#could easily post 100 parts with the amount of photos i have of this family

[shawsimmer]

part three :)

[dukeofgotham]

Why Duke Thomas is Bruce Wayne's Son Part One

Alright, so this started as me replying to someone on a batgirl server who thought that Duke wasn't Bruce's son. I thought this would make an interesting meta post, so here we are. If you have any additions or disagreements (please keep it civil :-) I would love to hear them.

I'm going to divide this into two sections, Legal & Emotional reasons. This will be part one, bc of the photo limit on posts. I'll link part two at the bottom of the post.

Legal

First of all, I think it's important to note that Duke is fostered by Bruce, at least at some point. Bruce was legally Duke's guardian for a decent amount of time starting near the end of New 52 and into Rebirth. I personally set it as the year The Cursed Wheel took place.

Now, how do we know Bruce took Duke in? Well, it's referenced several times in canon. First off, though, we have Bruce offering.

Batman (2011) #50

And here, in Batman Rebirth, is where Duke accepts:

Batman (2016) #1

Now, this next panel is the first example of Duke being said to be fostered/a ward instead of adopted:

Batman (2016) #1

Bruce implies that this is temporary, just until Duke's parents get better. At this point, they are still a little bit distant. I mean, they haven't started the Cursed Wheel yet, so of course they don't know each other that well.

Duke's parents are still alive, so Bruce doesn't offer to adopt him. Honestly, I think this sort of mirror's Dick's situation when he was a kid.

Here's another panel from later on in canon:

All Star Batman #1 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part 1)

Specifically the "taking me in" part.

Okay, if that's not enough, I have more more.

[More Under Cut]

In this next panel, Bruce says that Duke's parents are being kept on the grounds of the Manor:

All Star Batman #2 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part 2)

Duke's parents being on the Manor grounds, where Duke is, Bruce thinks is distracting him. Yeah, a bit cold. (But, he's Bruce. Oh, and he makes up for it later, in my opinion)

All-Star Batman #7 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part Six)

In these two panels we can clearly see that Duke lives in the Manor! He's spending time with Titus, and Alfred even brings him breakfast.

Batman and The Signal #1

Oh! Oh! Maybe when Duke actually calls him and Bruce family? Of course, there are the quotation marks. But that can easily be attributed to

Or maybe at the end of Duke's miniseries, when Bruce talks to Duke about school? (Side Note: Can we get more headcanons about Duke going to Gotham Academy? Because the canon basis is right here! Oh, and Riko went too! Just think of the potential!)

Batman and the Signal #3

Alright, I know there are two problems with this example. First, I know that Bruce hasn't adopted Cass in New 52/Rebirth like he should so you could say this doesn't count. But he at least has to do with caring for her (that would be a whole other post, but in Rebirth Detective Comics Steph mentions Bruce gave Cass an apartment and money).

Secondly, this takes place after it is said Duke lives with his cousin (I'll go over that in a sec). But, again, it at least shows that Bruce has to do with caring for Duke. In some capacity.

Alright! Now we have the only kink in the legal argument I've made. There is a scene in BaTS where Duke is in a bedroom with Izzy and Riko, and says he's living with his cousin.

Batman and The Signal #1

Okay, see how he says "I'm not a billionaire named Wayne -- but I'm responsible for you now"? This implies that Bruce was responsible for Duke, but isn't anymore.

Also, yes. Duke isn't under Bruce's care at the moment. But here's the thing: this hasn't been brought up in canon at all after this point. (Like a lot of thing sin BaTS, unfortunately) Yeah, it was thrown in at one point, but if you look at Batman and the Outsiders, and how much they were out of Gotham and traveling, it really doesn't make sense for Duke to be under the care of someone who doesn't know his secret identity (And Jay doesn't). So I, like other people, have taken to theorizing that Duke is back with Bruce. Though… with Bruce in current canon, that is iffy.

But even if Duke isn't under Bruce's car anymore… why does it matter? Look at Dick Grayson for goodness' sake! He was Bruce ward! And then there was a gray area when he went off on his own, and wasn't legally tied to Bruce. And then he was adopted. But did people consider him any less Bruce's son because of said gray area? No.

(Also, Tim. Not 100% sure if this is canon, since I haven't read that era of Tim's comics, but I have heard that Tim was Bruce's ward for a time while Jack was in a coma. And then, of course, Tim was adopted later after Jack died. If it isn't canon, and just somewhat widely accepted fanon, then the attitude of fans still matters. What makes Duke any different from Tim at that stage? (Though I don't think Duke should be adopted, but that's a whole other deal about loyalty to his parents, and the hope that they'll still recover.)

This brings me to the next part of my argument: Emotionally, Duke and Bruce are family.

Part Two Here

[bokunosimpfiction]

Yandere!Heisenberg x Reader Pt 3

A/N: Since y’all demanded a plot that’s what you’ll get. Will it be good? No. I’ve never written anything with a plot in my entire life. Ever. Not even when I did Nanowrimo or whatever. I just bullshitted the whole thing. Like I’ll do with this fic. Y’all are going to have to remind me to update because I have the attention span of a goat. I’ll try to update this on Saturdays??? IDK at this point. ALSO, WHY THE FUCK IS THIS SO POPULAR?????????? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY NOTES THIS HAS ON AO3???? 69????SIXITY FUCKING NINE??? I HATE EVERYTHING MY LEGACY WILL BE READER CALLING HEISENBERG DOOFSCHMIRTZ I HATE EVRYTHING DSHFUGSADFJ

Synopsis: You have totally, %100, given up on escaping. Totally. You haven't been gathering supplies for one, final last hurray. Nope. Totally not. All you have to do is persuade Heisenberg of that so you can change your mind at the last minute. Y’all know the trigger warning for this series but if you don’t tw:kidnapping (implied)

Taglist: it’s exclusivly @localdepressedvampire​  so if you want to be on it for just this story or for all my pieces fill out the google doc in my pinned post or dm me and I’ll put you on it. :)

             You’ve made a breakthrough in your long-term plan of escapism. Even with the mini escape attempts that were really about exploring the factory and less about actually trying to get out, you hadn’t made a lot of progress: until now.

             Well, two, really… Okay, maybe 1 ½. Firstly, you found a sawed-off two-barrel shotgun. With ammo. In fact, there was a various amount of ammo around the factory, but no actual gun. Until now. The second discovery, which is nowhere near as useful, was a window. Which was probably 50 or more feet up from the ground. You didn’t get a chance to inspect it that much, considering as soon as you saw it and got a glimpse at the far-off ground, you had to run again from Lycans.

             Which gives you a basic idea of a way to escape. You knew where the ammo was, you knew where the gun was and had a route to the edge of the building, and hopefully could find stairs at the end of the hallway. Now all you had to do was find a time where you could be gone long enough to get a decent head start before, he notices you’re even gone. Even when he was in the workshop, he kept a close eye on you, keeping you in arms-length to the point where it taxed on both of your mental health.

             And even then, in that chair in the small room, you watch him work in the finer details on something the size of your head and torso. You try not to look at the phone in your lap, he doesn’t even know you have it, much less how great the reception is in the building. How did he not know about his old phone that was still working fine? Oh well, he doesn’t need to know you’re looking at memes and reading feel-good wolf-star fanfic on ao3.

             The best idea you had was to leave him while he was asleep, but there were two some issues with that: he clung to you like his life depended on it, your back to his chest and arms around you almost tight enough to keep you awake; it was dark as hell in the hallways of the factory as is, but it would be impossible to navigate safely with the lights; and the Lycans were most active outside at night, which was where you were trying to go. They’ve tried to eat you before as they show no discrimination on food.

             The only way to get a good enough head start would be to leave while he didn’t notice you were gone, and wouldn’t notice for a long, long time. And that when it hit you. The only time he ever left you by yourself was when he had to deal with the other three lords. And while he left you in that basement that you originally woke up in, you had memorized your way out and found that going up five flights of stairs took you to that faithful widow.

             Would you have enough time to explore and look for an actual exit/entrance, or should you play it safe and find a way to go out that window. You wanted to laugh to yourself, you’d never think that going down a 50ft plus drop would be considered safe, but here you were, kidnapped and held hostage by one of the people your late grandmother warned you not to associate with, or even go near. The letter you received directly quoted “the four lords and their mother, Mother Miranda, are not to be approached or associated with at any costs. You’ll know them when you see them, they smell like death and money. See them and run.”

             You can’t help but find that ironic, considering that you did try to run, heeded her warning, and still faced the consequences that were far worse than she had warned you about. You regretted coming here, to this small village, when you first arrived: no friends, and even those you tried to approach held you to her standard and expected them to be just like her. You were far from her kind and optimistic nature (at least that’s what you heard of her; you hadn’t even known of her whereabouts until she was dead).

             Even the duke, who had helped smuggle you into the village, didn’t seem fond of you. It was a shame, you tried so hard to impress him. But he saw you to a point where you could easily reach her old cottage without having too many issues, turned his cart around, and left without a good-bye. It bothered you to no end that your only companion for about a year or so was an elderly outside cat and the creaking noises the walls made at night.

             And then the cat died and not even a week later you got kidnapped. You never considered yourself lucky, but damn if that wasn’t the worst streak of luck you’ve had in a long time.

             You pretend to turn a page in your book and scroll through your Instagram feed, seeing friends having fun at the beach, or studying at the library, or your old best friend taking selfies in provocative clothing to your ex-boyfriend. Did she forget he cheated on you? She wasn’t always the smartest, but she brought that heartbreak upon herself. You see a photo of your mom, she had posted a picture of a black and white photo of her with her mom, you’re guessing, you have no idea who that old woman is.

             This is the last photo I had with my mom before she died. We lost contact after I moved out. I wish we parted on better terms, Nana.

             She’s in a prairie dress, holding an ancient-looking key in one hand, and the other wrapped around her mom, a middle-aged woman with long hair in two braids and a face that had too many stress wrinkles. You guess your mom was as bad as you were in college. The background looks dreary. You would have guessed it to be the quality of the photo if you hadn’t recognized the house behind them as the house you lived in used to live in.

             The loops on the handle of the key look familiar. You spread your fingers apart to zoom in and see the blurry engravings on the side. It was the payment you gave to sneak into the village. You thought it was a worthless family heirloom at most and found it strange that he had even found interest in the key, or even valued it deeper than money in general. Maybe this photo or other photos of you and your family would help out.

             Why is that key suddenly piquing your interest? Were you that bored, as to sit there and think about a key that was at least twice your age? A key that you didn’t even have. You needed a hobby besides escapism and rejecting your captor’s sexual advances. You look up at him again, only to find him leaning against the desk, hat off and sunglass placed on his forehead, his gaze on you. It wasn’t his normal piercing one, that studied you and calculated your every move, but soft and lazy. His current gaze was dreamy; he was daydreaming about you. You found that equally undaring s it was unnerving.

             “Karl.”

             “Yes, Sweetiepea?” Honestly, what the fuck.

             “Firstly, why are you staring at me like that? Secondly, that is the most disgusting way to use that pet name. I need to take a shower after you called me that.”

             He chuckles light-heartedly. Even his softer more genuine, happy chuckles are booming and loud. “Okay… Sugarplum!” And he busts out laughing.

             Clearly dodging the first question and focusing on the second. You can’t believe you gave him ammo for his annoying-you-gun. And you thought you’d grown immune to most of his… less-savory traits. Were you growing used to him? Next thing you know you’re going to like him and develop Stockholm syndrome!

             “You’re a shit head, hobo magneto…” You turn your head away and let your hair cover half your face so he can’t see you smile. You’ll miss him when you escape and get the duke to smuggle you back to your home in Bucharest. But only a little. Just because calling Heisenberg these names are funny.

             “Why don’t you call me by my name, I know you know it.”

             “You sure about that?” You quip back.

             “You’ve lived with me for at least two months now!”

             “Hm…. I think I know your name! It’s uh…” You are totally faking not knowing his name. “It’s… Heidi Carlson? Yeah, that sounds about right!”

             “It’s Karl Heisenberg!”

             “Quit being so silly, Heidi! Maybe it’s nap-time!” This was a little too fun.

             He looks back at his project for a moment and genuinely considers it. “I know you’re being antagonistic but you’re probably right.” And with that, he walks towards you and goes to scoop you up. You have to shut your book quickly in order for him not to notice the phone in between its pages before you let him pick you up.

             He immediately notices that. “Are… Are you sick?”

             “No! Of course not!” Because you genuinely aren’t sick, and he’s already up in your business as-is, you don’t need him dotting on you because he thinks you’re sick or something. You’ll go fucking crazy.

             “You’ve put in zero effort into anything remotely physical since your last little failed escape attempt.” He gave it a little bit of thought. “You’ve given up, haven’t you, and you’re just depressed about it aren’t you?”

             You want to say no, you really do, but if Heisenberg thinks you’ve given up on escaping, perhaps it’ll give you enough space to plan the big one. The reverse heist so to speak. “No- I… okay maybe I have but I still don’t like you.

             He leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Good girl. Now let’s get us that well-deserved nap.”

             You plug your nose and turn away as a joke. “You���ve gotta take a bath first, you smell like oil and sweat.” You don’t fight it, because you have to play the part, but you still have to act a little bit like yourself.

             “Okay, fine doll, but don’t think you’ve escaped my barrage of affection, because as soon as I get out of the shower-“

             You bonk him. And he looks at you so confused before he smiles and leans down to nuzzle his nose against yours. You try to hold the bile back in your mouth and lean forward and peck his lips before leaning back. You failed at trying to not visibly gag.

             “Ew… I can’t believe I just kissed you.”

             “Well, I guess someone caught feelings… Didn’t they?”

