#creating high-performing individuals and team

[ateez-himari]

MASTERS OF; PERFORMANCE

The senior idols finally walk to the stage after being on the sidelines for 7 episodes

November 9, 2024 (11:14PM)

MNet's 'Road to Kingdom : Ace of Ace' has finally come to an end with the announcement of Cravity being the winning team, while The New Six and Tempest unfortunately did not make it to the final round despite undoubtedly impressing the audience at every turn. The round prior to this decisive one had the masters of ceremony mentoring the remaining groups and it was time for them to show why they had been given such an important role in the first place - opening the finale with a live performance of the song 'Criminal' from the first album produced by Himari.

Inkigayo in Tokyo had already set high standards for this stage as it will go down in the industry's history and the artists unsurprisingly reached those heights with ease, though this time using a slightly more sensual concept rather than playing on emotions. The new choreography created in large part by the idols had kept some of the original moves but was adjusted to challenge their very impressive bodily control, combining mesmerizing fluidity and sharpness akin to a knife - which their juniors could not stop praising in interviews.

The closing stage saw the masters of ceremony performing once more, though individually this time with the older idol choosing to sing 'Advice' while his protégée surprised viewers by using a slightly shortened version of the track 'Outlaw' from ATEEZ's album 'The World Ep.2 : Outlaw'. The choreography was of course modified by the dance crew BB TRIPPIN in order to accommodate a singular person but remained just as impressive, though what inarguably shocked fans the most was that the vocalist managed to clear both rappers' verses with ease, following them up with angelic high notes.

Netizens expressed feeling uncertainty when hearing the first notes due to the group's power coming from how they move together yet reportedly sat slack jawed in front of their screens when the maknae managed to emulate the energy of nine members alone. Slight tone changes were used to mimic each member while keeping the artist's originality throughout her stage and counting heavily on the 'Demon' persona designated by fans, leaving a lingering feeling of admiration in the participating idols - many of who expressed now understanding that reaching this level was near impossible.

Although the young woman is not old enough to be regarded as an industry senior on the same level as her mentor, it seems that her impressive ever growing achievements are rapidly building a seat alongside some of the most regarded figures in K-Pop. Taemin on the other hand has been highly praised ever since SHINee's early days and showed newer generation fans unaware of his group why one of the many nicknames he was given over the years is "Idol of Idols".

During lives held following the episode airing some participants explained that despite being strict in what they taught, the senior artists cared for the members deeply and offered comforting encouragement to every group prior to them taking the stage. With this being such an impressive debut as master of ceremony for the producer it was not only the fanbase that wishes there to be more opportunities but the participating groups as well as they have spoken several times on her kindness and support throughout the show.

Remember to vote for ATEEZ for the Fans' Choice 2nd Vote and Visa Fans' Choice of The Year as well as support their upcoming comeback 'Golden Hour : Part.2' which is releasing on November 15 at 2PM KST.

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[thecoachingdirectory]

Join our dynamic DISC Flow Fusion Leadership Collective Xperience this coming 30/11/2023 from 9:30 am - 3:30 pm and level up your leadership skills and journey! This 1-day in-person workshop will gather a community of aspiring and seasoned leaders to explore DISC and Emotional Intelligence’s powerful applications in the workplace. Limited spaces available. Reserve your spot now!

[johnbrand]

Loyal

With @mrrharper

I can not recall what started it really, there was just something off. Almost like a persistent tick within the back of my head, a missed alarm that somebody had forgotten to address from far away, and yet was still just barely registerable on my radar. It was like I was the only one that heard it, felt it, knew this tiny thing even existed. I was all alone.

When I had first come to college, I had no idea what to expect. The whole atmosphere had changed since the pandemic; competition was everywhere. I was no longer “smart enough” for the STEM kids, and yet I was not “passionate enough” to join any special interest groups. Everything had suddenly become a challenge to be the best, the greatest, but my background was not built for that type of drive. I began to assume college was only for my peers ready to commit everything to reaching the practically unattainable.

But Coach saw something different in me, he saw potential. He was the one who got me to stay. He was the only one who not only saw my tick when no one else had been able to, but explained it to me. He believed that the culture around education had become too individualistic, too single-minded. It was appropriate that I had suddenly felt inferior, unnoticed and left behind in the slaughter others had created. I needed to be a part of something greater, a team. His team.

At first, I had found Coach’s opinions beyond ludacris. Me? In sports? My body practically lacked everything necessary for a college athlete, unless it was in e-sports. I maintained my health fairly well, but I was toned and skinny, and practically too short for any serious competition. The only sport I could have seriously considered was swimming junior varsity–at a high school level. But soon I learned that Coach's opinion was law in his territory, from the locker room to the field.

Coach decided to tackle the standard issues right away, knowing that at the base of every great player is dedication. His questions opened up my formerly firm mindset and ideals, offering up new possibilities.

“Is it truly impossible for you to believe that I, an experienced professional, would not be able to help you discover a greater purpose as one of my players?”

“Wouldn’t you rather be a part of a team, a successful unit, rather than having to navigate the world on your own?”

“Do you really need to focus on other things outside of our work together? Are classes, friends, and family truly improving you like our time in the gym and on the field are?”

I did not realize it, but the more Coach questioned my morals, the more my mind began internalizing his. Coach believed that his players were all like the states in the mighty “US of A,” the greatest place on Earth. Separate, we had some power and identity, but nothing of significance. But together, as a part of a greater cause, we could become something much more impactful, more important, than our individual selves.

“If you become a part of my team, then wouldn’t it be more meaningful to be a player both in mind and body?”

“Perhaps your feelings of inadequacy aren’t stemmed from your lack of participation in college, but in general. Wouldn’t you feel more fulfilled if you followed a greater cause, like the traditional role of men in society?”

“Don’t you think what you are searching for is something to uphold? Maybe at large it is masculinity, but at a personal level supporting your teammates and likewise supporting me?”

Thanks to Coach’s help, I began to reprioritize my schedule, in turn reorganizing my life. With his approval, I was able to weed out some of the classes that were hindering my performance to become a better player, before I eventually stopped attending lectures all together. It was much easier to listen to Coach anyway, and he promised he would provide me with all the materials necessary in order to graduate. 

With my time freed up, I was better able to absorb Coach’s teachings at a rapid rate. My body quickly started to expand, packing on muscle in the weeks following faster than I thought was possible. It was as if every week I had to purchase new clothes, before eventually Coach began supplying me with past players’ hand-me-downs. My biceps and triceps became too large for any sleeve, my thighs would practically rip through every pants seam. It was not long before I was practically forced to endless sleeveless tanks and tight shorts. I even managed to gain height although I was past the prime of puberty, reaching an appropriate 6’3 for any linebacker.

That was what Coach said I was to become. Not any linebacker, his linebacker. When he first told me his plans, I had been shocked, but soon I began to instinctually follow his orders. Eventually, he stopped calling me by my name altogether; I had been reduced to “Linebacker #1!” in all his references.

Strangely enough, it was like my body responded to this new name accordingly. My boyish features almost vanished over the course of a day, leaving behind a wide jawline to support a much broader skull. My general hygiene fell backwards in priority, allowing for hair to cover my beefier frame and a manly mustache to crawl out onto my upper lip.

I had even begun to emit a sweat-induced, locker room musk wherever I went, although after a while I lost any embarrassment in it. In fact, I took some pride in my larger figure. I soon weighed over 230 pounds of pure girth, muscle, and mass that helped me pummel my opponents on the field. There was something so invigorating about being large and in charge…while still being under Coach’s orders.

“What if your purpose all along was to play football for glory and to preserve tradition? And was I not the one who helped you discover that purpose?”

“Why would you possibly want or need anything else from outside of the field? Aren’t you at your best when you are a part of my team, a piece of a larger puzzle?”

“Wasn’t the only thing you ever wanted all along was to be Coach's loyal football jock? A place where you can be your biggest, most masculine, most aggressive self without ever having to worry about anything else?”

By the time preparations for the next season began to roll around, I had stopped questioning Coach. I had realized that he was right, that he had been right all along and would remain as such. I was no longer considering his viewpoints, now merely just thanking him for them. I had begun coming to Coach for advice on any topic. Should I be worried about my dropping grades? Is it ok to get physical with nerds who insisted that the team was “a bunch of stupid pawns”? How could I be a better player for the team, his team?

And now, I was strutting around the conference room filled with reporters and many other beefy, aggressive jocks just like myself. I was feeling proud, cocky, arrogant even. Since joining his team, I had gained strength, girth, and attitude, all of which had earned me the title as the up-and-coming star collegiate linebacker. I did not need anything besides my masculinity, I did not need an identity outside of Coach’s team. I was simply his loyal football jock, and when I heard him call out for “Linebacker #1!” I immediately turned around. That was my name after all; whatever I was called had been long forgotten.

