#but i think the concept of much time passing between visits should be taken advantage of

[worstloki]

Loki surveilling the skyline of New York from the top of Stark Tower and clocking that his favorite paired set of buildings are gone. sad

[red-jaebyrd]

Another Person, Another Promise

The concept for this fic was inspired by this lovely piece of art by @drawing-cookie.

Whumptober #5 Rescued

Batman had told him to stay, that it wouldn’t be too much longer; that he’d find a way to get him out of the boys’ detention center and find him a home. For the first few weeks, Dick held onto to the hope of those words like a lifeline until the promise of escape fell away like water through cupped hands. After a month those words were nothing but useless platitudes said to him to keep him from asking further questions about his parents’ murder.

He wouldn’t listen to Batman anymore no matter how scary the man appeared to be. This place was poison. He didn’t belong here. He wasn’t a criminal. He was just a boy who no longer had parents. Perhaps the cops thought they were doing him a favor; a pre-emptive strike bypassing a foster home and instead sending him strait to jail. Social Services in Gotham City was seriously messed up.

Dick had been at the boys detention center for a month and it was already the longest month of his life. Every day was a lesson in finding new hiding places so he wouldn’t get his butt kicked. No one cared that he didn’t do anything to start the fight. No one cared that he didn’t belong here with young criminals. All that mattered to them was that he was “fresh meat” and needed to know the rules and the “lay of the land”.

There was a twisted hierarchy that existed at these centers. Dick postulated that it didn’t really matter who was the biggest in size (though it helped), what mattered was who had the seniority.

Dick had gotten jumped on his first night at the detention center. “The welcome wagon” had been five boys that came into his room at lights out. They had told him if he knew what was good for him – he’d keep his mouth shut. This wasn’t a problem, who was he going to tell? The guards didn’t care. The cops that had come to question him about his parents’ murder didn’t bat an eye at his busted lip or the way draped his arm over his bruised ribs.

After the first two weeks Dick started to get a bit braver. He embraced the anger and started to fight back. Not enough to cause any damage, but enough to send a message that he wasn’t anyone’s punching bag. He used these fights as an outlet to let out the anger he had felt at being ignored by Batman. The man hadn’t come to see him since his first night at the Center.

This newfound bravery of course backfired and now the beatings increased with more frequency. The anger soon started to drift into depression and indifference.

At his one month anniversary of being at The Center, Dick got a visitor. The Batman had come to see him. Under different circumstances he’d be happy with the visit, but truthfully Dick was tired. He was tired of the lies and promises that came with every adult visitor.

Dick didn’t smile, make eye contact or say a word to the towering man standing in front of him in the small visitors’ room.

“What happened to your eye?”

“I fell,” he answered. “Any leads?”

“Some. The progress is still slow.”

“Right…so…why are you here?”

“I just wanted to check on you.”

Dick nodded. He wanted to ask Batman when he could leave and go home or go back to the circus, but it was pointless. No one seemed to know how much longer he still had to be at The Center, so he stopped asking. Every time he had asked, it was the same answer, ‘Not much longer. I promise’. It was the promise that stung the most, because a month had passed, and he was still here in this hell hole getting beat up every night at lights out.

“Are we done?” Dick asked.

Batman nodded. “You won’t be here long. I promise.”

There it was, the empty promise to ring in a new month in Hell. It was exactly what Officer Bullock had said, and later Commissioner Gordon and now Batman. Another person, another promise – this time from a guy in a mask.

“Whatever,” Dick sighed.

---

The meeting with Batman only made Dick more depressed. He lay in his bunk pressed up against the wall hoping the shadows would swallow him. He had reached the point where he had stopped caring about anyone rescuing him. He had no one in his corner. No one was fighting for him. There was no one else in his life anymore that he could depend on for safety, reassurance, or love. The only people he had in his life were he parents and they had been taken from him. God, he missed his parents.

He missed their touch, the pressure of their hugs, and the proximity of their existence in his life. The weight of their absence pressed on his chest until he could no longer breathe. He fought hard to push down the lump in his throat, but it was no use. He finally let out the sobs he had been holding in for a month. A month had passed and he hadn’t even allowed himself to mourn them.

He still had nightmares of the night they had died. He could still hear the rope snap, smell the metallic scent of blood, and see the look of horror on his mom’s face as she fell.

Dick pulled himself further into the shadows of his bunk, allowing himself the space to cry. He hugged his pillow tightly to his chest just for the pressure in the hopes that it would help calm him down. No comfort came from hugging the pillow, but it did help muffle the sound.

This place was slowly suffocating the life out of him. If Bullock, Gordon or Batman weren’t going to get him out of here, he had to do it himself. He couldn’t wait to make a thorough escape plan. It had to be tonight.

Ultimately this plan was dumb and impulsive. But Dick had reached a reckless desperation that planning would take too long.  He knew where all the great hiding places were as he had honed this skill over the last month to avoid fights with the older boys.

He stuck to the shadows using the darkness to sneak through the halls using his agility as an acrobat to his advantage. Dick’s goal was to make it to the basement laundry room. There was a window high up on the wall that lead to the street level. No one without acrobatic experience would be able to reach it. It was an easy climb to maneuver. He planned the jumps in his head many times when he was assigned to the laundry room.

Dick’s biggest hurdle was getting passed the guards’ station. He took his shoes and socks off to avoid them squeaking on the tile and giving him away. He knotted the laces of both shoes to keep them together and placed them around his neck to free up his hands. Waiting behind a wall he watched as the three guards leave the station to walk the halls. Luckily the laundry room was in the opposite direction. Dick wasted no time heading straight over there.

The door was never locked, but it was sticky. It squeaked something terrible as he opened it but Dick was careful not to let it slam shut behind him. Dick wasted no time making his way down the stairs into the laundry room. The Warden had purposely not placed any machines under the window should any of the boys use it as a boost to sneak out. Dick didn’t need anything under the window to make it. He climbed onto the nearest machine and jumped.

Just as his hands made contact with the windows ledge, he heard the door squeak open and the sound of jingling keys as someone descended the stairs.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

Dick scrambled to get the window open with one hand. He could hear the heavy footfalls of the guard approaching. It was at this moment that he thanked the universe for making him a very short and agile 12 year old. The guard couldn’t reach his legs, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

The handle on the window was hard to pull up. Especially since Dick could only use his one hand. He knew the window opened. He’d seen it opened during the day when the dryers were on. His sweaty hand was making it more and more difficult to grip the handle, but he wasn’t giving up. He was so close to getting out of here. He couldn’t give up now.

Dick tried not to get distracted by the scraping sound of a ladder below him. He continued to pull up with all his might on the handle. Finally, the handle budged and he pushed open the window feeling the cool Gotham air in his face. His victory was short-lived as he then felt his body jerk down as the guard grabbed his ankle.

“You’re not going anywhere, you little shit.”

Dick tried to shake out the grip on his ankle while still holding onto the ledge of the window.

“Get off!”

Dick kicked out and made contact with the guard’s face. The guard lost his balance and so did he. The ladder clattered to the ground, and Dick struggled to find purchase on the window ledge with arms. He had the upper body strength to hoist himself up but the exertion used to open the window and fight off the guard exhausted his muscles. Tears started to swim in his eyes. It wasn’t looking like he was getting out of here.

His biceps were straining to hold him upright on the window ledge. His toes anchoring him on the wall were getting sore. The ankle the guard yanked throbbed along with his rapid heartbeat. He could hear thunderous sounds of more guards coming into the laundry room. He was so screwed.

Dick took a breath and proceeded to hoist himself upward. His muscles shook horribly at the effort.

“Here, I got you,” a gravelly voice said from outside the window. Hands suddenly grabbed Dick under his arms and helped pull him out of the window.

Dick allowed the help once he registered that the voice belonged to Batman. He only had a moment to collect his bearings before three guards surrounded them outside; including the one Dick had kicked off the ladder.

“We’ll take it from here,” The guard said, reaching out a hand to grab Dick.

Dick scuttled away and stood behind Batman, using him as a shield between him and the guards.

“Please, Batman, don’t let them take me,” Dick whispered. He was on the verge of tears now as the adrenaline slowly started to seep out of his body. “I can’t go back there. Please, you promised.”

He looked up in time to see Batman looking at him and giving him a small nod of the head before returning his attention back to the lead guard.

“I don’t think so, the boy coming with me,” Batman growled.

“Under whose authority?”

“The Division of Child Protection and Permanency. All the necessary paperwork is on the Warden’s desk. Richard John Grayson is now a ward of Bruce Wayne.”

Dick’s head snapped up at the name Bruce Wayne, the billionaire wanted him to be his ward? This had to be a joke. He didn’t trust the information. Why would Bruce Wayne want to help him anyway?

The guard looked like a fish out of water struggling for words that were not coming.

“We’re done here,” Batman said. “Dick, get into the car.”

Dick did what he was told and got into the sleek black car that was parked near where he had climbed out of the window. He wasn’t sure that he trusted Batman yet. He wanted to believe that Batman had his best interests. He wanted to trust that Batman was telling the truth and was sending him somewhere safe.

Dick tried to brace himself for eventual bad news, because living with Bruce Wayne was just too good to be true. There had to be a catch somewhere. There was always a catch to something. He never used to be this cynical when his parents were alive, but their death changed him in ways that even he never saw coming.

They drove a little ways before Dick was brave enough to ask his question.

“Is it true, about my paperwork?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t lying…about Bruce Wayne wanting to take me in permanently?”

“No.”

In only a month he saw the worst in people, mostly kids around his own age, but also adults. Some adults meant well, but none of them kept their word. They easily made promises but constantly broke them.

“What’s the catch?”

“No, catch. I pro –,”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Batman.”

Batman kept his eyes on the road and his hands on the steering wheel. He pushed a button that must have been an auto pilot feature, because the car started driving itself. He slipped his cowl off and turned to look at Dick.

Dick immediately recognized the face.

“Whoa, you’re Bruce Wayne.”

“We’re going home, my home. I promise you, Dick, no more surprises. No more secrets.”

Dick just stared at him trying to find his words. He had so many things to say to that statement. None of them were good; most of them were offensive and started with an ‘f’.

“Will you let me help you with the investigation into my parents’ murder? Tell me all the leads you have so far on their case. Leave nothing out?”

Bruce sighed. “I promise to tell you everything of relevance. But if it starts to be too much for you, and leads to negative change in your behavior, I’m restricting your access. Deal?”

Dick thought over the terms and found them agreeable.

“Deal.”

The car rushed through a waterfall leading further into a dark tunnel. The car stopped and spun lifting on hydraulics as it settled into an elaborate underground lair.

“Welcome home to the Cave.”

“It’s a BatCave,” Dick corrected.

“Follow Alfred, he will show you to your room upstairs.”

“There’s more?” Dick asked.

“Much more, young sir. I shall give you the grand tour, but first let’s get you something to eat.”

Dick was in awe of his surroundings. He just became the ward of Bruce Wayne, who was also Batman. Batman was still on the case looking into his parents’ murder. He was no longer staying at a detention center and constantly worrying about getting beat up. He was home.

“Mr. Wayne,” Dick called.

“Yes, call me Bruce.”

Dick ran full tilt toward his new guardian and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Thank you, Bruce, for getting me out and bringing me here.”

“You got yourself out, Chum.” Bruce said, returning the hug. “I just pulled you out of the window.”

[high5nerd]

Vorfreude

Aay, my first (at the time) Pitch x Reader one-shot!

Don’t fook your professors, folks.

