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ladyc0312 · 4 years ago

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A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 91-101

Sometimes, I think about some of the moments I list here and start to worry that I'm reading too much into things. And I'll be the first to admit that a bunch of them are ambiguous enough that reasonable people can differ in their interpretation.

The thing about jikook, though, is that there are so many of these eyebrow-raising types of moments that you could throw out half of them and still have enough left over to think "there's something up with those two." Especially in the following episodes...

Ep 91 "Mini Golden Bell Part 1" (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

The ones where they make the best of sitting on the floor of an empty room and Jin and JK just barely manage to avoid murdering Tae over his less-than-excellent MC skills

03:35 - Everyone is confident that the "oh!" sound that's played is either JK or JM, but aren’t sure which is which.

8:14 - When JM gets the right answer, JK is the only one to clap.

16:38 - JK is once again the only one to clap when JM gets an answer right.

Ep 92 "Mini Golden Bell Part 2" (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

15:00 - As he goes to measure JK's arm, JM informs everyone that JK's arms have gotten longer since he's been boxing.

15:54 - When JM keeps moving around while JK is trying to measure his arm, JK tells Suga to hold JM still.

16:31 - When JM's arm somehow seems to get slightly shorter from his stretching, JK gets excited and calls him "Jimin" (no hyung) a few times and then "Jimin-ssi."

20:03, 20:18 - When JK is singing his karaoke love song, the other guys are all over-emoting or swaying and listening, but JM just stares straight at him (and even looks genuinely emotional?) and the camera just stops showing him at a certain point. See picture above.

20:46 - When JK starts to criticize Suga's cham cham cham performance, Jimin tells JK to just sit down. And he does.

BEHIND 5:48 - After RM tries to comfort JM about his short arms by saying his legs are long, JK repeats "yes, your legs are long" and then sings a lyrics with JM's name inserted ("moon, moon, what kind of moon jiminie")

Ep 93 "BTS Marble Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

The ones where I still don’t understand this game but enjoy the episodes involving it anyway

0:42: Not jikook-related, but I can't not point out the adorable moment where RM makes a pun about how Marble sounds like the way Koreans pronounce Marvel and JK says "I love you 3000" to himself.

10:22 - JM and JK are sitting pretty close all episode, but it's particularly apparent here, where JM's arm is resting on JK's thigh as they read a question together.

10:40 - Reading the question is long done, but JM's arm remains.

12:21 - JM pats JK's shoulder in comfort after he messes up a question.

16:14 - After the heart-making game is over, JM and JK make hearts towards each other once more.

20:21 - JK taps JM's leg while sweetly reminding him that the pedometer game is difficult. Then they lean in to strategize together.

21:07 - JM pats JK's back when he ends up winning the pedometer game, then again when it seems like JK was tired out by it. BEHIND 1:15 - JK is sitting next to JHope in this shot. The next time we see them, JM is there instead and stays there the rest of the game.

2:10 - JK pats JM's hand after JM says that the winning team should share with the losing one so no one's feelings are hurt.

2:48 - JM appears to be sitting half in JK's lap as he explains his answer.

4:41 - JM leans into JK as he laughs.

5:51 - Another angle of the 16:14 moment.

6:25 - JM is half in JK's lap again as they watch the other team eat snacks. When JK says it looks good, JM gets a piece for him and rather intensely watches him eat it.

8:40 - JM and JK continue working on a puzzle after the game is over. When JM solves it, he shakes his whole body and makes cute frustrated noises. JK looks like he finds it adorable (how could you not?). Jimin does it again closer to JK's face and JK looks away shyly.

Ep 94 "BTS Marble Part 2" (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

4:20 - JM & JK trace a line with their fingers together in sync and the on-screen text informs us "two hands are moving like one hand."

7:24 - After JM and JK mess up in a game, the reach towards each other and hold each other's shoulders while collapsing in giggles onto the game board. The caption dubs them "dumb and dumber."

16:28 - JM has his arm around JK's shoulders (while continuing from last ep to be half on his lap).

23:13 - When they're going back and forth about who should do the challenge, JM puts his hand on JK's thigh (the far one, for some reason) to tell him that he (JM) might get a leg cramp if he does it. JK does the challenge.

24:12 - After JK loses the leg-shaking game by only one point, JM comforts him by massaging his thigh, shin, and calf.

BEHIND 0:29 - JK yells out "Jimin-ssi!!!" after JM gets an answer wrong.

1:54 - Another angle of the 7:24 collapsing together on the board moment.

4:03 - More of JM with his arm around JK.

7:48 - JM and JK stay behind to geek out together over some sort of kitchen appliance.

Ep 95 "Let's Play with BTS Part 1" (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The ones where BTS play childhood games

9:17 - JK whispers to JM to ask for clarification on the rules.

11:18 - JK falls backwards laughing and, immediately after, JM does exactly the same thing.

15:23 - JK comments on how small Jimin's hands are.

31:33 - JM shushes JK when he tries to give advice on the game.

34:32 - JK puts his hand on JM's shoulder and asks for a snack.

BEHIND

7:40 - JM and JK giggle together over something.

7:56 - JK wants to show JM a jacks technique.

8:18 - JM and JK giggle together again and JM puts his hand on JK's arm as they do so.

10:24 - When JK adjusts the cameras, JM says JK is the director, then congratulates him and offers him candy when he's done.

Ep 96 "Let's Play with BTS Part 2" (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

The one where we get the origin of “Rock Bison” - and it’s rather jikook-y!

3:18 - JM sees that JK is sad because he didn't get the top he wanted, so JM gives JK his top and takes the Rock Bison one that no one else wanted.

11:32 - JK giggles at JM repeatedly throwing his top in the background.

22:52 - JM and JK do a weird backwards handshake before competing against each other in the eraser game.

23:56 - JK claps for JM after JM beats him in the game.

31:11 - JK consults JM on which lane to choose for his model car.

33:46 - When JM reaches out to take a box that might be heavy, JK watches and stands up as if ready to assist. BEHIND 6:51 - JM stands with his hand on JK's shoulder as they watch RM compete.

6:57 - JM holds JK's arms from behind and acts as resistance for him as he does arm-lifting exercises.

10:19 - An off-camera JM tries to help JK figure out what's why the model car he built is so slow.

Ep 97 "Pajama Party Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 4)

The ones where the guys wear cute pajamas and yes the Behind picture in the second part is real!

5:49 - We see that JM and JK have been drawing on their socks together. More on this in the Behind...

11:14 - JK is lying in JM's lap and they're playing around with their feet. This one is also expanded in the Behind!

22:13 - JK pokes a rod he is playing with in between Jimin's asscheeks. I... have been searching for a less suggestive way to describe this accurately and I keep coming up empty. Blame JK, not me!

22:38 - Another entry in our ongoing "it's JM's fault if JK thinks everything he does is hilarious" series, JM collapses laughing when JK skips back to the group carrying a Cooky doll attached to the rod like he hunted it. (In JM's defense, JK does look incredibly adorable doing it.)

23:54 - JK reaches over and touches Jimin's hand and the camera immediately cuts to something else.

Note: For fans of JK's satoori, it comes out multiple times in this episode when he gets frustrated with various members after they get a question wrong.

BEHIND 2:41 - JM calls for Taehyung to come sit next to him. JK does instead.

3:04 - JM rests his foot on JK's thigh as they both draw on their socks.

4:07 - After JM finishes showing off the drawings on his socks, he points the camera to JK in full focus mode finishing his drawings and JM smiles like it's the most adorable thing ever.

5:26 - I'm sure you've all seen this clip already somewhere, but I'll describe it anyway! After JK tucks his feet under Suga's robe, JM pulls him back so he's laying in JM's lap. JM then puts his arms around JK as he grabs his decorated socked feet to show him while making silly noises. JK then picks up his foot to show his drawn-on sock and makes a different silly noise, causing JM to giggle. The shot gets cut off mid-giggle for whatever reason...

5:53 - JM rests his foot on JM's back while he adds to his sock art.

7:52 - When JK stretches his arm out to indicate some of the members, he maybe puts his hand on JM's back for a moment.

Ep 98 "Pajama Party Part 2" (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

You'd think this would be a super jikook-y episode given those pictures, but strangely enough, there are no moments of note in the episode itself. Since you can see the pics without watching the ep, I didn’t include them in the KM score.

BEHIND 1:20 - JM complains to JK that he hasn't gotten any answers right so far. Some people have matched this to a round of the game in the episode itself where JK doesn't seem to be guessing as enthusiastically as he did before, perhaps in an attempt to make JM feel less bad. I mention it here because it's a theory I've seen a lot, but YMMV.

7:50 - JK shows JM that he has attached J and M balloons to his shirt while saying "JM" and "Jimin," making JM giggle.

Ep 99 "Florists" (Ep: 5 / KM: 3)

The one where we learn that Jin probably doesn't have a future as a florist

4:33 - When JM starts to get embarrassed because everyone is laughing about his birth flower name sounding like a dirty word in Korean, JK rubs JM's neck and then continues rubbing circles on his back for a while after, seemingly to comfort him.

19:05 - When Jimin looks confused after RM says he comes out of a glass bowl in Serendipity, JK lightly slaps him on the chest for forgetting. It's almost like it has some sort of personal meaning to him...

28:05 - After JK presents the bouquet he made (which he says represents all different kinds of love), JM says "I think I'll love it when I get it as a present." Translation note: As we've discussed before, Korean can be hard to translate because often pronouns are omitted. A more literal translation is "present if received will be loved." Most translations that I've seen interpret it as Jimin talking about himself as the recipient, but it's not totally clear. Mentioning this because I know I was wondering why this moment isn't talked about more, since it seems fairly suggestive that JM would assume JK was going to give him a bouquet of flowers he made.

28:38 - When JM explains what "Serendipity" means, he's looking at JK (I think - I'll be totally honest and say the angle is weird and it could be RM).

31:02 - After the florist picks J-Hope's bouquet over JK's as his favorite, JM comments that Jungkook's "looks like a real bouquet for a wedding."

Ep 100 "100th Episode Special Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

The ones where the show does enhanced editions of games previously played on the series and you will walk away with zero doubt as to whom the episodes are sponsored by

21:36 - When it looks like Suga hit Jimin with the badminton birdie, but he actually made a bad serve, JK approaches with his frying pan racket held out and an angry look on his face and starts to scold Suga. I’ve seen this written up as a jikook moment with JK being over-protective of JM. I’m going to be totally honest with you and say that I didn’t see it that way - JK had been getting increasingly annoyed at the other team re-doing serves and my read was that the moment was more about that. Let me know if you see it differently. Regardless, the more significant moments are the ones in the Behind...

BEHIND 4:13 - When JM is hit near the eye with the badminton birdie, JK goes over to him and checks on whether his eye was hit. JM reaches out towards him as he gets up. It's interesting to me that the others stand back and let JK be the one to check in on JM, even though Tae and Jin were both closer when it happened.

5:03 - Not a jikook moment, but JK is doing an adorable cheerleading routine in the background here and I can't not mention it...

8:39 - When JM sees that Jin and JK aren't messing around and JK was actually hit in the nose with the volleyball, he gets serious and walks over, asking him multiple times if it hurts a lot. He ruffles JK's hair before kneeling down next to him to check in.

Ep 101 "100th Episode Special Part 2" (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

17:40 - JM tells everyone JK is good at this type of game.

BEHIND

1:06 - JK instructs Jimin (in half-informal language) how to work the box.

5:50 - JK calls out to Jimin that his photo makes him look like he's in a cartoon (and there's a slight pause when he calls him in between "Jimin" and "hyung").

7:09 - Jimin asserts that JK does look sexy in the "sexy pose" photo. He is imho correct.

9:15 - When JM is playing around after the game is over, he calls for Jungkook to cover him

100th Episode Special: Survival Directors Cut (Ep: 2 KM: 0)

5:32 - JM covers JK with his laser gun, allowing JK to escape. Not particularly shippy since they're on the same team, but including it for anyone who wants a visual aid for some sort of military AU...

#jikook guide to run bts #jikook #Kookmin #run bts

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years ago

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5e Zephyr, the Hellion build (XCOM: Chimera Squad)

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Would you believe me if I said that I had this build on the backburner for nearly half a year? Like honest to god I said I’d “maybe” make XCOM builds over a year ago and I beat Chimera Squad around last November. (Yeah I kinda put the game on the backburner for 3 months before finishing it.)

With that being said Zephyr was easily one of my most valuable units, and she pretty much plays like the typical Monk. So naturally I jumped at the chance to make her!

GOALS

Crippling Blow - Punching criminals is all well-and-good but if you’re fighting outworlders with psionics and poison glands you need something to get the upper hand.

Momentum - “Move fast or die slow.” Play around cover if you want to stick around.

Crowd Control - When the mobs get too rowdy get ready to run in and knock them all down.

RACE

Zephyr was literally made for war which means holy crap we actually get to use Custom Lineage to make a Hybrid! You are a Medium sized creature with a +2 in Dexterity to start. You can pick either Variable Trait as either Darkvision or a Skill Proficiency (ideally Perception to see incoming hostiles) will be useful. You can also get a Language of your choice so I’d pick whatever you fancy, though perhaps going for something more alien would work well.

Of course you get a Feat at level 1 when using a Custom Lineage and ADVENT training makes you a bit of a Martial Adept. You get a d6 Combat Superiority die to use on one of two Maneuvers: Disarming Attack can be good to disable an opponent’s weapon (especially if your DM lets you kick it away after disarming them) and Parry will let you, well, parry! While you might not reduce the damage completely like in Chimera Squad you can still absorb some close-ranged blows!

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - Can’t get shot if you outrun the bullets.

14; WISDOM - Used for a variety of things, notably AC.

13; CONSTITUTION - Zephyr isn’t the biggest member of Chimera Squad but giving her some body armor is usually a good call.

12; STRENGTH - It’s not that she’s weak; we can just use DEX instead of STR.

10; INTELLIGENCE - ADVENT probably teaches military strategy but history is already formed by the victors.

8; CHARISMA - Zephyr is a rather blunt edge. ADVENT training doesn’t include comedy class.

BACKGROUND

War... war never changes, and you were literally made to fight. You are a Soldier by the purest definition of the word. You get proficiency in Athletics as well as Intimidation, Land Vehicles (someone has to drive!), and a Gaming Set of your choice (chess helps you learn military strategy so perhaps ADVENT training included Dragonchess training.)

Your feature Military Rank puts you in the ranks of Chimera Squad! Members of the City 13 PD recognize your rank, and you can get supplied with standard government-funded equipment as needed.

(Screenshot by u/jasonrodriguez_dt on Reddit.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - MONK 1

Put bluntly punching is more important for this build! First level Monks get proficiency with two skills from the Monk list: Acrobatics is good for dodging and Stealth is good for the breaching phase. You also get proficiency in a tool of your choice: Grey Phoenix will never be ready for your Calligraphy Tools! You’re welcome Tulok!

