#also I may or may not have lost the screenshot of the B support between lapis and boucheron

[rubywolf0201]

Some out of context Support screenshots lol.

[teenmomcentral]

Ryan Edwards’ estranged wife Mackenzie Edwards took to social media Monday to unapologetically throw some shade at Ryan and his current girlfriend/partner in crime, Amanda Connor. 

As you may know, Ryan met Amanda while both were in the same rehab center last summer. (Ryan later transferred to the rehab’s halfway house, where Amanda also lived.) The couple recently moved into a new home together.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie is in the middle of divorcing the Teen Mom dad, with whom she shares two children. As The Ashley told you last month, Mackenzie asked a judge to reactive her and Ryan’s divorce case after it was dismissed the previous month due to inactivity. Ryan also filed for divorce earlier this month and that case is still pending.

This week’s online rumble between Ryan’s current and former significant others began after Mackenzie reshared a post of Amanda’s to her Instagram Story, which featured a woman dancing to the song “Independent” by Webbie. 

“Me, singing this song knowing full well everything I have is because of my husband,” the caption Amanda shared read. 

While Amanda corrected the caption in her post to acknowledge that she was referring to her “boyfriend,” not her husband, that didn’t stop Mackenzie from seeing an opportunity and running with it–- straight to her Instagram Story, where she shared Amanda’s post and threw in a caption of her own. 

“Odd flex for someone that doesn’t support their kids but ok,” Mackenzie wrote. 

(Amanda is the mother of an 11-year-old son. She lost custody of him in 2014 due to neglect and the fact that both her and her now-ex-husband were incarcerated at the time, according to court papers obtained by The Sun. It appears that the boy is currently in the custody of Amanda’s stepmom.) 

Anyway, Mackenzie proceeded to double down on her Amanda slam, sharing a screenshot of a DM she received in response to her “odd flex” call out. In the message, an individual sided with Mackenzie and advised her to “let the losers flex”–- the “loser” being Amanda in this case–- as “it makes for the best laughs.” 

Mackenzie also shared another post to her Instagram Story, seemingly making light of the situation. 

“‘You need to relax,’” the post read. “Best I can do is dissociate.” 

Amanda appeared to respond to Mackenzie’s Instagram Story, insisting she was unbothered by the social media slam.

“I don’t want nobody to ever feel like we beefing,” Amanda shared to her Instagram Story. “You’re not important.” 

While Amanda is now insisting that Mackenzie is “not important” enough to have “beef” with, it didn’t stop her from blasting Mackenzie on social media earlier this year and making an unhinged comment about “internet games.” 

“Ryan’s almost ex wife is a b*tch she don’t know who she is f**king with,” Amanda wrote on Instagram in February. “She’s just mad that Ryan wants me now and don’t want her whiny baby a** now post that for her dumb a** to see!!

“Leave me the f**k alone I don’t play internet games,” she continued. 

[randomposterofstuff]

What are the chances that Levi is the husband?

So, we’ve heard about the alleged leaks regarding the additional pages of AOT’s Chapter 139. And according to Zekken, Mikasa's future husband looks like Jean Kirstein from the back.

Screenshot taken from Twitter.

Now, Zekken has personally stated that they are not sure about the authenticity of these leaks. But for the sake of this post, I shall assume that they are confirmed and accurate.

So, going back to the main point. My biased RivaMika-shipping mind can't help but think that Levi may be Mikasa's future husband. I've already made my bias clear. Haha. Nonetheless, I’d still like to explain why I think that it’s possible:

1. Based on how Zekken phrased their statement, the face of the husband was not directly shown. In fact, Zekken merely guessed that it was Jean based on what he looks like from the back.

2. It's possible that the husband's identity is not going to be revealed and that it is going to be open to interpretation. This might be another open-ended subject matter.

3. Based on Chapter 139, it would appear that Jean has become open to the idea of seeking out women other than Mikasa.

Image taken from Chapter 139 of the Shingeki No Kyojin manga.

4. Mikasa has more common ground with Levi than Jean.

- I know that two people can establish a stable relationship even if they don't have much in common. However, it would be easier for Mikasa to connect and relate with Levi than with Jean. The two Ackermans parallel each other in many ways. A few examples include the following:

a. They both lost their biological parents in tragic manners. Mikasa’s parents were killed by traffickers before her own eyes, while Levi witnessed his mother slowly die from a disease.

b. They both have great empathy for the vulnerable and weak because they understand what it’s like to feel that way. Mikasa was helpless, traumatized, and scared during her brief episode of captivity. As for Levi, before Kenny had found him, he was in a malnourished and weakened state ever since losing his mother.

One instance where Mikasa exhibited her empathy was during the Struggle for Torst. During this time, Reeves refused to let the defenseless citizens of Trost pass through the entrance to the safer territory until his own merchandise got there safely. Upon seeing this, Mikasa beat his guards and threatened him with violence so that he would allow the exposed inhabitants to enter first.

Levi's empathetic side was shown when he actively supported Historia in her plan of establishing an orphanage for the children of the Underground City. Having lived there for most of his life, Levi knew how difficult life was in the Underground and knew that the orphanage would give the children better lives and opportunities.

c. They both made impossibly difficult sacrifices for the sake of humanity. Mikasa made the great sacrifice of killing Eren because she knew that it was the only way to save the rest of humanity. In Levi’s case, he was left with no other choice but to slaughter his own comrades when Zeke transformed them into Titans. This was especially difficult for the squad captain because he greatly valued the lives and welfare of his fellow soldiers.

5. I also think that the foundations of Mikasa and Levi’s current relationship in the series will more likely lead to a strong and romantic connection between them. I’ve already made several analyses on the dynamics of their relationship. And if you’re interested, you can read them here:

On the Foundations of Levi and Mikasa’s Relationship

An in-depth analysis of Mikasa’s character development in relation to Eren and Levi

On the change of dynamics of Mikasa’s relationships with Eren and Levi

6. In contrast, for the better part of the series, Mikasa seemed to regard Jean only as a friend and a comrade. While she does care for him, I have not seen any profound interactions between them suggesting that Mikasa views him in a unique manner. Concerning Levi, Mikasa had great faith and trust in him. As a matter of fact, when Jean and the others expressed doubts and reservations during the Uprising Arc, Mikasa plainly told them that trusting Levi was their best option for survival.

---

At this juncture, I would also like to expound and emphasize more on item No. 1, as mentioned above. Haha. Now, it was said that from the back, the husband appears to be Jean. Well, let’s take a look at what Jean looks like.

Left: Jean during the pre-Marley arcs. Right: Jean during the Marley and subsequent arcs.

During the pre-Marley Arc, Jean has short hair with an undercut. And during the Marley arc and after the war, his hair became longer, but he still maintained an undercut. But, Pieck has pointed out that Jean is concerned about how his hair looks, and he was also shown to be fussing with his long hair. So, maybe it’s possible that some time after, he would revert to his old haircut.

Jean fussing about his hair after the war. Image taken from Chapter 139 of the Shingeki no Kyojin manga.

On this, who else do we know sports an undercut?👀

Top image: Levi during the pre-Marley arcs. Bottom image: Levi after the war.

Now, I know that I’m just reaching and grasping at straws at this point. Hahaha. I guess I’m just really a die-hard RivaMika shipper at this point in time. If JeanKasa does become canon, I may or may not come to like or even love it with time. But as of now, Levi is the only character that I ship Mikasa with.

---

Final Note: These are just some speculations and thoughts on my part. Regardless of what happens, RivaMika will always be a valid and respectable ship with a lot of potential in my eyes. Anyway, that’s all for now!

[woodswalker96]

Favorite Moments of Season 2 ATTENTION: SPOILERS

you have been warned...

So, lets start talking about season 2. As the title implies, this will be a list of some of my favorite moments and things about season 2. The list will be a little disorganized in that I won’t be going in order of episode. 

1. The dinosaurs stampeding away from Ben, Kenji, Yaz, Sammy, and Bumpy doing a complete 180 at the mere sight of Rexy. That was perhaps one of the most insane moments to me, and I loved it. The herd of different species, many much larger than Rexy or certainly capable of standing their ground, simply said NOPE, and high-tailed (see what I did there) it out of her direction. Even the Pteranodons weren’t safe. I guess that whole “stand together” ideology from Disney’s Dinosaur doesn’t apply here.

2. All of the friendship moments/interactions. I know that character shipping is largely subjective, especially when there isn’t any canon pairings (yet, I say hopefully), and that shipping doesn’t necessarily imply a romantic pairing (sibling dynamics, parental dynamics, actual friend-shipping), so, in my case, these are the interactions I enjoyed seeing that I didn’t take as romantic. The interactions between Yaz and Darius was great, really felt that sibling dynamic there. Same with Darius and Sammy, it was cool to see them share common interests and have differing opinions, as well as seeing them work together. Kenji had some great interactions with Yaz and Brooklynn, offering his apparently sage wisdom and advice to them, as well as just being an understanding person. We finally got to see the girls hang out together and it was awesome, from Brooklynn feeling left out and opening up about her nonexistent social life to finding common ground with Yaz and Sammy. And of course I can’t forget about Ben straight up calling Darius ���kid’ and Darius about to call him out on it. Gave me a chuckle.

3. The scene where the gang sans Ben and Bumpy finally tuck into a legit breakfast had me rolling. 

4. The conflict between Brooklynn and Darius over the thing she said. What can I say, I enjoy some good angsty conflict between characters, and I think it got resolved rather well.

5. Brooklynn basically becoming a second-in-command/de facto leader in the later episodes. I was thinking that Kenji would’ve been this, but I feel that he actually plays off better as being largely a support role in the group, and it shows. Brooklynn and Darius in my opinion are the ones who really seem to take charge among the group in terms of overall decision making, with others playing to their own strengths. This can lead to some conflict between Brooklynn and Darius (ep 4), but when they come together, they work beautifully together (ep 8). Again, my opinion. 

6. Ben’s fight with Toro. When I first saw the screenshot of Tarzan Ben and grownup Bumpy, I didn’t know what to make of it, except for telling everyone who predicted such an outcome ‘congratulations, you successfully predicted what would become of Ben and how he would reintroduce himself to the group”. But watching the ‘Ben Alone’ episode allowed the transformation to grow on me. Then his battle with Toro was the icing on the cake. I am a sucker for a good ‘person with primitive weapon vs much larger and very dangerous animal’ fight. And seeing a grownup Bumpy was cool as it was seeing B&B tag team Toro. 

7. The fact that they acknowledge the Compies are venomous like in the novels. Makes the whole ‘how could a group of rat-sized dinos take out a full grown man’ scene from The Lost World much more believable.

8. Brooklynn rescuing Darius from Mitch and Tiff with a gyrosphere, then Brooklynn and Darius having a strong heart to heart with each other. Also Brooklynn calling him out on his heroic sacrifice. While I do love it when a character feels like they have do something of that nature, I really love it when characters with a strong bond with said character comes in a snaps them out of it. Sometimes it does not make sense to do a heroic sacrifice. Plus, them riding away from the dinosaur stampede in the gyrosphere is a neat callback to their season 1 experience in a gyrosphere in the middle of a dinosaur stampede. Also, their banter while stalling Mitch and Tiff was gold, and the elbow on the shoulder... If you haven’t noticed by now, I really ship these two characters.

9. Kenji, Sammy, Yaz, Ben, and Bumpy coming over the ridge, making noise, and booming Dave’s mixtapes to scare off the dinosaurs from the watering hole while Brooklynn and Darius smugly stall Mitch and Tiff was awesome sauce.

10. Mitch and Tiff getting eaten by the dinosaurs they ticked off. Note to self, don’t stick a taser in a T. rex’s nostril nor kill a member a Baryonyx pack or any dinosaur social group. JP/JW’s dinosaurs are apparently veery vengeful.

11. Rexy trying to devour Sammy and Darius. It was nice to see her actually be a giant, predatory, and indifferent force of nature instead of an anti-hero for once, not that I mind her anti-heroics. 

I think thats it, if there’s more then I’ll just make a follow up. Next topic will either be a detail on my ships in season 2, a write up on some things I may not 100% love, or whether my predictions for season 2 held up or not. Also, I might do some season 3 predictions. 

[silenthillmutual]

Would u ever analyse/write about peter bipolar stuff bc i see so many ppl psychoanalyse daniil but i just want to put the stamatins in a lab and examine them anyway i saw ur peter daniil bingo thing and i think manic depressive peter is so real and we should spread the word and there isnt enough peter content maybe daniil can b there too so yh what do u think about petrs brain ??...... umm im a little weird from many painkillers but i hope this makes sense

bipolar peter ask part 2 -- but also i think p1 petr is so different from p2 peter kind of a bigger different than most other characters   [[like peter1 is still consumed by his vision and a pretty wizard and insane utopian but p2 peter is more tired disillusioned ready to be a dilf]]]  so  like man they might need to be separated if analysed  but anyway hes got problems  ❤️

soooo i am trying to answer this for the second time. tumblr’s new ask formatting kind of fucked up when i tried to insert the few screenshots i thought explained peter’s mental state. so here’s peter thoughts... 2!

i don’t really have the screenshots required to make a lengthy meta post about peter’s mental health issues on the scale of my daniil & autism analysis - though i doubt any analysis i write will quite surpass that - and even less for classic peter, but i do have a few thoughts.

i think a lot about peter’s state of mind because he’s probably my favorite utopian. which isn’t to say that i dislike the others (except georgiy), but peter holds a special place in my heart because i really relate to that depression he’s got going on. i like to think of peter as bipolar type ii, because the depression seems more pronounced. i also think it’s a good balance with andrey, who i hc as having bipolar type i. in contrast to peter’s depression, andrey has the irritability and impulsivity of a manic episode (i mean, he’s walking around without a shirt while there’s a sentient plague outside. shout out to everyone who’s walked around in the freezing cold in tank tops and shorts because they were (hypo)manic)

Peter: We don’t see eye to eye, the Judge and I. He argued taht the Tower was never their family’s crowning achievement... merely mine. And I concur. It was my crown. I’ve hit the ceiling...

i know the tower’s creation and existence is the source of much speculation and i’ve seen and liked a lot of what i read that people have had to say about it, the role it plays in the story, and the role it plays in peter’s depression. but i think it’s also fair to read it as something he may have created and feels he can’t replicate because he was hypo/manic at the time and has since crashed. once while hypomanic i was writing 5k a day like it was nothing, and when i finished the project and the episode i became overwhelmed with grief, like i would never write again. i think this hypothesis is supported by the fact that he and andrey obviously have created many fantastic things - they reference the dancing bridge and i think the other two are the cold hall and the house house? it’s late so lol if i got the names wrong - so clearly those unfinished stairways are not all there is. and he’s inspired again when he temporarily has custody of grace, so clearly he can and will create again, with or without the polyhedron.