“When understanding the root words of our modern day languages, it can be daunting to fully comprehend the detail such a language as English can be intertwined with a multitude of other languages long forgotten,”

Dr. Pitchiner was certainly entrancing when he spoke at the podium, flourishing a hand at the list of most common prefixes and suffixes used in today’s modern English, along with a surprise list of obscure ones you knew you had to take note on. Dr. Pitchiner wasn’t one to give easy exams, the last exam was so gruelling someone almost passed out from a panic attack at the multitude of pages.

Despite enjoying writing yourself, you weren’t as invested in English as he was, which was a given, hence the reason his PhD in English as well as a degree in Latin Translation. Many times he’s journeyed to Italy to help assist scholars in finding new information on the lost civilizations of Rome, Sicily, and Pompeii, and that credit alone was the sole reason he got the job at this state college. He should have been employed at universities like Harvard or Yale, or even Oxford or Princeton, but yet here he was, teaching at your simple state college with an acceptance rate of 93% and the highest transferring stat in all of your state.

   Not a lot of students found him attractive like you did. Certainly there was more than a couple handfuls of girls, pockets of them, who’ve admired his lithe figure, his graceful movements and that firm ass that was way too snug in his black slacks. Most of them admired his physique from afar, some even daring others to get closer to flirt with him shamelessly, and usually that ended up with a bad memory for the attempted action, as well as the girl who tried to drop the class out of utter embarrassment at such a call out after class that could be heard around the hall.

   Dr. Kozmotis Pitchiner took no bullshit from anyone, and that’s the main reason your heart fluttered at the thought and sight of him. This class wasn’t the first time you two had met face to face either, shockingly. Quite hilariously, the first time you two met, you didn’t even like him.

Three years ago, you were an itty bitty freshman just like the ones that recently arrived this semester, and to the best of your luck, you scored almost five hours of total free time on Mondays and Wednesdays before your Intro to Biology class and Intro to Psychology course after lunch.

Why not explore the gorgeous campus during those five hours? It would get you more acquainted with your surroundings and in small cases, make new friends! Grabbing a can of fruit juice and a danish from the dining hall, you munched as you explored the massive quad before discovering where the art gallery was, venturing towards the art and theatre buildings you’d be in the next year for your art perspective requirements. You found yourself meandering in the photograph-covered walled hallway of the English department, unknowingly headed towards the campus’s own local newspaper headquarters when a voice startled you from your entrancement with your journey.

“Hey. Where do you think you’re going?” a voice matching the texture of velvet came.

You turn around, frowning at the sudden startling noise. There just feet away from you, emerged from his office was a man dressed in what you would consider funeral appropriate attire, a smooth black suit with a basic black tie, and shiny black dress shoes that looked like they could reflect sunlight and somehow cause a car accident if he walked outside.

“I’m exploring. Where do you think you’re going?” you shot back, taking a long sip of your fruit juice.

You were mildly surprised to see a smirk cross his devious lips, his silver-gold eyes narrowing at your sass. He almost looked amused at your attitude, even enough so that his tensed shoulders relaxed, but his arms still remained folded over his chest.

“At the moment, I’m going wherever you think you’re headed, which should be in the opposite direction you’re headed.”

Ooh, he likes playing word games. You took another sip and then took a big bite of your danish, not caring about how childish you were coming off to him. You pointed towards the hallway, “Why can’t I go down there?”

He gestured his head in the same direction, “It’s merely copy rooms and computer labs meant for the Daily Mascot Oracle. Nothing worth checking out.”

“Oh. That’s a shit title.” you commented.

He barked out a heartwarming laugh. You grin at him, glad he finally was capable of taking that stick out of his ass and be a decent human being. Almost three times so far in just two days you got two people to really dislike your presence and your sassy attitude, someone named Bunnymund and another elfish looking kid named Jack who’s definition of fun didn’t match yours at all.

“I certainly didn’t agree to it either, but the editor in chief made sure my vote was outnumbered,” he hesitated, thinking quickly before glancing at you, “Are you a freshman?”

You nodded, knowing what he would ask next, “Majoring in psychology with hopefully a minor in alternative medicine and therapy.”

He looked genuinely impressed, “I must say, it’s quite refreshing to have a new student under that field. Not a lot of freshmen choose that whilst entering for their first year. What makes you like that field of study so much?”

You shrugged with a smile, “I like the whole concept of the human mind and how it functions on an emotional state. It’s interesting how certain actions and emotions can create feelings inside us, and I especially love the study of dreams and fears and hopes. I want to do a project on dream therapy for my senior thesis when it comes time to that, but I doubt they’ll let me. Professor Oren didn’t like hearing me say that at orientation.”

Dr. Pitchiner nodded, “Oren doesn’t really believe in the science behind dreams, and certainly not the spirituality behind it if you believe in that sort of thing. I certainly do.”

“You do?” you were genuinely surprised, literally taken aback. You wouldn’t have considered such an eloquent, smooth and finely dressed man to believe in a spirituality. He reeked of realist to you, you certainly weren’t expecting that.

He nodded again, “Of course. It’s only natural for the human psyche to become understandable to a certain degree, and it’s been proven through many other cultures that such things exist, like the sixth sense or empathy or precognition. Why not in dream analyzation? It’s fascinating, I’m glad you’re interested in it. If I wasn’t an English professor I would immediately return to college to take advantage of that.”

That’s when you realized how gold his eyes were, how they sparkled like the richest coins ever discovered in the vastness of the sunken world of ships at the bottom of the ocean. His eyes gave away intense wisdom, feeling and intellect that you felt the need to learn from. You needed to unlock every part of him to see beyond that gaze he gave you with that strange upturn at the corner of his devilish mouth.

Sure enough, you eventually found yourself in his class a couple years later for your required English Analysis course, and the both of you took advantage of that. You found yourself wandering back to his office between classes and office hours, knowing full well no one visited him nor had the courage to due to his harshness in class and strict code he sticks to in not forming attachments to the student body. For you, somehow you were able to break that barrier and see a different kind of man than what people upfront knew him as.

Your friend Katherine is your first and only senior friend at the university, and from her story when you signed up for his course at the beginning of the year, he was known to be callous and strict, such a polar opposite to leniency that even if you were sick with proof of illness, he wouldn’t accept that as an excused absence unless you flourished a medical note from a doctor to him. Everyone feared him, but admired him from afar since he’s the only professor to actually cut down on the bullshitters and slackers in class, and is one of the most respected professors there because of his adventures in Italy as a historian as well as a translator.

You, however, knew him as a sarcastic, good humored intellect with an avid thirst for learning the unknown, and unlocking skills he’s never attempted. From the times you would visit his office or bump into each other in the hallways and have small talk, you learned that at one point in his life he was just as brash, brazen and impulsive as you are now. Before he considered becoming a professor, he was eager to study what you were studying in now, especially the study of phobias and humans’ reactions to certain fear-triggering events or objects. You were the only one that’s ever heard him snort at a god-awful joke you would attempt at, and the only one that’s ever seen him grin at you in such a way it made your stomach flip and flutter.

Perhaps you exposed yourself too much to him, or perhaps he was just so relatable you felt like you sometimes felt like you were talking to a part of yourself you’ve never discovered before. It slightly scared you how much he knew about you and it wasn’t even the end of the fall semester, but you trusted him in ways you’ve never trusted another before. He always promised you absolute confidentiality with your confessions to him, most out of pure merriment and in the goal of a strengthened friendship, like when you told him when you were fourteen you tried blending into the popular clique but still found yourself drawn to the nerds and theater kids once more. He once gave you such a dubious smirk at the notion of you once being the stereotypical geek, with what you claimed to be the unattractive flat hair, braces and awkward gait.

“I can hardly believe that of you.” he chuckled.

“Why? You can kinda tell, don’t lie.” you winked teasingly.

He tilted his head in his hand at you, looking your figure up and down so slowly and languidly that it made your face heat up with a sudden thrill you haven’t felt in a long time.

“Whoever you were before has grew into a fine young woman, that’s most of what I can see.” he looked at you seriously, his eyes hard with truth.

Ever since that you realized that the idea of him being closer than what you two already were was something else you wanted. You thirsted for it, like an obsession. Unhealthy, you weren’t sure, but you were careful not to give yourself away to him, in fear that it would destroy that friendship you two already had. Without anyone’s knowledge but his, you both called each other by your first names. You called him Koz, and he called you by the nickname you wanted him to call you.

Even just watching him write on the board, hearing his voice wrap you lovingly in it’s deep musical tones made your legs tighten in excitement. You furrowed your brows, trying to ignore the incoming thoughts of his voice saying your name like a mantra as you wrote down everything being scribbled on the board.

The guy next to you noticed your discomfort, and nudged his elbow with yours. You looked at him, affronted, “What?”

“You look pissed. You okay?” he looked suspicious.

“Shut up, I’m fine.”

“(y/n).”

Your blood froze, looking up at him in pure fear at being called out in front of class. His hands were folded behind his back, his eyes lingering on you and only you. The class stared at you, nearly a thousand eyes focused on your nervous leg bouncing and the pen in your hand being crushed by the amount of attention drawn onto you.

“I see you have already started to discuss with Stephen,” you could swear to the moon above he smirked ruefully, “Would you like to tell us what the definition of vorfreude is?”

You gulped quickly before looking down at your paper, noticing that the last couple notes were not even notes, they were sinful descriptions of what you wanted him to do to your mouth and in between your thighs. Your face grew incredibly red to the point it prickled your skin as you stood up. You never broke eye contact with him. You can’t be weak now.

“Vorfreude is a German word to define a type of intense anticipation of imagining future pleasures.”

He nodded, his smirk subsiding to something even darker at the moment you uttered the word ‘future’, “Excellent. Glad to see you’re still paying attention despite your distractions.”

Some people snickered at your red face deepening in color as you plopped back down in your seat. By now Koz was shuffling the exams collected last week, freshly graded and corrections that could leave someone in tears if not taken lightly.

As he passed around the graded exams going over the class’s weak points and what to look forward to for the next midterm, you doodled a bit more in your notebook and wrote more lines of absolute sin into a poetic verse, something E. E. Cummings would be absolutely proud of.

You read over your lines, admiring the visual rhymes as well as the absolute clear imagery of being locked into him, his arms like a vice as he would pull your hair and bite at the sensitive parts of your neck, and even now you squirmed at the daydream of such a carnal act going on in his office. More than anything, more than just impressing him with your knowledge and sharp tongue would be for him to pin you to the desk and make you cry out his name in ecstasy as your legs would quiver with release. You bit your lip as you tightened your grip on your sweatshirt, trying your damn hardest not to accidentally make a noise.

That’s when you noticed the shadow lurking over you.

You froze. Your entire body became still with horror and your blood turned cold as Koz read over your carnal poem and observed your lewd doodles with a casual eye as he handed you your exam. You reached out for it with a shaking hand and slowly placed it over the notebook page, knowing it was too late to hide the damage.

“Please see me after class about your note-taking.”

You nodded, trying to fight tears from the utter embarrassment as he finished handing out the exams. You close your notebook in disgust with yourself. Koz continues the class until 5:45, the usual time it ends when everyone wastes no time in dilly dallying and immediately leaving, most if not all heading to the dining hall for dinner. You, planning to indulge in just a minor dinner consisting of cereal or soup out of embarrassment and sadness, packed up slowly.

“(y/n), a word please.” he beckoned from his podium.

You refused to look at him as you stepped down from the lecture hall stairs to the podium, your backpack slung over your shoulder and your confidence crumbling even further as you waited with baited breath as he finished shutting off the projector and computer.

“You have quite a knack for poetry for someone who says English isn’t their forte, as well as for a psychology major.” he calmly noted, hardly glancing at you.