As a Monk you get Unarmored Defense equal to your Dexterity plus your Wisdom, even if Zephyr does wear body armor in XCOM. But more importantly you get Martial Arts! You can use DEX to punch, your punches do a d4, and after attacking you can punch as a Bonus Action!

LEVEL 2 - MONK 2

Second level Monks get Ki for a variety of military tactics. Flurry of Blows allows you to make two Unarmed Strikes with your Bonus Action instead of one, Patient Defense lets you Hunker Down and Dodge as a Bonus Action, lowering the enemy’s chance to hit (though this is XCOM so remember that 5% chance to hit can still hit), and Step of the Wind lets you Dash or Disengage as a Bonus Action to get up close and personal.

You also get Unarmored Defense, increasing your movement speed by 10 to help you dive for cover after attacking. And because Tasha’s wants to let Monks use weapons you get Dedicated Weapon, allowing you to turn any weapon you’re proficient in into a Monk weapon! (As long as it isn’t Heavy or Special.)

LEVEL 3 - MONK 3

3rd level Monks get to choose their Monastic Tradition and to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee Drunken Master works remarkably well. You get Bonus Proficiencies with both Performance and Brewer’s Supplies, but more importantly you get access to Drunken Technique. Whenever you use Flurry of Blows your movement speed increases by 10 feet and you gain the benefits of the Disengage action, basically giving you the Mobile feat that works whenever you use Flurry of Blows.

Additionally Deflect Missiles will let you Parry bullets! If you’re targeted with a ranged attack you can use your reaction to reduce the damage by a d10 plus your Monk level. If the damage is reduced to 0 you can catch the bullet, and then use a Ki point to throw it back!

You also get Ki-Fueled Attack but it literally doesn’t matter since you don’t have any abilities which use Ki that aren’t attacks.

LEVEL 4 - MONK 4

4th level Monks get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Constitution by 1 for a little more sturdiness and your Dexterity by 1 to punch a little harder.

Additionally you get Slow Fall to safely hop down off tall ledges, and because Tasha’s didn’t think Monks had enough features you get Quickened Healing, letting you spend 2 Ki points to heal yourself for a roll of your Martial Arts die plus your proficiency bonus. Much like Second Wind you can use this before Short Resting if you have spare Ki for faster recovery after combat.

LEVEL 5 - MONK 5

5th level Monks get an Extra Attack, meaning you can punch twice with your action plus an additional time with your Bonus Action, or an additional two times with Flurry of Blows. Which is good because your Martial Arts die now increases to a d6, making your fists just a little more deadly.

But more importantly you can inflict a truly crippling blow thanks to Stunning Strike, which forces a Constitution save on the enemy or stun them, making them easy pickings for the rest of the squad!

Tasha’s also gave you some Holotargeting thanks to Focused Aim, allowing you to increase your hit chance with Ki, just to make sure none of your blows bounce off their armor.

LEVEL 6 - MONK 6

6th level Monks can make Vital Strikes thanks to Ki-Empowered Strikes. You get to ignore magical resistance and immunity now!

Additionally you get some more boosts to your mobility with Tipsy Sway, letting you Leap to Your Feet when prone with only 5 feet of movement and Redirect Attacks that miss with a Ki point so they hit another enemy in melee! “Should’ve kept your distance!”

And to top off your mobility your Unarmored Movement increases by 5 feet, equaling 15 extra feet of movement speed or 45 feet total.

(Screenshot from stevivor.com)

LEVEL 7 - FIGHTER 1

ADVENT training teaches you to do more than just run and punch. First level Fighters get their choice of a Fighting Style and seeing as we aren’t using Knives and Guns we may as well grab Superior Technique for more Maneuver die! You can learn another Maneuver like Distracting Strike to lower a foe’s defenses for your allies. And you get another d6 per Short Rest to use on Maneuvers!

If you aren’t going to hit level 11 as Monk (total build level 14) then Unarmed Fighting is also a good choice to increase your damage output.

You can also get some help from Terminal for a Second Wind, healing for a d10 plus your Fighter level.

LEVEL 8 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters get Action Surge, for another action to do either a little bit more movement or a bit more punching. Yes this does mean that if you want you can punch a total of 6 times in a turn!

LEVEL 9 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype and a Battle Master can inflict all sorts of Crippling Blows! Firstly you are a Student of War, granting you proficiency with another Artisan’s Tool of your choice. Maybe pick up some Woodcarver’s Tools to do something while out in the unpopulated areas.

But of course the main appeal of being a Battle Master is the Combat Superiority. You get four d8 Superiority die (on top of your two d6 die) to use on your Maneuvers. You already have several Maneuvers but how about a few more? Trip Attack is like Stunning Strike but it forces a Strength save to knock the enemy over, making them easy to hit in melee (or with a shotgun) but harder to hit at range. Goading Attack will keep foes off your friends and force them to focus you instead. And Grappling Strike will let you try to root an enemy in place.

(Video icon by Alpha155.)

LEVEL 10 - MONK 7

We got all the Maneuvers we could want and more so now it’s time for more Monk training to master our fists. 7th level Monks get Evasion to avoid explosions (and other things that force DEX saves) as well as Stillness of Mind to avoid panicking (or being charmed.)

LEVEL 11 - MONK 8

8th level Monks get another Ability Score Improvement: better max out that Dexterity to make sure that 99% chance to hit does actually hit.

LEVEL 12 - MONK 9

9th level Monks can defy the laws of physics with SCIENCE! Unarmored Movement Improvement lets you run across walls and liquids, as long as you end somewhere solid when you’re done. Enemy on high ground? Just run up the wall!

LEVEL 13 - MONK 10

10th level Monks get Purity of Body, making them immune to Earthbound diseases and Viper poison. Additionally you get 5 more feet of Unarmored Movement, meaning that you can now move 50 feet in a turn!

LEVEL 14 - MONK 11

11th level Monks have what the game calls Drunkard’s Luck, but I’d personally call Teamwork! If you make a roll with Disadvantage you can use 2 Ki points for some teamwork, negating the Disadvantage!

Your Martials Arts die also increases to a d8, so you can shake off the stress before going in and apprehending the target!

LEVEL 15 - MONK 12

12th level Monks get another Ability Score Increase. While we’ve got plenty of ways to be effective without Wisdom intuition is still good to not get hit. So increase your Wisdom by 2.

(Image from “Agent Profiles: Zephyr” Chimera Squad trailer video. Yeah it’s honestly really hard finding good images to put into this build.)

LEVEL 16 - MONK 13

City 13 PD are expected to be able to communicate with any species, and Chimera Squad is no exception. 13th level Monks get Tongue of the Sun and Moon, so anyone can understand what you’re saying and you can understand whatever they’re saying.

LEVEL 17 - MONK 14

Sick of dealing with things more dangerous than guns? Well Diamond Soul will give you proficiency with all saving throws! And your Unarmored Movement increases to 55 feet total!

LEVEL 18 - MONK 15

15th level Monks can live life with the game on pause thanks to Timeless Body. You can’t be aged by magic, though you will still die of old age. You also don’t need to eat, which is certainly helpful.

LEVEL 19 - MONK 16

16th level Monks get their last Ability Score Improvement for the build. I’ll leave this up to you: more Wisdom would mean more AC and more deadly Stunning Strikes, but the Mobile feat would allow you to save your Ki instead of using Flurry of Blows to move around.

LEVEL 20 - MONK 17

17th level Monks can finally lay down the Crowd Control thanks to Intoxicated Frenzy! When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make up to 3 additional attacks with it, provided that each Flurry of Blows attack targets a different creature this turn. This means that you can target a total of 5 enemies with Flurry of Blows, not to mention the two punches you get from your regular action! And speaking of punches your Martial Arts die is now a d10, letting you really thin the herd!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Reaper - Ever punched 9 times in one turn? Would you like to? Intoxicated Frenzy and Action Surge can allow you to really thin the herd.

Lockdown - You’ve also got plenty of ways to keep said herd from getting close with 6 total Combat Superiority die to spend on all sorts of Maneuvers.

Fearless Advance - You’re not exactly a frontliner but you can afford to take a few hits, with good health, strong AC, and very high saving throws thanks to Diamond Soul.

CONS

Berserker - Running fast with your fists out is great and all, but sometimes enemies will be in places you simply can’t get to. When that happens all you can really do is keep to cover.

Adder - Good ol’ limited resources. Even if you have plenty of Ki as well as a remarkable amount of Combat Superiority die they will still run out. Remember to take breaks between breaches.

Praetorian - Rules as written there’s few ways to boost your damage output or your armor. Bracers of Defense or an Insignia of Claws can definitely help but much like in Chimera Squad you might be left out as the party gets upgraded.

But if the streets get too full there isn’t anyone better to call. ADVENT wanted you to be the perfect soldier; it really sucks for them that you ended up fighting for the good guys! Keep the peace and stop the baddies from resisting arrest. Don’t worry about police brutality; outworld physiology is quite good at repairing broken bones.

(Artwork by Team Wreckloose on Tumblr.)

#dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #XCOM #xcom chimera squad #XCOM Zephyr #dnd monk #do people even care about this game?#idc #it's my blog #I'll make #what I want

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jimherries · 4 years ago

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How can you choose a purpose for your map if you don’t understand the data yet?

At work, as a project is considered (or after we’ve been volun-told for a project) we often discuss the relationship between a map’s purpose, and the map maker’s understanding of the data. Our most successful maps are those which we’ve been allowed to seek and choose a purpose for each map.

Every great map serves a purpose. A map that doesn’t serve a purpose is just data slapped onto a map backdrop. What confuses people is that they think once they slap data onto a map backdrop, and set some symbols and colors, they’re done.

That’s kind of like slapping a bunch of facts about yourself, your eduction, job history, interests and skills down on paper and calling that jumbled result “a resume.”

Putting data onto a map is only a beginning. At that moment, your map map has no purpose, only data. A map gains purpose as the map maker begins to understand the data, explores it, asks questions of it, and modifies the map based on answers to those questions.

Initial map of VIIRS fire hotspots. Getting the data onto a map is only a starting point.

In planning for an upcoming tutorial about making maps better, the question above in the title of this blog entry came up:

“How can you choose a purpose for your map if you don’t understand the data yet?”

It’s a great question. It reminds me of the “chicken and the egg” question.

So many demos and presentations about map making seem to infer that a map’s outcome is never in doubt. It makes sense -- we tend to listen to experts, and experts want to show you their latest/greatest examples. In the enthusiasm to share a map’s best qualities, the presenter can inadvertently make it seem like the map’s fate was never in doubt. You, too, may one day have enough cartographic skill to make such maps, is the inference.

I’m guilty of giving such presentations too in the past. At work, I’ve been accused of “just knowing” what kinds of maps to make. I’ve been identified as someone who “a wizard” with the data and maps, making the connections between what the data has to offer and what the mapping technology can reveal. There’s nothing mysterious, at all, about how I create maps. I seek a purpose for each map.

I think my early background in journalism wired my brain to constantly seek ways to connect story with facts derived from data. GIS just makes it more fun, in that finding a spatial aspect to the story is endlessly interesting, to me.

It was my boss, Sean Breyer, who identified that I was practicing what he and others already know: every great map starts with a purpose. Oh, some may blunder into a great map from time to time, but for the most part, the person who starts out with purpose is far more likely to succeed in making great maps, useful maps, maps that make a difference.

So, why wouldn’t I reveal what others have shared with me over the years, with regard to finding a map’s purpose?

Start with Questions

For most of us, every map’s fate is in doubt, at the start anyway. I’m here to tell you that this is not only OK, it’s actually to your advantage. Why?

Anyone can drop some data onto a map and share it out. The Interwebs are full of maps like that. Don’t be that person. Ask more of the data. Ask more of yourself.

It’s to your advantage to start out as if you know nothing about the data. Even if you do know a lot about the data, treat it as something new that needs to earn your trust.

That should encourage you to ask lots of questions. What is it? How is it collected? When was it collected? How often is it updated? Who trusts it? Why? What are known limitations with this data. And, the single most important question about data:

How is this data used, by whom, to make decisions?

Answers to these questions will help start to shape a map’s purpose. But, if you don’t have those answers yet, or you prefer to start with the data, that’s fine. Read on to understand why the map maker’s time is best served by starting with purpose, even if everyone else prefers to “just” start mapping the data.

Step 1: Start looking for a purpose.

If you ask me to work on a map, and it’s clear you don’t have a stated purpose for that map yet, that’s OK. We can start by getting data onto the map. If nothing else, we both agree that needs to happen at some point, so why not? It just means that I’m going to turn to the data to see what it has to say, and I consider myself free to seek out any purpose I can find among the data.

Oh, and if I am given a stated purpose, I still give myself permission to seek and define any purpose I can find. Good map makers look at everything (but always deliver the map you were asked to deliver; plus any additional maps you also find useful/interesting).

Why? Well, if you went to the doctor to talk about your sore elbow, you’d want them to bring up the oddly shaped and dark mole on your biceps if there were one there, right? You’d expect a doctor to keep their eyes out for any kind of issue, not just what you asked them to evaluate.

I don’t expect people to ask me to make a map and give me a stated purpose for that map. When people ask me to make a map, in their mind, of course the map would have a purpose. That’s why they’re asking “the expert” to make the map -- they count on us as map makers to find a purpose for each map we deliver.

Step 2: Open the data.

Drop it onto a map. Use any symbols or colors you like. If mapping a numeric attribute value, use a rainbow color palette to really spread out the data values in terms of color. All is fair in data exploration. You’re looking to find your level of trust in this data.

Until you look at the data, you have no trust in it. You don’t know how many records it has. You don’t know what attribute fields it has. You don’t know any statistics about those attributes’ values, like min/max or average. You don’t know how many records have actual data for the fields you are interested in mapping.

Exploring the data to answer all those questions is how you begin to build a level of trust in it. With a minimal level of trust comes curiosity and willingness to try to map the data.

What if you find flaws in the data? Limits? Errors? Well, think about it in terms of any relationship: do you completely toss people from your life if you discover flaws in them? Or, do you note the flaws and adjust your behavior accordingly?

It’s the same with data. When you find a level of trust in the data, for what it is, your map making can take that into account. (And, yes, sometimes the best move is to break off the relationship if you simply cannot find anything worthwhile in the data).

Step 3: Determine what part of the data is interesting

When people hand you data to work with, there is no guarantee that the data is interesting. When varying a symbol’s size or color based on a numeric attribute, you need a standard of comparison if your map is to reveal anything interesting.

Every useful measure needs a standard of comparison. For human body temperature, Fahrenheit is one scale used, and 98.6 degrees F is an important standard of comparison. That’s the average body temperature for humans. If you have a 99 degree F temperature, your parent may have allowed you to stay home from school. Maybe. Another standard of comparison is 103 degrees F, which is the point at which a serious fever requiring significant and immediate intervention.

Imagine mapping a room full of people at a wedding sitting at tables. Wouldn’t you want your map to make it very clear which people had normal body temperatures, which were above normal, and which were at 103 degrees? The map maker would be smart to ensure their choice of symbol and colors made the story of this data very clear. That’s how useful maps are born - from the stories learned from / shared by subject matter experts and the map maker’s application of that knowledge to the map’s symbols and patterns.