[goldenpixel]

can u talk more about the feral boys smoking and examples of why u think they do? i’ve Always thought especially sapnap has, and him and dream probably smoke a lot together irl (also the way dream always clears his throat??) but i haven’t had anything to really back it up to other people other than a Feeling. idk if ur the same but .. yeah

Honestly, for the most part it is just a Feeling, I like to call it my Gaydar for Stoners, but Sapnap especially I’m like 100% sure

Other than the time that Sapnap straight up told Tommy he was high (which a lot of people write off as a joke, but I firmly believe he was just a little too high and forgot Tommy was streaming, which would explain Tommy’s “huh? This is weird and strange and has definitely never happened before” type of response), there’s also the time that Sapnap was on Dream’s stream and he lit a Hot n Spicy McChicken on fire with the blowtorch that was in arms reach of his set up (what other reason can you think of for a 19 year old to have a blowtorch in his bedroom - on his desk that he likely spends most of his time at - if not for dabs?), and then there’s also that one time pretty soon after the blowtorch thing that he could be heard igniting a lighter in the background while Dream was talking. And that’s just the things that I can think of off the top of my head

Dream is much more subtle about it, but if we look at his behavior in other people’s streams, especially Sapnap’s since they moved in together & Train’s latenight streams, you can’t count the amount of things he says/does that could very easily be attributed to him being high/a stoner. The big thing that I can think of right now is whenever he asks Sapnap if he wants food or Sapnap brings up their eating habits. I know that this can be explained away by them being young guys living on their own, but that combined with Sapnap being all but confirmed and Dream being very open about his mental health (weed can help anxiety, depression, and adhd among many others), just makes me think that he and Sapnap get absolutely blazed together. (also how he hesitates and giggles a little bit whenever someone asks him if he drinks or does drugs)

I think George used to smoke a ton, and probably still lights up sometimes, but not to the same degree that he used to. George was a party animal in college and statistically, British youth actually smoke more than Americans do, despite it now being legal in America. This one is not based in any fact at all, solely just an observation combined with the vibes, but every single one of George’s outfits that we’ve seen him wearing outside of his home are stereotypical seshfits (comfy outfits for the purpose of being as comfy as possible while high)

Most of my stuff for Karl, like George, could just be because he’s a busy gamer boy, but I’m gonna list them out anyway. First, every solo-Karl alt stream I’ve ever caught, he’s been absolutely schlumped playing some mindless game like slither.io, and idk about any of my fellow weed partakers, but when you’re alone, being slouched and stoned at 2am-5am playing something like that is one of the greatest things ever, especially when you’re listening to the music that he almost always is playing. Then there’s that photo I posted a while ago with Karl and Mr Beast eating the Dream Burger, where Karl looks absolutely blasted, and I’m sure if we were to go back through old photos, videos, vods, whatever, there would be many many more just like that photo. And remember that old photo of Karl when he met Valkyrae? He looks like the epitome of the nerdy kid in high school who everyone thinks goes straight home, does his homework, and then plays video games until school the next morning, but he actually has a major smoke sesh before the gaming starts, and if you’re the lucky one to figure this out, you’ll suddenly have access to the highest quality weed that that school will ever see

Quackity is the one that I’ve got the least proof for, just because he’s always so Quackity. Like, if that boy is smoking regularly, it’s gotta be pure sativa, or he’s just timing it perfectly that he’s rarely high on stream, and probably never on his own streams. I’ve actually been meaning to go back through his vods and see if I can find any substance to it other than vibes and the fact that I firmly believe the feral boys have had smoke sesh calls more than once

If anyone wants to add or refute anything, feel free!! I love discussing this stuff, cuz it’s almost certain that we’re never going to get clear answers cuz they need to keep up their mostly family friendly images. Swearing and sex jokes are one thing, but if parents were to find out that they openly smoked weed a lot of kids would 100% be banned from watching them

[trashcatsnark]

Oh, let me continue the subject of the jealousy of these two. You're saying that Johnny isn't the type to hold back when it comes to emotions. And it really is. But... there is a moment in the game when V talks about his exes or about stupid compliments in a conversation with River. And Johnny doesn't say anything. I would write it off as a scenario move, so as not to shift the focus from the River. But this isn't the only time Johnny ignores events in this quest line. See the second question

Part 2 for context:  So... I continue. Do you remember the moment when you watched brain damage and lost consciousness, when you and River were searching for clues about the mayor's murder? Johnny never ignored the moments when V passed out. Here River comes to the rescue, and you would think that he knows that there is someone to help and nothing to worry about ...But in similar situations with Judy and Panam, he would appear and deliver his moralizing remarks or make snide comments. 🤔

Personally, I do believe this is sort of a meta issue. I’ve talked about it a little bit before in a general post; how given his characterization, Johnny does not in my opinion talk as much as he should. In a more comedic example, I mentioned how could anyone honestly look me in the eye and say that Johnny wouldn’t have a comment on the guy with the exploding penis implant????  Like Johnny is majorly characterized as a guy who can’t leave well enough alone and always has something to say; yet theres a fairly large percentage of gigs and missions and moments where you’d think Johnny would have something to say and he doesn’t. There’s also times where lines are blatantly reused and in a jarring way.

Like, I could be wrong, but I think they reuse him saying “There it is” with both V getting Nibbles and a man committing suicide in a gig. Like????? 

Meta wise, I do think it’s partially a fear of over incorporating Johnny to the point players found him annoying. Because even now, some people find him irritating and wish he’d talk less. So, that could be a factor. The idea of not sidelining love interests is a factor of course. While, he has commentary through out each love interests questlines. He always does mostly bugger off during the romantic lead up and the actual kiss then sex. Because well, it might be a bit of a buzzkill and if you’re trying to get laid and Methed Out Future Keanu Reeves is yelling at you from the corner of the room. I mean, it’d probably enhance my experience but some people aren’t into that. 

As for why stuff like, him ignoring V getting zapped by the braindance in River’s quest. I’ve always thought that was ooc. Like, short of potentially the bd having fried him up for a bit, kinda like the emp blast does when V and Panam take down the AV. But overall, over and over again, Johnny is shown to be the first one there when V gets hurt. Even if its to yell at them for going into the toxic water or he waits a beat to appear once Panam is done looking over V. 

And that could be because they potentially again wanted to give more attention to River or... and I always hate to get into this sort of discourse, cause I know it aggravates some people. It was an oversight, something not caught, something not thought of, just because to be fair...River has the least polished questline of the love interests. The male love interests in general imo were sidelined more. But, River A) has the least amount of quests to build up to his romance, B) is the most easily missable love interest since he’s not even required to meet for the secret ending the way Kerry is. and C) this could just be my own personal experience, maybe cyberpunk 2077 provides unique bugs for everyone, but his quests are the buggiest for me.

And to be perfectly clear, this is not me being a dick to River. Do, I think some aspects of his character are kinda tone deaf, sure, but I like River. I think he’s a sweetheart, who’s usually pretty stiff, but has his cuter jokey moments and is a puppy dog underneath.  I love doing his quests because they’re truly very emotional, being able to help his family. Like, being able to save Randy is one of the best feelings in the game to me, knowing you saved him and so many other young boys. That’s why it honestly breaks my heart to see how little polish and attention his quests were given. From the calls glitching, him not staying on comms in the first quest, Johnny in my game doesn’t even give the dialogue warning my V about River wanting to sleep with her, like it just does not show up for me, The cobbled together family photo. The weird pacing of the romance that goes from 0 to a 100. Randy’s face glitches and clips through the mask when you’re saving him. Like the concept, the investigation, the intense stakes, and the emotional impact of his quest are all so good; but CDPR just did not in my opinion take enough time with it. 

So, maybe they didn’t bother to script and put Johnny in that scene despite it being something he’d most definitely pop in for; cause they just didn’t take their time with it like they could have/should have. 

And in regard to Johnny in universe and talking; while like I said he’s more upfront and direct with his anger and side comments that he uses to hide his real feelings. I do think, especially if its post oils field convo, a part of him tries desperately to bite his tongue and just sit with his feelings if he think its best for V. In the more love dovey romance moment with River, I could see him being like, “okay, V wants this, as much as it pisses me off, V deserves to have some good in their life” and tries to hold back and be good and then five seconds later “CANT BELIEVE YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME FUCK A COP” cause he can only behave for so long. 

And I do wanna note; I am by no means consider myself a Johnny Silverhand expert. I’ve said this before, his characterization and just him as a person can be very messy, very all over the place, and contradictory at times. He can try to kill V and then the next day pop up to chat with them in a diner and be like “why aren’t you happy to see me?????? you still mad?????? its been a whole ass 5 hrs since I told you to kill yourself and bashed your head into a window, gotta learn to let shit go dude.” So, sometimes I worry I’m making him ooc, but its fun nontheless, so. 

[cosplayinamerica]

COSPLAY THEME PAGE : ShareMyCosplay.com

Tell us about ShareMyCosplay, what was the genesis of the ShareMyCosplay? 

Share My Cosplay has gone through quite the journey to get to what you see today. I can still remember the day that I came up with the idea that would eventually lead to Share My Cosplay. I was eating lunch with a few friends at my day job. A friend of mine showed me a cosplay of Jessica Nigri as Pikachu, and because I worked in IT,  for some reason had an idea of doing a website related to cosplay. The actual website took a while to set up, but I started off slowly, with an initial launch on social media. We launched with Tumblr and Twitter, slowly building an audience. Then eventually a little bit later adding Facebook, and eventually much later introducing Instagram into the “family’. Eventually we added the website and have been going strong since then. We’ve of course made tons of adjustments over the years, and most recently started adding content on YouTube. It’s been a great ride so far, and hopefully it will continue.

What was your first experience with cosplay as well as the convention scene?

Like a lot of people who are into gaming and comic books, I was aware of cosplay, but didn’t really know much about it. It was only after looking into the idea of starting a site that I really got to know what goes on behind the scenes. It was meeting and talking to people in the scene that made me realize what an amazing community of people are involved. That is why I have continued the site for so long. As our social media following grew, I got to know more and more of the cosplayers, and was so happy I was able to use what I had created to help them gain more exposure. Share My Cosplay exists as a place where all cosplayers can have their work properly showcased.

As for conventions. While I live in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa is a relatively small city of one million people. Conventions have only really made it big in the last 5 years or so and before that were never a really big thing. I had travelled to other cities within Canada for some conventions, but those were mainly toy based conventions, so there would just be a handful of devoted cosplayers hanging out. It wasn’t until much later, when conventions started to take off, that our city got it’s own “Comic-con”. Then things exploded quickly. When our first Ottawa Comic-con launched, I was there day one, and the lineup was out of the building and wrapped around the whole building. I think it took a couple of hours to actually get into the convention floor. I could only assume it was similar to something like entering SDCC, but on a much smaller scale.

So while that has been a staple in our city for the last 10 years, I’ve also been traveling to Montreal Comic-con, which is a little bigger. Since there are maybe fewer conventions in Canada, people seem to come from great distances to show off the cosplays they had worked out. The dream has always been to try and get to SDCC, but that hasn’t happened yet. Travel is so expensive from Canada.

So for the short term I had set my sights on visiting NYCC, which is a “quick” drive from my area of Canada. However like all plans, they fell through. I had plans to go to NYCC and E3 in 2020, but of course those fell through because of what happened around the world. I miss conventions. One because they are such a great way to meet and interact with the cosplayers, and two, it’s one of the primary places we get content to share on our site and pages. So that has been lacking for us recently. Fingers crossed things will get back to normal soon.

How has cosplay changed over the years in your perspective?

Like everything you get to know, it evolves and grows over time. Being knee deep in cosplay all the time (my inbox once had 100+gb of cosplay submissions), I have certainly seen it change over the years. Obviously cosplays have become more elaborate in construction. Things like LEDs are so cheap now, I always find it amazing when people incorporate them into a costume. So the cosplay builds just get bigger and better every year. Also I find the resources on the internet have gotten better. Cosplayers are now able to find more detailed pictures of what they want to create, giving them a way better idea of what and how they will do it for a certain character.

Another thing that has changed, are the absolutely stunning Cosplay edits you’ll see on social media. So why the cosplay photographers have always been an integral part of the equation (we try hard to tag them when people include their details on submissions), the level that the editing on pictures has changed over the years is dramatic. You’ll often see the time-lapsed photo creations on Social, and they are just mesmerizing to watch. People put so much time into creating these worlds to help elevate the cosplay to the next level. That has certainly changed over the years. That being said, we still love regular shots of cosplay too, the amount of photographers that specialize in cosplay has jumped a lot too.

In general, it seems cosplay has evolved from a simple hobby where you could throw something together to wear to a weekend convention, to a full time gig where people spend months on at a time for each one of their creations.

How has ShareMyCosplay changed over the years?

In my eyes SMC has evolved greatly over the years. As the editor there have been two major changes, and I think it has improved the way we do things. The first thing would be, when we first started I used to go “collect” the cosplay that we shared. So I had to either go find it, or reach out to people. I spent a lot of time tracking down cosplay to share, that I personally thought was cool or very creative. As you can imagine this took a lot of time. So this has changed dramatically over the past 3 -  5 years. Now I’m happy to say that we are 99.9% based on submissions from users. So while there is less than 1% of content that we do go out and ask for, it is basically all based on what people send us to share. So that is why you see such a great variety of cosplay content on our pages. There is a downside to this in a way, as compared to some other pages out there that only feature certain types of cosplayers, some people enjoy that a bit more and those pages can have more of a following then we do. However we are really happy with the content we put out. 

Then the second big change, that has certainly led to better content for our pages, is the introduction of automation. When SMC first started, I had to do everything manually. Like I would be on Twitter or my phone doing everything live, and sharing items. It took up a lot of my time, and greatly affected my personal life. At times I think I must have been crazy, as this is a free service that we provide, and I was putting hours into each day. Now of course things have changed and the Social Media aspect of SMC is way easier to manage. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have official tools available that allow you to schedule your posts. So you can easily take an hour or 2 and work on several days of a week at the same time, or if you were really organized, schedule the whole week. So I’ve learned to embrace this a bit more and learn the ins and outs of it. This leads to a more constant stream of content that our followers seem to enjoy. Which seems to lead to more engagement from our followers.