Peter: You know, old boy, I was never persecuted for my genius. Nor was I prosecuted for murder. And yet, it turns out all this was my hell after all.

Voice line: Life is a night at the bar. All the wisdom you gain, you pay for in pain.

i think one of my friends w bipolar suggested that the way he interacts with his creations hints at psychosis, but that's something i'd be ill-equipped to discuss as i don't experience psychosis. his paranoia that farkhad and andrey are mad at him, though...

Peter: I wonder how long my tower will hold. I wonder if Farkhad forgave me... if Brother is angry with me... I wonder about many things.

this screenshot isn’t exactly proof of anything, but he definitely seems wrapped up in mistakes that he’s made in the past in a way that feels familiar. at some point in time all the mental illnesses become inextricable, but there’s a lot i’ve felt i’ve lost to the bizarre shit i’ve done while strugging w bipolar disorder and i think the regret is real. not to mention the significant comorbidity of bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders. and the high rate (70%, according to this) of comorbidity between bipolar disorder and substance use disorder

Peter: A lot. I have to quit drinking, but I don’t have any willpower left.

peter clearly has a lot less faith in his potential for recovery and it makes me wonder if he’s tried to get sober before and failed.

also i tend to mash my characterizations together when writing fic because i look at the two games as accompaniments of each other - especially as we only have one route of p2 so far. but i do think p2 peter seems slower and sadder than classic peter. i think they’re different symptoms of the same illness though... maybe when i get around to replaying bachelor route i’ll take more screenshots of peter and formulate more thoughts on his mental illness but boy. he’s got it.

thank u for the ask!! i love talking n thinking about this kinda stuff.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 206

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 08 - “Syrup and the Mysterious Letter" Date watched: 7 April 2021 Original air date: 23 March 2008 Screenshots Transformation Gallery Project info and master list of posts

this is not important

How do you follow up that epic trip to the Palmier Kingdom? With some shenanigans and a mystery. Let's take a look.

The Plot

Syrup has a nightmare that he's trapped in a dark room, with only one doorway to the outside that's closing and a hand is keeping him from getting out. He screams that he doesn't want to be alone. He screams aloud in his sleep as well, and then the bell of the clock tower strikes six o'clock and then Syrup and Mailpo both dart awake. A startled Mailpo then spouts out a letter for the Precures. Meanwhile, Scorp surveys the city from on high and notes that the clock tower is a part of the collection. He decides to capture it to keep some clout within Eternal after his failures in retrieving the Rose Pact.

Later that day, at school, the girls are hanging out at Otaka's restaurant. Nozomi, Urara, and even Rin are wolfing down hotcakes (etymology note: depending on the region, hotcakes may be different from pancakes) when Syrup walks up to deliver the letter. They open it and discover, rather than a written note, it contains a piece of a flier, a flower shoot, and a piece of hotcake.

They are all perplexed by the contents. Rin identifies the shoot as coming from a tokeiso (lit. clock grass, known as a blue passion flower in English), and Nozomi takes this to mean that someone wants them to go to Rin's flower shop and eat hotcakes. Instead, they all gather at Natts House after school and continue to pore over their clues. Komachi notices the items each have a V-shaped imprint on them and thinks it might be a code, but none of the v-words they come up with make sense. Suddenly Nozomi, in her own Nozomi way, identifies that the piece of paper smells like crepes and she leads them to the new crepe shop that just opened up, called Clock Tower Crepes. They grab a flier and wouldn't you know, it matches their piece. At this point Karen notices a theme, between the clock tower restaurant and clock grass flower, so they suspect the mysterious messenger is telling them about the clock tower. A bird flies by as Syrup comments that he hasn't seen anyone here, and then Scorp shows up and informs the sextet that the clock tower's bell is in the collection, so he's taking the whole thing for Eternal and he turns a nearby fire hydrant into a giant Hoshiina.

and I do mean giant

The girls transform but this time, the Hoshiina isn't really interested in them. It's mostly focused on tackling the clock tower and it only swats the Precures away as they try to attack it. At the same time, a bird attacks Scorp, who similarly flicks it away, and the girls notice a bird's nest high in the tower, threatened by falling rubble and just outright falling. Mint surmises that the bird sent the letter as a request to protect their nest. Scorp mocks the girls for protecting the tower for some birds and they retort that his idea of what's valuable doesn't matter. Then Scorp turns his attention to Syrup, telling him to come back and work for Eternal again, marking the first time this is mentioned. However, Dream butts in and says that he can come to the Cure Rose Garden with the Precures and be much happier than going with Scorp, and he obviously sides with them. After rescuing the bird nest, she hands it to Syrup and then performs Shooting Star on the Hoshiina, destroying it.

Afterwards, in a beautifully lit twilight scene, the girls place a protective cage around the nest, and comment on how unexpected it was that the bird sent the letter. Komachi, Karen, Rin, and Urara are still unsure how the piece of hotcake fit in, though, and Nozomi thinks for a minute before concluding that "hotcake" has "tokei" (clock) in it, the same as the other two clues. Rin is spectacularly unamused.

As the girls admire their work and note how happy the birds seem, Syrup decides to open up to them a little bit. While leaning over the railing, looking out into the sunset, he admits that he sometimes has nightmares about being alone in the darkness, trapped and unable to escape. Nozomi tells him to send her a letter whenever that happens and no matter where, when, or what, she'll come into his dream to rescue him. Despite his protests she insists she'll respond earnestly to his feelings. At that moment, Mailpo unleashes a torrent of letters from Milk, some of which come open to reveal their contents, and the girls notice a picture of Milk watering a glowing blue sprout. They decide to all deliver the letters to Coco and Nuts together and the episode closes on a still frame of everyone rushing along with arms full of letters.

The Analysis

Stuff like this is why I love Nozomi as a character. She's goofy and isn't quite on the same page as the other girls, but she's trying her hardest to solve the mystery, and her unique experiences and knowledge help them find the answer. She wants to help the birds and protect the clock tower from Eternal, but she also doesn't miss a beat emotionally supporting Syrup when he opens up about his troubles. It's not her strongest showing, it's not quite the Nozomi we get during major plot episodes, but she's earnest and heartfelt and I like that. And that's a good description of this episode overall: it's not as strong as a major plot episode but it's earnest and heartfelt. It is on the upper end of middle-of-the-road, and that's fine. The only thread of character development here is Syrup opening up to the Nozomi a bit, which is a plot largely ignored until after the fight. The rest is mostly filler and doesn't contribute to the ongoing plots and mysteries surrounding Syrup's past, his connection to Eternal, the hunt for the Four Monarchs, Coco and Nuts developing as kings, the Blue Rose, or the Cure Rose Garden.

Looking at the here and now though, this episode is satisfying, well-paced, and has lots of gags. Nozomi repeatedly acts the fool, causing the other girls to react a lot.

She's very gung-ho about finding the sender and addressing their problem, and the other girls have to struggle to keep up with her. Coco and Nuts talk to Syrup about this as well, admitting that Nozomi is the type to act first and think later, but that aspect of her has saved them in the past and they're indebted to her enthusiasm. I talk about Nozomi being central to this and in hindsight she is, but when watching the episode it feels more balanced. I guess it's the illusion of words vs actions. Everyone talks a lot but Nozomi is the one that figures out two of the three clues, and the one who takes the lead in defending the birds once they recognize them. She's the one that suggests Syrup should stay at Natts House and the one that encourages Syrup at the end. Rin contributes information about the flower, Komachi and Karen speculate about the imprinted symbol, and Urara...... doesn't really have anything meaningful to add now that I think about it, other than some exasperated faces (see above).

As I said though, there's some good gags along the way. My favorite is them mistaking the impression left by the bird's beak as a "V" and trying to figure out words that start with "V" that it might represent.

(if you’re not familiar, b and v are phonetically similar to begin with and basically blend together in Japanese, hence this mistake)

There was also a funny gag at the start with Rin acting so shocked that Nozomi and Urara were eating hotcakes after lunch..... only for the camera to show her eating them as well. Komachi and Karen’s reactions were priceless. And the first half of the episode has much of this jollity, it’s pretty upbeat. The second half is more serious, as they deal with the threat against the clock tower and the birds’ nest, but it doesn’t get weighty until the end.

Syrup is still kind of an enigma up to this point. All we really know is that he's a delivery boy who wants to visit the Cure Rose Garden, and he's got a strained relationship with most of the other fairies. He mostly keeps to himself, considering Mailpo as his only friend, and just floats between spaces delivering letters and putting up kind of a stand-offish front to keep people away. However, his nightmare sheds a lot of insight on his situation. This time we learn that he's haunted by dreams of being trapped alone in the darkness. He's younger in his dreams, which is a visualization of vulnerability. The force restraining him is a claw, and based on what we learn later about his time working for Eternal, this dream could be a representation of that period, compounded with his ongoing sense of loneliness and his lack of belonging. Even the fact that he sleeps in the clock tower is because he doesn't have a proper home and he doesn't trust other people enough to provide him one. However, he's been getting to know the girls over the last several episodes, seeing what drives them and what kind of people they are, and he's beginning to feel like he can trust them, so he opens up about some of his fears to Nozomi at the end. She understands that he's afraid and alone, and promises she'll rescue him in his dreams if he asks her to, because she cares. The practicality of this doesn't matter, Syrup is her friend and she'll protect him, that's all there is to it in her mind.

Minor note, the significance of two out of three of the clues actually gets lost in translation. The common thread is that they all have “tokei” in the name, which means “clock”. The clock tower is pretty self-explanatory. The plant called “tokeiso” in Japanese is called a blue luster in English, losing the descriptivism of its Japanese name that describes its clock hand-shaped sprouts (Google it, it’s very pretty). Lastly, although the Japanese word for the pastry they’re eating is “hottoke-ki”, derived from hotcakes, and there is technically a difference between pancakes and hotcakes (and flatcakes and flapjacks) English speakers are most familiar with the term “pancakes” and that’s what the subtitles translate it as.

Lastly I want to remark on the art. This is a good art episode... mostly. Scenes of the Hoshiina notwithstanding, because for some reason they really dropped the ball on that. The art isn’t amazing or anything, but they play with proportions for comedy in a way that makes it fun, cute, and endearing.

look at this goof

I’ve commented before on reused music I think, well in this episode I picked up on a villain cue from way back in FWPC. It’s by no means a bad thing, but I primarily associate reused music with the period from Fresh through Smile, and now I’ve noticed some in the Star Twinkle-Tropical-Rouge period. It’s nice to demonstrate to myself that this has been happening all along and isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to on part of the series.

Full disclosure: when I first watched GoGo back in 2013 or 2014, I skipped this episode (and the next one) by accident, due to a naming bug.

disclaimer: those are not the files I’m using now, these are. Only the best.

Due to the way people came and went from this project, the filenames changed a lot, so by a quirk episodes 8-9 happened to be alphabetized between episode 40 and 41. I had my player set to auto-play the next episode and I was working on a project at the time and not giving the binge my full attention, so after episode 7, the next file in the folder was 10. I bring this up to theorize that skipping these two episodes initially may have influenced my opinion on their relevance. I jumped straight from the Palmier Kingdom to Milky Rose's introduction and didn't wind up watching the episodes that bridged this gap until well after the fact. I may never know what impact this had on my overall response, and maybe I’m overthinking it, but as I view these two episodes as kind of filler or padding to get to Milky Rose, it’s a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I only dismiss them because I experienced it without them first.

I know this review is all over the place, so to summarize my thoughts, it’s a solid episode with some genuine moments, but overall it feels like padding or filler, since I know what’s coming in a few episodes. That isn’t a bad thing but it doesn’t do much for the characters or their relationships with each other, except for Syrup as he’s new around here. Coco and Nuts, surprisingly, are barely in this episode. It is not bad, but it’s not one of the better episodes the show has to offer. And that’s fine.

Next time on Precure Daily, there’s another mystery to solve, and this time Komachi goes full detective to find the cake caper. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 2 Kettei!

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Ben Siemon, Bob Snow, Tanner Johnson

Written by: Colleen Evanson & Tanner Johnson

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Kristen Gish, Victoria Harris, Ben Holm

Directed by: Tanner Johnson

Spin it!

Before doing research when Don Karnage first came to the series, my knowledge of TaleSpin began and ended with me having that awful Genesis game as a kid. I do know that the show took place long before the modern day, which is when DuckTales 2017 takes place, and it appears that the events of TaleSpin in this universe still goes with that. Why do I know this? Because this episode does not start with Baloo piloting the Sea Duck...

...but a grown-up version of his surrogate son, Kit Cloudkicker, who is now running Higher for Hire by himself. However, while things have definitely changed for Higher for Hire since Baloo's apparent retirement, mostly for the worse, some things remained the same. Namely, he is still being tormented by the nefarious Sky Pirate of the Skies, the corsair of the air, Don Karnage. Or Dan, as he calls him much to Karnage's annoyance. The good news is that Kit is now an ace pilot who can easily fight off sky pirates like he did back in the glory days. The bad news is that he can still do what he did as a kid with a giant cargo plane. He even says it, and with most of his dialogue in this cold opening suggests this is going to make him look foolish.

Even worse news for the business is that the fragile box addressed to F.O.W.L. is just sitting in the center of the cargo bay with no security whatsoever aside from a caged chicken and a goat. After rocking back and forth due to Kit fending off against Don Karnage, the box breaks to reveal a rock with a blue lion carved into it, and when that aforementioned chicken and goat touch it, they both turn into some sort of chicken-goat hybrid that Kit has to fight. How is able to fight this goat-chicken while piloting the plane? Simple: he puts a crowbar in the steering wheel, just like Baloo did in the original. Here, the idea is played as silly as it would be to someone who had never heard of TaleSpin. It is doubly sad when one considers Kit treats this crowbar like his only crewmate, because it is.

