selfies. Are they ‘whitewashing’ themselves as well? In addition, #monbebeselcaday, I do not see anyone without filter or there are always few changes made in the selfies. Are we all whitewashing ourselves? If I like sepia tone and use sepia tone as my filter, am I sepia-washing myself? Furthermore, in my personal opinion, some fans put their own insecurities on idols and frustrations on fansites.

9.     ‘They are beautiful the way they are’ – We, as fans, already that the idols are beautiful the way they are. In fact, everyone is beautiful in his or her own ways. But we still edit and filter our photos. Who are we to tell idols are insecure when we also do exactly the same thing? Are we insecure like idols, too? I don’t know because personally, I really love myself most of the time and I don’t feel insecure but I use filter all the time. We just use filter and edit photos to look extra beautiful and there is nothing wrong with that. Trying to look beautiful in certain extends is okay. That’s why we put make up, wear nice clothes, because I want to feel good about myself (but if this is too much, then we do have a problem).

10. Some people say, “Oh~ it’s Korean culture~” Before anyone says this, I hope they educate themselves. Korean tends to like more fair skin; however, this does not mean they are racist and discriminate other races. Racism happens everywhere and anywhere. I laugh when I hear ‘Korean people are most racist.’ Excuse me. I live in USA and do I need to explain more? Lol. In addition, before one blames ‘whitewashing’ due to Korean culture, I hope you try to understand and learn about the culture first. (This is out of context but seeing some fans demand fansites to speak English is ridiculous. It’s called ‘K’-pop. I feel like they should be the one who should learn Korean and the culture.) But I personally don’t see this as a cultural issue.

11. Lastly, liking edited photos or unedited photos is agree to disagree. Like I said, it is about the personal taste. Just because you believe certain ways are correct, that doesn’t mean the other person is wrong. I, in fact, have nothing against people who like unedited photos. I also understand where people are coming from. The dark history shows that how different groups of people were discriminated and had to fight against discriminations. We made it to 2017 and still have a long way to go (e.g. USA). However, I do have a problem when people start saying ‘whitewashing’ or ‘unbleaching’ and attacks fansites. That’s simply rude and that person is being condescending because that person is showing his or her ways are better than whoever has different opinion. I simply do not accept derogatory terms as well as calling someone discriminator when they are the one who is discriminating. Furthermore, last thing we want is division in the fandom. Our main purpose of the fandom, domestically and internationally, is to support Monsta X together. But saying these unnecessary words causes division, hatred, misunderstanding, hurt feelings that may be poison to our boys in the future.

Please excuse my grammar mistakes. LOL.

[hypnokinkwithmrdream]

Trance Journal-8/27/10: Synthesis and Synesthesia

Posted to Fetlife 8/28/2010

Recently I was in a play party with a few other people who were both familiar and involved in hypnosis, and in other methods of BDSM.

I tranced my subject initially with a method of fractionation in which I began a rapid induction and then, using a finger under the chin, would raise her head to prevent her from the typical drop of the head into trance. I cycled her through this, telling her to stay out of trance until finally I let her go. She was standing so I led her to a chair.

One of the participants suggested she might like to be tied up, so I tranced her to feel tied up while they got rope. I tested this out by demonstrating she was unable to move through tickling. There was quite a bit of tickling at that point. I then brought her deeper and she was tied up to the chair. I felt this was an interesting type of future pacing, in which she was essentially aware she was going to be tied up so she had a strong immediate reaction to the suggestion she was already tied up, and then this was validated by the actual experience. It isn't a really remarkable anchor but it has some virtues as way of creating a stronger relationship between the trance and reality ("See, you imagined you were tied up and now you are") almost as if the trance is causal. This is also an example of synthesis in that we are taking the hypnotic trance and the activity of rope play. Often this sort of synthesis has to do with using the activity as an anchor (when the ropes are tied around you, it will make you feel this deep sense of helplessness and you will become completely submissive to whoever holds the lead), however I think there is more variety possible than simple anchors or triggers although they are essential to the method of conducting much of this play.

Given the subject was tied up and helpless, I proceeded to use a specific thing I knew would make her very excited, and then at the peak of that excitement I created an anchor to the touching of her forehead, holding it as she experienced both, and then letting go. From then on, the longer I touched her forehead the longer she would feel the peak of this sensation. At some point I believe the sensation becomes separated from the original cause, as the continuing use of the anchor almost becomes an anchor to the sensation rather than the experience. Some anchors are made by having someone recall their experience, however in erotic hypnosis, I think it can be very helpful to actually create the experience freshly.

At this point I had a subject who was tied up with a feeling of sexual arousal tied to a touch of the forehead. I handed her the floggers and she could sort of swing them at people playfully, although without much ability to really swat, it became a game of ticking and teasing her while keeping out of the way of her defense. I felt like this was a fun counterpoint to her helplessness, and it is possibly a way of establishing the fact that it was a safe and playful environment rather than a serious one.

