#finish 2 and start analysis 3 on sunday at which point i will probably just push thru it to be done

[nerice]

if i can keep current pace (get everything except the last subchapter of a section done in a day) then id finish the current draft on the weekend and might even be able to write into nano😭

[sepublic]

How long has Luz been on the Boiling Isles?

After re-watching Episode 2, I noticed a throw-away line I missed early in the episode; Specifically, Eda mentions that she ‘only sells human treasures on weekends’, with potions normally sold in-between.

For a lot of us who have been speculating on how long Luz has been in the Boiling Isles, this throw-away line is a godsend. But before we start analysis, I should also preface that Boiling Isles weeks may not be the same as human weeks. As @theweirdbutcoolkid pointed out to me, a calendar we see in Amity’s bedroom indicates that a year in the Boiling Isles has fourteen months. Perhaps years are longer there, or they’re the same length and months are just shorter- Who knows? Either way, take this with a grain of salt. I’m measuring in Boiling Isles time, which isn’t necessarily concurrent with human time.

With that out of the way...

Episode 1 starts off with Eda selling human goods and trinkets that Owlbert has collected- This is then followed by Episode 2, which very explicitly takes place the following day, with Eda making a point that she’s selling potions that day and not human trash. Thus, we can assume Episode 1 takes place during the Boiling Isles equivalent of a Sunday (of course, for all we know there are THREE days in a BI weekend, so we can’t say too much for sure).

Then there’s Episodes 3 and 4, with no mention or depiction of human trash being sold. We get to Covention, which begins with the main trio selling human trinkets- So we know that at least a week has passed!

Nothing of note happens in Episode 6, but in Lost in Language, Emira mentions that the events of Covention took place ‘last week’. This means another week has passed, so it’s been at least two Demon Realm weeks!

After that is Once Upon a Swap, which shows the trio selling human stuff again. Now, this can be interpreted one of two ways; Episode 8 happens the day after Lost in Language, which takes place on a BI Saturday; Or another week has passed yet again! Adventures in the Elements eventually comes along with Amity returning Luz’s book, and we don’t know how quickly Amity reads, especially since she no doubt dedicates so much of her schedule to schoolwork. Still, we can probably assume that there’s minimum time between LiL and AitE. Then we have Episodes 9, 10, and AitE, all of which don’t depict human trash being sold.

With that in mind, I’ve calculated that we’ve had (at least) three weeks of Luz at the Boiling Isles! We technically never hear about another week passing after Episode 8, but seeing as how each episode takes place over a day at least, we can guess that about that much time has passed!

It’s also possible that Luz has been there for four weeks, not only because there’s a lot we don’t see off-screen, but also because there could be a time gap between Episodes 7 and 8. As I said earlier, Amity probably finished the book sooner rather than later, but on the other hand we can’t be 100% sure.

So, 3-4 weeks; That fits nicely with what @fermented-writers-block pointed out to me, that Luz seems to know about Hooty’s monthly cleaning. I wasn’t sure if Luz had participated in a prior cleaning or simply knew how filthy Hooty could be, but it seems that from the evidence we’ve seen, it’s been a Boiling Isles month after all! And 3-4 weeks for a month matches with human time as well!

(Of course, this is a measurement at minimum, so the possibility of a fifth or even sixth week isn’t out of the question!)

[drops-of-moonlights]

WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: Season 4 (The White and Black Circles)

Or, in which I give the basics of what I’ve changed about the story for the AU. It was originally way more descriptive but if I kept it in that style I would have finished in 2039 and I ain’t got time for that. Let’s cover Season 4!

    WINX REDUX AU SEASON 4 - The White and Black Circles

The summer break has ended, and the girls are back in school, still somewhat tired from the last adventure but better overall.

The first week goes more or less as usual, but on the first Sunday, at 4AM, Bloom realizes she’s being observed. She turns around and sees a shadow in her room, and immediately transforms.

The shadow leaves just as fast, and after a small chase, the other Winx also wake up and help Bloom chase the shadow, who in the meantime has turned into a wolf.

Some teachers catch wind of this and also go after them, but the shadow-turned-wolf turns into a bird and escapes through a window.

The Winx and teachers are worried about this, and a quick check-up with the girls as well as the magical analysis performed on the school reveals the person that entered was a Witch, and that he seemed to have a very worrying aura mark on him - the Black Circle.

The girls are confused as to what is an aura mark, and Faragonda elaborates that some groups of magi used to “bind” their Auras together via a ritual, that left an imprint on them in an agreed shape.

The Black Circle being after Bloom worries everyone, as they might think her dangerous, but Faragonda herself admits she doesn’t know much about them - information has been scarce for millenia. (if ya want info, look here!)

On Earth, in a dark forgotten place, Duman arrives back with information - Bloom hasn’t come back to Earth all summer, so the recent magic outburst in Gardenia wasn’t from her.

This worries Ogron, as if it’s not Bloom and it’s not Selina (who they have finally added to their ranks), that means there’s another magi on that city.

Faragonda then relays the girls what they DO know about the Black Circle - and how they’re responsible for Earth’s magic stagnation. Given they targeted Bloom specifically the Winx think they might be looking for another magi on Gardenia, as they knew who she was and where she probably lived.

At this point, Bloom is determined to learn more about them and see if there’s another magi on Gardenia and hopefully save them. Faragonda advises against this but Bloom goes regardless, as she feels responsible for the town she’s lived in all her life’s safety.

The other Winx plus Diaspro decide to go as well, but Bloom tells Dia that she should remain here. They have a small argument about it but Bloom points out they’re gonna need someone as backup in case something bad goes down, and she can contact everyone they might not be able to on Earth.

Reluctantly, she agrees, and after some preparations (involving Bloom leaving Kiko with Daphne, which also had to take much convincing in not going with the Winx), the Winx teleport to Earth at last.

They stay with Bloom’s parents for a few days (who are happy to see their daughter again but also trying to see how can they handle 6 girls living in their tiny house), but soon the girls start looking for jobs after forging some identity stuff since the girls don’t have any of that that would work on Earth.

It takes a few weeks but soon everyone gets a job (Bloom is a waitress at the Frutti Music Bar, Stella works in a clothing store, Flora got a place as a security guard on a supermarket, Musa’s helping out Vanessa in her flower shop, Aisha is working at a gym, and Tecna got a place as a tech repairer), as well as a nice-size apartment they can all fit in.

Bloom meets up again with Andy while working, and catch up on lost time, while also meeting Roxy for the first time as her co-worker. She feels weird around her, for some reason.

Days go by and Bloom meets up with Mitzi again, telling her that she’s taking a free year and decided to get back to Gardenia for it. Mitzi informs her that she doesn’t see Selina as often, apparently working with her grandma Eldora on the outskirts of the city.

Bloom thinks back on that weird feeling she had about her around 2 years ago, and considers some things about it that don’t make her particularly excited.

She keeps this to herself, however, as she’s not sure if she’s overthinking stuff again.

The Black Circle members have arrived at Gardenia, starting to pick up faint magic traces around the places the Winx are working, but more specifically around the Frutti Music Bar.

After a few days of looking it up, they realize the extra energy comes from Roxy, meaning she’s the magi they’ve been looking for. Bloom realizes the same after seeing her interact with Artu and some other dogs, feeling the magic around her.

The Winx and the Black Circle both discuss and decide to simply ask Roxy outright, but it doesn’t go well. The Winx approach her first but she simply believes they’re insane and runs away, and the Black Circle try to convince her but the Winx’s interference makes them turn hostile. Battle ensues.

The girls are barely even damaging them - Gantlos’s good at disrupting their magic, Anagan is too fast for them, Duman’s shapeshifting is hard to deal with and Ogron’s control over blood is hard to fight against even with Aisha’s help. Roxy hides as far away from the fight as she can, scared out of her mind.

The Winx are more or less beaten but still give a fight, trusting each other completely even when they might be dealt even more pain.

This act is what finally earns them Believix, the culmination of the last 3 years of friendship and loyalty, and the tides of battle start to turn.

However, the battle is abruptly cut when both parties realize Roxy isn’t there anymore, and not wanting to cause a scene (as they definitely made some noise), they call it even and retreat.

The Winx believe the Black Circle wants to take Roxy’s powers away for their own gain, and refuse to tell Faragonda for now until they get confirmation. Black Circle 4 believes the Winx have other plans with Roxy and become paranoid they involve the White Circle, and refuse to tell this to Ydillith or Eldora for now until they get proof.

The Winx meet up with Roxy again and start explaining stuff properly this time, as well as analyze her magic level and Source thanks to Tecna.

She’s a morpher and has a source of Animals, they ask Roxy if she wants to come to Magix for safety but refuses, she still does not trust them much and she would like to remain on Earth thank you very much.

Few days pass, Bloom slowly teaches her about magic, Roxy starts having weird dreams about a woman in white, supposedly a fairy who reaches out to her.

She tells this to the Winx and also tells them she’s been having weird visions of a barn, and after looking some stuff off she actually has pictures of said barn in her room despite never having gone there.

The Winx plus Roxy then decide to go check it out after a quick google search, and the Black Circle takes notice of this, following them from afar.

The barn has been abandoned for a few years by now and the Winx are wary, but Roxy can feel something calling to her in that place.

The Black Circle appears and the Winx immediately start a fight, not letting Ogron talk at all.

During the fight one of Bloom’s spells gets redirected and the barn is set on fire. The barn Roxy is currently investigating.

Everyone mildly panics and in a weird twist of fate both Aisha and Ogron use their powers to douse most of the fire while Bloom absorbs the smoke, and in the ashes inside Roxy finds a white ring.

Ogron gets in and tries to get her out, but freezes when he sees the ring on her hand. He tries to warn her about it but she ends up blasting him away, her powers starting to show.

The Black Circle bails out and the Winx then start fixing the damages, even if the place is abandoned it doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.

On the trip back home everyone reminisces about why the Black Circle got so scared about the ring, and start to see if they can find any info about it.

A few days pass, and the girls have made no progress - if info about the Black Circle was scarce in Alfea, info about the ring is even more scarce - but they do learn about the White Circle, and what is known about it.

At the same time, Andy’s band is practicing on the Frutti Music Bar, and after seeing Musa sing a bit they decide to invite her for practice, which she accepts.

After the jam session, they ask her if she wants to sing with them for their next concert, which she agrees to - she’s excited, it’s been a while since she has performed in public.

Roxy decided to keep the ring rather than giving it to the Winx at the moment due to her connection to it, but she can feel it becoming… stronger somehow.

The ring is shining brighter and brighter and it’s starting to encircle her, she can feel a voice (tired, vengeful, bitter, angry) screaming in her head, getting louder and louder.

A red and gold aura surrounds her, fiery wings sprout from her back, magic comes from her eyes, a red witch mark on her left eye, now also red, a look of anger in her face.

“Roxy” immediately leaves the bar, ring floating in her hand, looking for “them” and rising to the skies.

Musa takes notice of this, however, and notifies the Winx, who then transform in a hidden place and start following her as well.

The Black Circle 4 are on their “base” (Ogron’s temporary house near the docks), planning what to do next. They still don’t want to contact the higher-ups in case they’re just paranoid, but as they try to come up with something “Roxy” shows up, wrecking the place.

Her voice is warped and echoing, and the Black Circle recognize it - Nebula, the Witch of War, has taken over Roxy, and is using her body to enact her revenge.

She makes quick work of the 4 men and is about to deal the final blow when she’s stopped by the Winx, demanding to know who she is and why did she take over Roxy.

Nebula tries to ignore them but the girls are adamant, and don’t notice the Black Circle getting away.

The Winx use their Essence Dust in a convergence spell on the ring itself rather than on Roxy, and manage to undo the possession, Roxy falling to the ground unconscious.

The Black Circle realize it’s time to finally talk about this and finally contact Eldora, who was going to Gardenia with Selina anyways soon.

The Winx also realize it’s time to finally update people so they contact Faragonda, telling her about Roxy and what they’ve found.

Faragonda immediately offers to study the ring on Alfea as it will be safer than to keep it around there, and also notifies the Winx that they will have to redo their year as they’ve already spent way too long on Earth to just be a short trip.

The Winx also take the chance to get an update on their friends and partners - Diaspro is doing well but has spent most of the year in Quarzis due to some political affairs having gone south, and might have to redo the year as well. Sky and Riven are doing fine though they’re going through a lover’s spat at the moment, Nabu has started to consider enrolling into Alfea to expand his knowledge, and Helia has managed to achieve Enchantix. Brandon, Nex and Timmy are doing fine as well, though they are tired of having to deal with the aforementioned lover’s spat.

Daphne gets contacted later by Bloom alone, and after talking about Kiko and their parents Bloom confides in Daphne that aside from Roxy, she feels an old friend of hers might also be a magi and is worried about her.

Daphne asks if it's that Selina girl she met a few years ago, and Bloom is dumbfounded - the blonde explains she felt strong magic around her when she was last on Earth but didn’t mention it to Bloom as she wasn’t sure it was her magic or just Earth’s low ambient energy screwing with her.

Bloom starts to get worried about it more but thanks Daphne and cuts the call, immediately calling Selina to see if she’s available soon. She tells her she’s currently out of town but she will be there in a few weeks, so they can meet then.

A few days pass, and Roxy’s getting a better handle on her powers after becoming afraid of them thanks to Nebula - enough that when a fire breaks out near them with the Winx going to help, she finally manages to transform into her Charmix, and now the Winx can start teaching her more advanced stuff. Roxy also tells her dad about her magic at around the same time, and he’s surprised but not overtly, and tells her about how he became her dad, having found her one day at the beach with a very weird cloth around her.

Several more incidents start to happen on Gardenia, and the Winx start to gather a reputation as heroines, though thanks to Believix’s changes to their form their identities are still hidden.

Around the same time, Musa keeps helping Andy’s band with their work, and during a performance at the Frutti Music Bar they get noticed by Jason Queen, a famous talent scout that offers them a small gig.