I do like that this first scene introduces this show's version of Kit very well. He's obviously an incompetent pilot, and not one that is lovably incompetent like Launchpad, and this incompetence is pretty well known among his customers judging by this line:

Kit Cloudkicker: Who's the terrible pilot now, everyone?

He's surprisingly cheerful about that, which, again, makes him look foolish. Despite all of this foolishness, he does appear to still be competent at coming up with plans to defeat his enemies, whether they be sky pirates or mutated goat-chickens, even if those plans end up putting the cargo he was supposed to deliver into the water. This includes that lion stone. He looks onto this and says "my bad" in a way that shows that his business is definitely going to be in the red in a few years.

A few years later, we see that Della is taking Huey, Dewey, and nobody else to Cape Suzette, and she's even allowing Dewey to fly the plane along with her. It is easy to see why Huey is extra prepared even if Dewey is doing surprisingly well, as Huey is not only using extra seatbelts, but having a Safety Boy helmet as well. Huey's also prepared with the knowledge of that Lion Stone we saw go into the ocean in the previous scene, which, you guessed it, is a Missing Mystery of Isabella Finch. Specifically, it's the Stone Of What Was, which was described with the mysterious phrase "what was once two becomes a-new." Huey does not seem to figure that one out. The good news is that it was found, but the bad news was that it was found by F.O.W.L, but the better news is that they lost it, but the worse news was that the stone was made of potassium benzoate. Okay, that last one was made up. There's a few throwaway lines to fill in how Huey even knows F.O.W.L. had the stone in other scenes, and those plot holes are really not that important.

After nearing their destination, which we learn was based on a clue from an intercepted F.O.W.L. transmission from a throwaway line from Huey slightly later in the episode, Della has the bright idea to let Dewey land the plane. Letting a little kid fly a plane? Not a good idea. Letting a little kid land a plane? Also not a good idea. Telling that little kid that there's nothing wrong with a basic landing? May be a good idea in the off chance it could even come up, but definitely not a good idea when it comes to Dewey. To Della's credit, at least it was Huey that did that last one.

After the crash landing, and not a Launchpad-type one, they arrive at Higher for Hire, which shows an advertisement showing its legacy playing on a television screen with plenty of TaleSpin references. This includes one shot of Baloo and another shot of a younger Kit and Molly Cunningham riding on an airfoil done in the style of the original show. This is great for people who were not aware of TaleSpin, which the target audience for this show may not have seen unless they have Disney Plus. Kit, still shown to be the sole employee years later, assumes anyone knocking at his door is the bank demanding payments, but he's delighted to see one of his former classmates at pilot school. He constantly has to tell Della that he is an ace pilot now. Most likely, he's telling that to himself too, as we'll see in the next scene. He at least has reason to believe he's a better pilot than his former classmate, as it doesn't look like her plane is in good shape. Della could have explained that this state was because she let one of her less competent sons fly the plane...and that would have probably made her case about a thousand times worse.

That television commercial also inspires a sort of B-plot that also ties into Kit's character arc, as seeing young Kit cloudkicking makes him want to do it, too. Despite his failure at even mimicking it, Kit is happy to see a fellow cloudkicker and would be glad to teach him the ropes. Della is not too excited by this prospect, but ends up allowing it, because she doesn't want to be the mother that does not support her kid. They aboard the plane, which ends up being a very bumpy ride, and Della goes to investigate, only to find that Kit was in the bathroom, letting his only other employee, the crowbar, be his substitute.

Kit tries to stop what he calls "mutiny" by saying that he's the only one who knows where the cargo could be, only for the crowbar to slip and reveal that he's been keeping a map in the glove compartment. The map actually has some Xs and a circle on it, which suggests that Kit may have been trying to correct his previous mistake, but either never getting the motivation to go through with it, or, more likely, he isn't competent enough to deal with whatever is on that island he circled. Maybe I am thinking about this too hard, but I would say it would be fitting.

Kit decides to distract everyone from him getting kicked out of the pilot's chair by giving Dewey his airfoil and the cloudkicking rope for him to hold onto, and a shot of Dewey's excitement instantly cuts to Dewey screaming for his life, holding on for dear life as he can't seem to. The parallel between a former cloudkicking guy who isn't really a good pilot, and a kid who can actually fly a plane who isn't really a good cloudkicker is easy to notice, and the episode plays around with this. For starters, similar to Kit and his not-so-ace piloting skills, Dewey also tries his hardest to hide how terrified he is at the cool new thing he wanted to do. Of course, it is very possible that Kit is acting the way he does because he's in a certain someone's shadow. Dewey just does it because that's how he is.

Despite that difference, this parallel is enhanced even more when they get attacked by the Sky Pirates, and Kit has to intervene and show that he, at the very least, can get Dewey out of the danger that Kit himself has caused. And yes, Don Karnage's Sky Pirates are now working for the very organization that they indirectly harmed years before by attacking that cargo plane and making them lose that precious stone. That does not come up at all, not even as a throwaway line. What does come up is that Don Karnage is delighted that one of the people after the Stone of What Was is his new arch-nemesis, Dewey. It's a long story that started all the way back in Don's debut in Season 1. It's neat to see these old references. After they all make a landing on the circled island, some more safe than others, they get to meet the wildlife of the island. Let's say there's a good reason why this island was circled, and why Kit could not handle it by himself.

It's a rhino and a gorilla crossed together, either a rhinosorilla or a gorillanoceros depending on whether one likes Dewey's word for it or Kit's. Clearly, this is the result of the Stone of What Was...what was...Wuz...Wuzzles! Admittedly, the Wuzzle was also not a show I grew up with, though that could be because it lasted only a season. In fact, I just now notice the lion carved into the Stone of What Was happens to have bumblebee wings. These animals are a little more realistic here, as they don't talk, and they're not cute or fuzzy like the original Wuzzles were. In fact, the character this gorillanoceros was based on was actually a monkey-rhino. There is a difference, even if they are very similar species genetically!

They eventually get to the stone, only to see that Don Karnage and his crewmates have found the stone first. Hiding, they see Don Karnage command Hardtack Hattie, his strongest crewmember, to lift it up. Unfortunately, she happened to lift it as a bunch of ants were crawling on it, turning her into an ant centaur to her and Don's horror. Despite that horror, and fitting for someone who just wants to finish his mission, he tries to get some of the other crew members to lift it...

...leading to these freaks of nature, which is what Don Karnage actually calls them. DuckTales 2017 isn't too afraid to show the horrifying nature of some of these fusions, continuing with the theme of how they portray the Wuzzles as these monstrous beasts. I would not call it nightmare fuel, but I would not be surprised if it already has an entry on TV Tropes. What makes these even worse is that there is no way for these guys to revert back to their normal forms. There's no "if the stone feels like it, it'll separate you" clause here, that snail-dog is permanently a snail-dog, and that pirate will have to live with a hand for his head for the rest of his days. These guys just end up getting forgotten.

Della tries to sneak by climbing around this horrific scene, only to be caught on some sort of sticky rock. Dewey decides to try to save her with his airfoil-riding skills, much to Huey's disagreement. Dewey's got to Dewey it! Oh yeah, I forgot, Dewey ends up doing "Dewey" puns for most of the episode. It's not funny, but I have a feeling it wasn't meant to be funny, and it's certainly not funny when he ends up falling down near the pirates. Face to face with someone who considers him his arch-nemesis, he tries to save face when he notices Kit stole Don Karnage's plane...which he immediately crashes into a rock.

As for the rock that Della was stuck on, it turns out it wasn't a rock. Nor was it a rock lobster, either!

It hatches into another classic Wuzzle character: the Butterbear, or the Bear-terfly as Don Karnage calls it. They never quite match the original Wuzzle names, and it is not like they would know them. There is one part of this where Kit and the Bear-terfly cross paths, and it almost seems like they're going to bond because they happen to be a similar race. Then, it instantly cuts to Kit running away from a rampaging Bear-terfly. How are they going to continue from this? Have the Bear-terfly get caught in some rope, and have it run in a way that ties up the stone, and have it fly away with Della still on its back. It is a bit convoluted, but it works in the end as it is a way for the stone to travel without it mutating even more people. Whether any of these fusions can use the stone to combine into other fusions is left unanswered, which is for the best.

One may notice I didn't talk a whole lot about what Huey did, and that's because he really didn't do much for most of the episode. He delivered the exposition, he tries to stop Dewey from "Deweying it", and that's about it. However, he does have a major part in the episode: he gets to take part in the scene where the two bumbling fools realize what they have been doing was foolish. Namely, they needed to realize that they should do what they were good at: Kit should cloudkick and Dewey should fly the plane. It is a good lesson that had some good buildup. Sure, they were pretty much failing throughout the episode, but there were scenes where they were surprisingly competent, like the scene where Kit rescued Dewey with his Cloudkicking skills, and Dewey managing to fly the plane in the beginning before he decided to "Dewey it" and crash it. It does not come out of nowhere. Speaking of which...

Dewey: Okay, let's do it.

What would be an unremarkable line actually works really well here, mainly because he decided not to make a pun on his own name, which he did way too much. It does show development, as if this fun-loving showboater is actually learning his lesson throughout the episode. I expect this from DuckTales 2017, and there are certainly cartoons where I don't.

Fittingly for a TaleSpin episode, this all ends with a flight chase scene. No, not the usual DuckTales 2017 fight scene, though there are some fights here and there, especially with Kit and Don Karnage, armed with that crow bar and sword, respectively. The scene actually manages to make Dewey keeping the plane steady an action packed scene, as he has to save his Mom while trying not to let the stone fall into the ocean and make an octopus-fish-squid hybrid that would rival the Eldritch horrors. Again, whether any of these fusions can use the stone to combine into other fusions is left unanswered, which is for the best.

It's not really a spoiler to say the good guys win, but I will say the TaleSpin part of the plot is very much all tied up in the end. If Kit only makes a minor appearance in the finale, and I'd actually be surprised if he didn't appear considering how packed the clips were, it would be completely understandable. Also, there's a cliffhanger and we finally get to hear Don Karnage sing another song, if a very short one. It seemed like he just couldn't do it in his other appearances.

How does it stack up?

With the genius way of using not just one Disney show's legacy, but another Disney show as well, there's a lot to love about this episode, though I wouldn't say it's among the absolute best. Four Scrooges.

Next, Scrooge gets indicted.

← Beaks In The Shell! 🦆 The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck! →

[flemingtech]

BECOMING A KEYBOARD JEDI USING SHORTCUTS(WINDOWS 10)

Dr. Dave Bradley has been given the task of writing the basic input-output system of the IBM personal computer. The year is 1980. In his hands is the most advanced piece of technology. Even with an elite team of engineers and designers, nothing runs smoothly when you are building a computer. Programs crashing during development stage is the norm after every five to ten minutes. The only way to restart the computer is to turn the power off, wait a while and turn the power back on and the computer would go through a very long self-test. An ingenious way for the restart process is urgently needed. 

The first thing that comes to mind is placing a reset button. Its downside is that one can accidentally press the button, and all data gets lost. His team decides to create a three key sequence to reset the computer, which couldn’t be hit by mistake. Their deliberations yielded this solution: a single control key, a single alt key, and all the way to the right-hand side, a single delete key, and the computer would restart. It also enabled them to skip many tests, which would generally take 1-2 minutes, took only 10-15 seconds. It wasn’t a big deal at the time because there was a pile of issues they had to fix. That solution just brought one of the 99 problems off their backs. Other programmers began developing that feature into their application, and thus Ctrl+Alt+Del was released into the wild. The rest is history. When Chrome decides to freeze your computer, hit Ctrl+Alt+Del, and you unlock the terminator mode. The force was finally within us by using the Three Finger Salute.

There is no doubt that keyboard hot-keys make computer usage seamless. Some keyboard shortcuts save one from a quagmire while others are just cool. Windows 10 now supports cool trackpad gestures to make life easy, but they can’t beat the force of keyboard hot-keys. Possessing the force requires knowledge and practice. Some of the useful hot-keys you should be using are:

1. Change Case Keyboard shortcut

You are typing an essay while rushing to meet the deadline when you realize you left the caps lock on the whole time. The only way you can think of to edit this error is to redo. Stress hormones begin to flood your mind. I am here to end that nightmare (knight in shiny armor vibes). In order to edit this error, highlight the affected sentences and press Shift+F3 once to go all caps, again to go to initial caps, and again to go all lowercase.

2. Opening Task Manager

When running many programs simultaneously, your computer may freeze. In order to unfreeze it without having to restart it due to fear of loss of valuable data in other background programs, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to access the task manager, which will enable you to force quit the unresponsive programs. 

3. Lock Screen

When you have a program(s) running on your computer, and you want to leave the room for a short period and assurance that no one will meddle with your work, press Windows key+L. Your screen will lock and require your security authentication to access it. 

4. Minimizing Windows

Let’s say you are doing something confidential on your computer, and your friend enters your workspace abruptly. The fastest way you can hide what your doing is by pressing Windows Key+D. This minimizes all windows instantly, and he/she will wonder why you are staring on your blank desktop vehemently.

5. Split Screen Between Two Apps

If you want to split the screen between two apps without using your mouse to allocate screen space and snap windows, you can press the Windows Key+Left Arrow key (<) or Right Arrow key (>) and your current window will snap to the left or right smoothly.

6. Creating and Rename Folders

The alternative way of creating a folder is by pressing Shift+Ctrl+N. Renaming a folder traditionally uses two clicks, but an easier way is by selecting the file or folder and press fn+F2.

7. Creating and Switching Between Virtual Desktop

Mac users are more familiar with this functionality. Windows 10 is the first Windows to have this feature. When you press Windows key+Ctrl+D, a new virtual desktop will be opened. If you want to switch across those virtual desktops, press Windows key+Ctrl+Left (<) or Right Arrow key(>). This will enable you to run different programs without the need to crowd one desktop.

8. Paste Without Formatting

When copy things like references from multiple websites, the text may get pasted in a formatted method and will make your document look messy. To maneuver this, copy in the usual method but paste using Ctrl+Shift+B instead of Ctrl+Shift +V.

