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jokertrap-ran · 4 years ago

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(未定事件簿) EVENT! 「眷然恋影」 [Tears of Themis] EVENT: Zuo Ran Birthday 2021- Days to Re-Live Forever (4.24: Exchanging Movie Reviews)

*Tears of Themis Masterlist / Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Will also be filed under Zuo Ran’s tag #Tears of a Lawyer *The tracking tag for ALL Event Stories will go under: #Tears of an Event

4.18 / 4.20 / 4.22 / 4.24 / 4.26 Messages / Investigations / Call

Location: Live-action Studio

As Zuo Ran's birthday drew closer, the Film Festival gradually approached it's ending, and the scene I was trying to recreate on-set was soon to be complete.

Now, I had to exchange for some other things that could serve as a birthday present, in addition to a variety of props.

For example, the "Collector's Edition: The World-wide Film Script Collection" that was listed under the gift catalogue.

MC: (This is the best of the best! Nothing can be more suitable than this for someone like him, who loves movies so much!)

But in order to get this gift set, I'll need either 200 volunteer points to redeem it, or to clinch the first prize in the Film Critic Competition.

MC: (After calculating the cost of the remaining set props and items I need… That extra 200 points I require looks really hard to obtain…)

MC: (Looks like I'll have to win the Film Critic Competition before I can think about it.)

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: Cafe

Simply watching a movie won't be enough to clinch victory in the Film Critic Competition.

During this period of time, I ran straight to the Cinema immediately after work in a bid to feed my pool of film knowledge.

But I'd never expected for my actions to have caught the attention of Mr. Li, the director of the award-winning film "Thousand Stars", that had won a gold award this Film Festival.

Director Li treated me as if I was a student in Film School, coming over to make small talk. Again, and again, until we eventually got acquainted with each other.

MC: Director Li, this is Zuo Ran, an Elite Lawyer. He's my partner, and also a movie enthusiast.

Zuo Ran had been absolutely busy with work the past two days, but due to the contents of his work, it was also something that I couldn't help him with by splitting the burden.

I didn't want him to get so "invested" in his work that he ended up burning himself out, so I specially invited him out to introduce him to Director Li, in hopes of getting him to relax a little.

Zuo Ran: It's been a long time, Li Yuan.

Li Yuan: Miss Lawyer here told me that she was going to be introducing me to a friend of hers. I was wondering who; but turns out it was you. It really has been a long while, Zuo Ran.

MC: You guys… Know each other?

A smile broke out on Zuo Ran's face; one that expressed the joy of reuniting with an old friend, one that spoke more than words.

Zuo Ran: Li Yuan and I were from the same batch of students, from the same law school. Only just that he changed his line of work as soon as he graduated.

Li Yuan: But that's only because it's so hard to pass the bar exam! I don't want to be memorizing anymore laws.

Zuo Ran: We're all acquaintances here, no need to be so courteous.

Zuo Ran: (Y/n) is my partner and will be participating in a Film Critic Competition soon. She has watched your movie, "Thousand Stars", many times over.

MC: Wait, how do you know that, Lawyer Zuo?

Zuo Ran: Weren't you playing "Thousand Stars" on your Pad this afternoon, while you were eating lunch?

MC: I've been re-watching it a couple of times lately, yes.

Li Yuan: You really like this movie that much? You've never brought it up in any of our previous conversations.

Li Yuan: I thought you disliked it but didn't dare voice it out to me for fear that it'll embarrass me, so you simply avoided the topic altogether.

MC: You're greatly mistaken! I really love "Thousand Stars"!

MC: But because I'm going to be participating in the Film Critic Competition, I can't help but to feel that talking to the Director of the film before writing the review's a little like playing cheat. So…

Zuo Ran: It's only to understand the Director's creative ideals. Whether it's worth it's recognition, whether or not it's nice to watch; those are things that only you can evaluate and judge for yourself.

Li Yuan: That's right, don't feel guilty for it.

Li Yuan: Look, I put out that many reasons for my shooting ideas back during the movie's promotional period; but yet, there are still people who have split opinion about whether or not this movie's a good one.

Li Yuan: So, come on, hurry and tell me what your rating is. Just think of it as you giving me a spoilery film critic about my work, alright?

MC: If I may be so presumptive to share my own opinions on the matter.

MC: I think that the plotline in "Thousand Stars" is clear, the pacing is just right, and the actors have also managed to portray the characters really well...

MC: Especially the unique setting of having two male leads, I think that's very well done, and they're both very charismatic. But...

Now came the hard part of talking about just what was lacking. I unwittingly snuck a glance at Zuo Ran.

He gave me a reassuring nod. That was when I finally gathered up enough courage to voice my own thoughts.

MC: But, I can’t say I agree with the “Villian’s impactful acting during the explosion” that everyone’s been raving about.

MC: The excitement that stems from the scene between the final showdown between the villain and the protagonist is mostly because the protag was spurring on the villain emotionally.

MC: The explosion scene, and the editing method used to cut straight to the heroine’s scenes also further intensified the tension.

MC: With both of these in play, don’t you think that the acting skills of the villain aren't reflected well enough, on the contrary?

Li Yuan: I see. What do you think of it, Zuo Ran? Or don’t tell me you didn’t watch my film?

He pretended to threaten Zuo Ran with a threatening gesture.

Zuo Ran: My opinion is the same as (Y/n)’s.

MC: Huh? You think so too?

Perhaps we could have seen Robin’s movie review of the “Thousand Stars” if only he wasn’t that busy with work.

But alas, it was much better to hear his live commentary about it in-person now.

Zuo Ran: Yes. This scene is none other than the final decisive standoff between the villain and the hero, where they each have to kill the other party at all costs.

Zuo Ran: The character of the villain is that he is strong, paranoid, but very calm and composed; and that he's also a meticulous schemer. That being said, despite all the emotions running high here...

Zuo Ran: There's no need for such strong physical actions. Rather, it'll have been more fitting if you’d simply rely on the subtlety of actions to influence the audience.

Zuo Ran: But in this case, not only did the villain’s actor exaggerate his sneer a little more when the mood changed, but he’d also used a larger action to make up for the lack of visible expression.

Zuo Ran: He also deliberately raised his voice, so that the character he portrayed no longer retained his calm and paranoia, but instead, falls closer to disarray and madness. This conflicts a little with his initial persona.

Zuo Ran: But, although the performance of the villain’s actor was a tad choppy, he still has unlimited potential yet to be tapped into as a greenhorn.

Li Yuan laughed, clapping.

Li Yuan: Man, oh man, oh man! As one would expect of a Lawyer like you, Lawyer Zuo! Getting straight to the heart of the matter, I see!

Li Yuan: You’re absolutely right. The villain’s actor is a good seedling that has just graduated and requires more experience in the field.

Li Yuan: But I never expected that you’d have such thoughts about the actor’s acting either, Miss Lawyer. Or perhaps… Do you and Zuo Ran share a tacit understanding of each other between normal boundaries?

His eyes “scanned” us, flickering back and forth between us, an ambiguous yet knowing look on his face.

MC: You flatter me. I'm only but an amateur at this, and I haven't watched that many movies compared to Lawyer Zuo…

Zuo Ran: Movies reviews are something where you're meant to express your own views about it; professional experience and how excellent your review is as a whole does not matter.

Zuo Ran: Personally, I think a good movie review is one that resonates well with people.

Zuo Ran: We've watched many movies together now, and there are always points we mutually agree with.

Zuo Ran: In actual fact, I've always got something to learn from your evaluations of the movies we watch.

MC: Lawyer Zuo…

Li Yuan: Miss Lawyer, this is the first time I'm ever hearing Zuo Ran sing this many praises about someone else.

Li Yuan's tone and expression grew increasingly suggestive...

MC: ……

Zuo Ran: Cut it out with the jokes, Li Yuan.

Li Yuan: Yes, yes; alright. You're still the same as ever, huh.

Following that, we all started talking about other movies.

I could literally feel the tension and exhaustion leave Zuo Ran as time went on. His entire being had entered a state of relaxation.

MC: (This isn't a wasted trip at all since it got Lawyer Zuo to relax!)

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Talking to both veterans of the field made me gain lots of enlightenment.

I went to polish the movie review I'd already written at night, after getting back home, before making my official submission.

With some twist of fate, my review was actually awarded the first prize; and I managed to redeem the "Collector's Edition: The World-wide Film Script Collection", just like I was hoping to.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Previous Part: (4.22: Dubbing Contest) | Next Part: (4.26: Birthday Celebration)

#Tears of Themis #Zuo Ran #左然 #Translations #Otome #Mihoyo #未定事件簿 #眷然恋影 #Days to ReLive forever #Zuo Ran 2021 Birthday #Tears of a Lawyer #Tears of an Event #weiding shijian bu #tears of themis translations

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honmakurara · 4 years ago

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Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru: extensive manga review

Tormented and explicit, sharp and sophisticated: what Mizushiro Setona's masterpiece really is.

Warning: minor spoilers ahead. "I want to read something erotic and violent": this is what Mizushiro Setona's editor asked her, echoing the request of their chief editor when assigning to the mangaka a story for the supplement of the Josei magazine Judy, meant to be read by an adult female target: "I don't expect you to write a nice story. You have other skills you can count on. You can narrate about gay people, for instance, or about sadomasochism."

Starting from the first casual incursion of Mizushiro-sensei into the world of Boys' Love, between the years 2004 and 2006 Kyūso wa Cheese no Yume o Miru (窮鼠はチーズの夢を見 - The cornered mouse dreams of cheese) was born and defined; it is one of the most beautiful and intense stories ever written about such a genre and beyond, which did even receive excellent notes from the well acclaimed Takemiya Keiko-sensei of the renowned Group 24. Starting with these premises, one can already understand how Mizushiro-sensei, who was not a master of Boys' Love back then, has nonetheless been able to offer an excellent tale that transcends the borders of genres and ranges over way beyond what it had been asked her: the story had been initially conceived as a few chapters later compiled in one tankobon, but it eventually came back on the pages of Judy with a new series of chapters. These ones have also been later published, three years later, in a sequel tankobon titled Sōjo no Koi wa Nido Haneru (俎上の鯉は二度跳ねる - The carp on the chopping block jumps twice). After the renewed interest offered to Otomo and to the cunning Imagase's story, that the live action movie announcement awakened, the new manga chapter Hummingbird Rhapsody has been added to the whole franchise, which is included in the recently revised Japanese edition of the manga.

"Imagase... I'm scared of you...!"

"And I'm... scared of you, too." There's however not only violence and eroticism in this intricate story, and such a definition would actually mean to simplify way too much what it portrays, not to mention it would not fit exactly what the author was actually able to convey into it; other than the most obvious themes and elements, many others way more implicit and elaborate ones can be found there. We can even have a hint of that by peeking at the cover illustration of the volume, where a languid surface does not betray the contradiction of the soul. We can see an elegant portrait of the two main characters, who both hide all but dignified emotions inside them; a very accurate mirror of such a picture, which graphically reminds us of the previous editions of the manga, is the mind of the thirty years old Otomo Kyoichi after his encounter with Imagase. Otomo is a married adult man, leading an apparently impeccable life: he has good looks, polite manners and a nice job. He is gentle and esteemed by his colleagues and is able to make the many women crossing his path sigh from expectation. He cannot resist women either, that is why his life is an endless sequence of cheating on his wife. He reckons they are of no importance, at least until his wife hires the private eye Imagase Wataru to investigate upon his possible infidelities. Imagase is no new man in Otomos' life, being a kohai within the tennis club at university: he proposes to Otomo to be silent with his wife, in exchange for the heated make-out session that he never dared asking before, despite his being a unprejudiced homosexual guy having a crush on Otomo since forever. After the end of Otomo's wedding, though, the intimate encounters between the two men do not stop at all; they are pushed towards a fierce depth instead, symbols of a spiral of lust and psychological turmoil from which Otomo cannot willingly go back any more. "I am no good one."

"I know this. Bad natured men like you are the worst. Do you think that everyone is looking for that perfect person? You can't fall in love with anyone but that one person?"

"Someday, you'll find true love, too. The time will come when you can't help the feelings that well up inside you and you'll be carried away."

The themes and the premises are taken from various undoubtedly not new Boys' Love clichés; Mizushiro-sensei makes skillfully use of them to plumb the human soul as she does in many other works of her, making the story evolve quickly into something way different and way wider than what the numerous and explicit sex scenes might make us think at first. It takes a doting and obsessive homosexual guy into the life of some apparently happy man like Otomo in order to make the latter understand that his marriage is merely an empty shell, built with no true nor deep feelings to live an ordinary life. The encounter with Imagase, though, forces Otomo to think back deeply about his own actions and the meaning to give to his own life, until he gets to understand that despite his true gentleness, he has never cared for other people's feelings at all.

The relationship with Imagase makes his worst side come to the surface: jealous impulses, selfishness and possessiveness, unsuspected masochistic and yet dominating preferences, obscure compulsions and a never missing inclination towards all sorts of temptations. Otomo is no role model nor someone to praise and yet, he's neither a man whose submissive personality can be easily blamed. Such a personality is a spectrum of a lid hiding a lot of things, a reflection of our own fearful and insecure behaviour, our own incapability of getting to call ourselves into question until the moments, those surprising and unexpected moments, that are to change life for real. That these two lovers embody a strong universal value is further suggested by the choice of the Japanese kanjis with which their names are written: Mizushiro-sensei identifies Otomo Kyoichi (大伴恭一) with the definition of 'partner' itself, a potential alter ego of each of us; she entrusts Imagase Wataru (今ヶ瀬渉, from the kanjis of 'quickness', 'crossing', 'involvement' and 'human relations') with the importance of getting to catch the 'carpe diem', the fleeting moment. Should we were to play with the language a little bit, we would find out that the union of the two main characters would lead us to the meaning of a 'relationship with a partner', the play of the cat with its little mouse happening here and now, the moment that we are to live in every single instant.

"You're kidding?! I cannot believe it… You can't decide?! Between a woman... or a man?!” - Natsuki -

"Maybe Imagase is right... maybe I still have to know what true love it. Next month, I’ll turn 30."

Otomo meets a long series of women, each of whom is identified by a definite face and a marked, strong personality. Each of them leaves a vivid notch into Otomo's life; and yet, no one of these figures is able to open a gash into his soul. The true Otomo is unfathomable to anyone, himself included, just like he himself can finally understand after the new encounter with Imagase breaks the quiet surface of his existence. The desirable man that Otomo is in his colleagues' eyes, through Imagase's cynical and revealing gaze he proves to be none other than a failed seducer, a man devoid of lash and decisiveness, a figure suddenly insecure even about what the true and intense physical pleasure is and how to gain it. It is Imagase who makes the miracle, intercepting his senpai's emotional black hole, and the latter finally manages to find out where the borders of his own self lay and how to humbly face his own limitations and inner being. This does not happen thanks to a man, nor thanks to a good guy, but rather because of a tempting snake who exploits Otomo's weaknesses with a cheeky and direct attitude towards him; by acting like so, Imagase takes a vengeance towards his own young self, first of all, the one who had been unable to face with sincerity the object of his adoration, back then. "No matter how sweet he might be, he is war away, like the moon."