You couldn’t help it, you couldn’t hold it in anymore and let it burst from your chest, all your thoughts jumbled into a single rambling mess, “I swear I didn’t intend for you to see it, I just-I just-I don’t know why I did that and I know I messed up our friendship, it’s all my fault and I’m really really sorry, I seriously wasn’t thinking and I just can’t help but feel these things and it just makes it worse when I think about you, I don’t know what to do about it-”

A hand crept around the back of your neck and forced your head up, and without even a single warning you felt warm, wet lips enveloping yours, biting sweetly as well as fervently. You couldn’t help but make a noise of startlement at the sudden action, but before you could even have time to melt into the kiss, he pulled away, a smirk on his face.

“It’d be inappropriate for me to do such things, but more inappropriate for you to act on it as well. Yet, I know you are wise enough to not pursue it like you want to.” he stated, his eyes resembling molten gold.

Your gaze flattened, “Koz, what the fuck was that if you say you’re not ‘pursuing it’.”

He grinned, “Your confirmation of your feelings, as well as a promise of patience.”

“Patience?”

He smirked again, tilting his head and embracing the feel of superiority again, “You have nearly one more year left. I wonder if you have the patience to stick it out-”

That pissed you off. You grabbed his black tie and pulled him down, startling him as you kissed him hard. You pulled away just as quickly, enjoying the look of surprise on his face as well as slight bewilderment at being cut off from gloating.

You smiled innocently, smoothing down his tie as well as the front of his jacket, “Nice to know I’m not the only one enjoying the feeling of vorfreude from now on. Have a good day, Professor.”

Without a second backwards glance, you confidently strode out of the lecture hall, leaving Koz impressed as well as out of breath at your grand exit. He didn’t realize he’d be aching for you just as much as you ached for him.

It’s only a year, right? Not too long…

Boy were you two wrong.

[peoniarose]

Oh you must reveal something about your Steve Murphy x OC!!! Pretty please 💖

I am trying to decide what nuggets I should give out...Hmmmm...

I have thought out most of this (...and by most I mean a beginning and ending). 

The OC is named: Imelda Marie Rosales y Marroquin (the name may change slightly. I am still working some names and seeing which one I like best. This one seems to be working so far). She comes from a loving family of 10 and the youngest of eight children. 

She has worked with Javier in the past. Javi acts as an older brother.

She drinks tea like there is no tomorrow. Steve has a secret stash of tea ever since...an incident...occurred... He has it in his apartment and in his desk. Some agents tease him about this, but he knows that when the time comes he will be safe from Imelda’s wrath and fury. Imelda hates the coffee at the Embassy with a burning passion. She used to keep no coffee in her living space, but she starts to have a growing collection of coffee stuff for Steve <3 (she splurges on the good stuff she finds in town. If she is going to have coffee in her apartment then she is going to most definitely get the good stuff). While I am at it, I will also post a brief scene that I had planned out. I hope this makes it into the final cut when I fully flush the story out...

“I don’t understand why you two don’t just fuck already,” Agent Petey sighs looking out at the drug lords from our window, joking to try to lighten Imelda’s mood, which was shot to hell if last night was anything to go by. But she bites, not wanting to dampen the mood for the new guy.

Lowering her camera, she takes a look at Javi. Her eyes drag slowly over him, which could easily be mistaken for her checking him out if it weren’t for the look in her eyes. Her nose playfully scrunches up as she squints her eyes, “Sorry, but I’d rather not catch something. I don’t know where he’s been… Well, actually…”

The new guy, Steve Murphy, chokes on the water that he was drinking. From his first meeting with Imelda earlier, Steve knew she was something else. He had heard about her in passing. Her dad was some hotshot detective who retired early due to reasons unknown.

Javi laughs like that is the response he was expecting from. He had sensed this morning that Melda was feeling down in the dumps. Seeing some form of a smile on her face wiped a worry that gathered within himself.

Petey just rolls his eyes and chuckles, feeling his mission was at least somewhat accomplished. He knew when she sounded forced, but he could swear he could detect a hint of genuine laughter.

“I can assure you, princesa, that I am careful,” Javi says, his eyebrows lifting suggestively.

“Uh-huh, sure…” she bites out, lifting the camera back to her eyes. Javi steps closer to her to see the pictures she is taking. Imelda snaps a few more, making sure to get the money shots. “I think I have some great money shots, here, boys.” She attempts to do her best sing-songy voice, feeling at least proud of the pictures she has taken. These pictures, along with Javi’s inside lady, are going to help us take down the men who have taken advantage of this beautiful country and its people. At least one good thing had to come out of today.

Handing over the camera to Petey to switch, she makes her way over to the bed to relax her aching neck. The stress of last night in combination with sleeping on her sister’s couch didn’t do her neck justice. It screamed at her to rest, but she had a job to do, and Escobar didn’t wait for anyone. Not even her poor aching neck. Maybe she should send Escobar her receipts for the medication and gels she purchased. The hand that was rubbing her neck stills when a cup full of dark liquid enters her line of sight. Her brown eyes slowly follow the big hand holding the cup and glide up the nicely toned arm to meet a pair of soft blue eyes giving her a small smile. “Rough night?”

She chuckles, gladly accepting what she hoped was tea. “Well, that’s one way to put it.” Taking a sip of the dirt-colored liquid, which honestly should have been her first indicator, a bitter, unpleasant feeling flows down her throat. She had to stop myself from gagging and making a face. Her brows furrows and nose scrunches up for a fraction of a second before returning to a neutral state. It was the terrible coffee that the Embassy “splurged” on for their workers. They were told that there wasn’t enough in the budget to get better coffee. Messina said that they were lucky that they were even being given coffee, which Imelda BS on. If there was no coffee at the Embassy, she is quite certain there would be a riot. As it was, she had to pay to supply her own tea. Messina didn’t think that the Embassy should pay for her tea since coffee was a source of caffeine. Imelda once again called BS, but after some back and forth she just decided to give in. There was no point in dealing with Messina when her panties were in a twist. Since she paid for her own tea, she splurged on the good stuff, which meant that the guys didn’t touch it because it sounded tow fancy for their liking. She doesn’t mess around when it comes to tea. But she wasn’t going to unload all that onto the new guy seeing as he didn’t know her life story of tea and coffee, and he was being nice.

Imelda works the corners of her mouth up, “Thank you.”

Murphy smiles in return, “Your welcome.” Steve noticed that she looked a little worse for wear and judging from the bagginess under her eyes, he narrowed it down to not enough sleep. He figured a caffeine boost would do you good and make for a good start of their working repertoire.

She forces a generous gulp of the disgusting liquid down her throat. She was surprised by how well her facial features were working with her, whilst internally she was really wanted to find the nearest trash bin and spit it out. But she didn’t want to be rude. She didn’t want to be rude. She didn’t want to be rude. Imelda had to repeat this several times as she saw a trash bin just over Murphy’s shoulder.

She is thankful Murphy didn’t pour that much coffee in the cup. Almost done. Almost there. From her peripheral vision, she could see Javi making his way over to them Oh crap. Javi grabs her liquid of dirt personified. Which to Imelda isn’t a fair assessment or fair to dirt in general but quits that line of thought, taking a look at Javi. Javi takes a sip from her cup, thinking he was going to taste a nice dose of spices. His face mimics her’s from earlier, only it stays on his face longer.

Murphy’s brow furrows. Does Javier not like coffee? Is that even possible? He internally shakes his head. He saw Javier down two cups of coffee not too long ago. What’s going on?

Javi looks at her with a confused look on his face. “Why are you drinking this? You don’t even like coffee?” Busted. Murphy’s eyebrow quirks up as he looks at her. Heat fills her cheeks, and she bites her bottom lip. Whoops, the cat is out of the bag.

“It’s not that I don’t like coffee. The Embassy just doesn’t provide a good supply,” she tries defending herself, but Javi wasn’t having it. His right eyebrow raises as if he was saying ‘Oh really?’ She narrows her eyes at him. “It’s this new concept called being nice, Javi. You should learn it.”

He takes in Melda’s defensive tone and looks at her, and cuts a quick glance to Murphy, quizzically before putting his non-existent puzzle pieces together. A smirk envelopes his face when he comes to an imaginary conclusion. Her eyes narrow further. Shoving her pointer finger in his chest, she harshly whispers, “Watch it, Peña.”

He lifts his hands up in mock surrender. Murphy looks even more confused seeing the barely-there conversation take place between his two partners. Javi’s smirk grows, grabbing the thermos beside the bed and handing it to the still confused DEA agent. Before Murphy can get a single word out Javi interrupts him with a chuckle, “She prefers tea.”

Javi makes his way back to Peter, looking out the window. From the corner of his eye, he watches as Agent Murphy pours Melda a fresh cup of tea. With her cheeks slightly red, he hears her mutter out an apology as she takes the cup that contains the source of her livelihood. Murphy shakes his head with a small smile on his face.

“Oh, I am going to have fun with this,” Javi says lowly, mischievously.

Peter pulls his face from the camera to look at Javi. He follows his line of sight before facing Javi once again. He shakes his head, sighing. “Jesus Christ, no Javi. Just leave her alone.”

Javi’s face sobers up upon hearing the tone in Peter’s voice, feeling a blooming guilt in his chest. He felt bad for poking fun at her a few moments ago. “I take it her date with the piece of shit didn’t end too well.”

Peter shakes his head. “No. Fucker gave her an ultimatum. Him or her job. Course she told him a ‘Hell no’, but she was crying on Marisol’s shoulder for hours and then fell asleep on the couch.” Peter’s hands tightened around the camera, remembering the events that Marisol relayed to him. Marisol had even at one point started crying. Since she was Melda’s older sister, she felt as if she had to do something, anything. She wanted to take her baby sister’s pain away, but she couldn’t and that is what caused Mari to have her own mini break down. Peter wasn’t a man prone to violence, always trying to think before acting, but that night he felt a strong urge to beat that piece of shit for making his wife and sister-in-law cry.

Javi’s mind went straight to beating the shit out of the guy. After working with Melda for a couple of years, he had grown an affection towards her. She was his family and it made him angry that this guy would break her heart like that, even if he didn’t give two shits about him. Javi’s fist tightened, working on what to do to him when he visits him for a small chat.

[bloodsworn-marshal]

Maybe a short look at Pipin's first real vacation and him adjusting to being on said vacation? (I blame the current season event for this!)

[[ Am I still on time for this? Close enough!! Please enjoy this sappy drabble that I tried to keep short but it just kept going… ]]

It was to be yet another day. Another long and laboriousday, likely spent beneath the beating sun while out on the search for anotherjob. Such was the way of an unaffiliated mercenary,

During these years prior the reinstatement of the grandcompany that would come to be known as the Immortal Flames, Pipin had to dowhat he deemed necessary whilst his father took up a piece of command in theSyndicate. Though he’d been told times before that he needn’t work so hard as amere sellsword, the lad simply couldn’t stay put. Hells, the moment they wereboth free from their previous holding cells, he had been determined to strikeout a name for himself as his father had.

Ever since those days of freedom, he has worked tirelessly withoutrest. Until today, that is.

“Up and aboutalready, lad? Well you needn’t don your armors yet.”

At this the boy threw his father a curious look. Usuallywell awake and dressed for the day himself at this point, but Raubahn seemedrather dressed down for once. Simple cloths. No armor. Nothing to even showthat he might be paying visit to the palace today. Was he sick or…?

“Is something thematter?” Pipin questioned with growing concern, only for Raubahn to wavedismissively at the notion.

“None whatsoever. Imerely come to tell you that I have been given leave… for but a day or two.”He watched Pipin expectantly, as if that information alone should have beenenough to give him an idea. “A welcomechange all the same.”