At this point there was a negotiated flogging between two participants, and the subject had good view of that activity. As I listened to the flogging, and noticed the subjects reactions to watching I decided to explore a simple synesthesia. I brought the subject deep, and simply explained that the sound of the floggers was going to feel good, almost as if the sound itself would be going through her, that the feeling of the sound would go through her. She was brought out of trance, and she began to respond with each crack and sound, however she continued to watch, and began to make noise at each hit. While this was somewhat rewarding for the flogger and created a bit of feedback for the flogged, I was more curious about the non-visual stimulae.

I believe my subject is relatively active in all modalities, however she explores visual art, and so I decided that being in that visual mode was less exciting as losing control goes. Given my initial suggestion, translating her auditory to kinesthetic (her least dominant modality), I commanded that she close her eyes and become quieter, unable to voice her experience. I did this without really deepening her, more as a part of her ongoing trance state, and heightened suggestibility.

The change in her appearance was notable. She responded more directly to the sounds. I believe her ability to see what was happening had allowed her concious mind more involvement in the experience, and her ability to verbalize was creating a feedback that fit a pleasurable but ultimately distracting pattern. While as far as sensation is concerned it was adequate to create a remarkable and even fascinating display, the end result of my adjustment was that she was left much more responsive to every sound, both the strong and soft, and that her physical activity became more varied, no longer directed forward but responding as if the experience was happening around her.

At this point I recorded the sounds of the flogging, and would play them back to each ear. This caused her to move almost as if lead by a rope, tilting her body and head to each side as the sounds moved around her. I will explore this aspect more.

At this time I began the process of removing the conditioning. The anchor was weakened although it still had some power, although more akin to the response someone gets when someone touches a bruise or welled spanked bottom after play, a reminder of pleasure rather than the direct application.

I untied her and let the experiences she felt be more consistent with normal, still resonant and meaningful however with her normal response to them.

What I learned: Rather than spending time establishing depth of trance through constant relaxation and deepening, a confident effort to control when the subject was in and out of trance and purposefully apply trance for specific, observable, and positive effects made the subject more responsive to increasingly challenging and interesting efforts. I did not spend an hour deepening the subject, and the environment was not a relaxed or quiet one. While I generally state that this is a good environment for erotic trance, it was a good reinforcement.

I explore synesthesia usually tied to visual responses in which different sensations or sounds create glows of various colors, or affects the richness of colors around the subject. While it is a common thing to have triggers that create feelings, I feel that the nature of true synesthesia is to have the brain almost automatically confuse one feeling with another. This may be done through an anchor, however I think with enough practice a subject could be come more capable of experiencing this. I would like to isolate this more. The nature of isolating the experience itself made it more powerful for the subject, and in the context sensory deprivation had an additional element of increasing sensitivity.

[kennyrobots]

answer in the form of an answer, part 21.

