#category 5 aster moment

[aster-go-brrr]

@chongyun-official EXPLAIN.

[zora-thesidecharacter]

Well, since I can't seem to actually write anything about my OC's nor can I write the story I've made with them, (my brain fucking dies whenever I try to get my story out of it and onto paper/PC), I'm going to post the list I have made over years now of all my OC's. Feel free to give thoughts and/or ask about different characters Because for some reason the only way I can explain anything about this shit is when I'm telling someone who is genuinely interested in it lol.

Here we go, it has some explanation on the sorting if it first, also it might be a little hard to read... Almost 70 of them.

Letter sorting meaning:

(L) originally created when messing around with lego minifigures

(T) yet to be used In the story. (non of them have this at the moment, however a lot of them used to and I put it on oc's I make that I don't plan on putting in the story. Sadly I don't end up getting attached to any oc I make if it's not in the story... So Ive kinda stopped making new ones so that I don't overflow this thing with characters.)

(C) colors/stick figure tournament battles I did when I was little and then somehow kept track the personalitys of. (The alignment for these is for there own story, not the main one, even though they are in the main one.)

(U) used in Story

Alignment:

Good:●

Evil: ■

Neutral and/or switches sides at some point: ◇

The Characters in order that I made them, (each category is how old I was when I made them. A lot of the old ones have names I don't like anymore and/or have changed a ton in the story since then, but I hate scrapping characters and would much rather repurpose.):

7: Blue robot (LU)◇[1]{new name pending}, red robot (LU)◇[2]{new name pending},

8: Sol (LU)■[3], golden guardian (LU)●[4],

10: Jake (LU)●[5], helicopter bot (LU)●[6], Kai (LU)● [7], blue (CU)■[8], black (CU)●[9], red (CU)●[10], dark red (CU)■[11], purple (CU)●[12], orange (CU)●[13], cyan (CU)◇[14], yellow (CU)◇[15], brown (CU)●[16], green (CU)●[17], lime (CU)◇[18], White (CU)◇[19],

12: jay (LU)●[20], Icicle (LU)◇[21]{new name pending}, pebble (U)●[22], mist (U)●[23], gray (U)●[24], leaf (U)●[25], clay (U)●[26], Lucas (U)●[27], zora (shadow) (U)■[28], Jerry (LU)■[29], Dragon Mech "M1RA or Mira" (LU)◇[30], golden sage (LU)◇[31]{new name pending}, victor (LU)◇[32],

13: Nitro (U)◇[33], Aster (U)■[34], shard (U)◇[35], wither (LU)■[36], crow (LU)●[37], droid 27 (LT)●[38]{new name pending}, ray (LU)◇[39], shark (LU)◇[40], snark (LU)◇[41], spark (LU)■[42],

14: natura (LU)●[43], zack (U)◇[44], Ve (U)◇[45], wisp (LU)■[46], husk (LU)■[47], void (LU)■[48],

15: dragon moth {BB} (LU)◇[49], titan robot (LU)◇[50], Lithium (U)●[51], Silver (U)●[52], Copper (U)●[53], Sulfur (U)◇[54],

16: Cobalt (U)●[55], Ada (U) ●[56], chrome (U) ■[57], hazel (U)●[58], saitis (U)◇[59], jade (U)◇[60], Gill (U)●[61], tayla "bug" (U)◇[62], Venus (U)■[63], Zora (not shadow/My Sona/Self insert) (U)◇[64],

17: King (U)■[65],

Number of characters I have that I've been working on don't have a name for yet and havnt fully fleshed out because they are side characters that only show up a few times: 9

That is my list. It big. I love these little creations and even more so love "The Talez Of Solar" as I have named the story.

[rawbins-undertale-blog]

How do monsters age? Also how old are the brothers?

~ Sincerely, a very Library Anon ~

Hello! Thanks for the ask, and also sorry for you, my friend, who’s about to have pages of me rambling about my thoughts and headcanons that may or may not be entirely supported by the game for a socially unacceptable amount of time <3

HOW MONSTERS AGE

I’ve actually had multiple different headcanons when it comes to monster age! They all go into three different categories: “all monsters age slower”, “they age the same way (unless they’re a boss monster without a kid)” and “some monsters age like humans, some slower and some quicker depending on species”. But, I now have one that goes into a slightly different category.

Now, I think, “what if their aging is a bit of everything?”

Allow me to explain what I mean.

My first headcanon was that monsters age 10x slower than a human does. Just choose a human age for a character and then tack on a 0 to the end of the number and you’ve got the right age. A part of me still wants to go that route, simply because it’s easier…

… but then, a monster would be a literal child while being 100 years old. It would make it a bit awkward to write about human kids being friends with monster kids lol, ngl. (Also I don’t want to write Sans and Papyrus as being like 250 years old.) Not to mention, it’s a bit boring. So I decided to spice it up a bit, if you will.

Let’s start explaining this by taking a monster with an average mental state who is the most average of species. They’re not suffering from any mental disorders, illnesses, have no trauma or physical ailments and are overall just what you’d call an averagely happy person. There’s nothing special about this monster. They’re literally the most average of average monsters, maybe so average they don’t even actually exist - they are made up by the statistics.