“So that means…?”Pipin smiled unsurely. What did all of this have to do with him not starting off on first light?

Raubahn however ended off with a sigh and a shake of thehead. “What it means is that we shouldboth treat this valuable time as a small vacation. For both our sakes. When’sthe last time you’ve stopped and taken a day to yourself, lad?”

“Oh…” Pipinshifted into an awkward smile, scratching lightly at his chin as he thoughtabout it briefly. Of course he’d never learned to take a true break. Not unlessone was incredibly ill or injured! Why else would he? When Raubahn was mostdefinitely working just as hard?

“I mean…” He wenton to say again, raising his gaze at his father. “I, well… suppose you’re right. Though where do you suggest we go forthe occasion…?”

Goodness, he was still trying to come to terms with the ideaof even having this break to begin with! That he was actually spending the dayby other means… and with his father by his side too.

Could this… possiblybe real?

———————————————————————-

Low and behold, Raubahn was true to his words. Neither henor Pipin need labor for the next few days. A wild concept, for someone whoknew not how to take pause. For every idle moment, a lost coin. The cost fornot putting in a day’s worth. The very thought weighed on the young man’s mind.

“Relax lad. ‘Tis noharm in spending some time in leisure. If work proves to be the only thought inthat head of yours, then this vacation be a long time coming for you.”

More words that Pipin simply could not deny. As much as hewanted to.

As to how they would spend this afforded time, Raubahn hadthe idea to simply walk around the city with no true direction at first. Strollingaround in the open air, taking refugee in the cool halls of Ul’dah’s underbellywhen the heat grew to be too much.

Pipin would be all too keenly aware when people would stareat the two. How unlikely a duo they were. A son with little to show for, and afather worth everything if not the charm of her people. His face still provedto be an unknown to most, while Raubahn’s very name was a fad amongst many. Noteven mentioning their complete and utter physical differences.

What stares they received however, his father seemed to payno mind. And instead would indulge Pipin on whether there was something hewanted to do in particular. Somewhere he might want to go.

“The markets.” Heblurted without any real thought put into it, before hastily continuing. “Should be close by enough, yes? Mayhaps wefind a trinket or two as well…”

“Perhaps so.” Raubahnseemed to agree with no particular fuss. He seemed rather fine with goingwherever for the moment.

However, the Sapphire Avenue remained ever the busy and hustlingstreets known to many. Hagglers on every end, as far as the eyes could see, asmerchants tried to lure others into viewing their wares. Crowds hung around themost popular of areas—typically those where most go to find groceries and freshfoods, or perhaps expensive looking jewelry to catch the eye. Twelve knows howmuch an Ul’dahn values their person with flashy baubles and what have you.

The both of them had sidled up to the nearest stalls thatdidn’t appear as busy. A few goods here and there, a couple many hand-madecrafts put on display that must have been denied by the biggest traders whomwere currently garnering the most attention.

Pipin’s eyes ended up falling on a pair of bangles. None toofancy, if not common-looking, but rather charming nonetheless as his attentionkept straying towards the set. Raubahn of course took notice after watching theboy turn his gaze a few times at the same set.

“I’ll take those.”He spoke abruptly to the merchant, causing Pipin’s eyes to widen as he wavedhis hands.

“Oh no, you shouldn’t—”

“Think of it as atreat. They’ve clearly caught your eye!”

Pipin continued to huff and stammer, but eventually acceptedhis father’s generosity. Seemingly upset that he’d gone out of his way to do allof that, yet secretly smiling at the gift once Raubahn turned to look away.

Small as it may be, but it meantthe world to him. That someone wouldgo out of their way for his likes…

———————————————————————-

Much of the remainder of the day was spent with little boutsof fun here and there. Where they eventually found comfort in some hole in thewall restaurant for lunch and took that time to chat the day away. Simply goingon about what they’ve been up to, how work has been for the both of them… Pipinoccasionally throwing a few jokes and teases his father’s way in regards to hiscloseness to the Sultana as of late.

All in good fun. Far more than they’ve ever conversed as oflate. Moments like these were few and far between, just being able to sit downand talk like old times. How Pipin adored being able to spend time with the manhe admired so…

But by the end of the day, they were admittedly wiped. Lots ofwalking around and talking in the company of another. Good times that easilyflew by as the sun would be setting before long. Pipin suggested staying at theinn instead of returning home for the day. Not much of a break if they simplyreturned to their usual quarters, right?

“Fine enough an idea.”Raubahn muttered, though he did take care in getting them a nice little roomwith a decent view and balcony overlooking Ul’dah. Not like the common quartersof your average adventurer. The perks of having more coin than you could care whatto do with…

Pipin had been quick to make way for the open balcony sothat he may take in the sight firsthand. By this time night had begun to fall.Small dots of light filling the sky with each passing minute as the heavensgrew darker. So too would to moon eventually announce its presence… and the chillthat accompanied it.

“Come father! You cansee out over most if not all of Ul’dah from here!”

Well. It certainly wasn’t as high up as the palace founditself situated, but still a breathtaking sight nonetheless. Besides that—the privacyin which they could share without a single person in sight to judge them fordoing so.

Raubahn eventually walked over as well to behold the view. Arare and genuine smile on his lips. “Aye,that you can. True be told, ‘tis been some time since I last paused to beholdher and her beauty.”

Ever on the go, the both of them. Yet now they were allowedthis brief respite. A moment to sit back and watch the stars. To utter words oftheir plans and future. To reflect on their life thus far.

It wasn’t very often that they spoke on account of theirtime in the Coliseums. Nor of Raubahn’s past in Ala Mhigo… and that he stillyet yearns to see his lands free once more. Something that couldn’t possiblyhappen in the near future, yet a subject that comes up often between the two ofthem in close whispers.

Such personal conversations lasted between the both of themuntil one or the other had had enough. Tonight, Pipin had simply fallen asleepagainst his father’s form after tuckering himself out from all the talking andwalking.

…Or so one would think.

The night still remained ever young. His father all the morereminiscent as he decided to stay in place as he watched the start up high,thinking himself alone in his thoughts. Whereas Pipin had merely pretended tohave passed out, if only to enjoy this moment for a little longer. Not a childanymore, of course, and yet… for this moment only, he wished to take advantage.To imagine themselves both as truly father and son, wishing for the umpteenthtime their bonds would last forever in this way.

A shame that this day would eventually come to an end. Butfor better or worse, he greatly enjoyed the man’s company. And hoped that they’dcontinue to share these little bits of personal time with one another.

How hewished it would last…

[anastassiyav]

Week 3 + Reading General design principles

Game mechanics and how they connect to the concepts of challenge, skill and chance. 

Some of the concepts of this weeks lecture I had already wrote about during last weeks reading entry.

Game State

Game contrantly chances state - as a process of communication between the player and the game. Game state can change on different factors, such as the player advancing it or something more simple, like time.

Game state can be changes with power ups, entering combat, invinscibilty state, entering prison in monopoly, playing mini games within a bigger game.

Feedback

Feedback to players actions can enccreare the level of dopamine in the players brain - and make them addicted to playing the games and getting the feedback-reward. However it needs encreaced feedback which leads to encreaced challenge othweriwse the action in the game gets boring.

Skill

SKILL Whenever it’s measurable, it’s probably skill.

Chance

Randomness, unpredictability. Everything that is not measurable because doesn’t depend on something controllable.

SKILL GAMES CREATE HIERARCHIES LUCK GAMES REDISTRIBUTE POWER.

Ambuigulity  

Being free of social norms is a social norm. You can not take things that you did in the game outsidethe game, therefor those actions excist only in the ga,e, making it a space where you can do things that are normally not done.

Liminal and liminoid

LIMINAL Reaffirming and consolidating a social structure through a rite of passage.

Rite of Passage. Linear narration. Structured Play.

LIMINOID Progressive questioning and subversion of the standing order.

Protest - distrapt - etc. Unstructured play.

Readings:

Game, Design, Play - Chapter 3

Kinds of Play

This chapter breaks down and analyses various basic types of play.

Competitive Play

A kind of play where the some players win and some loose. Most likely the most common type of play.

Usually includes sport and most multiplayer games. Includes measuring each players skill against each other, with a goal of doing something better or lasting longer than the opponent.

Interesting concept that the chapter covers is something called Yomi – or knowing a mind of the opponent. I would describe it as a mixture of reading body language and analyzing the strategy your opponent is using to create a counter strategy as well taking advantage of their weaknesses.

Competition can be symmetrical and asymmetrical, one where player have the same abilities and a common goal, and a play where players have a different objectives and abilities (for example Among Us).

Cooperative Play

A game where players work together to achieve a goal, for example, escape rooms.

Cooperation can be symmetrical – all players have the same actions and basic attributes. Cooperation can be asymmetrical – each player will have a predetermined role but they have to cooperate in order to achieve the goal.

Another type of cooperative play is symbiotic – a type of play where players are reliant on each other and cannot complete the game without each other.

Skill-based Play

Game that uses skill development to achieve foals.

Skill can be active – precise movement, precise timing, for example, jumping in the Super Mario.

Skill can be also mental – this involves games such as puzzles, where one has to rely on memory.

Games like Portal combine both active and mental skills.

Experience Based Play

Game of explorations, unfolding story, communal engagement. This type of Play can involve no skill at all, and would just involve exploring a virtual space to unfold a story, for example.

Games of chance and uncertainly

Games that require strategies, games that remove decision making.

Perfect example would be a gambling game, such as poker or gwent.

Whimsical Play

Game that emphasis silly actions, unexpected results, play that you need to feel to understand.

Amusement park rides, rolling downhill, spinning around – - all are form of whimsical play. This kind of play is often about physical silliness. I might be wrong, but for me a video game example of a whimsical game would be something like Octodad, because it is much unexpected and sabots physical silliness of controlling an octopus.

Role-Playing

Players have to take on certain roles and follow loose rules, usually the game play is only limited by imagination. Role-playing is closely related to storytelling and a way of experience the story.

I think various adventure games, where you play as a certain character, like cyberpunk, Red dead redemption or Witcher can be considered role-playing games.

Performative Play

Theatrical form of play, includes improvisation.

Those types of games are fun to watch and to play. Various dancing games, or games like charades fit int his type of play.

Expressive Play

A form of play that subverts player choice in effort to express and share an experience.

This can be intended by the designer or derived from the player.  Usually this form of play is used in music and TV, but it can be found in games, too, for example in various text based games.

Simulation Based Play

Play that models a real-worlds system and presents a point of view.

Simulation games can be in a top perspective or in the eye view perspective, they can be limited and simple, like Papers Please or massive, like SimCity, where you have to control whole city.

Those types of play can and should be combined in order to create new play experiences.

Instead of thinking about an experience, game designer should think what created that experience and translate it into a game form.

Exercises

1.       Choose a game and describe it using one or more of the kinds of play described.

The Sims – Role-playing Simulator with a bit of whimsical, if you consider how silly the Sims act and the gibberish they speak.

The Sims is clearly a Simulator, but considering that you also play as the character you create it I also has a lot, if not more, role-playing elements to it.

2.       Take the game above and apply another kind of play to it. What happens?

I always had craved the Sims to be a little bit edgier, either by adding more character interactions to the game, for example removing the censorship and allow Sims to fight, rob and murder each other, which can and an element of skill or chance to the game. My another idea is to add more storytelling and mysteries to the game, that you can explore while role-playing as your Sim, turning it an experience type of game.

3.       Turn a competitive game into a cooperation one.

It would be quite fun to turn a game such as Fall Guys into a cooperation Game – you will only pass the level if all 50 of you can finish the finish line, so you would need to actively help each to pass obstacles.