Would an immigration ban that targets Muslims make the country safer? Your answer: No Answers you’ll accept: Yes, and we should enforce one | Maybe, but we shouldn't enforce one | No Importance: Very Maybe it's the frequency illusion at work here, but the last three(ish) questions I've answered have a helluva political bent to it. (NOTE: At least, from the time of the original question...answering. Not sure if or how much OKC's redesign messed with the layout of these questions, in relation to each other.) Personally, I'm curious as to the actual efficacy of these questions, vis-a-vis actually getting people to answer their true feelings on here. Like, what's to stop a person from answering the PC way, but acting IRL contrary to what they're claiming? Yes, I'm aware that answering privately is a thing that exists, but still. In a very odd way (specifically the devil's advocate-y way I force myself to see all sides of an argument, even if the underlying premise is ridiculous) (kids in cages - that's kinda indefensible, y'all), I almost sorta respect the folks that say "Yes", because I think they're being truthful, and God knows my dumb ass loves authenticity. I do wonder about the folks that say "No", though (like myself, full disclosure). Of those folks that SAY "No", how many of them actually MEAN it, and who's just showing off? Genuinely curious. yeah - the redesign messed with a LOT of things, much less the order in which i answered questions. like, right now, the site’s...it’s not “unusable”, but damn, it used to have so much more functionality. like, right now there’s no real way for me to just browse potential matches (or even users in general) like i used to do - i’m basically stuck with either whatever random poor soul ends up foisted upon me in the discover tab, or whoever the site’s algorithms deem worthy of showing me in the questions tab, and the prerequisite for THAT is that i have to enter a question and answer to see who responded in kind. (also, there are 5K+ questions on this godforsaken site. i am literally going to die before i get to the finish line.) (just did the math - assuming they do not add any more questions in the intervening time (which ain’t likely), and assuming i stick to my two-questions-per-day schedule (which IS likely), it would take over 7 YEARS to post everything. so yeah - me dying is literally likelier than finishing this stupid fucking project. i feel like i should regret starting this, but fuck it - i’m already here. might as well keep going.) ANYWAY. i have a tendency of reading through all of a person’s questions whenever they pique my interest, because 1) as someone who writes a lot of fucking words, it would be both hypocritical and irresponsible of me to not read someone else’s lot of fucking words (even if being seen as hypocritical is not even a thing for me - i am openly hypocritical, because in the course of the whole “exploring the depths of my mind” thing, it’s become necessary for me to hold two or more conflicting opinions at the same time, just to be able to see as many sides of an idea as possible, and i don’t need things like “cognitive dissonance” slowing me down), and 2) as a result of plumbing the depths of my own mind, i’ve become interested in what comes out of the minds of others, especially on a dating site, where the express goal is to LITERALLY get to know another person. (an adjacent thought about this that i had while taking a shower today: some common advice vis-à-vis online dating is to not care so much about being liked, so that you don’t experience the feel-bads that accompany putting in so much work for so little return, but...that’s also the entire point of online dating - to be LIKED by someone. obviously, that’s greatly oversimplifying things, but still. something that struck me that i’ll probably flesh out in a later post.) (also, i use “vis-à-vis” a lot.) (unsure if that’s actionable in any way - again, another thing that struck me.) ANYWAY. obviously i’m an outlier, putting an explanation with every answer i’ve provided, but i’m both delighted when someone else puts an explanation in their answer (because then we’re allowed to go beyond the parameters of the question and the provided answers, which, no matter what, are limiting in-themselves), and saddened when i scroll through someone’s profile, and see that their questions are as barren as their main page. (like, i get that the advice is to keep it short and pithy, but man. y’all don’t have ANY supplementary thoughts about the question? no wonder y’all suck at conversation.) (here’s what i mean by the whole “limiting in-themselves” bit: aside from just expressing my insane personality, the thing i like having a blank space to provide an explanation is that it allows me to move beyond the question and answer itself, a lot of times in ways that surprise even ME, and I’M the one that’s writing it. without that option, you’re kinda just stuck with the options they give you, and i actually complain about that a number of times in my explanations, where there’s either not enough or too many answers given (normally the former), and that the actual answer’s somewhere in-between what’s there. i see that most people are okay with this, and, sure - that’s their bag. but then it leads to things like the above, where either an insane person or an HONEST person would answer in the affirmative, vis-à-vis (damnit) an immigration ban.) (or a stupid person - we ought to be inclusive, after all.) (i’ve actually thought about this in the context of “open-world” video games - while we (the royal “we”) marvel at how much there is to do, how you can do “anything you want” in the game, soonandsoforth, it’s STILL limited by what the developers INTENDED for you to do. sure, there are such things as exploits and outright cheats that allow you to do things that weren’t EXPRESSLY intended by the developers, but you’re still limited by the framework in which the game was developed. in other words, let’s say you wanted to play a session of GTA online in which you were a normal person that went to their banking job each day, and just had a normal home life, and maybe played golf on the weekends, because, y’know - BANKERS. in THEORY, i guess you could do that (i actually don’t know what you can and can’t do in GTA online, seeing that 1) i’ve never played it, and 2) i have no interest in doing so, because online multiplayer? yuck and no thank you), but you can only do that insofar that the developer - unknowingly or not - put the tools for you do to so in the game. if they didn’t? you’re shit outta luck - go blow up a car or rob a bank or whatever else you’re allowed to do in there.) (”why are you playing GTA online to be a normal person?” great question, and for no particular reason other than “why not?”, i suppose.) (just not a fan of being unnecessarily limited like that, is all.) (or are you in the habit of obeying even the unwritten rules all the time?) NEXTDAYEDIT: so actually, there’s a quote within a vox article that kindasorta sums up all that i tried to say in the preceding quite nicely: “ But mostly, this framing is misleading because, like pretty much any generalization of what goes on on a platform or in a subculture or within a generation, it completely erases the nuanced beliefs that actual individuals have.“ and THAT’s what i’m ultimately getting at, with my jumbo-sized word salad - by limiting yourself to the answers provided, without providing any additional context or explanation in the space that’s LITERALLY there for you to do so, you take some nuance out of the online dating conversation. (ONCE AGAIN, unsure if this is actionable in any way - just something i can’t unsee, is all.) (maybe the point is to actually talk about these things when you reach out and start conversations with folk. ...i guess.)

[ladystylestores]

Why is this copy of Super Mario Bros. worth a record $114,000?

Most boxed copies of Super Mario Bros. look a lot like this at a quick glance. But they won’t sell for $114,000.

That cardboard hangtab in the back is a big part of the reason this copy sold for such a premium.

Heritage Auctions

A sealed, early copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES sold for $114,000 Friday at specialist house Heritage Auctions, setting a new record for the sale price of an individual video game.

The online auction surpassed the old record set by a $100,000 sale of a “sticker-sealed” Super Mario Bros. early last year. At the time, the seller behind that $100,000 edition told Ars that it was “probably the wrong move, long-term, to sell.”

For context, the Guinness World Records certified the world’s largest video game collection sold at auction for $750,000 in 2014. That collection contained over 11,000 games, including over 8,300 in their original box.

Why’s it so valuable?

Heritage Auctions video game specialist and consignment director Valarie McLeckie, who helped shepherd this record sale, tells Ars that this “3-code variant” of Super Mario Bros. dates back to mid-1987. That makes it “slightly more attainable to find” than the very earliest test-market editions of the game, from late 1985 and early 1986, which were only sealed with a small circular Nintendo sticker (the earlier $100,000 sale came from that earliest batch). That also means it’s not among the very first shrink-wrapped copies of the game, which date back to mid-1986.