Everyone is excited about it but also clarify that Musa’s not really part of their group, and since he commented on her voice they’re not sure what to think.

Jason offers them the gig regardless, and does mention that Musa can simply work as a solo act later on to differentiate - after all, collabs are a thing.

A few more days pass of the Winx training Roxy, but she starts having dreams again with the lady in white, and the girls get concerned a bit, though they are surprised when Roxy mentions she keeps talking about the “White Circle”, and the name similarities catch everyone’s attention as they start investigating.

It was the official name of the kingdom of magi that existed almost 2 millennia ago, that was wiped out by the Black Circle, info about them as scarce as info on their destroyers. (You can, however, learn about them here!)

The Winx start believing the White Circle might still exist, and that they could be what the people trying to contact Roxy want - to free them from their prison.

A few more quiet days go by before the Black Circle 4 suddenly break into their dorm, trying to talk with them and also get the White Ring, wanting to properly explain everything since they might not be aware of what the White Circle truly is.

They’re not given the chance, however, as the Winx immediately transform and start attacking them aided by Roxy.

The Winx do have the Ring back with them as Faragonda couldn’t detect anything about it, and the fight goes on long enough that they end up going around the entire city.

Bloom and Roxy end up cornered by Ogron in a train station and Roxy uses the ring again, this time channeling the Fairy in White, who still gives Roxy more control. Bloom has fainted at this point.

At least, she does up until Ogron falls into the train tracks, as a train is coming fast.

Roxy tries to help him as she does not want him to die like that, but the Ring removes all control, the voice in her head telling her this is what he deserves for opposing “them”.

Roxy is confused and scared once more before an elderly Fairy in pink and a young Witch in green stop the train dead in its track, saving Ogron and taking him.

The Fairy in pink warns Roxy about the ring and that she would like to explain everything properly, and the Witch in green seems to be focused on Bloom before leaving with the rest of the Black Circle.

The rest of the Winx regroup and Bloom wakes up thanks to Flora’s magic, and Roxy tells them about what happened. Bloom has a bad feeling about the Witch in green, and decides that they need to solve the Ring’s mystery right now and see what the White Circle deal is.

After a ritual, the Winx learn about the Island of Tir Nan Og and how it was the place of the main castle of their kingdom, and thanks to Bloom being a folklore nut the girls also learn of its placement near Ireland.

After a few days of preparations and with Stella’s crosier, the Winx teleport to the island with Roxy in the hopes everything will be explained soon.

After some mishaps with shadow monsters and everyone giving Stella the biggest side-eye of the century, the girls finally figure out what the Ring is for - it’s a key, specifically the last key needed to undo the barrier spell on the island and finally free the White Circle.

At around the same time, Eldora shows up again at the Peters’s house to see if they know about Bloom, and finally reveals who she is - she’s a founding member of the Black Circle, and after the last incident she wanted to properly explain everything.

However, Mike and Vanessa tell them about the Winx’s trip to Tir Nan Og, and she panics, realizing it’s too late.

The Winx plus Roxy finally meet the White Circle, and are surprised at their appearance - 5 Ascendix magi are at the front, followed by an army of Glamourix, Enchantix and Valiantix magi, with some seemingly wearing a transformation they weren’t aware of, matching each Ascendix.

Morgana formally introduces herself to the Winx alongside her Generals (Diana, Aurora, Nebula and Sibylla). Roxy recognizes Morgana as the Fairy in White and Nebula as the woman that possessed her, and is reluctant around them.

Morgana then starts talking about her plans of reconquest, of how they’ve lost much land during their imprisonment and that it’s gonna take quite a while before they can “enforce” their will over the planet again.

The Winx pick up on what she means and confront her, about how she’s planning to basically take over the world. Morgana counters with saying that it’s only natural, the world has been overrun with non-magi and they cannot govern themselves.

Morgana offers them a place in her ranks as thanks for freeing her but they immediately refuse, telling her they will not allow her to simply take over the world - it’s doing just fine without them.

Nebula and Sybilla are angered by this but Morgana stops them, letting them go but warning them that if they interfere, she will not show mercy.

The girls go back to their dorm and find the Black Circle 4 there, and after what just happened they decide to finally learn their story.

Eldora is also there, and after the 4 finish, she calls Yllidith and tells him they will need to call up some reinforcements, meaning they need to start communication with the Naerys System again.

A portal appears in front of them, with Diaspro, Helia, Nabu, Daphne and the Specialists coming out of it, the girls having contacted them on their way back.

They’re all worried about what happened and are surprised by the Black Circle,but they listen to their story and decide to start planning for what will happen now.

A few days of calm pass before the city is suddenly overrun with giant plants, destroying some buildings as well as giant bugs appearing on the streets.

The Winx plus the Black Circle and their friends start trying to save as many people they see, and they decide to split to cover more area.

Bloom finds her parents as well as Mitzi and her sister Macy being cornered by a giant spider, and while she immediately jumps to save them giant mushrooms start surrounding the arachnid, warding it off.

Bloom looks for who could have done that and sees a Witch in green in the roofs.

She recognizes the Witch as Selina and immediately goes to confront her, having her suspicious confirmed that she was a magi.

Selina confronts her as well about the fact she never told her about her powers, but they’re both immediately called out by Mitzi after Stella frees her from the web, demanding the two of them to come down right now.

They have a stern talk about magic and about how long they’ve had these powers, and about how neither of them saw it fit to tell each other, their oldest friends, about the fact they can sprout wings from their backs now. Mitzi is hurt but overall not surprised, and after calming down starts teasing them about how their childhood fantasies are true now.

Everyone is able to laugh about it after finally properly talking about it, and having been open with her emotions also earns Selina her Glamourix. Mitzi questions what that is, but Bloom tells her she will explain everything properly once everyone is safe.

They rally everyone back to the Frutti Music Bar (as the vines don’t seem to affect that place for some reason), and after meeting with the Black Circle again they believe this is the work of Diana, the Witch of Lush Nature. 

The gang also meets Yllidith there, an elderly man who claims to be the Fairy of Dawn Fire.

With Flora’s help and some extra magic, they manage to find from where Diana’s magic comes from - the Amazon.

After some planning and with stronger rituals the Winx, Eldora and Ydillith teleport to the Rainforest, everyone else left back in Gardenia in case things go south again.

They manage to travel the land more or less fine, but they somehow stumble into a small secluded area, a small spring marked by pillars.

The Winx decide to approach it as it irradiated strong magic, with Ydillith and Eldora looking out for any signs of trouble.

The girls find a small, almost translucent flower floating in the middle of the spring, and when the girls interact with it they can feel a rush of energy coursing through them.

They look at each other and realize that a) holy crap Tecna’s hair is brown, and b) they all seem to be in that weird transformation they saw the Earth magis in.

They reunite with Eldora and Yllidith and they elaborate that they found the Shrine of Dianix, Diana’s handcrafted form to differentiate her followers from the rest.

at around the same time some of Diana’s followers find them and start chasing them, and a fight ensues.

After a bit Diana herself joins the fight, calling Eldora and Yllidith traitors to the White Circle and elaborating on who they are.

Diana also reveals that Eldora was once her tutor in magic having the same Source, and feels personally betrayed by how she left the White Circle.

The battle goes on, and after a bit both sides start getting tired. However, their fighting has masked another sound - a sound of destruction.

They all stop and decide to rush to the origin of the sound, finding Nebula and her followers destroying part of the forest, taking wood to craft more weapons, as her forge has been lost to time and has to do with what she can.

This makes Diana livid, and starts attacking Nebula for having destroyed her sanctum all willy-nilly. The Winx and the Black Circle decide to help as well, and being outnumbered, Nebula retreats.

Diana manages to calm herself down, and renounces her title as General of the White Circle - she cannot support those that will destroy nature for their own goals.

She joins the Black Circle officially now, and Eldora is happy to be able to connect with her former student once more, seeing her as a second daughter.

Diana undoes the spell on Gardenia and everyone returns to as close as normalcy as they can, with the Winx telling everyone else of how it went.

Yllidith and Eldora try to contact the other realms for help and do manage to get with the Order of Mana, but sadly preparations will take quite a bit, so they might need to wait.

A few more days pass and news come from Northern Italy that several towns have pledged alliance with the White Circle, claiming to “return to their rightful place as their servants”. This is, quite obviously, suspicious as all hell, and our heroes aided by the Black Circle 4 and Selina teleport to some caves near the Sibillini Mountains, where the “servants” seem to be working.

Ogron recalls the place as Sibylla’s sanctum, a place where she acted as the Judge of the White Circle.

Bloom and Selina have a proper talk on the way about how and when they discovered their magic, and of how each girl chose the path of fairy or witch.

Roxy starts to be more or less harassed by Morgana, using magic to get inside her head trying to convince her to come to their side. She doesn’t tell everyone yet, but they start to become more frequent.

On the way they are attacked by some of Sibylla’s magi followers as well as their mind-controlled servants, which forces the gang to be careful with their attacks.

The Winx default to fighting off the magi, while the Specialists try to contain the brainwashed folks as the Black Circle makes a convergence spell to dispel the mind-control (they tried Essence Dust, didn’t work on its own).

They succeed in freeing the people and defeating the magi, and finally reach the deepest part of the caves.

Sibylla decries them as traitors to the true kingdom much like Diana did and that they will face “Justice”, before starting a fight with them aided by some of her followers, displaying Sibyllix.

The fight is long, but they manage to overpower Sibylla and defeat her. She retreats back to Tir Nan Og, and her influence also disappears from the place.

Everyone goes back to Gardenia once more and start planning on what else to do, as the White Circle is starting to advance even further and they need to strike soon.

The planning takes a week and a half before Aurora herself shows up on their makeshift base, freaking everyone out.

She tells them that she’s there to join them - she was never interested in this reconquest, she just wanted to be back home with her followers. However, Nebula and Sibylla are making that difficult, wanting her back on their side and wrecking havoc on Antarctica, her sanctum.

Aurora also notices Roxy’s pains and, as proof of her turning, undoes Morgana’s spell - Morgana may be queen, but she’s not stronger than her (in her case former) Generals.

She requests the specific help of the Winx and Roxy, as Morgana seems to have a special interest in them, Roxy more than the others.

After a bit of last-minute planning Aurora, the Winx and Roxy depart for Antarctica, thought first Aurora brings them to a different place in the frozen scape - a small shrine-like ice construction near the shorelines close to Argentina.

She asks the Winx to enter it, and when they do, they gain Aurorix - the form created by her. She keeps Roxy from gaining it as she wants the Winx to blend in in her troops, and for Roxy to be noticeable in her Charmix.

Once everything is prepared, they go to her actual sanctum - a giant tower of pure ice slightly levitating above the ground. They find Nebula there trying to rally her followers to action, aided by Sibylla, but they remain loyal to Aurora and no one else.

The Winx quickly disperse into her people to go unnoticed, and Aurora and Roxy rise to her tower’s entrance.

Aurora tells her that she has managed to gain Roxy to her side, and if they manage an agreement, Roxy will willingly join Morgana for whatever she wants - they all know Morgana is strangely fixated on her, and they’re curious as for why.

Aurora wants details on what Morgana’s overall plan for the Earth is, and if they tell her, Roxy will go with them.

Nebula is eager to share the plans, but Sibylla can sense Aurora’s hiding something, and before Nebula can speak Sibylla activates the tower’s magical flight, rising it to the air.

The Winx immediately drop their pretense and chase after the tower, and with this Nebula recognizes them.

Sibylla stops the tower again and calls out Aurora for her betrayal, as the Winx join her sides. Nebula immediately gets a hold of Roxy and tries to simply kidnap her, but Aurora immediately freezes her to the ground.

At the same time, however, Sibylla does the same for her, disrupting her magic with her own control over sound and rocks and tries to make a deal: if she leaves them leave with Roxy, she’ll leave the tower alone and will let them go scot-free.

Nebula objects to this, wanting proper revenge on the Winx, and this gives Bloom an idea.

She jumps to the Ascendix magi and decides on another deal - she and Nebula will have a duel. If Bloom wins, Nebula and Sibylla leave the frozen continent with nothing, leaving Roxy behind, but if Nebula wins, they get them all as prisoners.

Sibylla considers it for a bit but Nebula immediately agrees, wanting a fight at last and not leaving Sibylla with a choice.

Bloom drops her Aurorix form and goes back not to Believix but to Enchantix, as a sort of handicap - Believix would give her an unfair advantage as being near the Winx makes Believix stronger.

The duel starts, and it initially it goes more on less in favor of Nebula (what with being in the currently most powerful transformation discovered and all), but Nebula’s more impatient and close-combat than Bloom is, which leads to her getting tired faster.

Bloom plays a long game evading and defending and nailing her with arrows when possible, and after a sudden attack on her Bloom finally uses her Dragon Aura fully, knocking Nebula out and winning the duel.

Sibylla angrily holds her promise and leaves with Nebula, but tells them this isn’t over yet, and that the worst is yet to come.

Everyone regroups on the South Pole after bringing back Aurora’s tower, and with the promise of her support, they start planning the last stages of the conflict.

On the way back, Aurora does seem fit to inform them that even if they defeat Morgana, her daughter might still remain - Aelianna, the Princess of Tir Nan Og who was sealed away for millenia in the hopes she could come free them.

Everyone is surprised about this, as nothing they’ve found on the White Circle ever mentioned a daughter - and after mentioning this to Yllidith and Eldora, they were also unaware of this.

Roxy feels her throat tighten at this news, worrisome thoughts filling her head.

Reinforcements from the Naerys System have arrived, and with their help they manage to force the White Circle’s forces back and back even further.

This last move will decide the outcome of the war - an all out assault on the Castle of Tir Nan Og, forcing a siege on them and breaking them apart entirely in the process.