[taylorswiftstyle]

Out and about | London, England | August 12, 2024

Vivienne Westwood ‘Cut Off Jacket’ - $1,395.00 Vivienne Westwood ‘Wizard Frill Shirt’ - $760.00 Vivienne Westwood ‘Cut Off Skirt’ - $960.00 Vivienne Westwood 'Tuesday Mini Bag' $690.00 Sézane ‘Georgia High Mary Janes in Pistachio’ - $230.00

This marks a second time Taylor has made a direct pull from the VW FW 2024 lookbook. Like her previous look, shared by Brittany Mahomes when they were in Amsterdam, Taylor sought to diverge from the designer’s styling through her choice in footwear. The VW team styled this look with thigh-high red socks and tonal red platforms. Taylor instead opted for a Christmas Clueless-meets-Austin Powers aesthetic with crisp white socks and olive mary jane heels that bring out the green tones in her tartan set. I think the choice works to create a cohesive colour palette and makes more sense for the warmer weather in London. And also greeeeeeeeeeeen.

I personally love seeing the difference from in how a garment ultimately gets worn as a street style look it demonstrates an individual’s POV. The power of styling is everything! While a copy + paste of a campaign look is fun to see (esp for the designer kick of it all!), I think it’s most fun when someone brings that ‘styling’ element to a look and can depart dramatically from the designer’s original vision to give us their take on an outfit. I actually could imagine Taylor keeping the socks but opting in for those mary jane pumps and ditching the fussy shirt underneath for a simple tee or tank. If this were taking place in cooler temps I could also imagine a turtleneck and tights with heeled booties.

Taken in isolation, this is a great shoulder season look that, while not my personal taste, bridges the short hemlines and cute heels of summer with an autumnal palette and layering via the frilly white shirt. It also continues the connection between TTPD and VW. A signature of this era so far has been the corseted look, something that VW played a huge role in modernizing and integrating into their brand house codes.Taylor has worn many VW pieces for this era including while performing songs from TTPD on the Eras Tour.

This is Taylor’s first physical appearance since her trio of shows in Vienna, Austria were cancelled due to planned threats of a terrorist attack. Taylor has not commented thus far on these cancellations. According to reports, this appearance in London was following a party for Eras Tour staff ahead of her final string of shows at Wembley which conclude the European leg of this tour.

Illustration by Amelia Noyes

[simsi45]

The Sims 4 Amber House Pack - PUBLIC RELEASE!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PATREON PAGE!

Oh...my...GOD!!! I can't believe this is actually happening....

After 3 years of hard work, I am here to welcome everyone to:

The Sims 4 Amber House Pack!

It's time to create your own mission style dream house, with this collection of 345 brand new and hella cool build/buy mode items, inspired by Dontnod's "Life is Strange: Before the Storm" game.

EARLY ACCESS: You can get the pack right now, on my PATREON on the 3-5$ tiers, or wait for the 12th of May for the public release!

Please read EVERYTHING included in the post as it contains useful information about the pack!

DISCLAIMER: Simsi45 or The Sims 4 Amber House Pack is NOT affiliated or associated with Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Deck Nine or Dontnod in ANY way. This is a purely fanmade pack made by me, a fan of both games that wanted to get the best of both worlds.

FEATURES:

 345 new items (including sofas, tables, decor, windows, doors and much much more!)

 Search for "amberhouse", "lis", "simsi45" to find most of the items in the build/buy catalog.

 Custom original names and descriptions. (the best I could come up with :P)

 Tons of custom recolors (based on original textures) to mix and match items more easily.

 Heavy modification on original meshes and textures, including english text turned into simlish.

 Everything has been playtested thoroughly.

 Included are a couple of easter egg items from The Sims 2 that I thought fit the theme well.

New lot I made showcased in the trailer and pics (found in the gallery under my tag @simsi45_mods) a recreation of Rachel Amber's house.

LOT INSTALLATION:

Included in the pack is the lot recreation of the Amber House that's featured in the pictures and videos.

You can get the lot by:

Using the gallery. Make a search under my EA id: @simsi45_mods and download the lot as usual. I've included customized pictures to identify my own lot more easily. Make sure you have the "enable custom content" tag ENABLED for the lot to show up in the results.

If you have difficulties using the gallery you can download the lot tray files from the bottom of the post, and move them inside your own tray folder. This can be found in your documents/electronic arts/the sims 4/ tray folder. This way you can install the lot without the need of the gallery.

NOTES:

~ The pack is in an EARLY-ACCESS STATE! I have dedicated a lot of time to test everything but I'm a team of just a single person. If you find any issues please let me know so I can take a look.

~ Because of the amount of items the size of the pack is quite big. I tried my best to make everything as compact as possible with the final size being 1.5 GB of required free space. 

~ The majority of the meshes and textures of these items are ripped straight from the LIS: Before the Storm game, and then each individual item (both mesh and textures) has been heavily modified and edited to fit and function properly within the Sims 4 game's engine. That's why some items will look identical to the original game, some look somewhat different, and some are brand new meshes I made using the original items.

~ Some of the original ripped meshes' poly counts were WAY too high so I had to lower the polygons so The Sims 4 wouldn't explode when filling a lot with them. I lowered the polygons and edited most of the items as much as possible without compromising their original look too much. In other words I tried to find the best balance between looks and performance and after lots of testing on my moderate PC system, I can confirm the game runs super smoothly on my end. 

BACKSTORY ABOUT THE PACK (no spoilers):

This pack started with an idea I got back in 2017 when I first played Life Is Strange Before The Storm. When visiting the Amber house, I immediately fell in love with it as I am huge fan of the craftsman architectural style, it's literally all I'd want my dream house to be. The art team has done an incredible job on it, and as I personally find the art style of the Life is Strange series and The Sims 4 to fit very well with each other, I wanted to make these assets available for The Sims 4. Of course back then this all seemed impossible, however a few years later in 2020 during quarantine I revisited the idea as it had been stuck on my wishlist ever since.

To make a long story short, this project has been in the works for about 3 years now, and after a lot of hard work, head scratching and quite a few sleepless nights I managed to overcome all the obstacles I came across (which were a lot mind you) and I'm honestly hoping you'll be as pleased with the results as I am. Seriously this exceeded my expectations as it started as a small little pack for my personal use, to what I'd consider an expansion pack's (or even more) worth of build/buy content.

INSTALLATION:

Due to the size of the pack I had to split it up into multiple parts. You will need a .RAR extractor unpack it. More specifically:

1 -> Download ALL 6 parts of the pack and put them ALL in the same folder. 2 -> Right click the 1st part .RAR file named "Simsi45 - The Sims 4 Amber House Pack.part1" and click "Extract Here"   3 -> Once that's finished a package file will appear, this is the entire pack and you can now move that into The Sims 4/Mods. Simple as that!

CREDITS & THANKS:

~Dontnod, Square Enix, Deck Nine for the original meshes & textures ripped from Life is Strange: Before the Storm that were used to create most of the items.

~EA for some meshes & textures used to convert some items from The Sims 2.

Special thank you to all the patreon members that stuck with me throughout me developing the pack. Although not many I really appreciate every single one of you for the support you've given me and for sticking around!

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

Some headcanons I have about King Dedede, Captain Vul, and their species!

Many, many millions of years before the tragedy that befell the dinosaurs, alien researchers tried to study them, and did not plan for their escape from the research facility, and eventual takeover of the planet! Through many years of adaptation to the new planet, you see the feathers and bird-like feathers we know and love in King Dedede and others!

This is related to my OC Sir Meteor, who you can vote for here ! 💫🦖☄️

Transcript + More below the cut below

Vestigial tail + spikes

A far cry from the reptile tails of old, the tails of current day are stubby with little movement, and in a few generations will likely be completely gone.

These guys are descendants of dinosaurs! The tails had been used for mobility, balance, but especially fighting. This connotation created ripples in the culture of what the vestigial tail means for avians, no matter how stubby and useless it is in present day! Since hollow bones had started to emerge in the species, anything that could possibly crush them is considered taboo, including showing off tails freely. A lot of them pretend they don’t exist!

Prehensile feathers

The feathers at the tip of the wings are modified fingers that can grab! If you were to push back the feathers, you would even see vestigial talons that are either too small to be any threat, or kept trip for proper appearance. All of the avians have thumb-like digits as well, but their grip is not a precise as our own.

Avians of high social standing often commission and wear enchanted gloves to aid with their weak grip, and it is why Dedede isn’t seen with his feathers and can use his hammer!

Spines + tail usually covered up

For this study, I focused on just the bodies themselves, but i wanna delve deeper into the culture they have! In particular clothing is important. They usually keep their tail and spines covered up for modesty and cultural norms—the spines are seen as weapons and only shown when living a life of battle! Even Dedede who gets into fights often doesn’t want to show them, but there is exceptions. The gray star warrior having their tail out is due to the position they have in the army. They dedicate their life to a battle. Other factors include needing high mobility! Some avians in gymnastics or on rescue teams, and other professions where mobility is essential are exempt from this rule, but they often have a robe or cover-up when not performing the task.

For Dedede: adapted to be a water-type bird, has flippers and webbed feet, and is unable to fly. His eyes are bigger than normal for the purpose of being able to see in dark waters with barely any light, although the trade off is his long distance vision leaves much to be lacking. His choice of hammer as a weapon is barely any thought to us, but a taboo one in avian society. His distance from any others of his kind is in part due to his refusal to put it down.

For Vul: he is a an avian capable of flight!! This is a rarer trait. He feels at home in the sky, and his eyes even in his old age are unparalleled to anyone else in his crew. Vul, like dedede, normally covers his tail, especially because even though he lives a life of battle, he is rather old fashioned and does not want to admit it, despite being captain to a crew of knights.