Still, the fact that this copy of the game features a cardboard hangtab inside that shrink-wrap, “speaks to a level of vintage” that puts it in a rarefied class. “I would suspect sealed cardboard hangtab copies [still available today] number in the single digits,” McLeckie said.

Remaining copies that are in good enough condition to earn a Wata Games certified rating of 9.4 out of 10, as this one was, are even rarer. “In this grade especially, it’s quite an impressive piece,” McLeckie said.

“Strangely, the addition of the plastic wrap came before the box cutting die was altered to remove the cardboard hangtab,” as the Heritage Auction site points out. “This rendered the functionality of the cardboard hangtab completely useless, since it was under the plastic seal.”

“Considering this game was printed from late ‘85 until the early ‘90s, the number of [mid-‘80s] cardboard hangtab copies to those later ‘90s copies are very few and far between,” McLeckie told Ars. “Most of those earlier copies were purchased and opened, because they were closer to the time of the game’s release.”

Wata Games’ chief grader examines a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. (from a much-later printing than this record sale).

The grader looks through a jeweler’s loupe to identify any signs of resealing, restoration, color touching, or tampering.

Wata Games

Checking for seal and box authenticity.

Wata Games

Yup, the box has a back. That checks out.

Wata Games

Wata Games grading labels sit ready to be placed in their banners before the games are encapsulated.

Wata Games

Snapping a label banner in place as part of the encapsulation process.

Wata Games

Finally, the game is safe from routine handling damage (and from any chance of actually being opened and played any time soon).

Wata Games

Of the millions of copies of Super Mario Bros. ever sold, this is the rarest and most valuable known to still exist.

While Heritage is protecting the anonymity of the seller at their request, McLeckie said this ultra-valuable copy of the game “came from outside the collecting hobby,” which she described as “very curious… an attic find scenario.” McLeckie said she suspects it was simply “purchased [in 1987] and put somewhere and forgotten about. Whoever had it was lucky enough to keep it in a safe space.”

“When I told [the seller] what they actually had, I wanted to be conservative when I gave the estimate, to not give false hope,” McLeckie continued. But then another sealed hangtab copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for $40,200 despite a Wata rating of just 8.0. “So… I was like, ‘Well, if an 8.0 sold for that, I wouldn’t be too surprised if this one sold for six figures.’ But I was trying not to actively anticipate it.”

Are we in a classic-game pricing bubble?

Friday’s record sale is the continuation of a trend that has seen some sharp, quick inflation in sale prices for certain sealed games in recent months. NES games in particular have seen their sale prices shoot up of late; a sealed copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out! recently sold for over $50,000, for instance. Games for later systems have been bid up heavily as well; an early sealed copy of God of War for the PS2 sold for $2,640.

That represents a shift from earlier days in-game collecting, when ultra-rare game variants like Nintendo World Championships and Stadium Events tended to command the highest prices. Now, instead, “from what we’ve seen, [collectors] tend to gravitate most towards what they loved most as children,” McLeckie said. And that means sealed copies of well-known (and often heavily produced) games in hard-to-find, top-quality condition.

“There’s a shift to what people are looking to add to their collections these days,” McLeckie continued. In the earlier days of game collecting, when graded condition was not as much of a focus, “it was easier for people to find what resonated with them as kids. Then they moved on to the next thing; people wanted to complete system sets. From that perspective, people are going to look for some games rather than others. The rarity factor played a much bigger role than it has been recently. I wouldn’t be surprised if [rarity] comes back around in importance the future.”

With sealed game prices shooting up so quickly, some collectors and observers see the beginnings of a bubble developing in the market, and expect prices will come back down to more reasonable levels eventually. But McLeckie disagrees.

“I fully believe that this is just as respectable a form of collectible as comics,” she said. “We’ve just now started to dip a toe into formalizing this market. By and large, people are just starting to tune into the fact that there is a rarity-based system involved.”

“Things will change over time,” she continued. “Where we’ll see fluctuation, only time will tell. [But] I fully believe in the strength of this market. Video games have been solidified as an important piece of popular culture, and we all like to celebrate the beginnings of our favorite pastimes. I have no doubt that people will continue to do that.”

Listing image by Heritage Auctions

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[rafi1228]

Become an expert and Learn Robotics with Robot Operating System (ROS) in little time and don’t be lost in broad docs

What you’ll learn

Understand ROS Ecosystem (topics, nodes, messages, services, actionlib)

Develop simple applications to control robot motion

Understand how a position and orientation are represented in ROS

Recognize how to develop a C++/Python ROS project

Develop simple computer vision programs with ROS and OpenCV

Requirements

Knowledge in C++ and/or Python Programming language.

Want to learn ROS

Eager to learn robotics

Description

News and Updates.

Dec 11

I added slides of the course and Arduino code

Nov 06.

two lectures added on launch files and how to run multiple nodes at the same time in ROS.