His impetuous whims and his sensual attentions take the lid off Otomo's soul in the deep and they produce the most unexpected of effects, by reversing the parts of this play: Otomo, the one who never even thought he would were to find himself one day on the verge of turning 30 years old by asking himself about the true nature of love, becomes fond of the weird daily life established with Imagase, and he adapts himself to such cohabitation with surprising rapidity. He becomes more and more aware of a homosexual relationship in which he, however not knowing how to move, goes on with the cautiousness, the tenderness and the care he had never reserved to any other person before, in his whole life. He even gets to question himself what it is that truly determines the happiness of a couple, both in the short and medium-long term. As for Imagase, he teaches his senpai how to increase the physical pleasure in a more and more intense way, making him find out what offering someone unconditional love means. Someone who is clearly an imperfect one in all his weaknesses, but at the same time someone who is loved for the one he is, and not just because he embodies the ideal of an unattainable perfect man.

As the relationship with Otomo evolves, though, it is Imagase slowly losing the control he had on the whole situation, as he lavishes his spasmodic need for affection -also made up of a sometimes exasperating and childish attitude- on a story born out of a youthful crush later evolved in true and heartbreaking love, against every possible prevision.

"I'm just eating away your current existence. I can't make you happy."

"I'll decide whether or not I'm happy. We're both so selfish."

That is why within the play of the cunning black cat with his naive mouse, it is no obvious at all who the real prey or the predator are; quite on the contrary, the roles are repeatedly overturned, both on a psychological and on a sexual level, in a turn-up which is mostly unprecedented as for what Boys' Love works are concerned: as the pages become more daring, there's a parallel growth of the sexual purse power that each of these main characters can use towards one another. A strong and undermining power. Playing tag, letting go, keeping on running after each other once again: all of those are demonstration of a love both childish and adult-like in its elements, a overwhelming love taken to the limit of the obsession, a deep affection that while looking straight into reality, forces both men to ask themselves how much they are willing to leave back of their own selfishness in exchange for an improper relationship, and yet a fulfilling and indispensable one. That is why it is equally truly fitting, the choice of borrowing the name of animals for the titles of the chapters, and these very same animals appears as 'guest-stars' inside the story itself: from a frame hanging at a restaurant to a lighter herald of jealousies, there is no similarity more proper than fish, cats, snakes, owls and butterflies to suggest us behaviours that are to recall the most primeval and animal-like instincts of the human beings. Weaving traps and spider webs: those mean, sleazy and petty acts that people also do when they're in love. "The obstacle is you. And so am I." The frame of this symbolism closes with a gaze looking up at the cover illustration, where the portraits of animals silently stand out in the background behind the main characters. At the same time, such a gaze looks suggestively up at the moon: the Romeo and Juliet described by Shakespeare invoked the moon for an eternal oath, while the Japanese writer Natsume Soseki in his famous 'Tsuki ga kirei, desu ne?' (the moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?) metaphorically used the moon for a declaration of love. Mizushiro-sensei entrusts the white satellite with Otomo and Imagase's most unspeakable thoughts, for which the moon so becomes a silent leitmotif, as if it was a sensual tokonoma opening inside the story for all those people who can see beyond it: a sort of a story in the story, like a delicate, deep, subtle and intimate alcove. It goes beyond saying that every single dialogue of Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru manga is either enigmatic and cheeky and equally provoking and misleading: what we do reckon we understand about Otomo and Imagase, through their own words, gets later regularly denied by other facts. With thick lines and dialogues that are to tell us the very contrary of what they actually intend to convey, we cannot help but rely then on the inner voices of the many Otomos in his mind, in order to understand the nude truth: the white Otomo, the black and the grey one can maybe remind us of the concept behind the Pixar movie Inside Out, but Kyuso's one is by far forerunner of the latter. Mizushiro-sensei will make excellent use of such theme again by exploring it fully, and not without a subtle humour, in her following Nōnai Poison Berry manga; at the same time, the intricate juxtaposition of human beings and animals comes back to life in the well appreciated Shoujo manga Afterschool Nightmare, while the ultimate aim to attribute to ourselves and to love becomes the core of the romantic comedy Shitsuren Chocolatier, winner of the 36th Kodansha Manga Award - Shojo/Josei and also nominated for the Tezuka Award in 2014. Other than a fully substantial work per se, Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru can be also seen as a sort of effective experimental testing ground for the mangaka herself and her various best works.

"You think that's acceptable?!"

"Acceptable to whom?"

"To society!"

"You're overly self-conscious, as usual... society doesn't care about your sex life."

Mizushiro-sensei's style distinguishes itself for a modern and state-of-the-art graphic, an elegant and refined one, and Kyuso makes no exception: the peculiar design, so clean without any trace of deburring, gets softened as time and years passing by, as we can see by comparing the drawings made for the first chapters of the story with those from the Melancholy Butterfly onwards, and until the recent Hummingbird Rhapsody. Here the lines are so delicate and thin that they almost suggest us they could literally flake off under the piercing gaze of the reader. By leafing through the tankobon, all we can see are tidy pages, sometimes with no balloons at all, thus resulting in a huge expressive performance. The design is sharp and essential as for what details are concerned, but it is no minimalistic one; it is accurate in the depiction of bodies in every detail and characterized by a certain subtle sensuality, this latter marking not only the most rated scenes but also able to permeate the whole work instead. As used as she is in narrating with extraordinary ability about twisted and askew themes and exploring the human psyche with related sexual and gender identity issues, Mizushiro Setona offers us pages with highly aesthetic value, thrilling and bold ones, not without a sort of a certain aesthete voyeurism when depicting lovemaking scenes, however never vulgar at all. They manage to effectively evoke with a surprising visual impact, instead, the devastating passions from which both the characters and the readers end up being shaken and overwhelmed from. The violence this manga is impregnated with is mostly about its psychological insight, rather than the physical one, sex being however undoubtedly an inescapable element of the complicated events binding Otomo to Imagase: it is a key of the story but no ultimate reason of it. That is why we cannot help but follow, almost in a state of trance, how this couple is eventually able to get to intimately know each other by starting from a kiss born out of a blackmail, and thenquickly slackening every inhibition under the sheets through reversal of positions, seme/uke roles and sadomasochistic implications.

"Do you love me? Or after you got a taste of being loved so passionately are you pretending to be my lover as compensation for my feelings?"

How such a sentimental-psychological tangle can be outlined into a story constantly in balance between drama and comedy, keeping a perfect balance between each of its many faces always, without ever falling nor losing a thing, the reader can find it one page after another, surprising himself together with Otomo and Imagase in a thick and tormented love story, terribly authentic as much as its complicated and complex characters are. The pressing storyboard does now allow any rest nor break nor peace: accusations and skirmishes rebound from one man to the other in a never-ending evolution and involution of the personalities of the characters, that is until the unsettling ending; when the time of the games finishes and infantilism stops, another moment inevitably comes. The moment when the face of the adult we want to show to other people outside, goes finally and fully matching the inner essence of us as human beings. That very moment when one can take responsibility towards its own self.

"Poking holes in happiness makes you unhappy.

Nobody understands what I'm going through.

No one knows about the happiness I got to feel despite navigating into an ocean of doubts."

Otomo' sexism, while appreciating what Imagase offers him despite never intimately accepting it’s a man providing him with such a pleasure, vanishes in the very moment he gives his lover a vintage Château Pétrus bottle: it is one of the finest French wines in the whole world, thus suggesting his precious man the implicit idea of being an equally unique and irreplaceable one. Carrying on with a relationship where people can look at each other's eye and discuss, offering our whole self not in order to give back something we received but rather to go beyond our own self, it is then something quite different from seeking the pleasure of a night without any involvement: it is not the same indecisive man he was before, the one for whom appearances in society stops being an excuse, the man suddenly questioning himself how it might be wooing a man rather than a woman, or whether the relationship between two homosexual guys might even be more complete and deep than the one a heterosexual man might start with someone belonging to a ‘different’ universe from his own one.

What is love, then, if not the innate strength that allows us to see beyond our stiff self-esteem and pride, in order to overcome our limitations and arrive and reach the most intimate recesses of the one soul we naturally tend? And it is not only the Boys' Love theme per se to be central in this story, quite rather something that transcends every gender limitation to virtually embrace every kind of love, regardless of any possible colour or legitimacy. And that is because a different way of loving is no inadequate love nor a "less" love. However merely brushing LGBTQ+ themes, however never aspiring to become a gender manifesto, the Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru manga is able to outline some of these aspects with great perspicacity; there's then the excellent portrait offered to the weaknesses of the human being, slave of a need for affection as much hidden as obscure and here translated into the relentlessness of a physical and lacerating love. It does confirm to us how much the social and psychological themes are here treated with crude realism and keen sensibility. In a perfect synthesis of the Yin and Yang elements, Otomo and Imagase's greedy, mean and liar characters are flecked in a sometimes merciless way, not to mention the moment they mean to hurt other people but end up cleaving their own self instead first: it is a couple of uncomfortable characters the one we have here, someone with whom it is definitely not a pleasure to identify ourselves with, someone we wish never to meet, if any. Someone that nonetheless chooses never to give up when in front of human frailty, and that is why these characters end up being unusually authentic, charming and unforgettable ones. " I was hoping, someday, that by sharing my way of loving with you, you would have done the same to me one day." - Imagase -

"Ugh... I don't lose my temper like this with women." - Otomo -

The new revised All in One Edition reunites the two original volumes into one, which comes with a few color pages in the introduction and the brand new extra Hummingbird Rhapsody chapter. As for what the censorship is concerned, the original pages have actually been partially edited in a very few graphic details: it has been Mizushiro-sensei herself to provide them at the request of the Japanese publisher for the revised edition, which is meant to remove every explicit content starting from 28th January 2020. That happens in order to make the manga available also to a younger target, as the live action movie received a R15+ rating. Censorship involves however only the depiction of male genitals in a few specific, small and delimited portions of the pages, mainly in the first chapters of the story, and does not apply anywhere else. Female nipples and breasts, naked bodies and rated love making are left totally untouched, and so are the original dialogues, the true quintessence of this manga. Even the revised edition presents the harsh and explicit tones of the original pages and there is none of the messages conveyed by the manga that has been damaged or watered down by the re-print. "Love is divine punishment."

Carrying a perfect balance between seduction and feelings, the Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru manga is a challenging, demanding and intense reading. It is a mature story filled with issues, a complex and provoking one; it is compulsory to get near this story with the utmost attention, receiving though a crescendo of emotions that the reader will feel entangled with until the very last page. The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi would have probably defined it a "matto e disperatissimo" love, a 'mad and utterly desperate' one. Like a river in flood sweeping everything away, the need for getting to know how to slacken control of ourselves and how to gain it back: educating the passion in a relationship is complicated to the point of seeming almost unmanageable.

Love in daily life is quite a different issue from the feelings of a romance novel, an engagement that forces people to swallow bitter bites sometimes, an endless tension towards the other and towards ourselves. In this story that happens to painfully disturbs the deepest part of the heart, we do not know who is the one leading the game; both characters here overthrow the typical Boys' Love canons, an audacious, cocky and authentic couple ready to question itself always.

A story that cannot be missed for all the lovers of the Boys' Love genre, Kyuso wa cheese no yume wo miru is also quite appropriate for all those one searching for an atypical love story, a strong and nonetheless sensual one, sublimated by a masterful introspection and a very welcome hint of subtle and stinging humour. It is a work dealing with many interesting and complicated issues, though never boasting about none of its many qualities.

A story that knows no limitation and no borders. One of those volumes to keep on the shelf of our own personal bookcase with the utmost care, to take up every now and then in our hands and find new shades of meaning after every new re-reading.

Originally written and posted in Italian @ Animeclick

#the cornered mouse dreams of cheese #Il Gioco del Gatto e del Topo #review #my poor feels

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vorthosjay · 7 years ago

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GDS 3 Essay Response

In case anyone was interested, I entered the GDS. Since others seem to be posting their essays, I figured I might as well too.

If you made last night’s deadline, good luck!

1. Introduce yourself and explain why you are a good fit for this internship.

My name is Jay Annelli. I work in Emergency Management [Note, I’ve redacted more info about myself here]. As part of my job, I’m expected to deal with unexpected events at any given time and develop creative solutions to problems under severe time and financial constraints. This usually means working collaboratively in cross-cutting teams to create the best possible outcome, whether it’s a plan, a process, or the response to an event. I strongly value collaborative working environments and the pit sounds like exactly the kind of place I would thrive.

Because of my work in Emergency Management, I work well in stressful environments and roll pretty easily with sudden shifts in priorities. For instance, last year I was given five weeks to move our entire 30,000 square foot warehouse operation, a project that should have had months to plan instead had weeks. I’m used to projects being suddenly cancelled or having to re-work them from the ground up based on new directives with little time. But those same experiences have given me the skills to sell projects to senior leadership, and with government work I know how to slowly get traction for an idea while completing competing priorities.

I’ve always been a jack-of-all-trades, and thrive in positions where I have a lot of different kinds of tasks to complete. I’ve got experience in everything from legislative analysis to warehouse logistics. And I love Magic, and have turned my hobby – passion about the lore – into a paying freelance gig. The reality is I’m not going to be the best designer ever, but you don’t need great designers because you’re not working in a vacuum, you need people who can come together and make great design teams. I’m an experienced leader and manager and work well in team environments where I can complement my teammate’s skills. More so, I recognize the process through which work gets completed is often more important than the skills of the individuals performing the work. R&D has gone through some fairly major organization shake-ups lately, and it would be my hope to help continue to improve processes.

2. An evergreen mechanic is a keyword mechanic that shows up in (almost) every set. If you had to make an existing keyword mechanic evergreen, which one would you choose and why?

Storm! Because NOTHING could possibly go wrong with that idea…

In all seriousness, Dash is such a quintessentially red mechanic that I’d like to see it appear more often. There aren’t a whole lot of current mechanics that would make good evergreen mechanics, but cards like Ball Lightning and its kin were a staple of Magic for years. Red is all about short-term thinking and temporary gains, or making moves before the outcome is determined. While Impulse Draw has been a great way to try and overcome Red’s weaknesses, there’s still pretty clearly more work that can be done. Giving Red access to low cost but temporary creature spells really plays into the same flavor for red. It also gives the player a choice when combined with Red’s traditional looting. Do you cast the creature permanently at a slightly overcosted mana cost? Or do you keep it in hand and for fuel for your later game looting effects, like Cathartic Reunion?

Existing Dash cards focused on the ability to have surprise cheap attackers, with one or two covering Enter the Battlefield effects. What I think would be interesting are abilities that punish or reward the use of Dash versus hard casting. For example, if a Dash dealt damage to its owner when it returned to its owner’s hand, or included a more powerful “at the beginning of your upkeep” ability if the player manages to hard cast it. I would argue that it could be pushed into more colors than Red and Black, as long as the abilities involved were representative of the colors.

3. If you had to remove evergreen status from a keyword mechanic that is currently evergreen, which one would you remove and why?