The White Circle starts preparing for said siege, knowing it imminent and concocting a last-ditch resort plan.

Preparations are complete, everyone is as ready as they can be, and the trip starts.

The Black Circle alongside the reinforcements arrive first to Tir Nan Og, and manage to more or less easily deal with the first lines of defense.

The second lines prove more difficult, but the aid of Diana and Aurora make the duels more smooth overall, reaching the courtyards of the castle.

Sibylla, Nebula and Morgana are there, calmly waiting still, and before a fight breaks out Morgana announces their surrender, throwing everyone off.

As proof of her word, she gives Ogron the White Ring, holding most of her power, as she claims. All the magis around them also drop their weapons, which adds to her claims.

Everyone can tell something’s suspicious going on, buy Ogron does accept the ring.

Morgana smirks, and the ring explodes into a beam of pure shadows.

Ogron manages to back away fast enough, but the power expands, destroying everything around it turning into ash.

The White Circle retreats further into the castle as they cast a barrier around the entrance, and slowly everything starts to be absorbed into the darkness.

Everyone tries to contain the spell but it’s almost impossible, and a retreat is ordered.

However, Nabu rushes to the front - after all, his Source is Darkness, he might be able to do something about it.

Summoning his staff he manages to redirect the spell back to their casters and most of it dissipates against the castle taking a few towers with it, but there’s still some of it left and it threatens to expand once more.

Nabu then decides to absorb the darkness into his staff and into himself, pushing his magic to the limit and almost overloading his body.

He does manage to absorb all of the spell but his body ends up incredibly damaged, and he falls to the ground seemingly dying.

This great act manages something else - achieving Enchantix, removing most of the negative effects of what he just did.

He’s still dying, however, as the pain remains and it’s close to overtake him fully.

Most of the healers rush in and try to keep him alive for as long as they can before he can receive proper treatment, Helia between them.

In a desperate move to save his friend, and despite most of the team’s protests, Helia uses the Spell of Renewed Life on him, removing the last of his injuries and revitalizing him almost fully, earning Altheix.

However, Nabu has fallen into a deep coma, and detransforms while unconscious.

Helia and the Specialists offer to take care of him for the time being while everyone else charges after the remaining members of the White Circle, and the team advances into the castle proper.

Once there they manage to defeat the last few warriors inside, cornering Nebula, Sibylla and Morgana in the throne room.

In a last ditch attempt to get her to her side, Morgana reveals to Roxy that she’s her mother, and that she is Princess Aelianna of Tir Nan Og.

She tells her that this is her kingdom, this is her birthright, and that she should be alongside her, overseeing the planet, guiding them with their magical might - without them, the world has fallen into strife and pain. She has been attempting to contact her all this time in her dreams, trying to push her to do what she should, but she has refused, and she doesn’t understand why. Can't she see that we’re doing what’s best?

This is Roxy’s absolute breaking point, and angrily spits back to Morgana that she will never join them - she has done nothing but harass her, get inside her head, try to break her inside and out so she can join her side, and she thinks being her mother is gonna change that? The White Circle needs to be stopped, and the Earth does not need rulers like her.

Her blunt answer and outing of her feelings manages to earn her Glamourix, and Nebula and Sibylla are livid at this. If she dares to reject the crown like that, then she will die with the rest.

Morgana runs deeper into the castle even still, Nebula and Sibylla remaining to fight.

They’re vastly outnumbered, however, and while they gave a great fight, they’re soundly defeated and taken prisoner.

The Winx plus Roxy rush after Morgana during this, and in the deepest part of the building, they finally fight her.

She proves a difficult fight, as her powers over light are immense and even together they barely make a scratch.

Despite everything, however, she cannot bring herself to hurt Roxy, and after a few moments, the Winx use this to their advantage.

Roxy puts herself between every single attack Morgana makes, forcing her to undo the magic and try again, tiring her out and make her careless.

Getting even more frustrated she finally breaks, and simply starts attacking everything at once.

This ends up exhausting her greatly, and with the best opening they can get, the Winx plus Roxy use a convergence spell on her, knocking her out of her transformation and ending the war. The Black Circle has won, and Earth has gotten its freedom back.

Some weeks have passed, and everything is a mess: Nebula, Morgana and Sibylla have been taken to Magix for their crimes, and there’s a high chance their magic will permanently be limited to the point its unusable. The entire planet has to deal with the fact magic exists, has always existed, and it’s now coming back, with more and more people discovering they can use it, not to mention the fact life on other planets exist and they now have communication with them.

Thanks to the Black Circle’s help, however, the process has been smoother than it would have been otherwise, even if dealing with politics is a pain.

Those from other planets go back, the Specialists and Diaspro having to deal with the fact they more or less ditched school to go save another planet, and worried of what consequences they will face, same goes for Daphne.

Roxy is now an official member of the Black Circle, and she’s helping with searching for new magis around the country and trying to explain everything as she can. She will enroll to Alfea next year to further develop her magic in a more controlled space, as Earth will remain a mess for a few more years.

Eldora is considering getting help from the System again to build their own school dedicated to the use of magic, as most people will not trust interplanetary trips yet, and so magic can be better studied and controlled, avoiding a repeat of the White Circle’s situation.

Nabu has not woken up yet, and an analysis shows the spell absorption has more or less put him into a magic-induced dream of sorts, so for now Helia will take him to Ohm so he can be under the care of actual professionals, him also wanting to help out.

Bloom, Aisha and Stella are more or less forced to come back to their kingdoms as they need to act as ambassadors for both their realms and Earth, having experienced first hand everything that went down, with the other Winx going back as well to check on their families and help integrate Earth into their world.

Bloom, Mitzi and Selina promise to keep in contact fully this time, and after saying goodbye, everyone goes back to Magix, happy to have restored Earth’s magic even if that wasn’t the plan.

Everything is more or less peaceful once more, even if the path is still bumpy, and for now, everyone can relax...

[inkanistark]

Currently living one of the worst weeks of my life, it’s going very cute so far.

Sunday:

Woke up with alarming chest pains. Very alarming to the point that I told my parents because I thought I was going to die. (6-7 on the pain scale)

Went to the ER. It was very C U T E.

They said that I just had a bad reaction to my respiratory virus infection, possibly strengthened due to high stress, possibly a UTI.

Kobe died, found out at hospital.

I got home at 5 and had to still write an Oliver Thesis, write 9 chapters worth of AP Psych Notes, and had to study for the test the next day.

Monday:

Studied for AP Psych Test all day. Probably failed it. Had to endure classes that talked about abortion, Kobe’s death, transphobia, mental illnesses, etc.

Had to write an entire AP Psych project due to lack of time as I caught the flu the week before. This included about 70 logs as well as follow up questions that I’d rather not talk about. This was due as midnight as well as an editorial analysis for AP Lang, which mind you I had also not started. I ended up procrastinating and rushing to do both before midnight just in time.

Tuesday:

Good Day. Julius Caesar got stabbed.

Before the field trip, I had extreme chest and stomach pains again. The cause turned out to be the fact that I had taken my prescribed pills and cough medication, both of which are a deadly combination when on an empty stomach. I skipped dinner the night before and breakfast that morning. My stomach felt like Caesar.

Wednesday:

Had to read the entire Great Gatsby, as I had repressed the due date and had to cope with the flu for over two weeks, but whatevs. Following this up, I finished my reading at midnight, and still had 2 WebAssign tasks for math and gave up on them. I also had to study for a math quiz and anatomy quiz. I went to bed at 3 A.M. and felt like crying. I didn’t. It was cute.

Thursday:

Dealt with a terrible Anatomy Quiz that I managed to pass on virtue hat it was an open note quiz.

The Great Gatsby Socratic Seminar was that day. Everyone contributed except me, I wanted to contribute before Keller interrupted me and my anxiety already wanted to yeet me off a cliff. I wish I had done my math instead of actually listening to the discussion.

Math was next. Quiz on the last two lessons. On virtue of logic, I managed to answer the first two questions. I struggled a bit on the third but managed to come to some sort of conclusion, correct or wrong. The last question was a doozy that I stared at until the last ten minutes of class, where I simply gave up and turned it in. I kinda felt like crying, but I didn’t and just #smiled. Ms. Nahigian taught us about hyperbolas and I thought I was free, but she pulled a sike and assigned us all to a group project due next Friday, where we will all have to make a one minute video about hyperbolas. I’d rather die but do I have a choice? Nah. Next was Chapel. I sat down in my dreaded front row seat and the white boy behind me asked me why I was wearing a mask and where did I get it. I had to bite back the response that I had it specifically so I could spread the coronavirus, and said that I was sick and got it at CVS.

Then I took a makeup test for Anatomy, got two wrong. Tea. Went to Creative Writing Club even though I felt like crawling into a hole in the ground. Left and went to orchestra, but arrived late as it was across school. Had an incredibly average time there. Arrived back at Oliver and sat by myself, prompting Ketterling to ask if I was ‘exiled’ by everyone. I didn’t want to bluntly say that I wanted to be alone so I kept quiet. I fell asleep for the rest of class and woke up at the last 5 minutes to see everyone taking the reading quiz. I attempted to summarize 30 pages worth of religious analysis in 3 sentences and turned it in without batting an eye since failure is the norm now.

I got home. Procrastinated since I felt so tired from staying up so late the night before. Attempted to finish my Great Gatsby discussion questions, gave up and tried to turn it in. The submission kept having errors and eventually it was past the due date. Cute. I still have my huge math makeup test to study for, as well as anatomy and English quizzes. It’s already midnight, so kill me.

Friday-Sunday have not happened yet, but I expect them to be just as bad.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 108

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 10 - “Super Dangerous? A Big Commotion on the Ocean!” Date watched: 4 March 2019 Original air date: 9 April 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/5m47i7p Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Show Kenta how to say no to this

This episode is everything you could want in an episode of Precure. It’s got action, suspense, character development, Moerumba’s sass, and the above faces. We get to see Saki’s friends Yuuko and Hitomi, as well as Kenta in a featured spot and Kayo from the last episode. Miyasako appears briefly in the classroom scenes, looking a little more confident, but he doesn’t actually have any lines. So, you probably want to know the context of all this.

The class has been assigned to do group reports on people living in their town. Saki, Mai, Yuuko, Hitomi, and Kayo all buddy up and, after Kenta clowns around, decide to check out his family’s charter boat business. They corner him and ask for permission (see above) and he relents and says he’ll ask his parents. He’s really hoping they’ll say no, but his folks are very enthusiastic about the chance, so that Sunday the girls all roll in. Kenta’s dad, Hoshino Kengo, gives them a tour of the shop and cracks jokes, revealing that a lot of Kenta’s mannerisms are taken from him. His mother, Hoshino Shizue, explains how she tends to the front desk and the shop when her husband is out on the boat.With all that out of the way, everybody gets suited up (by which I mean they put on life vests) and they set sail.

While they head to their destination above a reef, Kenta shows them the ropes of a fishing boat, Saki brags about her inability to get seasick, and Mai draws Kenta’s dad on the bridge.

Moments later, Saki isn’t feeling so well.

But they go below decks and find a cure real quick.

that’s pink energy

Once they get to their fishing spot, everybody lets out their lines and they wait. And wait. And wait. After two hours with no bites, everybody is antsy and Kenta complains to his dad, who gives him some grief, but he does remark that this is unusual. A dark cloud on the horizon has him turning the boat around to head back to shore, but as you can probably guess, it’s not just a storm, it’s Moerumba! All the girls are in the hold, feeling sick or passed out from the rough seas, while Kenta is in the bridge with his dad trying to keep the boat straight, so nobody is around to see Moerumba or the giant clam Uzainaa he summons out past the back of the boat. Saki and Mai transform to fight it, which is not the easiest thing given the conditions, but they manage to use the spirit shields to deflect a fireball. Egret slips of and Bloom catches her, but the Uzainaa swats them off.

They manage to land on a nearby island, and now that they have stable ground they manage to get the upper hand, knocking the monster around before finishing it off. They then hurry back to the boat before anybody notices they’re missing. With Dark Fall gone for the day, the weather has cleared up and everybody goes back to fishing.

The following week in school, the five girls make their presentation and compliment Kenta’s family and their whole experience. Hitomi makes a point to single out Kenta’s help in particular, and the teacher applauds their presentation as well as the display they made to go with it, prominently featuring Mai’s drawings.

look it was a weird panorama, okay?

There’s a few hints at the shipping plots that will come into play later in the show. They don’t focus on Hitomi very much, but she blushes a little when she singles him out during the speech, suggesting her feelings. Earlier on the boat, there’s a scene with Kenta and his dad going back and forth about Kenta’s comedic talents. His dad teases that his son’s book of jokes is completely empty, except...

Note how Hitomi is the only one whose expression changes. Whether it’s because she feels bad for him being outed like this, or because she thinks it might be her name, or she’s afraid it’s not her, is unclear. It could be all of these. For Kenta’s sake, his father doesn’t reveal the name he had written, but it’s still a hint at things to come.

Kayo doesn’t have much to do in this episode but it’s good just to see that the writers remember she exists, as FW and MH had a tendency to introduce guest characters for one episode and then ignore them for a while. Yuuko and Hitomi are Saki’s recurring friends so I’m not singling them out the same.

Moerumba.... what can I even say about this guy. Look at him steal the scene in the cold open.

As CinemaWins would say, he doesn’t even care. He’s just treating his previous defeats as learning opportunities (which, to be fair, is a good strategy) to figure out the Precures’ strengths and weaknesses. That being said, his plan in this episode wasn’t terribly strategic. Maybe the idea was to compromise the safety of their friends, but that wasn’t well-depicted, and the clam monster wasn’t any more threatening than any previous Uzainaa. The most out of the box thing he did was to utilize static electricity to an extent, but even that was only to torment the girls.