So, step 3 for me is always to ask lots of questions and do research about the standard of comparison for the measure I’m mapping. If that doesn’t produce some significant values I can build a map’s purpose around, I’ll next turn to the statistics of the data itself, to find what the average value is, min/max values, look at how the data varies over time if possible... anything to find a “hook” on which I can build a map’s purpose.

An example

I recently was working on wildfire maps, and the data includes something called VIIRS points, which are point locations with various attributes. One of the attributes is called Fire Radiative Power (FRP).

In order to map something, you need to understand its data’s definitions and meanings. FRP has a definition - it measures the heat output of a a fire at the point of measurement taken. Most point locations vary from 1 - 1200 or so megawatts of measured energy. Think of each VIIRS point as a snapshot of how much energy was being given off at that particular moment in time, in that single location. A minute later, it was probably a similar value at that point. An hour later, it probably was similar, unless it was a very high value (e.g. a large oak tree burning as the edge of the fire burned through an area). The tree continues to burn long afterwards, but perhaps at a lower level.

Interestingly, I could not find any discussion of what a significant value or standard of comparison was for FRP. I learned that it ranges in values from 1 megawatt to 1200 megawatts or higher, and that larger values tend to be present for brief periods of time, and as the edge of the fire moves on, the value for a given location falls back to a background value. Eventually it falls to 0, long after the edge of the fire has moved on.

So, I know what the definition of FRP is, but I don’t yet have a standard of comparison or knowledge of any significant values.

I could not find any information on whether 10 megawatts is a meaningful value, or 100 megawatts, or 1000 megawatts... "At what point do I care?” is the question I often ask of a subject matter expert when they are only explaining the range of values and not the meaning or use of significant values.

So far, I cannot find a subject matter expert who has assigned an inherent meaning (e.g. “900 megawatts kills all life above and below ground in that area”) or use of the data (e.g. “when we see 750 megawatts, we usually pull back any hand crews near that area.”)

Why insist on mapping the meaning of these numbers? When you know what’s important in the data, that guides your choices for symbology, color, and other visual variables, so that you can emphasize what’s important and de-emphasize what’s less important. That’s how maps fulfill a purpose - the editorial choices made, based on knowledge gained and applied to the map’s message.

If I were to be told that FRP values above 750 megawatts indicate an area where firefighter safety is of heightened concern, now I know how to give purpose to a map. I need to call out anything near 750 megawatts or higher.

Would I classify the data, using the 750 figure as a class break? What about the values at 740 megawatts? They are 98.7% of 750, and likely well within the margin of error of the measurements. Classification might give them a symbol size that is much smaller, simply because they “missed” the threshold by 1.3%. That seems like an unfortunate and unnecessary consequence of classification.

I’ve seen a lot of good maps become great maps simply by adding more classes or using unclassed symbology. Both approaches let the data “breathe,” as it were, and force the map maker to ask better questions of the data.

For VIIRS, I would classify the data using Jenks at first, then modify those classes based on analysis of the data and discussions with subject matter experts. I’d also try a version with an unclassed symbology. If 750 megawatts were identified as a significant value, I would ensure data points at or near 750 megawatts are clearly called out on the map, using size and color, diminishing both as FRP values fall away from 750. Unclassed lets this happen automatically, while classifications forces the mapmaker to justify each break in their classification.

In the VIIRS example, I’m still stalking the data and talking to people to find significant values. The map below is by Emily Meriam, a colleague who has a successful history of mapping fires in California. It uses 5 classes and uses size to de-emphasize lower values and emphasize larger FRP values.

I’m excited about the possibilities of this map, because it’s already a really good and useful map, and once significant values are identified, that will open the door to additional maps, each with their own purpose (firefighter safety, smoke prediction, fire intensity, etc).

Every map maker should understand that turning data into a purposeful map is a journey, not an event. Making one good map ought to lead to better questions, which lead to other good maps. It’s a virtuous cycle, once you tune in to how to participate in it.

VIIRS data, using several classes, where the largest symbols are 750 megawatts or higher. Why 750? Well, until we can find other values to “hook” our map’s purpose on, that’s a value near what a Jenks classification suggests.

“How did you know to do that?”

That’s a fair question to anyone presenting their map. Every map maker has their own talents and abilities, but everyone learns cartography the same way: by trying things out and sharing the results with others. Every setting in their map is fair game for this question.

As much as I enjoy seeing a great demo or presentation on how to make maps, I know I’d benefit from seeing many more presentations where map makers show some failures, admit where they got stuck, acknowledge what they feared, credit the SMEs or others who opened their eyes, and share how they overcame issues with data, methodology, color, medium, people and process.

On my team, and on projects we’re asked to contribute to, we welcome the challenges present when we don’t know the data and we are unsure what the map’s purpose might be, just yet.

Every great map serves a purpose. A map that doesn’t serve a purpose is just data slapped onto a map backdrop. A map gains purpose as the map maker begins to understand the data, explores it, asks questions of it, and modifies the map based on answers to those questions. I hope you begin to see that it doesn’t really matter if you start with purpose, or start with the data. Your role is to seek and validate what the data appears to be saying, after establishing a level of confidence that embraces imperfection.

#maps #thematic #cartography #statistics #visualization #smartmapping

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ciathyzareposts · 6 years ago

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Game 329: Darklands (1992)

When you start up the game, this woman says “Welcome to Darklands” in a digitized voice.

Darklands

United States

MicroProse (developer and publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS Date Started: 24 May 2019

Excited about killing orcs and finding treasure, I fire up a game and crack open the manual. Three hours later, I could give a university lecture on political intrigue in the court of Emperor Frederick III in the 1470s. If it hadn’t already been made clear by the box and title screen, I would know for certain: I am playing a MicroProse game. One of these days, I’m going to add a column to my game rating sheet indicating whether the game manual comes with a bibliography, and thus determine whether it has a correlation to the GIMLET. I suspect it will. Darklands is perhaps the most anticipated game on my blog, so much so that when I went to do my customary pre-game search of player comments, there were far too many to review. Readers were telling me that they were looking forward to the game back in my first year. There are many who feel that it marks the beginning of a new era in both mechanical complexity and quality of role-playing.

A brief animated scene shows a gargoyle awakening and flying through a medieval city.

The game is set in the Holy Roman Empire, staring in 1400. For those who haven’t had much excuse to think about the Holy Roman Empire since high school, it was a political organization in central Europe that existed for about 1,000 years, between 800 and 1806 or between 962 and 1806 depending on what you regard as the beginning. (Pope Leo III revived the Roman title of “Emperor” for Charlemagne in 800, but his empire fractured afterwards and wasn’t put together until 962 under Otto I.) At its height, it included modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovenia, most of Italy, and parts of France and Poland. The Holy Roman Empire and its emperor never had the centralized authority of the earlier Roman Empire; kings and dukes and princes existed within it and sometimes had more real power than the putative emperor. The HRE was universally Catholic (Martin Luther wouldn’t vandalize any doors until 1516), feudal, and caste-obsessed. Its political machinations are the stuff of legend, and thus it serves as a great place for an RPG. Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) will later be set in the same era.

The gimmick of Darklands is that the game isn’t really set in historical reality, but in the era as the people of the era believed it to be. Thus, witches and demons are real, werewolves prowl the forests, mixing alchemical ingredients produces results, and saints occasionally deliver miracles. Otherwise, the game adopts realistic terms and concepts from the era. Money consists of florins, groschen, and pfenniges. Knowledge of Latin is an asset. And the player has to get comfortable with terms like schulz (local leader), dom (cathedral), raubritter (robber knight), and zeughaus (barracks).

The game map reduces the complex borders of the HRE into a convenient square.

The player controls a party of four characters, generated through a complex system that recalls MegaTraveller. After specifying a name and sex, the player choose the character’s social background, from nobility down to rural peasantry. He then spreads a pool of points among six attributes: strength, endurance, agility, perception, intelligence, and charisma. I would note that these are the same attributes as the later Fallout, minus luck, but there is a “luck” statistic in the game in the form of “divine favor.” Attributes exist on a scale of 0-99, although only a range of 10-40 is available on starting. They are dynamic throughout the game, as wounds cause direct damage to strength, endurance decreases with fatigue, and agility goes down with encumbrance.

Next, the character can take one or more occupations for blocks of 5 years. Available occupations are limited by skill, attributes, background, and previous occupation choices. After each 5-year term, the player can allocate a pool of points among the game’s 19 skills. These skills are organized into three groups: martial (e.g., Edged Weapon, Throwing Weapon), intellectual (e.g., Alchemy, Religion, Latin), and crafts (e.g., Stealth, Riding). Some of these skills are adjusted automatically based on occupation. They exist on a 0-99 scale. Since the game does not have levels as such, I assume increases in these skills are the primary means of character development.

Improving a characters’ skills between occupations.

You can stop the character’s career at any time. Older characters will start the game with more skills but will also age and die. My understanding is that the player may end up replacing characters several times throughout the game, particularly since there’s no such thing as resurrection, so I didn’t waste too much time trying to get it right the first time. I came up with:

Chestremagne: Her to a noble house, strong and fit, schooled in edge and impact weapons, Latin, reading and writing, and riding. From ages 20-25, he was a student and developed all his skills a little more. He is presently 25.

Lothair the Lender, an unscrupulous trader and moneylender. He comes from a background of urban commoners but used his high intelligence, perception, and charisma to work his way up from peddler to trader to traveling merchant to merchant-proprietor, along the way developing skills in both common language and Latin, streetwise, woodswise, and artifice. He is now 35.

Tabitha, the child of a wealthy urban family pledged to a religious and healing order. She worked for 5 years as an oblate and then 5 as a novice nun. She is moderate in all attributes and skilled only in religion, healing, virtue, and alchemy. She is 30.

Adelaide the Ant, a famous thief. Ugly but shrewd, perceptive, and agile, skilled in streetwise, artifice, stealth, and the use of edged and thrown weapons. She has alternately been a thief and bandit for several decades, and is the oldest of the group at 40.

I can see a couple of weaknesses in the party. First, I have no one obvious “warrior.” Chestremagne was headed there, but I stopped his education early. Second, I have no one particularly strong in alchemy. I tried to get Tabitha there, but I guess there really isn’t a lot of affinity between alchemy and the religious occupations; I should have moved her along a more “student” track. I probably have too much duplication between Lothair and Adelaide; there really aren’t that many thief-specific skills, and I could have combined what I was attempting with the two characters into a single character. Nonetheless, I’ll go with this party for now.

The first party.

Darklands has no particular backstory, so you have to decide for yourself how this weird crew came together and what they’re trying to accomplish. The game has them starting at table in an inn. I think the location is randomized; in my case, it was the Rheinischer Hof in the city of Dortmund. Anyway, as the game begins the group has just sworn “a pact as blood brothers, to seek good and avoid evil, and to bring everlasting honor and glory to our names.” They then spend some time debating next steps, such as getting jobs locally to acquire more training, improving their equipment, or hunting for street thieves at night.

The party unites in a vague quest for fortune and glory.

The game then hands control over to you, and you can start exploring the city via a series of nested menus. For instance, if you head out to the main street, you have options from there to visit the stadtplatz (the political center), the alter markt (central market), the churches, the guilds, an inn, a scenic grove, various side alleys, and the city gates. Each of those locations opens up a new series of options. For instance, in the stadtplatz, you can view local notices, listen for rumors, or go to the stadthaus and try to get an audience with a local official. Each option costs time, and the days pass quickly. There are different options at night than during the day.

Some of the options specific to an inn.

My party first went to the market to check things out, but I was a bit too concerned about finances to make any purchases. We then went into a back alley and nearly immediately entered combat with a group of thieves. Darklands features a real-time-with-pause combat system that I’m still figuring out, but it anticipates the Infinity Engine titles. You basically hit SPACE to pause, select each character and issue orders, and then hit SPACE to watch them carry out those orders to the best of their abilities. At the beginning of the game, I can’t do much more than attack.

The party and the thieves engage in the very definition of “melee.”

With the thieves, that was enough. I killed them without taking much damage and looted their bodies for some useful pieces of armor and excess weapons to sell in the market. The game is pretty light on types of equipment, incidentally. You get a melee weapon, a missile weapon, “vital” armor, “limb” armor, and a shield.

Hear that? My massacre of the thieves was ordained by God.

The next day, I visited the stadthaus and got an audience with the ältere herren. He confided that there is a plot to take over the city. His men had intercepted some reports going to the fugger (banker) in Fürstenberg. He wants me to go to that city and “steal prior reports.” From the map, Fürstenberg is quite a distance to the east. My understanding is that you might get similar quests from churches, guilds, and other important people in the town.

How do we know that Fürstenberg won’t rule the city better than you? Which of you favors universal health care?

I left the city to check out the wilderness. (Entering and leaving the cities involves a bunch of options depending on whether you want to pay the associated fees or hide from the guards or whatnot; I’ll cover that later.) Outdoor travel takes place on a world map full of landscape features and roads. There are miscellaneous encounters with friends and foes every few minutes. I was able to bluff my way past a couple of hostile parties as I headed east.

Lothair bluffs his way past some bandits or worse.

Everything I’ve described adds up to a game that’s an awful lot like a medieval RPG version of MicroProse’s Pirates! There are direct analogues in the menu towns and the randomization of quests. Just like the earlier game’s Spanish Main, here were have a rich backcloth in which somewhat random events transpire, with or without the player’s involvement, thus creating a different experience for every player.

Hiking around central Germany replaces sailing the Spanish Main.

Even the goals are similar. It appears that as I solve quests and slay thieves and whatnot, I’ll gain fame and reputation specific to each territory. I can “retire” the party at any point with that fame score, just as you can with the main character in Pirates! There’s also a main quest to find, lurking somewhere. Still, it’s clear that part of the game’s legendary length is related to the dynamic, somewhat random way the game world evolves.

I may roll a new party and choose to stay more local before getting a quest, or just go with it and see what happens. There are lots of things I have not yet explored, including the alchemy system and the praying system. Since the plot can’t really be spoiled (I assume), I’ll be happy to take plenty of opinions on this one.

Time so far: 3 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-329-darklands-1992/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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maritzaerwin · 5 years ago

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14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers

While you can never guarantee what questions you are going to get at an interview, there is a number that you are most likely to turn up. Preparing yourself to answer these questions will also inspire you for similar questions but be ready for the outside-the-box strange question that many businesses now use!

Don’t feel like reading? Listen to the article instead!

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The key to nailing the popular interview questions is pretty simple: understand the intention behind them. Every question the interviewer poses is aimed at yanking some key information from you regarding your personality, cultural fit, skills, and career progression. Your goal is to serve them just that, plus use your answer to tout some more curious bits of your professional life.

PRO TIP:

The interviewer will want to get to know all they can about you during the interview, so prepare a summary about yourself and why you have chosen this career and be prepared to back up your answers with solid examples.

Melony Botha HR Consultant London, United Kingdom

Now, keeping that in mind, let’s move on to the list of common interview questions, paired with sharp and on-point tips for answering them!