Defender! I’m actually surprised that defender is still around after all of these years, as it’s by far the least useful keyword ability. Now, the idea itself is fine, but with ‘unblockable’ no longer a keyword, it doesn’t make sense to me that its counterpart hasn’t been similarly de-keyworded. One of the biggest problems I see with it is that the game places all sorts of conditional “this creature can’t attack” restrictions on cards, but none of them use defender. For instance, why wouldn’t River Serpent have defender, when for all intents and purposes it has conditional Defender? Magic doesn’t keyword “can’t block”, either. Defender has gotten a little bit of “Defender tribal” in some sets, but I’m not sure there are any cases where the use of ‘Defender’ is advantageous over simply saying the creature can’t attack. There are a handful of cards that care about creatures with defender, but a switch in the wording might make them even more useful, if you concentrate on creatures who can’t attack.

Besides the templating issues I mentioned, I just don’t think the keyword is needed to accomplish the intended effect most of the time. Most of the time creatures with defender seem to just be intended to be solid blockers, and the circumstance in which someone is going to be attacking with a creature that has zero power are rare enough that I’m not sure why Kinjalli’s Caller can get away without defender but a Pride Guardian needs it. In some case, creatures with defender have evasion and there might be an issue with abilities that can actually give them power, but in those cases simply giving them the ability to block the evasion (like if Wall of Air had reach instead of flying) removes most of their attacking potential, anyway. And in those few cases where an aggressively costed creature is necessary, “This creature can’t attack” doesn’t take up much more card space than “Defender”, which usually gets its own line on the template anyway.

4. You're going to teach Magic to a stranger. What's your strategy to have the best possible outcome?

If I had an optimal environment, I would stack two decks that allowed the game play out in a mostly scripted fashion, slowly introducing concepts over the course of a game, with the game playing out in favor of the person I was teaching. I would start with the pre-game basics: explain the library and graveyard, and have us both drawn seven cards, keeping our hands revealed. I would explain the most important parts of a card: the artwork and flavor text. Wait. I want them to have the best outcome… so instead I might explain casting costs and card types. The new player’s expectation is ‘What do I do?’, so I show them the land, and how tapping the lands allows you to pay for the other cards. Ideally I’d have one-drop that the new player could cast to feel some satisfaction on their first turn. This would go back and forth, with each turn explaining a new card type.

If I’m being honest, I’m stealing this from the 7th Edition tutorial, which had you play a scripted game out against the computer while learning each part of the game. The Duels of the Planeswalkers games fulfilled a similar function, and I’m the living embodiment of that Onion joke about someone explaining the rules to a game and insisting it will be fun. So if I REALLY wanted the best possible outcome, I’d get hired by Wizards of the Coast and sketch out a plan for a contemporary update of that 7th Edition Tutorial, maybe even a short web game, which I believe also existed once, so that there’s a consistent learning environment available so people don’t have to rely on potentially not-great teachers to know the game.

5. What is Magic's greatest strength and why?

Magic’s greatest strength is its versatility. It’s amazing that there are over a half-dozen ways to play and that there’s a huge Magic fandom that’s all over the map when it comes to gameplay. The framework on which the game was build is so adaptable that I was seriously playing kitchen table magic for years before I even learned there were more formats than just casual. Most of those more competitive formats just don’t appeal to me (although I recognize their value and find them interesting). Other major competitors, like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or Hearthstone, just don’t have that. Their frameworks, in some way or another, pidgeon hole them into specific playstyles. As much as Magic’s extensive rules cause me consternation, I know they’re the building block that makes everything else work. Whereas in Magic it just means an idea needs some creative problem solving to come to fruition, other games don’t have that extensive framework and thus don’t provide players with the same layers of choices.

Versatility allows choice, and choice is the key to a fun game. You want to allow enough that players can get creative. The same card can be used in entirely different ways even in the same format. It’s something that’s always fascinated me about the competitive scene. And then between formats, the card has entirely different value. I wish this answer felt like more just vomiting back things I’ve read on the Mothership for the last decade or so, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

6. What is Magic's greatest weakness and why?

Magic’s greatest weakness is its complexity. In the last answer I talked about how the rules are an extensive framework from which a lot of different games are built, but they can also be a huge barrier to entry. Complexity is a good thing, but Magic sometimes has far too much complexity for its own good. Even learning how to parse the Magic jargon is a challenge. In my career in Emergency Management, one of the major tenets of Incident Command is to avoid acronyms and jargon, because they’re hugely cultural and often feel like learning an entirely new language.

That’s not just limited to how people and players talk about the game, but how the game talks about itself. Keyword abilities are probably the most difficult. There are dozens of evergreen keywords alone, from activate to vigilance, that a new player needs to learn as a baseline before they can even start to parse deciduous mechanics, and then set-specific mechanics. Most Magic players who engage online have long forgotten what a barrier that is, which of course creates a disconnect between new and established players. And Magic players aren’t always the most patient, so when you sit a newby who still has to ask basic questions all the time, a single negative player is going to hurt their interest level.

Most of Magic’s players aren’t engaged online or at tournaments. They play at home like I used to do, and they buy packs from sets that look cool. I had no idea Kamigawa wasn’t a resounding success until I actively engaged online. To me, it was the cool plane of Samurai. When they open a pack and it has abilities with no reminder text, that’s a distraction from the game. Stopping to look something up online costs time and goodwill, which inevitable costs players.

7. What Magic mechanic most deserves a second chance (aka which had the worst first introduction compared to its potential)?

Level Up honestly has a special place in my heart, and I can’t help but feel that there’s a whole lot of space left untapped there. I think too many of the Level Up cards didn’t make each level feel important, and I think Monstrosity stole a little bit of its thunder. One of my biggest issue with it is that each level didn’t feel like a tangible benefit. I would probably change it look more like a Monstrosity variant, a place to sink larger amounts of mana to get a progressively more impressive creature. This would especially be useful as Monstrosity has some major flavor limitations. The template seemed to have been Figure of Destiny, but I don’t think any of the existing Level Up cards capture that quite in the same way as Warden of the First Tree. Warden of the First Tree could easily have a Level Up cost of {1}{w/b} and be a very similar card (although not exactly the same).

Sets like Ixalan that need some low cmc mana sinks could instead use a mechanic like Level Up. The original flavor was meant as a nod to Zendikar’s Dungeons and Dragons “Adventure World” theme, but it could easily be expanded beyond that. There seems to be design space, like with Monstrosity, to the actual ‘Leveling Up’ process. None of the current crop use one time effects upon reach certain levels, and that seems like a great way to make each level interesting for commons and uncommons with the mechanic without them all being Warden of the First Tree levels of power or complexity.

8. Of all the Magic expansions that you've played with, pick your favorite and then explain the biggest problem with it.

I would pick Return to Ravnica, although the biggest problem is the same as the original Ravnica block. With the ten guilds, the blocks tried to do too much, and failed to make all ten guild mechanics equally satisfying. There’s a lot of nostalgic love for those sets, but honestly I think the new set paradigm is going to be far better for any future Ravnica blocks. There just aren’t ten equally interesting mechanics to go around, and at least three of the guilds felt weak because of it. Return’s biggest problem is that it introduced new mechanics when it didn’t really need to, or used mechanics with limited design space to replace mechanics with equally limited space. Not every guild needs a keyword mechanic to be engaging, and in fact I would say most don’t, especially the guilds more focused on creatures, like Boros or Gruul, that could get by with some interesting effects on various cards but whose most interesting cards rarely seem to use their mechanic - or don’t need it to be a keyword mechanic.

Conservation of space is obviously going to be an issue as we start returning to planes like Ravnica a third, fourth, or even fifth time. You can’t burn through ideas at the rate that Ravnica has been if you’re going to still have something interesting for future returns. Ravnica is a lot of fun and a very satisfying place to set a product, but I think re-using other well liked mechanics rather than constantly trying to come up with new ones will by far serve design better.

9. Of all the Magic expansions that you've played with, pick your least favorite and then explain the best part about it.

Born of the Gods I would have to say is at least one of my least favorite sets, although it’s hard to say the definitive least favorite. Heroic and Inspired are two of my least favorite mechanics ever. But I really love the world of Theros and I think from a flavor standpoint, and the use of Bestow in Born of the Gods was stellar. It showed what the evolution of a mechanic in a second set should be, with cards like Eidolon of Countless Battles being particularly potent as both a creature and an aura. Most of the Bestow cards in Born of the Gods are simple designs that take advantage of the premise to create solid effects that work both as creatures and auras. The best designs don’t need to be fancy, they just need to make the most of a mechanic.

But the real reason I picked Bestow is because of Chromanticore, which to me exemplifies what makes Magic fun. Sure, there are more competitive cards out there, but for the casual player nothing captures the imagination more than a card like Chromanticore. Chromanticore is a big, splashy creature that demands you build around it. It has a soup of abilities that would make it appealing as a creature on it’s own, but the chance to cast it as an aura is incredibly tempting. Every set needs a card like Chromanticore that’s shiny for the casual crowd and may even entice a few more competitive players to build around it.

10. You have the ability to change any one thing about Magic. What do you change and why?

Mark Rosewater’s “Sorceries with Flash” instead of Instants really appeals to me, but I suppose he’s written about that so much that I would again just be regurgitating things I’ve read about the game online. So let’s expand on this in a way I’m not sure I’ve seen before, and talk about how to reorganize how things are typed. Supertypes always seem like a waste to me. Legendary Artifact Creatures or Legendary Enchantment Creatures usually mean the the sub-type (aka the good stuff, if you’re like me) can only support one type, maybe two if both are very short words. I’m not sure there’s really a good reason that can’t be represented some other way, either in a different frame (Legends are supposed to be different and special, after all) or with some other kind of symbolism on the card.

The sorceries with flash idea sounds really good on paper, but we get back into the issue of jargon, and another word new players have to learn. I would instead make Instant a subtype of Sorcery, opening up a few new avenues. You could also have ‘interrupt’ sorceries, that can only be cast in response to something. That’s an element of the game that was streamlined for good reason, but could open up some new design possibilities. I like otherwise how Enchantments are handled these days, so it’s really reworking supertypes and sorceries that I would change if I could change how types work. The legends issue has implications for tribal decks, so I think that’s what I would focus on, as it seems the most achievable.

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mylifewithalens · 7 years ago

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The First Vlog

So today I have uploaded my first ever Vlog to YouTube.

Filmed on Saturday 24th March and edited solidly since, it was very tricky indeed. It was the first time that I had filmed and edited a 4K video and boy (or girl or person) did my computer suffer. As did my brain.

I was meant to be performing a gig in Aylesbury but the venue had double booked again so I couldn't do it, and as Steve was meant to be doing the sound, we both lost out on the gig and the money, and being self employed that means, it sucked!

As we were both at a loose end we decided that we would go out and do some filming for our respective channels, but I did most of the filming so I hope I took enough footage for Steve to use in his Vlog!

We extended the invitation to two of our friends and fellow photographers, Will and Phil - no I didn't make that up - unfortunately they were both unavailable.

We decided early on during the day that we would like to attempt captures using Rear Curtain Sync.

I did a little research and some pre-filming practice during the day but the results were not fantastic, then again I was only using the native flash and not an external one so the results wouldn't have been that great anyway. I cut myself a little slack for that.

Steve came to pick me up and we sat in the car for a good 30 minutes or so whilst we planned what we would do and tried to make the decision about where we would film it all. We made our decision - we would head down to the Aston Clinton bypass on the A41 and do it there.

We arrived and began setting up. One thing that we have always found is that whenever we are filming out in the open there will always be a curious member of the public asking us what we are doing. As if they were performing us a service. Low and behold, this member did not let us down, as he hung out of his window like a long tongued dog to shout,

"What ya doooiiinnn'" in his most eloquent "Chav". I merely turned and waved as his chariot (taxi) disappeared into the distance. Last time that happened was during our light trails shoot, it was the same kind of thing but that time we were called perverts?!

Why is there never an articulated lorry coming the other way when you need one?

Anyway back to the setting up. Steve set his camera atop his tripod, and proceeded to check his memory card. In a moment eerily reminiscent of James Tipping's scene in my short film "A Christmas Deadline", Steve's face dropped as he said,

"Ah wait, no memory card!"

youtube

I thought he was joking. However he was being truthful, but he quickly realised that he had indeed packed his memory card wallet into his camera bag, before he'd left the house, which is kind of ironic when you think about it, as he had no memory of doing so! He'd also forgotten to pack the audio gear which meant that he had to rely on mobile phone sound, something that he hates. Just ask Will! To be fair he has just turned forty so maybe it's just an age thing..........

After a little faffing around, we settled in position and fired off a few test shots, and the results were not too bad. We then proceeded to set up the external flashes only to find that the Canon 70D (which we both shoot with) does not allow Rear Curtain Sync with external flashes! This was all confirmed by a quick Google and YouTube search.

I should mention that Steve is very skilled in that he is like a sponge when it comes to gaining knowledge. Like Johnny 5 in Short Circuit or John Travolta in Phenomenon, he's one of those people who can retain information very quickly. The only drawback to this super power that he poses is that he tends to verbalise it to you just as quickly too, and sometimes without warning! However in this case, just like in most cases, it paid off as he was very quickly able to surmise that we could use the on board camera flash and use the external flash as a slave and get the shot that we wanted.

I don't think the situation is completely ideal as logic would -if I had any -determine that there would have had to been a delay, albeit very very slight, but a delay nonetheless. Either way though, it didn't really matter as we got some fantastic images. It's just a shame that I was in one of them!

Don't forget to subscribe to this and my YouTube channel so that you can keep up to date with what I am up to, also check out my other social media too - those links are below.

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funkymbtifiction · 7 years ago

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Hi, Charity! I have been having an identity crisis lately. (Yet another of many in the past year of a lot of self discovery and doubt). I spent quite a while thinking I was either enfp or infp, after retyping myself several times from intp to intj to infj and then xnfp. But recently I became convinced that I am an infj and was right in my typing when I first learnt about the underlying cognitive functions (intx was pretty much just from online tests). I know this sounds very vague so far and I’m not giving any details of why or how.

Hey, Mar.

Wish your e-mail address had worked, so we could have this talk in private. :)

Since you were vague in your descriptions of Ne/Ni, I wasn't able to tell which one appears to be dominant, but here’s a few thoughts reaped from the post:

I struggle with seeing myself clearly, but I don’t know if it’s because of Fe or because I’ve had a tough family situation growing up where I was basically not allowed to have an identity separate from my caretakers. I am easily swayed by other people’s opinions and start to doubt my convictions but again, don’t know if it’s Fe or poor self-confidence (or both?).

It could be Fe if you allow other people’s emotions to cloud yours, or it could be the Ne-dom problem of being unable to see yourself clearly. Every single Ne-dom I've ever known / talked to, myself included, had a hell of a time finding their own type and still cannot see themselves very clearly, because Ne is so busy gaining 'outside perspectives' 24/7 and has such poor self-awareness (inferior Si) that it tends to believe whatever idea anyone throws at it about themselves, even if it doesn't match who they are. The idea just sticks to them and them being a Ne/Si, they cannot properly filter it out (Si: Hey, I’m not like that!).

I could especially relate, among other things, to that sense of impending doom and being stuck in the same situation I am currently in and no hope for a better future. Not being able to imagine a better future for myself and seeing only all the ways in which I am stuck and will be stuck stresses me out quite a lot, actually. Sometimes I obsess over it.