Oct 15.

one lecture added on how to make a turtlebot 2 robot by just applying the same code of turtlesim to demonstrate how ROS is modular.

Oct 3.

3 lectures added on motion in ROS using Python (linear, rotation and  go to goal). New code available on github

Sep 14:

3 lectures added in Section 4 on how to create a custom ROS message and a publisher/subscriber application that uses the custom ROS message. An example of IoTSensor message is considered.

Sep 07:

new Ubuntu 16.04 + ROS Kinetic virtual machine available for students (upon request) to learn ROS without having to install it.

Sep 03:

11 lectures (1 hour) on ROSSERIAL Arduino with real demonstration on Arduino Hardware and Ultrasonic sensor

Aug 27:

Three new lectures on OpenCV with C++, including CvBridge and how to manage dependencies.

Aug 26:

new assignment Turtlesim motion in Python

Aug 15:

Quiz on Laser Scanners

Subscriber ROS node for laser scanners (C++/Python)

Save scan topic messages into a rosbag file and replay it

Aug 12:

new lecture connect Asus Live Pro RGBD camera to ROS as laser scanner

new lecture connect URG Hukoyo Laser Scanner to ROS

Aug 11:

new lectures on Laser Range Finder

Pre-Installed Virtual Machine: New ROS users who face difficulties to install ROS on their own will be provided a pre-installed virtual machine after enrolling to this course so they car start learning ROS without bothering much with installation issues. For this, you can send me a private message to request to VM and you will receive the link.

Why am I  teaching this course?

Typically, new ROS users encounter a lot of difficulties when they start programming with ROS. Although there are so many tutorials, there are a  lot of tips and practical issues that could not be easily found in tutorials and not discussed and left to the developer luckiness. In general, although there are many documentations for ROS, several are very broad and it takes too long to grasp well the concepts. This is where this course plays a role and provides an added value by providing focused introduction to the BASICS of ROS. The course does not only presents the basic concepts of ROS, but also addresses two important fields in robotics: (1) motion, (2) perception. We will apply the general concepts of ROS in the context of robotic motion and perception. The course will provide you an opportunity to learn about OpenCV, the most powerful computer vision library, that promote robotic perception.

My approach is to take you STEP BY STEP through the roadmap of learning ROS so that you learn the concepts in the right order and help you build an experience from one lecture to the other.

This is a course that provides the fundamental concepts and basics of Robot Operating System (ROS). This course intends to give beginner ROS users with a quick and focused introduction on the basics of ROS, in addition to practical tips that helps them manage better their first projects with ROS in C++ and Python. In particular, developing with C++ in ROS requires special care as compared to Python to configure well the compilation and runtime environment. This is presented in clear manner in this course.

There are mainly three majors steps in the course:

ROS Basics and Foundation:  which deals with the general ROS concepts that everyone has to know, like ROS topics, Services, Messages, Nodes, …

Motion in ROS: We apply the concepts learned in Step 1 to make a robot move. We will develop different trajectory in the context of a nice example simulating a cleaning robot. In particular, we illustrate how to represent the pose (position and orientation) of a robot in ROS, and how to send motion control message to make the robot move. We clearly demonstrate how to implement a linear motion, a rotational motion, and spiral motion and how all of these be integrated to simulate a cleaning application. This part will you the background you need to understand robot kinematics and how motion is represented in ROS.

Perception in ROS: I will introduce how a robot see the environment using a camera, how the images are collected in ROS and how they are processed in OpenCV.

Based on my experience, these are the most important things any new ROS user has to know to be able to go further with his own robotics project.

I also provide some hands-on activities that allows the learner to assess his understanding and push him to practice the concepts he learned.

My experience with ROS

I have been programming with ROS for many years both in academic and industrial projects. I am very passionate to develop program with ROS. I have also been teaching ROS at the University and providing training programs. I am R&D Director of Gaitech Robotics, and I have developed many ROS packages for robots and drones. I have been leading international scientific activities around ROS, and in particular, I am the editor of three volumes of books with Springer entitled Robot Operating System, The Complete Reference. I gained a lot of experience on what difficulties new users encounter to learn ROS and this contributed to pin right to the point addressing these problems through the different lectures of the course.

Welcome to the World of ROS.

Who this course is for:

Beginner ROS developers and users

Students at Universities learning ROS

Anyone interest to know about the basic concepts of ROS

Curious about robotics

Whoever wants to learn ROS without wasting time

Created by Anis Koubaa Last updated 7/2019 English English [Auto-generated]

Size: 5.34 GB

   Download Now

https://ift.tt/2uzb1h7.

The post ROS for Beginners: Basics, Motion, and OpenCV appeared first on Free Course Lab.

[drink-n-watch]

I use to let you guys know who’s who in these posts but I’ve gotten really lazy lately. I think most of you guys know us well enough to tell me and Matt apart but still, for the record I’m in blod….Just kidding….or am I???? Maybe this is Matt. I’m a jerk, I’m in regular font and also not Matt. Have you been drinking again, Irina? Besides if anyone’s the jerk here it’s me. Whoever I am… now I’m confused.