1. Please, Tell Me About Yourself

This is one of those interview questions you’ll get 99 out 100 times. Considering its popularity, we even wrote an entirely separate post on how to answer the “tell me about yourself” question.

Here’s a quick recap:

Start with a quick, professional summary — a one-liner summarizing your key ‘selling points’ and background.

Highlight your core technical skills and areas of expertise.

Wrap it up by saying why you are interested in this new position/company.

Here’s a sample answer to the “tell me about yourself” question:

“I’m an experienced Regional Sales Manager with 6 years of experience in CRM software sales to Fortune 500 companies. I have deep familiarity with lead scoring and Salesforce software and strong people’s skills that helped me close over $1.5 million in sales last year and win the Top Regional Manager award. Although I love my current position, I feel ready for another challenge and would love to apply my skills in the new market that your company’s pursuing.”

If the interviewer then asks “to tell some more about yourself”, bring up some more details that are relevant, but didn’t make it to the final cut of your resume. Because your resume only contains the basics, add in more information about a skill or some situation that may demonstrate your expertise in the area.

2. What Is Your Experience In This Field?

Talk about the jobs you have held but also elements within it – tools or software used, industry events you’ve attended, as well as some specific projects that you have worked on. Mention some of your key accomplishments, backed by data if possible, to further demonstrate your industry knowledge.

Career changers and recent graduates are the most likely to receive this question. If that’s your case, keep the focus on your education and passion for the field, rather than past work expertise. Mention the courses you’ve taken or brought up some recent commentary on the industry events, demonstrating that you are aware of how things work in the field.

3. Why Do You Want to Work Here?

Focus on the main aspects of the job and why this appeals to you. It might be a chance to learn new technology, work in a new environment, or work on a specific type of project. Or focus on that it is a natural extension of your skills or experience and the best step on your career path.

Read more about how to answer the ‘why do you want to work here’ interview question using our 5-step formula.

4. What are Your Reasons for Leaving a Job?

Be positive and be honest when talking about your reasons for leaving your last job. Focus on the positive reasons for changing jobs such as looking for a new challenge or a lack of career growth in your old job. Perhaps you were a victim of restructuring or the company has relocated, these are also legitimate reasons.

However, at all costs avoid badmouthing your former employer, boss, or colleagues! Even if you still have some hard feelings towards either of these people, don’t show them to the interviewer.

Also, try to turn the negative part of your leaving into a positive one. Reference the good parts of your former job and address any potential shortcomings at your end. For instance, if you were terminated due to the lack of some essential skills, mention that while the company didn’t provide any on-the-job training, you later mastered this skill on your own.

5. Why Were You Fired?

This question may seem scary, but don’t fret too much over it. The intention behind it is to learn where the problem was and if you contributed to it in some way.

So again, be honest and forthcoming. Shortly explain the reason for being fired, address your shortcomings (if there were any), and move on to talking about what you’ve learned from this experience.

6. Why Are You Interested in This Position?

This question is your prime opportunity to showcase your enthusiasm and showcase how your skills and experience can positively contribute to the organization.

The easiest way to answer this question is to use the following three-step framework:

Demonstrate your eagerness for the job

Indicate how your experience and skills match the role

Make a connection with your desired career trajectory.

Here’s a sample answer:

“Your company places a great emphasis on user experience and that can be seen in every aspect of your web app and website. I know that the company’s mission is to create more responsive and inclusive web and that is something I care about too. In your job description, you’ve mentioned that you encourage your team members to contribute wherever the interests take them and I’d be really interested in combing my branding knowledge and UX skills to create a more unified experience for users across all digital channels, and my knack for writing could be further applied towards building a more intentional UX writing process. Starting this practice in my last position has reduced our design timeline by 15%. In fact, I’d be really interested in further growing professionally in UX writing and scaling this practice in your organization — something that works well in SaaS, but unfortunately isn’t a priority for most financial companies.”

Last tip: focus on the career benefits of the job rather than financial aspects or benefits.

7. What Do You Know About This Company?

This question is similar to the previous one, but in this case, you have to place a greater focus on why this industry and employer interests you that much.

Do a little research into the company beforehand so you know its background, its core values, mission, current focus, or general direction. Then incorporate some of the points into your answer. Again, try to ‘connect the dots’ and show how your skills and experiences align with this particular company and role.

8. What Challenges Are You Looking For From This Job?

Remember the job description and the key duties/requirements of the candidates. Then pick one specific point and explain what exactly you’d like to achieve.

For example, the job description says that “you’ll need strong organizational skills to manage multi-million dollar budgets for marketing projects”.

You can take that part and mention that for a long time you’ve been seeking extra leadership opportunities and would love to work more as a team to realize your past successes at a larger scale.

In essence, this question prompts you to discuss your career goals so that the employer could understand your expectations, ambitions, and desired career trajectory.

9. What Kind Of Goals And Objectives Do You Have For Your Career?

This interview question is similar to number 6 on this list and you should approach it in a similar fashion. Your answer should be orientated towards the employer, what benefits them, and how you can be instrumental in achieving those goals.

10. Would You Relocate Or Be Willing To Travel?

The point of asking this interview question is to gauge your flexibility, but also practicality. Some jobs may require extended periods of on-site work at customers’ locations – something that may interfere with your work-life balance or family relationships.

Relocation is a major move that not every person is ready to take. After all, your spouse may be happy with their current position and refuse the move. Anyhow, be honest and mention your availability for travel and feelings toward full relocation.

11. What Salary Are You Seeking?

Ah, the money talks. Money-related interview questions are always tricky. On one hand, you don’t want to lowball your offer. On the other, you don’t want to appear as someone with unrealistic expectations.

When asking this question during the interview (not the job offer part), most HRs just want to make sure that you understand the potential compensation range. Negotiating the salary package happens after the job is offered so simply state a salary range within what is mentioned in the job advert.

If there was none, do some research for similar roles on Glassdoor and PayScale to get a good median range estimate.

12. What’s The Most Difficult Situation You Have Faced And How Did You Handle It?

This is one of the most common behavioral interview questions you can get. The interviewer’s goal here is to assess your personality traits and interpersonal skills. The best way to answer this is to provide a quick example from your job.

Tell a quick story showing how you were in a stressful situation but managed to recover quickly, identify the problem, take the right course of action, and succeed. For example:

“Once, our baggage was delayed when we were traveling to the trade show. Our booth decor, posters, and corporate swag were scheduled to arrive a day after the show began. Since it was a crucial event for our company, I contacted the organizers immediately and negotiated that they provided us with another flat screen. Also, I asked the junior manager to purchase a projector, while the rest of the team, including myself, worked overnight to create a new digital presentation of our products and a set of downloadable promo materials that could be downloaded via a QR code scan. Despite the setback, we still managed to attract good traffic to our booth and sign up 20% more leads than usual”.

13. What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?

This tricky question goes as number thirteen deliberately as it’s the one place where a lot of candidates chock. Some downplay their strengths. Others get too hung up on appearing all flawless.

When posting this question the recruiter wants to accomplish several things:

Assess your levels of self-awareness

Check your honesty

Verify for any major red flags

Use this question as an opportunity to highlight what you’ve learned and addressed some of the challenges (your weaknesses) that you had to overcome in the past or things that you are proactively working on right now.

P.S. Read more tips for answering “What Are Your Weaknesses And Strengths?” interview question.

14. Why Should We Hire You?

The inevitable pinnacle to all the interview questions is why should we hire you. Don’t get intimidated by it. Instead, use it as a welcome opportunity to deliver a winning sales pitch to the hiring manager.

To deliver the best answer, focus on the next three things:

Your ability to get the work done thanks to your skills

The great successes you’ve had in the past and can replicate at the new company

Your cultural fit and enthusiasm

Here’s how all of the above can be framed in a quick answer:

“In my last position as a restaurant manager, I managed to reduce the budget waste by 25% while also raising the customer’s rating of the venue thanks to proactive mentorship work with the staff. Thanks to the exceptional levels of service, the venue received a 5-star rating from Culinary Escapades magazine and I still keep close contact with the restaurant critic, so I’d be happy to invite them over to your venue, too. Lastly, I know that organic, fair-trade ingredients are a major selling point of your restaurant, as a vegan myself, I’m always on the lookout for new suppliers and would be happy to share my contacts.”

PRO TIP:

Prepare answers to the Interview questions listed on the site to help you feel prepared and will help the interview conversation flow at a nice pace. If the interviewer asks a question you aren’t prepared for, ask for a couple minutes to gather your thoughts by stating “That’s a great question. Let me give it some thought for a moment.

Brenda S. Meyer Certified Senior HR Consultant Arizona, United States

Every job interview can go one way or another. But no matter which questions you get asked, remember this: be honest, polite and keep your answer on-point. Talk more about what you can do for the employer and how you can be of help, rather than merely reciting all the things you know how to do.

Lastly, remember: you’ve got it!

This article has been originally published on Nov 9, 2016 and has been extensively revised and updated on July 30, 2020.

The post 14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers appeared first on Freesumes.com.

14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

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fantabulosogamedev · 8 years ago

Text

Midweek Update: Shamrocks and Stat-ues

Hey everyone,

I managed to mostly get all my goals done for this week. However, some severe personal issues interfered with the expansion of the Shamrock Fortress, so that’s not in as complete of a state as I’d like.

(full size here)

Starting off with it, the structure and purpose of the Fortress has been determined. The Shamrocks keep their treasure in a chest located on the Floatatron, hovering above the camp for safekeeping. No spherefriend could ever make their way to such an isolated location, but perhaps someone with limbs could find their way up?

(full size here)

Though there are platforming elements here, the main focus of this area is a low-key combat challenge. As Capboy climbs the battlements, he’ll encounter a number of Shamrocks inhabiting the camp who don’t want him anywhere close to the treasure. While Capboy could run past many of them, Cannoneers are crack shots and could easily send him tumbling back to the soldiers he passed by below. Crystal Teeth will also line the area.

(full size here)

Observant viewers will have also noticed several things: the HUD text looks much different, the stat bars in the bottom-left have been noticeably reworked, and Capboy’s debug SP value has gone from 500 to a whopping 500,000. This all ties back to one thing: the new player progression mechanics, and by extension, the new Effigy Chamber! On that note...

(full size here)

The old Skill Tree has been entirely reworked into a much more streamlined and interesting area. As discussed last week, Capboy’s progression will now be stat-based like more traditional RPGs, with seven stats: Fortitude, Friendliness, Energization, Smashitude, Nimbility, Aimfulness, and Ichorification. For more details on what these stats do, check out last week’s post -- a link’s at the bottom of this post. Each stat is represented by a massive statue of a strange, Capboy-esque figure. Just what are these things, you may wonder? I’m afraid you’ll have to wait to find out...

(full size here)

In order to level up, Capboy needs to go to the pedestal in front of the given stat’s statue and press the interact button. When doing so, the window pictured above will open up. There’s a lot going on here, so let’s go through it bit by bit:

Firstly, this is the area where you can see the new font in the best detail. In addition to some slight structural from the last time I showed it off, I’ve now incorporated the fantastic (and now free) asset TextMesh Pro into it! The improvements here are numerous: sharper letter shapes, better outlines, and a slight gradient and 3D effect, just to name a few. This new text format has been implemented in all other menus of the game, but obviously I can’t really show that off efficiently.

Next, in terms of the actual mechanics of the screen, there are four main displays: the stat’s description, the Cost window, the Change window, and the number in the middle.

The stat’s description just gives the player a lowdown on what the stat they’re looking at does.

The Change window shows the actual impact of the stat on the player’s mechanical numbers. In the case above, it shows that the player’s Fortitude Bar will grow from 10 units to 14 units, even though the stat is going from 1 to 5.

The Cost is, simply put, the amount of SP that the upgrade will cost. Every time the player levels up, this cost will increase globally, even for other stats. Once again, you’ll notice that these amounts are massive compared to the old SP values -- these 4 levels cost more than the number of SP available in the game before this MU! More details on this in a bit.

Finally, the number in the middle is the raw stat in the background, ranging from 1 to 99. The various player-visible statistics will scale with these raw stats, scaling differently with their respective stats.

(full size here)

One major issue, especially with the old system, is that of convenience -- it’s hard to plan a build when you have to walk between various options that, in another game, would simply be in a menu. To help with this, every stat is strongly correlated with both a color and a statue’s pose -- I’ve designed each statue to embody the idea of the stat as close as possible, with the goal being to make it very easy to remember which statue is which stat.

You’ll also notice in the above shot that the fortitude bar (now Orange instead of Yellow, in order to not conflict with Ammo) has grown, and the SP has been decremented. The 3 non-combat statistics are all completely implemented, and the scaling for the combat statistics is implemented as well -- it doesn’t yet actually affect damage output, however. Removing most of the SP, you can also see what it looks like when you can’t afford an upgrade:

(full size here)

Every combat stat will scale starting from 100. This will act as a modifier for combat statistics, being further scaled via the weapon’s scaling itself. Hypothetically, with a Nimbility Modifier of 150, and a weapon with a Nimbility Scaling of .5, the weapon would gain a damage modifier of x1.25 (1 + (50/100 * .5)). This scaling seems far too potent, and will be turned down with a more complex equation, but that’s the basic idea of how the combat statistics will work.

(full size here)

Finally, in terms of how SP will work now, the system itself is the same as I planned out last week. However, I now have exact values:

Mini-goodie: 10SP

Golden Sausage: 250 SP

Bludsausage: 500 SP

Spheredog: 750 SP

Furthermore, enemies will give small amounts of SP based on their general difficulty -- each Shamrock Swordsman will give 25SP, while Rammers will give 50. This amount will reduce the more you kill a given enemy type, becoming 0 when an enemy’s bestiary entry has been completed. Naturally, Bestiary Learn Rate upgrades (now provided via Happy Crag) will also increase the amount of SP you get per-kill, in order to keep the player from missing out on SP. Finally, in addition to a weapon and a Bludsausage, the Area Boss of each level will award a massive amount of SP -- somewhere in the ballpark of 3,000. This should go to show just how monumental I’m hoping to make the bosses!

That’s a solid summary of what got done this week! The personal issues I mentioned at the beginning of this post are ongoing, so my productivity will likely remain moderately affected for the foreseeable future, but my plan is to finally have a week of solid, proper level design. This will mostly consist of finishing the Shamrock Fort and making a massive amount of headway (potentially completing) the core structure of the rest of the exterior of the Fightyplace. Beyond that, I’ll continue making tweaks to the Effigy Chamber, investigate implementing Inverse Kinematics for Capboy’s legs, and if I have time beyond this, begin work on implementing the inventory system. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys next time!

Last Week: The Detailfriend Overhaulplace

Next Week: _______

#midweek update #the fantabulous game

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dskid · 8 years ago

Note

memeghan answer me every single question from the overwatch thing

YES it’s all under the cut!