At first, they age quicker than a human does. While they’re what would translate to 5 human years (AKA when they’re 5 monster years), they are actually only 2 human years. At age 10 in monster years, they are 5 in human years. Their aging starts to slow down at 16 monster years, and by the time they’re 25 in monster years, they are also 25 in human years. Then it slows down even more quickly and on a huge scale, so that when they are 50 in monster years, they are about 500 in human years. On average, a normal monster becomes 2000 human years old. (Keep in mind, that this monster is so average they don’t exist - this aging varies a lot between species.)

Now, let’s take another monster of this same statistics-made species who is more happy than the average monster. They’ve experienced many good things, and bad things happening to them are unusual, but not unusual enough to make the happy moments meaningless. They make sure to care of themself and take their own feelings into consideration, they know their own worth. A monster like this may become up to a staggering 4000 human years old with some luck.

Finally, here’s a monster who suffers and just… isn’t happy. They suffer from trauma, have gone through horrible things, overall just not a very good time. They’re very likely to only get to 800 human years or less, if things don’t start looking up for them.

However, these aging mechanics also get more complicated when we get into species of monsters and monsters having children. Gerson, who is a turtle-species, ages about 5x slower than the average monster, which is why he was alive during wartime (though he is near the end of the line now, he’s only maybe 20 years from dying by the end of the game). A whimsun definitely won’t live past 1000 years, even if they’re the happiest whimsun on the planet, because their magic isn’t strong enough to last.

A boss monster (Toriel, Asgore, Asriel) doesn’t age past 30 until they have a child. When/if they have that child, they age at the same speed as the kid does. If the child dies, however, they stop aging again.

Speaking of not aging when their kids die, the same kinda goes for every other monster to a much smaller extent.

A non-boss monster will slow their aging after their kid dies. If they survive losing their kid (because a lot of monsters would dust from the hopelessness they feel after losing somebody so important), their aging slows by about 150%, again depending on the species of the monster.

However, despite their slow aging, monsters are weaker than humans. Too unstable emotions or living in conditions that make the monster feel unsafe may fuck up thair aging, as mentioned previously. To go into more detail about this: the aging process is not messed up by the situation the monster is in - the monster could be in the most horrible position without their aging being affected at all - but it has to do with how their hope is affected.

If a monster loses hope, their aging is affected so it speeds up. If they gain hope, it slows down.

Taking this in mind, let’s talk about the skeleton brothers’ ages!

Let’s start with the Undertale brothers, since they’re the “base” for the ages.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I think their ages are, but I would say that:

At the time the game takes place, Sans is about 24-28 years old in monster years and Papyrus is about 19-23 in monster years. In human years, Sans is about 23 and Papyrus has recently turned 18. This has to do with their experiences in life.

Sans only has 1 HP. Skeleton monsters are among the groups that age more slowly, which ends up with him aging a tiny bit quicker than the ‘average monster’. This HP is mostly brought on by his clinical depression (which is actually very rare to have for a monster).

Papyrus ages slower than the ‘average monster’. He’s full of HoPe and is one of the most compassionate monsters, which says a lot by the way lol. But, we can’t forget that he literally didn’t have any friends, which did deal a huge blow to his self-confidence even if he won’t admit it. He aged just a little quicker than a skeleton monster should, at the time the game takes place (though this does change in my fics and headcanons right away, all he needs is one (1) friend to age as slowly as he should, or well. Slower, actually).

So, now that I’ve put down the base for what the two brothers are, let’s just straight up say: all the AU brothers are the same age in human years and there’s only small differences for the monster ages. Except for in Horrortale, which takes place later than the base game does.

I can’t say how old they are here, though, not exactly, because it would obviously vary depending on how long we wait to see them after the starvation starts, as horrible as that sounds. All my headcanons are off the basis that they were left in the Underground for about five human years after Frisk left, so let’s just go with that. After five years in the Underground, Dusk (Horrortale Sans) is about 38 in monster years and Aster (Horrortale Papyrus) is about 37 (he caught up quickly to his brother, as the things that happened took a bigger toll on him).

I want to mention, however, that all my headcanons for ages are very loose and not entirely my “final decision” on how I think monsters age lol, and they may change in the future. Anyways, this is what I’m going for as of right now! If you want any clarification feel free to ask :-)

[wahbegan]

Ghosts and demons and monsters and boogeymen all exist in one form or another. These stories, they...I never liked it when you wrote horror off as a mindless or sadistic garbage genre. I mean yeah, some of it, surely. A lot of stupid trash, but there’s a lot of stupid trash in literally every single category of story so shrug emoji

But no, horror...mental illness and abuse and trauma, grief and memories that won’t go away and needless cruelty and...these things are all real. None of us need a reminder that they’re real, none of us want to celebrate that, but it’s not what the movie’s doing. 

Kids will always fall through thin ice and get their heads caught in plastic bags and eat a pound of aspirin and run out between parked cars. People will always hurt each other, people will always lose control of themselves. Bad things will always happen for no reason at all. Everything leads to everything in a senseless, random anti-pattern. You exist in this moment and at some point you will very suddenly stop existing. Those are the only two things anyone can know for sure. The rest is chaos and futility and chance.