For the Star Warrior: a unnamed individual who would turn heads if they walked on their home planet looking like that. Metal armor in of itself is unusual because most avians hate to weight themselves down too much to fly, even if they aren’t a flying type. Under the helmet they have a bright red crest, and for the long legs I based them off of a Sandhill Crane. Their long legs are the best example of another trait I didn’t get to touch on yet: these guys have feathers covering the legs! Where in real life birds usually have scales, these guys have a gene which gives them feathers everywhere but the feet. Similar to silkie chickens or pigeons with muffs!

Most of these guys have some kind of feathered crest above their eyes! It helps keep sun and water out of their face, similar to eyebrows.

Page 2: a doodle comic with the story of how avians were created, along with a visual of them being somewhere between a dinosaur and bird

I have more but MAN this is getting too long

[thatchickwiththecamera]

What Do You Want From Me?

Synopsis: The European leg of the Concrete Forever tour marks one year since Tyler Garrett joined the Bad Omens media team. A lot can change over the course of a year. New experiences, new friendships, and new discoveries emerge.

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x OC

Cross-posted on AO3 (thatchickwiththecamera)

MASTERLIST

Based on an idea I got from seeing this video.

Tag List: @sundamariis, @fastjelly-fish, @lilylovesdew, @narcissisticbehavior81

Tonight was night five of the European leg of the 2024 Concrete Forever tour and the end of January had marked one year since I had first joined the Bad Omens media crew. With the band's increase in popularity Bryan, the band's photographer and media director, decided it was time to expand the team going into Shiprocked so he could focus more carefully on planning and curating the media content produced and published for the band. 

So Bryan reached out to a friend in the music industry and asked if they knew of any photographers/videographers with a solid portfolio who were looking for a more permanent media production gig. That friend connected him to me and as they say, the rest is history. 

“Tyler! Did you finish up the edits for tonight's social post?” Bryan’s voice carried from the front of the crew bus to the back lounge where I sat backing up files to my external harddrive. 

“Yeah! They’re already in the dropbox!” I responded before ejecting my drive from my macbook and throwing them both back onto my bunk. 

I clipped my crew credentials with “CONCRETE FOREVER TOUR” and “TYLER GARRETT - MEDIA CREW” printed across the top and bottom through the belt loop of my jeans and slipped on my crew sweatshirt before walking toward the front of the bus. Bryan and Alana were standing over the main table and counter area double checking the batteries and the assortment of cameras we would be mounting in various parts of the stage for tonight's show along with our individual gear that would be on our person and laid out backstage for us to use throughout the show. 

The air once we stepped into the venue was buzzing with energy. I don’t know what it was about this leg of the tour, but it was like a switch was flipped. Ever since the first date in January opening for Bring Me The Horizon back in Cardiff there was this high that enveloped the entire group and it looked like no one would be coming down anytime soon. 

This energy was especially present in the band's lead singer, Noah. The usually stoic and serious persona he portrayed on stage was now replaced with one that roamed around the various levels of the stage doing jumping jacks, pushups, dances, and little vocal trills. 

After the first two shows, his antics even caused Poppy, our opener for this part of the tour, to completely abandon portraying her A.I. character like was originally planned for their performances of V.A.N.  Instead, she joined in Noah’s antics and even introduced the world to this little handshake that they had originally created during rehearsals leading up to the tour. 

Life in between gigs had been lively as well since the start of the new year. After each show when everything was packed up and the load outs were completed, the band and crew for both Bad Omens and BMTH would venture to one of the local pubs and celebrate with a few beers and carbonated beverages before loading up on the buses and venturing off to the next city. 

Until joining the Bad Omens crew, I would usually keep to myself in between shows while touring - choosing to prioritize edits, catalog files, and update my individual socials when not trying to finish a book on my Kindle or finish a show on a random streaming service. 

The first few months of touring after Shiprocked changed all of that and a few of the crew and band made it their mission to pull me out of the confines of my comfort zone and my regular routine. Over the course of the past year, Bryan has pushed me to learn and develop my photo and video skills far past where I ever thought they would go. Matt started teaching me front of the house controls, he now hounds me with daily racoon memes, and I in turn buy him random Dr. Pepper merch. Steven taught me all about the finer side of wristwatches, NBA basketball, and the intricacies of running merch. Alana quickly became one of my best friends and has balanced her assistant tour manager duties well alongside keeping me sane as the only other female member of the media team and crew. 

Folio decided that I absolutely had to learn how to fish when one of our venues had a lake nearby, even making me kiss the smallmouth bass that I caught before he threw it back in citing that it was tradition with your first fish. He also dared me to smoke my first joint, which caused me to hack up a lung because I somehow inhaled wrong. Nicholas helped me design a few tattoo ideas before inking my forearm and starting what will eventually become a full sleeve up my right arm. Jolly taught me a bunch of guitar riffs and how to cuss in Swedish (which I do entirely too often now), and Noah surprised me with the hidden talent of being a pool shark and we ended up becoming quick friends to the point where he is now my partner in crime hustling people out of their money when the crew goes out to bars. I also learned that while he hates it when people try to scare and prank him, he loves to scare and prank others. 

Which is why, as expected, throughout three out of the first four shows of the European leg, Noah made it his mission to try and scare me at least once per show mainly during the song transitions when I would try to quickly get from one side of the stage to the next during the blackouts. In Berlin, it was during the transition after “Nowhere to Go” when I was coming down from the second level of the stage after retrieving the camera that was filming Folio play. Luckily I had handed the camera and its tripod down to Alana behind the platform before descending the steps in time for Noah to jump out at the bottom already wearing his ski mask for V.A.N. 

I jumped, skipping a step on the way down, and felt a set of arms grab me and hold me back up before I could fall too far forward. I remember yelling ‘fucking hell’ in swedish and looking up to see Noah with a shit eating grin peaking through the mask and hearing Jolly laugh at my use of the words. I grabbed his mask and yanked on it so it was crooked on his face before I ran behind the platform to the other side of the stage where I had left my camera gear. I heard him let out a laugh and a few cuss words of his own as he struggled to fix the mask and climb the steps up to his spot on the platform before Poppy started singing. 

Night one in Cologne, I was mainly in the photo pit for the majority of the show, while Bryan and Alana were the ones roaming the stage. I kept a gear bag tucked behind one of the few big boxes we had on either side of the stage. In it, I had my spare batteries, my water bottle, and the 360 camera on an extension pole. The plan for this show was to focus on crowd shots and footage along with regular low-angle stage shots. While I got amazing shots of the guys performing and some hilarious shots of a fan crowd surfing in an inflatable shark suit. Noah lost any possible opportunity offered for pranking during the show. 

On night two in Cologne, he made up for the missed opportunity. During the transition between “Artifical Suicide” and “Like A Villan,” I quickly ran to the media team roadcase set up behind the guitar stage case and tech area to get a quick drink of water and change out a lens. As I was kneeling down in front of the case and had just finished switching the lenses, I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders. Luckily all the equipment was out of my hands because the sudden motion made me jump and fall back on my heels, causing me to bump into something, well someone, behind me. I let out a string of curse words, this time in English, and tilted my head back to see Noah, now without his mask, trying to hold back a laugh as he smiled down at me. I let out an annoyed sign and rolled my eyes. He gave my shoulder a squeeze before disappearing back out onto the stage right as the song began. 

In Munich, he chose the “Miracle” break as his time to strike. Only this time he stepped up his game. While I was switching out gear and changing my settings from photo to video, I set everything on a storage case under the second level platform and stood up to stretch a bit since this break was the more lengthy of the two. After I finished trying rid my shoulders of the tension that had built up from holding a camera in front of my face for a hour, I felt an arm wrap across the front of my collarbones and pulled me back into them while the person's other hand took one of the band's athletic water bottles and sprayed it down the rear collar of my crew hoodie. I squirmed and let out a loud gasp as the shock of the icey cold water briefly hit the back of my neck before I managed to wriggle away. I turned and as expected was greeted by a sweaty Noah smiling down at me trying to hold back laughter. 

“You little shit!” I shouted before quickly grabbing the water bottle from his hand and pointed it at him spraying him with the same icy cold water. 

He started swatting at the spray, laughing as his long thin fingers did nothing to block the liquid. He reached out and grabbed my wrist and I quickly tried to switch the bottle to my other hand but he was too quick, capturing that wrist as well before I could aim the bottle at his face again. I laughed and tried to pull away but he pulled me toward him and pinned my wrists against his chest trying to render the “weapon” he introduced inoperable. 

The laughter between us suddenly died off. The height difference between my 5’1” and his 6’3'' became very clear and his chin practically touched his chest as he gazed down at me. We stood there for what felt like an eternity, brown eyes connected with blue. He loosened his grip on my wrists slightly but neither of us made any attempt to move.  

The arena suddenly felt very warm and I don’t think I could blame it on the array pyrotechnics used during the show. I don’t know what to call this sudden shift in the air between us, but all I know is it caused something to flutter in my stomach and that scared the hell out of me. So I did the first thing I could think of, I diffused an intense moment with humor. I squeezed the water bottle that was still in my hand and the last remnants of water from the bottle hit Noah’s chin and neck. The shock of the cold liquid caused him to step back and release my wrists. I immediately missed the contact, but I needed to get away from this situation. 