All intuitives feel that staying stagnant is a literal hell, so this could be Ni OR Ne. But Ne/Si tends to have a more generic 'I'm not sure what I want, but this ain't it and I hope this isn’t all I ever have from my life' approach and NiSe tends to think, 'it's time I stop fixating on this single vision and DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT REAL” followed by fear it may fail and then they’ll have nothing, since no other dream / career / ambition has outlasted this one.

To the point that sometimes I can only find solace in fantasizing about meeting that one person who will save me from my troubles, as unrealistic, unhealthily codependent and disempowering as it sounds.

Free amateur psych advice: other people cannot save you, because other people are just as imperfect as you are. This is common in a fearful N user, who tends to idealize and fantasize about a hero coming to rescue them, because they are so uncomfortable interacting with the sensory world on their own. The answer is that you have to save yourself, since no one else will. :)

An aspect of why I believed myself to be an enfp is that I could relate a lot to your more personal posts (especially about writing) or whenever you’d offer personal examples to illustrate type. Or in doubting my introversion because sometimes I would talk to a person and get so energized by that human connection.

What kind of energy? Emotional (Fe) energy? Or I MET SOMEONE FULL OF GREAT IDEAS AND NOW I'M WIRED (Ne) energy?

Right now I’m in the middle of rewriting a novel. It changes with each draft. People change. Motives change. Ideas change. Hell, I decided to change the murderer because another possibility will clean up the plot better so now I’m having to rewrite entire sections and leave other characters out / fill the holes they leave behind. I’m fine with it. It’s fun and somewhat easy. It energizes me. That’s high Ne. “This was fine last week but now it bores me and I have a better way to approach it, so it’s all gonna change and continue changing until I find something that works.” I sometimes joke that me being me, as a Ne, I’m not ‘done’ with something until I can read it twenty-six times in the editing process without wanting to change something at its fundamental level. I know I found the RIGHT idea, after using and discarding a bunch of alternate possibilities.

(My INFJ friend basically writes her novels in head, figures them all out in advance, then sits down and writes it out and changes very little in revision. Ni.)

I struggle to see if I do actually perceive the emotions of those around me and can easily step into someone else’s perspective and I’m observant of the unspoken agreements in a social situation, or if I’m delusional and I just like to think I’m an empath because it makes me feel better about myself.

Perceiving them (Ne) or feeling them (Fe)? When you are in a group, are you watching people so you can SPECULATE on their emotions (Fi) or are you immersed IN their emotions and sometimes lose yourself in the process (Fe)? Are you GUESSING at their feelings (Fi) based on a sense of inner self (”Are they bored? She looks bored. Can’t other people see she’s bored? I would not want to be bored, so we need to keep her from being bored. How are other people not see this?” Fi thinking can actually mean, “Because this would bore ME, I’m projecting being bored onto her when she’s not actually bored.”)

Side note: intuitives often over-estimate their own skills because their intuition / imagination is fantasizing an ideal self, instead of using their real self. And coming crashing down to earth and realizing they were wrong / are not very good at that / really are not a God is somewhat crushing to their ego.

One thing that really made me lean towards infj as a possibility is realizing that, at least for me, writing is a way of expressing and externalizing my feelings.

Why is this specifically shifting you toward INFJ? INFJs do not have a corner on writing. This is equally if not more common in the INFPs. Every Fi-dom poet of the last five hundred years can testify to externalizing their feels in writing.

MY emotions get so tied up inside myself that until I get them out on paper (Te) I cannot organize them or even figure out how to say how I feel -- and that's crucial, because Fi/Te types may resort to metaphors, ducking conversations, or intense internal monologues that may never be voiced (because it takes time to organize their thoughts before they speak on an emotional level) while Fe/Ti types can usually simply sum up their feelings vocally when asked, since that's what Fe/Ti does.

So, are you externalizing to get others' feedback on your feelings and affirmation (FeTi) or are you writing because you know no other clear way to restructure and share your abstract (hard to describe) feelings (FiTe)?

Before, I believed I had Fi because I have strong beliefs about individuality and personal integrity and I passionately hate the kind of group-think that leads to lack of personal integrity in favor of what the majority wants. But at the same time I strongly believe in equality. In fact, I believe what makes us equals is (as corny as it sounds) precisely that we’re all unique and irreplaceable and have a unique purpose for our life, that nobody else could fulfill quite like us.

You should ask yourself: do I pass immediate moral judgment upon hearing new information like a Fi-dom or do I internalize / interact with the ideas before I judge their ethics like a NeFi or do I try and fit the new information into my internal worldview and see how to use it to motivate people in a NiFe way?

Another reason for me thinking Fi is that somewhere along the line I had convinced myself that I hated people and I took on the identity of a misanthrope.

Um. Why would this connect to Fi in your mind?

I have been struggling big time with having too high expectations of myself and with my overall perfectionism, which more often paralyzes me instead of making me work harder. I am studying again after a few years, and the deadlines are just killing me. They feel like life or death. I obviously don’t know how to work with a schedule, I did 90% of the workload of two weeks in the first two days and then felt burnt out and spent the next week and a half distracting myself by researching random non academic stuff just for personal amusement, like mbti and the enneagram, and how to make pumpkin pie, and the relationship between veganism and the tv series Hannibal. Procrastination is definitely something I’m good at. It’s two days before the deadline and I’m struggling with that 10% of work that I haven’t done yet, and after spending the whole day stressing out about it and not being able to write a single sentence of my essay on cave art from the paleolithic, I am writing this instead. At least, just by writing this, I’ve already gained some clarity on what’s going on inside my head, which is always helpful.

I’m 90 pages into a book on perfectionism from a psychological perspective at the moment, but Jordan Peterson has wise words for this sort of behavior: finished is better than perfect.

I too am a perfectionist, but for me it's more spewing ideas out on the page (Ne) and then anxiously trying to formulate them into some kind of structure that has an overall point (Te) and then agonizing over the details in case I got something wrong that will cause people to throw out my good ideas in favor of the misinformation (low Si) due to Ne placing unrealistic standards on this situation due to being combined with perfectionism, which is fear based (if this isn’t flawless, people will judge it harshly and not listen to what it says).

I’m sorry I could not give your type based on what you wrote, but hopefully I explained enough about my thinking process and gave you good enough questions that you can find your type by being honest about your mental processing leading to behaviors.

- ENFP Mod

#question #enfp #infp #infj #mbti #submission

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kai-keda · 5 years ago

Link

YO!

We have a character analysis on Prussia based on Hetalia World Stars/character songs/the anime (as those are the only things I have full access to)

Full script under the "read more”

Clapping Nasty! Thot! Turbo! Virgin! Chaotic! Energy! Clapping

I was dared to say all those things first thing when starting this video. Except that last one. That last one was my own doing.

Anyways, let’s give a quick overview of how this analysis is gonna work. First, we need to discuss what may be considered the elephant in the room to people in the Hetalia fandom who know me on Discord.

Specifically the people in one particular RP server I’m in.

We need to talk about canon.

Now in the past I’ve made a point of the importance of canon when representing these characters. And I stand by everything I’ve said in the past, just not the way I said it. See, I don’t think the people I’ve talked to about it really understand what I meant and that may be my own fault.

When I tried to push the importance of keeping true to what we know about the characters, I got hit with comments like “well I like to add my own ‘glam’ to the character” or “there’s not much about my muse in canon so where does that leave me?” and so on and so forth.

What I really meant by ‘keeping true to canon’ in Hetalia is that we shouldn’t purposefully go against something we know for a fact is true. Even though it’s really easy when there’s not a lot of material for the character in question in the first place, I just can’t understand the appeal of doing something like that. To put it simply, I fell in love with the characters for who they are, not for who I believe they should be.

This issue came up again - unrelated to the first time it was brought up - on tumblr when someone made a popular post about people being told they’re wrong for representing the characters of Hetalia in certain ways outside of canon because they were from the area in question and wanted their character to be more accurate to their culture as they saw it.

Which is a really complicated, controversial and specific to Hetalia discussion, to be perfectly honest. It’s still a great discussion to be had, though!

Where do we draw the line between cultural/historical accuracy and canon characterization? How do we decide what’s more important? When do we let one side win out if we let it win out at all?

These are all great questions that should be saved to be answered another time on another video and/or tumblr post.

For now, let’s just talk about the meaning behind the title of this video and then I promise we’ll get into the character analysis.

If any of my Dragon Ball fans are here, you’ll probably recognize said title from “This is My Goku” and yes I did it on purpose. I’m sort of parodying my own video because that one was so serious and fueled by anger, spite and hatred that it turned out pretty comical in nature. And this one is one fueled by happiness, positive energy and genuine curiosity.

I’m not here to prove some sort of point, I’m here to see how in-line my personal idea of the character is with how he’s represented in the most recent version of “canon” in Hetalia. (i.e; How well does my headcanon fueled characterization fit with the Hetalia World Stars comic strips that HetaScanalations has so graciously shared with all of us?)

A LOT of what we know of Prussia cannot help but be based on personal headcanons and popular fanons alike. He’s frankly not in the series enough to do a full proper analysis of his character because we only really see him in passing in pretty insignificant strips.

So while I really wanted to call this video “Hetalia Prussia Dissection” I can’t do it. I really honestly either don’t have the skill level or really don’t have the material to do that concept justice. So today we’re going to go into what’s canon and what my own ‘glam’ added to the character really is. (See what I did there? I have nothing against combining headcanon with canon, I just don’t like letting headcanon completely and purposefully override canon but again, that’s a topic for another day.)

So with all that said and understood, let us begin our awesome journey.

Okay so here’s the dealio, Prussia is a narcissist and we’re gonna go into the psychology of that in depth and talk about what all that entails and see how much evidence we have to support that claim in canon.

According to PsychologyToday which, to my understanding, is a credible enough source for quick glances into the minds of people, while having a superiority complex does play a part in narcissism, it’s really a feeling of fear of showing vulnerability that leads it.To quote; “The narcissist fears that acknowledging any weakness will allow someone else the chance to take advantage of him or gain power over him.” And another quote: “Simply put, true narcissists have zero interest in introspection or self-improvement. Their guiding principle: Never, ever let your guard down.”

Now, none of the Hetalia World Stars comics, the Anime nor the character songs themselves actually show Prussia being afraid of being vulnerable explicitly stating, but if we look at the symptoms of narcissism and his history, we can see, in my honest opinion, where that comes into play.

The DSM 5th Editions symptoms for narcissistic personality disorder as described by Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D. on psychologytoday.com are as follows:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance.

2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.

3. Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).

4. Requires excessive admiration [regularly fishes for compliments, and is highly susceptible to flattery].

5. Has a sense of entitlement.

6. Is interpersonally exploitative.

7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.

8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.

9. Shows arrogant, haughty [rude and abusive] behaviors or attitudes.

This particular author of this particular article goes on to add a few more traits and symptoms. Those being:

1. They are highly reactive to criticism

2. They have a low self-esteem

3. Can be inordinately self-righteous and defensive

4. React to contrary viewpoints with anger or rage

5. Project onto others qualities, traits and behaviors they can’t - or won’t - accept in themselves

6. Have poor interpersonal boundaries

This article began by stating that only five of these fifteen traits need to be met in order to be considered for having narcissistic personality disorder. So let’s take a I’m-discovering-writing-this-analysis-as-I-go dive into my notes of where all Prussia's appearances are with these symptoms in mind to see if we can name at least five instances.

Right off the bat in both cases with the first listed symptom and the first appearance of Prussia in Chapter 12 where he unifies Germany, Prussia considers himself the one that is destined to lead the newly formed nation of Germany as his older brother. This is the idea of self-importance. Basically he has the idea of “If I’m not the one to do it, then no one can do it properly.” hence his fighting with Austria (and I bet winning said fight didn’t help.)

So there’s one.

But wait! There’s more in this chapter!

That same instance of him believing he needs to be Germany’s older brother goes along with the symptom of entitlement. It MUST be him simply because it MUST be him.

So we’ve got two now.

“Is highly susceptible to flattery”. When I read that I knew exactly what chapter we were going to discuss. I literally wrote in my notes for chapter 294 “Prussia is weak to flattery” because in the beginning of 294 and the whole of 293, Prussia was arguing with his king Frederick I about how much focus should be put on clothing, but the INSTANT Frederick I mentions that Prussia would probably look cool in the flashy outfits, Prussia caves and goes to spy on France to see about getting said flashy outfits for himself.

That’s three~ Two more and we’ve got ourselves a narcissist.

Being ‘arrogant’ is defined as ‘having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities’ and if that doesn’t describe Prussia in literally all of his “I am awesome!” glory, I don’t know what does. It should be self-explanatory to any fan of this series that, yes, Prussia is very arrogant.

Four down, one to go!

Number two in our list of symptoms “Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.” I BELIEVE this includes having constant daydreams about past glories as well as bringing them up all the time or when discussing said past glories, only discusses how great and awesome they were at the time.

Cough-cough - Prussia’s diary in 339 where he openly admits that said diary is mostly him saying “You are awesome” 20 times over.

And there we go. Let me know if you think of anymore instances in ANY official material that fits into these symptoms. I’d love to hear about them.

So with those five understood, it’s safe to assume Prussia is in fact a narcissist which - I know - comes as a shock to literally NOBODY but I figured it was important to actually pull up evidence for as opposed to just stating it as a passing fact and moving on like a lot of us Hetalians tend to do.

Explaining understandings of characterization is the fun part of character analysis, after all.

So let’s backtrack a little. Remember how that first article said being a narcissist comes from having a fear of vulnerability? Well, let’s go into headcanon and fanon land for two seconds as we read between the lines to find these signs of vulnerability based on the assumption that Prussia does in fact have this disorder.

Constantly in his official character songs, like “Mein Gott” or the Bad Friends Trio’s song “Overflowing Passion”, Prussia can be heard singing about how ‘it’s great to be alone!’ I take this to be a sign that Prussia understands that everyone is aware of him being lonely but he takes that understanding and turns it into a sign of ‘awesomeness’ as opposed to a weakness. He’d rather turn something most of humanity recognizes as a negative into a positive than admit to his own sadness. It’s the last thing he wants.

Let’s continue down this headcanon rabbit hole and talk about the wonderful Law 46 that was signed in 1947 after WWII and before the Berlin Wall. This is the Law signed by the Allied Control Council (France, America, Britain and the USSR) that stated that Prussia’s excessive militarism combined with excessive nationalism was too dangerous for the world as it was to blame for “repeated German pestilence” as Churchill put it.

Basically, this is the moment Prussia lost his nation and, in popular fanon, became East Germany.

There is no way on God’s green Earth that ANYONE is going to convince me that losing his nation like this - not just losing it in general but losing it to a piece of paper instead of a glorious battle that wiped his resources out - didn’t hurt and still to this day hurts Prussia on a deep emotional level. But do we ever see him talk about it?

No. And why is that? Because that would be a vulnerability.

See, I interpret Prussia as being my favorite type of character. The character that smiles and laughs and puts on a show about how great life is even though deep down they’re suffering from some serious issues whether it be trauma, negative mental health or just bad memories.