But in a horror story...in a horror story, the monster has a name and a face. Maybe it can’t be killed, maybe it wins at the end, maybe it’s not THAT optimistic, but horror is almost always optimistic. Because things happen for a reason.

Bought a haunted house, stopped to pick up a hitchhiker from a family of crazy cannibals, fucked in the lakeside cabin where a disfigured boy drowned, said Candyman 5 times in a mirror, there is no horror movie on Earth where things just start happening to the protagonist for no reason. You’d call it sloppy writing or lazy or a cop-out if it was never even alluded to why spooky shit was happening to the protagonist, it just was. 

Even if it’s a reason beyond their control, it’s not no reason at all. Horror movies give us a narrative, a sense of control over the real evil in the world. 

Wasting disease is inevitable and unkillable. A vampire was brought down upon the village for a reason and can be staked into the grave.

A troubled man losing his better self and turning into a monster and doing horrible things to the people he loves? Happens every day. No way to know if the troubled man you love will do it. He doesn’t even know. But silver can kill a werewolf.

You can perform a ritual to put a spirit to rest. But you can never kill a memory. You may as well try to rip the sky down.

Even Cosmic Horror, horror that makes a big deal out of how tiny and pointless humanity is and we shouldn’t be here and are intruding in the realm of things that would be better off left alone, there’s no problem if we do leave them alone. Cthulhu won’t awaken for no reason, Yog-Sothoth can’t come through without our help, Nyarlathotep only fucks with those who get too curious and up in his business. Even if Lovecraft and his offspring knew the idea of killing existential depression and fear was ludicrous, they at least could craft stories clinging to the idea that everything will be fine for now if we try to ignore it, that those feelings can be temporarily put to sleep. 

Horror gives us a measure of control. Horror, superstition, hell even spirituality and religion all come from the same place: easing fear. If you walk around all day constantly painfully aware that there is no method to the madness, that I could die of a hundred idiot things as I type this for no reason at all and never complete this post, and how people treat you and the general course of your life are utterly separate from your merit to your loved ones and society, you’ll quickly become suicidal. Horror can ease that. Even the most depressing horror stories

Pet Sematary is one of the most depressing horror stories ever written, and it plays with this concept a lot...but it ultimately does personify it, it gives it a name. Oz the Gweat and Tewwible. The sections about Oz were haunting in a way no other part of the story was, the recurring dreams the doctor had about driving around Disneyland while this figure lurked on every corner just waiting to kill someone just because. But even personifying it takes the teeth out a bit. And Oz wasn’t the main focus of the story, not even a really important part, I mean both movies cut it out. No, the doctor’s kid gets run over because the town is corrupted by the spirit of a Wendigo. Wendigo wins, whole family dies, but hey. Just a Wendigo. Just stay outta that fucking town. Don’t bury nothing there.

Peter’s fate in Hereditary was pre-ordained generations in advance. And it was fate. A horrible tragedy, but fate. Wheels spinning years in advance, multiple parties moving to make it happen, a demonic cult, magic. It happened to him because he was important. His suffering meant something. Something awful, but something.

Nobody would enjoy a movie about a kid who gets high and accidentally decapitates his younger sister speeding her to the hospital stoned and then hours upon hours of conversations like the dinner table scene with him and his mother. And that’s it. That’s the movie. Nobody would watch that. Because that’s not a movie.

But it’s life. Ari Aster, even in all his darkness, couldn’t bring himself to show us Annie’s immediate reaction to Peter bringing the headless body home and going to bed. No, I mean, we saw her screaming. But that was when she just knew her daughter was dead. We did not see the inhuman rage towards her son that would have followed. Because nobody wants to see that. Waiting for the shoe to drop and them to show that scene of her almost certainly abusing the fuck out of that kid because of what he’d done was the worst part of that movie. But it never happened. He didn’t go there...this dude made The Strange Thing About the Fucking Johnsons, but he didn’t wanna go there.

The ugliness and petty, vicious, stupid, random cruelty of life and inside every human being you ever have and ever will meet is given a name in Horror. It’s given a name, and a face, and maybe it can even be killed. It’s comforting.

Don’t fucking posture and preach and try to take that away from us. The correlation between people with fucked-up pasts and lives and mental illnesses and horror movies isn’t coincidental, and it isn’t aesthetic. It’s necessary. You think a traumatized WWI veteran would put his feet up to this fucking movie 1917 ? No. He’d want Deathwatch.

[zacharyprell1]

Ronny Sage

YouMe LinNicola McCormack Patrick Postlehttps://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0971/5004/files/Banner-Ronny.jpg?1790

Ronny Sage is the founder and CEO of ShoppingGives, which arrived in the nonprofit sector in 2016 as a new way to donate, paralleling an increasing shift to online shopping. Ronny saw an opportunity to rethink donating in a more meaningful way, with customers picking a charity to support, and the brand they purchase from donating a percentage from the sale. It’s a streamlined method of giving, made even smoother by ShoppingGives’ unique shopping cart integration, Change Commerce. There are now over 750 retailers on the ShoppingGives Marketplace, with dozens using Change Commerce, including ZACHARY PRELL.