What’s the best part / worst part of running a cosplay theme page? 

The best part has obviously been meeting & interacting with the community throughout the years. We do our best to present a positive place where everyone can share their cosplay creations. We’ve been invited to some really cool events over the years, and our team has been able to go to a lot of conventions all over the world. It’s been a fun ride.

The worst part for me personally, is that while our team has grown and shrank over the years, I do most of the work by myself. Sharemycosplay.com is run by a single person, me. Also for the most part there is a single person doing all of the social media. So I do my best to have content up all of the time, but sometimes life gets in the way. We’ve put a few calls out for people that might want to help with content creation for the site, but sometimes it’s hard to attract people interested in helping. Right now I’d love a few writers that could write articles that I could wrap around cosplay posts for the page. We will have to see how that turns out.

What future plans do you have for ShareMyCosplay?

I’m always looking to expand Sharemycosplay.com with new content. During the pandemic I’ve been off my normal schedule so unfortunately updates have been a bit slow, but hoping to get back to things. With conventions off the table for now for the most part, I’m trying to move in different directions. I’ve recently tried to put more effort into YouTube, but even that has been impacted by the Pandemic, so I’ve leaned more on gaming content. That is going to change as I’ve started a new initiative that I just launched on our page a few days ago called “CosplaySELF''. Basically we are looking to have cosplayers interview themselves, and us edit the footage into the “episodes' ' featuring 3 cosplayers. Hopefully those will start to be live very soon. We are already into the editing phase and hope to have the first episode live soon, over on our YouTube page. Keep your eyes peeled. Hopefully, as long as people show interest, this is something we will continue to create and upload on a regular schedule.

Is there anything that wasn’t covered you like to talk about?

 Lastly I want to thank you for taking the time to include Share My Cosplay in this interview. It really means a lot when someone else in the community that you respect, takes a moment out of their busy life to recognize the work you’ve done. There have been times in the past where I have considered possibly giving up doing SMC, but getting some recognition really helps put things in perspective and allows me to continue on. Hopefully Share My Cosplay will continue to grow over the coming years, and continue as a great tool for all cosplayers to use.

https://www.sharemycosplay.com/

[gamelpar]

It’s All About Fakes (100 sentence prompts fanfic)

Because I suck a writing even short stories or drabbles, I write 100 sentences prompts for the Fake AH Crew instead.

Some of them are inspired by moments in Let’s Play videos, headcanons, social media posts, or just comes straight out of the blue.

Feel free to take inspiration from the prompts or use them.

Prompts are written from a non-shippy perspective, but each prompt can be intercepted in whatever way pleases.

Also my first work, so let’s see how this goes.

Hey, why don’t you read it on AO3 instead?https://archiveofourown.org/works/24787825

1. How the Fake AH Crew got this far is a hell of story, and you can bet it’s one damn worth telling. (Fake it Til’ You Make it)

2. Ray was a sniper; he could spot bullshit a mile away, so how come he ended up in the Fake AH Crew? (On the Spot)

3. Sitting by the wheel of the red minivan Geoff sighed for the 67th time that day, still disbelieving the fact that they were not on their way to carry through a well-planned heist but rather enroute to the beach for some “splashing and slacking”, as Jack had called it. (Sunday Driving - To the Beach)

4. “The Vagabond says: it’s all gonna be murder.” (What the Vagabond Says)

5. Whether it was the Golden Boy or Gavin; Mogar or Michael; they wouldn’t leave each other behind. (Bois Forever)

6. Lindsay---being an absolute goddess as always---supports Jack in her telling for Fiona, and Jack couldn’t have been more grateful. (Women’s League)

7. Matt screws something up; Trevor is there to help him fix it; then Gavin and Alfredo is there to screw it up even more. (Nice Job Breaking It)

8. It’s Bake a Cake Day (according to Gavin) and it’s Gents vs. Lads (insisted by Gavin) and it will also be known as the day when Geoff’s kitchen met its undeniable demise (because of Gavin). (Bake a Cake Day)

9. Long story short: Michael breaks into an animal adoption center for a cat because Lindsay, and Gavin and Ray tags along because why the fuck not. (No Animal Came To Any Harm Except For Gavin)

10. A heavily tattooed man walks into a bar; later, a mad man and a lady in a Hawaii-shirt joins him. (It’s Not a Joke but the Punchline is Fluff)

11. Lindsay and Jeremy have dealt with shit going sideways longer than most people so they know how to make the best of it. (Failure is an Old Friend of Mine)

12. “I hereby announce that the official Prank Wars Week is in session!” (Oh No)

13. The Vagabond might be ready to die, but Ryan knows he’s not. (Ready as I’ll Ever Be)

14. The Lads---and Geoff---gets drunk as hell one night and starts a sock company. (Socks, There’s Socks Everywhere)

15. A boring Fake AH Crew means a dangerous Fake AH Crew and the residents of Los Santos better prepare for chaos. (Boredom Can be a Health Hazard)

16. Ryan gets hiccups and Ray thinks it’s funny until he gets hiccups, too, and soon everyone is stuck with hiccups and everyone blames Ray for some reason. (The Hiccup Disease)

17. When dawn arrives the Fake AH Crew will never be the same again. (Dawn After Battle)

18. Shopping weekends was nothing Lindsay used to do regularly, until Ryan one time decided to come along; then it became a thing. (Stuff We Do Together)

19. Even after leaving the crew, Ray would still have a home to return to. (Home is Wherever You Make it Be)

20. “No---we’re not twins, we’re not brothers, we’re not related in any way, so please for god’s sake, stop asking that.” (Stop the Questions Goddamnit)

21. Jeremy tried to apply more pressure to the wound but as the time on the bomb was running out, so did the blood. (A Mistake You Won’t Live to Learn From)

22. Someone knocks---no, pounds on the door to Ryan’s apartment at 3AM in the morning and Ryan’s still not that happy to being woken up in the middle of the night even if it is Meg waiting behind the door. (Late Night Visitor   or   Expect the Unexpected)

23. “Hey, guys, Fiona here---you’ll never believe this---but I’m stuck in jail and I need one of you to come and bail me out.” (Let’s Bail)

24. Matt is found alone sitting on top of the roof, watching the sunset, but what Geoff finds is someone who needs to talk and so he decides to be that other someone who listens. (Everyone Needs Someone Sometimes)

25. Gavin gets into trouble, which drags Michael and Jeremy into more trouble, and Geoff just wants to have a fucking drink. (Prepare for Trouble)

26. Gavin makes a statement, and Ryan feat. Alfredo makes it a hundred times worse. (Disturbance of Your Own Making)

27. Being welcomed by the sight of a bloodied and battered Gavin through the open door eliminates any tiredness and annoyance Geoff had worked up to having been woken up by a loud pounding on the door at 2AM. (Bloody Brit)

28. That was the way of the Battle Buddies; if one went down, the other had to keep on going, no matter what. (Broken Promise)

29. Nothing lasts forever, and Ray knows that better than anyone. (Never Say Forever)

30. The remaining Gents as well the rest of the Fakes would always be missing a part of themselves from now on. (Parts & Pieces   or   Next Step is to Move On)

31. The alphabet wasn’t enough to cover every brilliant plan the Fake AH Crew had in store, but they never settled for a single letter anyways. (Seven Ridiculous Plans and One That Actually Made Sense)

32. To the Lads, brighter days ahead is just an illusion they can only dream of in the aftermath of a heist gone wrong which claimed the lives of the Gents. (Miserable Lads)

33. It’s a story from being refused of coffee, to wanting to commit suicide briefly, to Trevor having made room for tea-parties with Jeremy, Gavin and Lindsay in his schedule every now and then. (Shut Up and Have Some Tea)

34. Really, it all started when Ray wouldn’t leave Geoff’s house one night. (A Place for Everyone)

35. Usually things doesn’t escalate this far by playing a simple Xbox-game but having ended up in jail, Michael and Matt doesn’t have much of a say about it and Geoff’s pissed. (Hate the Players)

36. Waking up in a dark room tied to a chair with no slightest idea of what the hell’s going on tends to lead to some anxiety-ridden experiences, especially when it is Gavin who finds himself in that situation. (Blackout)

37. No one wants to be the only sober one left to take care of a drunk crew, but with Ray gone Ryan just has to accept that this is his life now. (Trust   or   Sober One)

38. To think it all started that day when Jack saved a drunk man from being robbed in a dark alley. (Mind Your Manners)

39. Neither Lindsay or Michael would force Gavin to put on a brave face after a nightmare; everyone had fears and it was okay to be scared sometimes. (Sharing is Caring)

40. Matt’s life was just another pile of broken pieces until he met Jeremy, and suddenly he had some glue to put the pieces back together. (Glue   or   Glue My Life Back Together)

41. In the temporary apartment Ray was living in at the moment there was a vase by the kitchen window, always holding five red roses. (A Vase Full of Roses)

42. Geoff’s mood could easily be improved a 100 times better with some nice and warm socks. (Can Never Have Enough of Socks)

43. The crew quickly learned that pairing up Ryan and Trevor together would leave a traumatic amount of battered bodies and large pools of blood behind. (Madness In Me)

44. Michael’s life was like a puzzle; bits and pieces all over the place, some fitting, some not, some missing or broken, some didn’t even belong---and Jack standing there in the middle of it all being the only one who seemed to sense some kind of pattern. (Puzzles)

45. The Fake AH Crew weren’t good guys---they never would be---but that didn’t mean they were incapable of doing good, and they were by far the most decent team of criminals that had ever set foot in Los Santos. (Bad Guys Do Good)

46. Tears kept falling, slowly soaking the photo Jack held in her hand of her and the crew---not wanting to forget, yet not wanting to remember. (Remember to Forget)

47. The pink sniper rifle that hung on the wall would always serve as a reminder for the members of the Fake AH Crew that they were not immortal after all. (We Could Be Immortals)

48. Ryan’s an evil mastermind and that frightens Gavin a little, but the Golden Boy reckon it’s time to beat the Vagabond at his own game. (The Reckoning)

49. Kerry Shawcross crosses paths with the infamous Fake AH Crew completely by accident, and all hell breaks loose. (Welcome to Fake Hell)

50. The blood on his hands belonged to someone he knew---someone he cared about---and Ryan had never been more afraid of himself. (There’s Someone There But it’s Not Me)

51. It’s Pride Month and Jeremy really takes it up a notch when coloring his hair this time. (Rainbows)

52. Watching them Lindsay realized that while each of them all had lost so much, they had found even more. (Less is More)

53. Trevor would be better than Geoff ever’d been at scheduling heists and leading the crew, but he still gets to handle all the complaining from the crew so he isn’t as satisfied as he would like to be. (Point of No Return)

54. When the realization strikes him that he’s the only one left remaining, Jeremy falls to his knees in defeat and can’t stop screaming. (What Remains)

55. Fiona can never seem to stop messing with Gavin in any way possible. (A Step Too Far)

56. “Yeah, they’re all idiots---but they’re my idiots, so don’t you fucking dare lay your hand on them.” (A Bunch of Savage Animal Idiots)

57. Times have never been darker for the Gents as each of them struggles to cope with the deaths of the Lads in the aftermath of an coordinated attack. (Falling Inside the Black)

58. The day he met the Wildcard, Michael’s whole world finally started to make some sense. (Wild World)

59. Geoff’s constant drinking worried Gavin sometimes. (Drunk Concern)

60. Matt didn’t believe anyone would care enough for him to consider him family, nor did he believe he would end up in becoming a part of one. (Lost and Found)

61. Alfredo always wondered who Trevor really was underneath his iron suit of armor. (Armor)

62. Even when stuck in a seemingly never-ending coma, Geoff was never alone. (Not Alone)

63. Alfredo joins the Fake AH Crew with more blood on his hands than most people---including himself---would’ve expected. (Red Sea)

64. There’s a perfectly valid reason why Lindsay, despite not being his roommate anymore, is the only one who has a key to Ryan’s apartment. (Key to the Door)

65. Four times Jeremy and Trevor talked their way out of jail and one time they didn’t. (Another Approach to the Problem)

66. Lindsay tried, and that’s why she was still alive, even though everyone else that mattered to her weren’t anymore. (The Fake Among the True)

67. Fiona was her own knight in shining armor and no tower could ever hold her captive for long. (Green Knight)

68. There were days when Jeremy saw a way out, yet the light would always fade at the end of the tunnel, leaving him in the dark. (No Way In, No Way Out)

69. The others would never come back, and Gavin, walking in the wake of that horrifying truth, felt like an empty shell with nothing left to give. (Empty)

70. Trevor would give his life for the crew just like Geoff and Lindsay had. (Third Time Counts)

71. One time for when each of the Fake AH Crew members showed strength and one time when they didn’t. (No Shame)

72. Jack and Geoff shared a special responsibility for every member of the crew, and Michael was no exception. (Nightmare Terrors)

73. ‘Who’s the creepiest motherfucker?’ is a question rather avoided and unanswered. (Creep Contest)

74. All Michael felt now was a burning anger that refused to flicker and fade, and thirst for revenge than could never be quenched. (Road Rage)

75. The last time they all saw each other the city was burning, wounds were bleeding---figuratively and literally---and they never expected to see each other again. (One Last Time)

76. Jack liked to be up in the early, quiet mornings while everyone was still asleep, but she was seriously going to tackle Ryan into bed if she found out he was still awake at 5AM again. (Go the Fuck to Sleep)