I know, I know, that’s not exactly a rare character type but I really don’t care, it’s still my favorite. It’s also not something that’s hard to see in real life. People will often hide behind a mask. We see it all the time in celebrities that people will refuse to ask for help when they are suffering because they’d rather everyone believe everything is fine for this that and/or another reason.

(Honestly though, can’t relate, because when I’m sad I let everyone know but that’s just a personal aside)

Getting off the narcissism train, let’s talk about something significantly less serious.

Prussia likes cute things and is attuned to nature. He’s constantly making references to nature like saying that it’s a great sign that even rabbits will prostrate before him in 299, saying “it’s cool like a wild little bird” in 293 and also mentioning how cute a little chirping bird is in his songs “Mein Gott” and his “Marukaitte Chikyuu.” Not to mention his image for his character profile shows him with a little bird on his head and holding a stuffed bear.

This ties in to both wanting to keep young ones’ innocence in tact as well as how in real life history, the German people had the most respect for nature at a time.

I have a friend who has taken multiple art history classes tell me that in German art there are often scenes of humans being lesser than nature that show how vast, beautiful and truly terrifying nature is.

As for Prussia wanting to help younger people keep their innocence, there is a chapter (chapter 187) where Prussia is reading Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales to a dying Holy Roman Empire (a character still portrayed as a child) and when questions arise like “Why would the witch be mad about Rapunzel’s clothes not fitting her and why would she blame the prince? There was no evidence of the prince bringing in food for her to eat.” he literally throws the book out the window.

He’s later, in the same chapter, shown to be writing the Grimm brothers asking them to PLEASE make the stories more actually child friendly if they’re going to advertise them as being stories for children.

So while in headcanon I imagine Prussia as not-shy-at-all about such things around other adults, it’s another story around children and those he perceives to be innocent. He canonically wants to preserve that cute nature of theirs and will do what he can to do such.

Random fun fact about the Hetalia character of Prussia; he gets really whiny when he’s hungover in chapter 32. He begs Germany to make him food and do other things for him even while Germany himself is also hungover. Also he says “I can’t eat things with faces on them” which woooo boy I’d hate to see what our cute-little-bird loving fool would think of Peeps.

Anyways, I think that’s about all I’ve got and surprisingly, we actually did have a lot to talk about with Prussia using mainly the comics and only partially headcanon. And it’s not even including the original run of the webcomic and manga since I don’t have easy access to those. And we didn’t really discuss the anime too much (mainly because it was just more of what we were able to see in the World Stars serialization).

Please feel free to continue the discussion in the comments. I’d love to hear/read more about one of my three favorite characters and how he’s perceived by others.

#aph prussia #hetalia #hetalia world stars #hws prussia #character analysis #kairi yajuu analysis

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wychfate-blog · 7 years ago

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Recruiting for an Online Legends of the Five Rings Game

Game days Sundays 10am Pacific/ 1pm Eastern (run times about 4-5 hours)

Game Start Date 3/4/18

Rokugan is a place of mystery and wonder, inspired by the lore of legends from Feudal Japan and other lands of the far East. A magical world controlled by the Samurai caste, This a land of magic where dragons, kami, and oni exists. This land has danger that lurks in the dark, ninja are a feared myth, and region of the world seeps with an evil essence. This is the Legend of the Five Rings. Players take the roles of protagonists destined to leave their marks in the land. I am looking for mature players willing to emerse themselves in a setting where western philosophy and ideologies are foreign. This is a game that the wrong words or action could cost a person the lives of their spouse, children and selves. Here honor is one of the most important aspects of life, and a person has to concern themselves with not only their personal honor but more importantly the honor of their family. Unlike many role-playing games combat and politics are very lethal. Do you have the ability to actually "role-play" in a world who places import on ideals that are not the norms of your real lives? This weekly game requires players who can commit to regular on time play. They must be respectful of everyone who participates at all time both in game and outside of the game. Bullying and discrimination will not be tolerated. If you love to role play, are mature, can dedicate your time and energy to create an epic campaign and have an interest in Eastern Feudal mythology, they may be a great fit for you.

The game I am going to be running is called Legends of The Five Rings 4th edition. This is a mystical fantasy game set in a world that draws greatly from the Feudal Japan era, as well as several other Far Eastern civilizations around the same period. The game includes magic, non-human creatures, the spirit realm, etc. In this game the players character creation will differ greatly from the Rifts campaign. The first step is for the players to choose a party Great Clan. Players will have to make characters from said Clan, although 1 player will be allowed to create a “ronin” character who is being paid by the Great Clan (although be warned; playing a ronin in this world will be much more difficult than those who are vassals of the Clan). The group must have one character play a Shugenja samurai and one character be a Courtier samurai of the Great Clan; the both will require another player to create a character who will be their yojimbo (bodyguard) that is a total of 2 who will be bushi characters. The other players will have more diversity although only one other player may create either a shugenja or courtier (if they desire to do). The class professions will be limited by the Great Clan that has been chosen as well as limit any possible Minor Clan allied to the Great Clan. Great Clans also have major families which each player will be limited in choosing for their characters.

To determine the Great Clan for Campaign B (if that campaign type is picked) we will have a closed vote of rating most to least favorite of the choices. The Clans to rate and choose from: • Crane • Dragon • Lion • Phoenix The list provide via email should list the clan you think you would like to play the most first, then the second, third and finally the last choice. Each will be given points based on where the clan was placed on your list. 1. 20 pts 2. 10 pts 3. 5 pts 4. 0 pts The first step in creating your character begins with the player answering a requisite 40 questions about the character they will be playing and choosing the characters astrological sign (Chinese). It is best that players read the setting and the rules before beginning to work on a character concept. Player will email the gm at [email protected] I will correspond via email to players. Players will fill out a fillable PDF character sheet and send to the gm, after their character concept has been approved. The character creation system is pointed based. Starting Attributes called Rings (and Traits) begin at 2 (this is average, each statistic has a normal range of 1-5; 1 is poor/ noticeably below average) and 3 is noticeably above average, a 4 is what gifted individuals would have while a 5 is the human maximum possessed by a relatively small amount of people) but the players choice of family and profession will adjust their Traits and possible a Ring. The profession will provide each player with stating skills, Honor Rating, and equipment (called an outfit). Players will have an opportunity to take some advantages/ disadvantages (which provides extra points; limited) and points to modify their character. All choices will be subject to GM approval. Other Campaign types will have different restrictions see below. This game like all games is not for everyone, and the role-playing will require each player to more than likely step out of their rpg comfort zone, at least if they have never played a game that puts so much emphases on Honor, Bushido, and the Celestial Order (more of the clan and families than the character). The combat is severely dangerous where one fight could mean the end of your character no matter what their experience. Failure may also prove to be fatal depending on the situation, the clan, the lord, etc. Won’t to try something new? Let me know and you will be able to begin to learn more about this world and prepare for the clan and character each of you will make. The Great Clans: • The Crab Clan have steadfastly defended the Emerald Empire (Rokugan) from the evil hordes of Shadowland. Unfortunately, this duty has left them little time for courtly activities, thus making them the most blunt and uncouth of the Great Clans. While their courage and honor are never questioned, the other Clans often point to the fact that the evil aura of the Shadowlands lingers on everything it touches, and they wonder how many Crab samurai have gained what the Phoenix Call “the Shadowlands Taint.” • When it came time for Hantei I (the first Emperor of Rokugan) to wed, all the Clans offered up their most beautiful daughters for consideration. It was the daughter of Doji, form the Crane Clan, that he chose. Ever since that day, every Emperor has chosen a bride from the Crane Clan. That is how the dynasty of Doji has maintained its hold on the Imperial Court: every Emperor has a Crane he calls “Mother.” Also, every Emperor has attended a Crane fencing school. The Kakita School is the most prestigious in the Empire, its students legendary for their prowess and courage. Ultimately, however, the Crane are seen by the other Clans as poser and sycophants for their relationship with the Emperor. • Since the earliest days of the Hantei dynasty, Togashi and his Clan have remained secreted away in the high mountains of Rokugan. Practicing their strange meditations in privacy, the Dragon Clan are the most misunderstood samurai in the Empire. Their spellcasters are fluent in the ways of war, and their samurai are familiar with the ways of sorcery. The strangest of their Clan- the ise zumi- shave all hair from their bodies and cover their skin with detailed tattoos. Always enigmatic, the Dragon Clan are sometimes seen as aloof and bizarre by the other Clans. • If the Crane are the “left hand” of the Emperor, then the Lion are his right hand. The Lion Clan has always maintained a reverence for the Emperor, a devotion unparalleled anywhere in Rokugan. The samurai of the Lion Clan are some of the most brilliant tacticians the Empire has ever known, commanding small armies against large ones with legendary success. However, some would say that Lion Clan clings too tightly to tradition, and their unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor has caused much strife between them and the other Clans – especially their chief rival, the Crane. • The word “shugenja” has many meaning in Rokugan: holy man, prophet, sorcerer, priest. The most powerful shugenja in the Empire, without any doubt, belong to the Phoenix Clan. The scribe who stood by the Emperor and wrote down his conversation with Shinsei was Phoenix, and he brought back all the details and verbal nuances of that conversation to his Clan. No other Clan has a more fundamental understanding of the Old Religion of Rokugan and the “new way” of Shinsei. It was the Phoenix who melded the two into the current belief taught across the Empire. However, in their study of the sublime, the Phoenix samurai have suffered. Days spent in contemplative meditation and reading ancient texts are days unspent learning the finer aspects of swordplay and battle. • If there are secrets to be known, a Scorpion somewhere knows them. They are masters of double-dealing and subterfuge. Many say that the Scorpion Clan is only a front for a family of ninja, but no evidence has ever been procured to prove that claim. Over the thousand years of Hantei’s reign, the Scorpion have proven to be valuable allies to every Clan. Theirs is a Clan of spies and information peddlers. Once you strike a deal with a Scorpion, however, you can never clear yourself of the debt. • Just after Hantei took the Throne, he turned to his sister Shinjo and asked her to ride into the outlands of the Empire to seek allies and look for possible dangers. Shinjo left with a small band of followers and was not heard from again for eight hundred years. Two hundred years ago, the Clan of the Unicorn returned with wealth undreamed of, fabulous treasures of foreign make, and their most valuable prize: the war-horses of the west. The Unicorn Clan also brought with it many strange customs and beliefs, making them strangers to the people of Rokugan. Their ignorance of the delicate etiquette of Rokugan has made them appear to be “barbaric” and “uncivilized” at times, but their mighty horses and valiant samurai (all trained in what the Lion call “barbarian tricks”) have made them valuable allies to any who would take them.

Players will vote on five different campaign types: I will describe each version briefly (along with brief introductory info about the campaign if chosen) and players should email along with the Clan votes. Like voting on the Clan players should list the campaign types from most favorite to least favorite. The highest over all points will determine the type of campaign the party will play. The rank and points for your choices are as follows: • First Choice 40 points • Second Choice 20 points • Third Choice 10 points • Final Choice 0 points Emerald Magistrates (Campaign A): Serving the Emperor and the Emerald Champion it the protection of the Empire. Magistrate adventures cover a wide gamut of material. Emerald Magistrates are responsible for dealing with many types of crimes, as well as for collecting Imperial taxes, and are well suited for adventures built around mystery, investigation, and intrigue. However, they also deal with bandits, lawlessness, blasphemy, and Shadowlands incursions, allowing for a variety of action-oriented adventures. This game will allow the players to create characters from any Great Clan, the players do not have to be from the same Great Clan as Emerald Magistrates are recruited from the Great Clans of the Empire to serve the needs of the Emperor. Players can make characters that are not a part of the Great Clans, but their position will be less than the Greater Clan members and it will be more difficult for them to increase their Status throughout the campaign. Players can expect to begin the game working as yuriki (assistants) to a magistrate. Actions in the campaign will determine if they will advance in status in the future. The game setting will usually be in a neutral province. Clan Magistrates (Campaign B): As above in most ways except the players will be limited to one specific Great Clan, which will also limit the parities choice to creating characters from that Specific Great Clan (although one character may be from an allied Minor Clan and another character can be an appropriate Ronin). Most of the group should be characters from the Great Clan, the non-Great Clan member choice will be rare and limited. Players can expect to begin the game working as yuriki to a Clan Magistrate (Not an Emerald Magistrate). Clan Magistrates have a Clan Lord whom they are in service too, while the player will begin in service to a magistrate. The game setting will be within the borders of their clan.

Shadowlands Campaign (Campaign C): A Shadowlands campaign is an exercise in action and horror, throwing the PCs into the struggle against the forces of Jigoku. Most players will be restricted to creating characters from the Crab Clan although up to two players can create characters who have been assigned to the Crab Land to make penance for mistakes or Ronin. This type of campaign throws the characters into a relentless struggle against the most foul and terrifying enemies of the Empire. The campaign may address themes of horror, mystery and romance. Game setting will be within the Crab Clan province and may include incursions beyond the Great Wall (Kaiu Wall) of the Empire into the Shadowlands themselves.

Ronin Campaign: In this campaign the entire party consist of Ronin characters. These characters begin the game without a master and must settle for getting any work their can as “swords for hire.” Ronin are not looked at as a respectable profession especially in the eyes of the Samurai Caste. Setting somewhere in Rokugan. The players have banded together for mutual support (or other reasons) and to hopefully make it easier to get hired for missions that a lone ronin would not be able to accomplish on their own. Expect to fill used and at the whim of your employers as you try to make a name for yourselves or find a new liege lord to serve to become a true samurai one again. This campaign can have a variety of themes including all those listed above in the other campaign. The largest limit is the fact that all characters must be Ronin (although there are several different types of Ronin backgrounds the players can choose from). Characters will have a lot more freedom of choice in this campaign as “Wave Men.” Yet, these characters have no clan protecting and providing for them. The disadvantages of being a ronin are very severe yet the advantage of freedom is an aspect other samurai never truly experience.

The 1st Scheduled game will be dedicated for character creation only all players who have been invited to the game must make this scheduled game or their player slot will be opened for another character to participate. In order to get an invite to the game interested players will need to read the threads below and correspond with the GM. Thank you for reading, Cassie

#l5r #roll20 #online #tabletop #rpg

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worbiestuff · 5 years ago

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Wohoo! hi guys its been a long while! hope y’all are safe and protecting yourselves against COVID-19. let’s sanitize more and wash our hands frequently to avoid contracting the disease but above all lets STAY AT HOME. Anyways, since schools have been closed down because of the pandemic, my school moved to we having online classes to prevent us being idle while the whole word takes a major turn. The questions are below. I took my time to research and watch series of videos to help me come at my answers and conclusions. I hope they are useful to you too.

1. Write in your own words a brief history of photography and the major proponents of the practice.

2. Will you regard photography as an art or science?

3. How is photography relevant to human history?

· Photography was born from the camera obscura invented in the 1830’s but in some 200 years ago the camera developed from a box that took blurry pictures until around 11th century when obscura was invented by Iraqi scientists. Photography captured a slice of life, it told something about the person or whatever that was captured. Examples are the picture of Monna Lisa, the night watch and so on. At first, photography was either used an aid in the work of a painter or followed the same principles painted followed. According to Ken Whitmire, photography was inherited from painters a 100 or 200 years ago.