By personalizing the donation process and helping brands engage customers, ShoppingGives has caught the imagination of businesses, nonprofits, and consumers alike, and was recognized as a finalist in the Tech in Motion Timmy Awards in the Best Tech Startup category. It’s a true success story in giving, going from Ronny and four members of staff at the beginning to a current team of 14 people, and an extended family of 20 with consultants, advisors, and active investors.

We met up with Ronny in Dumbo, Brooklyn, to talk about what he’s most proud of in his organization, the future of giving, and how he dresses for work.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0971/5004/files/portrait-Ronny.jpg?1790 Ronny is pictured wearing ZACHARY PRELL’s Baumann shirt, Montauk jacket, and Aster pants

You were a digital strategist before founding ShoppingGives. What gave you the idea?

Working with various retailers and brands, the common goal always came back to, how do we connect with the right customers in a more meaningful way and within budget, and seeing that collectively the US market spends over $200bn in advertising ($25bn digital) per year to acquire customers. I thought there has to be a better way to use this money, and not only connect with customers and build authentic relationships, but to make a positive impact on the world through everyday purchases… enter ShoppingGives.

Following on from that, you’ve been quoted as saying you loved what you were doing at Rise. Did you break away completely to launch ShoppingGives or do it piecemeal?

I built ShoppingGives while at Rise on my salary (and with a few small checks from friends and family), and had four full-time employees before I left to give it my all. I was able to work with the best and brightest and apply so much of what I learned from marketing, sales, and general business. For example, creating a more relevant experience for customers was at the core of Rise, and we are able to do that at ShoppingGives by enabling customers to give back to whoever is relevant to them at any point in time.

Do you see yourself as a disruptor within your industry? Do you think that’s a useful mindset for entrepreneurs to have?

Cause marketing is not a new concept. But the idea of enabling frictionless giving for retailers, layering on marketing concepts like Return on Ad Spend to giving back, what we call Return on Donation to spend, is innovative. I think being a disruptor is a concept that is time-bound, as there is always someone or something new that will disrupt. What I focus on is becoming integral to their core business and being sticky—being something customers expect.

As someone who has helped change the way people give via technology, what do you think the future of giving will look like?

At ShoppingGives we believe in a concept of a giving economy. I believe that there is an opportunity for every transaction to have a moment of impact, whether that be paying for gas or your mortgage. We are in an era of choice as consumers and with every purchase, the consumer is essentially voting a brand into power. The brands and retailers who align with values their customers support are the brands who are not only going to change commerce as we know it, but will also prevail and create a loyal customer base.

How difficult has it been to change people’s giving habits?

We are not looking to change a habit, we are becoming a mechanism for all passive giving. The customer should not have to change what they are doing or disrupt their day to give back, it should be part of the transaction and part of their life. In our future, this moment of impact happens on every transaction, in our giving economy, once the customer sets a preference of who they support (and can always change) the customer does not need to take action—giving is native to the process.

Is there any one aspect of your organization or support of a specific non-profit that you are most proud of?

What we are proud of is in less than a year of our retailer technology being in the market, the amount of micro-transactions we have processed to over 3000 causes. And that every dollar we make, at least two dollars is being donated; it’s built into our model to feel good about making money, that is what I am most proud of.

What does a typical day look like for you, and how does that influence what you wear?

I wake up between 5:30am-6:30am, give my son Shia his bottle and breakfast. I review my schedule for the day, which is what sets my attire. If I am coming to the office, you might find me in sweats or jeans and a t-shirt. If I have client meetings, you’ll find me in a t-shirt/button-down and a blazer. After picking out my daily attire, I jump in the shower, clean up my beard (very proud of it), and head into my daily commute to the city (about an hour) where I do one of two things: 1. listen to audiobooks—love finding a good podcast, such as Stuff You Should Know, How I Built This (NPR), Reply All. 2. I make a round of phone calls to a list of best friends who are essentially my life advisors—shout out to Todd Caponi (sales strategy), Andrew Blickstien (business & life coach), Ryan Miller (business & analytics expert, also my cousin), Nick Miller (best friend, not related to Ryan Miller), or my business partners Phil Kaulfield (COO), Ryan Jonker (CFO).

Once in the office, my morning starts with writing out my daily intentions and tasks. From 10am-2pm I am essentially a BDR (Business Development Rep) doing outreach to prospects partners. After 2pm, I’m either in team meetings or on partner calls or working with the product team.

I leave the office around 6pm and either head to gym (honestly once a week), or head back in traffic, repeat morning (calls or book), eat dinner with wife, read a book to son, put him to bed, then decompress with wife, and go to bed around 9:30-10:30pm.

You’ve been wearing ZACHARY PRELL’s Baumann shirt, Montauk jacket, Oxford jacket, and Aster pants. What did you think and where would you wear them?