77. He’d said he was going to visit, but Ray always pushed the promise further to its limits every time. (Liar Liar)

78. Five times a heist went to hell and one time when it actually didn’t. (Heisting Hell)

79. Not every backstory of the Fake AH Crew’s members is full of shattered dreams and points of no return. (Wanted)

80. Gavin missed home sometimes, but the Golden Boy didn’t. (Two Sides of a Coin)

81. Jeremy’s admiration of monster trucks stretches way back to when he was only a child, walking past a toy store. (Monster Car)

82. “You can leave if you want”, Geoff said, “No one’s going to stop you.” (Freedom)

83. The Vagabond was almost always in control after the Fall of the Fakes, mostly because Ryan let him. (Dead by Daylight)

84. Perhaps the next mishap won’t be so embarrassing for Alfredo, but life didn’t seem to like him much at all. (It’s Life, What Can You Do About It)

85. Four times Geoff said no to either Gavin, Ryan or Lindsay bringing an animal home, and one time he actually said yes. (Animal Addition)

86. So the members of the Fake AH Crew decides to steal their boss’ yacht again and Geoff’s as usual late to the party. (Yacht Party)

87. The crew goes to get some tattoos, and Lindsay is very sure of which one she wants to get. (Tattoos)

88. When Jack falls sick and can’t make her awesome lunch for the whole crew, the crew makes one for her instead (and Jack appreciates it even if it’s a little burned). (Faking the Chef)

89. The day Fiona joined the Fake AH Crew is a day Gavin will very well remember. (Bully)

90. The B-Team is usually there to clean up the messes, except for this time. (Don’t Leave Your Messes Here)

91. The whiskey burned his throat when he guzzled it, and Geoff wished that the liquor could burn away the pain and memories the same. (Burning Bridges)

92. The Fake AH Crew may look like they’re having the time of their lives, but the outside is designed to hide the struggles and issues that lingers underneath. (Inside Out)

93. With the Gents missing, the Lads stuck in a burning building, and the B-team cornered in a firefight, things does not look good. (Already Over)

94. The Fake AH Crew never failed to be impressed by Michael’s colorful vocabulary of swear words. (Words of Color)

95. Jeremy tries to cover up some traces of his past life from the rest of the crew; it does not go the way he wants. (Known to the World)

96. The Ring had been like home, but he wasn’t earning any money being beaten up every round in familiar surroundings, so Michael left---and ended up in Los Santos. (Ring of Fire)

97. The different paths that every member of the crew took for themselves led each of them to end up somewhere they never intended to be, but somewhere they were meant to be. (Pathfinders)

98. It was safe to say that every member of the Fake AH Crew had at least one weird obsession; some had way too many, and some obsessions were just what the fuck. (Obsessions)

99. The Fake AH Crew heists in style, or they do not heist at all. (Do it with Style)

100. The Fake AH Crew is made up of a selected (un)worthy and unique individuals---each one with their own story of whens, ifs, whats, whos, and hows. (Now That We’ve Come So Far)

[dansnaturepictures]

15 of the rarest birds I’ve ever seen 

I felt like doing a different kind of post this morning I have wondered about doing before. So below I talk through, in chronological order with the dates and places I’ve ever seen these species at and an indication of which photo (mostly record shots) I took of this species in this photoset for ten of the species, 15 birds which I consider to be some of the very rarest I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing over the years. 

Pomarine Skua - Seen from Farlington Marshes - 11/11/2007

A real throw back to towards the end my very first year being into birdwatching. On our first ever visit to precious reserve for us Farlington Marshes I notched up 100 birds seen in my lifetime with life ticks of a range of birds from Curlew and Meadow Pipit to Common Scoter. There was an event there that day where some volunteers/wardens had telescopes set up for you to look through and they’d point things out. 10 year old me had one of my luckiest ever moments in birdwatching to this day when one of the guides had found a Pomarine Skua in the harbour which we were able to look through the telescope at. An incredible and priceless classic moment of my early birding. 

White-tailed Eagle - Old Basing - 13/03/2011 and Slochd Summit in the Caringorms - 18/01/2019 

As someone from a town in southern England its unsurprising two eagle species appear on this lists its something of the ultimate bird really. Even if the Isle of Wight birds really change things for Hampshire birders the one that was around for a large part of 2011 is something we’ll talk about for years and after a five hour unsuccessful twitch for the bird at Hordle by the New Forest it was fantastic to be a part of it as we saw this gigantic bird when it had relocated to Old Basing in the March. It was just as joyful and a key part of my 21st birthday birdwatching trip to Scotland for a tour with Heatherlea when we saw the one in the first picture I took in this photoset fly over whilst travelling on the bus. 

Black-winged Stilt - RSPB Lodmoor - 05/05/2014 

On another very memorable and packed day last decade this was a species I had long heard of and wondered about seeing that we got a distant but brilliant view of that sticks right in the mind. We must try and see one again some day. 

Surf Scoter - Stokes Bay - 01/03/2015 

This one just had to make the list as I believe only the fifth record of one for Hampshire when we saw it. That choppy, blustery and largely wet weekend we turned up and could not see the bird first of all. With many people gone by the time we came back to the area after a dog walk at Gilkicker Point. We had seen our second ever Red-throated Dive fly by though identified by a kind man with a telescope. When back after the walk we had a glorious moment as we spotted a group of three birds in the sea. As the record shot from that day the second picture in this photoset shows (if you look closely enough) it was the Surf Scoter with two brilliant Common Scoters. What an exotic bird to see, simply one of my greatest ever birdwatching moments. 

Hoopoe - Crawley - 26/04/2015 and Badminston - 02/02/2020 

The only way to follow a Surf Scoter for new birds that year. This has always been a big goal of mine to see and it made my dreams come true in 2015 and then again earlier this year. Both times I enjoyed exceptional views of them. One of my best ever birding stories five years ago when we looked down the path and saw a load of birders in the optics as though they were looking at us but they were looking down on the path and there was the Hoopoe that had seemed to disappear beforehand! Another against the odds sighting and then this year with a few others on breaks and gone me and one other noticed the Hoopoe fly into the horse field. Hoopoe sightings don’t came along every year so you just have to truly make the most of them when they do and I will always treasure these moments. I took the third picture in this photoset of it in 2015. 

Greater Yellowlegs - Titchfield Haven - 06/06/2015 

For what’s now a modest amount of birds for me really of 168 that year for me a year always likely to be hindered by a lesser amount of locations we could visit with my late Nan’s dementia diagnosis, of the eight I saw 2015 sure did have one of my best sets of life ticks with alongside 2018 the most first sightings in this post. This one followed the Hoopoe and this special wader allowed more intimate views of a mega species perhaps which was amazing to see one sunny Saturday. I took the fourth picture in this photoset one of a few of it that day. 

Stilt Sandpiper - Pennington - 22/05/2016 

It beat the likes of Marsh Sandpiper two years later here, Long-billed Dowitcher earlier in the decade and then again and two Semipalmated Sandpiper sightings to this list in a strong pool of waders I’ve been lucky to see. There just seemed a lot of prestige about this distinctive bird and I have such fond memories of seeing it, the day after my football team won the FA Cup it was one of the weekends of my life. 

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Portland - 29/05/2016

Only a week after the Silt Sandpiper, a day after my first ever Corn Bunting and shortly before our first ever Nightjars in the New Forest this was the crowning glory of one of my greatest ever two weeks of birdwatching. It was all so shortly after my Nan passed away and I do wonder if there was something fateful about it all. This was a proper twitch going to Portland a big day trip for us on bank holiday Sunday in the sun. One I’d looked up what the bird looked like beforehand and when there it looked like we might not be lucky. Sensational though as we headed back down the path and it flew right over our heads! I got a beautiful view of it and knew instantly what it was. What a moment! We then watched this divine species settle and I got the record shot the fifth picture in this photoset of it. A top moment in a year I didn’t see a Common Cuckoo.  

Barred Warbler - Titchfield Haven - 09/12/2017 

One of my greatest birds of 2017 and one of the rare birds I’ve got most closest to over the years. A phenomenal few minutes getting crippling views of this bird in a bush very close to the visitor centre of this the first reserve we ever visited. Certainly one for photos and posing and I loved taking the sixth picture in this photoset of it. 

Crested Tit - RSPB Loch Garten and another part of the Cairngorms - 18/01/2018 

When I finally found out my guesses were true and I’d achieve a dream of visiting Scotland and not only that the Cairngorms for my 21st birthday present that all of my family had paid for Crested Tit was one of the first species to see that sprang to mind. Only weeks after the Barred Warbler we were treated to wonderful views of this precious species as the seventh picture I took in this photoset shows. What a powerful moment I will never underestimate how lucky I’ve been to see this local to there specialty of a bird in the snow. 

Capercaillie - Cairngorms - 18/01/2018 

Of all the species seen in Scotland on those phenomenal two days away, new for me or not in the mountains or the coast, this was truly one of the most special. That very brief view of this gigantic bird the whole tour group got flying in the snow was the stuff of legends and dreams. They could so easily not be something I can see as I get older on for many reasons and I sort of feel it was quite a peak moment in my birding. I just can’t put into words how much of an honour it was to see this species. 

Golden Eagle - Strathdearn - 18/01/2018 

To cap off that day in Scotland which is one of the best in my life, unprecedented in the last decade for how much I was seeing that was new, it was another eagle now one of my favourite birds that I always had the dream of seeing. My Mum had seen one as a teenager in Switzerland so I always needed to catch up and it felt like a massive moment. As we saw 5+ soaring about on a sunny day in the snow it was just sensational some of my best ever memories. I feel so much happiness about that moment it was a fairytale for me it really was. I felt for myself this day just how special seeing even one of these birds are and what a true bird of wilderness they are. Seeing them on and around snowy mountains was so special. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of one summing up my feelings for the birds seen in that moment. 

Brown Booby - Kynance Cove - 03/09/2019

This bird was in quite a different league as we timed our Cornwall holiday perfectly when two of these megas showed up on the Cornish shores. It turned out two of the first three ever to be recorded in the UK last year. We got there to see crowds looking over at rock on that gloriously sunny day. One kind person let us look in his telescope and we instantly saw what a beautiful and very exotic bird it was. This one we will talk about for years and years to come one of my finest birdwatching moments ever. I’m glad I could take a record shot or three as it was I believe of it, one the ninth picture in this photoset. 

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Farlington Marshes - 15/09/2019 

How do you follow seeing Brown Booby was a valid question last September, it turned out with this super and pretty rare bird itself. On a generally special day for me after seeing my November 2018 Redshank photo displayed at the photography competition exhibition at the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve open day, that Sunday we could not resist following reports to come here and see this bird. On another big twitch we got lucky getting an exceptional if fleeting view of this amazing bird in vegetation. I managed the record shot the tenth and final picture in this photoset of it too. One of the rarest birds I’ve ever seen and definitely the rarest at Farlington since the skua on our first ever visit in 2007. 

Great Bustard - Toyd Down - 08/02/2020 

Ending with this year one of the more iconic names on this list. A species reintroduced fairly locally its a crime I hadn’t really tried to see one earlier I suppose but we put that right just before the named storms arrived in February to come to this new Hampshire location for us and again in a kind person’s telescope after a good chunk of time looking when we saw it we instantly recgonised it and it filled my heart with joy on a generally amazing day of birds and photos for me and a butterfly too. 

[btsandvmin]

Collection of asks - BTSandVMIN

Some of the asks I answer I personally feel are worth saving, for me personally, and perhaps for you as well. But I don’t want to put them all in my Masterpost since there are so many and I am sure the list will grow. So I am putting the ones I feel might have something worth reading in one place. 

Thank you all for asking me interesting questions and liking my posts. Asks are written more in the moment than my usual posts, so they might be less accurate as it’s all mostly from the top of my head. The newest ones will actually be on top, and then they will get older going down the list. I’ll update it regularly as I answer more asks. :)

Jimin was so clearly in need of cuddles from Tae as soon as they saw each other

Odd if none of them shared what they did during vacations

It just feels scripted, just like when they're talking abt what each other did during their vacations

100 days of winter bear and jiminie wears something that makes him look like a baby bear

About BV4, do you think it’s weird that Taehyung only found out about what Jimin did during his vacation on the day Jimin was back?

Dionysus stage as battle of gods and V=Apollo(God of Sun) and JM=Artemis(God of Moon) and their dance and wearing twin earrings(as the gods r twins) and I just remembered your whole vmin sun and moon theory

Is Tae Jm's mirror in bighits's fictional world?

Do you know what is the full video of this youtube video "BTS Jimin chose V ? VMin Moment?

When BV: Malta was airing, Jimin would post pictures of each episode on Twitter and stopped on the episode that Taehyung arrives

I'm like a hardcore Km shipper (romantically) since 2016 but i have to agree every song Tae has written connects with Jm

We don't see vmin together often... so yeah jikook could be more real then vmin

I'm trying to find tweets that vmin send to each other on their birthday but I can't find the one that jimin send for tae in 2017 did he send one? 

The new run bts episode was really filmed in May?

Did Jimin released Promise on Tae's birthday?

I am working on a Vmin analysis which is currently 24 pages just in text. O___o

He calls JM "My Baby" but the subtitles put in by BH say "Good Boy" Why would they change the translation. 

Shipping sometimes seems pointless. Especially when "moments" between one ship can easily be spotted with another. 

I can't believe that some fans thought that vmin were not friends anymore because a game!

It's so cute how Jimin and V talked about arguing with each other over small things because they are close friends

I think people who unfollow you are Multishippers who believe in other ship

Is it kind of weird that vmin has never went on a trip by themselves? 

Seeing all the vmin interactions of this last concert, do you think this might be a reason why BH will not give us vmin duet?

I would love to read ur vmin story

Concerning the nightmare before Christmas thing

The Disney birthday project turned up to be false

Jimin thinks V is "mi bb' What does the question mean?

I don't think we'll get a Vmin song

BTS, 191009_ ICN INT' Airport Departure) at 40 seconds

Where do you write fics? I really want to read your fics...