· The camera obscura manuscripts and principles on how it works was invented in 1021 by Ibn al-Haythan, known as Alhazen. The camera obscura is a dark closed box with a hole at one side of it. It is stated that around 1553, that Giovanni Battista Della Porta was the first to use the camera obscura or wrote an essay on how to use it.

· Shortly before 1800 (exact date not known), Thomas Wedgewood, one of the first people who tried to use the concept and make it permanent. He used silver nitrate on paper and white leather but achieved better results with white leather.

Thomas was the son of the famous Josiah Wedgewood, the potter, and he wasn’t all that successful into making the image into light. He would get the image but it would get destroyed because it was not fixed like how it is done in the darkroom.

· The first permanent and oldest surviving photograph, was taken by a French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce, it records a view from the “Window at Le Gras”. The exposure lasted for eight hours. Niepce came up with the idea of using petroleum derivative called “Bitumen of Judea” to record his camera’s projection. In the next few years he partnered with Louis Daguerre and they started working together till Niepce died. The first ever picture to have a human in it was Boulevard du Temple by Louis Daguerre, taken in 1838. The first known picture with a 10 minute exposure of a man having his shoes polished.

· Finally, after decades of improvements, cameras began to earnest with Eastman’s Kodak’s cameras. In 1888 he sold his first commercial camera. It took only black and white shots.

· In 1939, Sir John Herschel came up with a way of making the first glass negative. The same year he coined the term photography, derived from the Greek word “fos” meaning light and ‘grafo” meaning write.

· Colour photography was explored throughout the 19th century but wasn’t really viable till the middle of the 20th century. Several methods were patented by Louis Ducos du Hauron and Charles Cros. The first colour photo, an image of a tartan ribbon was taken by James Clerk Maxwell, a famous Scottish physicist.

· In 1939, WWII helped shape photography. The Wehrmacht recruited photographers for its propaganda campaigns. As a propaganda tool, the camera became a weapon in the hands of soldiers.

· In 1948 Polaroid introduced an instant image development invented by Edwin H. Land. It is a type of camera which uses self-developing film to create a chemically developed print shortly after taking the picture.

· In 1991, first professional camera was announced by Kodak professional DCS.

· In 2000 the first camera phone was invented by Sharp Corporation.

The technicality of producing an image is science but the composition and generating a beautiful image is art. Even though the science of photography is the following of series of steps when editing and making adjustments and the organized body of knowledge and principles, I think photography is an art because art is an expression of feelings brought into words, pictures (photography) or acting. Or art is something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings. This definition shows that photography possesses everything to be an ideal medium for creative expression, thus, art.

Photography is an art because it is a continuation of the art of drawing or painting. Photography is just like painting in the sense that although it does take accurate pictures of reality it allows for some modification. Photography captures a slice or a moment of life in every photograph that is taken and all of this symbolizes art. How certain people did certain things and other iconic photographs. Pictures of people like Monna Lisa, the snake river etc. all show art.

As any visual art form, photography allows for an expression of emotions. It exploits vulnerabilities of the human visual perception and can make us experience emotions that move us and compel us to do things we otherwise would not even think of. It is Jessica Lange’s series of photos showing inhumane conditions on American factories that made the lawmakers enact Child Labor Law, it is Carleton Watkin’s landscapes that were the reason for Abraham Lincoln signing the first federal government act to preserve a part of nature for the common good now known as Yosemite National Park.

Photography requires perfection through practical knowledge, creativity and personal skills. Practical knowledge is knowledge that is acquired by day-to-day-hands-on experiences. Practical knowledge is gained by doing things. If you want to be a good manager for example, one needs several years of experience, same applies to photography. One needs to practice to become a pro at photography. Speaking of creativity, it is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something, thus, what a photographer plans on bringing out with his photo, that is the message he or she wants to convey to whoever his audience is, the theme, the story, the poses etc. The science part of photography or the body of knowledge and principles and series of steps don’t guarantee one creative. Theoretical knowledge, which is gained for example by reading manuals is not sufficient since every art requires practical knowledge.

Photography is an art because of the fact that it does take an artist’s eye to find a great subject for digital photography. The photographer conveys messages (photos) through aesthetics; a set of principles concerned with nature and appreciation of beauty. It deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste. Questions like;

· How long did it take me to plan this photo shoot?

· How does this photograph make me feel?

· What’s the lighting like in this particular photograph? Is it artificial or natural? Controlled or spontaneous? A photographer answers these questions by means of art and not by a series of steps or the acquisition of knowledge by reading a manual or experimentation and observation. Managing the job requires certain skills which are personal possessions.

The above listed and elaborated points are the reasons why I strongly think photography is an art.

Photography is relevant to human history in a sense that it is part of our legacy. Photography freezes moments of our lives which pass unremarkably and which seem to have little importance to us at that time. The significance however, may be for others who search for the person we once were or the places we once knew. They can be small pieces of jigsaw that completes the larger picture of our lives.

Furthermore, photography is relevant to human history because it aids in communication. People all over the world can’t read and write and the few that can comprehend more than 250 words per minute. As a result, photography has taken a leading role in communication and is very inevitable.

Photographs play a vital role in human history by connecting us to our past. They remind us of people we’ve known and still do, the places we’ve been to, the feelings we’ve felt; love, pain, hatred, fear etc. and they tell our stories too.

Photographs can be a vital memory clue. They help us know who we are; the type of fashion or fashion sense during the old days, the kind of vehicles or other technology depicted. They also tell where we’re from, where we’re headed, the people we came from, our ancestors etc.

Another relevance of photography to human history is information. Some photographs contain very vital information about very important things and places or people. Photographs disseminate information about humanity and the society. The vital information was mostly recorded at the back or the reverse side of those old or ancient photographs and they mostly contained symbols, marker’s marks etc. an example is the carte de visite photograph from 1883. The scan of the back reveals information about the image.

Photography is relevant to human history because it keeps history alive. Most of us weren’t alive or born when certain photographs were taken but through these same photographs we’ve been able to learn about the history of particular people that were captured, particular iconic photos, why they were captured and a whole lot. For example, I wasn’t around the first permanent photograph ever (Boulevard du Temple by Louis Daguerre, taken in 1838) was taken but thanks to photography keeping history alive, I’ve been able to learn about it and see the actual picture and the photographer who captured it even though I wasn’t around to witness it. Photographs make us see and believe history.

Photography helps us understand human history and culture and this is also another reason why photography is relevant to human history. It is much more than a simple record or a snapshot. It speaks to the best and most generous part of our human nature.

Everything we do and everywhere we go is recorded because they matter. Some moments and experiences cannot be forgotten and so we keep them through photographs.

Basic Photography

DOREEN WORBIE.

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codeexerciseblog · 6 years ago

Text

Optimize HTML and URL Links

Hopefully if you ever get caught up in the whirlwind of a blog storm, and receive 10s, maybe even hundreds of links to one of your articles, that the topic of both the page being linked to, and the pages being linked from are related to your online business, and the topic of your blog.

It is quite likely that you have been developing other articles on similar topics for months, receiving very little online attention, and even more worrying, if you create follow-on articles providing important updates, they are less likely to be seen.The majority of traffic will by default enter your site (the landing page) on the page that received the most links, and this traffic might continue for days, weeks, months and even years.

Ways to highlight other important information:-

Create A New Post To Inform Your Subscribers

This has a tendency of alienating at least some of your readers, especially those who were not totally convinced by your “blog storm” article. It is quite possible that further articles will be looked on as “milking it”, trying to take advantage of a situation. Whilst this might be partially true, the process of providing updated information when/if you are the centre of attention is vital. This is how CNN catapulted into the mainstream, being on the scene of major news stories and providing “up to the minute” news updates.

Useful for the few people who go to the trouble of clicking them though if they are generated automatically, they can be a little hard to control. The problem is that very few people tend to use them, and they generally appear after someone has read the “blog storm” article. Initial reaction will be to the first article they read, and not to any updates, unless you can force them to read updates.

Update The Article With Links To Newer Information

This is quite a time intensive operation because over the period of a few days you might have to make multiple updates to multiple articles, and when the blogstorm has died down, you might need to optimize the links even further.

If all you do is create updates to a single post, whilst new visitors receive a relatively clear picture, your subscribers might only read the original article.

It is much easier in the flow of content creation to refer back to previous articles than to update previous articles with links to newer information.

If updates are drawn out over weeks or months, it can get very messy

The Simple Solution

One simple solution is to think of any news item as a series of posts, and to use a plugin designed to help you create a series of articles around a particular theme. The In Series Plugin. The plugin is quite well documented, and will allow you to modify the order in which posts in a series are presented, and you can style the content such that it stands out.

The Advanced Solution

The ideal situation in many cases is to create a specific landing page for a series of articles, that can then be optimized for specific terms, and used to channel both humans and search engines towards the most important articles you want them to see.

This is actually fairly easy to achieve in a number of ways, and most of the skills are similar to the various ways you can perform siloing I described in my WordPress SEO Masterclass.

Here are the basic tasks that need to be undertaken:-

How To Create An Optimized Landing Page

There are a number of ways to create an optimized landing page. The ideal method will really depend on your existing site structure and the ways you currently highlight content. An additional concern is certainly your technical ability. It is much easier to create a round-up post or a page with related links than to create landing pages using more automated methods and get the page looking right.

Using a dedicated category with optimized template such as category-6.php in WordPress

Creating a dedicated page with manually selected links

Using a siloing plugin which presents posts from a particular category on a single page

Writing an update post with links to each of the previous articles

Planning Content

Work out which articles to link to from a landing page, keyword strategy, and linking structure both to the existing content on the topic, and to other pages you want to get a lot of link juice and attention.

Planning Redirects

Not all of this can be automated unfortunately. If you have made specific references to any of the articles that you are about to create redirects for, you need to make a note of them, because these might need to be adjusted so that they contain updated URLs. It is hard to do this with incoming links from external sources, and not always desired, but I think that internally where you might often have referenced 4 different articles from within an update page, it is best that those links remain pointing to the specific articles referenced, thus will need to be hand edited.

Create a table of original URLs, and the updated URL which will soon house that article.

Create Updated .Htaccess

Create… don’t upload yet. Here is an example .htaccess entry

RewriteEngine On

redirect 301 /2015/03/your-newer-page.html http://bit.ly/2Uq8gdc

</IfModule>

In that particular example I was quite lazy and brought a review quickly to my front page by changing the publish date, but I also added a redirect because Google had indexed the old URL. I would suggest that these changes should be made right at the end of your .htaccess file. It is possible to manage 301 redirects with plugins, and WordPress 2.3+ is also meant to handle some things automatically, but I haven’t experimented with that yet and I don’t like being locked into using particular plugins for my site to function.

Create Landing Page

Depending on the method you will be using this may or may not include updated URLs automatically. If you are crafting the links by hand, you may need to refer to your previously prepared table of changes. Until the redirects take place, the new landing page will get very little attention from Search Engines or visitors, and whilst it is not ideal to have currently broken links on a page, it is probably better to have a few links that are broken than have lots of visitors get redirected to a page that doesn’t exist.

Upload .Htaccess Or Modify Existing URLs

This stage speed is of the essence, as it is a bit like a chicken and the egg scenario. If you are working with a large site you might need to work out some way to automate this process. If you upload the .htaccess first, then visitors will arrive at your landing page, and either click on links that return a 404 page not found error, or in the case of using categories or silo plugins, they will click on links that redirect to where they currently are on the landing page.

However this is probably better than changing URLs before the .htaccess is in place.

Once you have uploaded the .htaccess, it is time to modify existing URLs to those you have planned to use. I would suggest that “time is of the essence” at this stage, it is not something you can undertake at the end of a working day, though “more haste, less speed” should also be taken into consideration. Even with extensive planning, it is fairly easy to mess something up in your linking structure and 301 redirects. This isn’t an article for SEO beginners, I leave those for the “experts” to write.

Your mileage may vary – I have written this article mainly as part of my own planning stage to make similar changes on this blog. I have a number of topics that could benefit from using this method, including WordPress SEO, PageRank, Dofollow, Technorati, and even my “about page” which could take advantage of many of the blogging memes. How much benefit you might gain from this may be marginal from an SEO point of view, or could make a substantial difference.

Fortunately the primary reason for doing this in many cases is to improve the browsing experience for users, so that they arrive at a landing page that provides them with a current overview of a topic, with possibly additional background articles that you feel are important.

There is a lot more to linking structure on a website or blog than just sticking nofollow on a few links to pages of less importance, or installing a wonder “do everything” SEO plugin.

Power Tip

once you get comfortable with this, you can actually plan your content with this strategy in mind, choosing your page titles and URLs carefully to maximise the benefit of redirects in the future.

from Code Exercise http://bit.ly/2DNq3FR

#Code Exercise

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superbard-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Brother Crow, Article 1

Okay, so I’ve been working on a world for a little bit longer than a year now. I’ve given it the name “Corza”, but honestly I forget that I’ve named it half the time because it was nameless for basically 9 of its 12 months of life. See what a good parent I am? Anyway, the part of the world I’ve given the most thought to is the religious aspect. There was a whole process to determine how religion worked in this world (I attempted a monotheistic approach early on because I’d never seen it before and it sounded cool. Fool.), but I eventually settled on deities heavily determined by their alignments. There are 5 deities, one for each alignment component; there’s a LN god, a NG god, a NE god, a CN god, and a N god. Because they’re the ultimate representations of their alignments, however, they’re all “stupid” varieties of their alignment. For instance, Brother Crow, the CN god, is Chaotic Stupid. I thought it would be fun, and it kind of is.

Speaking of Brother Crow, I’ve made a bit of a write up for him. More’s coming soon, but I’ll just throw down what I already have done here. Feel free to leave any critics of it. It probably won’t get changed, but I like seeing what people think. Feel free to steal it, too. Highest flattery, am I right? Also, the stat parts are written for 1st edition Pathfinder. The rest can be taken for anything.

BROTHER CROW

Old Dark Wing

God of art, chance, chaos, freedom, the moon, theft, and trickery

Alignment Chaotic Neutral

Domains Chaos, Darkness, Liberation, Luck, Travel, Trickery

Subdomains

Centers of Worship

Favored Weapon Short sword

Symbol A crow perched on a branch in front of the moon

Sacred Animal Crow

Sacred Colors Black, Silver

Obedience On the night of a full moon, steal something to adorn your home. The value of the good isn’t important, only the act of theft. On nights without a full moon, tell a short story to a small group that promotes trickery and living life to the fullest. Gain a +2 sacred or profane bonus on stealth checks. The type of bonus depends on your alignment- if you’re neither good nor evil, you must choose either sacred or profane the first time you preform your obedience, and this choice can’t be changed.

EVANGELIST BOONS

1: Nightbringer (Sp) obscuring mist 3/day, darkness 2/day, or deeper darkness 1/day

2: Peerless Thief (Ex) You gain the skill talent ability in Pathfinder Unchained for both the sleight of hand and stealth skills. If you already possess these abilities, you instead gain a +3 bonus to said skills.