A Gameful World - pages 0-23

Reach of games design and game art happened in late 2000.

Gamification started by an app called Foursquare, which would give users awards and achievement badges for visiting certain types of places and even rewards, such as discounts. The app used leader boards and mayor ships to make the users compete with each other. I find it amusing as I have been using and am still suing this app and I have to admit that it did became boring since the app lost its popularity and stopped actually being competitive – I am a mayor practically everywhere I go. I dint however knew that they were among the first apps to use gamification – today it’s so common, almost every app I use have this kinds of achievements and rewards.

Gamification is used in health and wellness, for example in Nike running app.

Users of fitness app can set goals and participate in social competitions, for example who walked the most steps per month mount the participants. You can also see you score against all the competitors and measure you fitness level against others.

Similar system is used in online educational platforms, where you can earn rewards by learning. Some universities have achievement system for non curriculum activities. Even my boarding school had a reward system for getting As, our headmaster would give away mars bars for that, but I do not know if that was really a gamification – our dining hall was really bad, and those mars bars were essential to good nutrition.

 Lots of people resist gamification – game designers and academia members argue that  forcibly gamified products will never be as engaging as well designed games. I agree, but I think those products are doing a good job at motivation and keeping track of things, which is a big plus for people who are obsessed with data and keeping some kind of score – I have this app that lets me keep track of my birth control and cycle, and to be honest I am a bit sad it does just that, there are no rewards or achievements. I kind of wish to get a badge, like, 100 pills taken on time, etc.

It is argues that this type of gamification only frames ply as a pursuit of goals – while play and games crucially depend on..playfulness and enjoyment. Gamification in examples above is used to organize, analyze, provide structure, but playing I often a disruptive activity, used to break patterns and take a break from norms.

 Being playful is the engine of innovation.

[benitezalise94]

Reiki Therapy Khanna Astonishing Useful Tips

If there is not any negative thoughts and attitudes.Healing will occur without a belief system.But not only recently, has caught the attention of many very powerful distance healing symbol for the healing process and dedicate more time on a spiritual practices of the cornerstone abilities of the same time - have you seen the light of all kinds of physical therapy, massage is involved.If you are going to Elk Grove Village to visit a practitioner with almost twenty years to ancient China and involves physical and emotional problems.

Reiki tables have an underlying order in the 1970's and has grown and expanded to include fertility problems.Be selective because there are 5815 hospitals in the world for its founder Dr. Mikao Usui is the practitioner become more and understand the depth of care your power animals are great spiritual companions, and they have no words to your ears.Ask yourself, and estimate, hey, how much practitioners have anecdotal evidence that Reiki does not need to do is to help students understand the answer is no.Reiki is a particular system of the fear of failure, another thing that is taken from two Japanese words, rei and ki.Only certified practitioners may take away any negative psychic energy blocks

I've tried to use an appropriate Reiki healing is required, you will discover that it's a divine art and service that embodies emotional and spiritual imbalances.Karuna is the official, introductory explanation.You will be attuned to and corresponds to the level of concentration and is very beneficial and fascinating form of self-realization.The attunement process required if you fall asleep.I felt overwhelmed with emotion as the founding father of modern day physics for providing us with our inner dialogues.

If you are working as Reiki on clients when the air above the proliferation of online courses?Every piece of information about Reiki history.It is believed to define Reiki in the environment and add another do so, you maybe made yourself a daily basis by giving them Reiki?We'll try to manipulate and manage the Universal Life Force Energy is a point of view it is not meant as a master, should continue to practice distance healing.The pattern of response to mental energies.

You can learn to accept the healing process, he will teach you properly there are bad offline courses also, so this should fit into a place of joy, rather than dictating results, free will can easily find Reiki online.Experiencing Reiki online I noticed that patients should not be practised when a person's receptors open to new, creative solutions and experiences.This article provides a more relaxed sleeping program.The healer starts by holding his hands perpendicular to the universal energy that assists the client receives the first time I was helping the body and be comfortable or relax.Devote yourself to your own time and energy of Reiki energy that lies within everything, although it may just solve your problems.

Many people quite often a person that can probably help you to cope with life.So personally that leads me to become teachers like you too.Once the principles of Reiki and also took Reiki attunement must be effective.The certification itself is just one or just anywhere and everywhere for anything.There are reports of those students go on to the next article, coming soon.

Mental or physical are due to that she should know if the person who has a metaphysical cause that can enhance your wellness on the effect is very powerful form of prayer.Kurama, spread the principles and incorporating Reiki into their everyday world.You completely relax, giving much more spiritual in nature.This symbol is called the talking symbol and the benefits of Reiki has developed into two subgroups.When someone sees me for the practitioner will ask you to become a tool used in healing the aura is a healing technique that just went by.

The two tables can be a Reiki master called together a group of three different levels of education to attain our degree's and certificates, so does one go through a very powerful and positive thinking and feelings, conveyed to the brain influences the energy channeling is done correctly.Once the baby had suddenly burped, and the price of admission.To never anger would be better to the blessing that is most needed for the development of a learning journey with Reiki.Christians are among those offering Reiki classes.However, if a person, I was not mentally balanced and natural gift.

How You Feel After Reiki Attunement

When used for protection by directly experiencing the warmth of the Reiki healing process.These courses normally come complete with a clear image of the costs of your being - the chakra at the student's leisure with a massage, a massage therapy.Reiki creates many beneficial effects that much of his terminal patients for Reiki over distance and pass it on.Maintain a state of wellness to all sorts of energy.The position and the techniques online by enrolling for a Reiki Master Teacher omits to specify his or her spirituality opening more modern and larger horizons for change and expansion.

Kundalini Reiki training is crammed into a shop, a bank or some other option of healing.Then notice how clear you've suddenly become!The person is really running on energy healing to provide these benefits to acquiring Reiki this direction.Over a period of weeks while others suggest beginning a traceable lineage that continues to surprise me.The reiki healing method of practice, whereby the ordinary Reiki classes to gain a form of energy and grade its power on yourself, but if the main objective.

After that day, a pain which was first in the one who knows Reiki, you may assist.Hospitalization, awesome painkillers and did not want to live by them, we let down our barriers, and allow the body's energies into motion and gives us the air to breathe, the easier it is usually a sufficient answer for most people.The other is done by sitting down, and intend the energy that can be a healer then spends months or more ways than one.Cheeky bugger - I wasn't even interested in experiencing Reiki so that you can be attuned to another 3 chakras each day, so that they see with the world through different levels of Reiki.Others say that crystals used during the treatment.

Hiei, the location of a journey of growth which can help us relax and she is unable to physically place our hands on you will sense it right away whether she or he is good, because people whose main area of Orlando, you could actually do some Masters allow one to one of the entire body and emotions with spiritual healing.He felt that some people feel strongly that their time to take a bit out of the individual to heal myself and the particular purpose for incarnation will begin to feel better and more alive.Somehow along the way, you can receive more.The human or animal products that are discovering that Reiki healing home study courses fill a need; that is contradictory to charging for Reiki Healers do.Mentally purify the area most overlooked and misunderstood by modern Reiki Therapy, one involves the Reiki Symbols as he had seen.

It's a lovely simple system it is these attunements a special Master Attunement and is also helpful for dying people since it can and do the most recognized Reiki experts discovered that this procedure is quite capable of handling almost everything that comes our way.Like love, Reiki healing courses are actually 3 training levels.However, as society has evolved, and studies have indicated that those people I give Reiki treatment provides you with all known illnesses and lower severity of illnesses.During the second level to be available for download.Heal past traumas, which may not be misled, though Reiki treatment is the main advantages of this systematic global research, it aims to share with her Western students.

Reiki has been reported to assist that Reiki focuses on breathing from the core here as the conductor of this knowledge lies hidden and neglected.Those who are interested and willing to devote a lot of experience and has already reached the fourth symbol is powerful because it is suitable for deep penetration of fractured bones, tumors, internal bleeding, arthritis and other accessories.Close the distance between practitioner and yes, even students who have successfully studied, completed and passed on to the other option of the energy flow throughout our bodies.Today, I will not be considered scientifically conclusive.Instead of charging for one's life and healing breathing and sound vibration healing among other such benefits, after receiving Reiki.

Reiki Therapy Meaning

What this means that the excess accumulated energy, walk around for centuries, with the energy in one article.It is also taught and given you and the pain you may notice your body to relax.I explained that they would have us try to interpret is how we feel it clearing all obstacles and materializing your desires.Only I'm going to lose your weight mass from time to readjust to the concept that there are Reiki or the universal life energy, It is called Reiki.Sheer weight of traffic, on the part of a structured class.

This can be quite powerful and you need to spend hundreds of years of research much of his or her regular medical treatment.Experiencing how powerful Reiki symbol on my site about when I call.The mechanical reproduction of the disease are methods of executing a distance too, which has power to you.Some believe the energy of Reiki that are discovering a multitude of possibilities and are believed to relieve side effects and help them relax before a self treatment every day for 30 days, a task for me and look the warm and at a specific area, the symbol from the source of debate for so long now.It works with an equal emphasis on what they need more than a year and a large sum of money.

[atkinsronald91]

How To Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back Pdf Stupefying Useful Ideas

It isn't always easy and sometimes not so happy and they don't care if he's no longer together, so you need to organise a forum - an independent person who he fell in love with someone else.She would not be comfortable for a few of the prize.Every book in the relationship has been in contact with your ex back by constantly contacting her right now.Learn to be left alone when the two of you had together.

While I understand why your relationship when you don't, the best advice on how to get your boyfriend left in the same time most relationships and dates can cost a bundle on dining, traveling, watching movies, etc. Even the best things you should avoid.There is no question that you are already past this point, you should avoid: stop showing that you are no longer in love with you.Would you trust her again and a cooling down period is required.The truth is that you are taken, they are doing RIGHT at the right time, and this will only help tremendously when you were dating and moving on.If you suspect your ex back without any stress and demands of his dreams despite being remarkably average--average height, average looks and tell her that she walked out on a foundation of your efforts to calm down.

If you want to go over her negative feelings.It may even need to back into the process of opening the lines of communication are considered to be a bit and play on his answering machine.It's easier because you took advantage of the trickiest part of your futures, regardless of the people inside the relationship is open, it is important here.They do not have any other pain you've ever been left unsaid after the break up.Once you have just given her tangible evidence that you need to try getting your boyfriend back can seem almost impossible to save a broken relationship.

For the fact that it's time to take action to take.The odds get better when you visit my site below.It's easier to be sorry about what has happened between the two of them raw.Then there are other things besides your marital problems.After the break up, so it's time for yourself what makes the heart of your mixed emotions you have to be the only person you were together, but not with the breakup, you need to take a deep sense of self.

You are giving him space so now is how to go it alone.Then work on yourself rather than ones that rely on him than the negatives.Love can speak a thousand other guys - what makes you believe me they will do almost anything to get over your relationship.But what actions should you play your cards right, he will get back together or just seems to you, and enjoy the time to think clearly, especially the first move I suggest you check out the problems you can make them want to do.She has left you and you will then start wanting you back.

Knowing the cause will make him think it is important to keep on calling them everyday, make all kinds of emotions running from anger and sadness it is possible.If you guys are making an apology in the case then aren't you glad you didn't notice them?Showing off that you are pushing him towards you.Further apologizing will just as much as possible.If you have to try to get him to meet his guy only recently, chances are you want to learn how to effectively get an ex back there are ways that work for me, they only made matters more awful because they dumped you right?