It's interesting to see the way the bh editors work

Where is the vmin break up mini movie video from?

Do you ship Jimin or Tae with k pop girls?

The members trying to break off a vmin moment on cam?

Is it true that bts don't live together?

What do you think about the concept photos? (PERSONA)

What other vmin blogs do you follow or check regularly?

In an usa interview where jimin was kinda leaning on the male interviewer for a few seconds and suddenly tae was looking kinda tense

Did you catch up on everything for bts or/and vmin before the BS&T era?

You should see @vlovers19 blog

I'm sorry if you think I offended you or judged you

Do you know that Tae hold hands with other member even Suga or they all hold hands with each other so it's not only a VMIN thing

About bon voyage 3 and them not sharing rooms and the car

4 oclock is supposedly dedicated to jimin, why Tae waits for him in the park if they live together?

Imagine my surprise when i saw vk/ook,ji/kook were the most popular. I tried to understand but i still don’t get why

Do you think vmins lack of or th reduced amount of skinship comes from the fact that they are same aged friends? 

Other ships (kpopidols) that you like?

Part of me wanted Taehyung to be in Paris too

The boys being apart of the lgbt community that's unrelated to their relationship

If someone in BTS is gay he will try to date girls or maybe marry a girl in the end?

If vmin are really together and if they were to come out, how do you think they would do that?

I feel like they use the word "friend" instead of, idk, "boyfriend”

You saw the hk concert right?

Unknown nickname in his thank you note for “Dark and Wild”

When did Vmin started dating?

Bv3, I ain't getting over it.

I feel like vmin have been sexually involved for a very long time 

Any thoughts abt Tae's three rings on his right hand and always not wearing one on his ring finger?

In bts festa profile 2015 when jimin wrote tae's profile he drew a character that reminds him of taehyung

Did u see the second trailer for bring the soul documentary series? 

In one of your asks you said jk wasn't having a great time in 2017

Are you gonna make a post about vmin sharing rooms?

What would be your top 5 favorite vmin moments? 💜

Run episode to Jm and JK "Are You Guys dating ?"

Barely getting any vmin content

Sometimes i cant help but feel really weird about vmin and feel insecure

Maybe you should just ignore all the asks about other ships

Sharing a car as proof

Docskim not being allowed to release the behind story of Lie

Getting it out of the way… (about various other ships and “proof“)

What are the moments that seems most like "proof" to you? 

Have you seen the Vlive remember party?

At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to personal interpretations and preferences

Do you know why T/ae and J/imin toxic stans really hate each other?

Is it being "delusional" for some vmin fans to think scenery, promise and 4 o' clock are related to vmin?

When will u start answering anons again i really miss ur insight and wise words 

I feel like jimin is forcing himself the affection he is showing is mostly forced

Do you have twitter?

The Rkive Vmin moment when JM ‘refused’ Tae’s cuddle

They were often looking behind cameras and it really shows like in episodes 59&60

Do you think there's a big reason that vm don't do Vlives together anymore

Vmin shippers spreading misinformation in aid of our ship?

Can I use one of your gifs? (I don’t make my own gifs, sorry)

Did you see what Tae said? ie I miss you even after being apart for 10 seconds

When one is clingy, the other will try to act as if it's bothering him

My friend is convinced Ji/kook is real

About namjoon's vlive, "it's a broadcast"

Oof is it just me or the sexual tension was through the roof between vmin in that vlive?

Tae says "our armys are watching this so... " so uhm was that..?

Where does the soulmate thing comes from with vmin?

Taehyung is more open both physically and showing affection wise with every member except Jimin

Have you seen the moments from today's concert? Fukuoka

They can do whatever they want people will say they're such good bros and won't look into it

Holding each other's hands is probably the least platonic thing that they keep doing

Do you know any good vmin analysis youtube account/videos?

why do you think jk and taehyung might not be straight?

Guys, I love vmin so much!

I really like your analysis!! a lot of good points. Can I add a couple things I noticed?

How long do you think vmin have been dating?

u really think vm is real?

Vmin are really bold these days

We get to see them bicker 

The video jimin posted where he's sending hearts to Tae

Feel conflicted about the rise in popularity

I’m a bit worried about the attention Vmin is getting recently

U answered my jik ask so well

Tae being bold because he's bursting with affection

Jimin admitted he was jealous

About the families (+kimchi ep. mini analysis)

About vmin/ji/ook/tae/kook

The whole maknae line

Never seemed to be in the same team

When people "ship" them?

Showing their bond more

About Jikook

About vmin being the less popular ship

Flustered vmin

Yeontan vlive

About the airport moment

Do you think that vmin live together?

About vmin rising in popularity

Do you have a link for that moment during New Year's 2016?

Platonic/bro label on vmin

More than friendship between vmin

My reply - Making Vmin videos

Thank you! A small reply

About my bias

Opinions above people

Once again, THANK YOU ALL so much for loving Vmin so much and for coming to me with your lovely messages. <3

[homerenovationvancouver-blog]

The Kitchen Renovation Doesn't Have to Be As Painful As You Might Think

You've reached your own personal tipping point: the toaster won't work when the coffeemaker's on, you're down to one working burner on your stove, only one person can be in the kitchen at a time so your family eats in shifts, and finally the microwave blew on the morning of your big presentation at work, and you decided, "Enough is enough. We need a new, functional kitchen!"

You're not alone. Usually everyone has a particular tipping point; that one last thing that sends them into the renovation pool. You try to hold on for as long as you can because you're dreading the noise, the dust, the inconvenience and the disruption to your daily life. When your space becomes unusable, it's time to do something. But you can't just jump into a renovation, particularly one as costly, time consuming and inconvenient as a kitchen renovation, you need a well thought out plan of attack if you're going to pull it off in the quickest amount of time with the least amount of inconvenience and expense.

Start by developing a Design Plan: A renovation will only be as successful as the research and planning that's put into it. Like any business proposal you develop for work, you need to have a clear goal of what you want to achieve with the renovation. Do you yearn for updated electrical wiring, maximizing storage space, adding an eating area, appliances that work?

You can start by popping into kitchen renovation stores to look at the latest available features in kitchen design. Speak to the staff, tell them you're at the beginning of your journey and see if they have any ideas for you.

Cut out photos of kitchens you love from magazines and put them in a folder. Identify why you like the kitchens you've chosen - is it the space? The lighting? The colour? The style of cabinetry or countertops? It is even helpful to give your designer images of things you definitely do not like. That way they won't propose those very things in your dream kitchen. When you determine what you really want, it will help your kitchen designer draw up the plans that suit you.

If you have a friend who's recently renovated her kitchen, take pictures and identify what you like about it as well and stick it in the folder with your other pictures.

Toronto architect Jacqueline Rhee says that when she sits down with potential clients and they say to her, "Design us something gorgeous," she has to explain that they aren't giving her enough information. She says, "What their idea of 'gorgeous' is and what I might have in mind could very well be two different things. Maybe they want French Country, but I have an idea that they might prefer a sleek contemporary kitchen." The more direction clients can give their designer about their likes, dislikes and what their goals for the space are, the better the design can live up to their expectations.

Budget: The good news regarding a kitchen renovation is that it tends to be a good investment. The Appraisal Institute of Canada estimates that a kitchen renovation will return 75-100% of your investment if you were to turn around and sell your home. However, the sky is never the limit, even for Donald Trump. Just as you would plan your company's annual marketing budget, you need to develop a budget for your kitchen renovation. A general rule of thumb for how much to spend on a kitchen renovation is up to 10-15% of the value of your home. But don't feel like you have to spend that much; if you can do more with less, do it. For example, if your cabinets are in the right location and sturdy but just tired and outdated, consider refacing them. Refacing comes in at about 50-75% of the cost of new custom cabinetry.

Hiring a Kitchen Company and/or Contractor: Most people hire a contractor or kitchen designer through word of mouth. If you've been to a friend's recently renovated house and you like what you see, start asking questions: Who did the work? Did you work well together? Was he on time and on budget? Is the end result what you expected? Was he well-organized or did you scramble to get finishes at the last minute? Were there any major problems during construction, and if so, how did he handle them? If you liked the answers your friend gave you - assuming your friend isn't shell-shocked from the direct grilling she's just received - get his card. Now, find at least two other contractors and/or kitchen companies so you can compare quotes.

Meeting with the Designer and Contractor: If, while you're meeting with a designer or contractor, your gut tells you that no matter how great the work is you couldn't stand being in the same room with him for more than a minute, cross him off your list of candidates. You may have to meet with this person every day. If your personalities don't mix, you'll never be able to solve problems together. Likely, however, if you're getting that vibe, the contractor or designer is too; it's best to part ways before a relationship has begun.

If, on the other hand, your first meeting is fantastic and you're bowled over with his enthusiasm and ideas and you get along as if you'd known each other your entire lives, you still need to do your research. Ask him how many jobs he can handle at once and how many he has going currently and make sure he is bonded and insured.

Further necessary research - the internet is your new best friend: Researching kitchen companies and contractors has become a whole lot easier with the age of the internet. Now there are websites which are specifically focused on capturing word-of-mouth reviews from consumers online. If the companies you're interested in using don't have any reviews, you may want to look at other companies that do and compare their services. Also check out the company's website. If they don't have one, you have to wonder how professional they are.

Another tip you can try is entering the company's name in search engines like Google and Yahoo!. You may find some feedback people have posted on them on various forums. You can also post a question asking if anyone has ever used this company. Finally, check the references he or she gives you as well, talk to a few of his past clients and go see the work he or she did for them.

Once you've chosen your designer, contractor and/or kitchen company, get ready: Ask yourself if you can live through the renovation by setting up a second kitchen in the garage or basement. Do you have toddlers who would be better off away from the construction site? Make arrangements to be out of the house for a specific amount of time and make sure that you and your project team have discussed the most reasonable move-out and move-in dates.

Did you have to factor furniture storage into your budget or can it be wrapped and stored on site? Again, your contractor will tell you which is the best option depending on the size of the job and your storage space availability on site.

During the renovation: Assumptions: One of the breakdowns in communication between homeowner and contractor is in assumptions made by one party or the other. For instance, one woman had purchased bathroom sinks and fixtures for a brand new home. The contractor saw that the powder room fixture would be outfitted with separate taps and a faucet and so drilled three holes in all the sinks because he assumed that all the fixtures were the same. Unfortunately, they weren't and the homeowner had to replace the other fixtures to match the holes.

But incorrect assumptions can just as easily be made by the homeowner. A homeowner handed a water filter kit to the contractor and asked him to install it. The homeowner had read on the box that the water filter was good for the whole house and could be fitted on the main water supply. When she returned at the end of the day, the contractor had installed it under the kitchen sink. She'd never told him where it was to go, she had just assumed that he knew it was meant for the entire house.

Problem solving: In any renovation, no matter how minor, there always seem to be unforeseen problems. It's not as surprising as you might think. What happens behind the walls stays behind them until they're ripped apart. Up until then, you might not know that the insulation used was actually newspaper, or that the plumbing went through the wall that needs to be demolished. How your contractor and you handle these problems depends on how proactive your contractor is.

During Sue and Leon's main floor renovation, the designer had called for the laundry room backsplash to consist of stainless steel tiles; beautiful, but at a cost of approximately $5,000. Sue balked. The contractor suggested instead a row of the tiles, two feet high, just behind the washer and dryer at a cost of $500. Sue was grateful that contractor made her aware of the costs and had an alternative suggestion for her.

The end result -- your dream space: Living through the dust, noise and strangers in your house for weeks to months on end can be tiring. Even though you get along well with the crew and your contractor, you can find your temper becoming short, particularly if there are delays during the project leading to prolonged construction. Recognize that delays are often unavoidable and that one day, you will be back in your home, the workers will be gone and your new beautiful kitchen will be all yours.

On-line Resources: This Old House: This website is a DIYer's dream. There are videos and tips on probably every aspect of renovating a kitchen. Kitchens.com: A wealth of information on everything you ever wanted to know about kitchens, including information on "greening your kitchen." Better Homes and Gardens has an extensive section on renovating your kitchen including an "inspiration gallery" to give you some ideas. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: CMHC has an excellent website for any renovation or home purchase. The kitchen renovation area has downloadable charts you can use for reference guides as you go about your renovation planning. Appraisal Institute www.homerenovationvancouver.ca  of Canada: The Renova section of this website allows you to input the cost of your renovation and it will calculate how much of a return you would receive if you sold your home.

[yay855]

World of Final Fantasy: What They Did Right, What They Did Wrong, and What They Could Do Next Time

Every so often, I like to write out a post detailing a game I’ve recently played, and how I believe that future sequels could improve upon it. Well, as I recently started replaying World of Final Fantasy, I feel like I should start on that, now that it’s both fresh in my mind, and yet I’ve experienced it all.

First off, What They Did Right:

* The number of mirages out there is surprisingly large, numbering at 180 total (not counting DLC and unique mirages). And yet, each one feels rather enjoyable; either they fall under the same family (and thus, are excusably just recolors of a different mirage, as is tradition for the series), or they feel genuinely unique in look and use. In addition, many mirages can easily switch between multiple different families, allowing many to find further use even in an area where their element wouldn’t be that great.

* The characterization is great. Lann is a jokester who’s simple but lovable, Reyn is a braniac who gets frustrated at others but is also eager to join in on their fun, and there’s a lot of lively NPCs out there- like Vivi, who’s so eager to please and just so adorable. Many characters feel like actual people, even some that get little screen time.

* The skill trees feel so wonderful. Though they’re a bit confusing, and filled with a lot of “filler” skills (aka minor stat boosts), it’s still enjoyable to fill it all out, only to receive a special skill or major stat boost as a reward.

* Tama is a wonderful talking mascot, being adorable but not annoying, even despite her verbal tic. Her banter with Lann and Reyn is always fun, and she’s a very good battler as well, with very high stats.