I’m just going to get straight to the point here, this is going to be very hard for me to review because I ended up having no feelings about this episode. It was just kinda there. Didn’t love it, or hate it and nothing stood out that much. Man I hope Matt is better at this reviewing thing than I am because, boy, I’m starting to bore myself a little and I’m two paragraphs in. I totally get what you’re saying but I’ll expand upon it later as I’ve read ahead so I know what you’re going to say and will jump in with my thoughts then.

…been there…I mean..what?

Actually I lie, one thing did stand out. Takato should probably stop going out to drink after work. How has he not learned his lesson yet? In his business you’d think this would come up more often. Is that even an option in Japan? They’re a nation of pretty heavy drinkers if anime has taught me anything. I imagine there’s an element of peer pressure too—but yeah Takato could probably do with reigning it in and stopping before getting black out drunk.

All things considered the not a rape scene was handled pretty well. It was properly misleading and the midnight call from Junta created some fantastic tension. That was my favourite part of the episode, I thought Junta was about to Hulk out and run back to Tokyo then and there to smash that guys face in.

Don’t confuse me, It’s already tough to tell you guys apart…

During the worst of it, I felt a bit uncomfortable with Takato and Junta’s strained relationship. However, once it was all said and done, I must say that Junta actually handled it pretty well. A lot better than I expected him to, that’s for sure. There was definitely a line that I’m glad they didn’t cross—like for a second I thought Junta was going to blame Takato for being ‘taken advantage of’ and nobody likes victim blaming but yeah he did good for once. I liked that he said “if you want me to leave and never come back, I will”. He was giving him space, at least that’s how I saw it anyway.

We actually got to see Junta by himself a bit more but we still haven’t gotten to know him at all. All his actions and thoughts are really only framed in the context of his relationship to Takato. If they developed him a bit more as his own character, I really believe it would go a long way to making their relationship seem more balanced. It would also make me care more about them as a couple because for now I really only care about Takato. Or rather, I care about Junta only because Takato cares about him, if that makes sense. They’re at a ‘make or break’ stage with Junta, this is episode 6 and still no decent backstory, it’s got to happen soon or else it’ll seem too late of an addition to the narrative—unless they’ve got a really good excuse as to why they’ve waited… like he’s secret a serial killer.

are we sure he’s not?

That little kid actor is becoming a recurring comic relief. Any thoughts on that? Unnecessary. Not comic relief in general but this character specifically, he’s almost there just to fill out a quota. This is a switch – I like him. He has that campy over the top silly thing going that fits in with what I want this show to be. He’s the goofball comedy element I tend to like. Not a very good one granted but the only one we got…

Before I give out my opinion what did you think of Ayagi as a character? As a character, he’s fine but less intimidating than the previous episode set him up to be. I really enjoyed that they ended up not villainizing him at all really. That was an honest surprise on the part of the narrative and the only unexpected choice they’ve made so far.

the predator becomes the prey!

I’m a little surprised they smoothed out this misunderstanding this quickly. A lot of shows would have milked it for 3 or 4 episodes, languishing in the drama of it all. So was I, and that ties into my overall opinion of the episode, I too neither liked or disliked it (I mean I probably liked it more than you but that’s more because my overall opinion on the series is more positive). I think it was too tidy of a resolution, I expected this character to mess things up a bit more not bring Takato and Junta closer together. Also I expected an actual fight between Junta and Ayagi—though I guess the line Junta had about “not wanting to hit him” because it’d make trouble for Takato’s stage show addresses that enough. But yeah not my favourite episode. You think? I liked that they didn’t drag it out. This is probably my favourite show we’ve reviewed together. The worse I can say about it is uneven but not unpleasant characterization and a bit boring. It’s actually getting better and a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

no you’re not Ayagi either…

I guess, what we have to look forward to now is a cat and mouse game with the paparazzi. Are they actually going to go into how a homosexual relationship could affect their careers? That’s a pretty heavy subject. I’m curious to see where it leads. My guess is they’re just going to get into a lot of crazy hijinks to avoid getting discovered and we’ll never get into any serious questions but we’ll see. Who knows maybe they’ll wrap up that story in a single episode too! I hope for some sort of social commentary on the difficulty of being a gay male actor in Japan but you’re probably right and it’ll just be covered superficially!

Well look at that, I guess once I sat down and thought about it a little, I actually did have a few things to say about this episode. Like I mentioned, I was pretty neutral about it, which isn’t a bad thing.

Yaoi fanservice, click on my blog!

I got some more screencaps for you. A lot in fact…Yay?

DAKAICHI -I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year ep 6 – All’s Well That Ends Well I use to let you guys know who’s who in these posts but I’ve gotten really lazy lately.

[avhacado-blog]

HOW TO MAKE ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHY BY USING SUCCESS?

While using expansion of visual art work, which is that sight but not spoken, the photographic current market also grew and seduced many curious glances.

Advertising, for example , did start to invest in the emotional of a clients through images of which speak much more than a huge selection of written words, after all, ?t had been realized that a simple and good elaborated photograph could report the message more deeply from the conscious of customers.