9. Taking screenshots

It’s one of the easiest hot-keys to remember due to the need for capturing screenshots and snippets. In order to capture the whole screen, press Windows key+Print Screen key. The picture will be saved in Pictures>Screenshots folder. For capturing a part of your screen, hit Windows Key+Shift+S. This will open the Snip & Sketch app, which will allow you to create your screenshot. You will have to paste it and save it manually.

10. Game bar

When you launch a game on Windows 10, a pop up on starting the game bar appears. It recommends you should press Windows key+G. That will enable you to access Xbox tour directly, record live gaming sessions, and broadcast the gameplay on Xbox Live. One can also use it to take screenshots.

11. Zoom Shortcuts

If you want to zoom something on your screen, press Ctrl+Plus key/Minus key to zoom in or out, respectively. To return to the original resolution, press Ctrl+Zero key.

12.  Open Taskbar apps

In order to launch your taskbar apps quickly, press Windows key+1 to open the first app from the left. If you want to open the third app on the taskbar from the left press Windows Key+3 e.t.c. 

13. Opening File Manager

This is an inbuilt shortcut from Windows. Press Windows key+E.

14. Opening Settings App

Press Windows key+I.

Finally, you can create your own Windows shortcut by right-clicking the app or folder in question. In the pop-up, click the Send To option and create a desktop shortcut of the app or folder. Right-click the shortcut on the desktop and head down to properties. In the properties there is a shortcut tab, click on the shortcut key option and press the keyboard shortcut you want. Anyway, have fun with these hot-keys, and the more you practice, the more you are going to get good at them. May the force be with you in your quest to be a keyboard Jedi and keep it fleming.

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Remarks: The Ice-cream is A Lie! Debunking the Neopolitan Conspiracy.

I’m not sure if this is topic has already been defused in the FNDM community. Nevertheless, this squiggle meister still wanted to weigh in her full $5.50 on this subject matter. So let’s dig into it.

Heya kiddies, remember when the official V6 Opening dropped and everyone lost their shit when a mysterious hooded figure alluding to Neo was shown during the intro?

You should remember because it only happened about a week ago. I’m not going to lie. During my first viewing of the opening, my very first impression of mystery female was that it is Neopolitan. However my main justification for that, as I’ll assume is the key reason why everyone pondered the same thing, was because of this shot here: 

The shot of a very familiar-looking black and red striped bowler hat floating aimlessly through the streets of Mistral. That was the only clue I had that made me think of the possibility of Neo returning. But while the fandom exploded into their excitement of their favourite ice-cream themed villainous making her grand return, this squiggle meister was skeptical.

Why, you might ask? Well, for starters, not to knock the Neo fans but…why on Earth would the CRWBY Writers bring back Neo of all characters especially now when the Mistral Arc is in its final chapter?

In all honesty, I understand that Neo is a fan favourite amongst the FNDM community. However outside of Roman Torchwick, Neo’s character doesn’t exactly have a story of her own.

Sure, the CRWBY Writers could still entertain us by introducing a Neopolitan backstory into RWBY. However I don’t think Volume 6 is going to be an appropriate place slip that in.

If the CRWBY Writers honestly wanted to include Neo back then… shouldn’t they have brought her back for the start of the Mistral Arc as someone who would succeed Roman Torchwick and continue from where he left off? Even if their plan was to eventually resurrect Neo from the pit of obscurity for the Atlas Arc, her comeback would feel rather out of place. At least to me it would, especially since we spent the last two seasons not even teasing her re-emergence.

Apologies to the Neo stans but…that ain’t yuh girl in the V6 opening. The ice-cream is sadly a lie. But admittedly a very cleverly laid out lie, might I say.

I think the mysterious person is obviously Cinder Fall. I mean it has to be her. Her silhouette is in the volume poster, dagnabbit.

Not to mention that the Writers left her story on a cliff hanger. I mean…they did the same thing with Neo too but unlike the ice-cream flavoured Charlie Chaplin, Cinder’s happened last volume. Not a whole two seasons ago.

C’mon. Who else could it be but Cinder?

But if for some reason, you’re not convinced that the figure is Cinder, then allow me to present to you some evidence to support my claim. While scrubbing through the V6 opener, I found two key clues that say it’s Cinder.

Exhibit A: The Weapon of Choice

During the opening, the hooded female could be seen fighting with a blade in hand. Upon further inspection, I realized that the weapon carries a resemblance in shape to the dual blades that Cinder once wielded back in V3. Not only that but it especially replicates the fire emblazoned crimson dagger that Cinder Fall forged with her semblance and Maiden magic last season during her combat with Jaune in the Battle of Haven.

This is unfortunately the best quality screenshot I could take. I had to brighten the image but you can still make out that the shape of the blade is like Cinder’s Dagger. That’s my first evidence. My second evidence is the most obvious one of them all.

Exhibit B: The Claw

May I direct your attention to the obvious clawed white hand on mystery girl? Might I also point out that it’s her right hand---the same side as Cinder’s amputated Geist Grimm arm from V5?

Unless Neo’s umbrella flew her into a tub of radioactive purple ooze that turned her into some kind of pale-skinned mutant humanoid creature with claws for a hand, then that is clearly NOT her. It’s Cinder because we all know that Cinder possessed the Geist Grimm now which, as we can see, has now been blended into her skin turning it white---like Salem.

I’m curious to see Cinder’s face now. I want to know if she looks more like Salem now or was it just the arm that fused fully with her body turning the half of Salem’s body damaged by Ruby ghastly white while the rest remained normal. This should be cool to see.

So yeah, see now? It’s not the ice-cream. It’s the pepper sauce. Sorry Neo fans.

Now this pegs a curious question? Why would the CRWBY insert the trademark Roman Torchwick bowler hat while alluding to Cinder?

Either the CRWBY are trying to be slick again by tossing out another red herring to bamboozle the FNDM into believing it’s not Cinder Fall or…there is something very symbolic of the Roman hat?

Symbol of Failure

Think about it. Who was Roman Torchwick? Another fan favourite villain with charisma for days. Yes. A snappy dresser. Sure. But above everything else, Roman Torchwick was a failure in his conquest.

What was it that Roman told Ruby Rose in his big speech from V3?

“...Ya got spirit Red. But this is the real world! The real world is cold! The real world doesn't care about spirit! You wanna be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other huntsman in history!

As for me, I’ll do what I do best. Lie. Steal. Cheat and Survive!”

 He says all of this before he is rather laughingly eaten alive in the very next frame by a Grimm during the attack on the Vytal Festival that he helped orchestrate. Still one of the most ironic deaths in RWBY history but the truth still remains.

Even with all his tricks and schemes, what eventually became of Roman? He failed, died and now his name means nothing as Remnant moves on. Even with all the power and influence he once possessed, he died a powerless man. Torchwick is symbolic here because he’s the one villain whose pursuit of conquest resulted in his very own demise. Now Cinder has fallen down the same path.

She too followed in her selfish aspiration to become powerful and where did it lead her? Right back to the very bottom of the societal food chain where her origins probably began. You can almost say that Cinder’s fallen down her very own little rabbit hole of disappointment and now from the dirt, she is forced to crawl back out again and start over. That’s if, she even has the same desires as before.

It’s almost like the bowler hat is following Cinder, mocking her own failures. I wonder if this will lead to Cinder having realistic hallucinations of Roman. Her own negative emotional state of displeasure taking the form of the one villain in RWBY whose failure left him rock bottom---the digestive system of a Griffin Grimm kind of rock bottom---would be to seen explored in the series.

Similar to how Blake’s anxiety over being back with the team after the events of V4-V5 taking the haunting form of Adam Taurus, perhaps it’ll be the same for Cinder. Imagine…Roman returning as a figment of Cinder’s messed up psyche to ridicule and belittle her. That could be cool to watch.

Plus it’d be great to hear Gray Haddock reprise his role in the series again outside of the Chibi-verse. I mean, it’s a nice idea.

Perhaps…in the beginning, Cinder was another minion to Roman but that all changed when she met Salem. 

Maybe Roman and Cinder even share a past together long prior to RWBY’s main story.

Perhaps Cinder Fall started off as Roman’s partner-in-crime---the Bonnie to his Clyde? Or perhaps she was one of his lower level pawns but ultimately rose to the top due to her skills. But even after becoming number two to King Roman, Cinder desired to be more. While I’m not sure on how Salem found Cinder or vice versa, I would much rather the mystery character be Cinder because it makes more sense for it to be her than Neo, continuing from V5.

I know Neo is connected to Roman because she was his side kick. However let’s not forget that before Neo came into the picture, Cinder Fall was originally introduced as Roman’s accomplice in the very first episode of RWBY. She was the one seen flying the helicopter that Roman used to escape from Ruby and was also the one who fought with Glynda Goodwitch as she stepped into protect Ruby.

Cinder was later switched out for Neo and made into someone who was superior to Roman instead of being just his fateful right hand. Who knows? Maybe there is a deeper untold history between Roman and Cinder Fall that us fans never knew about. The untold story of how the two of them met and how Cinder eventually rose to become the megalomaniac we know her to be.  

The Faceless Lady

Cinder was later switched out for Neo and made into someone who was superior to Roman instead of being just his fateful right hand. Who knows? Maybe there is a deeper untold history between Roman and Cinder Fall that us fans never knew about. The untold story of how the two of them met and how Cinder eventually rose to become the megalomaniac we know her to be.  

Do you know what would be interesting? If the mysterious person is Cinder but in like a new body or with a new face?. Like what if…after dying, Cinder fused with her Geist Grimm arm completely and now she’s become this Grimmoire (Grimm-human hybrid) who can steal another person’s identity by devouring them.

Y’know how in Game of Thrones, Arya Stark is a Faceless Man and can assume the identity of anyone she’s killed by stealing their face? What if we get something like that with Cinder where, because she is half Geist Grimm, she can utilize the Geist’s key trait to possess and take control of another’s body.

But in Cinder’s instance, she’s able to do it with mortal men and woman because of her human side. It’d also be interesting if, just like Arya Stark, Salem develops her own little vendetta to get back at everyone who has wronged her in her life, starting with her past leading up to her recent mortal enemies---like Ruby Rose and Raven Branwen.

Queen of the Mafia

I have this theory that Cinder was the daughter of a known mafia boss who was notorious on the black underground market of Mistral that we were told about in the World of Remnant episode on the kingdom.

Y’know how in the Cinderella story, we had the evil mother and her wicked stepsisters? When I think back to the V6 trailer, remember this shot of the bandit lady that most RWBY theorist pointed out as a mafia boss?

What if…these three characters---the mafia lady and her two lackeys that stand behind her are RWBY’s version of Cinderella’s evil stepmother and wicked step siblings. Only instead of two step sisters, it’s a brother and sister?

I’m just tossing out an idea here. I don’t believe that the CRWBY would choose to highlight these three characters if they weren’t important. Obviously these three aren’t connected to the heroes. But perhaps, they’re connected to Cinder or at least her side of the story for V6.

 Maybe…they are from her past?

What if…Cinder was the daughter of some big Mistralian crime boss who was well renowned around the Mistral black market until he was murdered, leaving his empire left for grabs for the vultures of the Mistral underbelly to squander.

This lady and her two accomplices could either be the equivalent of Cinderella’s evil stepmother and her siblings who probably abused Cinder after they stole her father’s empire from her and tossed her to the slums, powerless to stop them. Or…what if…it’s not the lackeys who are important but the Head Lady?

Remember how in last week’s V6 kick-starter episode, we met Dee and Dudley who the FNDM agreed were based off of the infamous pair of Tweedledee and Tweedledum from the Alice in Wonderland fairy tale?

What if…those two knuckleheads won’t be the only trademark Alice in Wonderland characters that will be referenced in RWBY for this volume?

What if…this Mafia Lady’s characterization is actually inspired by the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland?

Think about it. Imagine if the notorious black market of Mistral is basically the Wonderland of the canon RWBY-verse and similar to the Queen of Hearts, this mysterious Mafia lady is the head honcho that rules it with an iron fist.

I quite like this concept. She certain exudes the same impatient and tyrannical aura as the Queen of Hearts. I just need her to yell “Get Them You Fools!” and/or, of course, “Off with their heads!” or something along lines.  

Now mind you I could be incorrect in everything I said in this post. Except the Cinder being the mystery figure part, I really am sure that’s her for sure as the hooded mystery girl. As to what her story will be for V6. 

If anything V6 is definitely going to touch base on Cinder’s past and resurrection or so I presume. I know it’s only another theory, but that’s as much as I have to say on the Fallen Maiden for now.

 More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

[cleverninja171]

Microsoft Word Mac Combine Documents

Microsoft Word Mac Combine Documents 2017

Merge Word Files

Microsoft Word Mac Combine Documents To Pdf

Microsoft Word Mac Free

How to merge multiple documents and keep format in word?

Sometimes we may need to merge multiple documents into one when you are using the Microsoft Word applications. In Word, you can merge multiple Word documents into one with one of following tricky ways:

Quickly merge multiple Word documents from many folders in bulk, with specified order

Alternatively, open one of the going to combine documents, and then save it as another file, and erase all contents inside it. Click Insert option in the Office Fluent Ribbon menu bar. Click on the Down arrow at the right side of Object. Select Text from File option.

In Word, you can merge, or combine, comments and revisions from two documents into one document, and repeat the process to combine multiple versions.

If you have multiple Microsoft Word documents you'd like to combine into one, simply copying content from each and pasting it into your destination document isn't the most efficient method available. It can be very time-consuming, especially if you're dealing with a.

Kutools for Word releases a fantastic Merge feature to help users quickly merge multiple Word documents from many folders. This feature will not only reserve original documents' format in merged file, but also merge documents by your specified order. Click for 60-day free trial!

Recommended Productivity Tools for Word

More Than 100 Powerful Advanced Features for Word, Save 50% Of Your Time.

Bring Tabbed Editing And Browsing To Office (Include Word), Far More Powerful Than The Browser's Tabs.

Merge multiple documents into one document with Insert Text from File function

You can merge multiple documents into one document by using the Text from File function in Word, but by doing this, you will lost the format of documents after merged.