“Shit that really is cold!” He laughed, turning to grab one of the black towels we had on hand backstage and started to dry off the water. 

When he turned to offer me the towel I had already retrieved my camera and fled to the other side of the stage wondering what the fuck had just happened. 

During the day off between Munich and Zurich, I kept myself busy editing, organizing, and uploading photo content to the media team drive and to my own socials. I had gained a considerable amount of followers since joining the Bad Omens team and while I enjoyed seeing the reaction and appreciation the guys' fans had when I posted new content, I was also starting to see some of the reasons why the guys like to take social media breaks as often as they do. 

Editing was one of my favorite parts of being a photographer and with us starting this European leg off with four back-to-back shows, I hadn’t had time to pause and really work my magic. So that is what I designated as my mission for this day off. I also may have used it as an excuse to avoid leaving the crew bus and chance any more contact with Noah. I was still trying to figure out if that flutter in my stomach was real or if it was just part of the adrenaline from a high energy concert and my body being attacked with ice cold water. 

Tonight, we were in Zurich and I was running around the stage at various times throughout the set while Bryan was down in the photo pit trying out some new ideas he had photos wise and finally having his turn with the 360 camera during a show.

During “What do you want from me?” I was standing in the wings to stage left filming Noah when he suddenly walked over to me in the middle of the second verse, grabbed my left wrist from where it held the side of my camera and pulled me out onto the stage. I keep filming as he releases my wrist and quickly slips his hand in mine while he continues to walk backward onto the stage. Once we were in the middle of the stage he started to spin in a circle with our connected hands extended in the middle. We spun around a few times before he started to jump while we were spinning causing his hair to bounce up and down on his head which I shakily captured on camera. The randomness of it all led to fits of laughter and caused Noah to mess up the last two lines of the verse. 

As the verse came to an end I expected him to let go and yell, “JUMP JUMP” like he usually does during the brief blackout. Instead, as the light goes out, I am yanked forward and feel a hand and the cool metal of a microphone against the side of my face, and a set of lips briefly collide with mine. I barely had time to process what happened before it ended, the lips were gone, the lights came back up, and Noah jumped onto the riser at the front of the stage to sing the rest of the song. I still held my camera up and panned to follow him trying to hide any reaction my face might show behind a veil of concentration. 

For the remainder of the show, I tried to avoid making any and all eye contact with Noah, who in turn tried his damndest to get me to look at him and gauge my reaction to what he did. He did it in a way that wasn’t too noticeable to the crowd by acting like he's playing up to the camera. My brain tried to process what had happened and what the hell it possibly meant over the course of the remaining ten songs in the set. 

Noah kissed me. 

On stage. 

In the middle of a show. 

Did one of the guys see? 

Oh Shit! Did anyone in the audience see?

The usual jump scare from the previous shows never came and my self-sabotaging brain was trying to solve the question of what everything meant. Kissing me to see my reaction instead of scaring me like usual? Was this real or was it just another prank?

__

Author’s Note: Let me know what y’all think!

[felassan]

BioWare Blog post: 'Unveiling The Veilguard: Cast and Characters Detailed at San Diego Comic-Con' [July 31st]

"San Diego Comic-Con has come to a close, but not before delivering mountains of Dragon Age fun for the amazing fans in attendance. The highlight of the week was the panel we hosted on Friday featuring some of our cast of companions who – in conversation with host Lucy James – shared new insights into their characters and revealed even more lore about Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We also joined our partners at Dark Horse on the showfloor for fan signings, giveaways, cosplay photoshoots, and more. In case you weren’t among the lucky attendees who got to experience this year’s convention in person, don’t worry – we’re here not only to recap all the action but also to share photos from throughout the weekend. Everything kicked off Wednesday night with the Dark Horse booth opening and some giveaways. Our team also enjoyed a celebration of Dragon Age with our partners at Fandom on Thursday night. Then on Friday came our panel “Dragon Age – Meet The Heroic Companions of The Veilguard,” which featured voice actors Zach Mendez (Lucanis), Jessica Clark (Neve), Nick Boraine (Emmrich), and Ali Hillis (Harding) and highlighted the heart of every Dragon Age title: the companions. The panel opened with a bit of background from Creative Director and 16-year BioWare veteran John Epler and Creative Performance Director Ashley Barlow, who helped to cast and direct over a thousand conversations and brought hundreds of characters and storylines to life."

"As Epler explained, Dragon Age: The Veilguard sees players embark on a perilous quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the apocalyptic destruction they’re unleashing. You’ll step into the role of Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a deep and compelling cast of companions who together comprise The Veilguard, a group of heroes who have come together to stop the veil from breaking and bringing about the end of the world. Rook must become the unexpected leader who can rally and unite the group. Throughout the game, you can explore the detailed storylines of each companion, navigating love, loss, and complex choices that influence your relationships. “Companions have always been such a big part of this franchise,” Epler asserted at one point during the panel. “You’ll navigate some of the most compelling individual storylines you’ve seen from BioWare. I’m really excited about the bonds players will form.” Barlow later added, “I feel like you can fall in love with any of them. Everyone that has touched this project has put a piece of their heart into it and into all of the different characters you could cross paths with. I know for me at times, in the companion stories, it seemed like I was watching a scene out of my own life. It’s a powerful feeling to have something or someone to relate to on screen.” Meet the Cast With that, the panel shifted towards the companions themselves, as well as the actors who brought each character to life. First up was Zach Mendez (Horizon: Forbidden West, Married Alive), who voices Lucanis: an expert assassin of the Antivan Crow faction. Bloodthirsty, calculated, and a workaholic, Lucanis was raised with high expectations and fears disappointing those he loves. To him, being an assassin is his only job and identity to be excellent at. “As soon as Zach was cast, he deep dove into Dragon Age and read everything he got his hands on. He did it all to create that depth of character you can really feel,” Barlow remarked. “Zach’s a comedian, he would easily find the humor in anything Lucanis was saying. And sometimes I’d have to remind him he’s a deadly assassin and to stay bloodthirsty, but I think he found this cool way of finding the light in the darkness.”"

"“After I finished [The Wigmaker Job], I realized this might be the coolest guy I ever get to play,” Mendez said. “What struck me was his mind is as dangerous as his knives. He’s constantly attuning himself to the kind of shifting terrain of every mission. And also, he’s kind of hilarious. I mean, if you look at his relationship with his cousin Illario in The WigMaker Job, they’re constantly giving each other crap. But there’s a lot of love there. So I got to pull from my relationship with my brother, because we love each other dearly but we can be ruthless with each other.” Mendez also revealed to fans that, in addition to voicing Lucanis, he actually recorded lines for a variety of other characters, including the Grey Wardens. “I can go ahead and play a bunch of characters, so I had to really steep myself in the understanding that, okay, the Grey Wardens go through a lot to actually do what they do. They make a pretty intense bond. So, I tried to bring that as best I could to the physicality… I cannot wait to see how it plays out the game.”"

"Following a few more quips from Zach, the conversation moved to Jessica Clark (True Blood, Pocket Listing) and Shadow Dragons rebel Neve, a cynic with a heart of gold who cares deeply about helping people and never leaves work half-done. She also has ice powers to halt an enemy or take advantage of the environment. “I’d describe her as the working class hero trying to make her hometown better,” Epler commented. “I love her loyalty,” Clark shared. “I love her dedication. I love how much she loves Docktown and its people and how she really sees a different vision that I’m into, as John said, and then what’s previously been depicted, and she’s really really fighting for those people and she loves those people.” Clark also commented on her experience with the casting and recording process: “Even though [the cast members] were all separate disembodied voices a lot of the time, we really all bonded. I know in a lot of projects they’re like all ‘we love each other,’ but we really do! And it just evolved so organically. There was something magical about it just being our voices in the beginning.” Full of Character Next up was Nick Boraine (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Black Sails), who plays Emmrich – a sincere, friendly, and scholarly necromancer who comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred (voiced by Matthew Mercer of Critical Role). “He’s part of the Mourn Watch,” Epler explained, “an elite group of necromancers who are revered in Nevarra, but outside it, they are odd at best and evil at worst. He’s your well meaning but oblivious academic – assumes everyone has an academic’s curiosity, so can be pedantic on select topics.” While Boraine agreed, he found another aspect of the character even more remarkable: “I love the fact that the writers took Emmerich and explored the whole idea of death and the whole idea of necromancing by bringing kindness into it. I really responded to that and got into that and I know it sounds crazy, but it’s to not have this idea that death is vulgar or something to be terrified about, but something to actually engage with on so many levels. I just love the fact that the writers had the courage to do that in a game like this.” Barlow chimed in to share insights from her time working with Boraine: “Nick encompasses Emmrich; his sophistication, and eagerness to teach and learn, his hot nerdiness. Often Nick is just playing off of someone making a sound, and he takes it and internalizes it and gives it meaning and care, which is amazing to watch.”"