If there’s one thing FWPC did better than Splash Star with regard to its villains, it was diversifying their threats. Pisard used traps, Gekidrago used brute force, Poisony used tricks, Kiriya was an infiltrator, and Ilkubo was a little of everything, because he was intelligent AND powerful. Meanwhile, aside from their personalities, there isn’t much to differentiate Karehaan from Moerumba. They’re both showing up at random and attacking the girls head-on. Hopefully we start to see a little more thought put into the attacks.

Also, there seems to be less of a theme to Moerumba’s monsters so far. They went out of their way to show that Karehaan could only make Uzainaa out of wood and tree-related things, which included a cicada once because they eat tree sap. Karehaan’s monsters can all throw fireballs, but they don’t have the same elemental connection, maybe because it’s easier to give random objects fireballs than to come up with fiery monsters in myriad situations. We’ll see if this also improves.

I realize I haven’t said anything about music in a while, and that’s because... I don’t have much to say. The BGM hasn’t stood out to me much. I do think I owe the opening and ending a proper analysis, so I’ll try to squeeze that in soon, and I never gave a proper rundown on the girls’ outfits so I’ll see if I can do that as well.

Next time, Flappi is sick! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 2 Zekkouchou Nari

Miracle Drop Count: 3

[airoasis]

Week 5 Turning Pro Challenge - Live Account Forex Review - Trading Account Tutorial

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/week-5-turning-pro-challenge-live-account-forex-review-trading-account-tutorial/

Week 5 Turning Pro Challenge - Live Account Forex Review - Trading Account Tutorial

Welcome to training for a challenge per week five account evaluation this is a Raman Gill from buying and selling with Venus calm just a rapid disclaimer before we get began this is for academic functions handiest trading is a dicy business so please watch out with your cash as you’re conscious turning for a task is set finding out the behaviors of official traders and enforcing these behaviors so we’re in a position to generate official outcome as good there are a few exceptional facets of this challenge and what we are looking at doing is surroundings a goal making sure now we have a exchange plan after which imposing that trade plan so three key areas that we center of attention on our practise execution and review for our buying and selling if you haven’t already joined the turning pro mission I invite you to verify out buying and selling with Venus comm forward cut back flip pro where you’ll be able to be competent to download all of the works books and spreadsheets that i use to monitor this assignment let’s begin off by means of taking a seem at our goals the pursuits that I had set were to make hundred pips per week to exchange the London session and if you’re watching at hundred pips per week so i’m pretty much watching at making about 35 pips per day because i’m best trading 3 days per week so in phrases of the goals i did not meet my targets this week this week was once in reality a hard week for me and i’m going to exhibit you the outcome that I received but one of the vital large challenges that I had this week was once my trading psychology I received tousled because of some external hobbies that happened some comments that came my approach and i didn’t control them to effectually and i took them too in my opinion so it messed up my buying and selling psychology and that i started a second guessing myself I internalized it an excessive amount of and it simply threw me off my game so I most commonly have losses each single week total commonly i’d have one shedding day and two winning day so that is so the usual that i’m going with so despite the fact that we’ve been placing up some great outcome the fact is that every one those trades have no longer been profitable trades there were some losses in there nevertheless the winning trades have been way higher and so they worked out a lot better than the shedding trade so we didn’t lose as much and the the number of profitable trades have been greater as good as the profit objectives on those successful trades were greater thus the overall results had been relatively excellent nevertheless it does not imply that I do not have dropping days I do and that i had the primary dropping day and after that considering of some feedback that came my approach it simply thoroughly threw me off the game even though I do ought to say I used to be looking for a shedding Greek given that we’ve got had a best run and also you are not able to do not simply have a satisfactory run there are at all times losses so in my intellect at the back of my mind I had this factor that I can have dropping Greek so that is an extra thing that I must work on it creates a self-pleasant prophecy so if you are trading and you end up happening that track ensure you interrupt that pattern on your attitude and also you just go back and self-control that so that is simply variety of a part observe so a few those things that threw me off my recreation and that i must say it took me a while to get back on monitor from that so total in terms of pursuits did not meet the hundred pips per week purpose this week and for the relaxation of it we’re risking the account size and the amount of risk and having stop losses in place those were nice I did apply all those things one thing that I did I would have finished significantly better this week used to be slicing my losses and that’s probably the most matters that form of goes again to your buying and selling psychology when you consider that I was down within the dumps over a couple of things there i didn’t manage my trades appropriately I would have reduce the losses short I would have taken probably the most gains that were to be had in those trades and yet I held onto the tray slightly too long which ended up developing losses for me so i didn’t follow my possess principles with regards to the exchange administration considering my psychology was once tousled so trading psychology is very very major and performs a very predominant role on this in phrases of exchange training this is my force I do that as part of our trade room with the every day market evaluation calls each evening so I did that well we appear at market course and we additionally seem at the technical phases to alternate from we look at what essential news are popping out what affect we predict as a result of these information and creating a exchange plan all of that went well this week submit market evaluate I did give a number of concept to how this week went and one of the most challenges that I acquired into and how I plan to beat them next time again the post market evaluate I suppose despite the fact that this is the discipline that I battle with regularly this overall went better in view that of the shedding week that I had it pressured me to pay attention to what things went well what did not go so good and what I ought to trade and plenty of that’s managing my trading psychology as well as alternate management and doing their preparation so a few of those things that I do well nevertheless trading psychology is one other thing that i am gonna add to my guidelines and that i just must make sure that i’m within the surest mode to trade at any time when I get into buying and selling so now let’s go on to the account and spot the place we set for this week so this is the trading account that i’ve been buying and selling last time our stability was once higher this time here the steadiness is diminish that account size dropped so let’s go to our spreadsheets that that will go over some numbers right here that is the spreadsheet that now we have been utilising here the final 4 weeks have been particularly just right we have been at about ninety seven factor eight four percent return now that has dropped to about ninety one factor three six percent total this week I had a loss of 2 hundred $26 and ninety two cents so this brings the whole profit at thirty-one ninety seven point five six so like I said this was a dropping week so the outcome have dropped a little bit and now i am sitting at a ninety one factor three six percentage in terms of the return let’s go on to the scorecard right here so scorecard is the place I self monitor and ponder what matters I did well and where i’ve room for growth in terms of the training right here I did take a appear at the information did my market evaluation competently and i checked out abilities entries and targets of each evening in order that one went well and i bought full marks over there in alternate execution here i didn’t take trades that deliberate like I mentioned I might have completed a better job I went into an excessive amount of of a shielding mode the place I was scared to lose and consequently of that it can be just like the crimson elephant within the room so whilst you say don’t feel about pink elephant simplest thing that you would be able to feel about is the crimson elephant so that is where I did mess up this week so this section didn’t go as well a discontinue loss entered this one sincerely went it was once okay in order that used to be no longer too large of a quandary profit target set those have been high-quality as well trade management is one other field that I would do better i didn’t do as good this week most often i have a strict algorithm that I comply with when managing my trades and for essentially the most part i’m excellent with those however this week given that I was down in the dumps i didn’t manage the trades as well as I could have in phrases of the submit market overview I did this well again this is one other subject that i’m presently working on so overall this went ok in terms of managing my emotions I provide myself a 0 out of three in view that that is the place I think like I relatively lacked this week and that i would have executed a a lot better job I bought into my head and i simply might no longer shake off that terrible feelings that I was once feeling and consequently of that the whole lot that I did was once typically flawed I would have done so many matters better this week so therefore of looking at one more elements so managing emotions is an additional thing that I need to take very significantly and i have to safeguard myself from negativity and that is what i’d suggest for everyone else as good there’s a number of stuff that goes on round us exclusive things can have an influence things that are not even involving buying and selling would have an affect on our buying and selling since we as human beings bring all of that to the desk once we do something in order that was once a enormous lesson realized this week and this is some thing that i am going to be specializing in for certain going forward if you’re fascinated with my exchange room or buying and selling indicators provider let me share some small print with you on that so it is a comprehensive carrier we most commonly begin off with a weekly market overview per week on Sunday so if you’re part of my buying and selling staff you also get access to a personal skype team where I share my trade strategies and analysis and i also send out Twitter signals when I’m entering a alternate so those would be the live trades that I enter every day now we have a daily Market evaluation call where we take a appear on the charts we appear at what happened in the markets and create a plan for buying and selling the next day so we mark out our technical levels of where we’re watching to take the trades from what direction we are looking for every pair I quilt a couple of one-of-a-kind pairs in that and we mark these phases for every pair where to enter the trade and where our skills revenue targets shall be for each and every one i am active in the alternate room throughout the London session commencing at 3 a.M.Japanese and when I’m able to enter the exchange I put a exchange alert within the trade room with my entry discontinue loss as well as profit target I additionally take trades after the day-to-day market analysis called within the evening so if you are no longer competent to alternate in the London session with me which you can also track the trades in the night and those are in most cases we just set the trades and we let them run so that they in most cases play out in the course of the London however we’re not actively monitoring those trades so that is yet another option if you are not capable to exchange London session each Friday we’ve got a member zone simplest a webinar at 9:30 a.M.Eastern this one is recorded equal on the every day market and Alf is known as and that you may invariably view it later if you are now not ready to make it at the moment as opponents you also get my pivot point indicator I relatively like that pivot factor indicator it is certainly one of my favorite ones that I used to exchange if you are fascinated with becoming a member of the exchange room there are three different options which you can decide on from one is the month-to-month option which is $ninety seven a month and with this one you’re just on a month-to-month billing cycle so that you can cancel at any time I also have a few different plans if you wish to convey the rate down a one is a biannual plan so essentially you’re procuring six months at a time and the cost for with a view to be sixty-seven dollars a month and if you wanted to be on a each year plan this is the first-class plan that i’ve for forty-seven greenbacks a month so those are the three choices if you want to join me within the alternate room so that is it for at present you guys have a great trading week and i will see you next time

[batterymonster2021]

Week 5 Turning Pro Challenge - Live Account Forex Review - Trading Account Tutorial

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/week-5-turning-pro-challenge-live-account-forex-review-trading-account-tutorial/

Week 5 Turning Pro Challenge - Live Account Forex Review - Trading Account Tutorial