In this context, much has become said about advertising images and, inevitably, doubts have already been created regarding this portion of art that, inside a summarized way, is one of the most popular among today's photographers.

Advertising photography will be the work idealized and completed with the purpose of selling, giving away or raising public attention about a subject in question.

Among its major characteristics, the importance of a previous examine on the message to be handed over to the target audience of the plan, which responds to the do the job that is due to the fulfillment in the planning that has been established, sticks out.

Advertising pictures requires the use of tools, tactics and strategies so that achievements is real and considerable!

HOW TO WORK IN ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHY?

The wedding photographer who chooses to work in such a field must be prepared to cash quality traces, first of all. Plus although it is an area of?? images where the professional can not continually comment on the work being done, that is needed creativity and a good studying of what was asked for often the photo to reach its purpose.

In most cases, the exact agencies ask for a wedding photographer, usually registered in their microfiche, to get the job done.

This exempts, quite possibly, that the professional goes out in pursuit of clients, but it is important that he or she maintains contact with several promotion companies so that he is not going to run out of campaigns to create, of course.

Additionally , there is a branching of promoting photography which provides for a speedier and more direct work as a new freelancer.

Photography fans in this field work inside development of photos of eating places, menus, industries, for written registration or local commercialization, as in pet shops, stationary stores and other smaller areas that do not always have the money or perhaps need for an intermediary.

COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY GENERATION

Commercial pictures is another name given, and quite often used for advertising photography, next time you've heard either, understand that both talk about the same portion with the same features plus functions.

Getting a commercial photo is totally not like producing an artistic a person. In advertising photography the good news is lot to think about, study, calculate and plan before you go to read with the camera. While a strong artistic photography depends alone on the moment, or, aiming a little more, the feeling that the wedding photographer wants to pass.

Advertising photography requires that your particular step by step be accomplished and we'll now share with you the set up of this to-do list that is certainly usually behind big advertisments. Come on?

PROMOTION PHOTOGRAPHY FOOTSTEPS

1- BE PART OF THE GOLF PROS LETTER OF THE AGENCIES

We have previously mentioned that it is necessary to cultivate a fantastic relationship with the agencies then it is possible to conquer fine works in this type of promotion.

After all, except small businesses and businesses, prospects will be taking their asks and requests to these companies and thus the main means of having a job in the area.

To be part of the portfolio of huge agencies, demonstrate your work thru what has already been done.

For beginners in the niche, who have not yet had possibilities to develop advertising photos, the end is to invest some time to make shots that carry a simple principles, such as about the environment or something other topic of world-wide interest and interest, having them as models of job.

In this case, be sure you mention that the photos were being taken only as a analyze, of course.

2- ATTENTION TO BRIEFING

Briefing is a list of information and instructions in which serves as a first draft involving what is being required. Typically the photographic industry works with this kind of tool to optimize typically the realization of the service.

It works as follows: Your customer knows what he wishes with the campaign he's asking, so he passes every little thing on to the agency that's going to grow the job. The intermediary arranges the main ideas passed around the briefing, which will be used, all over the campaign, as the driver of your work.

The vital thing the photographer will need at a campaign is this file. It will certainly contain data, such as:

Client; Critical product or idea; Target Audience; Placement (means of dissemination of the photography, website, magazine, billboard, and so forth ); and In most cases, the scope, the unit, to be followed or greater.

3- FINDING THE VALUE OF THE JOB

Defining the value of the career is one of the most important steps the following. Unlike the American picture taking market, in which softwares are actually defined to calculate simply how much a campaign will cost, inside Brazil it is necessary to take into account the taken into consideration of this process.

Here are some of the main points that will influence the pricing connected with advertising photos:

The commercial campaign will likely be printed or digital; Range of campaign, regional, state or international; What's going to be the placement of photos, with magazine, billboards, blogs in addition to etc .; What originality is required for the job; How long the image produced will in the air; Who will cause casting models; Who'll rent the studio for any photo shoot; Who will pay for the composition of the picture taking studio scene; Whoever responsibility it will be to nourish the crew and purchase their transportation; and How photos will be handed to the agency / clientele, whether treated or fresh. It is worth knowing how that, from the moment that the skilled has the responsibility to take care of often the casting, the location of the bedroom for the photos and other objects related to the execution with the work, he stops staying just the photographer of the marketing, assuming the role connected with project manager and, also, can charge for this too.

4- CLOSING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WORK

Following getting all these answers, is actually time to find the fair benefit to be received by the project's advertising photographs.

Currently, mid-level professionals, that may be, neither beginners nor professionals in commercial photography, have got charged a value ranging from money 2, 500 to bucks 3, 500 for a regular of photos of this side.

It is recognized by daily advertising photograph, for better understanding, the particular session of photos as well as the treatment of the recorded photos.

It is worth mentioning this in this segment it is possible to come across professionals who earn increase, triple or quadruple with the aforementioned value. Throughout the employment it is possible to readjust values?? in line with the quality, as well as the exhibition regarding impressive works that have been recently done and pleased the population.