"Finally came Ali Hillis (Mass Effect 3, Naruto) and everyone’s favorite dwarven scout Lace Harding, who returns with a big heart, positive outlook, and some unexpected magical powers. “The world’s changed a lot in the time period since Inquisition,” Epler observed. “She returns as an excellent scout and archer, and has been leading teams through the wilderness while covering friends in battle.” “My favorite things about Harding are the little things like she loves her mom,” laughed Hillis. “You know, she loves to write letters home and she’s always talking about her mama’s stupid stuff like that. I love that relationship. She likes plants and raising plants which is inspirational since I kill them. But just the texture they add to the characters. That’s in general, but for me, it’s those little things that really kind of give me a bunch of stuff to work with in my brain.” Barlow effused, “Ali brought a weight and a history to this project as an anchor of the series. There was a growth to Harding. She’s a veteran now. She’s a trusted voice at the table, and the writers did such a great job of integrating her with the new team and finding the relationships with each of the unique characters.” Photo Opps Our panel ended with a crowd Q&A, but SDCC was just getting started. Our team spent the rest of the weekend giving away posters and exclusive Discord pins, signing those posters, and of course, meeting fans out on the show floor. Footage of the full panel should be available in a couple weeks, so for now we hope you enjoy these photos of our favorite SDCC moments! We’ll have more to share next month – including a new roadmap, more looks at the game, and our official release date (!) – so don’t forget to follow our BioWare and Dragon Age social channels. – The Dragon Age Community Team"

[source]

[toomanywatchers]

My Thoughts on WatcherTV

Hi, I am here to put away my meme-making skills to express my genuine thoughts on Watcher’s announcement; WatcherTV. Before I get into it, this is for any of those at Team Watcher who might be seeing this message: Just know we love and support everything you do for us. Y’all truly do not get the credit you rightfully deserve. I hope with this change to a separate streaming platform you guys can create the content you want to make, pull in creators that you’ve always wanted to work with, and share voices/topics that may have not had the chance to shine because of YouTube’s heinous algorithm. I know myself, and many others, are excited to see what WatcherTV brings. For instance, I already watched Road Files and the trailer for Travel Season on the new platform. And guess what? I love it! I just love BTS-centric shows and seeing the vibes established on Travel Season. Along with more Lizzie/possibly-more-sightings-of-other-Team-Watcher-peeps content?!? If this is what holds for the future of WatcherTV- oh boy, do you already have me more on board than I already was.

I also send my sincerest regards too. We all know that the internet can be a negative space with many sharing their uncensored thoughts, and I hope none of you take the hate to heart. I also hope you can take the weekend to breathe, drink some water, spend time with loved ones, and celebrate this huge step you all are embarking on. I am truly excited to see what is to come on WatcherTV will be there with each step to support.

Now to my fellow fans of Watcher. I understand the concern and it is okay to have concerns. It shows that you truly care for Watcher as a company and don’t want anything negative to come about with this decision. BUT on the other hand, spreading hateful messages? Not. Fucking. Cool. It is quite simple to express concern in an appropriate/respectful manner. Remember, this is a company full of living and breathing human beings. Trying to justify “who is to blame” and pointing fingers is just childish. Guess what? No one is to blame, it was a company-wide decision that they all made and spent months upon months to create.

Yes, it does suck to see content that was free for years be moved to a paywall, but remember they are independent artists that have to pay employees, freelancers, locations, and themselves! Have we not been advocating for fair pay among creative individuals when it comes to WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes and then AI art taking jobs away from artists? If this is what the company needs to do to survive while not sacrificing the high-quality content they make for us, then we should give it a shot! Plus with the current discount available, the subscription is not that pricey for the amount of shows they produce! Literally for January and a bit of February, they were uploading 2 podcasts and 2 separate shows… that’s a lot of content! If you have never sat down to produce, direct, write, perform, edit, and all other aspects it takes to make a fine-polished YouTube video, it takes a lot of work!

To add to this, Watcher already makes content that far expands past what is recognized as normal for YouTube. They build individual sets for each show that is produced, and they travel all over the place for Ghost Files and soon-to-be Travel Season. It costs money to produce content and YouTube?- It’s just not how it was years and years ago. Views on long-form content have been dipping and with the over-saturation of sponsorships, I am assuming they are not making enough profit to sustain the business on the current platform. Also, monetization on YouTube has been a killer for many channels because of vulgar language issues and just being demonetized for no rhyme or reason. By moving over to a streaming platform of their own they can continue to create what they want to create, and make it without any restrictions or rules holding them back. Too pricey? Find some friends who also like the content and split the pricing evenly. Only want to watch certain shows? Then make a monthly subscription for the time that show airs. There are many solutions that you guys see as a huge problem, and don’t get me wrong I have my concerns. I shared those concerns briefly in my theory post about them still being a young channel, but I’m also unaware of the actual analytics and revenue that is currently being brought in currently to the company from YouTube alone. 

It’s a huge step that has garnered negative feedback from those spreading hateful messages about the company and to other individuals for supporting the boys *cough cough I see your messages and comments cough cough* is truly uncalled for. I will be taking a bit of a break from my socials as I wait out the storm though if I have the energy, I might stream on Twitch again and talk through this with y’all if you can sit down and have a civil discussion. As for now, it’s your choice if you continue to support. My goal is to continue to make funny little memes, and if I am allowed to I will be working on a crack video pt.2 after Travel Season premieres. Remember to be kind and to put yourselves in their shows. Just the boys even though they are receiving the brunt of the hate, but for everyone at the company.

Your local memester watcherina - Fritz.

[virtchandmoir]

Zabeen Hirji: Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with two inspiring women - Canadian Olympic and World figure skating Champion, Tessa Virtue, and Deloitte Canada’s Human Capital leader Jodi Baker Calamai.

The topic: State of Performance: Applying lessons from elite athletes to organizational performance

We talked about strategies and practices to enable individuals and teams to feel and perform at their best.  The audience was an intimate group of CHROs from leading organizations, who were also invited to bring along a mentee or son or daughter.  We all drew inspiration from the techniques used by elite athletes in pursuit of sustained high performance to redefine expectations around the way we work. 

Tessa and Jodi shared their experience and expertise, with a human touch, bringing honesty and vulnerability to the dialogue.  The discussion centred around the criticality of creating work environments where human sustainability is prioritized (https://lnkd.in/gvh_YE3N).

Three takeaways from the conversation:

1️⃣ Stop chasing perfection and start pursuing excellence - “Failure had been my greatest fear - we learnt to embrace failure. It gave us confidence to make bold, ambitious choices.  We were liberated - freed to be our best." (I personally feel freed in my #purposefulthirdact, wish I had made it happen sooner.)

2️⃣ Human Sustainability: To achieve a state of performance, you must equally value and focus on human performance and  business outcomes (The “power of and”). 

3️⃣ Energy Cubes: You only have so much to give in a week. Make sure what you take on is in service of your greater purpose, your why.  Rest and recovery are necessary to operate in a “state of performance.”  

And at a very personal level for me - learn to mono-task, vs. always multi-tasking.

[thecoachingdirectory]

Join our dynamic DISC Flow Fusion Leadership Collective Xperience this coming 22/02/2024 and level up your leadership skills and journey! This 1-day workshop will gather a community of aspiring and seasoned leaders to explore DISC and Emotional Intelligence’s powerful applications in the workplace. The workshop will run from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm and includes your DISC Flow Assessment, lunch, and snacks. Limited spaces available. Hurry and register now!

[whencyclopedia]

Vigiles

The Vigiles (or cohortes vigilum) were formed during the reign of Augustus to act as ancient Rome's permanent firefighting service. Evolving from earlier slave teams, the vigiles were organised as an urban military unit and eventually recruits came from the Roman citizenry. The body, with a permanent camp of its own and equipment stations dotted around the city, patrolled the streets of Rome each night and also performed certain nocturnal policing duties to ensure public order.

Evolution

The vigiles were created by Augustus in 6 CE to meet the high risk of fires in the capital presented by its high population density and widespread use of wooden housing and other buildings which had timber parts. It was not the first time such a force had been created for the avaricious Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of Rome's all-time richest men, had spotted the chance of making money by offering low prices for burning buildings and then having his team of slaves extinguish the fire so that it could be saved for redevelopment. If the property owner refused Crassus' offer, then the fire was left to rage on unabated.

The next step towards a proper fire service was taken by the aedile Egnatius Rufus who, like Crassus, created a force of slaves to put out fires but, unlike Crassus, seems to have been more motivated by issues of public safety. He may have sought political cachet from his creation, but it did not do him much good as the Senate later dealt him the death sentence for conspiring against the state. Another idea to protect the city, particularly at night, was the creation of the tresviri nocturni - three magistrates set on night watch. Yet again, this trio's workforce was composed of slaves, and it was their duty to prevent any disturbances in the city. Some wealthy private individuals even formed their own personal fire brigades, though, such was the need for a larger ever-present response team to fires.

C. 21 BCE Augustus took matters in hand and reorganised what was left of Rufus' slaves, creating a force of 600 slaves to fight fires if and when they arose. The aediles were put in charge of this new force, but they seem to have been ineffectual for, following serious fires in 7 BCE, Augustus reorganised them again. This time the force was split to cover 14 zones, each further divided into vici. Thus each of the 265 vici had its own designated group of firefighting public slaves commanded by the viciomagister. This was an improvement on the previous system, but there remained problems with coordination between different vici. This led to Augustus finally creating a single force, the vigiles.

Continue reading...