Welcome to training for a challenge per week five account evaluation this is a Raman Gill from buying and selling with Venus calm just a rapid disclaimer before we get began this is for academic functions handiest trading is a dicy business so please watch out with your cash as you’re conscious turning for a task is set finding out the behaviors of official traders and enforcing these behaviors so we’re in a position to generate official outcome as good there are a few exceptional facets of this challenge and what we are looking at doing is surroundings a goal making sure now we have a exchange plan after which imposing that trade plan so three key areas that we center of attention on our practise execution and review for our buying and selling if you haven’t already joined the turning pro mission I invite you to verify out buying and selling with Venus comm forward cut back flip pro where you’ll be able to be competent to download all of the works books and spreadsheets that i use to monitor this assignment let’s begin off by means of taking a seem at our goals the pursuits that I had set were to make hundred pips per week to exchange the London session and if you’re watching at hundred pips per week so i’m pretty much watching at making about 35 pips per day because i’m best trading 3 days per week so in phrases of the goals i did not meet my targets this week this week was once in reality a hard week for me and i’m going to exhibit you the outcome that I received but one of the vital large challenges that I had this week was once my trading psychology I received tousled because of some external hobbies that happened some comments that came my approach and i didn’t control them to effectually and i took them too in my opinion so it messed up my buying and selling psychology and that i started a second guessing myself I internalized it an excessive amount of and it simply threw me off my game so I most commonly have losses each single week total commonly i’d have one shedding day and two winning day so that is so the usual that i’m going with so despite the fact that we’ve been placing up some great outcome the fact is that every one those trades have no longer been profitable trades there were some losses in there nevertheless the winning trades have been way higher and so they worked out a lot better than the shedding trade so we didn’t lose as much and the the number of profitable trades have been greater as good as the profit objectives on those successful trades were greater thus the overall results had been relatively excellent nevertheless it does not imply that I do not have dropping days I do and that i had the primary dropping day and after that considering of some feedback that came my approach it simply thoroughly threw me off the game even though I do ought to say I used to be looking for a shedding Greek given that we’ve got had a best run and also you are not able to do not simply have a satisfactory run there are at all times losses so in my intellect at the back of my mind I had this factor that I can have dropping Greek so that is an extra thing that I must work on it creates a self-pleasant prophecy so if you are trading and you end up happening that track ensure you interrupt that pattern on your attitude and also you just go back and self-control that so that is simply variety of a part observe so a few those things that threw me off my recreation and that i must say it took me a while to get back on monitor from that so total in terms of pursuits did not meet the hundred pips per week purpose this week and for the relaxation of it we’re risking the account size and the amount of risk and having stop losses in place those were nice I did apply all those things one thing that I did I would have finished significantly better this week used to be slicing my losses and that’s probably the most matters that form of goes again to your buying and selling psychology when you consider that I was down within the dumps over a couple of things there i didn’t manage my trades appropriately I would have reduce the losses short I would have taken probably the most gains that were to be had in those trades and yet I held onto the tray slightly too long which ended up developing losses for me so i didn’t follow my possess principles with regards to the exchange administration considering my psychology was once tousled so trading psychology is very very major and performs a very predominant role on this in phrases of exchange training this is my force I do that as part of our trade room with the every day market evaluation calls each evening so I did that well we appear at market course and we additionally seem at the technical phases to alternate from we look at what essential news are popping out what affect we predict as a result of these information and creating a exchange plan all of that went well this week submit market evaluate I did give a number of concept to how this week went and one of the most challenges that I acquired into and how I plan to beat them next time again the post market evaluate I suppose despite the fact that this is the discipline that I battle with regularly this overall went better in view that of the shedding week that I had it pressured me to pay attention to what things went well what did not go so good and what I ought to trade and plenty of that’s managing my trading psychology as well as alternate management and doing their preparation so a few of those things that I do well nevertheless trading psychology is one other thing that i am gonna add to my guidelines and that i just must make sure that i’m within the surest mode to trade at any time when I get into buying and selling so now let’s go on to the account and spot the place we set for this week so this is the trading account that i’ve been buying and selling last time our stability was once higher this time here the steadiness is diminish that account size dropped so let’s go to our spreadsheets that that will go over some numbers right here that is the spreadsheet that now we have been utilising here the final 4 weeks have been particularly just right we have been at about ninety seven factor eight four percent return now that has dropped to about ninety one factor three six percent total this week I had a loss of 2 hundred $26 and ninety two cents so this brings the whole profit at thirty-one ninety seven point five six so like I said this was a dropping week so the outcome have dropped a little bit and now i am sitting at a ninety one factor three six percentage in terms of the return let’s go on to the scorecard right here so scorecard is the place I self monitor and ponder what matters I did well and where i’ve room for growth in terms of the training right here I did take a appear at the information did my market evaluation competently and i checked out abilities entries and targets of each evening in order that one went well and i bought full marks over there in alternate execution here i didn’t take trades that deliberate like I mentioned I might have completed a better job I went into an excessive amount of of a shielding mode the place I was scared to lose and consequently of that it can be just like the crimson elephant within the room so whilst you say don’t feel about pink elephant simplest thing that you would be able to feel about is the crimson elephant so that is where I did mess up this week so this section didn’t go as well a discontinue loss entered this one sincerely went it was once okay in order that used to be no longer too large of a quandary profit target set those have been high-quality as well trade management is one other field that I would do better i didn’t do as good this week most often i have a strict algorithm that I comply with when managing my trades and for essentially the most part i’m excellent with those however this week given that I was down in the dumps i didn’t manage the trades as well as I could have in phrases of the submit market overview I did this well again this is one other subject that i’m presently working on so overall this went ok in terms of managing my emotions I provide myself a 0 out of three in view that that is the place I think like I relatively lacked this week and that i would have executed a a lot better job I bought into my head and i simply might no longer shake off that terrible feelings that I was once feeling and consequently of that the whole lot that I did was once typically flawed I would have done so many matters better this week so therefore of looking at one more elements so managing emotions is an additional thing that I need to take very significantly and i have to safeguard myself from negativity and that is what i’d suggest for everyone else as good there’s a number of stuff that goes on round us exclusive things can have an influence things that are not even involving buying and selling would have an affect on our buying and selling since we as human beings bring all of that to the desk once we do something in order that was once a enormous lesson realized this week and this is some thing that i am going to be specializing in for certain going forward if you’re fascinated with my exchange room or buying and selling indicators provider let me share some small print with you on that so it is a comprehensive carrier we most commonly begin off with a weekly market overview per week on Sunday so if you’re part of my buying and selling staff you also get access to a personal skype team where I share my trade strategies and analysis and i also send out Twitter signals when I’m entering a alternate so those would be the live trades that I enter every day now we have a daily Market evaluation call where we take a appear on the charts we appear at what happened in the markets and create a plan for buying and selling the next day so we mark out our technical levels of where we’re watching to take the trades from what direction we are looking for every pair I quilt a couple of one-of-a-kind pairs in that and we mark these phases for every pair where to enter the trade and where our skills revenue targets shall be for each and every one i am active in the alternate room throughout the London session commencing at 3 a.M.Japanese and when I’m able to enter the exchange I put a exchange alert within the trade room with my entry discontinue loss as well as profit target I additionally take trades after the day-to-day market analysis called within the evening so if you are no longer competent to alternate in the London session with me which you can also track the trades in the night and those are in most cases we just set the trades and we let them run so that they in most cases play out in the course of the London however we’re not actively monitoring those trades so that is yet another option if you are not capable to exchange London session each Friday we’ve got a member zone simplest a webinar at 9:30 a.M.Eastern this one is recorded equal on the every day market and Alf is known as and that you may invariably view it later if you are now not ready to make it at the moment as opponents you also get my pivot point indicator I relatively like that pivot factor indicator it is certainly one of my favorite ones that I used to exchange if you are fascinated with becoming a member of the exchange room there are three different options which you can decide on from one is the month-to-month option which is $ninety seven a month and with this one you’re just on a month-to-month billing cycle so that you can cancel at any time I also have a few different plans if you wish to convey the rate down a one is a biannual plan so essentially you’re procuring six months at a time and the cost for with a view to be sixty-seven dollars a month and if you wanted to be on a each year plan this is the first-class plan that i’ve for forty-seven greenbacks a month so those are the three choices if you want to join me within the alternate room so that is it for at present you guys have a great trading week and i will see you next time

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 10th November 2019

I think I should give an update on what I’m listening to as I don’t often do that on this show. Hold on, let’s check my last.fm... oh, yeah, 300 scrobbles for Weezer – in the past week. I really have hit rock bottom.

Top 10

For what should be the sixth consecutive week now, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is at #1, and somehow that’s the only thing staying stable amongst all the chaos as while I’d like to think this was a relaxed week where it cleared out everything from the JESUS IS KING album bomb and left only the remnants of that busy week, it really wasn’t, and instead was a full-on avalanche by its own accord.

The first most obvious example of that is “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, debuting at #2, and that’s pretty much the only example of this week’s generally manic appearance in the top 10, as the huge comeback single becomes Dua Lipa’s 12th UK Top 40 hit and her seventh top 10 hit, her first top 10 since “Electricity” with Silk City peaked at #4 in 2018. I’ll be speaking more in depth about that song later.

Otherwise, we don’t have much interest in this first ten songs. “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean (By technicality) is down one spot to number-three.

Unfortunately, this has opened up possibilities for Ed Sheeran and “South of the Border” featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B up a space to number-four.

Also down one space is “Circles” by Post Malone, surprisingly, at number-five, as I saw this as possibly making a run for #1 but that doesn’t seem as likely with the monster that “Dance Monkey” is.

“Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez is down three spaces off of the debut to number-six, as I expected.

Staying steady at number-seven is “Good as Hell” by Lizzo featuring Ariana Grande.

Also still at number-eight is “Memories” by Maroon 5.

Now we have two one-space fallers at the tail-end of the top 10, first of all “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi at number-nine. I don’t even know how this is still here.

Secondly, and finally to round off the top 10, “Outnumbered” by Dermot Kennedy at #10.

Climbers

There aren’t many climbers here at all but the only two notable climbers are in the top 20 and look like foreshadowing of hits to come, so that’s notable in itself, although very unfortunate as despite me being relatively ambivalent on the pretty decent “This is Real” by Jax Jones featuring Ella Henderson moving up 11 spaces to #19, I am immensely displeased about “hot girl bummer” by blackbear peaking higher than the original “Hot Girl Summer” as it reaches the top 20 at #18 after a seven-space boost, as if this hack needed any more attention put on him.

Edit: I forgot about Niall Horan’s “Nice to Meet Ya” up eight spots to #26 this week, which I’m happy about since it’s a great song and I’d love to see it find its way into the top 10.

Fallers

There aren’t actually as many fallers this week, or at least less than I expected, but there’s still a couple notable fallers to talk about here, such as “Follow God” by Kanye West down nine spaces to #15 off of the debut at #6 last week, as well as other losses for most of the debuts from last week (Well, those that are still on the chart), those being “Floss” by AJ Tracey featuring MoStack and Not3s down five to #27, “Orphans” by Coldplay down five to #32 and “Look at Her Now” by Selena Gomez down 13 to #39. Also losing out on five spaces this week at #33 is “Take Me Back to London”, a former #1, by Ed Sheeran and Stormzy, and remixed by Sir Spyro featuring Aitch and Jaykae.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

We actually do have a re-entry this week and it’s “Graveyard” by Halsey back at #40, meaning we have eight drop-outs, most of those being established smash hits finishing up their run, those being “Sorry” by Joel Corry featuring uncredited vocals from Hayley May from #32, “Ladbroke Grove” by AJ Tracey out from #35, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello out from #36, “Taste (Make it Shake)” by Aitch from #37, “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike from #38 and “Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels)” by Ariana Grande featuring Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey from #39, as well as, of course, Kanye West’s two hits from JESUS IS KING that debuted last week, “Selah” featuring uncredited vocals from Sunday Service, Ant Clemons and Bongo ByTheWay out from #19 and “Closed on Sunday” with A$AP Bari out from #20.

ALBUM BOMB: Krept & Konan – Revenge is Sweet

On the 1st of November this year, British trap duo Krept & Konan released their sophomore album Revenge is Sweet and it peaked at #5 on the albums chart. I haven’t listened to it because I personally don’t care much for the two rappers, but they are big enough to land two hits in the top 40, one of which was released as a single prior to the album but both bearing high-profile features, so I’ll have to talk about them.

#28 – “G Love” – Krept & Konan featuring Wizkid

Produced by P2J

First of all, I obviously do not have as much to say about Krept & Konan than I do about Kanye, so this will be a shorter episode in comparison to last week with JESUS IS KING since there’s a lot less to unpack and I have a lot less passionate opinions about the duo (Which, considering how disappointed I was with that album, is probably not a bad thing). This is pre-release single, “G Love”, Krept & Konan’s fourth UK Top 40 hit, and it features Nigerian singer Wizkid, who makes his second ever appearance on the chart. For what it’s worth, I actually very much enjoy Wizkid whenever he appears, usually bubbling under the top 40 with songs featuring Drake and Skepta, as he has a lot of charisma; honestly, I’m surprised this is his only his second appearance on the chart, and his first since “One Dance”, a Drake song featuring him and Kyla hit a record peak of #1 in 2016. It’s a pretty odd collaboration for Krept & Konan, but then again, Wizkid did a song with Skepta as well, so this could be good – and is it? Well, it isn’t a good first impression when the otherwise nice synths are clipping pretty badly but it doesn’t exactly create a bad vibe or atmosphere, and while Konan sounds half-dead on the hook, Wizkid’s high-pitched Auto-Tuned croon is pretty vibrant. Konan is equally dull on the verse, although admittedly both he and Krept have pretty funny opening lines, even if Krept is mostly talking about emojis for half of his verse (Not even kidding, apparently if you cross him, you’ll get emoji knives). I don’t really have an opinion about this song, to be honest, it’s a pretty generic Afroswing beat with some squeaky vocal samples, and Krept and Konan both sound like they did a one-take whilst high and left. There’s a weird empty space between the verses and chorus as well, it genuinely feels a bit janky at times (God, I haven’t used that word in ages). Wizkid doesn’t even have a verse, so this is pretty boring. Let’s hope the next song can redeem the duo...

#23 – “Tell Me” – Krept & Konan featuring D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle

Produced by Dabeatfreakz

Okay, so this is more in Krept & Konan’s wheelhouse and has honestly got me pretty excited because D-Block Europe are the funniest men in UK trap right now, and I don’t think they even realise it. Anyway, this is Krept & Konan’s fifth UK Top 40 hit, D-Block Europe’s sixth, and it’s actually also a pre-release single (Hell, this one’s got a video). If you’re wondering who Ling Hussle is, well, she’s actually an upcoming rapper and singer who hangs around these guys, seemingly, and hasn’t actually been able to crack a million views yet from what I can gather, so this really is kind of her breakout single and obviously her first to hit the UK Top 40. Can these five rappers make a cohesive posse cut? Well, of course not, it’s D-Block Europe, but they try, bless them. First of all, this really isn’t a Krept & Konan song, Konan is definitely there even if he’s drowned in Auto-Tune that makes him unrecognisable, but Krept has a really short verse, and Ling Hussle straight-up doesn’t, instead providing an admittedly pretty sultry hook with Young Adz, who somehow cannot handle the simple melody that Ling Hussle lays down and kills, having a stroke on the pretty bland piano-trap beat as he tends to do. Krept is also pretty pathetic here, with a hilarious falsetto that genuinely made me chuckle – although that was probably unintentional. The end of Krept’s janky verse is hilarious, with the beat just barely there, and it mostly being breathing sounds and one-syllable ad-libs while Krept barely gets words out, and it’s all drowned in Auto-Tune with so much weird empty space. It’s so bizarre, to the point where Young Adz’s obnoxious singing about wanting the woman to open her legs so he can “watch her pee” sounds pretty for-the-course. Genius annotators just gave up on Konan’s verse, and he and Dirtbike LB are easily the least interesting here, although Konan does spend much of his time making some strange, misguided metaphor for guns using Maggie Simpson. He probably has the best verse here, as it’s the only one that doesn’t completely collapse midway through. I can’t help but like this, though, because everything goes wrong at some point and no-one even attempts to fix it, much like all of D-Block Europe, who I’m starting to think are my favourite UK rap artists because they are so unashamedly awful that whilst most of their music is unlistenable, any deeper analysis forms a new genre I like to call Post-Cubist era trap-rap.

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “Opp Thot” – Poundz

Produced by HARGO

“I could never wife your opp-thot. Give me that neck, come bop-bop. I just want to jeet and skeet, don’t use no teeth, girl, give me that slop-top.” How poetic. It’s a viral song from Poundz, and hence his first UK Top 40 hit, and I have such little expectations that this could be Nostalgia Critic’s version of The Wall and I’d praise it to hell and back as if it were by Floyd. Seriously though, this isn’t actually that bad. Lyrical density isn’t there but I didn’t expect it to be, and the mixing on the version that is used for Spotify adverts might actually be better as the hi-hat is too centred with Poundz’s multi-tracked and kind of hurts my ears actually. There are actually some cool lines here, and punchlines that make me understand the viral success, like when he kicks someone “out like Brexit”, the loveable way in how he says he’ll shoot you (“Man get hit with the ostrich bird”), how he makes people run away from him “like Scooby”, and a couple of other funny pop culture references about Tetris, Snapchat and... getting your enemy sprayed like Fireman Sam. Yeah, that line won me over, because the beat is just a menacing piano line with some skittering trap beat behind it and honestly nothing all too special. It isn’t that bad though, there is some talent here.