* The encyclopedia entries are filled with little jokes that make them enjoyable to read.

* The game returned to an Active Time Battle System, something they haven’t done since Final Fantasy 9, though X had something similar, and the Active Dimension Battle System didn’t even have random battles or special battle screens. Still, the system feels good to use, and the UI for it really helps make it clear who goes next.

* The user interface is easy to use. It has a lot of screens to push through that each take a moment to pull up, but you never get lost in it. The only real issue is that it pushes that weird four-button-prompt UI at first, though it’s easy enough to switch to the classical style.

* The stacking system is an interesting way of both simplifying and complicating battle strategy, and makes you really think about what stacks you make. It allows you to even combine abilities together to make more powerful ones, which I enjoy.

* The AP system, while flawed, provides an interesting way of using abilities, due to it slowly regenerating over time, and even some mirages having abilities to restore it further.

* The Jiant/Lillikin transformation system is neat, and allows for more unique combat styles with the stacking system. Furthermore, many characters are admittedly suited for being so small and adorable, such as Vivi and Bartz.

* Mega Mirages are fun and enjoyable, and really make you feel their worth.

Next, What They Did Wrong:

* There are a lot of mirages that are difficult to find. This might not be much of an issue, if not for the fact that many elemental attacks are difficult to come by, especially Light. And Light-element attacks are almost necessary later in the game to beat a lot of difficult bosses. There are a grand total of two monsters you can find in the wild which can even use Light attacks, one of which a rare random encounter, the other an optional and easily missed boss, both in the exact same area.

* The Stacking System is 100% necessary for combat in almost every case. The only real use for it is in capturing certain mirages, and restoring AP quickly. But the former is extremely situational, and the latter leaves you weakened and defenseless. Stacking should not be a mandatory feature.

* Your two protagonists are forced to be part of the stacks until you beat the game- and there’s no New Game+ mode which lets you keep the ability to not use them. Maybe there will be with the upcoming Maxima expansion, we’ll see.

* The skill trees are rather unclear in terms of what does and does not carry over between forms. Is it all green-colored tiles, or only green-colored skills? Why would you have some skills and abilities not carry over at all? Why not just let all mirages have access to every skill you’ve unlocked on their family tree?

* Many mirages have limited skill trees, which don’t fully unlock until very late in the game. This ends up causing many of your more-powerful mirages to simply not be used, in favor of ones you can continue to upgrade, leaving them underpowered in the late-game. Furthermore, all new mirages you capture start at level one! And leveling is very slow in this game, at least until you reach the mid-end game.

* I’m personally not a fan of random encounters. I prefer Dragon Quest 9′s version, where the enemies are visible on-screen, and the player can avoid them if they want.

* There’s an area in early-to-mid-game where you lose all your mirages, skills, spells, and abilities... including skill trees. They give you new mirages to use, but you’re still forced to use melee and whatever damaging items you have on hand. Furthermore, in this area, they introduce the Eldboxes and Machines... and then don’t even bother using them again until much later in the game.

* The user interface, and even some of the dungeons and towns, can get laggy. It isn’t enough to make it bad, but it’s still unpleasant. Though keep in mind, I play on the PC version; I don’t know if others have a similar experience.

* You never get more AP. There are ways to get around that, but the fact is that your AP is always stuck at 4 per party member, with a total of 12 for a full stack. This is simply unacceptable; you end up having to rely on either Ethers, or specific abilities to get by; otherwise, you wouldn’t make it to the final boss of the dungeon with even half AP.

* Magic is almost necessary in this game. While there are a decent number of mirages with a melee focus, there are far, far more that use magic, and very few that use elemental melee attacks. And given that you can’t check your foe’s stats other than their resistances and weaknesses, this ends up making you steer towards magic for both characters. Furthermore, Lann is built for melee combat, and Reny for magic... except that they never explain that, and you can’t easily find their stats.

* So many characters simply don’t look good in Lilikin form. While it can be amusing in some cases, the fact is that characters like Cloud, Lightning, and others simply look ridiculous, and you can’t take them seriously.

* The ending cinematic looks terrifying. It has photo-realistic levels of detail on top of an almost storybook-type design on top of chibi characters; this causes an intense uncanny valley effect, where you’re forced to look away in disgust while these characters are singing and dancing in celebration. It’s fine in the game CG and anime visual styles, but that ending is just.... eugh.

* Mega Mirages are often not very useful. Even when they’re at your level, they tend to be overly specialized in one area, even though many of them have abilities in each category. But the end result is that, at least in my experience, Cerberus (which is the only XL-size mirage you can get until the mid-late game) has three different magic skills, and yet deals less damage with them than I would deal without using it in the first place.

* At the endgame, you are forced to play through multiple minigames to proceed. This might not be such an issue, if not for the fact that they’re all ridiculously difficult and poorly-explained. The Cactuar Mini-game has the foes disappear far too quickly to actually hit them, and so you’re forced to just attack one specific area before they even pop up in the hope that you get lucky and hit something; the Blitzball minigame has its shots fire far too slowly to be at all accurate; and the Figaro one is just minesweeper, something that the target audience of the game have never played, and it also has poor UI.

Finally, What They Should Do Next:

* Tweak the mirage rate, and add detailed explanations of where to find them. Or at least provide hints of where to find mirages of certain families and powers. Don’t make any one type difficult to get, especially if you have an area full of mirages weak to that type.

* Allow for up to nine characters in your battle party at once, making for a max of 3 full stacks.

* Change the stacking system in the following ways:

1. Make stacking a special ability tied to Joyride and Follow. Those with Joyride can have others stack on top of them, while those with Follow can stack on top of others who don’t have Joyride.

2. Stacking should cut the values of each stat (though not weakness) by 25%, save for Agility, which is determined solely by the mirage on the bottom.

3. High-topple attacks should be far more common.

4. You can use your turn to alter your stacks- not just stack and unstack, but to choose who gets on, who gets off, and who replaces who.

5. Show the exact effects of stacking in the menu. Let us see what skills we would gain by stacking certain characters together, as well as the full changes to our stats and resistances.

6. As a result of this change to the stacking system, Reyn and Lann won’t need to be part of any stacks in the party.

* Make AP a stat itself, similar to health. While it shouldn’t increase like health does, at least make mirages have a varying amount of AP, perhaps ranging between four and ten.

* Make all skills carry over between mirage forms.

* Instead of mirages being able to switch between different families, make it so that mirage families are completely open, perhaps with branching paths between each form.

* Replace random encounters with respawning enemies visible on-screen.

* If there has to be minigames, at least make them fun and optional, instead of overly frustrating and mandatory.

* Add in more elemental melee attacks.

* Add in multiple playable human characters who can replace the main protagonists, perhaps with each human character functioning as a different class. I understand that Maxima will add this, but it really should have been in the base game, instead of having Lann be melee-focused, Reyn be magic-focused, and neither one have any actual special abilities beyond what Mirajewels they equip.

* Increase EXP scaling for under-leveled mirages. If you’re going to add elemental-themed areas, then at least make it much easier for our mirages to get to the appropriate level before we hit the boss.

[tuesday5econlive]

Boba Economics and COVID

From first glance, the topic of my post may seem silly. But to be honest, boba is a pretty big part of my life. I am one of the biggest boba enthusiasts you will ever meet and I am also a boba barista at Sharetea (going on 7 months soon!). Although I did not have to experience working during the transition from “normal” life to the pandemic life, I recognize the changes that occurred for the business. My top boba shop list has definitely evolved, but Sharetea is close and convenient, so I have been a loyal customer since it opened 3 years ago. Looking back and examining current circumstances, I am able to interpret the different effects that COVID had on the economics of my boba shop.

Opportunity Cost

The principle of opportunity cost was put upon Sharetea customers right at the beginning of the pandemic. Go out and order boba to be happy for a little? Or stay home and stay safe from this unknown yet deadly virus? Personally, my family and I were not so hot on the idea of risking our lives for boba, so we had it delivered to our house. However, many people may not be willing to pay the extra fee for delivery. So they either choose to go in store (potentially risk exposure to the virus), or just not have boba at all. However, now you see people are more comfortable which came with more information discovered on the virus and the vaccines produced. People are reckless as well, and there are times when Sharetea can be absolutely packed, so I have to tell customers to wait outside while we make their drinks. There isn’t as high of an opportunity cost for people now. The possible one at hand may be, stay home and be sad? Or get some boba and become happy? People turned to different things to make themselves during the time of isolation and boba has shown to be high on the list, including myself. Mental health is very important and people buy boba to make themselves happier, even if it is something small. 

Supply and Demand

Prior to the pandemic, Sharetea was a top hangout spot, particularly for high school students. Because of this, business was always booming. However, as COVID-19 progressed within the first few months, Sharetea suffered a loss of customers. People were afraid to leave the house and did not want to risk dying. To add onto this, people were losing jobs and didn’t have the necessary funds to purchase boba and put their money towards necessities. Because of these changes, the demand for boba tea decreased and the supply did as well. However, as more findings about the virus arose, people felt safer and the other changes began to improve as well. People were more “brave” and were fine with leaving the house. People began going to boba shops again and demand increased. Sharetea responded to the increase in demand and purchased more ingredients in order to reflect an increase in supply. The fixed cost of the drinks never change (unless another topping(s) are added), so it doesn’t play a large factor in the relationship between supply and demand. 

Different Effects in Cost

Sharetea’s management faces both variable and marginal costs. The examples of variable cost include; direct labor costs, cost of materials, sales commissions, and utility costs. Direct labor costs may fluctuate with the amount of time that an employee works. My salary was even decreased when we changed our hours to accommodate the curfew that was in place in California. The amount of materials needed are dependent on the demand for boba tea, so it can change as well. With or without COVID circumstances, Sharetea is an example of a firm that illustrates marginal cost. One drink (with or without boba or some other topping) costs $4.50-6. To add an additional topping, it costs 75 cents. This is demonstrative of marginal cost because per additional unit (toppings) is an extra cost.

In the top photo, the price depicts an order if it were to be placed in-store. The photo below it shows the price of an order placed through Grubhub. The mango milk tea price difference is 50 cents and the wintermelon with fresh milk price difference is 50 cents as well. It is a little over a dollar to buy online and this is without delivery factored into the price. These differences represent the concept of variable costs. The price is affected by the amount of drinks purchased and how far the person lives (delivery fee). 

Competition

On top of struggling with the loss of customers and having to adjust to new CDC guidelines, another boba shop opened a few streets away, Tastea. It seemed like we would have the upper hand, due to us showing decent quality throughout the years. However, Tastea has higher quality ingredients and a bigger menu. Due to this, this gained the attention of customers that previously frequented our shop. However as time passed, we gained our customers back. People tend to explore competitors of other firms to compare prices and quality of goods. As it turns out, even though Tastea may have better (I agree it is very delicious) options, their service honestly sucks and time taken to make drinks is far longer than Sharetea. In a way, customers face trade-offs. They can either decide to have a larger menu and better quality drinks or quick but good service and mediocre drinks. 

Incentives

In order to attract more customers, Sharetea holds a buy one, get one free offer every year on its “birthday”. We give out one black milk tea with boba with every single drink purchased. The event goes on for three days, and brings in lots of customers. The deal was perfect, given the fact that our firm was suffering from customers lost from our competitors. Given that this is a really good deal, people were incentivized to go to Sharetea during the celebration. This benefited our shop (and definitely drained our employees!) and honestly business has been better since then. 

Conclusion

It is quite interesting to see how easily one could apply economic concepts to something so simple such as boba tea. I enjoyed learning from this class and know that the concepts I learned can be applied to everything in life, right at this moment and in the future. 

BONUS~My go-to boba shop list and specific orders:

OMOMO: Oreo Brulee Matcha Green Milk Tea, 80% sweet, less ice with boba OR Strawberry Yakult Tea, 80% sweet, less ice with boba

TASTEA: PeachMe Sweetea, lite sweet, less ice with honey boba OR Strawberry Milk Tea (BUT substitute the black tea for green tea base), lite sweet, less ice with honey boba

TAN-CHA: Uji Green Tea with Tiramisu Foam, 50% sweet, less ice with boba

SUNRIGHT: Strawberry Matcha Milk Tea, 50% sweet, less ice with honey boba

SHARETEA: Mango Milk Tea, 0% sweet, less ice with boba OR QQ Happy Family Milk Tea 0% sweet, less ice with boba OR Handmade Taro with Fresh Milk, 100% sweet with boba

Ailani Minda C. Toledo (#87009115)