[cynicalrosebud]

K9 Hybrid AU: Worldbuilding

Introduction to K9 Hybrids:

K9 hybrids are advanced beings created through genetic engineering, combining human and canine traits to produce highly specialized operatives. They are used in various high-stakes military and law enforcement scenarios due to their enhanced abilities and training.

General Traits (All Hybrids):

Ears: Upright, pointed, and large like those of a German Shepherd, these ears give the hybrids an alert, intelligent appearance. They twitch at the slightest sound, expressing focus, curiosity, and sometimes emotion depending on the situation.

Other Shared Traits:

Muscle tone: All K9 hybrids would have muscular, agile bodies designed for combat and speed.

Eyes: Sharp, focused eyes, either amber, brown, or even striking blue in some cases.

Tail: Bushy, expressive tails that wag when happy or alert when on high alert, also reminiscent of German Shepherds.

Claws: Hybrids have sharp, long claws that require maintenance. Generally strong enough to kill but delicate enough to conduct daily tasks.

Teeth: reminiscent of the Shepherd, the canines of the hybrid are stronger and more elongated than their human counterparts.

Breed Influences:

Y/n: A hybrid, characterized by agility, intelligence, and skill above her class.

Gaz: A hybrid, exhibiting loyalty and calmness. He has a stocky build with water-resistant fur in a dark brown shade. Amber eyes.

Soap: A hybrid with high energy and problem-solving skills. He has a compact frame and longer, shaggy fur styled in a mohawk. Piercing blue eyes.

Training and Roles:

Training: K9 hybrids undergo rigorous training that combines canine instincts with human tactical skills. They are trained for specialized roles including search and rescue, combat support, and reconnaissance.

Roles: In the field, they perform tasks such as tracking, handling explosives, and engaging in close-quarters combat. Their training is tailored to their individual traits and abilities.

Handlers:

Role: Handlers are human operatives responsible for directing and supporting their hybrid partners. They form strong bonds with their hybrids, relying on them for missions and personal protection.

Examples:

Ghost: A handler known for his tactical expertise and stealth, working closely with his hybrid partner, Soap.

Alex: A handler who specializes in close-quarters combat and field operations, partnered with his hybrid, Y/n.

Price: A seasoned handler with experience in high-risk missions, working alongside his hybrid partner, Gaz.

Society and Integration:

Military and Law Enforcement: K9 hybrids are highly valued in military and law enforcement for their specialized skills and capabilities. They are integrated into elite units and teams.

Public Perception: While hybrids are respected for their abilities, they also face challenges related to prejudice and discrimination. Efforts are ongoing to ensure their fair treatment and recognition.

Physical and Biological Features of Military K9 Hybrids

1. Physical Features:

1.1. General Appearance:

Description: Military K9 hybrids possess a robust and athletic build tailored for rigorous military tasks. Their physique is strong and agile, combining the endurance of canines with the physical attributes of humans.

Size: They vary in size based on the breeds used for hybridization, typically ranging from medium to large.

1.2. Fur:

Description: Their fur (what we refer to as hair when on a human head) is designed to be both functional and durable, suitable for various environmental conditions. They usually have short to medium-length fur that is dense or wiry, offering protection against the elements while remaining manageable.

Colors: Fur colors can include black, tan, brown, and gray.

1.3. Ears:

Description: All military K9 hybrids have German Shepherd-like ears—erect, pointed, and highly expressive. These ears enhance their auditory abilities and contribute to their keen sense of hearing.

Functionality: The mobility of their ears aids in directional hearing and effective communication.

1.4. Tail:

Description: Their tails are long and expressive, contributing to balance and communication. The tail is used to signal various emotions and intentions.

Functionality: The tail's movement helps convey feelings from excitement to alertness.

1.5. Eyes:

Description: K9 hybrids have large, expressive eyes that reflect their intelligence and sensitivity. Eye colors range from brown to amber, and their vision is adapted for both day and night operations.

Functionality: Enhanced visual acuity supports tracking, surveillance, and various field activities.

1.6. Body Structure:

Description: They possess a lean yet strong muscular structure designed for agility and endurance. Their body is optimized for physical tasks such as running, climbing, and other demanding activities.

Functionality: This structure supports their ability to perform effectively in diverse environments.

2. Biological Features:

2.1. Enhanced Senses:

Description: K9 hybrids have heightened sensory capabilities, including acute hearing, superior olfaction, and enhanced night vision. These traits are inherited from their canine genetics.

Functionality: These enhanced senses are crucial for detecting threats, tracking scents, and conducting surveillance.

2.2. Adaptations for Performance:

Description: Their biological systems are adapted to support high physical performance, including efficient oxygen usage, excellent muscle endurance, and a high metabolism.

Functionality: These adaptations enable sustained activity and quick recovery from exertion.

2.3. Specialized Training Response:

Description: Hybrids have an inherent ability to respond to training commands and signals, reflecting their combined genetic heritage. They are driven to learn and perform specific tasks.

Functionality: Their responsiveness makes them versatile and effective in various military roles.

2.4. Health and Recovery:

Description: Hybrids are susceptible to certain health issues common to both canines and humans. Regular medical care and monitoring are essential to manage these risks.

Functionality: Ongoing health checks and specialized care are necessary for their well-being and operational readiness.

2.5. Reproductive Features:

Description: The reproductive systems of hybrids are compatible with both human and canine genetics, allowing for the continuation of hybrid traits in future generations.

Functionality: Breeding programs focus on maintaining desired traits while ensuring the health and viability of the hybrids.

2.6. Communication:

Description: K9 hybrids use a combination of vocalizations, body language, and expressions to communicate. Their vocalizations can range from barks and growls to more nuanced sounds, while body language includes tail movements and ear positions.

Functionality: Effective communication with handlers and other hybrids is crucial for coordinated operations and emotional bonding.

These features ensure that military K9 hybrids are well-equipped for their roles, blending the best characteristics of both canines and humans to excel in demanding military environments.

K9 Hybrid Personalities and Needs

1. Personality Traits:

1.1. Loyal and Obedient:

Description: K9 hybrids are known for their strong sense of loyalty and obedience to their handlers. They form deep bonds with their human partners, often displaying unwavering dedication and trust.

Needs: Regular interaction and bonding time with handlers are crucial. They thrive in environments where they feel valued and trusted.

1.2. Intelligent and Adaptive:

Description: Hybrids possess high intelligence and adaptability, enabling them to learn quickly and handle complex tasks. They are often used in specialized roles that require problem-solving skills.

Needs: Mental stimulation through training exercises, problem-solving activities, and engaging tasks are essential to keep them sharp and satisfied.

1.3. Energetic and Driven:

Description: K9 hybrids have high energy levels and a strong drive to perform tasks. This trait is particularly evident in roles that require physical exertion and agility.

Needs: Regular physical exercise and opportunities to channel their energy are crucial. They benefit from vigorous activities and training sessions that keep them active and engaged.

1.4. Sensitive and Observant:

Description: Hybrids are often sensitive to their environment and can pick up on subtle changes or signals. This sensitivity makes them excellent at detecting threats or changes in their surroundings.

Needs: They need a stable and secure environment where they can feel safe and confident. Consistent routines and positive reinforcement help maintain their emotional well-being.

1.5. Playful and Curious:

Description: Despite their serious roles, many hybrids have a playful and curious side. They enjoy exploring and playing, which helps balance their work and downtime.

Needs: Opportunities for play and exploration are important for their overall happiness. Enrichment activities and toys that stimulate their curiosity can help keep them content.

2. Physical and Emotional Needs:

2.1. Regular Exercise:

Description: Hybrids require regular physical activity to maintain their health and energy levels. Exercise helps them stay fit and manage their high energy.

Examples: Daily runs, obstacle courses, and training drills that challenge their physical abilities.

2.2. Mental Stimulation:

Description: Engaging in tasks that challenge their intelligence and problem-solving skills is vital. Mental stimulation helps prevent boredom and keeps them sharp.

Examples: Puzzle toys, complex training exercises, and tasks that require critical thinking.

2.3. Social Interaction:

Description: Positive interactions with handlers and other hybrids are essential for their social development and emotional health. They thrive in environments where they feel connected and valued.

Examples: Bonding sessions with handlers, group training activities, and socialization with other hybrids.

2.4. Proper Nutrition:

Description: A balanced diet tailored to their specific needs supports their overall health and performance. Nutrition is crucial for maintaining their energy levels and physical condition.

Examples: High-quality, specially formulated food that meets their dietary requirements.

2.5. Health Care:

Description: Regular medical check-ups and prompt attention to any health issues are necessary to ensure their well-being. Hybrids need access to veterinary care and specialized medical attention when required.

Examples: Routine vaccinations, dental care, and treatment for injuries or illnesses.

2.6. Rest and Recovery:

Description: Adequate rest and recovery time are essential for maintaining their physical and mental health. Hybrids need periods of downtime to recuperate from training and missions.

Examples: Comfortable resting areas, relaxation time, and time off from intensive activities.

2.7. Safe and Secure Environment:

Description: A secure environment where hybrids feel safe and protected contributes to their emotional well-being. They need to be in environments where they can trust their surroundings.

Examples: Secure kennels, safe training areas, and stable living conditions.