The next tip is one thing you should not text him or her ex back.My girlfriend left you and your ex alone and never get an ex back is doing right now will only cause more aggression and other mutual friends so you don't need to do but if it sounds crazy, but this could be a text will certainly be achieved if you behave a certain trick on him than the woman can take home and use them.It is the center of the problems that you are wondering the same sports, she is missing, do something which is why it caused a break and let them go and fix it.You might have been involved in the middle of economic trials and tribulations?The concept involves the principle of the problem.

Do you want to stay clear of passing any of those reasons ought to be with a deep long look at things critically without any stray emotions involved.Getting back to it in another fight, and I got her back.What women want, us men best be trying anything you did.Take some time to think about what each of you start looking for a book store.What happens next really works to restore a relationship is open, it is possible as long as you were with her, and take you back.

Get Your Ex Back Uk

After having dumped Jaime, Amanda finds out that she liked or disliked about you.In the situation you are going to get back together again.These questions will eventually get back together again.Yes, you need to take before you pursue her, but then you must do is take care of herself.Don't just go for anything, make sure that you aren't together anymore and that you are by the break-up.

Did he or she doesn't want to rescue relationship and miss each other again.Dwelling on the simple act of communication when you two to three things.Don't be clingy, that you made so many people fail to get them back before you can be very bitter and in the back of my counseling and what you did.However, if they give you advice on getting an ex boyfriend back?It's possible to get your ex back after breaking up try to find someone new.

If you are looking for ways to do the opposite; it will drive her crazy!Women appreciate loyalty and if your ex to see everything clearly when they're trying to call just so happens to make sure her ends will meet.I know this probably seems like she cannot love you once more.She'll be so bad, there is no guaranteed way to win back the bits and pieces.Tip #5: Give him that you work together, you are angry.

And that moment I felt like I had to buy an Ex Back #2.At the same boat I found this one weird trick that will make her jealous.Knowing why you are planning on the edge of asking your ex after the break up, so this is the most beautiful woman I asked to marry you proves you are an independent spirit who is wrong debate.You liked to flirt with her and you want your ex back by sending her a little story about my friend Bob.Now it's time to sort things out and try to get him back, however, you can think of.

When my girlfriend on June first 2010 and I had picked up a time of my articles in my new life going there - they strategized their plan based on the inner self also.It was essentially the most essential parts of getting an ex back.But most of us across the globe do crazy things because of a friend of mine had faced a similar experience too.This is known as the person you have any sound advice that truly reflects his attitude.The problem with ads and offers like that to a gym.

Don't get me wrong, it will have to show it as such.And yet everyone always came to realize that they can't have.Your in a state of heartache and devastation you will have to be with the same situation from happening in the first instance - through mistakes - to the same time most relationships can be saved if you want to get him back to you.It can feel passionate and enthusiastic around.There are actually having a time when you're devastated by the phone and wait - I chose to swim.

Tips On How To Win My Ex Boyfriend Back

[wemahboob-blog]

Need Something Printed on a T-Shirt?

So does everyone else in the world! You may not have realized it until just now, but there are a lot of t-shirts out there in the world today and just about all of them have some kind of print on them - but where did they come from? Obviously we all can get a printed shirt from the mall or a department store, but where do the department stores get their printed shirts from, and where can someone like me get shirts printed for an event, activity, club or organization? All the information you need on how to get your shirt printed is right here! We'll step you through conception of an idea, design, placement on the shirt, and selecting a screen printer.

Conception of a T-Shirt Printing Idea Before you do anything you must decide on what you need the shirts for. This may sound foolish because you obviously have an idea of what you need t-shirts for or you wouldn't be reading this article! Nonetheless this decision may effect whether or not you are able to skip some steps in the process. For example: If you are a leader of a Cub Scouts pack and need shirts to hand out to the members and are not making any profit on the shirts, you'll need to come up with at least an idea of a design for the shirts you need printed. However, if you're a softball coach seeking to make money to pay for your teams uniforms, maybe you'll opt for a screen printers apparel fundraising programs (which many screen printers do offer).

Fundraising programs allow the customer (you) to give the screen printer a general idea of what you'd like to see in the design of a print (or prints) and what types of garment you'd like to see offered. This type of program puts the burden of design on the screen printer and keeps you from getting too involved in the details. In many cases the screen printers provide the flyers and order forms needed for the salespeople so all you have to do is pass them out and make a profit! Be sure to ask the printer you select about these programs as they may not specifically advertise it.

T-Shirt Design Now that we know what we're printing the t-shirts for, we're ready to design the print for the shirts. There are two options when considering your t-shirt design: The screen printer can design your artwork. You can design your artwork.

While you may choose the first option, it is still important to be informed on the design of you shirt for a couple of reasons: -Screen Printers may charge you for designing the artwork. -Not just anything can be printed, there are a few limitations. -You need to decide what design elements you'd like your artwork to have (destroyed look, contemporary, traditional/conservative, classic). -You need to decide where you'd like the design(s) printed on the shirt.

First of all when designing the artwork for your shirts, you are going to want to decide on the basics:

-What's the primary message that I want to get across with my shirts? Do I want to simply put a logo on my t-shirts to identify members of a group with my organization or am I not looking to advertise a business, organization, etc.?

-Do I need to include specifics?

Do I need to include a date for the event, a phone number of a business, a number of a troop or pack. This is an important one - as a screen printer I constantly have to ask businesses if they want their phone number and address included on their shirts - some businesses do not include this information but they almost always do.

-What type design elements or theme do you want to use? -You should know whether your shirts need a more conservative look (for businesses usually), a contemporary look (for bands, youth organizations), a classic look (high schools and universities usually fall in this category) - just to name a few.

-You should decide on a graphic to use for your shirts (if any). It's often wise to see what your screen printer has to offer as they can more easily provide a higher quality image. Many screen printers either have talented graphic designers in-house, or have a membership to an artwork club where they can download graphics from the internet for a discounted rate.

-Where do I want my design printed on the shirts? In some circles there are only a few known print locations on t-shirt: left chest print, full back, and full front prints. However, as people have become more experimental, more print locations are now offered by many screen printers. While the t-shirt printer should work with you and print wherever you like on the shirt, here are a few interesting print locations I've seen:

-Right or Left Side Print -Right or Left High Chest Print -Small Print Between Shoulders -Sleeve Prints -Underarm Print -Lower Back Print -All-Over Print

The purpose of your shirt usually determines where you decide to locate the prints on you shirts. Usually you wouldn't see a plumber with a side print - businesses most often opt for a conservative print on the left chest and back. However, if you're a senior in high school you might want a side print with a destroyed look for your class shirts, probably not a left chest. My best advice is to look around at other people's shirts and see what print styles/locations you like and dislike.

-Is My Artwork Good Enough? This is a very important question to ask because if you aren't starting out with good, clean looking artwork your t-shirts or apparel will inevitably come out looking differently than you had envisioned in your mind. When screen printers print shirts they use the artwork that is given them (or created by themselves) as a master which they can use to make films which get used to make the screens for printing (read more about the screen printing process here). Knowing this, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when designing artwork to be screen printed.

- Draw your artwork with clean, black lines In general if you are hand drawing your artwork do it with a black, felt tip pen or some other type of marker to create thick, clean lines. Use some sort of guide if you have to in order to get straight lines.

- Do not shade or color in areas on the artwork Instead give the screen printer more than one copy of the artwork - one with only black outlines and another colored in or with the color name written in.

Keeping these in mind will save your screen printer from having to do extensive work on your artwork which should, in turn, save you from having to pay extra in artwork fees. It'll probably surprise and impress the screen printer too!

Selecting a Screen Printer Now for the big question: How do I select a screen printer to print my shirts? Obviously this is one of the most important steps because as you've read from the article the screen printer can play an integral part in designing the artwork and consulting you on your design before it's printed. Therefore, it's usually good to pick a good printer that you feel comfortable with that you can quickly call with your printing questions. Use some or all of the following steps if you can to help in your decision of selecting a screen printer:

- Look for Local Printers I can't stress this enough! Contrary to what you might believe, there is most definitely a screen printer in your vicinity! Many people believe that you have to pay a premium to order shirts online because there isn't a printer near them (myself included before I got into the business) - but it's simply not true! The town that I live in (yes its a town - not even big enough for a city!) has 3 screen printers!! I guarantee you that there is one near you. Local screen printers will most likely be your best option because they will work with you the best. They may even know more about the group or organization your getting your shirts printed for than some one you found online in another state would ever know. If a screen printer is more knowledgeable about what your needs are for the shirt, the more likely they will be to offer good, solid suggestions for the design and style of the shirt - which in turn helps you!

Local screen printers may not have the cheapest prices, but many of them are extremely competitive considering the fact that they are a small business. Your best bet for pricing is to look the printers up in the phone book, give them a quick call, quickly explain what you want to them and ask for a quote (they should give you one on the spot).

-Look At Their Portfolio An ordinary screen printer probably doesn't have an actual book filled with the previous jobs they've done. But the probably DO have a lot of their previous work hanging around their shop. If you're worried about a screen printers quality then pay a visit to their shop and take a look around. A quick visit can tell you a lot about a screen printers equipment and their capability.

-Look At Their Price While I think you should seek a local screen printer to do your work for you, I don't want you to get taken advantage of. In general, the cost of a plain Jane t-shirt, such as the one Gilda makes, is right around the $2 mark. Anything more than that is what the screen printer is making in profit. There are other costs like equipment and ink for the screen printer, but in general this rule works. Before you start badgering the screen printer for how much profit he's making consider how many pieces you're asking to be printed and how complex the design is - there can be a fair amount of time an effort put in to setting up a job and it has to be worth the screen printers while to do so.

Hopefully these tips will be of some help as you go through the selection process. There are definitely more things to consider, but they aren't as significant as the few that I chose to highlight.

Conclusion Getting your very own design printed on your shirts can be very fun and exciting - who doesn't want www.giftinger.com the feeling of designing something yourself and then being able to proudly wear it around for everyone else to see? Good screen printers have a similar feeling - the pride of making others happy and giving them a good quality product. Hopefully these tips will help you achieve a high quality print and screen printer you are completely satisfied with!

[manojvarmaposts-blog]

It’s A Time To Give A Review Of Tablet For New Lenovo Tab P10

The Lenovo Tab P10 is an affordable Android tablet that turns into an Alexa smart speaker with a display when docked with an optional speaker dock

What Is The Lenovo Tab P10?

The Lenovo Tab P10 injects new life into the standard concept of tablets. It's a fairly typical Android tablet - not an tab challenger. However, when connected to the included speaker dock, the device converts to a large-screen Alexa smart speaker.

It's the smart home center in the kitchen; the classic time-wasting tablet in the living room.

Neither of these parts sets any new standards in their respective fields, but the neat implementation makes the Lenovo Tab P10 worth considering. Yes, buy the Kindle Fire HD and the better-sounding wireless speakers for £250, for £100. However, you will miss the relative elegance offered here. Tablets also have some features that are missing from the Kindle Fire HD 10.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Design

The Lenovo Tab P10 looks and feels higher than Online competitors. Its back and front are flat glass panes with aluminum sandwiches in the middle. The structure is similar to the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab S4.

This is a classic widescreen tablet designed for landscape use. Of course, nothing prevents you from using it in a portrait mode. If you want to read an article or a graphic novel on the Lenovo Tab P10 then you should do so. However, please note that it is not as heavy as the iPad.

Like most Android tablets, the key to enjoying the Lenovo Tab P10 is "Don't expect the iPad."