1. Who is your defense main?

junkrat! my sweet baby boy

2. Who is your support main?

lucio

3. Who is your offense main?

reaper

4. Who is your tank main?

d.va

5. Who is you MAIN main?

junkrat RIP

6. Which character have you played the least?

mei or ana,,, i never play them if i can help it tbh

7. Which character do you want to learn how to play?

MCCREE, genji, hanzo, widow, tracer

8. Which character do you dislike the most?

HANZO I HATE HANZO SM as a character… but hes fun to play and im >:- (

9. Which character’s background story do you like the most?

genji, reaper, or mccree definitely!!

10. Which character’s background story do you like the least?

idk really, just the bland ones :’- )

11. Which map is your favorite?

i love hanamura and it’s not just because genji….. i just. really love hanamura

12. Which map is your least favorite?

lijiang tower >:- ( it sucks and i hate it

13. What Arcade game type is your favorite?

mystery heroes or honestly 3v3′s !!

14. What Arcade game type is your least favorite?

total mayhem is Terrible tbh

15. Do you prefer quick play, competitive, arcade mode, or custom games?

i love quick play the most! it’s fun and u can dick around without consequence (though i prefer winning to. Not winning)

16. Which map type is your favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?

assault or control maps are my favs !! escort is fine but control? good shit dude

17. Which map type is your least favorite? Assault, escort, assault & escort, control, or arena?

assault and escort are :- / but u know

18. Which event map was your favorite?

idk if it counts as an event map since it’s still here but i love all the new elimination maps!

19. Which event map reskin was your favorite?

winter wonderland!

20. Which event was your favorite?

i didnt get to play it but junkenstein’s revenge? or the uprising event bc BLACKWATCH REYES’S VOICE I NUT

21. Which event legendary skin was your favorite?

i nut for all of the blackwatch skins

22. Which event was your least favorite?

cant say!

23. Which event legendary skin was your least favorite?

ROADHOG’S YEAR OF THE ROOSTER SKIN SUCKS and it scares me

24. Which event non-legendary skin was your favorite?

genji’s sparrow skin makes me NUT

25. Which event non-legendary skin was your least favorite?

all of the piss yellow skins

26. Which event item do you most regret not getting?

genji’s and mccree’s dance emotes :’- ( i want them so bad

27. Did you beat the Uprising event on Normal, Hard, Expert, and Legendary?

couldnt play it aaaahahaha

28. Do you have Sombra’s “Power Outage” achievement?

NOPE

29. Do you have Widowmaker’s “Smooth as Silk” achievement?

nope

30. Do you have Lucio’s “The Floor is Lava” achievement?

nope :’- )

31. Do you have Zenyatta’s “Rapid Discord” achievement?

n o pe,

32. What was the first achievement you got?

i think it was the one u get for getting a quad kill with junkrat’s rip tyre

33. Did you get the “Not A Scratch,” achievement on Junkenstein’s Revenge?

34. What has been the hardest achievement to get for you?

any of the ones for the pixel sprays bc the pixel sprays make me nut

35. What’s your current SR score in Competitive Mode?

i dont play comp

36. What the highest you’ve been in Competitive?

37. What’s the most amount of placement matches you’ve won?

38. How many gold guns do you have?

0 aha but i want junkrat’s so people know im annoying

39. Which was the first gold gun you got?

NONE

40. Whose gold gun do you currently want?

junkrat’s!

41. What role do you usually play in Competitive?

JDAFSDLK

42. If you don’t play Competitive, why not?

too intense? and im honestly not that good at ovw so my team would carry me the whole time and it would be :- (

43. What kind of theme event would you like to see in the future?

i just want to play junkenstein’s revenge dude

44. What type of character would you like to see in the future?

A NEW HEALER

45. Who needs more (or better) skins in the future?

REAPER and basically all my faves except genji cause hes good

46. What country would you like a new character to come from?

i dont really care,,,,,,

47. Favorite voice line?

“hear me baby?” - torbjorn

48. Favorite player icon?

GOLDEN PACHIMARI but i have goldrat rn

49. Favorite emote?

all of the dance emotes but roadhog’s and junkrat’s are my faves cause they HIGH FIVE

50. Favorite spray?

THE ONE WHERE THE KID? IS PUNCHING? AND HE LOOKS RLY UNCOMFORTABLE

51.Favorite victory pose?

uhh idk! i love basically all of them tbh but reaper’s shrug probably? i love reaper

52. Favorite highlight intro?

D.VA’S SELFIE INTRO

53. Characters you ship the most?

mcgenji and roadrat 8- )

54. Characters you ship the least?

aside from bad ships™, meihem and mercyhog are both Rly Bad in my opinion, along with gency and mercykill (both very bad)

55. Characters you wish had more in-game interactions?

FUCKign…. mccree and genji…… and if reaper and doomfist dont have a lot of interactions those two also

56. Character you wish had a comic about?

i want hanzo and genji to have their own individual comics or one together about their childhood

57. Favorite comic released?

the junkers going legit comic

58. Favorite short released?

DRAGONS cause im a ho for genji

59. Favorite new character released?

doomfist

60. Overwatch, Blackwatch, or Talon?

BLACKWATCH I LOVE MY BOYS

61. Pro-Omnic or anti-Omnic?

pro-omnic but only for zenyatta…… im love him

62. Favorite character that isn’t a playable one? (Ex: Emily, Brigitte, Gerard, Efi, etc.)

gerard or efi probably? theyre both v good

63. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) that you liked the most?

roadhog going faster and having more bullets

64. Character change (nerf, boost, work around) you liked the least?

i cant fuckign hook anyone anymore

65. Best ultimate?

i love d.va’s nerf this but i can never position it right,,,, and i love rip tyre

66. Worst ultimate?

widow’s is the most useless tbh

67. Most kills in game?

never enough :’- ) 41 tho

68. Most heals in game?

10,520

69. What character do you think needs a nerf?

SYMMETRA i hate playing against her >:- ( her beam takes no skill to use and also winston’s beam needs to heck off

70. What character do you think needs a buff?

reinhardt… give the man a range…..

71. Have you ever rage quit in the middle of a game?

nope i only leave games early if i have to do something else irl or if my internet goes out

72. What’s the fastest you’ve won a game?

like……… 1:10

73. What’s the fastest you’ve lost a game?

i forget it probably wasnt too far off from 1:00 - 1:20 tho

74. Your best Overwatch-related story?

UMM idk ! all the skirmishes where the enemy team dances with me and stuff r lit and when people have the low grav parties with me on horizon lunar colony it’s also lit

75. Weirdest thing that happened to you on Overwatch?

nothing weird really happens to me in ovw tbh…

76. Platform you play on?

PC!

77. Do you stream?

nope

78. Do you normally play solo or with friends?

i try to play with friends more than i do solo but i will solo sometimes

79. Have you made any friends because of Overwatch?

MADDY!! and u and kelly and rose!

80. Have you cosplayed a character from Overwatch?

no but i really want to cosplay young / sparrow genji really fuckgin bad

81. Have you ever wrote fan fiction about Overwatch?

im in… the process……

82. What’s the lowest you’ve been in Competitive?

i dont play comp

83. In “All Brawls,” if you get “Charge!” do you play Reinhardt or do you pick the Lucio role?

i missed these

84. In “All Brawls,” if you get “One Shot, One Kill,” do you play Ana, Hanzo, or Widowmaker?

i missed these

85. In “All Brawls,” if you get “This is Ilios,” do you pick Lucio or Roadhog?

i missed these

86. Team Genji or Team Hanzo?

GENJI HANZO DESERVES NOTHING AND HE SUCKS

87. Be honest! Do you usually get on the payload?

yes! im always the one calling for people to get on it tbh

88. Does your team?

not usually :’- )

89. What’s the longest session of Overwatch you’ve played?

when i first got it…… ive played it for a solid 6 hours in a row with no breaks bc i suck

90. No Limits, Mystery Heroes, or Total Mayhem?

mystery heroes definitely

91.Most cosmetics you have for one character?

i think i have the most for mercy but i cant remember?

92. Least cosmetics you have for one character?

symmetra

93. Have you ever made your own custom game?

only to practice playing genji

94. Best D.Va skin?

CRUISER, junebug, or carbon fiber

95. Best Mercy skin?

the witch one

96. Best Tracer skin?

roses

97. Zarya’s Industrial and Cybergoth skins: yes, no, or HELL NO?

eeh

98. Do you want more animal character, robot characters, or human characters?

human characters (theyre easier to draw and im a Weenie when it comes to drawing mechs / robots)

99. Is there are character you’d get rid of completely?

hanzo bc i hate him or sym bc i cant play against her no matter how hard i try

100. What do you think Sombra’s real name is?

something really pretty………. idk what exactly………….. but something just Real Good

#pm5k #overwatch #answered #shut up meghan #meghan.txt

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f0t0grafia-blog · 8 years ago

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You Major in What???

In my senior year of high school I became all too familiar with the common college conversation that teens typical have with the adults in their lives. Of course there was the basic conversation:

*insert adult voice here* “So are you going to college after high school?”

*me* “Yes! I already sent in my applications to a few and now I am waiting to here back.”

*adult again* “Thats so exciting, college is a great time, I am sure you will have a lot of fun. So what are you majoring in?”

*me* “Oh, music education!”

And then this is where the conversation, 99% of the time, takes a turn for the worst. The first reaction is the facial expression. The eyebrows raise, the head tilts, and confusion glazes over the eyes of the person. Then the concerning questions start, here are a few:

Q:“You are majoring in what?”

Q:“Does that make any money?”

Q:“What do you even do, just sit around and play instruments all day?”

Q:“Wait wait wait, so are you a teacher or do you play instruments?”

Q:“Do you play every instrument?”

Q:“What is your minor? Do you have another major?”

And so on the list goes. After awhile I got tired of explaining my situation and defending myself over and over again so I would respond in the bluntest and most sarcastic ways possible. Probably not the best idea but hey, #yolo.

So what do we, as in we music education majors, do? I am here to clear up some of the confusion. Music majors in general are one of the most stressful, and busiest majors. I am not just making these numbers up- it is true. According to student surveys, music majors ranked 4th on feeling most stressed throughout an average school week. In addition they came in on the top ten list of feeling the most sleep deprived. So where does this come from? Our course load of course! (ha no pun intended)

An average semester for a music major totals above 15 credits. Most of my semesters are anywhere from 17.5- 19.5 credits and they can go up to 21. Most degrees average anywhere from 12-15 credits. Class wise, I’d say I average about 13-15 courses. Of course there are other demanding fields other than music, but this isn’t a competition I am just speaking for my degree and to clear up some misconceptions.

The courses we take aren’t easy either. The typical classes all music majors share are theory, aurals, piano lab, and music history. This of course depends on the university a musician attends but it’s pretty accurate. All of our classes are challenging to some degree or another because there is ALOT of information to cover. It becomes even more difficult because peoples musical abilities and backgrounds vary. Some of my friends have been studying their main instrument since they were two and some of us, myself included, have only been seriously playing for a year or so. Also, the musical organizations and back ground information we have all vary and overall everyone is usually at a different level. This can make classes more challenging and can also make it easier for a musician to compare themselves to their peers musical abilities- and that usually doesn’t end too well. Either way, if you are slacking- compared to your peers- with your main instrument or in a course such as theory or aurals it is entirely up to you to cover as much ground as you can. Of course your professors can help but when comparing music to other majors most majors such as education, math, nursing, psychology, have no prior experience they could have participated in before attending university and the course starts off at and equal level (More or less). But music demands you to have some knowledge and definite ability on an instrument in order to major in the program.

In addition to the struggles mentioned above, our other classes consist of ensembles. At my university, I have to major in a small and large ensemble and chorale for a number of semesters. What does this mean? This means that each ensemble averages about 5- 10 different pieces I have to learn and preform. Those are additional pieces to what you are doing in your private lessons- which every musician must take- and depending on your skill level that course load varies. Either way learning pieces is challenging which takes me to my next point: practicing. :0) Music majors must practice in order to be successful. Practicing varies, for me personally I practice two hours a day at least 5 days a week (Just on my main instrument this doesn’t count ensembles/piano lab/other instrument courses). I try to practice as much as I can, we all do, but it becomes difficult because we are not allotted time in our schedules to include practicing. We do this on our own time- whether that is at 6:00 am or 9:00 pm. It is not easy to practice as a musician in the first place, it is especially not easy to practice when you have all of the basic college stressors on your mind.

Lastly, we have our own course load specifically of music classes but we also have to take general education courses like every other major. This is extremely frustrating because they take up a great portion of time. For me personally, I wish I could be practicing instead of sitting in English or Math but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

This is just a general over view of a music degree and again, it varies from university to university. For music education we have additional education courses to take, observations, and student teaching to complete. It is a lot to handle but it’s totally worth it when you love doing it.

I felt super inspired to write this post because I just realized I have been graduated from high school for almost a year and it is a weird feeling. A year ago I was having that typical college conversation and I began to dread it because of peoples responses. Looking back I know the responses I got came from a place of concern and caring but they also came from a place of ignorance. No matter the major, a person should feel proud and excited to be starting a new chapter. If it is what you love to do, it will always be worth it!

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:

Q:“You are majoring in what?” A:... music education I literally just said it.

Q:“Does that make any money?” A: $33,000- $130,000. but who’s counting?

Q:“What do you even do, just sit around and play instruments all day?” A: lmao I wish

Q:“Wait wait wait, so are you a teacher or do you play instruments?”

A: Both. Try looking for textual evidence next time???

Q:“Do you play every instrument?” A: Not yet

Q:“What is your minor? Do you have another major?” A: Haha, that is a good joke :)

#music education #college #immaculataunviersity #percussionist

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psythe · 8 years ago

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ok! ♫ some background on my fma substory

now that i think about it the whole thing is honestly not very complicated??? so i’ll be expanding on maka’s utility in the verse then to the reason why she was plopped into amestris.

maka’s abilities include high physical strength, high endurance, good speed, and the most important of all: soul perception. this, plus the fact that she’s highly adept at wielding polearms (of any kind, including scythes) makes her a very tough adversary and valued fighter for anyone.

maka’s purpose for being in the DWMA is to 1. make soul a death-scythe (an ultimate weapon) via taking 99 kishin souls plus one witch’s soul, 2. collect kishin souls--souls that have left humanity and have transformed into things supernatural (and humans close to becoming kishin eggs). the way i have my FMA substory set up is that maka is sent to amestris in order to fulfill her goal, gain experience, and serve as an asset to the people she’d been assigned to via lord death. the reason why maka was sent instead of someone even more qualified in terms of skill and age is because of her extremely powerful soul perception ability.

maka’s soul perception ability makes it easy for her to find humans-turned-kishin eggs if they’re within her radius. her soul perception is advanced to the point of being able to recognize people at a distance via the image/feeling/color of their soul. she is also able to identify what species someone is (ie. witch / werewolf / fairy / vampire). this also makes it rather simple for her to distinguish negative supernatural beings such as the homunculi due to their philosopher’s stones.

with this ability, in a way she was meant to disrupt the canon of FMA (by lord death) seeing as she is and can definitely be a rulebreaker--only, she’s not going to disrupt any of the events in the universe; pursuing something extremely dangerous, out of her league, and quite frankly none of her business is simply not in maka’s personality to, which is where i nestle my substory for her. she will not actively pursue homunculi of oruboros and she will not desire any and all confrontation--unless she is personally offended by one or if her life is in danger, 9/10 times she will not engage (read: That’s Some Bad Shit).