3: Shadow Strike (Ex) You ignore the restrictions on sneak attacking in dim or dark light conditions; this does not apply to other sources of precision damage. In addition, when you sneak attack a target in dim or dark light you deal an additional amount of damage equal to +1 per number of sneak attack die you possess. If you don’t possess the sneak attack ability, you instead gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls in dim or dark light

EXALTED BOONS

1: Enthralling Storyteller (Sp) hypnotism 3/day, daze monster 2/day, or suggestion 1/day

2: Crowbound (Su) For a number of minutes per day equal to your hit dice, you gain some of the traits of crows. Your arms sprout feathers, granting you a fly speed of 30 feet (average maneuverability). You also gain a +2 sacred or profane bonus to Appraise checks and your Intelligence score while in crow form. This Intelligence boost is treated as temporary and does not grant bonus spells to Intelligence-based casters like wizards or witches, though it does increase the save DCs for their spells. The minutes spent in crowform need not be consecutive, but they do need to be spent in minute long increments. This ability can be activated as a move action.

3: Luck of the Crow God (Su) You gain a small amount of Brother Crow’s godly luck. 3 times per day, you may treat any natural 1s you roll as natural 20s.

SENTIAL BOONS

1: Unbound (Sp) grease 3/day, knock 2/day, or remove curse 1/day

2: Artful Strikes (Ex) Your sword work has become a thing of beauty. Whenever you make a full attack with a short sword, choose one target within 30 feet who you did not attack this round; they must make a Will saving throw (with a DC of 10 + your Charisma modifier + ½ your hit dice) or be staggered for 1 round by your perfect movements.

3: Chaos Moonblade (Ex) Brother Crow grants his favored followers some of the chaotic, frigid powers of the ever-changing moon when the need is dire. As a free action, you can cause your weapon to appear as a shaft of hard moonlight for a number of rounds per day equal to 1+1 for every 4 hit dice you possess. When you do so, a single weapon you hold gains the archanic and freezing weapon special abilities (you can use this ability on a ranged weapon but can’t apply it directly to a piece of ammunition). If you drop or give the weapon away, the effect ends. The rounds of use do not need to be consecutive.

It is said that when Father Turtle had split the light from the dark two entities sprang forth. One was made of solid light while the other was composed of shifting shadow. The two fought for eternity before the dark one fled to the newly created moon. The godling of shadow became known as Brother Crow and took into himself everything the night represents: luck, change, inspiration, and deception. Since his inception, Brother Crow has used these traits to hinder his twin and eternal foe, Brother Lion.

While not evil, Brother Crow places little stock in the laws or conventions of society. As a result, artists, thieves, and revolutionaries are some of his most ardent worshipers. Those seeking luck or inspiration also flock to his side, hoping that their fortunes change as rapidly as the moon. Transmuters, gamblers, and inventers tend to favor this aspect of Old Black Wing over his more disruptive views. This is not to say that Brother Crow distances himself from the more morally sensitive parts of his church. At his heart, he’s a god of chaos, the night, and trickery. As long as his church follows these ideals, he cares little for what they do. Of all the gods, he’s the least directly involved with its affairs.

Although neither deity would admit it, both Brother Lion and Brother Crow are responsible for the advent of civilization. Whereas the Lion provides the more visible focus of cities, towns, and laws, Brother Crow inspired things such as architecture and the principles of freedom. He also elevated the Cukar into the first forest gnomes, and while they’re still devotees of chaos, their tower gnome kin are bound to the rule of law. As a result, he has mixed feelings about civilization as a whole. On one hand, Brother Crow wishes to tear it all down to spite his brother. On another, he finds it to be an excellent place to practice certain aspects of his portfolio, such as theft and art. At the end of the day, he finds bringing his full force to bear against these works of law to be too much effort.

A consummate shape changer, even Brother Crow can’t remember what his initial shape once was. As such, he might appear as anything, though his favored form is of a large black crow with eyes that gently glow white. This is unusually how he appears when he wants to send a message quickly, as it is almost instantly recognizable. When he appears as a humanoid, he’s usually identifiable by his slight frame and pale complexion. Of course, Brother Crow is not restricted to these shapes and could easily appear however he pleases. Artist depictions tend to show him in his crow form or as a pale man surrounded by shadows. The moon is a common motif in such pieces, as are musical instruments, broken chains, and bags of treasure. Most paintings show Old Black Wing in the art of stealing or tricking people.

Brother Crow’s holy symbol is a crow perched on a twig in front of a full moon. Anything bearing a moon on it can bear his power, however, though the more artistically talented amongst his followers take great pride in possessing aesthetically pleasing holy symbols. Brother Crow goes by many names, including Old Black Wing, the Trickster, the Crow God, the Crow King, and CukarKun (meaning “Gnome Father” in gnomish). Brother Crow’s clergy is mostly composed of priests, though many rogues, bards, and scoundrels spread his doctrine of change and freedom. When pleased, worshipers find guard dogs fortuitously asleep, unexpected artistic talent rises, and crows drop items useful for the task at hand nearby. If Brother Crow is angered, fingers become clumsy, pick pockets get drawn towards the offender, and the victim speaks with a perpetually cawing voice.

#pathfinder #dungeons and dragons #gods #d&d

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fortunatelystickycollectio-blog4 · 6 years ago

Text

Fake news. Where do I start? Maybe here? Does outside beauty inevitably lead to inside ugliness? I think not!

Let’s jump off to President Donald Trump of the US. Personally, I think he has pretty much gone back on every good promise he’s made, and doubled down on every bad one (such as border wall, immigration ban, a terrible Paul Ryancare in place of Obamacare, negotiation of drug prices with the Pharma industry etc.) ..so I personally do not think “no one’s ever had a more unfair life than me”.. All I know is he is not such a good president as he claims to be and all these are lies!

His own suppoters have come realise how stressful he is to work with and are calling him all sort of names.

On a recent online poll at Monmouth University in the US, students and staff were asked to vote for their best media house generally and in relation to Trump’s coverage and these were the results. Plot twist: Fox News has been seen as the most untrustworthy media channel and the votes show complete disapproval of Trump’s coverage on Fox News. Why is this? Could it be because it is used as a plarform to glorify Trump? Could be!

Well point is you are really just being called to order President Trump!

I would like to believe that this is not the case but I found this really funny!

PLEASE President Trump!

At all times let us please protect ourselves against fake news!

POLITICAL LIFE: FAKE NEWS

Fake news has been defined as fictionalised news-like content that carries incorrect information aimed at pursing certain goals, either misinformation or conflicts with the mentioned parties or people directly affected (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). According to Shao, Ciampaglia, Varol, Flammini & Menczer (2017), fake news have more political motives than entertainment and political motives have proven to be more powerful. This is because its spread is a risk to the global economy, in terms of who is elected and whether they would advocate for freedom and democratic rights (Shao et.al, 2017). If they do not, this would interfere with the public’s belief and cause disruptions in society.

There are three different types of false information, namely misinformation, disinformation and mal-information. All these are shared with the knowledge that they are ‘false news’, disinformation and mal-information are shared to cause harm while misinformation is shared for entertainment (Shu, Sliva, Wang, Tang & Liu, 2017). There are always motives and agendas associated with the distribution of fake/false news. Usually content is intentionally manipulated to mislead the readers or viewers and to ensure that the agenda prevails. The beauty of fake news shared on social media is that it allows for constructive criticism, readers are able to detect whether it is relevant and believable or not. According to Shao et.al, (2017), social media platforms are not meant for trustworthy information but rather posts that prioritize robust engagement and conversations. The issue of fake news has expanded over the past years, this is because of low cost websites that can be used for software controlled files called social bots (Shao et.al, 2017). People can easily edit factual information to put fake news and it would still look like the original information. This is problematic because passive readers take information as it is and do not question it, popular news attract finite attention from such readers and they easily believe what they read. Furthermore, this kind of behaviour has implications on how far the fake news travels and this cycle continuously repeats itself.

New media may be an impactful and good platform in which people can engage and entertain themselves without relying on old media, but it has sparked the spread of fake news than ever before. This is because everyone can be their own ‘journalist/producer’ and post anything they want without intense gatekeeping, or none at all. The impacts of fake news on society is the influence it has, it can break the authenticity of the news ecosystem to an extent that people’s perception of original and real news changes and becomes flawed beyond measure (Shu et.al, 2017). The intention of the media or the producers of the fake news is to ensure that consumers accept their news and leave no room for rectification or real news (Shu et.al, 2017). According to Shu et.al, (2017) the main cause of social media fake news is the low cost of creating social media accounts and maintaining it, that people who do not have evidence of their claims can easily resort to social media to disseminate their own news, which might be fake.

Trolls have been found to be the most effective human beings who disrupt online communities by responding or posting posts that trigger emotions (Shu, et.al, 2017). Trolling behaviours highly influence people’s moods and how they are led to respond. It is important to note that fake news has no investment in accurate reporting at all and do not build long-term reputation on quality news (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). Based on this, this means their fake news are targeted at consumers that already have false ideologies and are more likely to believe fake news irrespective of whether they have researched or not. Another enforcer of fake news to consider is how information sources can be blurred (Tandoc, Lim & Ling, 2018). Real news information can be posted on a legitimate website but that article can be shared through Facebook for example and that may allow for the navigation where people would edit or put misleading captions that are fake (Tandoc et.al, 2018). This is another standard way in which fake news can be disseminated even though the article in itself might be real content.

There are several typologies of fake news, all are aimed at operationalising wrong information. Satire, parody, fabrication, manipulation and propaganda are all ways in which fake news can be operationalised. Satire uses humour and exaggeration to make news more interesting, and this is a way in which news can be fabricated to meet the agenda (Tandoc, et.al, 2018). The format in which it presents information allows for fake news. Parody also uses humour to attract consumers, however it differs from satire because it directly uses non-factual information to present their humour (Tandoc, et.al, 2018). The content used in Parody has proven to be subtle but still able to make the consumers glued. Fabrication is the publishing of non-factual information in a legitimate website to make the news look real (Tandoc, et.al, 2018). This ideally means that a legitimate platform is used to lure people into believing the presented information. Manipulation is based on visual views, this is where two photos can be combined to form one thing with the intention of misleading the viewers, and this is called photo-shop and is used a lot due to the skills and techniques people have gained through new media. The final typology is called propaganda, this is where political parties/entities create false news to influence the public into voting for them or abiding by their notions (Tandoc et.al, 2018). These are their strategic ways in which they lure the public into being in favour of them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allcott, H. and Gentzkow, M., 2017. Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), pp.211-36.

Shao, C., Ciampaglia, G.L., Varol, O., Flammini, A. and Menczer, F., 2017. The spread of fake news by social bots. arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.07592.

Shu, K., Sliva, A., Wang, S., Tang, J. and Liu, H., 2017. Fake news detection on social media: A data mining perspective. ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, 19(1), pp.22-36.

Tandoc Jr, E.C., Lim, Z.W. and Ling, R., 2018. Defining “fake news” A typology of scholarly definitions. Digital Journalism, 6(2), pp.137-153.

#Political life

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happilydopeinfluencer-blog · 6 years ago

Photo

(via Garageband for PC and Laptop Free Download for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10)

Garageband FOR PC

Unless you're musically talented, you probably don't know what it feels like to just pick up a tool and be in a position to earn something that kind of sounds like music.

Let's be honest about it, that's not something many people can do but since pc became super smart we have had some additional options. From Guitar Hero to online pianos there have been a few diverse ways we could play being musical without really having to be especially skilled.

There's little doubt in my head that among the most powerful tools, one which altered the way we looked at music creation, was Garageband.

Garageband was an odd addition to the normal Mac software should you think about it. Everybody needs to send messages and connect together and the thought you would have to store your photographs was, again, pretty sensible but using Garageband and iMovie Apple really places their stake in the ground to put themselves as the computers to its creative industries.

What was interesting was that professional level Video editors or artists won't be creating their music onto this software but it made routine mortals just like you or I FEEL like we were pros.

The tools provided lifted us far above the kind of items available on a PC and Garageband in particular allowed one to view music as much more than simple loops, lined to make a tune. It was intuitive to use and you will genuinely make music very fast. For a brief moment in the early 00's I really thought I was likely to become a DJ.

Apparently, there is a little more to it

However, before we get carried away, we need to handle something fairly straightforward.

You aren't likely to get Garageband in your own PC. It is an iOS application and doesn't play nicely when being forced onto a PC. However, there are options but you have to do your homework.

First of all, do not believe any site which claims you may get Garageband in your PC using Bluestacks. Bluestacks is a wonderful piece of software (check out our review here) but it is designed to work as a Android Emulator and Garageband isn't an Android program.

However, you are not totally out of chance. IPadian is an interesting piece of software which lets you turn your laptop or desktop into an iPad. It's fairly robust and you are able to access apps like Garageband which isn't so heavily tied to the Apple infrastructure. This will let you play around with your heart's content and make some gorgeous music.

But, we're not convinced that this is the ideal way to experience Garageband too, like so much of Apple applications, it works well as it can collaborate with other Apple programs.

But let's just say you've got access to Garageband. You are going to get some fun.

The interface is really straightforward using the ubiquitous'deadline' used to offer you somewhere to place your own loops. However, now Garageband has become a slightly more serious event.

You are able to capture your own voice or even hook it up so that you may record your own instruments. This means that Garageband essentially becomes a very simple recording studio that, whilst easy, still has a lot more energy than anything you'd have the ability to get your hands on in the real world out of paying a serious sum of money.

It's possible to add lots of effects which aren't only novelties, they give you a great deal of control over the tone of anything you've listed and enabled you to make music that sounds the way you want it to. You may also play the pitch and record your voice with autotune, a characteristic which, when utilized correctly, will make you seem a whole great deal better than actually are.

Blend this with integration into iTunes and also you also may have a lot of fun with Garageband directly from the box.

Among our favorite feature however is the capability to sync with the video. This means that you can have a basic audio studio for scoring your epic phenomena.

I'd love to think Garageband gets the sort of learning curve which usually means you can begin right away but as you improve you're going to locate a whole host of new features that imply the program grows with you.

The catch is simple. If you want to get Garageband for PC you are likely to have a few difficulties. You cannot readily start it on your PC with a standard emulator however there is an iPad emulator, iPadian which may assist you.

The matter with Garageband is that it really is a powerful piece of software so Windows does not have something in precisely exactly the identical level, allowing newbies to utilize exactly the same array of controls as a more seasoned professional.

If you've ever fancied yourself as a aspiring artist then you need to either get hold of a Mac with Garageband or attempt working with software such as iPadian so it's possible to download Garageband for PC.

You are likely to discover that in minutes you'll be able to create songs that sound great enough that you wish to produce a couple more and that's where the real secret to Garagebands success lies.

You're able to make music within minutes but the songs takes a bit longer however the confidence you will definitely gain from the simplicity of use of the program will indicate you wish to keep persevering.

Garageband FOR PC is particularly great for creating music that is developed on an electronic beat and one vocal. Whilst you can important tools and utilize Garageband like a studio, most professional musicians will have studios for that. This is for the bedroom bands and rappers that are looking to have the ability to make a small magic any time they have an idea to get a beat or even a lyric.

And for that, Garageband is ideal.