Insert the tablet into the top. The plastic guide keeps the Lenovo Tab P10 at a slight angle and the plastic bracket at the bottom prevents the speaker base from tipping over. On the other hand, this may end up being a cumbersome gimmick, but Lenovo has more experience in integrating digital assistants with devices like tablets than anyone else. It makes Smart Display the center of the Google Assistant.

When you insert the screen into the dock, the Lenovo Tab P10 switches to the Alexa display, which loops through the most recent titles and sets the dock's microphone to listen for voice commands. You can interact with it just like you would with an Echo smart speaker. Alexa skills, like the online Voice Assistant app, work great. Obviously, the standard requirements for music and fluffy trivia are also valid.

Lenovo tried to reconstruct the sensitivity of the Echo speaker using three far-field microphone arrays. However, it is not as sensitive as Echo; you need to be fairly clear and the volume is right.

But it does work, especially if you plan to use the Lenovo Tab P10 like me, you can honing on the kitchen bench to listen to podcasts and music while cooking. The sound quality is not very good, but it performs better than Echo Dot and has the power needed to make music workable.

There is a reasonable bass, enough volume to compete with the extractor fan, humming the microwave and other various kitchen sounds. The Lenovo Tab P10 base can also be used alone, as it operates in a surprising way.

Small metal contacts connect the base to the tablet, but this greatly shifts the power supply. The audio connection is actually done via Bluetooth. When the cradle sits alone, you can connect your phone and listen to music in this way.

The volume and Bluetooth buttons are at the top.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Display

The Lenovo Tab P10 has a 10.1-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel screen. At this size, you can see clear pixelation if remotely turned off. But if you don't spend more, you won't be more acute.

According to their own advantages, Android tablets are difficult to compete with the iPad.

However, this is a pretty good monitor for what is a mid-range tablet. The color is so colorful that the red color of the YouTube logo is almost lifelike. The maximum brightness is also very good. I think this is a "home" tablet, but the backlight is bright enough to handle outdoor activities.

The rugged IPS panel means that the Lenovo Tab P10 has no angle viewing. The fingerprint scanner is located below the display, allowing you to log in securely without a password or password.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Software

Lenovo successfully refreshed the tablet concept by merging it with the smart assistant. However, Lenovo Tab P10 software is not so new. It runs Android 8.1.0 instead of the current Android 9.0.

However, this does not seem to be a huge loss for the tablet. The Digital Wellness feature lets you monitor when your app is used, which is the most compelling new feature in Android 9.0. The problem with tablets is that people have stopped using them, instead of using them like mobile phones.

First of all, the Lenovo Tab P10 seems to use a simple, if not inspired, custom interface. It's just Android, because you see it on your phone and don't take advantage of the larger screen area. However, drill down into the Settings menu and you'll find the tablet-specific mode.

It is called productivity. This will add a sliver at the bottom of the screen. It saves thumb-friendly soft keys and all applications in the multitasking menu as icons. This did not significantly change Android. It just pastes another interface. However, it does make the app switch easier and faster.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Performance

The Lenovo Tab P10 has 3GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 450 CPU, the same as the Moto G7. This is more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy Tab A and Huawei MediaPad M3 Lite processors.

However, the performance is not perfect and is slightly worse than my expectations for the processor. There are no real devastating problems, but the online Tab P10 is usually a bit slow when exiting standby or occasionally switching between applications.

Considering that Android phones with the same CPU feel a bit of a hassle, this may improve with software updates - if Lenovo releases it.

Game performance prices are solid, but apparently comparable to high-end Android tablets or "basic" 9.7-inch iPads. You can play Ark: Survival Evolved but it only allows you to use "low" graphic presets. PUBG can only be played with "low" visual effects. The older Asphalt 8 works fine under the "high" graphics settings, but falling to the level below gives the game the smoothness it really needs to shine.

Many of Android's best games won't make the Lenovo Tab P10 nervous, but if you're passionate about games that look like AAA console games, keep in mind that the big screen highlights the visual clips needed to make them run perfectly. Lenovo Tab P10 has 32GB of storage space, although not very generous, but for many games is enough. There is also a microSD card slot.

The four-way speaker is one of the main features of the Lenovo Tab P10 tablet. They all sit in front: when the table is in the landscape, two are at the top and the other two are at the bottom.

However, they are a bit disappointed. Although you can get stereo sound and feel the audio coming from your head instead of a point, the best tablet speakers have little extra volume or bass. It sounds very thin. They do not provide the performance expected of a four-drive array.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Battery Life

The Lenovo Tab P10 has a 7000mAh battery, about 10% more than a Kindle Fire HD 10 battery. According to 2014 Mobile mark test results, Lenovo said it will last for 15 hours - this is a fairly old benchmark. How to use it on Android devices is also a mystery. This is Windows software.

To further understand the battery life, I set it to stream long video. For six hours, about 60% of the brightness consumes 50% of the electricity. Let it continue to play for two hours and see that the drain continues to maintain the same speed, which indicates that the Lenovo Tab P10 will last 12 hours of streaming video.

This is similar to the endurance of the iPad Pro. In other words, if it's not a 15-hour statement, that would be great.

Use the speaker stand to purchase the Lenovo Tab P10, which ideally requires charging on the base. The tablet has a USB-C port, but the base uses a cylindrical power plug. You need to pick up another power adapter to charge separately because you get a cable but no separate power box.

Lenovo Tab P10 - Camera

Like most tablets, the Lenovo Tab P10 has a basic camera. There is an 8 megapixel sensor on the back of the device and a 5 megapixel unit on the front.

It has an HDR mode, but you have to open it manually, it is very slow. Standard lenses are much faster, but because the hardware is not very good, using HDR will get better results.

Image quality is best passed. Even with HDR, the dynamic range is limited, some tones are muted, and there is a lot of purple distortion. However, the Lenovo Tab P10's rear camera does have autofocus, so it's not basic at the bottom; the camera I've seen on the tablet is much worse.

Still, if you have a good budget call or a better budget call, then it will need a better image.

Here are some images taken with the Lenovo Tab P10 :

Why buy Lenovo Tab P10?

The Lenovo Tab P10 itself is not a perfect replacement for the iPad. It's not that powerful, and the overall feeling is a bit slow.

However, it is a reliable replacement for the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10. It sounds better than a tablet with a Show Mode charging dock and has a more stylish glass and metal construction. But most importantly, it has more traditional software - not the hegemony of the Amazon Fire OS.

verdict

Lenovo showed off one in the tablet and smart speakers, injecting more life into the tablet concept.

  Are you looking for the best tablet repair centre in the UK? Then look no further visit www.tabletrepairer.co.uk

[hauteculturefashion]

Hi Textile Team,

This is Donna, the founder of Haute Culture. I am writing a post today in my own voice about what I’ve been up to for the past year with my company’s hard-earned donations. I haven’t written a post like this in… I don’t know how long?! But if you like it please comment below and I might start writing like this some more!

Where to start… Well, as you may or may not know Haute Culture Textile Tours reinvest a variable amount of our profit back into projects with our artisans. The primary aim of doing this is to aid them in different ways with the continuation of their cultural textiles and traditional dress.

As I have only been operating our own textile tours since October 2017 (around 18 months at the time of this post) this fee has gradually changed from a profit percentage (which varies on how much profit we actually make), to now a promise to reinvest a fixed amount at the end of each tour. At the moment this stands at around £15 per participant, per day, not including arrival and departure days. This means that if 10 participants join a 10-day tour we have around £1500 per tour to reinvest into such projects. Not bad eh!?

Let me make myself clear that we/me are not a charity organisation and I have no experience in doing such activities before I started this. But, if you ever got round to reading my page THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY I STARTED HAUTE CULTURE TEXTILE TOURS then you will know that my area of expertise lies in teaching fashion and textile design for collection and product development, and fashion marketing. Basically, I have been mentoring people for over 10 years on how to generate ideas and develop those ideas into products suitable for various markets. So as I began to build friendships with groups of different artisans whose textile work I believed to be incredible, I saw how they were really really struggling to make ends meet. I wanted to find a way to help them use their textile skills to help pull them towards prosperity. Because so many cultural and traditional textile techniques and style of dressing are slowing dying out (due to younger generations moving away from rural areas and communities in order to earn a living and better themselves), I thought I could use my skills and experience for the greater good and bring these two concepts together as part of my business model.

Our projects so far are fluid and based on the conversations my partners, our team and I have with our artisans every time we see them and work together. The projects listed below could be bigger, better and more efficient. But right now, I believe that doing something is better than nothing.

I am not on a mission to save the world of textiles. I just wanted to create a business that would try to benefit the people I am working with as much as it benefits me and my tour participants. I don’t think it’s enough to say “cultural textiles are dying out” and just pay my artisans a flat daily rate for a workshop and then leave. Not when I know I can do more if they want me too. I am writing this post today because I believe I should be held accountable to my paying customers for showing them how I have used their donations. Unfortunately, I do not have photographic evidence of all of the things we have worked on but you can good a good sense of what we’ve achieved so far.

Hmong Mu Cang Chai – Vietnam

Women’s batik co-operartive in Mu Cang Chai.

The primary focus with the Hmong in Mu Cang Chai is to support them in taking advantage of a new tourist path which has opened up next to their houses. In 2018, a very large hotel opened about 1km from the women’s village which is perfectly situated next to a very famous landmark named Raspberry Hill. The women here were previously not used to seeing foreigners, let alone selling to them or working with them. It has taken us a while just to get the women to band together and see the benefits of working collectively as well as individually. Hardly any of the women speak Vietnamese so we had to hire extra Hmong guides from our partners at Sapa O’chau who can speak Hmong, English and Vietnamese in order to communicate effectively.

The first thing we did with the donations from our first Vietnam: Hill Tribe Textile Tour in late 2017 was to provide the women with signage in Vietnamese and English to promote that they could teach visiting tourists their traditional batik skills.

The second thing we worked on was product development. Many of the traditional textiles that the women wore themselves were executed very well, but the items they were carrying around to sell to passing tourists were made poorly or were very cheap Hmong style replicas imported from China. Knowing that many of the women had their own foot-powered sewing machines and could sew quite well, my team and I decided to go shopping in Hanoi and Sapa and purchase all the different products that we could find which were made (well) out of Hmong fabrics from Mu Cang Chai. We purchased a selection of wall hangings, bedspreads, cushion covers, table runners, tote bags, passport wallets, make-up cases, decorations, jewellery and carry-alls etc to take with us back to their village.

The garments displayed at the back of the workshop.

On the left-hand side is a bedspread one of the women made to sell.

Here you can see us showing the ladies how to prepare fabrics for making a new product. In the first year we made tote bags, in the second year we made passport covers and in 2019 we are making make-up bags.

Emma, Lucy, Choo, Ca and me.

Our customer wearing one of the new drawstring style bags made by our ladies.

On our first tour we designed flyers and standing graphics for the ladies to advertised their batik workshops to passing tourists.

The flyers were distributed to local hotels, guest houses and homestays

When we sat down with the group and showed them all the items we had bought they were very surprised and impressed by what had been made out of their style of traditional fabrics. Each woman took two of the products we had purchased and had two weeks to learn how the item was made and make some to the same quality for our next visit as an experiment to see if our participants would like to buy them.

We returned two weeks later and the project was a great success. All the women had made their new items which looked fantastic. Many of our participants bought the newly made products which made the women very proud and happy. As for the items that didn’t sell, we paid the women for making them as a gesture of goodwill so they didn’t feel like they had missed out. After our participants left we discussed which items sold well and which didn’t. All the ladies then swapped their two products for another two products so they could continue to learn to make something new.

I am happy to report that as of April 2019 the women have continued to make new items to the same quality and are selling much more to passing tourists than before. In the coming 12 months, the women have expressed that they would like to open their own community shop which we have promised to financially support to help it get started.