... maka was sent to amestris in order to control the turning of humans into kishin eggs. she was sent to amestris to a certain person because of a particular trait said person had and with the trust that they weren’t negatively corrupt (ie. the fuhrer, but lord death can’t possibly know that!). she was sent in order to do something, but she wasn’t given instructions on what or how to do so--she’s literally sent there to wreak whatever havoc she decides to wreak.

and she’s sent to amestris without anyone knowing about her abilities and what she can do--she just is, she’s there, and she’s trying her best to enjoy her time there while simultaneously doing her vigilante work on her own agenda.

she’s not exactly in the military but she’s not exactly dissociated with it. it’s more of a front to give her an excuse to reap souls of evil humans--nonetheless, being put under someone in the military gives her assignments in order to complete which guide her meetings and opens up freedoms while at the same time restricting her actions. examples of some benefits include getting out of damages, getting an allowance for her services, having a convenient place to sleep and recoup during her stay, and being able to travel relatively freely (plus experience in general--its like an internship). downsides include being restricted to military rules and boundaries, being “under someone”, and following the law of the land for fear of execution.

in short: maka honestly has 0 idea why she’s in amestris but she is and is dealing with it in her own way.

#' OUT OF WAVELENGTH #' SUBSTORY #' FMA SUBSTORY #and the long awaited thingthing #that i did right now #its been two days since i said i'd do it and here it is #long post /

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republicstandard · 7 years ago

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Dear Liberals: It’s not "Rednecks" who are Inbred

The Inspector General (IG)’s latest report, capturing exchanges from as many as five FBI agents under investigation, exposed the intense hatred and contempt that the Deep State has not just for President Trump, but for the average American who voted for him. A sample exchange:

Agent One: “I find anyone who enjoys [this job] an absolute f---ing idiot. If you don’t think so, ask them one more question. Who are you voting for? I guarantee you it will be Donald Drumpf.” Agent Five: “I forgot about Drumpf…that’s so sad and pathetic if they want to vote for him. Someone who can’t answer a question. Someone who can’t be professional for even a second.” Agent Five: “I’m trying to think of a ‘would I rather’ instead of spending time with those people.” Agent One: “stick your tongue in a fan??” Agent Five: “I would rather have brunch with Trump and a bunch of his supporters like the ones from Ohio that are retarded.” (sic)

That last comment from Agent Five is the smug refrain of coastal cosmopolitans that America’s rednecks are incestuous retards, but the reality is quite different. You see, it’s not the working class whites -who actually make the country go- with average IQs literally at or below clinical mental retardation. The much-maligned “hicks” of West Virginia have an average IQ of almost 99. There are two population groups —one of them quite prominent in the media and entertainment industries committed to perpetuating such a portrayal of America’s working class— who have serious genetic issues related to inbreeding.

For point of reference, here is a list of the countries with average IQs at or below 70, which has been considered to be a marker of "definite feeble-mindedness" or "mild mental retardation": Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Zimbabwe, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Botswana, Rwanda, Togo, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Haiti, Djibouti, Somalia, Swaziland, Dominica, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, the Gambia, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique, St. Lucia, East Timor, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea. Nigeria would also qualify if you removed the Igbo. Does anything stick out to you?

Regarding inbreeding, globally about half of all Muslim marriages are consanguineous (blood related), usually between first cousins or an uncle and niece, while the rate is about 1% in Europe (largely attributable to the “migrants”) and 0.2% in the US. Carlisle du Rozel reports:

According to Bengali ex-Muslim essayist Abul Kaseem, the product of rampant phenomena of inbreeding in Islam is due to several things, but two stick out in particular: 1) interpretations of the Qu’ran which permits a Muslim man to marry and have intercourse with his daughter born out of wedlock (usually 8 or 9 years old), and 2) the popular and widely accepted practice of cousin-marriage initiated by the Prophet Muhammed himself, who infamously had relations with his cousins outside of marriage (Tirmidhi 5.3214).

The consequences can be severe. Medical data shows that while British Pakistanis are 3 percent of all births, they account for over 30 percent of children in the UK born with genetic illnesses, costing the NHS at least about 600 million pounds per annum. A 2005 BBC survey found that 55% of Britain’s Pakistani population was married to a first cousin; in Pakistan itself, 70% of all marriages are consanguineous. British scientist Steve Jones explains:

It is common in the Islamic world to marry your brother’s daughter, which is actually closer than marrying your cousin. We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene.

Consanguineous marriages result in an average IQ deficit of about 15 points. The risk for having an IQ lower than 70 increases by 400% among the offspring of first cousin marriages. It also increases aggression, lowers impulse control, and dramatically elevates the risk of a whole host of medical disorders. The Danish “migrant” community offers another illuminating case study. From the newspaper Jydskevestkysten:

Immigrant children are clearly overrepresented in Copenhagen’s schools for retarded children and children with physical handicaps. … 51 percent of the children in the three schools in Copenhagen for children with physical and mental handicaps have an immigrant background and in one of the schools the amount is 70 percent. … These amounts are significantly higher than the share of immigrant children in the municipality, which is 33 percent. The many handicapped children provide clear evidence that there are many intermarried parents in the immigrant families.

From B.T.:

Disabled immigrant children costs Danish municipalities millions. In Copenhagen County alone, the number of disabled children has increased 100 percent in 10 years…[Social worker] Meredith Lefelt has contacted 330 families with disabled children in Copenhagen. She estimates that one third of their clients have a foreign cultural background.

The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit found that:

Those who speak Arabic with their parents have an extreme tendency to lack reading abilities - 64 percent are illiterate. ... No matter if it concerns reading abilities, mathematics or science, the pattern is the same: The bilingual (largely Muslim) immigrants’ skills are exceedingly poor compared to their Danish classmates.

From Kristeligt Dagblad:

In Sct. Hans Hospital, which has the biggest ward for clinically insane criminals in Denmark, more than 40 percent of the patients have an immigrant background.

In Denmark, the number of inbred Muslims ranges from Pakistanis at 40% to Turks at 15%. The rate of inbreeding in Turkey itself is about 25-30%. For Islam, this is pretty low. While in India the Muslim rate of cousin marriage is 22%, the rate spikes to 40% in Jammu and Kashmir. Between 20-28% of Morocco’s marriages are of the cousin variety. 35-50% of sub-Saharan African marriages are estimated to be between blood relations, with Nigeria’s rate highly variable depending on the tribe: Hausas (percentage unknown) and Yorubas (51.2%) practice it; Igbos ban it. 34% of all marriages in Algieria are consanguine, with Tunisia at 39% and Syria at 40%. About 40% of the population marries a cousin in Egypt, according to a 2016 report in The Economist. “Rates are thought to be even higher in tribal countries such as Iraq and the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait,” says the Economist.

Statistical research on Muslim-majority countries shows that up to 42% of all marriages in Lebanon are consanguine (blood related), as are 45% in Yemen, 46% in Bahrain, 47% in Mauritania, 48% in Libya, 54% in Qatar, 54% in the United Arabic Emirates, 56% in Oman, 60% in Iraq, 63% in Sudan, 64% in Jordan, 64% in Kuwait, 66% in Palestine, 68% in Saudi Arabia, and 80% in Nubia. Arabs have one of the world’s highest rates of genetic disorders, with 66% of the abnormalities linked to cousin marriage. A Saudi study discovered that “90% of couples detected as carriers did not follow the advice they were given and went ahead with their marriages.” Executive Director of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, geneticist Dr. Stephen R. Schroeder, stated:

Saudi Arabia is a living genetics laboratory. Here you can look at 10 families to study genetic disorders, where you would need 10,000 families to study disorders in the United States.

In Afghanistan, where 46% of the marriages are consanguineous, Danish psychologist Nicolai Sennels discusses some of the consequences:

A study from Kabul, Afghanistan, based on autopsies of the remains of suicide bombers, shows that close to 90 percent were suffering from severe illnesses or deficiencies such as blindness, cancer, missing limbs or leprosy. Many Muslim societies, including that of Afghanistan, have a low social acceptance of handicaps and mental illness. Being physically handicapped or mentally retarded often leads to exclusion. Becoming a martyr may be the only chance of achieving social recognition and honor. Some cases of Down’s syndrome may be another unpleasant effect of inbreeding and al-Qaeda has been known to use people afflicted with it. People with low intelligence may also be more easily convinced that Islam, with its promise of 72 virgins to Muslims who die fighting for their religion, is true.

The numbers for consanguinity in some Muslim nations such as Indonesia, Niger, Djibouti, Somalia, and Bangladesh are woefully incomplete, though we do know that 17.6% of marriages in the Teknaf region of Bangladesh are consanguineous. 37.5% of Iran’s marriages are consanguineous, as are 69% of Burkina Faso’s Fulani and 27% of Mali’s (admittedly a small sample at just 600 persons). We do not know the percentage of Azerbaijani marriages of this kind, but there is a tradition of inter-marriage, and a prevalence of certain diseases and disorders common to this practice. 30-35% of birth defects in Tajikistan are attributable to kin marriage. Dr. Bill Warner writes:

Think about this, Islam says it is destined to rule the world, and if it does inbreeding will be everywhere and humanity will actually devolve. And this can’t be changed, because the Sharia is Allah’s law. But why are we silent about Sharia, suffering? Why can’t we educate about this harm? How can we go about trying to show that this is wrong? Oh wait a minute, we can’t do this because this would be offensive to Muslims. So we won’t be including incest in part of the explanation about the beauty of Islam in our schools. Can we find a Muslim who will say that inbreeding is wrong, will he abjure this because science agrees it is wrong? Can we run a social program to educate immigrants who come here about genetic damage? Well, as good as that sounds, because it would reduce suffering, that would be Islamophobic. How evil does something have to get before we can talk about it? I want to prevent a crime against the next generation. Am I a bigot to talk, and are you afraid to talk? This is a serious problem and it needs to be addressed.

As Winston Churchill said, “The influence of [Islam] paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” It also retards —literally— the development of not just the next generation, but generations henceforth. The data bears this out. In addition to actually being incestuous, the Muslim world is intellectually incestuous, contributing precious little to the advancement of human knowledge and understanding outside of its own religious texts. The UN Arab Human Development Reports (AHDR) records that roughly the same number of books are translated within the country of Spain annually as have been translated into Arabic in the last 1,200 years. Eugene Rogan notes:

The Arab world translates about 330 books annually, one fifth of the number that Greece translates. The cumulative total of translated books since the Caliph Maa’moun’s time (813-833 AD) is about 100,000, almost the average that Spain translates in one year.

From the Nature International Journal of Science:

In 2003, the world average for production of articles per million inhabitants was 137, whereas none of the 47 OIC countries for which there were data achieved production above 107 per million inhabitants. The OIC average was just 13.

On the other side of the consanguineous coin, all Ashkenazi Jews are descended from the same group of 330-350 people who lived in the Middle Ages, a hybrid population of Levantine males and European females who ultimately turned inward and bred with each other in closed communities for centuries. This intense inbreeding has paradoxically had the opposite effect of cognitive impairment that’s afflicted the Middle East and Africa. The Jews are wildly overrepresented in terms of their intellectual contributions. From JINFO.org:

At least 201 Jews and people of half- or three-quarters-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize, accounting for 23% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2017, and constituting 37% of all US recipients during the same period. In the scientific research fields of Chemistry, Economics, Physics, and Physiology/Medicine, the corresponding world and US percentages are 26% and 39%, respectively. Among women laureates in the four research fields, the Jewish percentages (world and US) are 33% and 50%, respectively.

This is not to say, however, that the inbreeding amongst the Ashkenazim hasn’t been without consequence. Jews are twenty times more likely than the average person to suffer from schizophrenia, and they are predisposed to higher rates of breast and ovarian cancer. There are a number of gene mutations found exclusively amongst their population that are attributable to the prevalence of other diseases, primarily Tay-Sachs.

The evidence is clear: the cousin diddling isn’t so much a West Virginia thing as it is an after-madrassa and shtetl thing.

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ronnykblair · 7 years ago

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From Biology to Investment Banking: How to Become an Even Better “MD”

A long time ago, an angry reader kept leaving comments saying that my estimates for MD-level compensation were off.

He posted an analysis showing why my estimate of $1,000 per hour was wrong and explained why MDs make more like $100-$200 per hour.

His numbers lined up, but then I reached the end of his “analysis” and read the punchline:

“People have been led to believe that MDs make a huge salary, but the ones that are really making money are the hospitals; doctors are just employees at the hospitals and clinics.”

Oops.

I can understand the confusion.

But on this site, MD means Managing Director.

And the pay differences above are one of the many points that lead many students to switch from biology to investment banking – as our reader today did:

Switching from Biology to Business

Q: Can you summarize your story for us?

A: Sure. I graduated from high school as one of the top students in my class and started university at a Top 25 school in the U.S.

I began as a biology major, mostly due to my personal interest in the industry, but within a few months, I realized I had no idea what I was doing with myself.

So, I transferred to a much smaller and lesser-known school.

It wasn’t even ranked at the national level, and it had approximately 3-5 alumni, total, in investment banking.

I stuck with biology at first, but I began to lose interest in it after two years of classes.

My roommate was an economics major, and after speaking with him, professors in the business school, and those 3-5 alumni, I switched into economics.

I liked that a lot more, but I got such a late start that it was almost impossible to win a finance internship in my junior year, let alone an internship in investment banking.

I applied to more internships than anyone else I’ve spoken to – maybe 500+ applications – but nothing worked because all my experience and coursework had been in healthcare.

I read about valuation groups at accounting firms and learned how the skill set might be relevant for IB roles, so I gave myself a crash course in accounting, valuation, and financial modeling.

Then, I applied for and won a role at a non-Big-4 firm by heavily spinning my background.

About 9 months into that job, I began networking for IB roles.

I spent 10-15 hours per week on informational interviews, emails, and calls, and won a full-time IB Analyst role at a bulge-bracket bank after about 9 months of the job search.

Q: To start with, how did you spin your background to win the valuation role?

A: I pointed to my self-study and relevant coursework and de-emphasized my biology and healthcare work experience.

Many valuation firms look for students who held leadership roles on campus, so I emphasized those in place of my non-finance work experience.

Networking also works well at these firms since fewer students do it; it’s easily the best way to get through the resume screen.

Biology to Investment Banking: Networking Strategies

Q: You mentioned earlier that you had used some “creative” networking strategies.

Can you share them with us?

A: Sure. The standard tactics worked well for valuation roles at accounting firms, but I had to become more creative as I began searching for IB roles.

Initially, I sent mass cold emails to bankers and received a total of 0 replies.

That was because I had a weak story and no mutual connections; also, I looked like a non-traditional candidate.