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: 11 ways to meet credit card bonus minimum spending requirement

s Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information. Many travel credit cards feature excellent bonuses for new cardholders. However, you generally need to spend a particular amount on your new card within a specific period to earn the bonus. And, the amount of spending required to earn some bonuses may be more than you would generally spend. As such, a question I get frequently is, “How do I hit the minimum requirement if I don’t normally spend that much on credit cards?” After all, you don’t want to make unnecessary or extravagant purchases. So, today I’ll discuss 11 ways to satisfy the minimum spending requirements on a new card. Get the latest points, miles and travel news by signing up for TPG’s free daily newsletter. In This Post Important considerations (Photo by Orli Friedman/The Points Guy) Before I introduce ways to meet a minimum spending threshold on a new card and earn a bonus, it’s important to address three critical points. First, note that paying the card’s annual fee usually does not count toward the required minimum spend amount. Second, make sure to read the fine print regarding eligibility for the sign-up bonus or welcome offer. Some cards restrict sign-up bonuses to those who have never had the card before or to those who haven’t opened or closed a card within the card family within a particular amount of time. And other cards exclude certain types of purchases from counting toward the required minimum spend. Finally, understand that the period for meeting the minimum spending requirement begins when you are approved for the card, not when you receive the card in the mail. For certain issuers, you can request expedited delivery of your card. And some issuers may provide a virtual number upon approval so you can start using the credit line immediately. But, generally, you’ll have to wait a week or more to receive your card. Related: The best elevated credit card offers to sign up for this month Pay your rent or mortgage Paying your rent or mortgage could help you earn the sign-up bonus, and it could even be worth paying a fee to do so. (Photo by Rawpixel/Unsplash) The first method to consider utilizing is to pay your rent or mortgage using your new card. You may be able to find a landlord, apartment complex or bank that will allow you to pay your rent or mortgage by credit card without a fee. But this is relatively rare. However, you could use a service like Plastiq. Plastiq currently charges a 2.85% fee for the privilege of using a card to pay bills you usually wouldn’t be able to pay with a card. So, it usually only makes sense to use this service to meet a minimum spending requirement or to earn a card perk that requires a high spending threshold. Related: 13 expenses that you should not put on your credit card Pre-paying insurance, utilities or other regular expenses You can prepay some expenses to help reach your minimum spending requirements. (Photo by Cavan Images/Getty Images) Another way to boost your spending is to prepay certain expenses. Many utility, phone and insurance companies will bill you monthly but allow you to overpay. So, you might be able to add an extra $100 to your utility bill payment for the first three months of card membership. Or, you could prepay three or even six months of insurance to ensure you’re reaching the amount needed to earn the sign-up bonus. Another option would be to pay an annual or biannual bill early.  If you’re struggling to hit a spending requirement, it could make sense to look ahead and see what bills are coming due soon. Likewise, it could make sense to prepay other recurring expenses in your life. However, before doing so, make sure you’ll still be able to pay your card’s statement balance in full. Related: 9 things you didn’t know you could pay for with a credit card Offer to pick up the tab when dining out with friends Dinner with friends can help you reach your minimum spending requirement. (Photo by Dan Gold/Unsplash) An easy way to generate “free” spending is when you’re dining out with a large group. Even though I’ve sung the praises of travel credit cards, many of my friends and family members still use cash or even debit cards when we’re at a restaurant. I’ve also run into situations where the waiter or waitress is unwilling to split a check. So, one option is to offer to put the entire meal on your card. You can then have your friends or family give you cash or send funds via an online service like PayPal or Venmo. Because you receive the funds to cover their portion of the bill, your only actual out-of-pocket expense is your meal. Of course, you may not want the hassle of chasing down any less-than-reliable friends who don’t pay immediately. But if you can manage that wrinkle, group meals can help you meet minimum spending requirements. An excellent tool for easily splitting the bill is an app called Tab. It allows you to split and itemize a bill. And it even divides up the taxes and tip based on what each person ordered. Once you have the app installed, you can take a picture of the itemized receipt and break up the bill as needed. Related: The best credit cards for dining out, taking out and ordering in Donate to charity If I need help meeting a minimum spending bonus, I usually donate to one of my favorite charities. (Photo by Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images) Although many people tend to give cash or write checks to their favorite charities, it’s usually possible to make a donation using a points-earning credit card. Some credit cards even provide category spending bonuses on charitable donations. If you’re looking to finish off a minimum spend, donating to your favorite charity is a great way to do so. Related: How you can donate your points and miles to charity Pay your taxes Tax payments are an easy way to meet minimum spending requirements on a new card. (Photo by Natee Meepian/EyeEm/Getty Images) Tax season is upon us. Luckily, you may be able to pay your taxes with a credit card. For property and state taxes, you can use ACI Payments, Inc. as a third-party service. And you can check the IRS list of tax payment service providers to consider your options when paying federal taxes. However, be sure to consider the fees associated with each method. These fees may negate the value of any points you earn. But, in some cases, it can be worth it. This year I’ll likely use PayUSAtax, an IRS-approved payment provider, to pay my federal taxes with a credit card. This provider charges a 1.96% fee for using credit cards. But, that fee is well below the return you’ll get when working on a welcome bonus. Even for ongoing points earning, you may find it worthwhile to pay taxes with a credit card. Related: Guide to paying taxes with your credit card  Pay for tuition Tuition at any level can be a considerable expense. (Photo by Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash) Tuition for daycare, private school and university can be expensive. But, paying those bills with your new credit card can be an excellent way to hit your minimum spending requirement quickly. When it comes to paying tuition with a credit card, you’ll usually face one of three scenarios: Tuition cannot be paid with a credit card at all Tuition can be paid with a credit card with no fee Tuition can be paid with a credit card with a fee You’re out of luck with the first category unless you can use Plastiq. And with the second category, it’s an easy choice to pay tuition with a credit card since you’ll earn rewards. Meanwhile, with the third category, it’s once again up to you to crunch the numbers and determine if paying a fee makes sense. If you have no other feasible way to hit the minimum spend threshold, incurring a fee to pay for tuition with a credit card will likely be worthwhile. If you’ve already graduated but still have student loans, you also could use a service like Plastiq to make your student loan payments with a credit card. Once again, make sure that the bonus you’re earning is worth the extra fee. Related: Best credit cards for college students Use plastiq to pay bills Even if your landlord, university, daycare, gym or utility company doesn’t accept credit cards,  you may still be able to pay for these expenses using a service like Plastiq. Of course, remember to check that the fees you’ll pay are worth the reward. Related: Your vendor doesn’t accept credit cards — what now? Purchase points or miles Buying points and miles can allow you to unlock fantastic redemptions. (Photo by JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images) Here at The Points Guy, we usually don’t recommend purchasing points or miles unless you have a planned redemption in mind. But purchasing points or miles with a credit card can be an excellent way to hit a minimum spending threshold, especially if you’ll be able to use these points soon. If you plan on going this route, it’s best to wait for a bonus points promotion. It’s also best to purchase points after you’ve already found the award space you need for a trip. That way, you have a good idea of the value you’re getting and are less exposed to the risk of an award chart devaluation. Related: When does it make sense to buy points and miles? Put a down payment on a new car You may be able to use a credit card to pay for part of a new car. (Photo by alexfan32/Shutterstock) If you’re in the market for a new car, consider using a credit card for your car purchase. You may not be able to charge the entire purchase to your card, but you could still get a sizable chunk of your minimum spend out of the way with a down payment. Many dealerships will let you put $2,000 to $5,000 on a card, but it’s best to confirm a final deal with the salesperson before discussing that possibility. Of course, this is only a good idea if you were already planning on purchasing a car. Related: Can you buy a car with a credit card? Here’s what you need to know to drive a hard bargain Get reimbursed for business expenses If you work at a bakery, your employer may be willing to reimburse some urgent grocery expenses. (Photo by gpointstudio/Shutterstock) It’s best to get a small business credit card to keep your personal and business expenses separate. But, if you’re in a pinch and have a limited-time window to meet the minimum spending requirements on a new credit card, it could be worth using a personal credit card for business expenses and getting reimbursed. Check with your employer to see if it’s possible to use your personal card for business expenses. But be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. After all, it can take a while to get reimbursed. So, you may need to pay the balance on your card before the reimbursement from your company hits your bank account. Related: 5 ways you might be eligible for a business credit card without realizing it Ask friends and family for help Your family may have some expenses they’re willing to let you pay for with your new card. (Photo by Mark Edward Atkinson/Getty Images) If you’re out of ideas when it comes to meeting the minimum spending requirements on your new card, you could enlist the help of trusted family or friends. For example, when TPG contributor Ethan Steinberg was in college, he would pay monthly bills for his parents using his cards. And, they’d Venmo money to him immediately after he paid their bills. However, I only recommend paying the bills of people you trust. After all, you’ll ultimately be on the hook if they decide not to reimburse you. Related: How TPG staffers helped family members choose a credit card Bottom line You can use one or more of the tips discussed above to earn the full bonus on a new card, even if you don’t usually spend enough. However, make sure you have enough funds in your bank account to pay off the statement balance in full each month. After all, paying interest or late fees will effectively decrease the value of any bonus you earn. Additional reporting by Nick Ewen and Ethan Steinberg. Featured photo by WAYHOME studio/Shutterstock. #S-cc #CreditCards

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/11-ways-to-meet-credit-card-bonus-minimum-spending-requirement

[laughingatmynightmare]

It was the morning of my high school graduation, and as much as I was downplaying the significance of the moment to my family—being excited about school events was so lame—I couldn’t help myself from glancing at the clock every fifteen minutes as the evening ceremony approached. Although I couldn’t show it, this was the biggest moment of my life so far.

After showering, re-showering in Axe body spray, and spending an obnoxious amount of time directing my dad how to place each individual strand of hair, it was time to put on my graduation gown. The smallest gown my high school offered was akin to wrapping myself in a large, black tablecloth, which took a great deal of maneuvering and patience on my dad’s part as he wrangled it around my twisted frame. At one point, I contemplated whether graduating from high school was even worth the bending and the yanking.

In the living room, my grandparents were waiting with giant grins to take photos before we left for the arena where the ceremony was taking place. I made sure to smile as seldom as possible. I did, however, become fascinated by the way I could swing the tassel on my cap from left to right with a swoosh of my neck. While the minutes ticked down, I daydreamed anxiously about driving across the stage in front of thousands of people.

What if my hand slipped off my joystick and I careened off the stage in a fiery explosion? That would probably ruin the graduation experience for most of my family and friends.

What if I was unable to grab the diploma from the principal’s hand? Hopefully, in my fifteen seconds of limelight, I could avoid one of those awkward disability interactions that happen so often throughout my life.

What if no one clapped for me? Oddly, this was my biggest fear of them all.

I’m not sure if it was the heavy black tablecloth hugging my body, or the nonstop worrying, but I was a giant puddle of sweat and nausea by the time we exited my house. It was an unusually hot June afternoon, so the sun only escalated the issue.

I will never forget the look of sheer panic on my dad’s face as I rolled down my driveway and he said to me, “We have a problem. The van won’t start.”

“What do you mean it won’t start?”

“It won’t start!”

“Can’t we jump it?”

All of my feigned indifference to graduating immediately vanished when I was suddenly confronted with the possibility of not making it to the ceremony. While my family could easily pile into another car for the drive to the arena, my accessible van was literally my only option. There are no accessible taxi or limo services in our area, especially not with last minute availability.

With growing distress, as he dug around in the engine, my dad responded, “It doesn’t seem to be the battery.” He gave me some explanation about engines, but all that stuck was the fact that my van was inoperable and I now had less than two hours to figure out how I was getting to my high school graduation. It hit me in that moment how essential my van was to my lifestyle. I relied on it, and I even began to take it for granted. Mobility was not a gift; it was assumed. Now, in what was quite possibly the worst timing in history, that mindset was flipped upside down.

My family sprang into action. My mom began calling bus services while my dad called truck-driving friends of his to see if we might load my wheelchair into someone’s pickup. My brother and I posted on Facebook, asking if anyone had an accessible van we could borrow for the day. My grandparents called their friends and asked their friends to call their friends. Nothing was panning out, and I was becoming increasingly distressed.

With less than an hour to go, when all hope seemed to be lost, my dad’s cell phone rang. It was a nursing home from one town over. One of their employees happened to know my grandmother, and also happened to be the nursing home’s shuttle driver. He offered the van to my family for as long as we needed it. Even better, he said he could deliver it to us within ten minutes. I couldn’t believe my luck.

Looking back, this life event provided me with a newfound appreciation for the accessible van that my family has always had. Even in bizarre circumstances like my graduation, my independence and freedom have never been limited by lack of access to a vehicle, and that is a beautiful privilege for which I will always be thankful.

We are so passionate about our current van campaign for exactly that reason. With your help, Laughing At My Nightmare, Inc. will be able to provide an accessible van and all of the freedom that comes with it, to someone in need.  

In the end, I did end up graduating from high school that night, and I’m happy to say that people even clapped for me as I took my diploma. So, on one hand, there may have been dozens of angry nursing home residents whose shuttle bus never showed up for the 7pm Cracker Barrel outing, but on the other hand, I did not put that stupidly uncomfortable gown on in vain.

You can contribute to our campaign right here and 100% of your donation will be matched! If you are unable to give, sharing this post is another amazing way to help us reach more people.

Donate: https://igg.me/at/hbpDQpdDT94

[balarouge]

Tribute concert set for Dave del Castillo, whose death shocked music, sports communities

JOINTLY

What: Totally Rabid, Rivalrous Gang, Knife Handbook, Skid Marxists Where: Logan's Club, 1821 Cook St. When: Saturday, Feb. 1, 9 p.m. Tickets: $10 (minimum contribution)

Pals and also family members of Dave del Castillo knew where they stood with him, on account of the sarcastic remarks he constantly had at the all set. That was his evasive technique of telling those near to him that they mattered. That he adored them.

write-up carries on below

"You recognized that you were adored through Dave if he ridiculed you," said his wife, Tara del Castillo. "If he frequently ridiculed you, then you recognized. And also it adhered."

Castillo perished of a cardiovascular disease Jan. 15, at the age of 48. His passing away sent out shockwaves through the Victoria skateboard, football and also music areas. His was a total lifespan, a continuously rotating schedule of youngsters' tasks and yard bbqs.

That was just how he suched as things-- loud, boisterous and filled with enthusiasm. A honored husband along with 4 little ones, Dave was vulnerable to providing major tight embrace. In the various manies social-media blog posts following his fatality, he was actually consistently smiling, or even along with his arms around somebody he respected. "He left an effect on individuals he fulfilled the moment," Tara pointed out.

It was strange, initially, his fixation with taking photos. Right now that he's gone, Tara is delighted to possess mounds of photographic suggestions from almost every time they were actually together. The living room wall surface of both's home in Oak Bay is actually floor-to-ceiling filled with images today, kept over coming from an impromptu wake merely days after his death.

The collection of greater than 100 photographes coming from numerous factors in their lifestyle together functions as an essential tip, Tara mentioned. That he was enjoyed. And also that he liked in gain.

"He always intended to deliver pleasure to his friends," Tara mentioned. "He always preferred it to become a fun opportunity."