Love them, and have worn the Montauk jacket multiple times—it’s my weekend go-to with a black tee. The Oxford jacket is perfect for Chicago weather, you never know what the day is going to look like, and it’s super easy to layer or shed. I’m between sizes in the Aster pants, so I either need to lose a few or gain some to make them fit right, but they’re super soft. Once I drop a few, they will be a go-to.

from ZACHARY PRELL - Stories https://www.zacharyprell.com/blogs/stories/ronny-sage

[dangerously-determined]

🦋

Zorana:1. “I’m worried about things changing between us when Aster goes to college. True, I’m only a year behind, and we don’t even go to the same school for high school, but I don’t know what it’ll be like without him around.”2. “I prefer hand-writing assignments to typing them, and I wish that was still more acceptable. Typing is tedious.”3. “I know that Digimon themselves may kinda fall under this category, but technological stuff like super advanced robots and AI freak me out a little. It took a lot of nerve to agree to give Elysium a try.”4. “My favorite moments with my siblings are probably those times where Nadine’s doing my hair while Kenneth plays video games and yells at people on Xbox or whatever. It’s nice to just relax with them.”5. “Driving is literally the worst, most stressful activity ever invented, and I don’t care what anyone tells me otherwise. It sucks and I hate it.”

Sparrow:1. I’m taking a drawing for non-majors class this semester and it’s really fun. We’re starting our midterm project, which is taking a small object and drawing it huge, and I’m using a licitar heart I picked up this summer in Zagreb.2. I wrote about a former friend for my personal piece in literary journalism and it was really cathartic. My next piece is gonna be about my dad, and we had a great conversation for it over the weekend. 3. One of my professors did something really shitty yesterday sorta in response to my disability accommodations, well-meaning probably but still, and I burst out crying in public for the first time since middle school. 4. I’ve been listening to the Le Chevalier d’Eon anime opening on repeat for hours and hours at this point. It’s the appropriate level of sad for my general mood lately. 5. When I turned 21 this past October, my first legal drink was a bottle of spiced mead. Because nothing screams celebratory more than renfaire booze.

[aster-go-brrr]

TINY XINYAN to soothe ur soul

[luxrestate60518]

Slideshow: International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Fireworks' by Jill Welham | IGPOTY

The winning photographs from the International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition 12 have been announced, with the top prize going to photographer Jill Welham of North Yorkshire, England for the above photograph titled 'Fireworks' that was submitted under the Abstract category.

Passionate about the cyanotype print process, 'Fireworks' showcases the details of three Allium heads created using a wet cyanotype process.

'This image of three Allium heads was created using a technique known as wet cyanotype. Two chemicals, ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, are mixed together to create a photosensitive solution which is painted onto the surface of watercolour paper and left to dry,' says Welham in the image's description. 'This process needs to be conducted away from UV light, and once dry the paper must be kept in a light-proof bag until it is used.'

In addition to Welham's photograph, we've rounded up the remaining dozen winners from each of the remaining twelve categories. The winning photographs were narrowed down from more than 19,000 entries from over 50 countries.

The IGPOTY Competition 13 contest is already taking submissions. You can find out more information and submit your work on the IGPOTY website.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Bressingham Gardens in Autumn' by Richard Bloom | IGPOTY

'Bressingham Gardens in Autumn' by Richard Bloom | IGPOTY

1st Place in Beautiful Gardens

Norfolk, England, UK

Glorious early morning sun bathed TheSummer Garden at Bressingham in rich, warming light. Ornamental grasses are featured with swathes of Aster and Rudbeckia.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Canon 16-35mm lens, 1/4sec at f/16, ISO 100. Tripod, cable release, polarising filter, neutral density graduated filter.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Farewell' by Andrea Pozzi | IGPOTY

'Farewell' by Andrea Pozzi | IGPOTY

1st Place in Breathing Spaces

Torres del Paine National Park,Patagonia,Chile

The sun had already risen and the dawn had been incredible. Wandering through the vegetation, however, I realised that the essence of the territory was only revealing itself in that moment. The extraordinary colours of the sunrise had dissolved, leaving behind a unique intimate feeling amongst one of the most beautiful mountain ranges on Earth.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-70mm lens, 1.3sec at f/13, ISO 200. Tripod, neutral density graduated filter, polarising filter.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Lost in the Lush Beauty' by Vincenzo Di Nuzzo | IGPOTY

'Lost in the Lush Beauty' by Vincenzo Di Nuzzo | IGPOTY

1st Place in Captured at Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, England, UK

Opening the door of the Palm House at Kew is like entering a hidden paradise. It never fails to amaze me how fascinated and stunned I become in the presence of such natural beauty. I took this photograph whilst my friend was having a similar reaction to the sheer scale and abundance of lush tropical plants.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105mm lens, 1/60sec at f/8, ISO 400. Post-capture: basic image management

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Cork Oak' by Scott Simpson | IGPOTY

1st Place in European Garden Photography Award

Gazebo Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain

There cannot be too many gardens in Europe that combinecork oaks (Quercus suber) with manicured gardens. I was commissioned to photograph such a place at a luxury real estate property in Andalucía. The garden had the added bonus of a raised gazebo, which was nestled amongst the mature cork oaks.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 70-200mm lens, 1/30sec at f/13, ISO 100. Tripod.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Greenbelt' by Halu Chow | IGPOTY

'Greenbelt' by Halu Chow | IGPOTY

1st Place in Greening the City

Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

I used infrared to precisely define the exact locations of plant life around the city, highlighting the scale and proximity of their presence. It is easy to forget the intimacy and importance of this relationship.