Understanding and addressing these personalities and needs ensure that K9 hybrids remain effective, healthy, and content in their roles. Proper care and attention to their unique traits are essential for their overall well-being and performance.

[andypantsx3]

hi andie!

do u have any tips for corporate girlies? my friend is starting out in the corp world !! and got a lot of reality checks over how harsh and 'corporate' it is :((

Ohhhhh my god yeah corporate culture sucks!! It's just a bunch of adult babies using fancy words tbh lmao, acting like we're going to war and/or curing cancer when we're really just launching a product no one wants or needs lol.

Not sure what industry your friend is or what role she's in but here are some general tips, starting with practical project tips to more personal/sanity check tips lol.

Make sure you understand your organization's goals and success criteria. This is so basic but in order to understand what leadership cares about and how all the different project components fit in, you're going to want to learn what are all the active projects, who owns them, what success is being evaluated on, and how those performance indicators are being calculated. I work with some people who have no idea what is going on (which, fair) but it ends up creating a ton of churn and can look super bad for them if they are not in step with what our corporate overlords expect from them.

Clear communication is key. Never have I ever encountered more communication issues than working in corporate; people often have one image in their head of what a task looks like where their partner teams might have another, and if you don't outline all the key details together, you could end up delivering something unusable. If you're an individual contributor (aka a task doer), make sure you ask clarifying questions of the project leads if they haven't specified (like, what testing environment something needs to be deployed to, what are the release gating procedures, what is the expected timeline, etc). If you're a project manager, make sure you're clarifying those details with stakeholders and passing that information to your team; prompt your team to ask questions even if they seem clear, and make sure you get that info for them ASAP!!

Documentation is crucial. If you make an implementation decision, document it. If you have a delivery, document it. If you have a process for anything, make sure you document it. If you have a meeting, get those notes out. If you have an agreement with stakeholders, make sure you get it in writing and get them to sign off on it!! Information is key to helping other people understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, what the expectations were from other related parties when you started doing it, and how it can be improved if needed. If you're a project lead or manager, start a folder or repository somewhere for all project communications, keep all your emails & slacks with stakeholders (because they will come back being snotheads and you can politely whip out receipts). :3

Be proactive. Observe the kinds of questions leadership asks, understand their concerns & needs. Then proactively make sure you are addressing those things in your work and/or in your reporting. For example, if you're reporting on a release failure in a weekly business review, make sure you call out things like: 1) what you tried to do to prevent failure, 2) what the ultimate blockers or root causes of failure were, 3) what your learnings were from that failure, 4) what you are going to do to fix it, and 5) what the revised ETA is. That way, even though things didn't go your way, leadership understands you are on top of things and proactively working to solve problems.

Understand priorities & tradeoffs. There will come a time where you have conflicting demands on your time. Work with your manager or org leadership to understand what projects are higher priorities than others, and do not be afraid to escalate to your manager or above if progress is threatened or if you need to clarify. For example, Project A is high priority and Project B is medium priority, but the project manager from Project B is all up in your business asking you to deliver something or investigate something that you don't know if you have time for. Loop in your manager to determine if someone else can take Project B, or inform them that doing B will impose these anticipated risks to A; are they comfortable with that? Then you can circle back to Project B to deliver the news that you're working on A, your manager has suggested this revised timeline or other POC they can work with, and if they have concerns they can escalate. (Usually this shuts ppl up :3)

Improve processes. I cannot emphasize this enough but try to think about how to do things better the next time around, even if things went solidly to plan. Do not get defensive about your work or the quality of your work; always be thinking (or asking other people) about how time could be cut off of something, what processes could be put in place to minimize touchpoints or decrease risks. If you can, try to impose this mindset on your team & ask for project retrospectives, and take specific action items out of those retrospectives! Trust me it makes things so much clearer and easier in the long run if you work to make things better over time!!

Get a mentor. Find someone who has the job you want to have or who seems to know the things you want to know about and ask them to work with you on that! Tell them what your goal is, whether to develop a special skill set to move roles, or develop a specific understanding of a project or concept, and ask them to help you develop a plan to get there. Set up regular time together and goals to work towards in that time. This helps you learn things faster and gives you someone who can vouch for you when it comes time for yearly feedback, role changes, or promotions.

Create a personal portfolio. Keep track of all the things that you do; all the projects you are on, what your role is, what you were responsible for delivering, and what resources you created as part of that, whether it's project wikis, some script, etc. Keep your manager aware of it so they understand your value and have visibility on your work; you can leverage this when it comes time for role changes or promotions. Additionally try to make sure you're working on high viz or high value projects; this gives you even more leverage!!

Do not tie your self worth to your performance or your job title. At the end of the day capitalism sucks, corporations are evil, and none of this shit matters. Even if you don't do something well once, you can improve in the future, and even if your company doesn't see it/isn't a good match for your skills, you have value!!! They profit from keeping you underpaid, stressed out, and dejected, but you are not just a 'resource' or a cog in a machine. You are a person; you will make missteps from time to time but you bring more value to this planet and the people on it just by existing than these capitalist enterprises could ever. Do do not burn yourself out trying to please them, keep yourself open to other job options, and make sure you have a good friend/family support structure in place to reality check you!!

Idk how helpful this was but I hope there was a little something in there that your friend could use. If she has specific questions on anything I'm happy to help out too lol; that might give me more idea what specific aspect she is struggling with & how to help!

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 10 - Forced to the Starting Gate

Itaru: (I think it’s about time to head out… ah, right.)

Itaru: (Now that I’ve got a rough idea of our performance schedule, I’d better apply for paid leave before I forget.)

Boss: Chigasaki-kun, may I borrow you for fifteen minutes?

Itaru: --Of course.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Boss: It appears you’re all here.

Itaru: (Looks like there’s a few of my colleagues… and a handful of younger guys too.)

Boss: I called you all here to ask if you’d be interested in participating in an urban development project that our company is currently working on.

Boss: The project itself is already in its final stages, so what we’d like from you is to provide support in the form of an induction course.

Itaru: (So this is that large-scale overseas urban development project. The one about creating a theater establishment and developing the surrounding area to be a center of arts and culture…)

Itaru: (I checked out the outline since it was related to theater and sounded interesting.)

Boss: It’s not mandatory, of course. It would just be something to do alongside your current jobs.

Boss: That said… there is a reason you all were chosen specifically.

Boss: As individuals who are important to the company’s future, I truly hope you consider becoming core members of this next project.

Itaru: (Eight racehorses competing in the promotion race line up at the gate. Favored to win is Communication Skills Demon, but My Parents Are Absolutely Loaded is also attracting quite a lot of attention.)

Coworker A: I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.

Coworker B: I’ve been interested in this project for quite some time now, so I’m honored to be part of it!

Itaru: (The gate has opened and both of the favored horses have taken off running.)

Coworker C: Considering the state of my current workload, I should be able to participate in the induction course.

Itaru: I… sorry, can I have a little more time to think about it?

Itaru: (If it weren’t for the timing, I probably would’ve been all in, but…)

Itaru: (Honestly, I’m so busy with the troupe and the Fleur Award right now that I just don’t have time to think about anything else.)

Boss: …Ah, because you have your own theater company to worry about, right, Chigasaki-kun? Please do consider it based on your schedule with that in mind.

Boss: However, the theme of this urban development project is the arts, which is why the other team members were really hoping to work with you, Chigasaki-kun.

Coworker A: …

Itaru: I thank them for considering me.

Boss: I’ll set up another opportunity at a later date to explain more on what the induction course entails and to introduce the project’s team members. I hope to see you there.

Itaru: I will seriously consider it.

*Door closes*

Itaru: …

Coworker B: He seriously can’t just say he’ll consider it and then refuse.

Coworker C: Must be nice being in a position where you can just quit the company if worse comes to worst.

Coworker A: Well, it is a popular theater company, and the fact that it’s generally well-known definitely doesn’t make it any easier for the company to deal with him.

Itaru: …

Itaru: (If you’re gonna say it, at least do it behind my back.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Chikage: I’m so sorry, but my hands are full at the moment.

Company Employee A: I see. I apologize for dropping it on you so suddenly.

Chikage: Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.

Itaru: …

Itaru: Wanna head somewhere a little nicer, Senpai?

Chikage: …I don’t even want to try and guess where that might be, but go on.

Itaru: The hell is that supposed to mean?

Chikage: Haah, I suppose I can’t say no. I’ll go with you.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Punching SFX*

Itaru: Start by cheesing it and then follow that up with a double finishing move and K.O.! Man, is there any greater high than this?

Chikage: If you’re going to try and hide the way you actually feel, do it a little better.

Itaru: …Ughh, this is so stupid. Why can’t it just be the people who actually wanna be part of the promotion race at the starting gate?

Itaru: I mean, they should dip if they don’t wanna do it. Directing hate at me isn’t gonna go anything.

Itaru: There’s supposed to be a fine line between noobs like them and a mid-tierer like me. Why is it that the more of a mid-ranker you are, the less human rights you get?

Chikage: There aren’t really that many mid-level people to begin with.

Itaru: The company knows what to expect from the “Elite Chigasaki-san”. That’s why they’re hiring guys fresh out of college to steadily raise them into the perfect corporate slaves.

Itaru: I get why my colleagues are so desperate to advance their careers by using their outer appearances and mild manners to do so.