So this is solved.#Add Exporting PDF to images(PNG, JPG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP) feature.#User can choose startup page.Version 1.3.9.0#Fix some bugs#Don't popup review message at startup.Version 2.3.12.0#Change the default startup page.#Remove PDF file type association.Version 2.4.13.0#Optimize the layout of viewerversion 2.5.15.0Optimize the popup when close the window.Upgrade the image library.Version 2.7.24.0Add office supportVersion 2.9.31.0Add media player supportAdd privacy policy menuRemove check for update in officeVersion 3.0.37Change product nameAdd archive file support. Because the default image mode can only open the first page of a PDF file. The product (Image Viewer Pro) is a universal image viewer, office suite and media player for you.It supports over 170 formats of image, 107 formats of documents (Thanks to LibreOffice), 55 formats of media and 20 formats of archive.This program uses the LibreOffice, VLC and Zip which are open source program.#Batch convert image files to (If you only use 'Save as' feature, more saving formats are available):PNGJPGJPEGTIFFBMP#Export PDF to images (PNG, JPG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP)It is free to view images of any format. What's new in this versionVersion 1.1.5.0:Add File Type AssociationVersion 1.2.7.0#Add PDF file viewer. The product (Image Viewer Pro) is a universal image viewer, office suite and media player for you.It supports over 170 formats of image, 107 formats of documents (Thanks to LibreOffice), 55 formats of media and 20 formats of archive.This program uses the LibreOffice, VLC and Zip which are open source program.#Batch convert image files to (If you only use 'Save as' feature, more saving formats are available):PNGJPGJPEGTIFFBMP#Export PDF to images (PNG, JPG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP)It is free to view images of any format. Ms publisher file viewer.

1. Create a new Word document you will place the merged documents, and then click Insert > Object > Text from File. See screenshot:

2. In the opening Insert File dialog box, please (1) open the folder containing documents you will merge; (2) select the documents you will merge; and then (3) click the Insert button. See screenshot: Tip: Holding Ctrl key, you can select multiple documents with clicking them one by one; holding Shift key, you can select multiple adjacent documents with clicking the first one and the last one.

3. If documents you need to merge are saved in different folders, please repeat above Step 1-2 as your need.

Note: You can't order documents in merged file, otherwise you insert them one by one.

Merge multiple documents into one document with VBA

Alternatively, you can use VBA to merge multiple documents into one in Word.

Microsoft Word Mac Combine Documents 2017

1. Move all Word documents you will merge into the same folder.

2. Rename the Word documents with a series of sequence names. (1) Right click a document and select Rename from the context menu, and then type a new name, such as Part1; (2) Repeat to rename other documents. See screenshot:

3. Double click to open the document you will place at the beginning of merged file.

4. Press Alt + F11 keys together to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Application window.

5. Click Insert > Module, and then paste below VBA code into the new Module window;

VBA: merge multiple documents in Word

Note: This VBA can only merge Word documents whose file extensions are docx. If you need to merge documents (.doc), please replacedocx in the code MyName = Dir(MyPath & ' & '*.docx') to doc.

6.Click Run button or press F5 key to apply the VBA.

Note: you have to rename the documents with a series of sequence names, otherwise the documents may be disordered or lost in the merged file.

Merge multiple documents into one document and keep format with Kutools for Word

After you installed Kutools for Word, you don't need to create a new blank document, nor put the document into the same folder. With Merge of Kutools, you can quickly merge multiple documents into one in word. Please do as follows:

Kutools for Word is a handy add-in to ease your work and enhance your ability of processing word document. Free Trial for 60 days! Get It Now!

1. Click Kutools Plus > Merge. See screenshot:

2. In the opening Merge Documents dialog box, please add documents you will merge: (1) Click Add Files button; (2) In the Browse dialog box open folder containing documents you will merge; (3) holding Ctrl or Shift key to select these documents; and then (4) click the OK button. See screenshot: Tip: (1) If you need to merge documents that are saved in different's folder, please repeat this step to add them one by one; (2) You can also add all documents saved in one folder in bulk by the Add Folder button.

3. Now you return to the Merge Documents dialog box, please (1) order these documents by Move Up and Move Down buttons; (2) specify a break between documents from the Break between documents drop down list; and then (3) click the Merge button. See screenshot:

Now all specified Word documents are combined into a new document as below screenshot shown:

Microsoft visual basic for applications window mac. Note: FYI, original formatting of all documents you merged are reserved in the merged result.

Of course, you can open all Word documents firstly, and then merge them by manually copying and Pasting.

Tabbed browsing & editing multiple Word documents as Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explore 10!

You may be familiar to view multiple webpages in Firefox/Chrome/IE, and switch between them by clicking corresponding tabs easily. Here, Office Tab supports similar processing, which allow you to browse multiple Word documents in one Word window, and easily switch between them by clicking their tabs. Click for full features free trial!

Relative articles:

Recommended Word Productivity Tools

Kutools For Word - More Than 100 Advanced Features For Word, Save Your 50% Time

Complicated and repeated operations can be done one-time processing in seconds.

Insert multiple images across folders into Word document at once.

Merge and combine multiple Word files across folders into one with your desired order.

Split the current document into separate documents according to heading, section break or other criteria.

Convert files between Doc and Docx, Docx and PDF, collection of tools for common conversions and selection, and so on..

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Dear Sir, Can we track/identify the Content Control differences? Thanks, Hrishi

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Does anyone know how I can build 'HeadersFooters.LinkToPrevious (False)' into the VBA code?

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Thank you so much Extend Office Team! Awesome tips! I can't describe how much your article helped me!

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I read this article which is really helpful combine word documents

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Thanks for sharing this. VBA code is working for me.

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Link exchange is nothing else but it is simply placing the other persons web site link on your page at proper place and other person will also do same for you. cbgedcededacebdd

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Dear, (list)(*)(b)(i)(u)(i)(b) I m vry fne to see ur steps or desgins. I get many knwlgde frm dis. For dis i thnk to very. I never forget(/b)(/i)(/u)(/i)(/b)(/list)

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VUA tor bap vua tor choddo gushthi vua totototototto

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Does KUTOOL provides facility to merge two word files without changing format of each word file through C# or any language supported by .Net ?

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Macro works awesome. Merged 240 documents containing 2437 pgs without any issues. Formatting is maintained. As far as I saw, headers and footers are not merged, initial document header is maintained. Thank you!

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This worked perfectly, it kept the original table format and was able to add a path to each file merged. Beautiful. Thanks!

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Thank you. This is what i was looking for. It was superb. :-)

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Anyone please help me to create a VBA macro for MS word to merge some part of multiple word document. Suppose a1.doc contain : a b c c e a2.doc contain: f g h i j i want to merge a1.doc and a2.doc so that the result will be below: d e i j

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Thanks for the comments section. Otherwise I would have downloaded the software and wasted my time.

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Trying to merge word document with excel spreadsheet for salary administration. Therefore French & English formating is required. How to keep French formating in Word merged letter. French typo Engl Typo X XXX,XX $ $X,XXX.XX Thank you for your input Regards, Elaine

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Thanks! This blog helped alot..Keep it up

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Hi, I tried this tool, but it did not keep the original formatting of my document and was no different than using the Insert/Object feature in Word. I followed the instructions above but it still did not work correctly. Thanks! Mandy

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(quote name='Mandy Osburn')Hi, I tried this tool, but it did not keep the original formatting of my document and was no different than using the Insert/Object feature in Word. I followed the instructions above but it still did not work correctly. Thanks! Mandy(/quote) yes, I had same result, and will not purchase!!

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(quote name='cindy')(quote name='Mandy Osburn')Hi, I tried this tool, but it did not keep the original formatting of my document and was no different than using the Insert/Object feature in Word. I followed the instructions above but it still did not work correctly. Thanks! Mandy(/quote) yes, I had same result, and will not purchase!!(/quote) Gee I wish I had read these comments BEFORE I downloaded this program. I have found the same problems. The program changes the page format, and will not allow the merge of documents that have headers and footers. How do I get rid of this program now?

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In the above mentioned comment, i was actually referring to the KUTOOLS for WORD program. I have not attempted the VBA suggestion, as I am not an Administrator to my work computer, I therefore did not feel safe enough to trial it. Maybe someone else can give feed back as to whether headers and footers can be merged into other documents without losing their format.

If you need to send batch documents to a group of individuals, the Microsoft Mail Merge feature is a fast and easy way to do it. Let’s review the step-by-step process.

If you need to send batch documents to a group of individuals, for example, an invitation to an event or meeting; the Microsoft Mail Merge feature is a fast and easy way to do it. We previously showed you show to prepare documents using the Mail Merge feature in Word 2016 for Windows, but the process a little bit different for users of Word 2016 for Mac. In this article, we show you how it works.

Using the Mail Merge Feature in Microsoft Word 2016 for Mac

Mail merge is not just for documents; you can use it for brochures, newsletters, or materials for mass mailings. Setting up a document for mail merge is a two-part process, which includes the main document and the data source consisting of the names and addresses of the individuals for each document. Information stored in the data source is used by Word to combine then generate documents for each.

Let’s begin by gathering information for each recipient called the Field Name. A field name contains information such as the name, address, and salutation. Another important part of creating a mail merge document is the Form, which includes information delivered to the recipient. The sample letter below contains a list of fields I will include in each document.

Create Recipient Lists

Launch Microsoft Word, then select the Mailings tab > Select Recipients > Create a New List.

The data source window will appear on the screen. As you can see, the List Fields are already populated with names you could use. Just to be safe, I would remove all of them and use your own to avoid any confusion. Select each field, then click the minus button to remove it. After clearing each field, proceed to enter your own. You can organize each field, using the up and down arrow. When you are done, click Create.

Merge Word Files

Give the data source a name then click Save.

Building on what @jes5199 discovered I also installed 'USB Overdrive'. https://cleverninja171.tumblr.com/post/655877578945642496/microsoft-sculpt-function-keys-mac.

Populate the fields with the names and addresses of each recipient, when complete, click OK. Note, to add or remove a record, click the plus or minus sign in the lower-left corner of the window.

Insert Merge Fields and Finish Merging Document

Now comes the easy part, inserting your merge fields. Select the Mailings tab, then click Insert Merge Field, then choose your merge field. Repeat the steps to populate your document with the appropriate merge fields.

Save the form letter, select the Mailings tab, then click Finish & Merge button then click Edit Individual Documents.

Microsoft Word Mac Combine Documents To Pdf

You can then review your documents or print them.

Users of Word 2016 for Windows will notice there are slight differences between both versions. Word 2016 for Mac is ironically reminiscent of Word 97 for Windows. Regardless, both produce the same results.

Microsoft Word Mac Free

For more tips and tricks for using Microsoft Office, browse our complete archive of Office articles.

[oliwiawidutoresearch]

User Research: Learning Support

As of this week, the 1st of October, I have started out on a journey to test the viability of my major project idea: Educational Templates.

Today I met with Gosia, who is a Learning Support Worker. She very kindly agreed to give up 2 hours of her time to talk all things education with me.

Things we discussed:

Lockdown

During lockdown Gosia’s institution used Exemplar Education to upload learning resources, which would be comprised of 3 parts:

a tutorial

practice exercises

an exam

The exam would have a threshold which the teacher could move up and down. The student would have to pass this to get to the next lesson, where they would repeat this process.

Below is a screenshot of Exemplar Education which I was able to find online.

Source: https://whattheredheadsaid.com/supporting-learning-home-exemplar-education/

The Problem With Distance Teaching: Accountability

Gosia told me there was very little engagement from students who wouldn’t access the portal due to a lack of accountability from teachers and parents.

She told me she had written down login information for students in their homework diaries, however students still claimed they couldn’t log in. There could genuinely have been issues with students’ credentials as reported, however it’s very likely that students lost and binned their homework diaries which became redundant when not attending school, losing their login details. 

Moreover, as trending on social media, one of the biggest issues of lockdown was being ripped out from our social circles which caused many adults across the world to lose sight of their goals and dreams, despite having to pay rent. As adults, we receive the payoff of our efforts once a month, giving us the motivation to keep pushing with cognitively straining tasks. Earning money opens up options; granola from the higher shelf, a downpayment on a home which we can make our own. Earning money is dreaming.

We must therefore ask ourselves, how to motivate for example, a 2nd year student. They will not be incentivised with money (options) for another 5 - 8 years depending on whether they decide to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Further complications arise from a deeply rooted compulsion for instant pleasure planted in us by the internet and an economy of instant services and cheaply made goods. 

When we want to see a friend we no longer take a 20 minute bus: we retrieve our phone from our pocket in less than 1 second.

Clothes are a mouse click away with 52 micro seasons instead of 4.

It is no surprise that students don’t have the mental stamina to motivate themselves to get up and work.

The Problem With Distance Teaching: Devices

Another issues Gosia mentioned, was access to the internet.

96% of people in the UK have access to the internet. In a school of 700, 28 people are unable to do their work. 

But it’s not that simple. To access Learning Management Systems such as Exemplar Education, you will need a computer. In 2018, 88% of UK households owned a computer. That means in a school of 700, 84 children are physically unable to do their work.

However, 99% of 16-24 year olds own a smartphone.

If we want to give kids the ability to do their homework, we need to ensure they can access it through their mobile device.

The Problem With Distance Teaching: Contact

Relating back to accountability, the school and it’s teachers must remain in contact with the parent body.

Gosia mentioned the only way her school was contacting parents to notify them about work was through auto generated emails. Between 70-80% of people aged 25-64 in the UK check their emails.

Between us: who checks automated emails?

Furthermore, Gosia told me that most of the emails sent out were not related to the work students have been doing. She, herself, would leave the majority of emails from her kids’ school unread.

It is as simple as linking up emails with a tool like IFTTT to send out customised emails to all parents per form group, per subject. For example:

Dear Parent of <student name>,

Today <student name> was assigned <tasks>

Please ensure these were completed.

All the best, <name of teacher>, teacher of <name of subject>

The Life of a Learning Support Worker

Gosia teaches kids with learning difficulties. This can range from dyslexia, selective mutism to hearing problems and beyond. She runs 1-to-1 sessions as well as facilitating space for other teachers and helpers to run their own.

Tools

Having spent 5 years at the school where Gosia now teaches, I can ascertain that all subjects are taught by a teacher preaching alongside a slide deck, followed by practical tasks and exercises: namely, writing things in a notebook.

By process of elimination, students who are deemed to have learning difficulties are those for whom this teaching style doesn’t work. For example, while teachers are forced to wear masks, deaf students can’t lip read.