Gear/Settings: Canon IXUS860 IS, Canon 28-105mmlens, 1/100sec at f/2.8, ISO 100.Infrared converted camera.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Tropical Wonderland' by Jocelyn Horsfall | IGPOTY

'Tropical Wonderland' by Jocelyn Horsfall | IGPOTY

1st Place: Portfolios, Abstract Views

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, England, UK

The magical, dreamlike effect of infrared was the perfect way to express the mystery and exotic intrigue of the Palm House at Kew Gardens. I captured a selection of different plants and foliage to feature across the portfolio in order to show the subtle variety of textures and forms within this tropical paradise. Together the images vividly demonstrate the sense of lushness and tranquillity that the space provides.

Gear/Settings: Fujifilm X-E1, Fujifilm 14mm lens + Fujifilm 18-55mm lens + Fujifilm 18-135mm lens, 1/750sec to 1/125sec at f/7.1 to f/13, ISO 500 to ISO 800. Infrared converted camera.

Post-capture: colour tones matched across portfolio, Topaz filter, basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Lotus Tango' by Kathleen Furey | IGPOTY

'Lotus Tango' by Kathleen Furey | IGPOTY

1st Place in The Beauty of Plants

Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, Washington D.C., USA

There are many stages of lotus growth on display at theAquatic Gardens, but to come across two twisted dancing stems of Nelumbo nuciferawas unexpected and quite magical.

Gear/Settings: Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, Olympus 14-150mm lens, 1/320sec at f/5.3, ISO 200.

Post-capture: basic image management

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Colourful Fields' by Suwandi Chandra | IGPOTY

'Colourful Fields' by Suwandi Chandra | IGPOTY

1st Place in The Bountiful Earth

Sembalun Lawang, Lombok, Indonesia

I hiked to the top of Pergasingan Hill early in the morning to catch the sunrise. The view was amazing as it overlooked the rolling hills opposite and Sembalun village below. Since most of the people here are farmers, they transform the valley floor into a patchwork of agriculture, growing rice, vegetables and even strawberries.

Gear/Settings: Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm lens, 1/2sec at f/8, ISO 100. Tripod, neutral density graduated filter.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'View Over Trauttmansdorff' by Harry Tremp | IGPOTY

'View Over Trauttmansdorff' by Harry Tremp | IGPOTY

1st Place in The Spirit of Trauttmansdorff, a special award that celebrates the unique character and beauty of The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castlein Merano, South Tyrol, Italy.

The golden hour was just approaching when I captured this view of Trauttmansdorff in October, the green of the deciduous trees just starting to begin their autumn transformation.

Gear/Settings: Sony α7R Mark III, Sony 24-105mm lens, 1/50sec at f/13, ISO 400.

Post-capture: basic image management

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Misty Bayou' by Roberto Marchegiani | IGPOTY

'Misty Bayou' by Roberto Marchegiani | IGPOTY

1st Place in Trees, Woods & Forests

Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana, USA

The Louisiana wetlands are a giant tangle of canals, swamps and forests of palm and cypress trees that encompass the great Mississippi estuary. Populated by numerous snakes, alligators, birds and venomous spiders, the often-hostile environment is capable of stunning beauty. Every day at dawn and dusk we motored out on a small swamp boat –the only way to get around the bayou –looking for the best light and conditions. A fog finally descended around a singular majestic cypress (Taxodium), framed by the other trees and adorned with Spanish moss.

Gear/Settings: Nikon D850, Nikon 70-200mm lens,1/50sec at f/7.1, ISO 64.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Mount Rainier in the Mist' by Robert Gibbons | IGPOTY

'Mount Rainier in the Mist' by Robert Gibbons | IGPOTY

1st Place in Wildflower Landscapes

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA

I came across a spectacular array of summer alpine flowers on Mazama Ridge, including Castilleja, Lupinusand Anemone occidentalis, all adding character and texture to the scene as if by design.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 24mm tilt-shift lens, 1/13sec at f/20, ISO 200. Tripod.

Post-capture: basic image management

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Starlings' by Jonathan Need | IGPOTY

'Starlings' by Jonathan Need | IGPOTY

1st Place in Wildlife in the Garden

Snowdonia National Park, Wales, UK

A heavy snowfall brought a lot of hungry birds to my garden feeder. This old nearby tap provided a convenient resting place for this trio of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) while they waited for their turn to feed.

Gear/Settings: Nikon D3S, Sigma 500mm lens, 1/500sec at f/5, ISO 800. Tripod.

Post-capture: basic image management.

International Garden Photographer of the Year Winners

'Ladies of the Meadow' by Jake Kneale | IGPOTY

'Ladies of the Meadow' by Jake Kneale | IGPOTY

1st Place in Young Garden Photographer of the Year

Wiltshire, England, UK

The rising sun backlit this group of lady’s smock (Cardamine pratensis) in a Wiltshire meadow.I used the aperture to turn the water droplets into beautiful bokeh and created a smooth, clean and glistening background.

Gear/Settings: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 70-200mm lens, 1/160sec at f/7.1, ISO 100.

Post-capture: basic image management.

from DIYS http://bit.ly/2tm1Al1

[sbs-rp-blog]

Character classes?