So, I changed my strategy and began writing physical letters (i.e., snail mail) to decision makers at banks.

If they could ignore my email in 1 second, it would take them at least 5 seconds to open my letter and decide whether or not to read it.

Q: OK, but how did you find the physical addresses?

A: If you think about it, it’s easier than finding email addresses: Just look up the bank’s address on Google Maps!

I searched for bankers’ first and last names on LinkedIn and combined that with the address data from Google Maps to send the letters.

After I sent the physical letter, I also followed up via email.

If the bank used middle names or initials in their email address format, I searched FINRA registrations to find that information.

This process of writing letters to explain my background, story, and why I wanted to work in banking was time-consuming (~1 hour per letter at first), but then I remembered your suggestion to outsource networking, and I began doing that.

I hired a virtual assistant on Upwork to gather the data and draft letters for me, which took the bulk of the time.

I then reviewed each letter and made minor edits, and my girlfriend and I sent them out weekly. Even today we joke about how we’ve perfected the trifold.

The process became so streamlined that I could easily send out 20 letters per week.

Q: Wow.

Which banks or groups did you focus on, and how did you follow up with them?

A: I started out by focusing on healthcare and tech groups, but bankers kept telling me to be industry-agnostic.

I took their advice and began to research other industries so I could discuss trends and deals anywhere.

I started with the bulge-bracket banks and moved down from there.

After I sent a physical letter, I waited a week, and if I didn’t hear anything, I followed up via email.

If I still didn’t hear anything, I followed up a few days later and kept following up every few days for a week or two after that.

Emails sent around office open time in the local time zone got the best response rates; I won informational interviews or referrals from three Vice Chairmen (!) at different banks like that.

Q: Yeah, you want the email to arrive after they’ve cleared away everything received overnight, but before the craziness of the day begins.

What were the biggest challenges you encountered in this process?

A: The biggest challenge, by far, was telling my story effectively and convincing them I was serious about the biology to investment banking move.

I had an unusual background – I had transferred to a smaller university, I had switched majors, and I had become interested in finance very late – and I struggled to explain all that at first.

Also, I had to use my story to preempt the inevitable “Why haven’t you done a previous IB or finance internship?” and “Why didn’t you get in earlier?” questions.

I did not encounter problems with firms never getting back to me after interviews.

Lateral opportunities come up as a result of unexpected departures, so teams usually need to hire someone quickly.

Investment Banking Non-Finance Backgrounds: How to Tell Your Story and Handle Surprises

Q: Agreed; it’s also more of an issue at small banks rather than the bulge brackets.

On that note, how did you tell your story effectively?

A: I stripped my story down to its bare essentials and resisted the urge to “explain” too much.

For example, I left out the part about transferring to a smaller university because it didn’t help my case at all.

I also left out my university’s name because it wasn’t well-known, and I already had full-time work experience.

My rough story outline was:

Beginning: Entering university, I majored in biology. I had family members in medicine, and I also wanted to go into the industry.

Spark: Halfway through, I realized it wasn’t for me, and I became more interested in economics because of [Specific Professor/Class].

Growing Interest: I liked economics, but I also wanted more practical, hands-on applications of the topics, so I became interested in investment banking and valuation, which led to my current role.

Preempting of Key Objections: I started late in the process, so I was not able to complete an IB internship. But valuation work seemed like the next-best alternative, and I felt the skill set would apply to IB roles as well.

The Future / Why You’re Here Today: So, I’m here today because I want to take the skills I’ve gained in my current role and apply them to major transactions. I’m interested in IB because you influence deals rather than just weighing in one aspect, such as valuation, or analyzing deals after they’ve taken place, and I’m excited about this firm and group because of [Recent Deals the Group Has Worked On].

Q: That story outline is better than 99% of the ones we see.

What other surprises or challenges did you encounter in networking and interviews?

A: I was surprised at how my story worked very well with some bankers but very poorly with others.

Anyone who had attended a non-target school or moved in from a different career responded well, but it was harder to connect with graduates of elite universities and business schools.

Also, at some banks, I kept getting “referrals to HR” from bankers.

They were trying to be helpful, but these calls tended to be useless because they were often with teams that had no open positions.

One HR group at a bank asked me to stop asking for referrals since they had no open roles!

Since lateral roles pop up unexpectedly, staying in touch with bankers was crucial.

If someone quits randomly in the middle of the year, you need to be #1 on senior bankers’ list of “candidates to call.”

Q: Yeah, it’s even more critical than in on-cycle recruiting because of the timing.

What else did they ask you about in interviews?

A: My valuation experience and perspective put me in a good position since I had more real-world experience than most candidates.

Bankers did not ask me that many conceptual questions, but focused on topics like the selection of comparable companies and how to tweak the set to get the results the client wanted to see.

Other than that, they focused heavily on my story, how much I knew about the bank, and recent deals they worked on (which you need to know about).

Q: Great. Any final thoughts for students who also want to move from biology to investment banking (or another non-finance major to IB)?

A: The main points are:

1) Think of networking as a process, not a series of results.

It’s discouraging to focus on the results because most networking efforts turn into dead ends.

It’s better to think of it as an extended process and not worry too much about how many responses you get in one week.

2) Frame your story for your audience.

You can have the best story in the world, but it’s useless unless the person you’re speaking to can relate to it.

3) Be persistent.

If there’s anything that bankers care about besides academic background and work experience, neither of which you can immediately change, it’s persistence.

Some people track how many times candidates have contacted them and recommend the ones with the most attempts, even if they never respond to those candidates!

Q: Thanks for your time! Great tips.

A: My pleasure.

The post From Biology to Investment Banking: How to Become an Even Better “MD” appeared first on Mergers & Inquisitions.

from ronnykblair digest https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/biology-to-investment-banking/

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portmack · 7 years ago

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oh wow not again

1: is there a boy/girl in your life?- no

2: think of the last person who hurt you; do you forgive them?- no

3: what do you think of when you hear the word “meow?”- cat

4: what’s something you really want right now?- to figure out what im doing with my life

5: are you afraid of falling in love?- no

6: do you like the beach?- sure

7: have you ever slept on a couch with someone else?- no

8: what’s the background on your cell?- something from a game

9: name the last four beds you were sat on?- what does that mean

10: do you like your phone?- i upgraded a few months ago after like 3 or 4 years

11: honestly, are things going the way you planned?- no

12: who was the last person whose phone number you added to your contacts?- one of my bosses last summer lmao

13: would you rather have a poodle or a rottweiler?- ive had 2 poodle mixes and they dont shed so probably poodle

14: which hurts the most, physical or emotional pain?- i guess physical because im used to the latter at this point

15: would you rather visit a zoo or an art museum?- a zoo if its a good zoo like animal protection wise etc

16: are you tired?- yeah

17: how long have you known your 1st phone contact?- if that means alphabetically ive known kany since augustish of 2011

18: are they a relative?- no

19: would you ever consider getting back together with any of your exes?- i dont have exes

20: when did you last talk to the last person you shared a kiss with?- no

21: if you knew you had the right person, would you marry them today?- sure

22: would you kiss the last person you kissed again?- no

23: how many bracelets do you have on your wrists right now?- one

24: is there a certain quote you live by?- no

25: what’s on your mind?- ggggggggggg

26: do you have any tattoos?- no

27: what is your favorite color?- blue

28: next time you will kiss someone on the lips?- what kind of question is that

29: who are you texting?- no one

30: think to the last person you kissed, have you ever kissed them on a couch?- no

31: have you ever had the feeling something bad was going to happen and you were right?- sure

32: do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to?- i guess

33: do you think anyone has feelings for you?- not currently

34: has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes?- yes

35: say the last person you kissed was kissing someone right in front of you?- thats not a question

36: were you single on valentines day?- sure

37: are you friends with the last person you kissed?- this thing is so obsessed with kissing

38: what do your friends call you?- nic

39: has anyone upset you in the last week?- yes someone said they were getting me coffee and then didnt

40: have you ever cried over a text?- yes

41: where’s your last bruise located?- idk im not a bruiser

42: what is it from?- idk

43: last time you wanted to be away from somewhere really bad?- my last roommate

44: who was the last person you were on the phone with?- my mom probably

45: do you have a favourite pair of shoes?- no

46: do you wear hats if your having a bad hair day?- only in the winter

47: would you ever go bald if it was the style?- no

48: do you make supper for your family?- i can make pasta

49: does your bedroom have a door?- yes

50: top 3 web-pages?- idk anymore

51: do you know anyone who hates shopping?- probably

52: does anything on your body hurt?- my back

53: are goodbyes hard for you?- not when its happening but later sometimes

54: what was the last beverage you spilled on yourself?- water

55: how is your hair?- its the longest its been in like 6-7 years

56: what do you usually do first in the morning?- chekc my phone

57: do you think two people can last forever?- sure

58: think back to january 2007, were you single?- i was 11

59: green or purple grapes?- i dont eat grapes because the skin freaks me out

60: when’s the next time you will give someone a big hug?- im not a hugger

61: do you wish you were somewhere else right now?- sure

62: when will be the next time you text someone?- whenever kany texts me because shes literally the only person i text because shes the only person who will put up with me

63: where will you be 5 hours from now?- asleep

64: what were you doing at 8 this morning.- sleeping

65: this time last year, can you remember who you liked?- yes it was terrible

66: is there one person in your life that can always make you smile?- no

67: did you kiss or hug anyone today?- no

68: what was your last thought before you went to bed last night?- fuck its 7am

69: have you ever tried your hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?- all the time

70: how many windows are open on your computer?- 3 internet windows and you dont want to know how many tabs

71: how many fingers do you have?-...10?

72: what is your ringtone?- whatever the default iphone one is idk i never have the sound on

73: how old will you be in 5 months?- 22

74: where is your mum right now?- asleep

75: why aren’t you with the person you were first in love with or almost in love?- idk but the first person i ever liked is a trump supporter now so idc

76: have you held hands with somebody in the past three days?- no

77: are you friends with the people you were friends with two years ago?- no

78: do you remember who you had a crush on in year 7?- didnt have crushes until 11th grade

79: is there anyone you know with the name mike?- many

80: have you ever fallen asleep in someones arms?- no

81: how many people have you liked in the past three months?- 0

82: has anyone seen you in your underwear in the last 3 days?- no

83: will you talk to the person you like tonight?- no

84: you’re drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you’re with?- i would never a. be drunk and in public and b. do that

85: if your bf/gf was into drugs would you care?- ya

86: what was the most eventful thing that happened last time you went to see a movie?- last movie i saw in theaters was with kany

87: who was your last received call from?- my mother probably

88: if someone gave you $1,000 to burn a butterfly over a candle, would you?- nah

89: what is something you wish you had more of?-$

90: have you ever trusted someone too much?- yes and never again

91: do you sleep with your window open?- if its hot inside and cold outside

92: do you get along with girls?- sure

93: are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth?- sure

94: does sex mean love?- nah

95: you’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?- no

96: have you ever kissed anyone with a lip ring?- no

97: did you sleep alone this week?- ya

98: everybody has somebody that makes them happy, do you?- no

99: do you believe in love at first sight?- no

100: who was the last person that you pinky promise?- no idea

1: If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?- pls dont do that to me

2. What is your favorite piece of clothing you own / owned?- im not too sentimental about clothes

3. What hobby would you pick up if time & money weren't an issue?- streaming maybe

4. What does your perfect room look like?- i dont care that much i just want to be comfortable

5. How often do you play sports?- not much anymore but i wish i did

6. What fictional place would you like to visit?- hoenn

7. What job would you be terrible at?- economist

8. When was the last time you climbed a tree?- probably in middle school

9. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance of winning a medal for?- g

10. What is the most annoying habit that you or other people have?- being late

11. What job do you think you'd be really good at?- something sciency

12. What skill would you like to master?- color

13. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on?- im not too interested in adventures at this current time

14. If you had unlimited funds to build a house to live on for the rest of your life, what would the finished house look like?- i dont need much as long as the wifi is good

15. What's your favorite drink?- iced coffee or grape propel

16. What state or country do you never want to go back to?- not a huge fan of ny

17. What songs do you have completely memorized?- i could list a couple thousand probably

18. What game or movie universe would you like to live in?- pokemon i guess

19. What do you consider to be your best find?- wtf does that mean

20. Are you usually early or late?- im all over the place

21. What pets did you have when you were growing up?- dog cat dog 5 fish dog dog ratdog

22. When people come to you for help, what do they usually need help with?- a lot of things

23. What takes up too much of your time?- being depressed

24. What do you wish you knew more about?- animals

25. What would be your first question after waking up from being frozen for 100 years?- wtf

26. What are some small things that make your day better?-

27. Who's your go-to band or artist when you don't know who or what to listen to?- saintseneca

28. What's the best way to start the day?- pancakes

29. What TV shows do you like?- havent watched a tv show in a while

30. What TV channel doesn't exist but really should?- idk what channels there anymore are i dont watch much tv

31. Who has impressed you most with what they've accomplished?- some of my classmates from my department

32. What age do you wish you could stay at permanently?- idc

33. What TV show or movie do you refuse to watch?- most of them

34. What's your ideal way to spend a weekend?- relaxing

35. What is something that is considered a luxury, but you don't think you could live without?- i guess my computer

36. What is your claim to fame?- dont have one

37. What is something you enjoy doing the old-fashioned way?- i dont use icloud

38. What's your favorite book or movie genre?- dont have a specific one

39. How often do you people-watch?- not much because i get paranoid

40. What have you only recently formed an opinion about?- nothing

41. What's the best day of the year?- idk

42. What subject interests you that not many people have heard of?- idk

43. How do you relax after a long day of work?- sweatpants

44. What's the best book series or TV series you've ever read or watched?- gintama

45. Where is the farthest you've ever been from home- zurich airport

46. What's the most heartwarming thing you've ever seen?- idk

47. What is the most annoying question people ask you?- about my eating disorder

48. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with no preparation?- overwatch

49. If you were the dictator on a small island nation, what crazy dictator stuff would you do?- i wouldn’t

50. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?- whatever

51. Would you rather go hand gliding or whitewater rafting?- not really interested in either

52. What's your dream car?- i cant drive

53. What's worth spending more on to get the best?- technology

54. What is something a ton of people are obsessed with, but you just don't get?- superhero movies

55. What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years?- anything

56. Where is the most interesting place you've been?- spain i guess

57. What's something you've been meaning to try but haven't gotten around to it?- nothing really

58. What is the best thing that happened to you last week?- not much

59. What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind, only to experience it for the first time again?- gintama

60. If all jobs had the same pay rate and hours, what job would you want to have?- wish i knew

61. What amazing thing have you done that no one was around to see?- my 37 second rubiks cube record obviously

62. How different was your life 1 year ago?- not really sure its a blur

63. What quirks do you have?- lmao

64. What would you rate 10/10?- thats so vague

65. What fad or trend do you think should come back?-

66. What is the most interesting piece of art you've seen?-im too tired idk

67. What kind of art do you enjoy most?- idk cool fanart of things i like i guess

68. What do you hope never changes? - idk

69. What city would you most like to live in?- wish i knew

70. What movie title best describes your life?- no idea dont you just love my answer sz z

71. Why did you decide to do the work you are doing now?- i need a job

72. What's the best way a person can spend their time?- doing what they want

73. If you suddenly became a master at woodworking, what would you make?- i got woodshop student of the month in middle school bitch dont fucc with me