I asked Gosia what techniques she uses to connect with her students.

“I mostly try to create links and associations between things my students already know, and those they don’t. For example, I have a dyslexic student with illiterate parents. He has trouble understanding letters and guesses words when he sees them in sentences. To teach him the letter B, I would draw it out and tell him it has a big belly so that he remembers the sound.

He learns by talking and doing, not reading - so I try to get him talking as much as possible. 

He is also a kinaesthetic learner. Sometimes I will give him words, and ask him to draw their outlines so that he can guess them by the general shape and not letter by letter.”

Gosia worried that adding more digital learning to the curriculum discourages students from doing their own thinking. She explained that Googling for synonyms removes the hard but vital work of getting up, getting a dictionary, going through the alphabet to get to the desired word and then reading about the word and other words by proxy. She believes these processes are key developmental tools.

Concentration

I asked Gosia what traits she notices in her students which may cause them to underperform. She mentioned that many students find it very hard to concentrate- they rush to get answer without doing the working out, per se. This causes them to miss out on learning the methods of getting from A to B.

Interestingly, she linked this to bad behaviour on the playground - rushing into doing things, without prior consideration.

She mentioned many of her students come in under slept and the lesson becomes a fight to keep them awake.

When I asked her what she does to combat concentration problems, she told me she puts on quiet piano music to get all students in the room on the same wavelength. She added she puts heavy emphasis on varying the worksheets and learning styles she uses to make sure that the students and herself are excited by the content. I strongly agree with this approach - it reminds me of A/B testing in the tech industry, whereby different ways of fulfilling the same tasks are tested with users until the best one is found.

My learning experience is best when the teacher clearly has love and passion for the subject. -Gosia’s Daughter

Gosia added that human connection and humor are key. Sometimes she reads to her students and they all have a laugh when she mispronounces something which helps them remember the word.

I found it very moving in the interview when Gosia explained that many students disassociate with learning when their self esteem plummets after getting their answers wrong.

She gave an example of a girl who was very clever but would score 20% on her exams because she was dyslexic. Gosia fights very hard to encourage her students every day and explain to them that they are not stupid - however this seems to be a very deeply engrained feeling.

Resources

Following on from the conversation about switching up teaching resources, I asked Gosia where she finds those which she uses.

She told me a recent favourite is the Facebook Group NI Teachers Collaborate.

She was clearly very passionate about the group, mentioning her favourite features are that resources are easily accessible at a subdomain of the page where they are organised under different folders by a moderator. She felt very strong that resources had to be approved and moderated.

Gosia repeatedly used the word ‘organised’ which led to believe that organisation is essential in her line of work.

I asked if she would be willing to spend money on resources and she enthusiastically agreed as well as saying that she has spent money in the past. She mentioned she would much rather prefer a subscription model where new content is continually uploaded as she worried that set content may not suit her needs and quickly become stale.

Gosia told me she liked taking notes - when I floated the idea of a book, once again she was very enthusiastic and added that after every chapter she would like some blank pages for taking notes. I decided that if she likes a lot of new content, it would be best to try a model such as YouTube videos with links to resources and a PDF explanation so that she can organise and print these into her own book. This way she can learn through a video lesson now, and reference her notes later on, in the classroom for example. 

She mentioned she doesn’t like using a computer so I imagine flicking through tabs of resources would cause a lot of cognitive strain. Though I haven’t tested, I would guess most teachers prefer offline resources so I will need to focus heavily on creating a seamlessly blended approach.

[steamishot]

All COVID

So much has happened since the last time I wrote. That was when US/California started taking action. March 15 is when they announced that people will not be allowed to dine in at restaurants. I remember this clearly because I had a lunch date with steph at paper pot. We were the only ones at the restaurant, joking that social distancing was quite effective there. We also stopped by to get boba one last time before it was mandatory to remove the seating areas. 

I stayed in most of my first week WFH because it was raining. My first couple days, I was a quite anxious about WFH. We are asked to submit a daily work log to our managers everyday, and also submit a weekly list of tasks that we wish to accomplish that week. My manager is super chill and protective of us - she told us that we must “cover our butts” and do not downplay anything we are doing. She stresses to upper management that all of our jobs are important. Currently, it seems that my department has a plan until April 19. Parking is also waived during this time (I’m saving so much money on not spending on gas and parking). It was discussed in the meeting that since many conferences, clinics, and activities are canceled, there’s not much need for admin support. If we will need to continue WFH after April 19, we may be able to last another month or so on doing part-time work and be compensated for the rest by administrative leave. Past that, furlough is on the table. I think our team should be safe though, because April to August is our busy season.

My second half of my first week WFH was heaven. Being able to sleep in til 8 and having the California sunshine wake me up was a dream. I was enjoying spending time with my family, not having to commute, being able to connect virtually with friends, and go hiking at the nearby trail. 

I’m now halfway through my second week WFH. I honestly do not mind the quarantine life if it weren’t for the depressive state of our world. US is gonna surpass China and Italy in numbers soon. I feel like it’s hard to work in this anxious state. I’m even more worried because Matt is working on the frontline. Every time I see an article about how a doctor has died due to covid, it breaks my heart a little. But I also have to consider that it takes a certain personality and strength to be a doctor, and actual doctors don’t react to this the same way the general public does. 

This week when I’ve talked to him, he acted calm and normal and is more distressed over noncovid related things. For example, he talked multiple times about how the Chair of his department kinda humiliated him/called him out for doing something stupid, about our housing situations, about being able to fly home or not next month, about the economic stimulus. But doesn’t seem very worried about covid in his hospital, and semi-playfully says “i’m going to war!!” when he leaves for work. His psychologist friend who is already an attending in an Arizona hospital sent him 2 packages full of masks, n95s as well as n-100s which are even stronger. I’m so grateful for that. Luckily, his mom asked him to steal some n-95s last month, so he has like 8 of those in storage too. It calms me down knowing that he has the proper supplies when it comes the time that they run out. 

Also big news that I should write out - he matched! He’s waited a decade for this email. I’m happy for him even though his real dream would have been able to come back to Cali. I’m gaining more experience on being a doctor’s partner. I follow the subreddit medspouse a lot and it’s like I have friends going through the same things together - relationship struggles, match day, the fear of covid, etc. There are also frequent posts from people who are newly dating  (~2 months) a resident or med student. A very common question is - are they even interested or are they just super busy? It’s become a part of my identity and it’s very interesting to read other people’s experiences. 

A few months ago, we got into a big argument because he wasn’t able to give me a timeline of when to move in together in the case that he does match into Brooklyn. I was upset because I felt like he wasn’t sure about our future, and about wanting to live with me. I felt it was his way of pushing it off. He said it was because it was too much pressure to think past match day, because he would be so devastated if he didn’t match again. I didn’t truly understand or believe him. Right after he matched, he sent me a text “cutie pie is moving to NY”. And immediately, he brought up concrete plans about moving in together i.e. rent amount, neighborhoods, month of move in, etc. It made me feel so secure. This time, I was the one who couldn’t promise anything. Because COVID. I have no idea what’s gonna unfold these upcoming weeks and months. I was thinking that in the case I am furloughed, I can move onto a different job in NYC and have a smooth transition. 

My dad is finally behaving more. He’s been following the news on TV nonstop. Along with this, my parents’ friends keep sending them sometimes fake news via wechat. My mom is especially gullible to these. My dad started cutting up onions to put around the house because “that’s what they did in the 70s” post bombing attacks. Some quality family time: I made my parents do virtual yoga with me. We basically eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together everyday, hiked with my mom, bonded (and sometimes argued) because of covid together. 

Last thing is that I’ve been super interested in learning about borderline personality disorder these past couple days. My long-term friend B who I’ve complained about many times this past year and a half - I’ve finally labeled her as a toxic friend. The first few times I’ve described her to Matt, he instantly said BPD. I didn’t believe him at first and was just like nah she doesn’t have that. But he said it again recently and I looked up the symptoms. It was very descriptive. I believe that she started becoming a worse friend in the last 1.5 years or so because she stopped having a LTR boyfriend. When she has a LTR boyfriend, he becomes the main receiver of this whole BPD mess. That means, during our almost decade friendship, I never really saw that side of her because she’s been in LTRs. After her last relationship, she’s been jumping from guy to guy and having unstable short-lived relationships. However, I think she may have recently found another LTR guy. Since I am her “best friend”, I defaulted to being one of the receivers of her BDPness during this searching for a new person endeavor. 

She became all take and no give (actually she did give me a sorry/Xmas gift and a birthday card). I kinda stopped relying on her and increasingly lost respect for her. She constantly sent me screenshots of text messages between her and her boy of the moment. I looked through our text images together yesterday and 90% were screenshots between her and a boy. And all we ever texted about were her boys. I didn’t really have an issue with this, until I saw how much more effort she put in for these boys, while getting very flat effort in our friendship (through text and in person). It was close to the last straw for me when she sent over some screenshots during the week we were transitioning to WFH. In my mind, I was thinking “how could you possibly still be concentrating on ONLY boys during a time like this”. She tried to make convo with me (in an effort to be less self-absorbed) the next few days with very little effort or interest in the things I was saying. I then got annoyed when her boy toy messaged me directly and asked about how to make her happy. I felt like omg - i can’t escape her love life. I later tried to have a convo with her about this, but was met with little effort, victim playing, and avoidance. Anyway, I’m social distancing myself from her by muting all her stuff on social media and muting the group chat I was in with her and her sisters. I don’t plan to really answer her messages anymore. 

[peakwealth]

The Year 2019 (1)

The writing on the wall: Hong Kong

You get the idea (December 2019)

As I remember it, the trouble in Hong Kong started a few years ago when local pollsters thought of asking people if they identified (A) more as Chinese or (B) more as Hong Kongers. It was a loaded question. Indeed, many respondents said they felt like Hong Kongers first. In Beijing the official reaction was one of incomprehension if not outrage: patriotism and allegiance to the People's Republic were non-negotiable requirements for all Chinese nationals, including those living in Hong Kong and Macau, or Tibet and Xinjiang for that matter. As far as Beijing was concerned there was no such thing as a Hong Kong identity and any expression of disloyalty to the Motherland, let alone the hint of demands for autonomy, was way beyond the red line.

But the signal went mostly unheeded, Bejing's displeasure unrecognized. Unwilling to bend, no doubt seeing a historic window of opportunity, Hong Kongers became more assertive. What was supposed to be one of the most money-obsessed places in the world, the native habitat of Vuitton and Gucci, became a hothouse for political activism. Based on the calculation that Beijing would be very, very reluctant to put its foot down in a place as globally visible and financially important as Hong Kong, the opposition grew bolder.

When, in the sticky late summer days of 2014, the so-called umbrella revolution brought the central business district to a standstill, the unthinkable had started. It turned out that the discontent was not a fringe phenomenon or a passing student fantasy. There was genuine, broad-based popular support for the civil disobedience. The sit-ins lasted for seventy-nine days.

More acts of political defiance followed.

When Beijing tried to finesse its way out of a promise of free elections with universal suffrage for Hong Kong's chief executive in 2017, Hong Kongers stood firm. Some organized (successfully) an unofficial referendum on the matter, complete with registered voters' lists, booths and observers. Others, when finally elected to the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's parliament, openly refused to swear allegiance to the PRC and ridiculed the Communist Party. Although they were promptly disqualified, the insult stuck.

Hong Kongers also continued to mark each anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre with massive demonstrations, something utterly taboo in mainland China, which, one always needs to remember, is no further away than the border post at the end of Hong Kong's subway lines. Once you cross that boundary the rules change dramatically.

The marches were meant to rub it in: we won't forget. And: you can't do that to us.

Hong Kongers also took note that they lived in a superior political environment, enjoying the kind of freedom that anyone inside mainland China could only dream of. And they were extremely unwilling to give up the advantage they had.

The world of 2019 is a very different place from what it was in 1997 when His Royal Highness Prince Charles steamed out of Hong Kong harbour aboard the royal yacht Britannia, bringing colonial rule to an end. Hong Kong had become a Special Administrative Region, nominally part of China but with an actual border, its own set of (radically different) rules and a separate constitution guaranteed to last half a century.

The intervening years have not been kind to the United Kingdom. It has lost much of its global clout, while China's self confidence has grown beyond recognition. Compared to the charlatans and fools in charge of some Western democracies today, Xi Jin Ping must look to many like a man of substance who knows where he's going.

In theory, Hong Kong's separate status runs out in 2047, but the end might come earlier, whenever Beijing decides that enough is enough and it cancels the contract. The rise of China's power is such that when push comes to shove on the streets of Hong Kong, Xi may no longer feel bound by the deal - 'one country, two systems' - originally agreed to back in 1990 by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

It is therefore not hard to understand why Hong Kongers are anxious to preserve their democratic  breathing space before time runs out.

In many ways, the belligerence of this year's protests already reflects that sense of urgency. Leaders of the mutiny used risky language, about independence, about revolutions being impossible without violence. They had their Bastille day when they stormed and trashed the Hong Kong legislature on July 1st. The police somehow didn't stop them. They defaced the symbols of the People's Republic, attacked police stations and shouted: 'Liberate Hong Kong.'

Liberate what?

A political climb-down quickly became impossible since there was no way Beijing could or would accede to the demands of the mob. The loss of face would have been too painful, the consequences too serious. The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam (the Theresa May of Hong Kong politics?), made a tearful, ineffectual appeal for reflection and then stayed out of sight. With the airport in chaos and everything live-streamed and amplified on the internet, things got uglier by the day with little effort to de-escalate the situation.

Things did get ugly (Screenshot from the South China Morning Post website)

Next, the hard core of the protesters turned their anger at anything, and occasionally anyone, too clearly associated with mainland China, from face recognition cameras to banks, Starbucks coffee shops or the public transit system. As the police force became weary and frustrated, the protesters turned up the heat. While the actual violence remained mostly symbolic and theatrical, certainly compared to the much heavier damage inflicted by protesters in, say, Santiago de Chile or to the hundreds shot and killed by police in demonstrations in Iran or Irak, it did descend into an embittered little intifada, fought by teenagers with slingshots and bows-and-arrows. Some, it turned out when they were finally arrested, were only twelve years old. That in itself was reassuring in a way. But without a political end game, the protesters should have known that their heroics were futile and that there would be a high price to pay for challenging the unassailable might of the People's Republic of China and the rulebook of the Communist Party.