As of Year 300, all New Arrivals are expected to reveal and register any inhuman/magical abilities and/or belongings during their orientation. Failure to do so, if thought to be intentionally deceptive, could result in the perpetrator being tried for criminal conviction. Individuals intentionally or otherwise failing to register are known collectively as DEFECTORS, an outdated term that many magic-users consider to be offensive.

Once a magic-user has registered their abilities, they are assigned a class that determines their position on a hierarchy of power. If a magic-user’s abilities can apply to one or more classes, they are oftentimes assigned the highest tier from their options (with a common exception found in Class three assignments).

CLASS 1 (NULL) – Class ones are sentient lifeforms that have no magical or inhuman abilities. They consist of approximately 70-80% of Apericus’ population. 

CLASS 2 (VARIANT) – Class twos are a small step above the class one tier, typically meaning that the subject possesses minimal abilities that may be considered inhuman and/or magic-based. Sometimes, these abilities are so downplayed (ie, lesser superhuman strength) that the average citizen wouldn’t be aware of a class two’s status as a magic-user unless previously disclosed.

CLASS 3 (ABERRATION) – An aberration can possess either small or great powers;  however, what sets this class aside from their respective lower and higher tiers is that the user’s abilities aren’t typically of their own accord (even if they’ve honed them as such). A class three can include, but isn’t limited to, subjects suffering from magical side-effects of an eldritch curse, subjects serving as a physical vessel for a higher power, subjects with the ability to summon an entity acting under their bidding, or subjects requiring the use of transformation rituals in order to access their abilities.

CLASS 4 (MAGE) – Class fours are talented and established magic-users that are often skilled in a specific field of magic. In some cases, class fours may even present themselves as such by adding a descriptive prefix to their class title (ie, a proficient healer might call themselves a White Mage).  

CLASS 5 (ABOMINARE/ORACLE) – Class fives are the first tiers to be divided into two categories: the Oracle and the Abominare. Subjects with a class five tier are known for their devastating, destructive powers (the Abominare) or their mass-regeneration, potent purifying abilities (the Oracle). While a majority of class fives report that a generous extent of their powers have been mysteriously subdued since their arrival in Apericus, authorities are still expected to be treat them with caution as if their full potential could be untapped at any moment.

CLASS 6 (ASTRAL) – Class sixes are unparalleled in power – so much so, that they’ve been equated with the prevailing Entities in this universe that are capable of staking claim in feral worlds and creating sentient life. Much of their powers are restrained, but it’s been rumoured that those more powerful than Apericus’ Guardian, Aster, have been able to keep their abilities intact. Class sixes approximately make up a mere 0.5% of Apericus’ populace.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Tomris Laffly's Top Ten Films of 2018

I am not the first one to say this, but I will gladly repeat it: any year is a good year for film for those curious enough to steadily extend their cinematic comfort zones outward. Now, if I may make a premature prediction: one day, perhaps in a decade’s time, we will look back at 2018 and determine it has been a momentous year for movies; not just plain great. 

For starters, 2018 has helped resurrect certain vintage brands of films that have been sorely missed in multiplexes. Dismiss rom-coms all you want, but Jon M. Chu’s lavish, hilarious and genuinely touching box-office winner “Crazy Rich Asians” not only brought an all-Asian cast onto the screens (a Hollywood first in 25 years, since Wayne Wang’s “The Joy Luck Club”) and proved (yet again) that the audiences will pay to see diversity in movies, but also restored the unfairly frowned upon genre back to its former glory. The old-fashioned charms of eternal happiness lured audiences to the multiplexes, making “Crazy Rich Asians” the top earning rom-com of the last decade with a ~$238 million gross (as of December 6) and a production budget of $30 million. 

Stuck with a confusing image between not a serious awards movie and severe heist thriller among other things, Steve McQueen’s thoroughly feminist and well, very entertaining “Widows” recalled the sophisticated thrillers of a different era even though it sadly didn’t become the box office success it deserved to be. But with its well-executed themes around gender, race and corruption and first-rate ensemble cast, I am confident that “Widows” will age as well as ���The Fugitive” did. (One day, we will look back and scratch our heads in bewilderment, wondering why this movie didn’t become a bigger deal.)

Walking in the rousing footsteps of “Hidden Figures,” Mimi Leder’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On The Basis of Sex” (opening December 25) proved an old-fashioned and inspirational drama doesn’t need to feel dated and can still talk to today’s audiences in refreshing ways. If Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s box office-winning “RBG” documentary is any indication, “On The Basis of Sex” can find a healthy audience among those desperate for real-life role models.

Documentaries continued to have a banner year in 2018. In addition to “RBG,” crowds were won over by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s heart-pounding mountain climbing saga “Free Solo” and Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?", about the legendary children’s television host Fred Rogers. Tim Wardle’s mind-blowing “Three Identical Strangers” also pulled in strong numbers while a number of documentaries focusing on the realities of small-town America (such as Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap,” Robert Greene’s “Bisbee ’17” and RaMell Ross' “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”) scored big with the critics. And let’s not forget Sandi Tan’s sensational “Shirkers”; an autobiographical lost-and-found footage docu-thriller about a group of female filmmakers cruelly manipulated in the hands of an entitled male teacher.   