#35 – “Break Up (Bye Bye)” – Cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK

Produced by Leland and Frederick William Scott

Features uncredited vocals from Jade Thirlwall

...Huh? Okay, so I knew of the new British edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race (Graham Norton’s a legend) but I actually have no idea how the “drag race” works. I know what drag queens are and do (If “drag queens” is the right term), but I don’t know the format of the show at all – although I know the American edition has probably been around for decades at this point. The people on the American show do release promo singles but they don’t ever get close to charting anywhere so I usually don’t have to worry about any of this, but I am a complete outsider to whatever fanbase this has, and that seems to be a sizeable portion of people since this did chart. So, I did some vague research and found out that this was written by MNEK, who you should know from “Never Forget You” and several other hit singles, for the fifth episode of the show, and is credited under the name “Frock Destroyers”. Classy. Listen, this is the cast’s first UK Top 40 hit, and I do not understand the show, I’m just going to make this clear because I won’t understand the song either (In fact, there are two songs and they have the same name but one of them is by “Filth Harmony” so I’m even more confused). Anyway, about the song: the horns sound really cheap and gross, as do the hi-hats and the awfully-mixed instrumentation in general, so much so that I’m actually distracted by the very questionable lyrics, mostly because of the awful bass mastering that isn’t only clipping but it just doesn’t have any impact in the drop. It’s not like the chorus is anthemic as it’s supposed to be either, because it just feels so rushed and random. The female lead vocal is delivered by Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix so it’s not like it isn’t a good performance, but it is so inconsistently mixed in comparison to what I’m assuming are the drag contestants, who are so much louder than everything, especially the second verse. It’s pretty catchy, admittedly, but this really is a bit of a trainwreck production-wise. I guess I’ve officially been frock-destroyed. Whatever that means.

Edit: I listened to the other version and it might actually be worse lol

#31 – “Kiss and Tell” – AJ Tracey and Skepta

Produced by Skepta

More UK trap? Okay, well, it was actually a pretty big week for the genre as AJ Tracey and Skepta are also here with their eighth and 15th UK Top 40 hit respectively, “Kiss and Tell”. AJ Tracey had a song debut last week which was okay and I’m generally indifferent towards the guy although his debut album was pretty lacklustre, and I’ve always been a Skepta fan, so in a way I’m excited to hear but I am worried that it could be pretty dull as well, considering AJ Tracey’s got top billing... but it is Skepta-produced and I haven’t heard many bad beats from the man, and this one is definitely very cute, with the twinkling synth melody and otherwise typical trap beat and 808s, as well as a haunting vocal loop. Honestly, everyone kills it here. Sure, “kiss and tell” doesn’t rhyme with “Astroworld”, but AJ Tracey’s flow in the first verse is insane, with some really great lines, especially the hilarious closing line about... something falling off a chair, let’s just say that. Seriously, this is probably AJ Tracey’s best ever verse, it’s rapid and slick, and works especially with his voice. Skepta also delivers a slightly slower verse here, but his flow is janky at times, and takes awkward pauses despite moments where he really kills it – in fact this verse parallels most of his discography. Skepta can be awkward and inconsistent but when he really kills it, I’m amazed, and he does impress me with his flow here sometimes, but AJ really shines on this song. I didn’t have much to say about that one, but it’s actually pretty great. I hope this isn’t a fluke, because if this is how AJ is coming in on his second album, it could be one of my favourite hip-hop albums of next year. We’ll see, but for now this is great.

#30 – “Thumb” – M Huncho and Nafe Smallz

Produced by Quincy

While these names may seem alien to you, they’ve actually charted before. Nafe Smallz and M Huncho both appeared with Gunna on the Plug’s “Broken Homes”, a song I wish I enjoyed more than I did, and Nafe also appeared on a pretty awful Skepta single called “Greaze Mode” (Probably a candidate for, if not, his worst song), so this is their second and third UK Top 40 hit respectively. The BBC refused to give it any cover art on their page, so I guess that could mean anything... but it most likely means that this is garbage, because this really is some awful, unforgivable dreck. First of all, let’s talk about the lyrics and structure for a bit. There are two renditions of the chorus, they’re both exactly the same, over-long two-part hooks delivered by M Huncho. There is one verse in the middle and it is entirely a trade-off between the two rappers, with Nafe Smallz being considerably more sexist and disgusting in his verse where he delivers a frankly terrible Young Thug impression. I understand that rap music has a lot of misogyny and disrespect towards women, hell, I have to acknowledge that as someone who just praised a song called “Opp Thot”, but at least have some attempt in hiding your lack of respect or sympathy for women, or being somewhat respectful in how you say everything, or at least funny in how over-the-top you’re being, perhaps. What Nafe Smallz says about the “slut” and “thot” that he doesn’t actually make effort to have sex with and just watches whilst smoking is frankly really revolting and upsetting, especially because it got into the UK Top 40 which really should say something about us as a music-listening public, that we let this get so high. Nafe Smallz’s meek, high-pitched, nasal voice is aggravating, so much so that M Huncho’s unintelligible murmuring in the intro might actually sound better. The beat has some infuriating bass mastering as most cheap UK rap does, and overall it sounds pretty type beat. M Huncho doesn’t necessarily sound bad here, but his Auto-Tuned flow does very little to change and makes the three-minute runtime feel exhausting. Admittedly, some of Nafe Smallz’s inflections sound pretty, and M Huncho’s stammering is lazy, evening the awfulness out between the two rappers out pretty well. Also, was there really any need for the whole theme of the song being about putting thumbs in... female posteriors? The outro is literally just “put my thumb up in her butt” repeated on loop. Yeah, no, I don’t like this. Next.

#2 – “Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa

Produced by Ian Kirkpatrick – Peaked at #30 in the US

This is the massive debut this week from pop singer Dua Lipa, one of my favourites voices in pop music right now actually, and someone who has grown on me immensely in the past year, although some of the songwriting still isn’t as strong as it should be and she still has a tendency to slip into the background of her own production. I’m hoping for that to change with her sophomore album, and this is (Probably – “Swan Song” still exists) the lead single off of that record. The cover art is going for a vaguely late-90s early 2000s look, and I’ve heard this is a more straight-forward dance-pop tune, so I’m hyped to listen to this... and yeah, as I expected, this is pretty great. Initially, I wasn’t actually impressed with the flavourless piano intro, but as soon as it kicked into full gear I knew the hype around this was worth it, because that bassline is INCREDIBLE. As someone who has recently found a lot of love for house music, this bassline is one of the best I’ve heard from the genre, and this is very much house, almost like French house to some extent, but also very nu-disco, meaning the cover art is very fitting for the era that both it and the song are attempting to replicate. Dua Lipa sounds great as she always does, going into her higher register with rhythmic, multi-tracked, almost-rapping cadences in the verse, but taking a sudden shift to a sweet diva vocal in the pre-chorus, which is beautiful, as the pianos sound good on their own, but the squealing synth comes in at the perfect time along with the hi-hats, the song is just so intricately structured... then we get the drop, which is just great, as well go back to the minimalist house beat where Dua Lipa aggressively tells off this ex who has just started putting any effort into the relationship after it ended, with sassy inflections and... random sound effects, which I’m not complaining about. The slick, disco guitar and groove in the second verse accentuates Dua’s lyrics detailing how he tried to break up with her, almost implying a manipulative or toxic relationship. The second drop is somehow more impressive than the first, with a stuttering “Don’t” hinting at the drop prior and some sampled cheering that, much like the cowbell, is a random sound effect, but adds more punch to the chorus. Once the post-chorus hit, I had to take a break from writing and genuinely calm down, I was really overwhelmed with everything happening, yet it doesn’t feel cluttered because everything comes in at the right time, sometimes when you don’t even expect it to, and the mixing is great, far from over-produced even as while it’s pure pop with a lot of manufacturing, it feels a lot more organic especially with the post-chorus, which is just gorgeous. I don’t want to even spoil it for you or myself anymore, so I think I’ll actually leave it at that. My commentary will just cheapen how brilliant this song’s climax, is, really. This is an amazing record and one of, if not my favourite song from Dua Lipa. I hope this has as much success in the US because if this doesn’t get on one of my year-end best lists for 2019 or 2020, I will be severely disappointed.

Conclusion

Well, it should be obvious, right? The Best and Worst of the Week go out pretty easily, Dua Lipa getting the Best of the Week for “Don’t Start Now”, and M Huncho and Nafe Smallz getting Worst of the Week for “Thumb” which is just gross. Honourable Mention is obviously going to AJ Tracey and Skepta for “Kiss and Tell” although Dishonourable Mention is a bit harder. I think I can’t go with the Drag Race because that would be unfair – it’s a bad song, sure, but if I understood the show more, maybe I’d see the appeal. I don’t want to step on too many toes, either. “G Love” is unremarkable, as is “Opp Thot”, so I’ll probably go with “Tell Me” by Krept & Konan featuring D-Block Europe and Ling Hussle. I hope you enjoyed reading, I’m off to listen to Pinkerton again probably, and I’ll see you next week, hopefully it’s not as busy.

[kay-law]

Ever since announcing on here I had decided on a law school that has given me a near-full ride, my inbox has swelled with questions, primarily those asking How did you do it? Being 20, and not a pre-law major/minor, I didn't really have anyone to guide me through the application process and it was a little overwhelming studying for the LSAT at 19, paying for the application process, and so on. So, I decided to put together this (very long) post of how I did it, and how you can too!

Click below for the full post!

I. Taking the LSAT

If you’re planning on going to law school, taking the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is a necessary evil. The LSAT is administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), a few times a year.

So what exactly is the LSAT? And how is it scored? In short, the LSAT is a five (really six, including the test section) section exam, 35 minutes a section. All together the exam sits for about 5 hours. There is included in those, a test section which is unscored, a writing section that is unscored (though it is sent to the schools you apply to), the infamous logic games section, a reading comprehension section, and two logical reasoning sections. The LSAT is out of a high of 180 points, and a low of 120. The average score is in the 150 range. Here in the USA, Ivy League schools typically only take high 170′s-perfect 180s. And for most schools, this component of your application is more important than your undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA).

Important things to note:

You can take the LSAT an unlimited number of times, but it costs over $100 to sit the exam each time, so it can become a little pricey

Speaking of, WAIVERS EXIST! you can apply for a waiver on the LSAC website when registering for the LSAT. if approved, they will waive some of the fees associated with sitting the exam

If you live in and plan to practice in the US, there are several countries that also use/accept the LSAT, so don't feel limited in your options!

Studying for the LSAT is typically a three month process (or 100 days), and many people opt to hire a tutor. be real with yourself... if you don't have the best self-discipline, then self-study probably isn't practical.

What I used to study for the LSAT: I did self-study for the LSAT, and received a score in the range I was hoping for, so it is definitely possible! Here are some of the books/online resources I used.

Barron’s 

Kaplan 

Manhattan Prep 

Powerscore (The Bible) 

As for how I studied... I began a little later than I had hoped, giving myself only 10 weeks to prepare for the LSAT. I had decided kind of last minute that I was going to push to graduate early and that is what sparked this. Day one I took an exam start to finish in one sitting, and scored it, but did not go over the correct answers (this would do me no good, as I did not know the “right” ways to answer the questions yet). For the first 3 weeks I read a prep book cover-to-cover on each of the sections, logical analysis (logic games), logical reasoning, and reading comprehension. For this I chose the Kaplan series. They were easy to read, kind of lighthearted (there were some puns), and the authors of each book knew each other and referred to each other’s books. For weeks 4, 5, and 6, I took a practice test every Sunday and Wednesday, and spent the subsequent days of the week scoring, and going over every answer. For those questions (types of questions) I still struggled with, I read a section explaining how to answer them in another prep book, either Manhattan Prep, or Barron’s. Manhattan Prep felt very posh and professional, but Barron’s, like Kaplan, were a little more casual to read. I spent a minimum of 3 hours a day studying, and as many as 7-8. For weeks 7 and 8, I took a practice test every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (I chose days that worked with my class/work schedule). In the off days, I would review, score, and go over every answer. For this part of the routine, I was studying 5-9+ hours a day. Week 9 I took a prep test a day, and parts of other exams if I scored lower than my average on the others. I.E. if I had scored higher on logic games all week and then all of sudden did poorly on Wednesday, Thursday I would take a full LSAT prep exam, AND 1 or 2 logic game sections of other exams. On week 10 (my exam was that Saturday) I took a prep test every day, Sunday-Wednesday. Thursday I took a break, ate junk food, slept in, etc. Friday I read over some material in the morning, and by lunch time, was lounging in bed, hanging out. I was asleep by 10:30 pm. Saturday I ate a full breakfast and then went to the exam. In all honesty, the adrenaline took over pretty early in the exam and the 5 hours whizzed by. (& I do design study schedules for a small fee)

II. Writing your personal statement

Probably the most challenging part of my application was writing my personal statement. It’s kind of hard to write about yourself without bragging, but that is not what your personal statement is for – save the bragging for your resume!

Some law schools do have questions they hope applicants will answer in their personal statement and I found this to be a HUGE help while writing my statement. The ones I found were typically inside the application on LSAC, where you would submit the PS.

Most schools are just looking to see who you are. It’s hard to see if a person will be a good fit for a school based on test scores alone, and the PS is often a tie breaker when comparing two or more applicants. At several of the law schools I applied to, the admissions committees looked to the PS to determine scholarship awards.

Here are some posts on writing your personal statement:

write a bomb ass personal statement

a how-to

phrases to avoid

some tips

another how-to

the do’s and don’t’s

tips and tricks

more do’s and don’t’s

another guide

a law school’s advice

Here are some law school personal statements that worked:

University of Chicago Law School “In Their Own Words”

US News “PS that succeeded”

some sample essays

more samples

a Harvard example

III. Choosing where to apply (not in any particular order)

When I was applying I consulted a checklist of factors I found important to me. This is just a list of the things I looked for, but your list could be identical, partial, or completely different!