But something had happened. The nimbleness and the determination of the street warriors proved to be infectious. They were eagerly emulated in many parts of the world, including by pro-democracy activists in Moscow and separatists in Barcelona. The simple tactics of deface, disrupt and destroy could be put to work in many societies, inherently fragile since they were never designed to withstand such hostility from within. The visuals from Hong Kong showed how a few petrol bombs, thrown with cinematic effect, could go a long way. But the real worry must have been that some people inside the mainland China might have been tempted to follow the Hong Kong example.

A not unrealistic fear (December 2019)

It is easy to imagine the head scratching in Beijing. How could a bunch of teenagers challenge the colossus China? What was it about China's social contract (a better life, affluence, security, BMWs  and fashionable clothes in return for unfailing political compliance) that the baby faced rabble rousers in Hong Kong didn't get? From China's point of view, Hong Kongers' demands were as intrinsically perverse as they were unrealistic: representative democracy and freedom of expression are incompatible with the nature of the Chinese state, built around the historical fiction of the Communist Party and its exclusive grip on power.

It would therefore seem perfectly predictable, not to say normal (in Beijing) that Hong Kong's constitutional privileges should start to fade as the convergence between the two systems progressed over time. In other words, Hong Kongers should get used to the idea that their special freedoms would slowly evaporate by 2047, at the very latest. Rather than go cold turkey in 2047, did it not make sense to wean Hong Kongers off their bad habits long before then, bit by bit? They would become ordinary Chinese citizens and learn to keep their heads down and their mouths shut.

But the protesters didn't see it that way. They did not want to be infantilized by China or by its rubbery local servants. They pretended not to understand that if they kept challenging the state, bad things were likely to happen. And after months of stand-offs with the police, they still believed that Beijing would find it impossible to send Hong Kongers, sophisticated and globalized as they were, to distant reeducation camps - not without destroying a city that remained so useful as a financial hub that was effectively part of the Western world. Not China.

Hong Kong before...

..and after.

They were right. Clearly, Hong Kong had become a maddening problem for the Chinese to deal with, even compared to Tibet or the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region. What to do when people just refused to comply and your hands were, in essence, tied? It was unimaginable for a leadership so powerful and so accustomed to complete control and submission.

The scary question therefore remained: if intimidation didn't work, what kind of pressure would finally be needed to put the lid back on? Or seen from the other side of the equation, how far could the demonstrators push without triggering the 'nuclear option’, namely sending in the People's Liberation Army? The very thought of Hong Kongers, minors, standing tall in front of Chinese tanks, wielding cheap umbrellas from 7-Eleven while waiting to be crushed and martyred, live in front of a thousand smartphones, must have haunted the decision makers in Beijing.

Hong Kong is about more than having a separate 'system'. Like most advanced societies, Hong Kong is largely self-regulating, it relies on personal responsability to keep things moving along collectively. It assumes that, given proper incentives and parameters, most people will act sensibly and in their own enlightened self-interest. Today's China, on the other hand, is not inclined to trust anyone with anything. It wants absolute control and has rolled out an unparalleled security and control apparatus that can track and evaluate any of its citizens non-stop. Or at least makes them believe so.

An example. After months of rioting and often severe damage to Hong Kong's subway stations, they remain open and freely accessible without any security checks or police controls (cameras excepted, of course). That is not the Chinese way. On the mainland, all big-city subways have security checks (luggage scanners, metal detectors and explosives detectors) on each and every entrance, all the time. It requires enormous numbers of security staff, but that is how it goes in China. Submit and smile, or else.

It therefore makes perfect sense for Hong Kongers to reject, not a 'system', but an increasingly despotic police state where everyone is  advised not to ask questions and not to put their foot wrong, never ever.

In the end, it may be that Deng's clever idea of 'one country, two systems', of having an open, quasi-democratic province attached to a paternalistic, authoritarian state, was too far-fetched to begin with. The narrative simply never made sense, meaning that you can't have it both ways after all, not even for fifty years.

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(*) Fragrant Harbour, a Warning. https://peakwealth.tumblr.com/post/90345311697

See also; https://peakwealth.tumblr.com/post/158537836222

https://peakwealth.tumblr.com/post/90345311697

[cemo-roid]

Pairs ID, A Step To Become An Official Pairs!!

With Gladius guiding the way, we reached the Management Office within half an hour and the division called Centra... which was actually a place to create IDs for the Rozes and their Trainers

"Well, without further ado! Let's start making IDs for both of you!!"

...and with that, we followed the processes to create our own IDs

Thanks to the absence of most people, the registration process went off without any troubles. We also didn’t have to wait for a long time as the line is empty, and Gladius helped to hasten the process of ID creation only by being with us

...I already knew that he was not just a worker, but I didn’t know he was someone with such a strong influence in here

'Nua, who is this Gladius person you sent to us?’

I sent the message after I got my picture taken. Surprisingly, it took her 2 minutes before the reply reached my inbox

‘That person REALLY came to you!?

I already told him to send one or two officers in his stead’

‘No, I don’t care about that

Who is this person?’

‘...you really never cared about anything but those games of yours, huh...

You know you can just search it on the net if you want to, right?’

Though she said (typed) that, she still sent me a screenshot of net search result. I downloaded the image and read it silently as I sat on one of the available chairs

“Then, miss Mio? Please come over here to have your picture taken”

“Umm, okay...”

Just as I finished reading the piece of information, a message popped up in my screen’s notification. After reading it, I stood up and approached the old man who was talking with one of the available workers and pointed my chin at Centra’s entrance

Although slightly confused, Gladius still followed me as we both walked out of Centra

“You sure you’re not going to accompany your girl?”

“Oh, I’m going to.” I pulled out my ringing phone and picked up the call. “Just that I think I’ll save you from being embarrassed in front of your people”

After handing him my smartphone, I went back to Centra while pulling up my hoodie and covering my ears. And in the next moment, I could hear Nua shouting ‘YOU IDIOT OLD MAAAAAANNN!!’ from my own phone as the automatic door closed behind me

While lightly praying that his ears would still survive after that, I approached Mio who had her wheelchair pushed by one of the officers

“Sergia! I was looking for you!! Where did you go to just now!?”

“Nua called, so I had to pick it up outside,” I answered as I took over the pushing duty and gave my thanks to the officer. “Have you finished all the procedures?”

“Nnn! I can’t wait to become an official Roze!”

“You definitely have to wait. You still have to practice with your new Gear, after all”

“Mmmhhh... I don’t like practicing like that on my own”

Mio’s wheelchair suddenly took off on its own and turned around, slowly moving backwards as her body faced my direction. She then made a coy smile as she looked at me with upturned eyes

“...I’ll consider it if you can accompany my training, though~”

“............only if I’m free”

Satisfied with that answer, Mio turned her wheelchair once again and moved next to the waiting chairs before waving her hands energetically. I made a light sigh at that before occupying the chair right next to her

“...hey, Sergia”

“Nnn?”

"With this, I’m going to be an official Roze, right?”

“Uh huh, that’s why we’re here”

“...what’s the difference between that and a normal Roze?”

...I have to start from there, huh...

The response made me question whether her old man just gave her free reins to do anything instead of actually teaching her about being a Roze

“...what do you know about Rozes, then?”

“Mmmnn... that they are humans gifted from birth, capable of doing things others normally can’t?”

“That’s a bit rough on the edges, but it’s mostly true,” I answered before letting out a weak sigh. “But it might be more apt to say that Rozes can do one or several things a lot easier than other people”

“...what’s the difference?”

“Let’s assume a random person A is capable of lifting weights up to 5 kg with one hand. On the other hand, B is a Power-Type Roze capable of lifting up to 25kg with one hand, using the same strength she did as person A”

Mio let out an ‘ooohhh...’ as she listened... but soon tilted her head slightly

“What about other Rozes with different Types?”

“They’re just the same as other people in that regard,” I answered, slightly happy that she was listening to my explanation. “Movement-Type Rozes utilizing their feet can run for miles without needing to drink or eat, but their strength is not that different from any ordinary person. It is especially the case for Support-Type Rozes, who are basically just ordinary people but capable of aiding others in their own ways”

“...are all Rozes of the same Type have the same... capability?”

“The answers are yes, no, and it depends”

Seeing Mio tilting her head even more in confusion, I inadvertently let out a chuckle and patted her head 

“All Rozes are equally different from each other, even for those within the same Type. For example, Rozes whose Gears are focused on running quickly have better stamina, endurance, and leg strength than Rozes focused on flying, who have better in-depth perception and eyesight. The same for Rozes who excelled more in punches than those with kicks”

“Ohhh...” Mio widened her eyes, this time in understanding 

“Every Roze had their own specialties and boosted capability compared to even other Rozes within the same Type and focus. It may not be noticeable at first, but it will be visible as the Roze grows and able to reach the next Materialization Stages to unlock more Gears”

I paused for a moment to take a breath, but then noticed Mio's eyes slowly turned hollow... showing that she was already lost

Chuckling at that, I lightly patted her head before continuing

"To put it simply, you will soon realize your own talent when you unlock your Second Stage... or in other words, when you Paired up with your Trainer, me. After that, by registering yourself as an official Pairs, you'll be able to use the facilities here to practice and train your own Gears"

...well, in exchange for subordination and need to comply when your presence is requested... not completely mandatory, though

"...I see... Sergia really knew a lot about Rozes, huh?”

Mio sounded genuinely impressed as she looked at me with somewhat glittering eyes

“Is that so? I think this is just common knowledge”

“Maybe it is... but I don’t think a normal person will know about any of that, much less remember them!”

She turned her wheelchair to face me and leaned her body forward, flashing her bright expression in my direction

“Sergia, are you actually interested in Rozes!? Or even to be a Trainer!?!?”

“..................well, it will be a lie if I said I wasn’t”

Just as the automatic door opened behind me, I saw Gladius walking with a lethargic face... perhaps the same expression I made after Nua got mad at me after eating her chocolate

After walking towards us and handing me back my phone, he walked to the officers and talked a bit before walking back to us

“Ahem... Trainer Sergia and Roze Mio, although there is no official ceremony or the like, you two are now officially recognized as a Pairs”

Although Mio’s face beamed brightly as she heard that, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disturbed at his formal way of speaking

“We will dispatch one personal transportation for Mio to go home. Please expect the ID to be delivered to your home within several days”

“Oh, then we can go home now?”

“Yes, Mio can go home or train here if you want to. I will make sure you will be able to access all the facilities available for your current Stage”

I was about to bid farewell and leave the premise along with Mio... but then Gladius grabbed my jacket and pulled me weakly

“......Sergia?”

“...sorry, Mio. I want to talk a bit with old man here”

“...nn! I’ll be heading to the car first!”

Hearing her saying that cheerfully as she left, a smile inadvertently formed on my face... but it was quickly replaced with a serious one when I turned around and looked at the old man Gladius

...no, calling him an old man would be disrespectful at this point

“So you’re the Trainer who successfully repelled two Monster attacks in a row...”

The person standing in front of me right now was not just someone working in the Institute

Right now, he was a person standing on top of the Trainer’s Association... in other words, Nua’s superior

“...come to my office. We’ll talk there”

[ansatsu-database]

E-25 Yada Touka - Character Profile

If this were any other author out there, chances are Yada would've been left as a plain old fan service character. I'm glad that Matsui-sensei isn't one of those. While I'm at it, I like that Matsui has always gone for a modest and conservative approach with his female characters (cases like Genuine and Irina don't count), and able to shine on stage with the male characters too. The only other work I've seen in a long time that's cleaner in this regard is Sket Dance.

Main credits go to a certain Baidu forumer for translating the profiles from the Roll Book Time Databook to a language I understand. In accordance with her wish, her screenshots from the book will not be copied elsewhere, so refer to the following link to see extracts of Yada's profile:

Extracts of Yada's profile

And because this is a Japanese -> Chinese -> English translation for the most part, while I have endeavoured to keep things as accurate as possible, not everything may be successfully conveyed across

E-25 Yada Touka (矢田 桃花) – adores B*tch-sensei, #1 nice body in Class E

“Reception and negotiation techniques… once we go out to society, wouldn’t these become our sharpest blades?"

Description

Having been taught about the “second blade” by Korosensei, she’s been diligently learning techniques in reception and negotiation. She’s been learning all sorts of things girls ought to be well-versed in from Irina, and now she’s just polishing her own girl power. Because she’s still in the stage of adolescence, her chest is still maturing, something the boys get restless about every day. (TN: “girl power” here is also Joushiryoku, which I’d explained in Okano’s Profile)

As the ones who handle negotiations, if Yada and Kurahashi are deployed, a mere one or two targets will be finished off quickly.

When it comes to the super slow tempo love development between her master B*tch-sensei and the unseducible Karasuma-sensei, she just supports it without making fun of it.

Code Name: Ponytail and Chest (ポニーテールと乳 / ponytail to chichi), Okajima’s idea

“Oho, the point of code names is to relay that person’s charm and characteristics as-is for the sake of assassinations, and this is important even for boys around the world.” (Said with a serious face)

Birthday: August 1st

Height: 161cm

Weight: 51kg

Bust Size: E

Blood Type: A

Favourite Subject: Japanese

Worst Subject: Maths

Interests and special skills: Things girls ought to be well-versed in, Irina-style

Past Club: Tennis Club (TN: boys and girls seem to have separate clubs, so not the same as Isogai)

Treasured Item(s): a Shu Uemura lipstick from Irina (TN: this is a real brand)

Favourite Food: Pancakes

Bento or Snacks: Bento

Election Headline (from the 1st Popularity Poll): The girl power of the chest!!

From Korosensei, Announcement of Results from the Periodic Exams (Main 5 subjects) (credits to young-il-long-kiyoshi)

Her grades in the 5 main subjects have all elevated uniformly. From the 2nd trimester onwards, when Yada started to become close with Irina-sensei, her English skills have steadily gone up. Natural conversations do indeed make for good education material.