Which brings us to the phenomenal year it has been for women in film, for both female filmmakers and women-led stories. Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” is still 100%-strong on Rotten Tomatoes with 198 reviews counted. Plus we got “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” from Marielle Heller, “Private Life” from Tamara Jenkins and “You Were Never Really Here” from Lynne Ramsay—three exceptional films I included in my below year-end list. On the female-led front, in addition to some of the above-mentioned titles, we got three period films—“Colette” (Wash Westmoreland), “Mary Queen of Scots” (Josie Rourke) and “The Favourite” (Yorgos Lanthimos) that engaged with female agency and enmity from various piercing angles. 

The horror genre especially didn’t disappoint when it comes to the female point of view. Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” (once of the scariest films and most assured directing debuts in a while) and Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” re-imagining put a unique stamp on 2018, distracting the audiences from its real-life scares. 

Additionally, our screens got graced with two young, promising female actors in breakthrough roles: we will hear from Elsie Fisher of Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie of “Leave No Trace” for many decades to come.

This year in American cinema gave us Bradley Cooper’s Lady Gaga-starring smash hit “A Star Is Born” and its centerpiece "Shallow," an original song for the ages; we witnessed tremendous imagination and originality in Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You”; and few heartbreaks approached the tenderness of Yen Tan’s under-the-radar indie “1985.” 

And from my perspective, the international highlights of foreign cinema yielded the more ambitious and adventurous offerings of the year: Pawel Pawlikowski’s stunning romance “Cold War,” Lee Chang-dong’s exquisitely paced psychological thriller “Burning,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Shoplifters,” Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy As Lazzaro,” Gustav Möller’s “The Guilty” and Xavier Legrand’s “Custody” are some of the standouts for me. 

But the real gut-punch came from Alfonso Cuarón with his masterpiece "Roma," a personal tribute to the live-in maid who helped raised him. It is the film that might finally get Netflix (who won Oscars for short and long form documentaries in the past) much closer to the Academy Awards race, and I’m not only talking about the Best Foreign Language film category. With a troublemaking model that unorthodoxly goes against exclusive theatrical periods (which it flexed for “Roma,” the studio’s most promising contender among other films like “Private Life” and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Netflix might finally experience a pivotal awards year, with micro and macro consequences for the industry that are yet to be seen. After all, this is the year that gave us a never-seen-before Orson Welles movie (Netflix again), a near-definitive moon-landing film (Damien Chazelle’s “First Man”), a swoon-worthy James Baldwin adaptation (Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk”) as well as a next-level, box-office smashing superhero film (Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther”) that might finally push the genre into the awards race. This year, anything seemed possible. As you will soon hear in “Mary Poppins Returns,” there is nowhere to go, but up.

Runner-ups: Widows, Happy As Lazzaro, On the Basis of Sex, Minding the Gap, Shoplifters, Crazy Rich Asians, Eighth Grade, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Guilty, Suspiria

Without further ado, here are my ten favorite films of 2018.

10. "Hereditary" (Ari Aster)

9. "1985" (Yen Tan)

8. "Custody" (Xavier Legrand)

7. "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" (Marielle Heller)

6. "Cold War" (Pawel Pawlikowski)

5. "First Man" (Damien Chazelle)

4. "Private Life" (Tamara Jenkins)

3. "Burning" (Lee Chang-dong)

2. "You Were Never Really Here" (Lynne Ramsay)

1. "Roma" (Alfonso Cuarón) 

from All Content https://ift.tt/2UDCSJc

[aster-go-brrr]

me and my 45 terabytes* of venti screenshots *number mildly exaggerated

[aster-go-brrr]

PSA: if u see this microorganism in ur notifs thats me, i got a new main :3

[aster-go-brrr]

AND FINALLY ONE LAST POLL

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okay i've posted it like two separate times on hoyolab BUT I JUST NEED TO SCREAM

vermillion hereafter is xiao's best artifact set (my dumb ass was wondering why he wasn't dpsing when i had him using viridescent venerer but that's neither here nor there).

the domain to farm it is in the chasm...

THE CIRCLET FROM VERMILLION HEREAFTER IS BOSACIUS' NUO MASK. HEAD IN HANDS. ALL THE STUFF FROM THE SET BELONGED TO BOSACIUS. AUUUUUUUUUU

[aster-go-brrr]

summer event thoughts so far:

1/ "simulanka exists in numerous worlds" (paraphrased very slightly) - is this a 4th wall break 👁️ 👄 👁️

2/ the "goddess of creation" is defo alice, the "goddess of prophecy" is defo mona's teacher, and i think the "goddess of fate" is actually signora/rosalyne??? so it's a hexenzirkel thing again which is no big surprise

3/ i miss golden apple archipelago :(

4/ nilou is so cute i love how she's like "welp. this is my life now. guess i'll live!" because i would simply be a heap on the floor absolutely freakin it

5/ HOW DOES THE WATER WORK IF EVERYTHING IS MADE OF PAPER

[aster-go-brrr]

this just occurred to me but what if venti also became a consultant or something at wangsheng funeral parlor together with zhongli DHXHDHDHFJA