Dave, an electrical contractor through profession, had roots in Uruguay however was raised in Victoria, where he devoted most of his lifestyle. He is carefully understood the early thug rock and skateboard areas in this particular area-- his magnetic individual put him at the epicentre of both for virtually 2 many years.

High as well as good-looking, along with a huge laugh as well as long-term smile, Dave would certainly commonly joke about his visage to his other half of twenty years, pertaining to his skin as "the money-maker" despite the fact that, at heart, he never assumed he was attractive, Tara poked fun.

Dave generated a social group of huge stamina and also dedication. He might drop touch with an individual for many years and also still consider them a buddy; contradictory had not been part of his language. Links he created possessed legs forever. "I think I have a great deal a lot more assist immediately than a ton of individuals possess, because of that," Tara said.

Buddy Heather Johnston, that has actually started an on the web fundraising campaign on behalf of the family, said Dave "nourished friendly relationships as if I'm unsure individuals know exactly how to carry out any longer."

The fundraising event swiftly struck $30,000, with more being available in every day. A tribute gig in his honour is actually prepared for Sunday night at Logan's Club, with bands featuring a number of long time buddies, and the profits visiting his family members. The celebration is anticipated to become at capacity well prior to a band takes the phase.

Dave invested five days in the healthcare facility adhering to a center attack in 2015, which altered him, Tara claimed. It was the 1st opportunity she could recollect that he really did not desire to view good friends as usually as he generally would.

He wished to exercise even more, but couldn't locate a regimen that caught. Some days, he seemed like he was letting his family members down. But there was actually hope his health would end up being a top priority once more.

"We were intending on managing in the TC 10K [in April]," Tara pointed out. "Yet he was possessing some problems-- he was actually certainly not effectively. He kept claiming: 'I'm most likely mosting likely to die coming from this, but every person is visiting happen and also appear after you men.' "

It also specified where he was proposing songs she could participate in at his funeral service. That was a personal side handful of obtained to view. He was actually pleased, as well as didn't desire individuals stressing unnecessarily, Tara claimed. "It frightened him. Also through it all, he was still messaging folks, to find if they were actually ALRIGHT."

His intuitiveness was bang-on-- pals have moved in astonishing varieties around Tara and also the youngsters, Elias, Mia, Diego as well as Benicio.

Longtime close friend and also past Victoria individual Stephen McBean, of the Los Angeles rock clothing Afro-american Mountain, spent a full week resting on the family members's sofa adhering to Dave's death. The information was actually a big blow coming from which he possesses however to recoup, McBean stated. "There was definitely a comfort in existing at your home," he said. "It was actually very sad, but there was considerable amounts of aged good friends and also accounts. When I received back to L.A., I kind of flatlined."

McBean as well as Dave played together in the early '90s thug band Onionhouse, which is actually around the same time Dave, an appealing frontman, began going out with Tara, following her relocate to Victoria from Calgary. The neighborhood that began the music as well as skateboard scenes in Victoria unofficially hinged on Tara and also Dave, that temporarily was actually called Dave Knight, after his mom remarried.

"He was actually the adhesive for a ton of individuals, from companionship to football to loved ones to hard rock," McBean said. "He took the piss out of life a little, and also discussed that passion with friends."

Few might relocate as conveniently in between hard rock and also skateboarding as well as young people sports, however Dave handled to bestride free throw lines easily. He would often comply with a team of fellow promoters at the Irish Moments club on Sundays to see his favorite soccer staff, Liverpool, use tv. The soccer nightclub's formal theme track, You'll Certainly never Walk Alone from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, can usually be heard blasting from the del Castillo property at all hours of the time.

"He would rise in the morning, and also whatever anyone had to do that time, like sleeping, he would certainly crank that tune," Tara pointed out with a laugh.

Dave, a long time champ of youth football, ended up being head of state of the Lakehill Soccer Affiliation in the 2013-14 period, and executed a no-cost springtime organization-- Alma Libre Futbol Association-- for youth under 15.

He acquired a B.C. Games grant to fund the cost-free organization, he pressured McBean and Afro-american Mountain right into playing an advantage concert in Victoria to aid rear additional money.

"He was actually someone I always highly recognized," McBean stated. "I would consistently receive truly excited if he took one thing I performed musically, however he was also the very first one to phone bullshit if what I was actually performing had not been working. He was actually always stired on what his close friends were doing. He was actually always certainly there to support every person on. That's something I am actually going to skip."

There will definitely be a publicised service for del Castillo at 1 p.m. on June 5 at Royal Maple Burial Park (673 Falaise Dr.), adhered to through a celebration along with music-- obviously-- at the Victoria Edelweiss Nightclub (108 Niagara St.).

This content was originally published here.

[pushpressure]

Part 7 of Sasuino Post

My post 6 pretty much went into how the marriage of Sasuke and Ino worked with Sai included to keep clan traditions still working and how it shaped the children but now I want to focus more closely to the family itself. 

Being parents:

(Ino)

(Sasuke)

(Sai)

- I just imagine Sasuke and Sai trying to be the best dads they can be because they know they are socially awkward without the best family history (Sai being adopted to become a tool by Danzo of all people and Sasuke having a loving but also verbal abusive father with a mother he wasn’t close with).

-Sai honestly thinks any child coming out of Ino is beautiful even if they aren’t his because he never saw blood as something important (Shin wasn’t his biological brother but has been that one emotionally link that prevented Sai from completely losing his heart). As a father, Sai is just careful and learns from his children as he grows into a father. Almost anything they do, anything they feel, anything they dream, he wants to know and understand why and be supportive where it was appropriate. He doesn’t punish his children immediately. He talks, lets them cool down and work out solutions.

-For Sasuke, he actually can’t help avoiding his kids due to having the anxiety that he might become someone worse than his father and that his past may influence his children into making the same stupid choices. He doesn’t want to destroy them like his clan had bought destruction upon themselves because of a lie. He knew that he had to be a father in order to restore his clan and to pass down techniques but anything else within his culture seemed toxic. His children and Inojin at first thought they did something wrong to make him dislike them, but when the partial truth is told, they feel pity. They do their best to cheer up Sasuke with gifts and lots of love like how Sai, Ino, Uncle Naruto and their friends do for them. Sasuke is always overwhelmed by their kindness and is proud to see how they recreate the clan without him being too much involved.

- Ino is basically the normal parent who treats the kids as normal kids. Scolds them when appropriate, encourages them to do their best, have fun and embarrass them, and makes sure they take their time maturing since a flower that grows too quickly won’t be prepared to adapt to their changing environment.

Now welcome to the kids (I can’t draw for the life of me and using gifs would be awkward for me, so please accept the Mega Anime Avatar Creator versions):

1. Inojin Yamanaka - Him and his canon counterpart pretty much share a lot of similarities, but this Inojin actually has siblings, so he’s a lot more thoughtful for those younger than him. He does grow up to take over the Yamanaka clan but only becomes a part timer at the Analysis team since he rather work on computer designing for video games and movies.

2. Kotsume Yamanaka (Uchiha) - Her name means otter in Japanese, and it’s a nod to itachi’s name meaning weasel. Both belong to the weasel family. She’s vibrant and sociable just like her mother, but unlike both her parents, she doesn’t like to rise to a serious challenges due to her fear of failure. She’s willing to work hard to become good at something, but doesn’t like to put it to the test without teammates. However she will rise to solving a good mystery since she is prone to curiosity and discovery that she constantly wonders off and sometimes even gets in trouble. Her life is all about spontaneity and never about the future which can be both a good and bad thing.  

- She’s born with Sasuke’s hair, and just like how Ino looks nothing color-wise like her father, Kotsume has her blue eyes but darker.

- She’s a very loving person. She accepts anyone and is sympathetic to many except for those who are abusively controlling. She’s literally someone who is easy to open up to, bring into your home, or even shop for despite just meeting. This gives her huge leverage for her mystery-solving days.

-Kotsume’s hobby is creating different things from blankets to clothes that she always brings fabric and a sewing kit with her for just-in-case purposes. She also has scrolls to summon up helpers.

- Despite being the oldest Uchiha sibling. she’s the last one to gain her sharingan until her thirties when tragedy struck for her closest friends. The sharingan has always been activated at a young age for the Uchiha clan, so no one knew that it would throw her into clinical depression since her body can’t easily adapt to the physical change, so she always takes medical pills to balance herself. 

-She’s the child who will grow up to travel the world as an artist and probably an unintentional detective.

3. Renge Yamanaka (Uchiha) - Her name means “Lotus Flower”. Ino had Sasuke pick a flower he liked so she could come up with her name. Renge takes more after Sasuke where she prefers to train and spend time alone in peace. However unlike her father who is a lone wolf who used to crave power, she was heavily influenced by Kakashi-sensei, so she’s humble with her skills. And from her mother, she shows great social skills and maturity for a leader. 

 - She is born with Sasuke’s eyes with platinum blonde hair from her mother.

- Despite her distant yet kind nature, she’s actually very vain and a clean freak. If someone does not keep their appearance to a 100% or at least bring some good character with it to put it to a 100, then she deems them to not be worth her consideration. She always makes sure her family members are properly clean after a mission and will always be the person who will wash a person’s back. Because of this, she’s the one in charge of helping Sasuke wash up after coming home.

- Her hobby is photography and also mosaic art since her favorite aesthetic is how broken things that are deemed useless can become something beautiful when bought together. She basically lives for the aesthetic that she has scrolls that’ll summon lights and all the necessary materials to give her the right look for her photos that she posts them in her anonymous blog. She’s famously the #AestheticNinja.

- She gained her sharingan at the age of fifteen when a mission went wrong and her teammate was killed. She had witnessed death before, but this death was far too sudden that the shock activated it, and her perfect fighting choreography was thrown out of balance until Kakashi and her father helped her regain it. Ino helped her progress emotionally to handle the ptsd she formed.

- She continues on to become a shinobi after graduating from being the academy. Naruto picked her to become his anbu when she enters her twenties since she continues to show her efficiency in a mission and her ability to overcome tragedy.

4. Takara Yamanaka (Uchiha) - Her name was inspired by Sasuke’s usage of hawks such as Garuda. She is by far the girliest of the Uchiha sisters and has no interest in being a ninja. Although she’s very skilled with medical ninjutsu and creating poisons like Shizune since they can come in handy if someone were to kidnap or attack her for being an Uchiha. Other than that, she rather be running the flower shop, shopping and going to the dance club with friends.

- She has black hair like her father, but she makes it wavy because it makes her look cuter. Her eyes are shaped like her father’s but the color is more like her grandfather’s eyes that were a greenish blue. This picture doesn’t show it well, but she’s the chubbiest of her family but not as chubby as Chouchou.

- She’s the closest to Ino where the two spend a ton of time together when her mother is not on a mission, that it helps her act as the mediator of her siblings. If they have a problem, she’s the easiest to approach to about this sort of thing since she has the least amount of problems and more free time. She doesn’t like being involved in drama or complicating things. She disregards making up any rivalry with any of the females despite how her mother tells her that it creates a special bond. If pushed, she will become violent but with her words, and words won’t affect her since she accepts who she is and loves herself despite her flaws unless they truly present themselves as a real problem. This does give her a distant and superficial first impression, but it just shows how well put together she is. She knows when to have embarrassing fun, when to work hard and will work with others even if it meant lowering her pride, but she won’t let anyone walk all over her. - Her hobby actually ranges from creating poisons to perfumes, shopping, and even a bit of painting like Sai and Inojin, but her main interest is pottery. Of all her family members, she has the most deft hands and the best self control which made her a natural with medical ninjutsu. She upgrades the Yamanaka flower shop into also a place to buy beautiful pottery. She also gets her siblings involved in improving the store and designing her pottery.

- Despite not wanting to be a ninja, she actually gained her sharingan at the tender age of five when Ino had been heavily injured during a mission that required surgery. The tense atmosphere and the panic of her siblings caused her to awaken it. Sasuke had helped her understand the sharingan and how to master it, but she had only ever used the sharingan if ever confronted in a serious battle which is rare since her older siblings will protect her.

- She becomes the CEO of the Yamanaka flower shop and expands its business beyond Konoha and from just selling flowers. Of course when running a business, things can become superficial with money involved, but she always try to keep things to a genuine level where she always makes the world see what she wants to make now with the best advertisements.

As for the future of the Uchiha Clan:

The Uchiha clan by name actually dissolves with Sasuke. Considering that it was the descendants of the Uchiha who took away the peace that Hagoromo worked hard to create and that Sasuke continued that line of misguided hatred.

So instead, Renge and Takara who will become mothers (Kotetsu has no interest in being a parent) will change their last name together to create the new Sannai clan. Sannai is a combination of the kanji Yama (山) from Yamanaka and Uchi (内) from Uchiha. It can mean the same as Yamanaka: In the mountains, but it can also mean within the grounds of a temple.

Renge acts as the leader of the clan, where she teaches her and Takara’s children about the history of the sharingan, the importance of humility, love and teamwork. 

The Sannai clan would continue to expand with those teachings but some will integrate with other clans inside and outside Konoha, and thus incidentally, it kind of forms into its own belief system like Taoism that openly teaches only the basics of the Yamanaka clan’s telepathic technique so people could connect in a deeper level. 

And just like its namesake, temples are created for the clan within the mountains that’s open for anyone who wish to learn about it. Of course, it doesn’t disconnect itself from the world. They take world matters to the temples, and like an appropriate school, create a ton of debates and create leaders who will try to do something about the problem without the use of dictatorship. 

Their main goal is to instill the true feeling of love that isn’t run by obsession or lust. They also try to make people tolerant of each other despite having different opinions that could be insulting. 

It’s basically a great place for people with emotional issues to go to.

So that’s what I wanted to state. I know not many are charmed with OC children but these three have been knocking in my head. 

So Thank You for reading!