(TN: this may be a callback to Chapter 10, when Korosensei expressed his gratitude that the students got to converse with a natural foreigner)

1st Trimester Mid-Terms: 335 points (92nd place)

1st Trimester End-of-Terms: 392 points (50th place)

2nd Trimester Mid-Terms: 373 points (75th place)

Score breakdown

Show

1st Trimester Mid-Terms English: 70 points (80th place) Japanese: 74 points (111st place) Maths: 55 points (136th place) Science: 69 points (51st place) Social Studies: 67 points (81st place) Composite Score: 335 points (92nd place)

1st Trimester End-of-Terms English: 83 points (45th place) Japanese: 87 points (20nd place) Maths: 68 points (78th place) Science: 79 points (26th place) Social Studies: 75 points (52nd place) Composite Score: 392 points (50th place)

2nd Trimester Mid-Terms English: 90 points (25th place) Japanese: 75 points (105th place) Maths: 66 points (90th place) Science: 72 points (47th place) Social Studies: 70 points (70th place) Composite Score: 373 points (75th place)

Karasuma’s Assassination Aptitude (graded on a scale of 6)

Initially her marksmanship had already been good (tied for 3rd in the June test), but recently when it comes to infiltration assassination-related content, she’s been showing world-class potential, probably because she’s been learning various skills from Irina.

Strategy/Planning: 4

Commanding/Leadership: 2

Execution (Ability to carry out plans): 3

Technique (Traps, weapons, preparations, etc): 1

Scouting/Intelligence Gathering: 4

Politics/Negotiations: 6

B*tch-sensei’s Fashion Check (credits to young-il-long-kiyoshi)

Touka's current fashion is in the midst of ascending the stairway from a girl to a woman. Reminds me of my own past~ But if she wants to better mesmerise men with her charms, she needs to at least show off more of her skin.

School Uniform

She wraps her cardigan around her waist when wearing her uniform. She adopts grown-up women's fashion faster than anyone.

Street Clothes

Her no-slip shirt has a soft texture that feels girly. It's a style that shows her appeal without being too sly.

Character Relationships

- Kayano Kaede (addressed as Kaede-chan) -

She more or less figured that Kayano condemns big chests, but she’s been avoiding that landmine.

- Irina Jelavic (addressed as B*tch-sensei) -

At first their conversations were mainly about reception, negotiation and various other “second blade” topics, but recently their conversations are mostly to do with her relationship with Karasuma. She’s a companion who knows Irina’s phone number. Rather than teacher and student, they feel more like friends, and they’re planning to hold a hotpot party in the coming winter.

- Shiota Nagisa (addressed as Nagisa-kun) -

When Takaoka was one-sidedly pummelling on Nagisa (at Okinawa), she couldn’t help but turn away from the scene. She hates blood and gore, which is why she’s committed herself to perfecting her negotiation skills in order to avoid fighting.

- Muramatsu Takuya (addressed as Muramatsu-kun) -

In elementary school, he once popped into the classroom in which she was learning piano, but very soon he gave up on learning, which she still remembers.

- Kataoka Megu (addressed as Megu) -

In the past, there was a (short period of) time when she lost her heart to Ikemegu. Although, there are lots of girls who want to be close with Kataoka.

(TN: to make sure there's no misunderstanding, this was something in the past. Roll Book Time was based on material up to Volume 13, so by then Yada's girl crush is over)

- Okano Hinata (addressed as Hinata-chan) -

She had already noticed how Okano feels about Maehara very early on, and has been rooting on her from the side. But Maehara hasn’t noticed this at all, so she’s feeling pretty dissatisfied.

- Kurahashi Hinano (addressed as Hina-chan) -

They both have gentle and quiet personalities yet still have pretty high girl power, should any average boy look down and flirt with them, they'll be peacefully, verbally cornered into silence before they even notice.

- Okajima Taiga (addressed as Okajima-kun) -

Okajima has his eyes on her, but because he has no immunity against a real girl’s body, they have not reached a stage of being in (any physical) contact with each other.

Matsui-sensei’s Exclusive Behind the Scenes Data

Irina’s best disciple. Due to learning so many new things, her communication abilities are outstanding. She had been troubled about her huge chest, but through her days of assassination and under Irina’s guidance, she learnt that (psychological) complexes are also weapons that one can make use of in communication.

She once neglected a test because she had to nurse her sickly little brother, and fell into Class E as a result.

When she was caught during the Cops and Robbers game on the mountain, she made known that she had a sickly little brother. There was acting and it did look suspicious, but it really was the reason that she fell into Class E.

[morganhazelwood]

A Starter’s Guide For Fiction Writers Trying To “Establish A Social Media Presence” Part 3

Part 1      Part 2

Part 3: Short-Form Social Media and Hashtags

Two weeks ago, I shared my descent into social media and my guiding philosophies for interacting with others on the internet. Last week, I discussed the generals about creating a website and starting your own blog. 

Now? Let's talk about the rest of the social mediums. 

https://youtu.be/KMcXYO9nMYU   

ALL OF THEM. Or maybe I'll hit 2000 words before I've finished with Facebook, and Twitter, and Hashtags, oh my!... Looks like there's gonna be a Part 4 after all.  

Facebook

The granddaddy of all social media these days. With 'friends', 'followers', and everything in between.

What is Facebook

In case you've been living under a rock: For Facebook, you sign up, and your "profile page" shows all your "posts"-- anything you want to share from 1 liners to links, to long-form notes. You 'friend' people and they friend you back. Your 'feed' consists of what you and your friends post. It's often sorted by 'Top Stories' - i.e. things that others have been commenting or 'liking' (hitting the thumbs up button on) a lot.

But, you can switch it to show the feed in chronological order as well.

Groups and Privacy

There are privacy settings of 'public', 'friends only', and you can create your own custom lists, or share in groups. Groups are facebook pages with members and their own privacy settings. You can search for groups based on your interests, or just wait for people to invite you. If the group is private, the posts can't be shared externally, and can't be seen by other people. This doesn't mean people can't screenshot them, though. So be considerate of what you post. Your Facebook page is where you can announce things to everyone you've ever known and their 2nd cousins. (Unless they're under 13.)

One Thing. Teens are catching on about that whole object permanence thing. They're moving off Facebook, to places their parents don't supervise. To places where the message is erased right after they send it.

How to use Facebook and Improve Your Visibility

Personally? Most of my followers, writing groups, and blog share hits come from Facebook. Despite the teen-flee, it's still super useful and a great way to connect. 

However, if people don't interact with you, Facebook will stop showing them your posts. Especially blog links or Patreons, assuming they're all spam. 

So how do you make Facebook show your friends and followers your posts? 

Don't just talk about your writing! Post things from your life, upload pictures, share memes (stock images, with quippy text). 

If you have pets? The internet is 50% cat pictures and videos and people still love them. 

You can share personal information without sharing private information. You'll see me talking about my life and interactions, but only rarely do I discuss details or name names.

Facebook Pages?

These are sort of like a Group but typically owned by one person or a business. They're for professional use only. If you're an author, it's reasonable to establish one. But, don't count on anything here being seen unless you have a large group of active followers, or you pony up some cash. They have the lowest priority in Facebook feed because Facebook wants to earn some money off you. Another way to get seen more is to post videos or pictures. Facebook prioritizes these. Especially facebook videos, but I'm not quite ready for live-streaming...

Twitter

This one can be very polarizing. Some people love it, some people hate it. A lot of it is in how you use it and what sections of twitter you hang out in. This is one I'd REALLY advise caution when wading into socio-political issues.

What is Twitter

Here, you chose a username, add a brief description, then share text or images, up to 280 characters long (it used to be 140 characters). Remember to think about brand consistency. You can change your profile name, but the username, i.e. the '@whatever' part will stay the same FOREVER.

How To Use Twitter

There are no 'groups', per se. And everything is shown on your feed chronologically. Which means, after you've followed a couple handfuls of people, it can be hard to keep up. 

I like to create lists. Mostly based on why I followed them (agents/publishers), or where I know them from (Writer support group A or Support Group B). That way, when I see a comment in my feed, I can associate it with the right people. 

I have to admit, unless your profile picture is of you, or your name is in your username? I have a hard time keeping track of who is who on twitter. And... I kinda don't even try. 

If you like a post, you can 'heart' it. 

It's perfectly reasonable to respond to a tweet directed at you with a GIF--and Twitter has the GIF library to support it (before facebook!) 

If you want to share a post, so your followers can see it - it bumps it in THEIR follower’s feed so they have a better chance of seeing it. You can either 'Retweet' or 'Quote Retweet'. Quote retweet lets you add your own comment to the reshared tweet, and means they won’t get notifications for everyone who comments on it. You can @mention someone in your tweet, so it shows up on their notifications. Just type @[their username] and they'll be notified.

Confession?

I spend a lot more time tweeting and looking at my notifications than I do looking at my main twitter feed. When I do want to see what my friends are saying, I'll go to specific lists and look. The rest of the tweets? I only see what Twitter suggests as "your friends are liking this post" or "did you miss this" from people I interact with a lot.

Why Writers Should Consider Twitter

Twitter offers a lot of opportunities:

A writing community

Make sure you look at the 'Latest Tweets', not the 'Top Tweets' tab that's the default, or you may be seeing posts that are months old 

Twitter Pitch Contests:

Essentially, boil your Manuscript's pitch down to about 240 characters, add the relevant hashtags

The contest name: #pitchWhatever

Your manuscript's genre: #f (fantasy) #r (romance), #litfic (literary fiction), etc

Twitter Contests:

Some are for Mentors:

#AMM - Author Mentor Match

#PitchWars

Some are for Query critiques

#sunVsSnow

Some are for first page/chapter reviews

Many agents and Editors are active on Twitter.

#MSWL (Manuscript wish list) can help you find agents who are looking for your manuscript. 

Looking at their feed can give you a good feel for their personality, and if they're a good fit.

WARNING: Do NOT go back 5 years worth of tweets, gleaning for every crumb you can, liking all their posts. That's creepy. Just look a couple weeks back, or look at a specific tag.

Hashtags

I just referenced a lot of hashtags, but they require their own discussion. 

Twitter is one of those places where hashtags are important. 

Hashtags often give context to a post. But also, they can be ways of finding related discussions, or groups. And are useful for searching a person's posts, for a specific topic. 

Just because you're a member of a group, doesn't mean all of your tweets are related to that topic. But if you hashtag it with the group's hashtag, everyone can find it. 

NOTE: DO NOT MISUSE HASHTAGS You will annoy people, or get remembered...for the wrong reasons. People use hashtags to find related posts and if you use them improperly, the search will be cluttered with off-topic posts.

Hashtag Do's

DO participate in Twitter Pitch Events such as: #PitchSlam, #pg70pit, #pitmad, #SFFPit, #PBPitch, #FaithPitch, and #IWSGPit

An agent "like" on a twitter pitch during these contests is ONLY a request for a query. Add the contest hashtag to the subject line of your query and submit as normal, unless the agent has previously tweeted that you should do otherwise.

DO read the #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) tag is for agents (and Editors of publishing houses) to share what they're looking for.

If they're looking for something that's a VERY CLOSE fit to the manuscript you're actively ready to query, go to their agency website and submit while adding a reference to the #MSWL item to your query.

DO join in on weekly hashtags like:

#1linewed - there's a theme each week, search to find it

#WIPjoy - Work In Progress joy - a line that makes you happy that you recently wrote

#FF - follow Fridays, where you tag friends or writers you'd recommend others follow

#mondayBlogs

DO use hashtags like #askagent to communicate with agents

DO use hashtags like #amwriting, #amediting, #writersLife, #writeTips, #writingTips, #5amwritersClub, #9pmwritersClub, and #nanowrimo to connect with other writers!

Things To Avoid

DO NOT pitch directly to agents. Outside of twitter pitch contests, Twitter is NOT for pitching.

DO NOT ask an agent if they like the sound of your novel.

DO NOT DM (direct message) them.

DO NOT stalk and act like you're suddenly besties.

DO NOT tweet on #10queries, #tenqueries, #MSWL, etc. These are for AGENTS and Editors of Publishing companies

DO NOT flood weekly hashtags with a stack of tweets.

DO NOT use #askAgent for anything google can tell you in 2 minutes

Don't ask what genres they represent, take 2 minutes to look at their literary agency website.

When you go to add a hashtag, on the app (unfortunately, not on the computer), it'll show you the hashtag's frequency. It can be 250 tweets in the last hour, or day, or ever. 

The more popular a hashtag is the more people who might see your tweet. 

Or, it might get lost in the crowd. 

If enough people like or retweet your tweet, your visibility will skyrocket. If not, it can sit there in obscurity. 

The #trending tab can show you what a lot of people are actively talking about 

Personally? I like to go for regularly used hashtags, that aren't currently over-saturated. 

But the funny thing about social media? You can get insta-famous for something you tweeted 3 years ago if it goes viral.

How to Get Followers

Check out posters on hashtags you like. 

Follow them. 

It's as easy as that. 

Many people auto-follow-back anyone who follows them. 

If you get added to someone else's list, and you like the company you're in? Click on the list, find the 'view members' option from the menu tab (the 3 horizontal lines), and then click 'follow' on all of them. 

Interact with your followers. 

Twitter loves GIFs and has a button and a library to add them to tweets. (I like to caption stuff so people who can't see the image know what's going on) And they did the GIF thing LONG before Facebook did. 

DO NOT be the person who Direct Messages everyone who follows you, many of us hate that and want to unfollow people who do that. 

When people follow me, I like to vet them. I don't like people who are all advertisements or click-bait for 2 full screens. I'm picky if I don't see an original tweet from them for 2 full screens, or if their profile picture is empty and they seem to be adding only pretty girls, I back away slowly and pretend I was never there. 

Although, if someone DMs me their website or whatever after I follow them? I've started sending mine back at them. 

Tip: If you're curious when someone followed you, your followers' list is in order from most-recently-followed down to your first follower.

WARNING: Some people will go around following tons of people and, after they follow back, unfriend them!

ANOTHER WARNING: You can only follow a certain number of people a day, and you can't follow significantly more people than people who follow you. The limit goes up as your follower list goes up. But, I think it maxes at 250 people in a sitting.

All-in-all, twitter can be a great place to connect with other writers, editors, agents, and people involved in all stages of publishing. It can be a great place for indie-authors and small publishers.

One Last Thing

Make sure to keep your brand consistent from site to site. You don't have to reshare everything from Twitter onto your facebook, but you should still feel like the same person.

Check back next week, where I'll take on Tumblr, Instagram, and more.