74. Where is the most relaxing place you've ever been?- idk

75. What's the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you?- a few things i didnt deserve

76. Where would you rather be from?- idc but saying youre from nj is embarassing

77. What are some things you've had to unlearn?- idk

78. What do you look forward to in the next 6 months?- hopefully getting my life together

79. What website do you visit most often?- idk

80. What one thing do you really want but can't afford?- a lot of things

81. Where do you usually go when you have free time?-my room

82. Where would you spend all your time if you could?- asleep

83. What's special about the place you grew up?- it feels like an entirely different world here

84. What age do you want to live to?- idc

85. What are you most likely to become famous for?- idk

86. What are you absolutely determined to do?- idk anymore because i have a degree now in something i dont live anymore

87. What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?- idk i more or less know how to do brain surgery on a rat i guess thats impressive

88. What do you wish you knew more about?- everything

89. What question would you most like to know the answer to?- why

90. What question can you ask to find out the most about a person?- why

91. When was the last time you changed your opinion or belief about something major?- i feel like ive been pretty fixed for a while

92. What's the best compliment you've ever received?- idk

93. As the only human left on earth, what would you do?- die

94. Who inspires you to be better?- my answer would be stupid

95. What do you want your epitaph to be?- dont want one

96. What haven't you grown out of?- idk

97. In what situation or place would you feel most out of place in?- im not good in a lot of situations

101. How do you hope you'll change as a person in the future?- hopefully not be depressed

102. What keeps you up at night?- a lot of things

103. What's the most surprising self-realization you've had?- ...

104. What is the most illegal thing you've ever done?- underage drinking im a madman

105. How do you get in the way of your own success?- i lose the ambition and give up on everything ive ever done

106. What are you afraid people see when they look at you?- a lot

107. What is your biggest regret?- i fucked up my life long term a lot when i was 13

108. What do you look down on people for?- ignorance about science

109. What bridges do you not regret burning?- idk im not usually the burner

110. What lie do you tell most often?- lmao

112. What is the best & worst thing about getting older?- im losing control

118. What are you famous for among your friends & family?- im the most promising of my cousins but little do they know i have no ambition and cant get out of bed

120. What one responsibility do you wish you didn't have?- im not explaining the answer to this question but i am in a bad situation

121. What are 3 things you want to accomplish before you die?- idc

122. What do you want to tell your 10-year-old self?- dont do it

124. What's the best thing about you?- you tell me

125. What blows your mind?- science

126. Have you ever saved someone's life?- yeah

127. What are you really good at but embarrassed to be good at?- nothing really

128. What would a mirror opposite of you look like?- backwards

129. What are 3 interesting facts about you?- i cant think of any im one dimensional

130. Which of your scars has the best story behind it?- most are burn scars but above one of my eyes theres a scar because my dog popped a chicken pock when i was a baby

131. What's the title of the current chapter in your life?- wtf are you doing

132. What were some of the biggest turning points in your life?- age 7 age 13 age 18 age 19

133. What's the hardest lesson you've learned?- life sux

134. What do people think is weird about you?- a lot apparently

135. What mistake do you keep making?- everything

136. What have you created that you're most proud of?- idk

137. What do you doubt?- idk

138. What are some of your morals?- idk its not that hard to be a good person

139. What do you want to be remembered for?- nothing

140. What do you regret not doing in your childhood years?- i didnt really have much of a childhood grew up to fast

141. What is your favorite fragrance?- my nose doesnt work

142. What do you think your last words will be?- idk

143. Who or what do you take for granted?- idk

144. Why would you be annoying as a roommate?- idk i dont talk much 145. What is something you're insecure about?- a few thigns

146. What's the best & worst piece of advice you've received?- idk i feel like most of the advice ive received has been bad which has led me here

147. What irrational fears do you have?- bees

148. What makes a good life?- idk

149. What's the last adventure you went on?- college

150. What is the most memorable gift you've received?- not sure

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maritzaerwin · 5 years ago

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14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers

Don’t feel like reading? Listen to the article instead!

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PRO TIP:

Melony Botha HR Consultant London, United Kingdom

Now, keeping that in mind, let’s move on to the list of common interview questions, paired with sharp and on-point tips for answering them!

1. Please, Tell Me About Yourself

This is one of those interview questions you’ll get 99 out 100 times. Considering its popularity, we even wrote an entirely separate post on how to answer the “tell me about yourself” question.

Here’s a quick recap:

Start with a quick, professional summary — a one-liner summarizing your key ‘selling points’ and background.

Highlight your core technical skills and areas of expertise.

Wrap it up by saying why you are interested in this new position/company.

Here’s a sample answer to the “tell me about yourself” question:

2. What Is Your Experience In This Field?

3. Why Do You Want to Work Here?

Read more about how to answer the ‘why do you want to work here’ interview question using our 5-step formula.

4. What are Your Reasons for Leaving a Job?

However, at all costs avoid badmouthing your former employer, boss, or colleagues! Even if you still have some hard feelings towards either of these people, don’t show them to the interviewer.

5. Why Were You Fired?

This question may seem scary, but don’t fret too much over it. The intention behind it is to learn where the problem was and if you contributed to it in some way.

6. Why Are You Interested in This Position?

This question is your prime opportunity to showcase your enthusiasm and showcase how your skills and experience can positively contribute to the organization.

The easiest way to answer this question is to use the following three-step framework:

Demonstrate your eagerness for the job

Indicate how your experience and skills match the role

Make a connection with your desired career trajectory.

Here’s a sample answer:

Last tip: focus on the career benefits of the job rather than financial aspects or benefits.

7. What Do You Know About This Company?

This question is similar to the previous one, but in this case, you have to place a greater focus on why this industry and employer interests you that much.

8. What Challenges Are You Looking For From This Job?

Remember the job description and the key duties/requirements of the candidates. Then pick one specific point and explain what exactly you’d like to achieve.

For example, the job description says that “you’ll need strong organizational skills to manage multi-million dollar budgets for marketing projects”.

You can take that part and mention that for a long time you’ve been seeking extra leadership opportunities and would love to work more as a team to realize your past successes at a larger scale.

In essence, this question prompts you to discuss your career goals so that the employer could understand your expectations, ambitions, and desired career trajectory.

9. What Kind Of Goals And Objectives Do You Have For Your Career?

10. Would You Relocate Or Be Willing To Travel?

11. What Salary Are You Seeking?

If there was none, do some research for similar roles on Glassdoor and PayScale to get a good median range estimate.

12. What’s The Most Difficult Situation You Have Faced And How Did You Handle It?

Tell a quick story showing how you were in a stressful situation but managed to recover quickly, identify the problem, take the right course of action, and succeed. For example:

13. What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?

This tricky question goes as number thirteen deliberately as it’s the one place where a lot of candidates chock. Some downplay their strengths. Others get too hung up on appearing all flawless.

When posting this question the recruiter wants to accomplish several things:

Assess your levels of self-awareness

Check your honesty

Verify for any major red flags

P.S. Read more tips for answering “What Are Your Weaknesses And Strengths?” interview question.

14. Why Should We Hire You?

To deliver the best answer, focus on the next three things:

Your ability to get the work done thanks to your skills

The great successes you’ve had in the past and can replicate at the new company

Your cultural fit and enthusiasm

Here’s how all of the above can be framed in a quick answer:

PRO TIP:

Brenda S. Meyer Certified Senior HR Consultant Arizona, United States

Lastly, remember: you’ve got it!

This article has been originally published on Nov 9, 2016 and has been extensively revised and updated on July 30, 2020.

The post 14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers appeared first on Freesumes.com.

14 Common Interview Questions with Actionable Answers published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

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crijoh · 7 years ago

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In a thread about our opinion on FIFA18, I said that to me as a newcomer, it can be somewhat overwhelming because there's so many little things I don't fully understand yet. So after I got the advice to ask questions on here and hope for others helping me understand the game a bit more, I compiled a list of questions I have regarding the FIFA18. Many of them are simple yes/no questions (like "did I understand this correctly?").Feel free to add your own questions or answer any subset of questions! I look forward to any and all posts!What I did so farI went through pretty much all menus, I played a few kick off matches, played 75% of the first season in player career mode, got A rank on a few skill games and did all manager tasks in FUT, so I got a pretty basic overview over most of the things the game has to offer. On Amateur difficulty, most matches end with a score of 7-0, 8-0 or even 9-0 for my team and in FUT I managed to win two matches on Semi-Pro difficulty (I upped the difficulty because on Semi-Pro you not only get more money, but you also get one bronze pack I believe)SettingsHow can I disable connecting to the server when starting the game?Does the weather really have an influence on gameplay or is it just changing the presentation? If it does influence the gameplay, do you actively change your play style or do you play the same at any weather?Why is handball off by default? Do most people activate or deactivate handballs?Can I ignore formations, player roles and tactics at the team management screen because those are more for advanced players and playing optimally or are those things extremely important even at a basic level?What exactly does it do when I set a favorite team and a rival team? I thought those will be the default kick off teams but they’re not.Skill gamesI assume 4,350/4,000 PTS means I got 4,350 points and one needs 4,000 points to pass the challenge? Where can I see how many points I need for A rank, B rank and C rank?Women’s International CupWhen I select the teams in the beginning, which teams should I select? Is it the teams that I want to control? But then what happens if two teams I selected play against each other? Or should I only choose one team?What are “groups”?Why are there two columns when starting a new cup? Both columns have three pages, one for each group (A,B,C) with the the exact same contents…What do I get for winning the cup?Kick offAre the kick off default teams the two most used ones? Can I change the default teams manually?How much of an influence do the ATT, MID and DEF stats have? Should I always use teams that have full 5 stars or should I just play a team I know or that is from my country?TournamentsAre there cup trophies for winning cups like in Super Mario Strikers? Can I pick a team a win all cup trophies with them? Is there a trophy room where it displays all the trophies I’ve won? There is a trophy room in the online section, but I want to play offline.What do I get for winning a whole tournament?Player careerDoes the difficulty setting change the career in player career mode in any way? Like more difficult targets or higher wage or something. If not, wouldn’t setting it to Beginner be the most efficient way to get the player to the top?What factors should I consider when deciding whether to sign a contract at a different club? I just chose to take the first offer because they offered me $3000 instead of $2000.Can I do anything with the money I’m earning or is it useless?Also, what’s my ultimate goal in player career mode? Getting all stats to 99? Getting all accomplishments? (How hard is that and how long does it take?) Getting the highest possible wage or value?Is there any reason not to do player development whenever it’s ready?Doesn’t it kinda take extremely long to get through one season? Around 50 matches, about half of which I guess will include the player character in the starting team. I don’t know what happens after the season yet, but if I need to play 25 matches (12 minutes each, so 5 hours of gameplay) until anything out of the ordinary happens again, like contract offers or something, that seems tedious to me.How many seasons does one need to play usually to get to the “end” of the career (whenever that is)I noticed my player character getting one year older during the season. Can the player get too old to continue playing?I don’t want to ever simulate a match because then I won’t be able to achieve the upcoming goals and the team has a good chance to lose, right?What about simulating the player development? I can’t lose any points, all that could happen is that I don't get a good rank and therefore won't get as many skill points as I would if I did the drills myself. But am I in a hurry?And why can’t I select any combination of drills? Is it best to focus on a few stats or train all skills equally? If I can get all stats to 99, it doesn’t really matter, right?What happens if I don’t hit my targets or upcoming targets? I have a bit of trouble scoring assists. I know how to do them (pass to a player near the goal and score a goal with that player) but passing to another player in an area with a lot of defense is way harder than just shooting with the striker that already has the ball. Maybe that’s just because I’m playing on Amateur difficulty and so they let me run straight to the goal sometimes.One question that was solved by a recent thread on here: How to increase the rating of a player (stay in the position you’re assigned to).What is the Morale and why does it say Morale Unknown for my custom player? What influences form and what influence does form have exactly? Should I not use players that are not in excellent form? Is this connected to the stamina bar?So the stamina depletes when running (by holding ZR). If it’s empty, my player will stop moving for a few seconds, right? So I shouldn’t run all the time. Does this also cause injuries?The “current league tables from around the world” are not representing the real-world league tables, but in-game ones, correct?Does it influence the career if at the end of the season, you’re first on the table?Why does my player almost always get exchanged for another player at half-time? Is it because of stamina? Because that prevents me from working on achieving the upcoming targets. Can I manually decide when and who to exchange instead of it being automatic?In the Squad Ranking screen, there’s a column named FRM that shows some score. What does FRM mean?In the Squad Ranking screen, there’s a Rivals tab. How are players from my own team my rivals? They’re not even the highest ranking ones from my team.FUTDoes one get more money from playing online than from playing single player season?I’m starting at Division 10. Is my goal to get to Division 1?Is it true players from the team of the week are stronger that week?Squad Building Challenges basically serves as a means to get rid of not wanted players in exchange for booster packs that hopefully contain good players, right?How important is chemistry? What does it do exactly? Should I replace bronze players in my team with players with good stats (or with a good rating; silver-gold players) even if it lowers chemistry?What happens if I don’t put players in their preferred position?Is the concept squad the team I want my squad to be in the end? Should my concept team consist only of the players shown with that grey-blueish background (Maradona, Messi, …)?Why do some players have a shiny background and some not? (I have gold and bronze players with shiny backgrounds that have a lower rating than ones without the shiny background)The contract tells you how many matches you can use that player in and after that that player is gone? So I could theoretically run out of players if I don’t pay attention?When I look at the player details, there are 6 arrows with the abbreviations PAC, DRI, SHO, DEF, PAS and PHY beside it. Sometimes some of them are green, but most of the time they are white. What do those arrows mean?What are chemistry styles (Architect, Sentinel, Engine, Shadow, …) and why are almost all players BAS (basic)?Which players should I sell and which shouldn’t I sell? Can I sell too many such that I don’t have enough players for another match? What’s a reasonable price to ask for bronze players?Is there a limit to how many players or consumable items I can have?What’s my ultimate goal? Building a team full of special players such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Pelé, Suárez and so on?Can you get the same player more than once? Can you collect all players? How many are there?The manager tasks showed me how to use a fitness card. But what does fitness do? What’s the difference to form and stamina?Can I get all stats of any player up to 99 by giving them player training cards? And use any player on any position by giving them position modifier cards?What influences does the manager have on a team? What if my manager contract expires? What does the manager league do?Does losing a match have any negative effects?GameplayHow to get good? I saw someone in another thread gave the advice that passing back or laterally or in a triangle is very useful in many situations. Any other advice for complete newcomers?And one last question: What does SBC mean? Someone mentioned it the thread I was referencing at the beginning of this post. via /r/NintendoSwitch

#reddit

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