Another exciting strategy when it comes to defining the significance of work is to ask the exact agency what the available cost for investment is. On this medium, the budget, a expression used to refer to the balance introduced for work, is a great master of the project.

A photo that has $ five-hundred of budget will never have similar attributes and characteristics of 1 with the same briefing, however R $ 5, 000 released for use.

This differentiation, however , really should not be made by the photographer's free of charge choice, who will strive approximately in that session, depending on the valuation. Simply, resources will be bigger or narrower, varying solely in this when it comes to delivering the effect to the customer.

Finally, it is important to note that the majority professionals and brokers consult with 50% of the pre-payment along with the rest after the completion of the particular project.

Handling the project, addendum for that professional that will select the crew:

Here we all list a bonus item that may only serve the professionals who will be responsible for the whole project, in addition to just taking the publicity photos.

The job manager will have the to accomplish of selecting good authorities from other areas to help the composition of his promoting photography. Some of the most required on this type of campaign, and their volumes paid to them, follow down below in alphabetical order:

Food (or castering): between $ 30 in addition to $ 60 per man; Assistant General: concerning R $ 150 in addition to R $ 300; Actor: from R money 300, can vary to several 1000s of Reals; Hairdresser: in between R $ 300 and also R $ 900; Chambermaid: between 100 and also R $ 200; Facilities: between R $ six-hundred and R $ a single, 500 per day and using the city of Sã o Paulo; Makeup artist: in between R $ 300 and also R $ 900; Fashion producer: Between L $ 600 and L $ 2, 000. Of course there are many other specialists to consider, as well as other important things for a successful photo shoot.

Everything varies a whole lot according to the proportions achieved from the campaign.

You should emphasize, or perhaps to advise, that photographic sessions this involve celebrities, such as famous actors and models, require a considerably more luxurious structure, with attire rooms, in some cases, long distance carry and so on.

5- KNOWING THE TERRITORY

Known as prelighting, it is a preceding visit, made by the photography, to the location where the pics will be captured.

You may even think that spending daily, or a few hours, studying often the briefing at the place the place that the session will be held would be a waste, a day of lost do the job, but it is a fact that the particular photographers who assume it, that is, this way of functioning they stand out a lot more as a result of certainty at the time of creating the graphic, resulting in great work after job completion.

In this particular preliminary day, the specialist knows the space available to do the photos, analyzes issues including light and shade, as well as if the session will be maintained open places, the best moments and equipment to take pictures there.

And also being safer for the campaign, often the photographer will have a more highly accurate targeting that will undoubtedly i highly recommend you the entire team, from the clientele, the agency and those engaged, as a whole, in the project.

Before closing this issue, another super tip is always to find out if the location entails, for instance , the use of a computer.

So , if possible, on the day in the session work in connected capture mode, that is, from the connection that automatically ahead the pictures taken in the digicam to the computer, enabling the consumer to already see the perform being done.

6- PERFORMING THE JOB

After performing these items, which are truly thorough and many, it's time to take hold of the camera and take the advertising photographs!

Any previous lending broker will be visible during the observance of the work, and the wedding photographer will gain many favorable points that will raise her / him level within the agency, by way of example.

Also, buy good photographic equipment for the duration of going to the photo shoot. If there couple of that you do not have, try not to sadden in the final quality in the work. Remember if:

6- PERFORMING THE WORK After performing all of these items, which are truly in depth and many, it's time to take hold of the camera and take the advertising photographs!

Any previous lending broker will be visible during the rendering of the work, and the photography will gain many optimistic points that will raise them level within the agency, as an example.

Also, spend money on good photographic equipment during going to the photo shoot. If there are a few that you do not have, try not to sadden in the final quality in the work. Remember: Each employment serves as a renewal on your name on the market!

Now, specifically speaking about pics, it is important to emphasize that professional photography often requires the following joining of images, and also, importantly, that the professional will be prepared for it!

Photograph, therefore , several times inside the same position, making use of tripod and maintaining the key distance. In some cases the customer may possibly like the hair of the unit in photo A, the public presence in photo B along with the product itself in T.

The BEGYNDERBOG photo is created, which, in the event taken inside these support frames, will be easily edited.

7- DELIVERING THE PICTURES

The last move is of course , sending often the materials to the intermediary and the client, who will thoroughly look at everything that has been done.

Still in prior activities, it is important to establish with all the client the type of file that ought to be delivered at the end of the work: Could it be in RAW, JPEG, SPAT, PSD or another possible structure?

In general, individuals requested PSD advertising pics, since they guarantee a more productive "retouching" when necessary.

It is also worth mentioning that there's a specific professional in the market for impression processing. The retouch commonly charges, for advertising campaigns, by $ 300 to bucks 2, 000 for the do the job developed in each photography.

The good news is that often the photographer can specialize in this sort of service too, offering almost everything in a single and advantageous package deal for the customer!

Are you ready to start a promising job as an fotógrafo publicitário ? Then, depart your impressions in the feedback field below.

[elmertyrell094-blog]

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