Itaru: From their point of view, it’s gotta be infuriating to see a guy who acts so carelessly while chasing after both theater and a career.

Itaru: And hit ‘em with a triple combo finisher-- But I’m just trying to figure out where I stand, so just eff off.

Itaru: Must be nice for you, Senpai. You go overseas a lot and get to level up your career stats in the least complicated way possible.

Itaru: And the things people say about you aren’t nearly as harsh, either.

Itaru: Me, on the other hand, I’m just stuck being the “can-do guy” who does a little better than decent work around the office.

Itaru: At the end of the day, I’m just a mediocre handyman at best.

Itaru: Even if I’m not being treated like the favorite, I still don’t slack off with my work. I may not be the most motivated, but I’d like to think I’m still doing everything I’m supposed to.

Chikage: You sure move your mouth and your hands a lot.

Itaru: What am I even trying to do in the first place?

Itaru: Should I sell my soul and become a corporate slave like you, and aim so high that no one can ever possibly complain about me not being good enough, or should I try and attain a rank that’s purely “Itaru Chigasaki”?

Chikage: Dad jokes and pro-level dodging techniques, huh? (1)

Chikage: Anyway, shouldn’t your first step be thinking about what you want for yourself?

Itaru: What I want… Well, I guess just to maintain the status quo so I don’t have to deal with everyone’s complaints about me… No, actually, maybe I want to speedrun my way to early retirement with passive income…?

Chikage: Then stop spending money on pulls and start investing.

Itaru: Absolutely not.

Itaru: …I originally chose this job based on the benefits and was lucky enough just to get in, so it’s not like I have any real desire to climb the corporate ladder.

Itaru: Most of the troupe have more than one thing on their hand, but they all have dreams and love what they do.

Itaru: And then there’s me who’s job is just a source of income. I feel like I really don’t have a whole lot to bring back to the troupe.

Itaru: It’s an important time for Spring Troupe to compete, and here I am getting caught up in a promotion race while all my coworkers talk behind my back.

Chikage: So you’re in a position where your hobby is more useful to the troupe.

Itaru: Exactly. To be honest, I wonder if there’s even any point in me continuing to be an office worker, but I don’t have the backbone or the self-confidence to just quit and do theater as my full-time job.

Itaru: Basically, I just wanna have something to fall back on.

Itaru: Ugh~, who would’ve thought I’d still be having these kinds of student problems even now… You ever think about this kinda stuff, Senpai?

Chikage: Well… there’s a variety of upsides to my job.

Itaru: A variety?

Chikage: A variety.

Itaru: Oh, okay. By all means, don’t elaborate or anything.

Chikage: No matter where you are, there are always two sides to things. There’s the side where you’re appreciated and the side where you’re disrespected. It’s not just you.

Chikage: The same goes for me, just with a different set of people. I guess I’m just glad to even be able to do theater activities in the first place.

Itaru: But if we’re actually nominated for the Fleur Award this time around, I doubt the company’s gonna be too eager to accommodate for that.

Chikage: Well, the company does have a performance-based evaluation system. If you can’t contribute to improving the company’s image, you’ll be told you need to be giving your work your undivided attention.

Chikage: At any rate, that doesn’t change the fact that we need the results of our next performance to be good too.

Itaru: I guess you’re ri… Hell yeah, I win! Haaah, I feel better now.

Itaru: Oh, right, didn’t you get asked to do something annoying too, Senpai?

Chikage: Ah… I was asked to accompany a client on an overseas business trip as an interpreter, but I had to decline because I just don’t have the time for that right now.

Itaru: Guess even cheaters like you have it hard sometimes. But y’know, I’m sure there’s tons of people who would kill to have the opportunity to do some sightseeing while all you have to do is be an interpreter.

Chikage: Well, it’s not to a country that I particularly want to go to.

Itaru: But you know the language, don’t you?

Chikage: I guess.

Itaru: Yeah, okay, we get it, you’re cheater.

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

• • •

T/N:

(1) Itaru says “役職 『茅ヶ崎至』 に至る” (yakushoku “chigasaki itaru” ni itaru), literally “Attain the position of “Itaru Chigasaki”. The joke is that the verb “to attain” (至る; itaru) and Itaru’s name are the same kanji and have the same pronunciation, hence why Chikage mentions dad jokes.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 9 - Preview is Up! - SPOILERS & SPECULATION!

It’s time for Sports Day! 

So, according to the summary, neither Kazuki nor Rei have ever participated in a children’s sports day, which makes sense. Rei had an unconventional childhood and Kazuki grew up without much money and without parents, so it’s unlikely that he went to daycare or preschool. 

(Thinking about, this would also explain why neither Kazuki nor Rei thought of daycare or preschool right away and only got the idea after seeing a daycare bus go by the park.)

This means that this children’s sports day will be all of their firsts! Mine too, kinda. I’ve experienced elementary school and junior high school sports days, but never a daycare/preschool sports day. I found a blog post written by a mother who went to one (I’ll link it below in the comments) and a lot of the events involve the parents in the activity.

At the elementary and junior high school level, parents usually aren’t all that involved, But at the daycare level, it seems they are! Especially for the little babies (which makes sense, because they are babies, they can’t do too much on their own).

Putting the rest under a Read More because of spoilers!

Let’s look at some of the events we can see in the preview:

Tamaire - Bean Bag Toss

It looks like Miri is holding a white colored bean bag in her hand, so this is probably going to be some a bean bag toss game.

Here is a description of the event:

Tamaire (玉入れ) translates “Beanbag toss”, and as the name implies, it is an exciting game where students throw small beanbags into a basket hung at the top of a tall pole. Beanbags are scatted on the ground around the pole, and each bag has the color of its team, typically red or white. Teams compete against each other based on the number of beanbags in the basket. There is a time limit, and the beanbags thrown into the basket after the time ends are not worth any points.

(I’ll link to the post where I got that description below in the comments).

Tug - of - War

Tug-of-War is a staple and is basically at every sports day and it looks like Miss  Anna is tugging at a rope here. How it will go down here...I’m not too sure. Usually you’ll see combos like the kids going against each other, or students against teachers (junior high school), or even like teachers against parents (one of the rare events where you might see parents participate in Sports Days aimed at older years). Maybe here it will be the Aozora Staff vs The Parents? Or maybe the older kids and Miss Anna vs The Parents, lol.

I don’t know! It should be pretty interesting though! Of course, I could be wrong here too, but tug-of-war would make sense.

Kumitaiso (組体操) - Maybe? Or Stretching?

I’m not 100% sure on this one. What is kumitaiso? 

Kumitaiso (組体操) is rather a group performance than individual competition. Students work together as a team and create a variety of gymnastic formations with their bodies.

Usually they make a pyramid, but this generally tends to be for older kids, and parents have noted in more recent years that it can be very dangerous, so many schools are getting rid of it. But maybe this is a more tame/safer and more simplistic version of something like that. But they could just be doing some kind of stretching activity here. If anyone knows for sure, feel free to let me know and I’ll add the info in!

Race

And, of course, we have the race. According to the summary, Miri practices with Kazuki in the park and she does end up in the lead, but then she falls right before the finish line! T0T Oh no, Miri! A lesson in things being out of our control sometimes? About losing and taking it okay? Both? Something else entirely? I’m intrigued to see which it will be!

Let’s see, outside of that we have... 

Rei scouting out the daycare, lmao! XD

It’s cute though! Rei is getting into the event in his own way.

It seems both him and Kazuki are getting really invested in it, so this may end up being a lesson for them too (like parents centering themselves in their children’s sports activities and making it more about them than their child - you know, the parent that gets super worked up over their kid losing something, maybe kinda like Kazuki looks here: 

But the kid will be totally fine. I can see them going with that angle. Since Buddy Daddies generally tends to be less about Miri learning some kind of lesson and more so about Kazuki and Rei learning something about parenting and themselves through raising Miri.

Changing up the focus a bit, one thing I’m really looking forward to is seeing Kazuki and Rei possibly interacting with the other daycare parents more (not just the Daycare Mamas!).

You can spot a Daycare Papa! in the background there too. It’s also just really common to see like the whole family come out for Sports Day events, so like moms, dads, older and younger siblings, even grandparents.

The idea of Kazuki and Rei being able to take part in something so...innocent and group building is such a heartwarming idea. Though, I am also fully preparing myself for an after-credits scene that will go back to the drama at hand and Kyutaro’s decision, etc. and that’s probably going to hurt even more after this episode (likely as the writers intended, lol).

Oh! Also, I love that we are seeing that follow through that I was hoping for from Episode 7! It seems Rei is going to be willingly choosing to make riceballs for Miri (enough that she could share them with her friends and others there too!). This lunch is going to be one that Kazuki and Rei make for their family together. T~T My heart! 

Also, Rei learning how to make something like a riceball is such a good place to actually start (instead of French toast, which requires more basic skills and knowledge). It’s an easy (and quick) meal to learn how to make well. If they end up tasting really good too, then that can act as a very quick and easy boost to his confidence with making and preparing food. It’s such a good step in the right direction! I hope the kids and parents like his riceballs! 

Anyway, I’m going to fully appreciate this breather episode before we jump into the angst, action (probably), and drama of the final act of the series (Ep. 10 - 13).