Clinics/Externships

the American Bar Association (ABA) recently required law schools to have some form of clinic. Clinics are pretty much onsite functioning firms. Students work on real cases with a professional, in a variety of areas of law. This is just pro-bono (free) work the college provides to the community and allows students to get some hands on training.

I looked for clinics in areas of law I might be interested in entering, so that I could get that first-hand experience and see if it was right for me.

I also looked for whether or not schools guaranteed their students clinic access, and if not, how many students (or what %) take part in clinical programs.

Concentrations

concentrations are not a requirement, but it might be something to look into if you know what kind of legal career you’d like to enter

this allows students to specialize their second and/or third year of law school in a specific kind of research/study or practice.

Bar passage rate (and compared to state/country)

ABA requires law schools to release the numbers so you can look at them.

When looking at schools I compared the state average bar passage rate to the schools to see if they were similar

Percentage employed post-grad (*in the legal field)

Another ABA requirement... schools may report that 80% of the graduating class was hired within 6 months, but only 15% of that may have been in a legal field. That’s a red flag, and something to look out for.

Location

this was not very important to me, but it may be for some people. I ended up choosing a law school across the country (a near-20 hour drive) from home.

Cost

Law school is expensive! Price is definitely worth considering. For example, I did not even consider schools with an annual tuition higher than $55,000. Most law schools will fall into the $40-50k+ range.

Size

This one was important to me. I went to a small undergraduate college, and really prefer a more intimate learning community. Law schools typically are not very large, but you may want to look at the class profile and see how many the school admits a year/how many students there are overall.

Median GPA and LSAT scores

You have to be realistic. One of the first things I did was look at all of the law school in the nation within a 5-7 point range of my LSAT score, and cross off all of the schools below or above that range. This is not to say not to apply to your dream school out of your range, but maybe broaden your search to other schools within your median range.

GPA I’d argue is not as important as LSAT score, but really it differs school to school. I did the same; I crossed off any schools too far above or below my GPA.

Gender and ethnicity ratios

This was important to me as a mixed (half-black, half-white) woman. More women than ever are attending law school, but the number of women employed in the legal field has not shifted much. I wanted a law school that had a fairly mixed ration. I did notice a lot of schools had a 40:60 ratio female:male, and that was acceptable enough for me. Anything smaller was concerning. I also looked for ethnic diversity as it is something important to me, especially in a less diverse, upperclass field such as this one. I wanted a decent ratio, and I found that at many many schools.

Scholarships (and scholarship retention)

I looked at the % of the study body receiving scholarships, what the average award was, terms of the scholarships, and the student retention of the award. It is not enough to say “84% of students receive scholarships and aid from the school”, I wanted to know how many lose or have reduced scholarships, and why. Law school is fairly balanced in the classroom, and scholarships are more competitive than ever. Contingencies like a 3.7 GPA may be unrealistic for many recipients whether they know it or not. THIS post talks about contingencies in greater depth

Clubs and activities

This was not _as_ important to me as some of the other factors, but you can always tell a community by the student involvement. I ended up deciding on a school with fewer than 300 students overall, but over 45 student organizations. Moot Court, Mock Trial, Law Review, misc. law journals, etc. are some organizations you might want to get involved in and their availability may vary by campus.

I also looked for clubs unique to a particular school/community, and the success of various clubs I want to take part in.

IV. Miscellaneous Tips

How to ask for a Letter of Recommendation

how-to

another how-to

some tips

asking in an email?

How to write a Resume

purdue owl

how-to write cover letters and resumes

talents to include

how to write one

a guide

How to ace an Interview

Columbia’s interview FAQ

interview tips

Harvard’s how-to

US News 3 simple tips

Other guides to applying

LSAC applying to law school

LSAC application process

different timelines

US News things you might want to know

a comprehensive guide

Princeton Review’s timeline to success

* This post is definitely a rough draft, but I’ve been working on it/leaving it in my drafts box for months now, and just needed it published!! I may go back and expand/edit later!

[tradewithjorgie-blog]

3. I’m not sleeping, I’m resting my eyes...

We often think of success as a linear journey. All I have to do is slough through enough shit and eventually I’ll make it. Not a bad way of looking at things. Very macho man, tough guy, don’t stop no matter what attitude. Maybe not the best. Here’s why

1. Not stopping at all is exhausting. Can you give me an example of a perpetual motion machine of any kind? That’s just not nature’s way.

2. What happens when you inevitably do stop/run out of gas/get distracted?

and my personal favorite

3. What if what you need to move forward on this particular journey, is found on the path to something else? Do you ignore that key item/emotional development/character development and hope that your persistence will be enough to power through? How will that affect your journey if you are able to push through this obstacle poorly prepared?

They’re not easy questions because life isn’t linear. At least I don’t think it is. Sure you get older every day, and when people ask you how you are, you say “livin’ the dream”. Seems pretty straight forward right?

Maybe, but probably not. The reason people quit the shining glorious dream of complete financial freedom through Forex is usually for one of two reasons.

1. Forex just isn’t for everyone.

And that’s okay, but that’s where it ends for some people. And that’s okay. 

2. They lose buckets of money, trying to sprint to the finish line, desperate to achieve the dream they were sold (or that they sold themselves). They chuck entire trading accounts upwards of $2,000.00 USD at the wall hoping that at least this time when they fail, they will learn some secret that will kick the doors open for them.

But that’s not how Forex works. And once they can’t afford to lose anymore money... They give up. Broke and pissed off, they regret the day that sparkle came to their eye. 

Whether fast or slow, it happens to everyone. We’ve all sat there hopeless and lost, stuck in the paradox of not knowing what you don’t know, so you don’t know what to do, to start knowing that which you don’t know. Tricky innit?

Yea. It’s frustrating.

So you get busy with life and generally forget. But as my acting teacher used to say, “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. Some people come back to it later with a little more life experience, and find that they’re able to see things a little differently. In fact I’ve found that a little perspective can go a long way. 

I didn’t get Forex. It just didn’t make sense. But the truth is, when I started, I wasn’t who I needed to be, in order to be successful at trading in the Foreign Exchange markets. I still might not be. But I’m closer to him. And I’ve come to realize slowly that as I live and grow, my perspective, discipline, and intuition change. Slowly, but they do. Hopefully more like Kudzu and not like a succulent, but still.

I’m not who I need to be. But I’m closer than I was. And to be honest, it’s been really fun. It’s been hard. Late nights, and long months doing nothing Forex related which leaves my feeling guilty. Guilty at not practicing my craft. But even when I’m not doing Forex, I’m still thinking Forex. After all, Forex is the way human psychology affects the exchange of money across international borders. And human psychology is present in every decision we make.

Like I said in my previous post, you can’t predict price because price is the result of 7+ billion people making an innumerable number of decisions every single day. But... we can relate to the way people make those decisions. And invariably, how people think.

The point is, stopping to rest is okay. Stopping to smell the roses is okay. Slowing down, is totally ok. Quitting is even ok. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you and you should find something that's fulfilling. But don’t quit because it gets hard. That’s not okay. Rest. Recover your strength so you can walk the journey and enjoy it at the same time. I don’t mind driving. I hate driving tired. There’s a big difference in what I take away from it. 

People quit Forex for many reasons. But because it’s hard should never be one of them. You don’t have to blow your life’s savings. But don’t think it’s going to be easy either. Rest and take time away from the charts so that you don’t burn out. 

That being said, I’d like to touch on the last trade we were looking at in AUDJPY.

This where price action was when I decided to close the trade. I closed it while it was in profit but it didn’t hit my target. As you can see in the speech bubble, my target price was now on the outside of the triangle walls. If I’m basing my trade on the expectation that price will bounce between the two lines, I should best hope that my exit is inside those lines. That being said, I took my money and walked away. Not easy to do considering it could go my way after I've left and then most people would have to live with the, “aww man I should have stayed in!”. But I’m cool with it. I don’t have to put it all on red. I’m cashing my chips, and I’m gonna go enjoy a drink while I rest at the bar. 

I might get back into this pair, but I’ll do so with a different strategy, the breakout strategy potentially. That is, only if everything lines up right.

Now as we get into the weekend, I can’t put in any trades. On a global scale, all Forex markets close Friday at 5pm and open Sunday at 5pm Eastern Standard Time. Any trades placed during this time will be entered into the market at whatever price the market opens up at Sunday night. Very rarely the same price that it closed at. All that being said, my next few posts will probably not have any entries but will instead have an in-depth analysis of different charts on various time frames. This is a good way to practice.

The thing with each pair is that it moves differently. And every pair moves differently from the way it moved 1-6 months ago. Here from May 2017 to May 2018, we can see that this pair (the Euro vs. the $) had a definite direction most of the time with strong pushes. Price rose through the months and even though it fell here and there, it mostly moved upward.

Here we see that from May 2018 to May 2019, price fell but it did so much more slowly. It consolidated most of the time (no definitive direction or trend, up or down). Price behaves differently at different periods in time. That is why Forex traders have to have a bag full of tools for different occasions. Our most powerful tool regardless of anything is called confluence. That is important to note. 

Here’s a comparison of the “trend” or average direction. From February 2019 to the beginning of June 2019 price fell. Up down, up down, but overall it fell. From June to now however, we start to it coming back up. Will this be a change in overall direction (a trend reversal) or could we see it start to play inside of channels in extreme cases of consolidation? Let’s break it down and see what happens.

The highest point looks like Batman ears. We call these price history formations Double Tops. It means that price rose up to it, then people started selling, it got to a point where people thought it was relatively cheap and started buying again, driving prices up once more. It essentially hit the same price twice, testing it out, but when it failed to break through this price level again, the bulls got exhausted and the bears rode it down. When this happens it usually means price is going to fall hard. And it sure did. A little news release happened today and it caused price to fall just a tad from the strong push it’s had in recovery of that double top, but it rose back up quickly and so only a big wick remained. The MA’s did cross which is important, but I will get to them next time. 

Here we are at the moment. Hungry for success standing outside of a closed shop in the rain looking through the window. We can’t trade but we can analyze and hopefully get ourselves in a good position for when the market opening back up on Sunday collides with what we know in a beautiful fire works display of confluence. It pushed past where the Batman ears had formed (that’s the yellow line). Between where it is now and the yellow line is little under a 35 pip channel. This could be just the space it needs to rest for a bit before continuing to sky rocket upwards. Perhaps it gets pushed back down. I don’t presume to know these things, but I do have plans for what it might do and more importantly I am ready to react at a moments notice. That is the life of a successful Forex trader. Free and ready. And I’m closer to that every day.

[canaryatlaw]

Well today was overall pretty good. Alarm went off at 9 and I felt more tired than normal, but pushed through and got to church, which I was excited to get back to after being away 3 weeks. You know you have an awesome church when you genuinely miss it while you're away. The service was pretty good, kind of a prep for Easter thing (which were having 7 services for that weekend....7!!) and we were just breaking down John 3:16 word for word (which, if you know any bible verse, you probably know that one) and it was actually a really interesting analysis, I liked it a lot. Towards the end of the service I was definitely struggling a bit to keep my eyes open haha, guess I was a little more tired then expected. And then of course we prayed at the end and I'm like closing my eyes hoping I don't fall asleep on the spot, lol. Thankfully I didn't, then I headed up to the babies room for the next service, which I was confident would keep me fully awake for the length of it. Apparently we set a new record for kids attendance in our 9:30 service today, with a total of 107 kids attention our kids programs, which is all kind of awesome (and probably a bit chaotic, but we manage). So we transfer over, and one of the girls from the last services offers to stick around until the other girl signed up shows up since she can be kind of flaky some times, so we hang out and it's slow at first but then a flurry of babies all show up at once and we ended up with 7 of them. The other girl did end up showing up, but the one from the previous service offered to stick around anyway, since 7 versus 3 is definitely better than 7 versus 2. So that was nice to have the extra help. I have to say, it was definitely one of the more chaotic days. There was a lot of on and off crying, but most of it was easily soothed, so that was good. My little tiny girl was there, probably officially for the last time since they said her birthday (meaning her moving to the 2 year olds room) is in a few days, but they may be switching things up with that anyway soon so that's good. She was definitely in a bit of a pouty mood today, so we mostly just let her do her thing haha and she ended up being fine, chilling in the ball pit or messing with the little fabric tunnel thing, not causing too much trouble. The major hazard of the day was the little girl of one of the ladies who volunteers there who was down in the service. I've mentioned her before, she is just the cutest little thing, and she was perfectly fine for the first half of the service, and then like someone flipped a switch she started crying and was just inconsolable, and we did definitely try just about everything we could think of. She would calm down a bit sometimes, but then pretty much always start right back up again. So we did end up texting her mom, but I don't think she saw it so she ended up with us until basically the end of the service, but it wasn't a big deal really. The rest of the babies were pretty great haha, no complaints there. So that was a good Sunday. Hopped on the train, then ended up having to wait way too long for the bus to show, because it kept extending the time it would take to show up. I did run into the donut shop and get myself a tea because I mean the only calories in it is from the sugar I add and it's at least a hot beverage (it wasn't freezing out today, the morning was nice at least but the afternoon was getting a bit chilly. When the bus did finally show up, instead of its normal banner on the front showing what route it was it just said "GO BLACKHAWKS" but I knew our bus was pretty much the only one that operates down that street so I was fairly confident it was the right one, and thankfully it was. Got home and decided to try out my rapid egg cooker I just got from Amazon (I forget if I told you guys about this or not, but I came across it on amazon the other day and decided I needed it in my life haha) which actually worked quite well and the eggs were like, perfectly at that medium boiled stage and this is gonna be so helpful for packing lunches and such so I can make a bunch and pack them throughout the week. after that I jumped into my work, and realized I had to come up with a closing statement for trial ad this week. Ugh, so over that class, but whatever. It wasn't too difficult to come up with, but that I've written a number of them at this point (and writing in general just comes fairly easy to me, even if I still get anxiety about it every time I go to write something). Then there was some crap about bringing in jury instructions so I had to find those and print them out. I switched to crim pro then, where my intent was to finish the reading I didn't do last week because we barely got through half of it last class so I know we wouldn't go any farther than that this week. I made it through the first amount pretty well, but when I had around 20 pages left I was rapidly losing my patience and my eyes were getting progressively harder to keep open. Being that I had read the briefs for the cases, I skipped them and just read the notes at the end since our prof likes to harp on them more than the cases really. I tell ya, I barely made it through the last of the notes before I ended up sprawled out on my bed in the wrong direction with my head on my body pillow and just passed out in the middle of all my books and everything. I could tell it was gonna happen based on how I was feeling, because even when I'm very tired generally and go to take a nap it takes me a while to actually fall asleep, but this was different and I fell aslee pretty damn quickly. I wasn't sure exactly what time it is when I passed out, but I think it was around 5:30 and I woke back up at 7:30, so a solid 2 hour nap lol. I was most done with my work at this point so I went back to my tv and finished up the recorded episodes I had of Chicago Justice, including catching up on tonight's episode. I have to say, for the most part I did enjoy the episodes. There were still plenty of moments that made me cringe, but overall they were pretty well done. Tonight's one in particular was very well done, it was an obviously sad plot about a pregnant woman who was murdered and her baby taken, but then it goes into this whole other thing with the woman who did it and her serial killer father and they start talking about if genetics can make you predisposed to kill someone, which I thought was an interesting argument but probably one that holds pretty much no water at all. I won't spoil the ending, but it was pretty satisfying. I hope they do actually have them lose a case at some point, lol. Cuz if they win every single week that's gonna get a bit repetitive. And yeah, that was pretty much my day. It's 1 am now and despite my early nap I still am fairly tired and would like to go to sleep now, so that's what I'm going to do. Goodnight dolls. Have a good sleep.