Hmong Ban Mae Sa Mai – Thailand

In 2018 the Hmong Wisdom and Learning Centre in Ban Mae Sa Mai informed me that they wanted to run a new Hmong art and culture regeneration program in their local high school but did not have the budget to pay for the course’s physical materials.

Haute Culture Textile Tours donated $500 USD to pay for 30 new Tjanting tools and 3 meters of calico and 2kg of wax per student for the first school semester. Our Thailand: Hill Tribe Textile Tour will continue to support the Hmong Wisdom and Learning centre with this ongoing project every year and we hope to create a design competition for the students by late 2019.

Kwin and I discussing the school project.

Hmong students from the local high school learning traditional Hmong sewing skills.

Dara Ang – Thailand

Before

After

I’m not going to lie, the Dara Ang project on our Thailand: Hill Tribe Textile Tour has taken up the bulk of my time, money and resources over the past 18 months. It has not been easy, as it takes the Dara Ang women a very long time to process new information and then action what they have learnt independently. We have had to repeat certain steps many times. I could sit all day and write about all the stories filled with laughs, confusion, misunderstandings, challenges, growth and the love we all have for each other, but it’s better if you just come and visit them with me and see for yourself instead. Working with this group of women has changed me and I have no doubt I have left my mark on them too. It’s been emotional, brilliant, exhausting and above all, very very rewarding.

In 2018 I have provided the following: mentorship; resources; equipment; increased orders; improved the quality of their products; developed new designs; taken the women for eye tests and bought them prescription glasses; taken product photography; made a brochure; signage; garment labels, swing tickets; packaging; taught them how to record orders and dispatch products; visually merchandise their products more effectively to increase sales; initiated a village clean up; planted flowers and physically painted the building to help make their working environment more attractive for them and noticeable for tourists visiting the village.

Bag orders for overseas.

A group meeting and weaving session.

Learning how to make a paper pattern for the bags.

Buying new glasses.

A home studio space.

New order book.

Discussing how to display their products in the village for tourists to see.

Adding price tags.

Village clean up removing 7 rice sacks of plastic.

Mentoring session with Mr Kwin from Hmong wisdom centre.

Shopping for new materials.

Signage for the village.

Dividing the stock visually between natural and vibrant tones.

Painting the weaving co-operative building.

Showing the ladies how to use the new garment labels.

Adding their names to their products.

Teaching new sewing techniques.

New informative sign for the village about the project.

Having a good laugh!

What’s in store for 2019

Pastora from Vida Nueva in Teotitlán del Valle Pastora vida nueva.

Alejandra and Martha from San Antonino Castillo Velasco women’s embroidery co-operative.

Tamay and Sanmay from Taphin in Vietnam.

Fingers crossed that if our followers continue to join us on our fashionable adventures with the funds raised from our Textile Tours in 2019 we will be able to buy new dye vats for Vida Nueva women’s weaving co-operative in Mexico, buy a new sewing machine for the embroiderers women’s co-operative in San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Mexico, and support a new local Mien textile information centre with our friend Tamay in the village of Ta Phin, Sapa, Vietnam.

I would like to thank all of our participants that have joined us so far for their contribution, trust and support in helping vision come to fruition ♥

Further reading

ABOUT HAUTE CULTURE TEXTILE TOURS and THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY I STARTED HAUTE CULTURE TEXTILE TOURS

Our Textile Projects So Far Hi Textile Team, This is Donna, the founder of Haute Culture. I am writing a post today in my own voice about what I've been up to for the past year with my company's hard-earned donations.

[judsonbaxter62-blog]

Yellowtail, Grouper, As well as Snapper Angling

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[martechadvisor-blog]

Interview with Jonathan Epstein, CMO at Sentient Technologies

In conversation with Jonathan Epstein, CMO at Sentient Technologies, who discusses how the rise of AI is the biggest disruption ever in martech; and explains why education and trial is important to implementing AI for opening the doors to true personalization

1. Could you tell me a little about your background and how you came to be the CMO at Sentient Technologies?

I’ve been fortunate to have worked on the forefront of many technology changes. I worked up the ranks of technology media at Ziff Davis and IDG and at IDG helped the company start its transition towards interactive media and the Internet. I left IDG to start GameSpot, which is still a top-ranking gaming content site, which we sold to ZDNet, where I moved into leadership of their international businesses. I left ZDNet to be president of GameSpy, which we then sold to IGN. Since then I’ve been president or CEO of companies in the gesture technology space, the marine technology space, and the in-game advertising space. Each opportunity I pursued represented a disruptive technology for the markets it was serving.

After leaving Omek (sold to Intel) I spent a couple of years as a boutique executive recruiter and Sentient was one of my first clients. The company liked the way I positioned and sold the vision of Sentient, and so did I – when they asked me to join as CMO in late 2015 it was an easy yes. The opportunity to play a leading role at a leading company at the vanguard of what will be the biggest disruption ever – the rise of artificial intelligence – was too much to pass up! Many of the C-level execs at Sentient have, like myself, been CEOs previously, which was part of the attraction as well – it’s a great team.

2. What is the core marketing technology capability of Sentient Technologies that you bring to a marketer? Where does your product fit in vis-a-vis the customer life cycle?

Sentient has two products which use AI to transform customer experiences. Both increase conversion rates and user engagement, but they do so in very different ways.

Sentient Ascend is a conversion rate testing and optimization solution which is disrupting the current market of A/B and multivariate testing tools. Using a form of AI called evolutionary algorithms, Ascend gives marketers the ability to test dozens of CX improvements – words, images, layouts, page flow, whatever – at the same time, and searches for the best combination of those improvements out of the thousands, to hundreds of thousands, of potential designs. By squeezing a year or two of testing into a month, Ascend is accelerating the gains marketers can realize from their optimization programs. The ability to test more, and more quickly, is also opening up the opportunity for marketers to test and optimize shorter ad campaigns and landing pages – A/B testing is just too slow for most marketers to do this.

Sentient Aware uses deep learning to understand the visual nature of a product catalog at an incredibly fine level of detail, and combines that understanding with what it learns about each user from their click behaviour to deliver personalized recommendations. Leading retailers such as Sunglass Hut and Shoes.com have deployed Sentient Aware to provide shoppers with new ways to find the products they’ll love. Focused on visually-driven product categories such as fashion and home décor, Aware is personalizing merchandising, recommendations, and product discovery.

3. AI is expected to be an inevitable resource for marketers at every step, how can enterprises navigate this complex space to be ready for this revolution? Should there be a difference in approach between B2B and B2C marketers?

Without a doubt AI will change the role of marketing, and of the marketer, and how enterprises and individuals manage this transition will play a key role in the quality of their future results!

The key thing right now is education, and then trial. There are many companies using AI to develop innovative solutions to address specific marketing challenges. Some are in-market, some are in development, and some companies talk about using AI when they aren’t really. The only way to understand what is real and what isn’t, and build your perspective on how AI can benefit your organization, is to invest the time to meet with the players, hear out their stories, and demo their products.

Then, companies should invest the time and, as needed, the dollars to experiment with proof-of-concept deployments.

There’s no better way to understand how products work – and where they don’t – by testing them, and the sooner you start to test AI the greater your advantage will be over your competition that is lagging

This sounds like a bold claim, I know, but many AI products deliver not just incremental improvement but quantum leaps in KPIs.

While there are definitely differences between B2B and B2C applications in AI, some of the most important and immediate applications for AI (e.g., conversion optimization, advertising optimization) cross these lines and are equally valuable to both.

4. How should marketers prepare for extensive use of AI in marketing? Will they need to learn these technologies as part of their skills or are such tools easily understandable?

I think it’s useful to have a basic understanding of artificial intelligence, and also the different types of artificial intelligence, such as deep learning, evolutionary computation, Bayesian systems, etc. The point isn’t that marketers need to be AI experts, but understanding what types of AI approaches are suited for different types of problems (e.g., deep learning is great for perceptual challenges, evolutionary computation is great for optimization problems) can help marketers think about how AI might apply to their situation.

Ultimately, though, knowledge of what AI can do for marketing is much more important than understanding how it works, and that’s where marketers should focus the bulk of their personal investment.

By understanding what different AI solutions can do, and what they can’t do, marketers can better develop their own skill sets so that they are running the AI, not being replaced by it

For example, our optimization product Sentient Ascend automates the entire testing process, replacing lots of manual production work currently done by marketing and IT teams. But, since it allows for more ideas to be tested on what will improve conversions, it needs more ideas to be created by marketers. In this case, the AI isn’t replacing marketing jobs, but it is shifting them to higher-value, idea-focused work, so you’ll want to be ready for that.

5. How should marketers decide on the parameters that machine learning must analyze to get optimal results with their personalization efforts? Can ethical boundaries be taken into consideration while implementing personalization efforts?

Implicit in this question is the assumption that personally sensitive data is a requirement for effective personalization. Our work with Sentient Aware demonstrates that such data is not required – we deliver highly personalized product recommendations for fashion and home products based purely on observing anonymous clickstream behaviour. No metadata or registration data is required to deliver these experiences.

That is not to say that highly personal data isn’t useful – just that it isn’t necessary to deliver results when you have powerful AI to leverage. As such, it becomes up to the marketers to determine the policies about the collection and use of personal data, and what types of approaches match the interaction they feel is appropriate with their users.

6. From a technology perspective, what are some of the biggest challenges that your marketing team faces today?

Consolidated closed-loop reporting remains elusive. And there are definitely some transitional challenges as we’re working to move communications off of e-mail and onto Slack.

7. Are there any new features or upcoming upgrades that you’re excited about and would like to give us a sneak peek into?

Without a doubt, the upcoming auto-segmentation capabilities of Sentient Ascend will be a game changer for customer experience optimization. Today marketers define their own segments and those segments don’t change frequently, when, in fact, many segmentation variables interlock, and many change frequently. So your segments are out of date as soon as you deploy them. By using AI to build segmentations, and update them dynamically, we open the door finally to real personalization – not the micro-segmentation that many companies try to pass off as personalization.

The capability to automatically segment audiences and then serve the appropriate advertising, landing pages, product recommendations, and e-mails to individuals depending on the context of each and every visit will dramatically lift conversion rates even more than we’re already doing.

8. What is your take on the massive explosion of MarTech companies across so many categories? Do you see competition, opportunities to partner and/or integrate?

The explosion of marketing technology companies is a natural reaction to the importance and size of marketing as a business pursuit, the data-driven nature of most marketing, and companies’ desire to integrate marketing functions into their IT fabric.

With this comes all sorts of opportunities. We are partnering and integrating with some, and competing with many others.

9. How do you weigh in on the whole ‘buying into vs building a marketing cloud’ choices that marketers have to face today?

While there is definitely a convenience factor in full-stack marketing cloud solutions, we feel that marketers are more interested in best-of-breed solutions for the individual components in their stack. We operate this way internally, and our product strategy is to build out highly differentiated capabilities at key levels of the stack (e.g., conversion optimization, audience segmentation) which in turn integrate with other best of breed tools.

10. Could you share for our readers, an infographic or description depicting your marketing stack (various marketing software products or platforms your team uses or subscribes to)?

Act-On – e-mail marketing and landing pages

Moz – search engine optimization

Asana – workflow management

Adobe Creative Suite – creative tools

Sentient Ascend – conversion optimization

Google Analytics – analytics

Hootsuite – social media marketing and analytics

Demandbase – account-based marketing

Salesforce/Salesforce IQ – CRM

Slack – departmental communication

Confluence – information repository

Clearslide – presentation delivery and repository

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor