#fen creates renders

[yukirayu]

So I've decided to make renders of the Nitro+CHiRAL protagonists in their latest collective artwork as they model for the shirts that the company is currently selling. You can learn more about that here.

[miifu666]

⋆˙⟡ — A small summary of how i currently imagined both Replica and Original Suklha to be like, the differences and similarities! Also, following my previous theory, i am making replica and Original to have quite an opposite personality, but still have some similarities regardless.

Replica! Suklha

Made by Buddha using the Original as the Base vessel.

Created to help the destined one on his journey, also to complete a soul pact between wukong and the original Suklha

Not completely similar to the original Suklha, due to the different energy flowing through the vessel.

Woke up in a small desolate and grungy shrine, considers it her homestay afterwards till she met Destined one and joined him on his journey.

Despite her caring attitude, they're known to have a resting bitch face that instantly dissipates once someone calls her name. The Aloofness within her perked up once you start a conversation with her.

Currently doesn't have the ability to transform into surreal forms, but gained the power to have omnipotent strength. Moving mountains and monsters are easy to her.

Follows Destined one (Yuan Fen) around to find her own "home", helps him as a tank using her overwhelming strength and gauntlet.

More than once has a few boulders dropped on her, she barely notices it. Surviving most accident unscathed. Yuan Fen would say her aloofness is also her strength.

Was previously known to be a wanderer before meeting Yuan Fen. Exploring the world and helping some creatures with mini tasks, cleaning up the little shrine she found herself in.

Once Yuan Fen managed to defeat Wukong's broken shell and merged with the monkey king, He gave Suklha a shard consisting of leftover primordial energy left behind by the original Suklha. The shard then being absorbed by the replica Suklha, will merge the OG Suklha memories, abilities and such into one with the replica. Making them both connected.

Would finally be known as both "The faceless Messenger of fate" and "The deity of Protection and Warfare"

The chance to have her ending will depend on how the destined one convinces her to join his journey. If he succeeds, the ending can be reached. Where two soul pacts are officially completed. If he didn't, he wouldn't complete his pact, rendering him feeling like something was missing through the journey and ending.

Original! Suklha

Originally an Otherwordly Invader, the result of a primordial deity trying to tap into another Universe.

Earned the Title "The Faceless messenger of Fate" to describe her Countless of Form to deceive others in making a deal with her. Even a small nod can change your fate as a whole. She has the ability to turn into something Surreal, based on your prespective she could be your own mother to make the deal sweeter than ambrosia

A few Provinces considers her as the Symbol of Wisdom, to make use of your head before getting into any deals or contract. Paying attention to details and rules when starting a new journey written in your destiny

Its said she has a venom that can destroy countless of villages and continent before sunset and burn through dragon scales like tissue . A venom that can act as a plague, venomous as it may, she has never been seen using this.

Known to be the Rotten symbolism of Immortality. Such is the Myth of Centipedes throughout time, the small but ferocious Deity becoming the bastardized version of Immortality.

Have blackmailed and traumatized countless dragons for her own amusement. In turn, they mostly dreaded at seeing her and want no part in talking with her (She Has been poisoned once or twice by them)

There has been a clan of Dragons trying to double cross the deal she made with them, planning to steal her powers. She somehow turned the parents of the hatchling into a blob of flesh, forever be turned into a dead object with consciousness. She hasnt returned them ever since.

Once created a book, contained within an information about everything and anything. For someone to read even the first sentence of the page would break their mind and sanity. The book changed cover each time it's placed into the bookshelves, adapting itself to what majority would need a guide for. other times its "the history of the dragon" or "Buddha's vitality and the teachings of purity" but once it turned into "The life of Immortality, cursed and blessings" in turn the book was stolen by a merchant, then sold to a rich family. Heaven knows what happened to the family. The estate was empty the day after the book was bought. Currently, the location of the book is unknown.

Besides a few gods, Original Suklha was one of the deities who could outwit wukong on all of his ministration. Be it Wukong's transformation, Wukong's unpredictability, or his twisted sense of entertainment. She was supposed to be someone Wukong would be an equal to.

Throughout the times they spent together, Wukong noticed the little things. How Suklha would care about the children more, more gentle with animals and bugs alike. Theres an inner conflict inside the monkey.

Wukong unexpectedly asked her out midfight. Claiming her to be Engaged with him. Suklha hasn't given him her answer, wanting to see how far the monkey would practice his virtue.

The heaven's despised seeing two mischievous and all powerful gods working together, tired of them wrecking havoc. Have tried to put them against eachother, it went poorly. Ended with Wukong starting an age of war with the Heavens again.

Despite Suklha's insistence on holding out his anger, Wukong went anyway. Disobeying her words and not hearing her warnings.

Thus action cost half of the heaven's army, and the original Suklha's Life.

Suklha never gave Wukong her answer, perhaps in the next life she would.

Suklha died because the Heaven's figured out a way to separate their essence (Soul) and vessel (Body). Unlinking the Primordial from tapping within their universe again. The body laid to rest in the underworld's, only to be used again to create the Replica.

It is said after this incident her body was the sole energy that protects the undead.

Artwork ©️ Miifu666

[gothhabiba]

I've been on a bit of a curry powder kick with my recipes lately I think. curry powder is sooo interesting as a subject of study because of how much potential for localisation there is; the process of creating recipes for different regional blends of curry powder is really making me think about my philosophy with adapting dishes.

like, plenty of home cooks in China & Hong Kong will actually use imported curry powder from India or Malaysia to make Chinese curry, because they're "aiming at" a "foreign" flavor profile that was originally inspired by Indian cuisine (with this image of Indian cuisine being itself a result of colonisation, an innovation aimed at making the ~flavours of India~ more accessible to the English home cook in the 18th and 19th centuries—but Indian companies to-day do export "curry powder" blends to other English-speaking regions that they label "authentic" &c. &c.).

but this wouldn't be very interesting to me! I'm interested in and "aiming at" a specifically Hong Kongese adaptation of curry powder, and therefore I'm going to want to include as many Chinese ingredients as I can find 'attested' in Hong Kongese curry powder recipes (in my research into the spices used in commercial curry powder blends made and packaged in Hong Kong; home cook YouTube videos and interviews with restaurant owners based in Hong Kong; &c.). I'm never ad-libbing (i.e., adding in spices or aromatics that I don't see 'attested' in whatever local blends that I can find a trace of online), and I try to make the proportion of spices that I include in a blend basically adhere to the average of what I see in the recipes I consult (& the commercial blends, which don't list out proportions but do at least have some ingredients listed and organised in order of weight)—

but I still have my own tendencies that I'm interested in indulging (e.g., localised over generic; more over less; pungent over mild), and I'm able to fiddle around with all of those variables to produce a blend that is itself attested nowhere else, though each of its component ingredients can be traced back. so my recipe for Xinjiapo gali fen jumps at all of the 'Chinese' ingredients that Koon Yick Wah Kee includes (Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese black cardamom), but also includes more 'Indian' spices that other recipes include, but their's doesn't (e.g. green cardamom, fenugreek).

(as a side note for anyone who speaks French—on peut constater que the list of ingredients has been machine-translated from Chinese to English and thence to French, based on the fact that "star anise" has been rendered "tenez le primier rôle l'anis". other translation issues: what is listed as "dried parsley" in English [芫茜] is probably actually coriander seeds.)

[fen-the-magnificat]

more thoughts on a soc &j au (beware spoilers for both!!)

ok so.

juliet and romeo as nina and matthias. i really feel as though nina is simply a more mature juliet; they share a very similar charm and wit. plus nina being a heartrender i feel like gives 'oops i did it again' vibes even though that is not what a heart render does lmao. i just feel there is a symbolism to be found between juliet as a lover and hearts + exerting control over them (this takes me back to year 9 writing r&j essays, were they in control of their romance or was it fate, that kind of idea).

matthias and romeo are not very similar characters in terms of personality - what with romeo being kinda airheaded and Matthias being a more stoic character. BUT. matthias is raised druskelle, who hunt and kill grisha (what nina is), which is about as close as you can get to a capulet-montague metaphor, i reckon. plus, (SPOILERS) his death at the end of crooked kingdom, IN NINAS ARMS MIGHT I MENTION, is very r&j, and very the start of &j, as nina does not also kill herself. both pairs follow a classic forbidden lovers arc, while not created, was popularised to some extent by r&j, so i feel like the doomed romance creates some glaring parallels.

NOW.

frankie as wylan. wylan, in both show and books, is mousy, a talented musician, lacking in confidence. remind you of anyone? he's also neurodivergent-coded, and so is frankie. they both share an overbearing father and an absent mother figure (please note: this is not me equating lance to van eck. lance misunderstands his son, van eck is straight up abusive.) wylan has a beautiful arc of sort of discovering part of himself, and a certain level of self-confidence, through his love for jesper and the support he receives in return, that i think lines up in a really neat way with frankie's overall arc in the show of finding himself, and finding confidence, due in part to finding may.

speaking of! may as jesper. physical characteristics aside, jesper is the fashionable smooth-talker of the crows, in a way that reminds me of the may we see before 'domino' and again before 'i kissed a girl'. jesper also faces similar challenges to may, but where may struggles with their gender identity, (SPOILERS) jesper represses his own grisha powers. and before you say "fen! that's not the same thing at all, you doof!" both aspects of the characters are painted as integral to each of them respectively. may has (presumably, as it's not outright stated, only inferred) dealt with years of misgendering and confusion, and hides that part of themself up until 'i'm not a girl', and jesper actively works to hide the powers that, as part of his culture (zemini), "should be celebrated" because of a bad experience in the past (not gonna spoil that one). also, jesper wears a skirt for like. several episodes of shadow and bone, and to me personally, it's giving genderfluid vibes, but that's neither here nor there.

overall, please watch this scene, look me in the eyes, and tell me it's not maycois.

PS. not sure who i would put as kaz and inej? maybe anne and william? however it works more in the sense of their strained relationship in &j than it does in terms of the actual characters. hmm.

[duxiaomin-blog]

The Colorful Tapestry of Chinoiserie: Artistic Expression and Cultural Fusion of East-West Influence

During the era of the ancient Roman Empire, Chinese silk was highly esteemed in the West, becoming a precious commodity. Despite knowing little about the origins of silk, the Romans placed great importance on this trade. An anonymous Roman writer in the 1st century AD speculated about the routes to China, which is regarded as one of the earliest descriptions in European literature. He wrote: “The ultimate source of the sea is connected with Thin, a city in the interior of the country, somewhat to the north, known as Thinae. From there, the route is the same, overland to the Great Xiongnu and to Bactria, through which raw silk, silk thread, and woven silk fabrics are brought, just as they are brought through Limyra in Lycia by way of the Ganges.” This description highlights the significance of silk trade at the time and the Western desire for Chinese goods.

In the 14th century, Marco Polo’s travelogue “The Travels of Marco Polo” distilled several generations of European mythical imaginings about the East and played a significant role in the creation of the Chinese style, which depended on an incomplete and romanticized understanding of China. Among all the Europeans who had visited China in the Middle Ages and early modern period, none understood China better than Matteo Ricci, a Portuguese priest who resided in China for over 25 years until his death in Beijing in 1610. He learned Chinese, mastered the intricate etiquette required by the Chinese court, studied Confucianism, and became a disseminator of Confucianism to Europe.

Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain water jar, adorned with gilded silver mounts from 16th-century England

By 1638, the Dutch had imported over three million pieces of porcelain from China, primarily featuring blue floral motifs on a white background, yet crafted in a range of European-style shapes. This amalgamation of styles exemplifies the characteristics of Chinoiserie. To safeguard the delicate porcelain, European craftsmen often opted to embellish them with gilded mounts, preventing accidental breakage. However, this function-driven approach also evolved aesthetically into a blended form of East-West fusion, which epitomizes the essence and allure of Chinoiserie.

In 16th-century European art, the beauty of the human body was celebrated, advocating that human proportions are the most harmonious in the world and applying them to architecture, sculpture, and decoration. On this piece of Chinoiserie porcelain, the English combined gilded sculptures of half-human, half-divine figures with blue and white porcelain. The figurative forms flow naturally, with dynamic swirling curves, as if pulling divinity towards the mundane, also hinting at the precious status of blue and white porcelain in Europe from another perspective.

ChuCui Palace Dancing Airglow Earrings

In the mid-20th century, ChuCui Palace pioneered the fusion of Chinoiserie with traditional Chinese brushwork, bringing Eastern painting aesthetics into the realm of jewelry design. This integration created a unique branch of mixed East-West styles. In their work “Dancing Airglow” earrings, ChuCui Palace sculpted a lively pair of plump and leaping koi fish. The piece adopts the naturalistic asymmetry characteristic of Chinoiserie and portrays the unique dynamic beauty with smooth, rounded curves. It captures the vitality of the koi fish, lotus, and leaves.

The most striking aspect of the work is the emulation of the technique of “fen ran” in traditional Chinese brushwork, where inlaying is meticulously applied. The juxtaposition of clear gold and delicate purple transitions naturally, sometimes dense and light, sometimes light and dense, akin to ink blending on paper. It allows one to appreciate that Chinese painting not only embodies subtle ink tones but also employs meticulous color rendering, showcasing another facet of richness, passion, delicacy, and grandeur, which can be equally elegant. Though akin to a small-scale composition, it seamlessly incorporates a genuine attitude towards life, exuding a refined and profound demeanor.

Queen Anne-style Chinoiserie decorations and partially gilt bordered cabinets

In Sotheby’s auction of Chinoiserie furniture, there is a “Queen Anne-style” Chinoiserie decoration and partially gilt bordered cabinet. It vividly illustrates the classic hybrid form within Chinoiserie. With the European “Queen Anne” style exterior, infused with Chinese lacquer craftsmanship and decoration, it differs markedly from the early 17th-century and William and Mary styles. The “Queen Anne” style furniture decoration is greatly simplified compared to the latter, which prominently features marquetry, patterned wood veneers, painting, and carving techniques. The curved legs are the “most representative elements” of Queen Anne furniture, influenced by the designs of French furniture maker André-Charles Boulle and the Louis XV-era French court Rococo style.

While the “Queen Anne” style adopts restrained decoration in its European-inspired design elements, the Chinese patterns feature intricate and delicate depictions of landscapes, architecture, and figures. These motifs are natural in form, presenting a subtle relief effect and embracing the asymmetric compositions typical of Chinoiserie. The piece as a whole eschews grandeur for a lighter, more comfortable silhouette, yet the dramatic effect of Chinoiserie lacquer and gilt retains shadows of the late Baroque period.

Chinoiserie, as a decorative art style, showcases the fusion and collision of Eastern and Western cultures. In its decorative elements, we see both a fascination with and admiration for Chinese art and culture, as well as the imaginative creations of European artists inspired by exoticism. Particularly in the production of porcelain and furniture, Chinoiserie has attracted numerous European nobles and merchants with its unique style and decorations. This hybrid form not only highlights the importance of cultural exchange but also provides a vast space and inspiration for artistic creation. Through Chinoiserie, we not only glimpse the aesthetic tastes and cultural preferences of historical periods but also feel the endless exploration and imagination of artists towards exoticism. As a unique decorative style, Chinoiserie will continue to play an important role in the art world, enriching people’s aesthetic experiences, and promoting the process of cross-cultural exchange and understanding.

[mars1alexholloway]

maya environment.

Here are the fully rendered scenes. The left ones were the first ones, the right ones were the improvements. The trees were made of 3 different models added using mash. Mash was used by using other maya objects, moving the bottom of the mesh to nearer the bottom of the trunk and then creating a mash network, adding them by using the brush tool. I made the scale 9-10 and then clicked individually to place the trees. There was an issue with the centre model as it was consistently being in a state of floating. So I combined the objects in their own file then imported the trunk again. I also moved all the trunks down so that they merged with the terrain. I then added a sphere and made it transparent so a dome appeared. This was then rendered using arnold. A sky dome was added and then I pressed the render button. was expecting more complexity. I then modified the trunks using the scale tool to increase the hight of the trunks so that they were closer to the top of the dome, I had not realised how much denser it looked when the height had increased, much better. I also added colour to the bottom half of the dome

I have found a significant issue of doing a swamp, its mostly flat, still water with trees with all the greenery at the top and patches of mud. you could add ruins for detail but any other details are too small and are bugs. Or alligators and I dont know how to alligator

I wanted to add other things like small bits of ruins from ancient civilisations but I have not been able to. This is because my brain keeps shutting me down and keeping me from acting and trying things.

I did a small bit of extra research, other things such as plane and ruins of wooden houses also exist in such areas. they are similar to fens, moors and marshes and they are good at preserving things.

[dailyadventureprompts]

So after a war ended against a demon lord some years ago, my players are on a mission to scout and guard from monsters during the construction of a road between the last remaining cities in a monster-of-the-week type of campaign. Any ideas for hijinks along the way? (Thank you!!)

Adventure: Doing Good in the Badlands

“ In my limited experience, Demons are like drunks or rowdy children, throwing things everywhere and leaving it to the rest of us to clean up. Speaking of, could you hand me one of those silver-infused slugs? I think I see another “mess” skirting about in the underbrush and I want to let it know what we’re about before it tries pouncing on us while our backs are turned.” 

-Colbin Tanner, Fenland outrunner. 

Setup: Even decades since their climactic end, the demogorgic wars have left deep scars on the land, rendering vast swaths of wilderness impassable and civilization clinging on in isolated enclaves. Still staggering from a century and a half of brutal conflict with the demon lord of savagery and their horde of monstrous minions, the people of the Kalmir valley have begun the process of reclaiming their home, one mile marker at a time. 

One of these projects is the reestablishment of the great eastern viaduct, a raised road that will allow passage across the fens ( once prosperous farmland), reconnect settlements of survors, and eventually connect to a similar roadway built by a neighboring citystate hoping to bridge the wayward peaks. This undertaking will take years, and will require the establishment of fortresses and outposts along the route, both to house the workers and to guard against the demonic remnants. To staff these outposts, and watch over them as they are built, the people of Kalmir have created the Outriders, a loose organization of scouts, surveyers, and soldiers who guide the progress of their eastward expansion. 

Adventure Hooks: 

There are three major geographical hurdles to the viaduct’s expansion, each possessing its own engineering challenges and inhabited by its own breeds of monsterous impediment. That said, these challenges have a tendancy to spill over into one another, so outriders and engineers both are forced to jump far ahead of the road’s actual production to circumvent later problems.

While they once possessed a more wholesome name, the “fiendbreaker flats” are the lowland expanses where the defenders of Kalmir made their stand against the forces of demogorgon time and time again, rolling hills and plainside dotted with the ruins of settlements, crumbling fortresses, and the bones of titanic beasts only now beginning to weather away. While the viaduct’s passage through this region is mostly complete, those traveling through it must still be on the lookout for the bandits, crazed wildlife, and demogorgic holdouts who still haunt the region. 

While the Fens once provided enough rice to feed a kingdom, their long abandonment during the demogorgic war has turned them into a breedingground of sickness and misery. The Demon prince of Savagery once martialed their armies here, and the mist still hides the last of their feral war machines and profane ritual sites. 

They say that since the end of the war, the vultures never stop circling the Wayward peaks, and if you follow them you may be able to find the hidden valley where the demon lord’s colossal carcass fell.  Scavengers of all kinds are drawn to these snowy passes now, lairing in the caverns carved out by Demogorgon’s followers, and in the shadow of the half built temple they raised in their honor. 

Background: While few can agree exactly how Demogorgon breached the barriers between realms, tales from surviving fenlanders point at the origin being in a cult of fanatical lizardfolk, who slaughtered their kinsmen in a mass sacrifice in an attempt to win the demon lords’ favor and settle some kind of inter-tribal succession dispute.   Their ritual worked a little too well, and by the time the people of the villages and cities realized what was going on, their walls were swarmed by packs of fiendish dinosaurs and rabid mutants.  While not a “war” in a traditional sense, this wave of savagery gave way to all manner of hellish hordes and cultists looking to draw on the power of the opening demonic rift for their own ends. 

Nearly a century and a half later, this rift was closed by the actions of several heroes from across the affected kingdoms, and a coalition effort of allied citystates. While total war was finally at an end, the conflict officially drew to a close when the colossal avatar of Demogorgon that had for so long haunted the landscape was struck down in an act of divine wrath. 

Factions: 

While all of Kalmir is pushing for the Viaduct’s completion, there are several disperate wills at work within the project that the party can align themselves with. 

The Sovereign Kalmiric Musketeers, AKA The Skinners: An elite fighting force founded by veteran monster hunters, the Skinners believe inpart that progress on the viaduct is foolheardy so long as there are still remnants of Demogorgon’s army remaining.  Perhaps some of the best skilled trackers and trappers in the world, the Skinners are known for engaging the demonic threat with blackpowder weaponry, and for adorning their uniforms with hides and other trophies taken from their foes.  They have remained active since the end of the war and continue to operate from the outposts throughout the basin. Missions for the Skinners invariably involve tracking something horrible and killing it dead, and reward the party with renown and powerful munitions. 

The Horrizon Development Corps. A worker organization advocating for those who’s lives and livelyhood are tied to the construction of the viaduct, the HDC holds the interests of the common people and the merchants who profit from them in high regard. Completion of the viaduct means the resettlement of the basin, a process which will return prosperity to the people of Kalmir who have for too long cowered behind the overcrowded walls of their fortress city. Missions for the HDC involve scouting out potential resources, resolving disputes between workers, settlers, and overseers, and protecting supply shipments as they travel to worksites up and down the planned Viaduct pathway. 

The Founders: As a republic, the political leaders of Kalmir are prone to factionalism, and one particular faction has entangled itself with the fate of the viaduct closely. The Founders are those who hold land in the Fiendbreaker flats, and above all want to see that region redeveloped and stabilized while also making sure their control is extended along with each new outpost or settlement reincorporated into the Polis’s reach. Missions for the Founders are likely to involve the whims of particular noble patrons, or diplomatic envoys to outlying settlements to ensure they’re ok with the city-state building a road through their backyard. 

Vilsuul’s Remnants: Not all of Demogorgon’s minions were mindless killing machines, and many were left in a lurch when their patron was defeated. Once a powerful lieutenant and priestess of Demogorgon, the Yuan-ti cleric Vilsuul suffered a crisis of faith after she saw her god so soundly defeated, and has spent the last twenty years attempting to sway the remaining holdouts to her side, building a coalition of reformed monsters and deprogrammed cultists. On less than friendly terms with her former enemies, reaching out to Vilsuul’s people and deescalating tension between the settlers and the more monsters inhabitants brought along in Demogorgon’s wake can help diffuse a lot of tension in the deepest part of the fens. 

The Zealous order of Olfrid the Devoured, AKA The Zeal: Representatives of a neighboring city state, the Zeal encompass the duties of scouts, mountaineers, builders and monsterhunters, and work with utter dedication to protect their section of the viaduct. Steadfast but perhaps a little overeager, the zeal are primarily concerned with keeping the mountain paths clear of demonic filth, hunting cultists, and proselytizing the basin’s settlements with a vision of a restored and ascendant union between their city states. Quests for the Zeal often involve assisting their agents in a hunt, or in defending their Missionaries as they travel to spread the good word. 

Art 1

Art 2

[myhusbandsasemni]

Characters List

Main Characters (Castaways)

Darklings-Purplish charcoal grey skin. Usually tall.

Evai-Most human like, long, pointed ears

Lures-See through people

Thropes-Wolf people

Character descriptions below

Steve Nameless (Evai)

Our struggling main character. Steve is a very confused man who has a hard time understanding people due to long isolation. Other Castaways are unsure if he is to be trusted. Rumors of the terrible things he has done have reached them, even in the Balance, even though he can’t remember them. Those that get to know him realize he is just a curious man with a fear of being alone, using his lack of a past to become a protector of the new family he becomes a part of. 

His magic has to do with manipulating buildings. Thus, he can almost hear the buildings speak to him and has an affinity for architecture and creating large artful buildings, but something inside him tells him to destroy them soon after. That voice fades as he talks to real people and is accepted into a make shift family. 

Ril The Bone Princess (Lure)

Ril is the first Castaway to find Steve. She is cheerful but many find her slightly unhinged. Despite this,  many seek her out in her wanderings. She’s the story woman. She always knows what’s happening and where it’s happening. She can often be found in the Ether Palace, where her best friend, Ander, spends almost all of his time. 

Her magic has to do with prophecy. She can see the future in her dreams when she sleeps, but to remember them she has to write them down when she wakes up. Most dreams she ignores, but there are many caves in all three moons of the Balance that are covered in glyphs and drawings, some truly rendered, others simple stick figures, all drawn with a special set of bone paints she keeps with her. Seeing the future so constantly does have affects on the mind and she needs people to ground her or she’ll start having visions during the day until she’s lost in a mad haze of future. 

Zack Bloodmoon (Darkling)

Zack became Steve’s friends almost at first sight. He is a very serious man with some aches in his soul, of course. He is practical and chill, but still a lot of fun to be around. He knows cool stuff and is a very good listener. And he always knows the right thing to say. And, while he is practical, he does know how to have fun, often going demon backing with the other Castaways that live in the Ether. He stays around the most emotionally unstable Castaways to help them through whatever they’re going through.  

His magic has to do with emotions. He can cause people to feel certain emotions and can soothes strong ones. He only uses it to soothe and help someone on a path to becoming better. Though, if he pushes too hard in making someone feel something, there is a chance that that person would notice and push back, probably hurting both themselves and Zack.

Ander Edge (Evai)

Ander is the first Balance Keeper to meet Steve. He was a bit reluctant to accept him at first, but did when he saw how desperate Steve was to avoid being alone. Ander is smart and enjoys having a good time, but is very serious about his duties as a Balance Keeper. He loves hanging out with his best friend, Ril, but he refuses to go out to the Plains with her. He’s got a few irrational fears and seeing Taali in the sky is one of them.

His magic has to do with making things last longer. He can make a sword stay sharp and strong longer. Clothes he enchants last for years and years through hard travel and act as leather armor. He also has the learned magic of manipulating old magicks. All Balance Keepers must learn how to manipulate the enchantments that keep Taali and the Fen from destroying each other.

Gilbert (Dragon)

Gilbert is Steve’s new companion in this strange and confusing land. Gilbert is an immature dragon, a child. No one knows where he came from. Most people thought dragons had been extinct for a while. Gilbert is definitely childish and likes to investigate everything around himself. He is caring, in a ‘stick my tongue in your ear, claw out your hair, give you stinky looks, and curl up on you when you need to get up’ kind of way. He is much like a cat, actually. 

Charge The Three Headed

Dante FlameEater

The Demon Boy

Neville Igneous

Ava Pillage 

Martha Moonshine

Character Asks

Tag list: @dowings @creativewritergirl1 @artrayasnow93 @extraisthmus @mouwwie @merigreenleaf @inkchantress @writeblrfantasy

Let me know if you would like to be on the tag list.

[architectnews]

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan, Shenzhen

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan, Shenzhen Buildings, Chinese Architecture, Images

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan in Shenzhen

15 Dec 2020

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan

Design: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

Location: Shenzhen, China

The future Huanggang Port Area Masterplan in Shenzhen, China will be an important node of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Corridor, creating a hub of scientific research and collaboration in industries such as microelectronics, material development, artificial intelligence, robotics, and medical sciences.

Reconstruction of the Huanggang Port building will enable the port’s 1.67 square kilometres of parking lots and cargo inspection areas to be redeveloped as a national centre for technology innovation.

Located in the Futian District of the city, Huanggang Port currently serves 300,000 people crossing the border with Hong Kong each day. Situated at this key interchange within the Greater Shenzhen Bay region, the new Huanggang Port Area masterplan at Shenzhen Park in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone incorporates direct connections with Shenzhen’s metro network.

Centred around two large public plazas, the Huanggang Port Area masterplan defines three interconnected districts: the port hub, collaborative innovation area, and port living zone.

The existing Huanggang port management area and public transport interchange at the south western end of the masterplan will be redeveloped as the ‘port hub’ district with administrative supporting offices and hotels for visiting scientists and researchers.

The port’s former cargo inspection areas and parking lots will be transformed as the ‘collaborative innovation’ area comprised of scientific research centres and laboratories as well as a conference centre to host lectures, talks and events that promote the exchange of ideas and collaboration.

The ‘port living’ district will be located next to Fulin station of Shenzhen’s metro at the north eastern end of the masterplan and will encompass residential developments, schools, sports and recreational facilities as well as shopping and dining amenities for those working within the science park.

With its base grid established by Shenzhen’s existing street layout to the west, the masterplan’s central spine is a wide pedestrian boulevard that connects its two primary public gathering spaces: the civic plaza at Fulin metro station in the north east and the large public square in the centre of the administrative hub at the Huanggang interchange in the south west.

A radial secondary grid centered on theses plazas further sub-divides the districts into clusters and creates additional circulation routes for functionality. The design accommodates the future expansion of the research studios and laboratories via shared podiums and bridging skywalks connecting with adjacent buildings.

In addition to the two primary civic plazas, each smaller cluster of buildings has its own ‘nucleus’ of an outdoor communal square ensuring spaces for nature are integrated throughout the masterplan that will also create a green belt of parklands and wetlands along the Shenzhen River.

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan in Shenzhen, China – Building Information

Design firm: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

Design: Patrik Schumacher ZHA Project Directors: Charles Walker, Nils Fischer, Simon Yu ZHA Project Associate: Jakub Klaska, Lei Zheng ZHA Competition Team: Chun-Yen Chen, Marina Dimopoulou, Matthew Gabe, Stratis Georgiou, Rupinder Gidar, Charles Harris, Boyan Hristov, Jinqi Huang,Yen-fen Huang, Han Hsun Hsieh, Martha Masli, Xin Swift

Consultants: Local Design Institute: East China Architecture Design and Research Institute (ECADI), Shenzhen Municipal Design & Research Institute (SZMEDI)

Renders by Atchain

Huanggang Port Area Masterplan, Shenzhen images / information received 151220

Location: Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

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Comments / photos for Huanggang Port Area Masterplan, Shenzhen page welcome

Website: China

The post Huanggang Port Area Masterplan, Shenzhen appeared first on e-architect.

[healthychatzone]

Shred Secrets : Get Perfect Body Shape By Burning Stubborn Fat!

Shred Secrets Reviews : Try to focus on selecting out healthy foods, not foods you're thinking that can create you "skinny". It's instructed that you just follow the food pyramid for optimal health.Hoodia Gordonii, commonly referred to as "Hoodia" is a cactus that is found abundantly in Kalahari deserts and ranging from central Namibia to Southern Angola. Shred Secrets  Hoodia extracts are believed to suppress appetite, that results in weight loss. It is said that the local desert tribes used to consume hoodia in times of food scarcity, thus that their hunger is suppressed. It is safe to consume since it's utterly natural product. Instead of using harsh chemicals, additives and drugs, Hoodia could be a healthier option for normal consumption.Hoodia cactus is initial dried, crushed, powdered and is sold as capsules. Within the past years, tons of firms have introduced varied types of extracts, such as Hoodia extract liquids, Hoodia patches, etc. 

However, the powdered form looks to be very efficient since it's absorbed consistently by the body.Weight loss takes work. Hundreds of folks every day work laborious to look at their diet and perform the right quantity of exercise in order to reduce weight gain and maximize weight loss. Some do it for maintenance and others do it for health, be it physical or mental. However some, frustrated with their lack of progress, can fall into the lie that thus many infomercials promise: a pill will solve all their problems. They believe that popping a pill or looking forward to alternative methods of weight loss other than the proven albeit challenging method of life style change can solve their weight issues. Unfortunately, not only are they shopping for into a lie that will not work, however several times it can cause death.Prescriptions should be safe, however prescription diet pills have their own issues. These pills could suppress the user's appetite, but they do not substitute for a nutritionist that can literally teach anyone the way to eat properly. Food is fuel, and thus when an individual's appetite is suppressed, he just eats less however no necessarily right. He may opt for still to snack on Doritos when he is hungry instead of carrots. That one do you think can provide him more fuel?Ephedra and Phentermine Fenfluramine-phentamin (fen-phen) have grown in popularity for a range of reasons. 

Initially the overweight community saw them as their miracle cure, a method for them to literally see pounds soften off without lifting a finger. However then the aspect effects started kicking in, and users began dropping like flies from heart attacks, dizziness, headaches, and high blood pressure. Like any drug, this one had aspect effects, and sometimes the consequences rendered the user completely incapacitated.Laxatives and diuretics are the age recent cure for weight gain. If you'll be able to just get rid of that weight somehow you would possibly feel better, right? Well just eliminating excess waste will not equate to weight loss. It just suggests that you've got less waste in you. These pill poppers end up feeling listless, tired, and downright weak. When all, they are not filling their bodies with the required fuel and nevertheless they're ridding them of necessary liquids.Diet sodas and merchandise became a success within the last 25 years. We have a tendency to will notice "lite" anything nowadays. But many times the bogus sweeteners that build these product sweet while not the calories can cause problems. Blindness, seizures, and brain damage reportedly have stemmed form the use of aspartame, a standard sweetener.

Read More : https://www.healthychatzone.com/shred-secrets/

[thegodthronechronicles]

A History of Magical Artifacts, The Silver Axe

The axe was an ancient thing, and powerful. It was designed for one simple thing only: to kill. Druac of a house long forgotten forged the axe with the heat of his anger, poured his very soul and vengeance into the fine silver blade, and cooled it to perfection with the blood of his last surviving child. You see, Druac had lost his family when Solmon, King of the Polodoq took control of the land-- the present day Krouhl Prairies-- from the Rohamani in the Dawning Years of Human civilization. King Solmon began his invasion in a small hamlet whose name was lost to the passing of millennia; Druac and his family resisted and as a result all but him and his newborn babe were lined up and killed. In the early era of Polodoq civilization, the nature of their execution consisted of the subject being mounted alive upon a stake and left until the next Planesmeeting. As you can see, Druac would have had ample reason to hate King Solmon.

When rumor of revolution about a decade later came to Solmon’s ears, he called for a gathering of half the conquered villagers to his castle for a lesson. Reports say Druac admitted to Solmon that it was him who lead the revolution and begged mercy for the villagers, but as many who study Human history know, every one of them was impaled upon a spike. There was one survivor, however, as I came to realize: Druac. He was a blacksmith for the hamlet and forged a silver axe with the intention to kill King Solmon; and he did, but not in the way most would think.

As he begged mercy for his villagers, he offered the king a magical axe. When the king questioned why the axe was in two pieces, Druac explained that it bonded to whoever put the two pieces together and that it could kill any creature that draws breath. What he didn’t explain was that the axe was crafted with special instructions by a certain book: The Book of Vile Darkness. The axe was cursed. King Solmon put the two pieces together and then ordered the execution of Druac and the villagers. Druac did not die, however, as the axe’s nature transferred Solmon’s life force into Druac. As Solmon died during the Siege of Silence-- when Rohamani warlord Adalla Fen’s army snuck into the castle and killed everyone in their slumber-- Druac sprung back to life, pulled himself off the stake and went in search of the axe.

Druac never found it as it had been taken by Adalla Fen when he killed Solmon; Adalla found the axe in two parts and put the pieces together. What historians gathered from the revival of Rohamani culture after the fall of Polodoq, was that they had a custom in which the ruler only ruled until they were struck down by their successor. What I know now is that each successor would take the silver axe as a sign of their strength and be doomed to die. This cycle lasted until the Dragon Civil War resulted in the Draconic rule of Altanis where the Polodoqs were eventually wiped out and the Rohamani betrayed the rest of humanity and aided the Dragons in  their takeover. The silver axe was lost in a treasure horde collected by the ancient red dragon Viinrulkarin.

Generations later, a dwarven army under the leadership of Muirkyll Dragonbane lay siege against Viinrulkarin’s lair and killed the fierce dragon. Muirkyll found the axe and put the pieces together; he died a week later. Hjalnyl Bearheart took the axe and carved a kingdom out of Viinrulkarin’s lair; the kingdom becoming the modern day Mogh Dumedum in the heart of the Kuneteyas mountain range. Hjalnyl was killed by assassins shortly after and the axe sold along a black market where it made it’s way deep into the Underdark with famed adventurer Durgle Deepdelver where the axe became yet again lost after Durgle’s party met the Mindflayers.

In the depths of the Underdark, the axe sat for hundreds of years until a drow by the name of Miz’za Icharyd unfortunately stumbled across it. Miz’za was killed by the Deep Gnome Schnilshuck Opaleyes; who was killed by a Beholder named Iokoksh; who fell to a duergar raiding party led by Bromdrom Ironclast; who was killed by Mog the Kobald, who brought the axe out of the underdark to a mountain range called the Spine of Dunatis where he was killed by a human named Whittaker Crestwood; who was captured and killed by the Yuan’ti snake people of the Jungles of Yig in southwestern Ebios. Here, the axe remained for several hundred years until a wood elf adventurer named Qinnoren Liadon picked it up.

Qinnoren Liadon brought the silver axe on a journey to Arvander, or Arborea as many know it. It was here that Qinnoren met his doomed end when a raiding party from the Nine Hells attacked. The axe was brought back to the Nine Hells to be gifted to Valakis, brother of the demoness Vixalial and Archduke of Avernus, the First Layer of Hell; I believe this is what lead to Zariel’s rule as Valakis had been killed at the height of his power, when he was on the verge of gaining control over the third layer, Minauros. The axe was brought into Gehenna by a group of yugoloths, who were then overrun and killed by a pack of barghests.

There are many names that were taken by the axe: Cheda, Falimor, Dren, Balune, Krahj, Darmin, Vazenus, Taym, Maquilames, Elkela, Bar, Re’Or, Billowen, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I could fill pages with only the names of those unfortunate souls, but alas there is not much time. So I will tell you the end of what I know.

The axe came to a small town in the Shadowfell by the name of Ulthar. A blacksmith named Karius Von Dar found it on the body of a zombie that attacked the town. As you could guess by now, he put the two pieces together. Now, Karius was not a regular blacksmith, he worked specifically with magical items; the axe intrigued him and he began to study the object, keeping it secret and safe within his locked chest. He did not have long to study it as the Shadowfell and Feywild fused into one realm called Myrkrheim, as a result all of the cats in the town became sentient and violent.

Years later, a party of adventurers came to what was left of the town of Ulthar in search of an artifact that laid within the fiendish Raxivort’s treasure vault on the nearby island. Two of the adventurers, a goliath named Brunar and a faerie named Acacia Oni found the axe in two pieces right where Karius left it in his shop. It was Brunar who put the pieces together and bonded the axe; he did not last much longer as the psychic wind that traverses the Astral Sea rendered the poor man brain dead. Brunar floated in the Astral Sea for quite a while before a morkoth found him and added him to its collection. The morkoth was killed by a Githyanki raiding party lead by a woman named Drahneya; she found Brunar’s body and determined he had passed away only moments before. Drahneya also found the axe and put the pieces together, which lead to her death when the raiding party came to Crextind Academy, the most marvelous school of science and magic on the material plane of Midgard-- if I might say so myself. Several of the professors found the axe and-- sensing its magical energy-- gave it to me to study. I made the mistake of putting the axe together; a simple act of screwing the axe-head onto the handle until you hear a click that I presume enacts the bonding process, as it was then I could feel myself become bonded and sense every soul who had also become bonded since the axe’s initial creation.

I do not know how long exactly I have, but I fear I will die soon and that my death will only serve to revitalize the man who created the axe, Druac, as all others have.

-- From the final pages of the journal belonging to renowned magical artifact historian, Yhendorn Zyllamin, who was murdered in his sleep. The whereabouts of the silver axe are unknown.

[yukirayu]

Yet another new set of art that came from Nitro+CHiRAL's collaboration with EEO Store involves the protagonists doing a fashion photoshoot (the previous one being from the collaboration with Animate Cafe).

Of course, I have to make renders out of these because they look so cool and colorful.

[myphillyrealty]

See the winning Rail Park Tunnel designs for the Better Philadelphia Challenge

What if one of these transformations actually came true?

For the past 11 years, the Better Philadelphia Challenge has asked university students around the world to address real-world urban design issues in the city. This year, with the first phase of construction well underway, the competition fittingly focused on the abandoned City Branch rail tunnel under Pennsylvania Avenue, asking students to pitch their ideas to transform the space into a recreational and cultural amenity for Philly.

The four winning designs were presented at last night’s annual Edmund N. Bacon Awards, which honored Theaster Gates, a Chicago-based artist and founder of the Rebuild Foundation. Of the designs and ongoing $100 million Rail Park project, Gates said, “You need to be street shrewd to get your rails-to-trails done. […] You’ve got to be ready for the naysayers.”

From an outdoor Underground Railroad exhibition to a new plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue, here’s a list of the competition winners.

Rendering by Vincent Tang

First Place: Dual Scape

The competition’s first place, $5,000 prize went to Vincent Tang of the University of Manitoba for his “Dual Scape!” design, which addressed Pennsylvania Avenue and the tunnel as one cohesive element. Tang proposed the creation of Pennsylvania Avenue Plaza above-ground as a way to support the tunnel, which would be transformed into a linear park that doubles as a theater, museum, bicycle-pedestrian hub, and more. A temporary art installation (above) would serve to shift the public’s perception of the tunnel as a dark and foreboding place into an attractive, colorful, and welcoming amenity.

Rendering by Alice Sturm, Federico Lia, Kelly Farrell, Thackston Crandall, and Genki Takahashi

Second Place: Rail Park Roots

This Cornell University design envisioned creating a series of separate bike and pedestrian pathways above and through the tunnel, allowing users to explore the park at their own leisure. That, plus the incorporation of multiple entry points to the tunnel as a whole, is what the jury “immediately liked and respected” about the project, said Rail Park vice president Michael Garden said.

Third Place: [Connect Philly]

This design included a team of local students from Drexel and MedStudio@Jeff, and Philadelphia University. The project proposed transforming the tunnel into an outdoor art exhibit with the help from the surrounding institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation. In addition, the tunnel would be lit up with LED lights tuned to human biorhythms, as a way to promote the tunnel as a place of health and wellness.

Rendering by Abhinav Bhargava, Chris Counihan, Ambica Chadha, Shuo LI, Yuan-Fen Lo, and Diance Tian

Honorable Mention: The Underground Railroad

While the jury thought that this design proposal didn’t address all of the issues of the Rail Park tunnel, Garden said it was a “thoughtful treatment of an untold story.” The project used the tunnel as an outdoor museum that told the story of the Underground Railroad, given Philly’s role as a main stop during the 1800s. The team from the UMass Amherst also proposed the installation quilting patterns, which helped guide slaves on the Underground Railroad, along Pennsylvania Avenue that would then be reflected down into the tunnel.

from http://philly.curbed.com/

The post See the winning Rail Park Tunnel designs for the Better Philadelphia Challenge appeared first on MyPhillyRealty.

http://myphillyrealty.com/2017/03/09/see-the-winning-rail-park-tunnel-designs-for-the-better-philadelphia-challenge/

[onlinemarketingcourses]

A quick guide to SEO in 2019

Nothing forces you to keep a close eye on Google updates quite like having a wide variety of SEO projects and clients.

With clients in almost every industry, I’m forced to check early and often when changes appear in search to see how they’re playing out differently based on the industry (and even the search intent within each industry).

Moreover, I have to think ahead.

In 2018, most of the big changes came from Google’s search ranking algorithm updates, its growing emphasis on structured data, and tweaks in the Google search console.

But there’s also a shift in focus from what sites owners wanted to what users need.

The rollout of mobile-first indexing demonstrates Google’s response to the impact of technology on human behavior.

As people spend more time with their mobile devices, it’s only natural to pay more attention to content that’s optimized to be dynamic and mobile-friendly.

Google’s speakable markup typifies both the company’s plans for search and the AI-is-the-future mantra. The growing popularity of voice assistants and their newfound place in smart homes have certainly guided advances in how search engines operate.

However, as somebody who drives rankings for a wide variety of clients and personal projects, I’m still holding my breath as to whether voice search can drive any meaningful business metrics.

In 2019, content optimization will continue to matter. From structured data to on-page optimization, competition for ranking advantage may come down to which sites can meet Google updates standards.

For the SEO community, 2019 requires a better understanding of how people engage online in order to create meaningful content that positively impacts user experience and a site’s search engine visibility.

SEOs will need to double-down in understanding four key areas:

Mobile

Structured data

Relevance

Accessibility

Mobile matters

According to Pew Research Center, one in five American adults access the internet through their smartphone.

In the latest report by We Are Social, mobile phones account for 50% of the web traffic share by device globally.

The growth of the mobile industry has not been overlooked by Google, who rolled out the mobile-first indexing in the first quarter of 2018, after over a year and a half of experimentation.

This move shows that Google is increasingly using the mobile version of your page for its crawling, indexing, and ranking systems. While this update does not provide any ranking advantages per se, SEO in 2019 will certainly put greater emphasis on optimizing pages for mobile crawlers.

Sites that offer two versions of their content will continue to see a negative impact on their SERP (search engine results pages) performance if mobile renderings are amiss. For digital marketers, this means both mobile and desktop content should be equivalent.

As mobile web pages become Google’s primary search engine index, webmasters, SEO specialists, and digital marketers must ensure websites are well-coded and mobile-responsive. Checking out how your page’s content renders across various mobile devices is critical to identifying issues like speed and performance which could potentially affect your bounce rates.

Content optimization through structured data

The search engine results page, especially in terms of informational searches, is dominated by structured data and schema: snippets of information that help Google understand the content of your page rather than guess the data.

Structured data provides Google contextual information that helps in classifying your page and which, when done right, enhances the appearance of your site in search.

In 2019, the SEO community will continue to explore how to further optimize this feature, which is valuable for e-commerce pages and business web pages especially as schema options grow. According to Rebecca Gill of emagine, using expert profiles and structured data can convey to Google who you are, what you’re doing, and why your website should be on page one real estate.

Here are some types of information that can be added through structured data:

Business name

Contact details

Aggregate rating

Products and services

Place or address

While structured data enables your site to be featured in Google’s knowledge graph, it’s not a guarantee. Google is stringent and rightfully so on how structured data is implemented.

Done right, it can do wonders to your SERP performance. But if the information provided is inaccurate, too broad, or badly formed, Google will identify your structured data as ineligible, which would negatively affect your rankings.

Research and relevance

RankBrain, Google’s machine-learning AI system introduced in 2015 reflects the evolution of how people look for content online.

Despite very little information from Google about how it works, we know that the technology is an important ranking signal, and it’s unique in its capacity to understand if users are satisfied with their search query results. This means that SEO in 2019 will continue to have a stronger emphasis on watching search intent.

What do users want? Information, resources, or products? Mapping keywords based on a buyer’s journey will be crucial this year.

In addition, RankBrain’s ability to process both single and long-tail keywords demands even more comprehensive keyword research and expanded awareness about your consumers.

Businesses will have to look for all the topics relevant to their industry, understand the search intent around the various topics, and make sure that they match a site’s content closely. Still, Google will continue to favor larger and more authoritative sites, so unless you’re running a page comparable in breadth and depth as Wikipedia or Forbes, the focus should be on niche relevant keywords.

In the meantime, consider updating site content. Since 2011’s Google Freshness update, dated content continues to significantly impact rankings in the SERP. Updating old posts, including its publishing data, will tell Google that sites are providing fresh content, especially those that are linked to higher authority sites.

It’s not about writing daily, weekly, or even monthly. It’s about making sure that your best content is always relevant based on the most recent information.

Last year saw links losing value and the trend will continue in 2019.

Relevance is the new “authority” when it comes to links.

A competitor analysis audit will be essential to determining just how many links, and what links, will work for your industry or niche.

Content and accessibility

If Google’s priority is user experience, then on-page optimization efforts are non-negotiable.

We’ve seen how keyword density is no longer as impactful as before, especially with structured data playing a bigger role in search. Content and writing style will also be influenced by semantic search with Google’s efforts to identify the contextual meaning of the query.

In 2019, expect content with more images, videos, and even music embed. Google looks at user satisfaction and rich media is one way to improve online engagement.

But even if your content is well-written, accessibility to your site can impact how you rank in SERP.

“As of the 2010 census, one in five Americans have a disability, and one in ten people have a disability that directly impacts their computer use. That’s 56.7 million people! This is a huge portion of our potential users, and we have an ethical duty to help all people who will use the technology we create.” – Fen Slattery, Accessibility Lead at Clique Studios.

Accessibility is about inclusion and when your website performs terribly for a group of people, it’s unlikely that it will hold any sort of rankings for a significant period of time.

Ongoing changes

Change is the only thing certain in the SEO industry. Google’s interest in AI technology is firmly anchored on how people look for information online, and the way they do so has changed over the years.

2019 is likely to see even lower organic CTR than in 2018 as Google continues to offer more and more options to keep users in search.

For the SEO industry, this means understanding how people think, and how people act. Digital marketers, website owners, and businesses need to be flexible, curious, and creative. They need to look for ways to gain trust and authority, two values that have not only remained important in an ever-changing SEO landscape but are now considered non-negotiable to getting on page one.

Brendan is an SEO Team Lead at CliqueChicago. He can be found on Twitter .

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

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Link reclamation is a simple but efficient tactic to turn unlinked brand mentions into links. Here’s when to reach out, who to contact, and what to say.

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

Source link

[alanajacksontx]

A quick guide to SEO in 2019

Nothing forces you to keep a close eye on Google updates quite like having a wide variety of SEO projects and clients.

With clients in almost every industry, I’m forced to check early and often when changes appear in search to see how they’re playing out differently based on the industry (and even the search intent within each industry).

Moreover, I have to think ahead.

In 2018, most of the big changes came from Google’s search ranking algorithm updates, its growing emphasis on structured data, and tweaks in the Google search console.

But there’s also a shift in focus from what sites owners wanted to what users need.

The rollout of mobile-first indexing demonstrates Google’s response to the impact of technology on human behavior.

As people spend more time with their mobile devices, it’s only natural to pay more attention to content that’s optimized to be dynamic and mobile-friendly.

Google’s speakable markup typifies both the company’s plans for search and the AI-is-the-future mantra. The growing popularity of voice assistants and their newfound place in smart homes have certainly guided advances in how search engines operate.

However, as somebody who drives rankings for a wide variety of clients and personal projects, I’m still holding my breath as to whether voice search can drive any meaningful business metrics.

In 2019, content optimization will continue to matter. From structured data to on-page optimization, competition for ranking advantage may come down to which sites can meet Google updates standards.

For the SEO community, 2019 requires a better understanding of how people engage online in order to create meaningful content that positively impacts user experience and a site’s search engine visibility.

SEOs will need to double-down in understanding four key areas:

Mobile

Structured data

Relevance

Accessibility

Mobile matters

According to Pew Research Center, one in five American adults access the internet through their smartphone.

In the latest report by We Are Social, mobile phones account for 50% of the web traffic share by device globally.

The growth of the mobile industry has not been overlooked by Google, who rolled out the mobile-first indexing in the first quarter of 2018, after over a year and a half of experimentation.

This move shows that Google is increasingly using the mobile version of your page for its crawling, indexing, and ranking systems. While this update does not provide any ranking advantages per se, SEO in 2019 will certainly put greater emphasis on optimizing pages for mobile crawlers.

Sites that offer two versions of their content will continue to see a negative impact on their SERP (search engine results pages) performance if mobile renderings are amiss. For digital marketers, this means both mobile and desktop content should be equivalent.

As mobile web pages become Google’s primary search engine index, webmasters, SEO specialists, and digital marketers must ensure websites are well-coded and mobile-responsive. Checking out how your page’s content renders across various mobile devices is critical to identifying issues like speed and performance which could potentially affect your bounce rates.

Content optimization through structured data

The search engine results page, especially in terms of informational searches, is dominated by structured data and schema: snippets of information that help Google understand the content of your page rather than guess the data.

Structured data provides Google contextual information that helps in classifying your page and which, when done right, enhances the appearance of your site in search.

In 2019, the SEO community will continue to explore how to further optimize this feature, which is valuable for e-commerce pages and business web pages especially as schema options grow. According to Rebecca Gill of emagine, using expert profiles and structured data can convey to Google who you are, what you’re doing, and why your website should be on page one real estate.

Here are some types of information that can be added through structured data:

Business name

Contact details

Aggregate rating

Products and services

Place or address

While structured data enables your site to be featured in Google’s knowledge graph, it’s not a guarantee. Google is stringent and rightfully so on how structured data is implemented.

Done right, it can do wonders to your SERP performance. But if the information provided is inaccurate, too broad, or badly formed, Google will identify your structured data as ineligible, which would negatively affect your rankings.

Research and relevance

RankBrain, Google’s machine-learning AI system introduced in 2015 reflects the evolution of how people look for content online.

Despite very little information from Google about how it works, we know that the technology is an important ranking signal, and it’s unique in its capacity to understand if users are satisfied with their search query results. This means that SEO in 2019 will continue to have a stronger emphasis on watching search intent.

What do users want? Information, resources, or products? Mapping keywords based on a buyer’s journey will be crucial this year.

In addition, RankBrain’s ability to process both single and long-tail keywords demands even more comprehensive keyword research and expanded awareness about your consumers.

Businesses will have to look for all the topics relevant to their industry, understand the search intent around the various topics, and make sure that they match a site’s content closely. Still, Google will continue to favor larger and more authoritative sites, so unless you’re running a page comparable in breadth and depth as Wikipedia or Forbes, the focus should be on niche relevant keywords.

In the meantime, consider updating site content. Since 2011’s Google Freshness update, dated content continues to significantly impact rankings in the SERP. Updating old posts, including its publishing data, will tell Google that sites are providing fresh content, especially those that are linked to higher authority sites.

It’s not about writing daily, weekly, or even monthly. It’s about making sure that your best content is always relevant based on the most recent information.

Last year saw links losing value and the trend will continue in 2019.

Relevance is the new “authority” when it comes to links.

A competitor analysis audit will be essential to determining just how many links, and what links, will work for your industry or niche.

Content and accessibility

If Google’s priority is user experience, then on-page optimization efforts are non-negotiable.

We’ve seen how keyword density is no longer as impactful as before, especially with structured data playing a bigger role in search. Content and writing style will also be influenced by semantic search with Google’s efforts to identify the contextual meaning of the query.

In 2019, expect content with more images, videos, and even music embed. Google looks at user satisfaction and rich media is one way to improve online engagement.

But even if your content is well-written, accessibility to your site can impact how you rank in SERP.

“As of the 2010 census, one in five Americans have a disability, and one in ten people have a disability that directly impacts their computer use. That’s 56.7 million people! This is a huge portion of our potential users, and we have an ethical duty to help all people who will use the technology we create.” – Fen Slattery, Accessibility Lead at Clique Studios.

Accessibility is about inclusion and when your website performs terribly for a group of people, it’s unlikely that it will hold any sort of rankings for a significant period of time.

Ongoing changes

Change is the only thing certain in the SEO industry. Google’s interest in AI technology is firmly anchored on how people look for information online, and the way they do so has changed over the years.

2019 is likely to see even lower organic CTR than in 2018 as Google continues to offer more and more options to keep users in search.

For the SEO industry, this means understanding how people think, and how people act. Digital marketers, website owners, and businesses need to be flexible, curious, and creative. They need to look for ways to gain trust and authority, two values that have not only remained important in an ever-changing SEO landscape but are now considered non-negotiable to getting on page one.

Brendan is an SEO Team Lead at CliqueChicago. He can be found on Twitter @BrendanHufford.

The post A quick guide to SEO in 2019 appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

from IM Tips And Tricks https://searchenginewatch.com/2019/02/18/a-quick-guide-to-seo-in-2019/ from Rising Phoenix SEO https://risingphxseo.tumblr.com/post/183298779500

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A quick guide to SEO in 2019

Nothing forces you to keep a close eye on Google updates quite like having a wide variety of SEO projects and clients.

With clients in almost every industry, I’m forced to check early and often when changes appear in search to see how they’re playing out differently based on the industry (and even the search intent within each industry).

Moreover, I have to think ahead.

In 2018, most of the big changes came from Google’s search ranking algorithm updates, its growing emphasis on structured data, and tweaks in the Google search console.

But there’s also a shift in focus from what sites owners wanted to what users need.

The rollout of mobile-first indexing demonstrates Google’s response to the impact of technology on human behavior.

As people spend more time with their mobile devices, it’s only natural to pay more attention to content that’s optimized to be dynamic and mobile-friendly.

Google’s speakable markup typifies both the company’s plans for search and the AI-is-the-future mantra. The growing popularity of voice assistants and their newfound place in smart homes have certainly guided advances in how search engines operate.

However, as somebody who drives rankings for a wide variety of clients and personal projects, I’m still holding my breath as to whether voice search can drive any meaningful business metrics.

In 2019, content optimization will continue to matter. From structured data to on-page optimization, competition for ranking advantage may come down to which sites can meet Google updates standards.

For the SEO community, 2019 requires a better understanding of how people engage online in order to create meaningful content that positively impacts user experience and a site’s search engine visibility.

SEOs will need to double-down in understanding four key areas:

Mobile

Structured data

Relevance

Accessibility

Mobile matters

According to Pew Research Center, one in five American adults access the internet through their smartphone.

In the latest report by We Are Social, mobile phones account for 50% of the web traffic share by device globally.

The growth of the mobile industry has not been overlooked by Google, who rolled out the mobile-first indexing in the first quarter of 2018, after over a year and a half of experimentation.

This move shows that Google is increasingly using the mobile version of your page for its crawling, indexing, and ranking systems. While this update does not provide any ranking advantages per se, SEO in 2019 will certainly put greater emphasis on optimizing pages for mobile crawlers.

Sites that offer two versions of their content will continue to see a negative impact on their SERP (search engine results pages) performance if mobile renderings are amiss. For digital marketers, this means both mobile and desktop content should be equivalent.

As mobile web pages become Google’s primary search engine index, webmasters, SEO specialists, and digital marketers must ensure websites are well-coded and mobile-responsive. Checking out how your page’s content renders across various mobile devices is critical to identifying issues like speed and performance which could potentially affect your bounce rates.

Content optimization through structured data

The search engine results page, especially in terms of informational searches, is dominated by structured data and schema: snippets of information that help Google understand the content of your page rather than guess the data.

Structured data provides Google contextual information that helps in classifying your page and which, when done right, enhances the appearance of your site in search.

In 2019, the SEO community will continue to explore how to further optimize this feature, which is valuable for e-commerce pages and business web pages especially as schema options grow. According to Rebecca Gill of emagine, using expert profiles and structured data can convey to Google who you are, what you’re doing, and why your website should be on page one real estate.

Here are some types of information that can be added through structured data:

Business name

Contact details

Aggregate rating

Products and services

Place or address

While structured data enables your site to be featured in Google’s knowledge graph, it’s not a guarantee. Google is stringent and rightfully so on how structured data is implemented.

Done right, it can do wonders to your SERP performance. But if the information provided is inaccurate, too broad, or badly formed, Google will identify your structured data as ineligible, which would negatively affect your rankings.

Research and relevance

RankBrain, Google’s machine-learning AI system introduced in 2015 reflects the evolution of how people look for content online.

Despite very little information from Google about how it works, we know that the technology is an important ranking signal, and it’s unique in its capacity to understand if users are satisfied with their search query results. This means that SEO in 2019 will continue to have a stronger emphasis on watching search intent.

What do users want? Information, resources, or products? Mapping keywords based on a buyer’s journey will be crucial this year.

In addition, RankBrain’s ability to process both single and long-tail keywords demands even more comprehensive keyword research and expanded awareness about your consumers.

Businesses will have to look for all the topics relevant to their industry, understand the search intent around the various topics, and make sure that they match a site’s content closely. Still, Google will continue to favor larger and more authoritative sites, so unless you’re running a page comparable in breadth and depth as Wikipedia or Forbes, the focus should be on niche relevant keywords.

In the meantime, consider updating site content. Since 2011’s Google Freshness update, dated content continues to significantly impact rankings in the SERP. Updating old posts, including its publishing data, will tell Google that sites are providing fresh content, especially those that are linked to higher authority sites.

It’s not about writing daily, weekly, or even monthly. It’s about making sure that your best content is always relevant based on the most recent information.

Last year saw links losing value and the trend will continue in 2019.

Relevance is the new “authority” when it comes to links.

A competitor analysis audit will be essential to determining just how many links, and what links, will work for your industry or niche.

Content and accessibility

If Google’s priority is user experience, then on-page optimization efforts are non-negotiable.

We’ve seen how keyword density is no longer as impactful as before, especially with structured data playing a bigger role in search. Content and writing style will also be influenced by semantic search with Google’s efforts to identify the contextual meaning of the query.

In 2019, expect content with more images, videos, and even music embed. Google looks at user satisfaction and rich media is one way to improve online engagement.

But even if your content is well-written, accessibility to your site can impact how you rank in SERP.

“As of the 2010 census, one in five Americans have a disability, and one in ten people have a disability that directly impacts their computer use. That’s 56.7 million people! This is a huge portion of our potential users, and we have an ethical duty to help all people who will use the technology we create.” – Fen Slattery, Accessibility Lead at Clique Studios.

Accessibility is about inclusion and when your website performs terribly for a group of people, it’s unlikely that it will hold any sort of rankings for a significant period of time.

Ongoing changes

Change is the only thing certain in the SEO industry. Google’s interest in AI technology is firmly anchored on how people look for information online, and the way they do so has changed over the years.

2019 is likely to see even lower organic CTR than in 2018 as Google continues to offer more and more options to keep users in search.

For the SEO industry, this means understanding how people think, and how people act. Digital marketers, website owners, and businesses need to be flexible, curious, and creative. They need to look for ways to gain trust and authority, two values that have not only remained important in an ever-changing SEO landscape but are now considered non-negotiable to getting on page one.

Brendan is an SEO Team Lead at CliqueChicago. He can be found on Twitter @BrendanHufford.

The post A quick guide to SEO in 2019 appeared first on Search Engine Watch.

source https://searchenginewatch.com/2019/02/18/a-quick-guide-to-seo-in-2019/ from Rising Phoenix SEO http://risingphoenixseo.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-quick-guide-to-seo-in-2019.html