GarageBand for PC This is an application for music generation which Apple Inc. released as an addendum to its iLife package. It made its debut appearance in the 6th of January, 2004 and expectedly, it was only meant to utilize iOS and MacOS operated apparatus. However, men have evolved ways of having this rich musical program working nicely in your Windows-operated PC. This package allows you to produce many musical paths with its pre-installed loops, backgrounds and other acoustic instruments. In addition, it allows you to record your voice too and for DJs, the instrument makes their blending work quite straightforward.

Characteristics Records and plays back audio of speeches and music with good quality capable of editing and importing MIDI that it may equally playback. Pre-loaded with comprehensive musical tools like keyboards, guitar and others. Mixes music mechanically Can interpret and play with musical notations comprises classes for beginners in piano and guitar playing. PC Requirements for GarageBand

Again, you need to keep in mind that this program is officially exclusive to apple solutions. But this article is going to show you how you can get it working perfectly on your PC. The software is essentially free but certain add-ons may come with a certain price. It is going to be your responsibility to choose if you will be choosing for them depending on what you require. Here are the conditions:

RAM: minimum of 2GB but 4GB is more preferable. Hard Drive Performance: At least 2GB has to be accessible. There are several procedures of doing this however, the underlying principle is to get an emulator that runs on windows and as well accommodate Apple's applications. Two approaches are discussed here and both are cool. The choice of which to embrace depends upon you.

Approach 1

It is possible to use Rare Software which is a distinctive downloader for MacOS and also iOS software for Windows. In other words, this downloader makes it feasible that you receive applications which are exclusive to Apple apparatus on Windows-Operated computers. But you have to be conscious that not all iOS and MacOS applications can be downloaded by Rare.

After you download and install Rare Software on your PC, then you can simply search for GarageBand onto it and install it to your own system. What it will be to mimic MacOS on your PC and hence, makes it installable. Another emulator you may use rather than Rare is iPadian. This computer program is available for downloading in profullcrack.com. When You have it, then the other steps are essentially the same as the ones given above

Strategy Two

This involves using an emulator for Android that is known from the name Bluestacks. Perhaps You're wondering just how possible it is for an emulator designed to function for Android can be used on PC, here are the steps to follow to allow it to happen:

Get the installer for the emulator at this website profullcrack Once saving the installer on the device, run it. Successful running means you finally have the Bluestacks icon on your desktop computer Double-click on this icon to launch it. For a first-time person, you would have to sign in with any of your Gmail accounts. If you don't have one, you could open even at that point the moment your sign in is fine, hunt for GarageBand computer via the search pub as soon as you find it, double click and install on your own system and you're all set! Please note that since GarageBand for computer is not native to Windows, every time you need to create use of it, you'll need to experience this Bluestacks emulator.

Experts

It can capture both at 16 and 24-Bits along with 44.1MHz fixed frequency. The interface is also simple enough for a newcomer. Records multiple monitors capable of importing and also editing MIDI files Displays music notation Consumes couple system tools Disadvantages

Not formally available on Windows there's latency when recording or importing MIDI MIDI tracks cannot be exported. Final Verdict

No doubt, there are a lot of music recording tools, some that are compatible with Windows but quite of these can provide exactly what GarageBand offers. When it comes to recording events and implementing applicable instruments, GarageBand makes it quite simple. You could be in your room and make your audio track with it.

Apple would need to still work on shooting up its features to make for the requirements of modern-day audio production. The GUI operation has been described as being slow and several mixing too appears not to be encouraged.

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sweet-eskape-blog · 7 years ago

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Acquire Most Current Android Telephones

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cover32-yahoopartner-blog · 8 years ago

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Andrew Link’s Bears Mock Draft 5.0

Here it is, my final mock draft of 2017. I could have just as easily named this the “what I would do if I were Ryan Pace” edition. As the title says, this is what I personally believe would be a very good and most realistic outcome. There will be no trades. I will not be picking players because I want to study them. This is my interpretation of a Grade-A draft and an ideal outcome for the Bears.

I have mocked several of these players already, but I have gone back and re-watched all of their tape. It has been long enough that I could go in with fresh eyes and give a more detailed impression of the player and how I view their fit with the Bears.

Disclaimer: I am not a draft expert. By no means do I claim to be; these are my opinions based on watching the tape.

Round 1 – Pick No. 3 – 3rd Overall: Mitchell Trubisky – Quarterback – North Carolina

When watching Mitch Trubisky on tape, it is hard to find many flaws in his game. He moves around very well in the pocket, has more than adequate arm strength and is very accurate.

Trubisky is an excellent athlete but he was asked to carry the ball too often in North Carolina’s spread attack. These designed draws and option plays were usually recognized immediately by opposing defenses. This led to a lot of negative plays and put the quarterback in a positon where he had to make plays late in a series.

When flushed from the pocket, you see his ability to shake a defender, turn the corner and pick up valuable yards. I also noticed that several times when it appeared that he would run for the first down, he flicked the ball to his running back, which turned into a huge play. Trubisky is absolutely a pass-first quarterback with plenty of mobility outside of the pocket.

Inside the pocket, he has above average awareness and usually can avoid a sack. When he does get sacked, it is generally with his eyes downfield looking to throw. Another underestimated aspect of Trubisky’s game is his play-fake abilities. When asked to carry out a fake, the opposing team’s defenders consistently hesitated and allowed that split-second that means everything in the NFL.

Trubisky is extremely accurate in the short-to-intermediate passing zones. He especially excels on screen passes, running back check-downs and crossing routes. In addition to his overall accuracy, he usually will lead his receivers so that they can gain valuable yards after the catch. He also has a knack for “throwing his receivers open”, meaning that when they are facing zone coverage, he can put the ball on the side of the receiver opposite the defender.

In the intermediate passing game, Trubisky tends to throw his come-back routes to the sideline-side of his receiver. In lieu of a fade pass, he prefers to throw the ever popular back-shoulder throw. He tends to throw the ball on a flatter line than I would like, but it’s almost always thrown in a perfect spot.

The biggest weakness that I see with Trubisky is his deep ball. This is slightly knit-picky, as most quarterbacks struggle to throw deep passes accurately. He tended to have a lot of his deeper passes dropped, so the numbers are a little skewed. When he did miss though, he tended to miss in a good place: where the defensive back couldn’t make a play on the ball. If you are going to miss, miss out of bounds.

Right now, Mitch Trubisky most reminds me of Jimmy Garoppolo. They have very similar skill-sets as prospects. I believe that Trubisky has a higher ceiling though. Think about where Ryan Pace came from, New Orleans. I see a lot of Drew Brees in Trubisky’s game and I think that is probably the absolute ceiling. In addition to being the safest quarterback prospect in the draft, I believe that Mitch Trubisky also is the most likely to reach his ceiling. The Bears finally get their quarterback.

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Round 2 – Pick No. 4 – 36th Overall: Budda Baker – Safety – Washington

Budda Baker is one of my favorite players to watch. He is not “flashy” in that he won’t always make huge plays. What he is though, is an excellent football player. Honestly, I believe that Baker is every bit as talented as Jamal Adams, and you can likely get him in the second round.

When I watch Baker on tape, he reminds of another second-round pick by the Bears, who also happened to play Safety: Mike Brown. I am not saying he is the same player, but their play is very similar. Unfortunately, they are also similar in size. The main reason that Baker falls to the second round is that he is a little undersized to play the style that he does, which many believe will lead to injuries.

What I initially notice is that he plays across from a wide receiver or tight end most of the time. He is not your typical “center field” type of free safety. He can cover his assignment in either man or zone (which Washington plays both about equally). He is not the most fluid athlete, but he has excellent speed and hip swivel.

Baker is also a physical player. He likes to stick his nose in the action on running plays and isn’t afraid to make a big hit over-the-middle. I saw him blitz several times as well and he has excellent timing, and the ability to “bend” the corner like a pass-rusher would. This led to several QB hits and tackles for loss (TFL).

Budda Baker is what I would describe as a football player, in addition to an athlete. He has the great instincts, coverage ability, physicality and athleticism to be an outstanding NFL player. This is the type of pick that you can instantly insert into almost any defensive backfield and improve your team. I would personally be very excited if the Bears ended up with Baker.

Round 3 – Pick No. 3 – 67th Overall: Bucky Hodges – Tight End – Virginia Tech

Bucky Hodges was new to me coming into this mock, but I took him based on the scouting reports that I have seen on him. He has excellent size at 6’6” and 257 pounds. He put on about 10 pounds prior to the Combine as he had played in the 245 range in college. I would ideally like to see another 10-15 pounds added to his frame, which I think can handle.

Hodges was used literally everywhere in Virginia Tech’s offensive scheme. He mainly lined up as a wide receiver but I saw him used quite a bit as an in-line tight end and even the pitch man on options runs. Hodges’ excellent speed made him the primary weapon for quarterback Jerod Evans. Due to Evans’ lack of accuracy, Hodges relied mainly on his size to catch contested passes downfield. Hodges also caught a number of wide receiver screen passes with varying degrees of success.

Let’s face it, Hodges is fast for a tight end but is rather pedestrian as a wide receiver. He simply wasn’t used correctly in college. He shows a willingness to block and was most effective as an in-line blocker. Hodges is not a polished route-runner, he can struggle to make blocks downfield and occasionally loses concentration when attempting to catch the ball.

However, Bucky Hodges has all the tools to become a game-changing “Y” (in-line) tight end in the NFL. In the confined spaces of the “Y” position, his blocking skills would immediately benefit. The route options would also allow him to focus more on technique, rather than speed. Hodges would make an excellent weapon for the Bears offense for years to come.

Round 4 – Pick No. 4 – 111th Overall: Julie’n Davenport – Offensive Tackle – Bucknell

The fourth round has historically been a gold mine for offensive line talent. If you follow the NFL closely, then you understand just how important it is to continually draft offensive linemen and develop them. Julie’n Davenport is that player for the Bears. Davenport is very raw, but he has tremendous upside with some hard coaching.

Davenport is a large man, checking it at 6’7” and 318 pounds. He has wonderful length, as shown by his 36.5” arms. He is the ideal size for an offensive tackle in the NFL. Watching him on tape it is apparent that he will likely never be a left tackle, which is fine. He lacks the quickness and foot speed to mirror speed rushers in pass protection. However, he has strong hands and a violent punch.

He is not being drafted as a left tackle though; I want Davenport to be a mauler on the right side. He is powerful and his long arms will aid him greatly in pass protection to make up for his lack of overall athleticism. If he can develop for a year or two behind Bobbie Massie, he will be able to step in and upgrade the right tackle position. He should be able to fill in towards the end of his rookie season, should Massie suffer an injury.

I really enjoy solid offensive line play and am a proponent of general manager’s picking one in every draft. This is the single position group on every roster where you can’t afford to have poor play and/or lack depth. Julie’n Davenport is that guy for me in the fourth round. Should he harness his immense physical gifts, he should be a very good right tackle for many years.

Round 4 – Pick No. 10 – 117th Overall: Ryan Switzer – Wide Receiver – North Carolina

Ryan Switzer was often a security blanket for Mitch Trubisky during their time in Chapel Hill. The lightning-quick slot receiver was almost always open and gained a ton of yards after the catch. While I do think that he plays a majority of the time at the slot position in the NFL, he did play running back in High School. At North Carolina, Switzer was also a record-tying punt returner and racked up seven touchdowns in his college career.

For me, this pick is about finding one player who can fill several roles. His versatility will allow him to line up in the backfield, in the slot, as a punt returner and as a familiar target for my first-round pick. Dowell Loggains should be able to coax all of the athleticism that Switzer possesses and turn him into a formidable weapon.

Switzer is small at 5’8” and 181 pounds, but what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in quickness. He doesn’t have blazing speed, but when you watch him play, you see a player that is extremely light on his feet and can make the kind of cuts that leave defenders in his wake. Screens, crossing routes, quick outs and outlet passes (when in the Backfield) are where Switzer is going to make his money.

While I don’t believe Ryan Switzer is quite big enough to be compared to the premier slot receivers in the NFL, I think he can be a mix of slot and receiving running back in a Darren Sproles mold. If Switzer is one-on-one in the open field, you might as well pack it in; he is that quick. Injury is always going to be a concern, but you can limit his exposure by packaging plays specifically for him. Any offensive coordinator should be pounding the table to have this type of weapon in their arsenal.

Round 5 – Pick No. 3 – 147th Overall: Jalen Reeves-Maybin – Inside Linebacker – Tennessee

With Danny Trevathan’s injury, the “JACK” positon has become a need for the Bears. Trevathan’s injury is one that will likely not see him ever get back to the same player he was before the injury, no matter how patient the Bears are with it. Enter Jalen Reeves-Maybin. When watching his film, he immediately reminds me of Trevathan.

Reeves-Maybin is solid in coverage, very athletic and has excellent play recognition. He has every tool you could possibly want at the “JACK” position and should be able to step in right away. It is apparent that he is very smart and was the leader of that Tennessee defense. Reeves-Maybin was responsible for getting everyone lined up and on the same page, which should help him adjust quickly to a new system.

There are some things that he needs to work on though. Jalen Reeves-Maybin is a little undersized but still has a knack for disengaging from blockers to make plays. He has poor form when tackling but he is almost always in position to make a play. If Reeves-Maybin can clean that up at the next level, he should be a big-time playmaker on an improving Bears defense.

Round 7 – Pick No. 3 – 221st Overall: Channing Stribling – Cornerback – Michigan

With this draft being so deep at cornerback, it is no surprise that I was able to snag a player as talented as Channing Stribling in the seventh round. While not receiving the same fanfare as his teammate, Jourdan Lewis, Stribling has several traits that could turn him into an excellent NFL player.

Stribling is long and lean at 6’1” and 188 pounds with 31.5” arms, which is ideal size for a cornerback in today’s NFL. He has solid press-man skills and has a decent jam at the line of scrimmage. While lacking straight-line speed, he has an excellent burst to close on the route and stay in the receiver’s hip pocket. Despite his thin frame, he doesn’t shy away from contact and isn’t afraid to make a tackle.

There are some traits that you just can’t teach, and Stribling has several of these: size, length and the ability to turn his head around and track the ball in the air. This is what makes him such an exciting prospect. He will need some work, as he can get a little too physical down field, but he possesses some veteran hand-fighting abilities as the ball is in the air. These are skills that are difficult to teach and Stribling does them naturally.

If Channing Stribling gets the chance to work with a superior coach like Ed Donatell, his ceiling is enormous. He has all the traits and ball skills to develop into a top-tier cornerback in the NFL. Should he continue to receive the type of coaching he needs at the next level, I see no reason why he can’t develop into a very good player.

—

Thank you all for reading, I have really enjoyed being able to share my thoughts with you all. Hopefully some of you have gone out and studied a few of the players that I have taken in these mock drafts to judge for yourselves. The best part of this for me is finding players that I have never heard of before and being able to see what the hype is for others.

It makes you appreciate just how much work goes into these mocks from big name, professional writers to the weekend warrior blog poster. It takes time to study these players on film and be able to form an opinion based on traits and projections. I urge everyone to find film on players that they are interested in watching so they can see just what a player has to offer, you might just be surprised at what you find.

—

Andrew Link

@BearsLink82 on Twitter

The post Andrew Link’s Bears Mock Draft 5.0 appeared first on Cover32.

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