[winterolympicssports2018-blog]

Duke and North Carolina set for critical Round 3 on Friday night - Men's College Basketball Blog

Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/duke-and-north-carolina-set-for-critical-round-3-on-friday-night-mens-college-basketball-blog/

Duke and North Carolina set for critical Round 3 on Friday night - Men's College Basketball Blog

NEW YORK — Duke and North Carolina.

The best rivalry in the sport, separated by less than 10 miles — but it’s a game nearly 500 miles away in Brooklyn that could give one of them a chance at a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.

Duke ended Notre Dame’s ACC tournament run Thursday 88-70, and North Carolina overcame an early 14-0 deficit to beat Miami 82-65.

• NCAA tournament bracket | PDF | GIF • Latest Bracketology updates • Latest Bubble Watch updates • Champ Week: Brackets, bids and more • Sign up for Tournament Challenge • NCAA tournament schedule • College Basketball Scoreboard • College Basketball PickCenter • College Basketball Nation blog <!– • Tournament bracket | PDF | GIF • FiveThirtyEight: Win probabilities • College Basketball PickCenter • College basketball scoreboard • Live NCAA tournament analysis • Insider Tournament Tools • Best of NCAA tournament Day 2 • ESPN’s expert Final Four picks • NCAA tourney bracket cheat sheet • Bold NCAA tournament predictions • Region-by-region breakdowns • Bracketology with Joe Lunardi • Bubble Watch • Live Champ Week updates • Champ Week: Auto bids & brackets • Ultimate March survival guide –>

The wins set up Round 3 between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels on Friday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the ACC semifinals, after the two teams split the regular-season series, with each team winning on its home court. This one means a little bit more, though. Neither team is in line for a 1-seed, with Kansas holding the final spot on the top line in most projected brackets. But if Duke or North Carolina can win the ACC tournament — combined with a Kansas loss in the Big 12 tournament — that victor could find itself atop a region in three days.

“It’s a big-time game,” North Carolina senior Theo Pinson said. “Everyone and their mama gonna be watching the game [Friday]. I’m going to be ready. My teammates are going to be ready.”

The two teams met less than a week ago, with Duke erasing a 10-point halftime deficit to win by 10. North Carolina won the first game exactly a month ago — the final game in which Duke played man-to-man before switching to a full-time zone defense.

The Blue Devils have fully bought into playing the zone, with Thursday’s win over Notre Dame the eighth straight time Duke’s opponent has scored less than one point per possession.

“One trend that I’m seeing that is a good thing for our team is our defense at the end of the year is the best that it’s been all season, and that’s the same thing that happened in 2015,” Duke senior Grayson Allen said. “At the end of that year, by the time the tournament came around, we were playing — we were one of the best defenses in the country.”

play

0:40

Marvin Bagley III records 33 points and 17 rebounds as Duke beats Notre Dame 88-70 in the ACC quarterfinals.

Allen hit his first five 3-pointers Thursday against Notre Dame, finishing with 23 points. It was his fifth 20-plus-point effort in his past eight games — after hitting that mark just five times in the first 24 games of the season. Just as important, Marvin Bagley III finished with 33 points and 17 rebounds, a good sign considering a common refrain over the past month was that Allen and Bagley never seemed to have big games on the same night.

With Allen and Bagley clicking at the same time, though, and the zone defense locked in, Duke is starting to hit its peak at the right time.

“We’re definitely on a roll right now,” Bagley said. “Everything is — we don’t have it all figured out yet. We’re still learning, one thing at a time. But I definitely think that we’re getting better and we’re continuing to grow as a team, and it’s not a better time to grow as it is in March when we’re getting into tournaments and stuff like that. It’s a perfect time for us to continue to come together and play at our best.”

North Carolina hasn’t done anything as drastic as switch from a man-to-man defense to a zone, but the Tar Heels aren’t the same team they were when they beat Duke earlier this season, either. The biggest change has come from Pinson, who has had six double-doubles in his past 15 games — after doing it just once in his career before this recent stretch. Pinson has scored in double figures in eight straight games, going for a career-high 25 points Thursday against Miami.

play

1:13

Theo Pinson scores a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels beat the Hurricanes 82-65.

Pinson is taking on more of a playmaker role, going off the dribble and finding teammates. He was credited with only three assists on Thursday, but it felt like more.

“I have the ball in my hands a lot, so I have the choice of shooting the ball or passing to my teammates,” Pinson said. “If they’re not going to play me, I’ve got to be aggressive. That gets my teammates going. If I’m scoring, I’m a threat, so that means they have to guard me, too, and that just gets those guys even more open shots.”

Earlier in the season, North Carolina’s success came and went with the performance of Joel Berry and Luke Maye. If both those guys weren’t scoring, the Tar Heels found it tough to beat good teams. But on Thursday, Berry and Maye combined to shoot 5-for-29 from the field and finished with 13 points. Pinson stepped up, as did Kenny Williams and Cameron Johnson. Roy Williams’ decision midseason to switch to a smaller lineup that puts his five best scorers on the court at the same time has made the Tar Heels far more dangerous offensively.

“We’ve always felt like we’re not just one guy, not just two guys. … ” Roy Williams said. “Those two guys have gotten most of the accolades, but it is a team out there, and I’m happy about that.”

Create up to 25 brackets and compete against ESPN talent, pro athletes and celebrities for all the bracket glory! Play now

While Duke and North Carolina are still developing as teams, and are beginning to hit their stride heading into the NCAA tournament, one thing that hasn’t changed is the Duke-Carolina rivalry. And it has a little more importance Friday.

Duke is next in line after Kansas for a 1-seed, as the Blue Devils have a top-five RPI and wins over North Carolina, Michigan State and a host of others. They’re also in the top three in the BPI and at KenPom, and No. 1 in Sagarin. North Carolina is a bit more of a long shot, but if the Tar Heels win the ACC tournament, they will have 14 Quadrant 1 wins — only one other team has double-digit wins in that category.

Roy Williams tried to limit the pressure after Thursday’s games.

“Last year, we lost the game that’s going to be played tomorrow,” he said, referring to Carolina losing to Duke in last year’s ACC tournament. “And I think we kept playing. My memory is not as good as it used to be, but I think we kept playing.”

Williams can try to make it appear like any other game, but the reality is it’s still Duke vs. North Carolina — but this time, it’s in Brooklyn.

And this time, it could be for a lot more than just regular-season bragging rights.

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[scriptlibrarian]

What would be a good "worst nightmare" kind of situation for a librarian / archivist character?

Oh Anon!! You may have fueled a few nightmares with this question!!  There are variety of ‘worst nightmare’ situations - it just depends on the storyline and situation.

Top Five Worst Nightmare Situations 

5)  Material Lost

This may sound harmless, stuff gets lost all the time.   

I’m not talking about a Patron not returning a book, many libraries have systems in place to deal with lost books - notices will go out to the Patron, a new book will be purchased to replace it, or they’ll borrow a book from another library via Interlibrary Loan.  Librarian can give you more information about this particular situation.

No, I’m talking about a Vendor who they trust, loses material.

It’s a myth that an Archive has their entire collection in their facility.   Material that is bulky, large, needs special attention, or is rarely accessed will be stored in an Offsite Facility.  The Archivist will work with a Vendor, to have the materials moved to deep storage, making sure all assets are properly documents, barcoded, and recorded.  So when they have to pull the material for a request, they can easily contact the company, give them the proper information, arrange for shipment, and the item is delivered.

Now let me give you a personal example of what can go wrong.

Recently I requested material from deep storage.  Gave them the information they needed to pull boxes from storage.  I get a message that the assets weren’t found.  After a few days of back and forth - it seemed fixed.  The box that arrived was the wrong box.  After a few more days of back and forth - it’s discovered that the box sent … was the only one on the pallet.  This pallet should have multiple boxes on it … boxes are now missing.

This is a very bad scenario.  The Archivist now has to work with the Vendor to find the boxes, while at the same time letting the Patron who had requested the material know that there is a delay without stating - the material is missing.

Though it’s not a  worst case scenario, as 95% of the time the material will be found, and likely was labeled under the wrong barcode or category.

4) Document/Collection is a Forgery

This is more of an embarrassment for an Archivist/Librarian, than a worst case scenario. Though it can completely ruin their career.

This is also more seen in Museums and Art Collections than in Libraries and Archives.  Though there are have been some famous Forgeries.

One of the most famous ‘Archival’ ones was the  Hitler Diaries.  The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks ($3.7 million) by the West German news magazine Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations. One of the publications involved was The Sunday Times, who asked their independent director, the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, to authenticate the diaries; he did so, pronouncing them genuine. At the press conference to announce the forthcoming publication, Trevor-Roper announced that on reflection he had changed his mind, and other historians also raised questions concerning their validity. Rigorous forensic analysis, which had not been performed previously, quickly confirmed that the diaries were fakes.

3) Document/Books are stolen or damaged

A Patron steals or damages a document, Rare Book, artwork, or an entire collection.  This is a nightmare for an Archivist or Librarian, but not the worst thing that can happen.  There are systems in place to handle these scenarios.  Though famous thefts and vandalism are newsworthy, these type of events do not happen all the time.  

Theft:

Once the realization sets in that an item is missing - the first thing an Archivist will do is make sure it’s not been misplaced or filed under the wrong barcode or category.  Once it’s realized it is truly missing, then they figured out who had it last.  They reach out to the Patron - you would be surprised at how many don’t realize they take a document as small items can get stuck in notebooks.  

This is why Patrons aren’t allowed to bring backpacks into the Reading Room.  They are limited to a notebook, pencils, and/or a laptop.   This is also why staff will search notebooks when Patrons leave.

But theft can still happen.

Interesting article on the return of stolen documents to the National Archive

And there’s the history of the Mona Lisa, that’s been stolen, vandalized and restored

Destruction:

While Patrons can’t bring in backpacks, they also can’t bring in food or water.  As have stated in previous asks, water can be extremely damaging.   (Personal Note: I won’t mention the times I’ve found coffee stains or unidentified substance on materials - I’m sure Librarian can mention a finding a few things in books, after they’ve been returned.)  

Documents and books will always have some form of wear and tear.  This is why they are handled carefully, with gloves, and the more fragile they become the less likely they’ll be pulled for research.

But no matter how careful you are damage can happen.  Sometimes innocently, but there are times it’s willfully.  

The good news is that many of these items can be repaired.  A good Preservationist can restore documents, books, and even artwork to the point you wouldn’t even notice the damage.  

The Night Watch by Rembrandt was vandalized three times over the years.

Michelangelo’s Pieta was also vandalized and restored, returning back to the Vatican behind bullet Proof Glass.

But there are times the damage is too extensive, and the item is destroyed.

But aren’t these type of things insured.

Yes.  But you have to realize it’s not the monetary worth that is lost, it’s the historical and intrinsic value.  When these documents and books disappear it’s lost to society.  A book maybe replaced, maybe, there are rare enough books out there that there is only 1 or 2 copies.  But documents, individual letters, photographs, artwork, these are all one of a kind pieces … that will never be seen again.

2) Flooding

Your Archivist character walks up to work, and sees water flowing out the front doors.  This is sight will strike fear into their hearts, and send them into monetary panic.   

(Source)

Now here’s the thing, every Library and Archive has a disaster recovery plan.   These plans are designed to deal with these exact situations.  So there may be momentary panic, but then they start taking action, starting off with rescuing as many books and documents as they can, and get them dried out - the last thing you want is to intensify the damage with mold.

Disaster Recovery Plan

Disaster Planning

1) Fire - Worst Case Scenario

(Source)

The Archivist/Librarian stands outside the building and watches as Firefighters try to save the building.  They’re tempted to sit in the middle of the street and cry … okay they are probably sitting in the middle of the street in shock.   

There are disaster recovery programs for fire, there are also fire suppression systems for archives, but Fire is unpredictable.  

It can and will damage everything it touches.

If by chances the fire doesn’t get into the vaults, there will be salvageable material.  The Archive itself, reading room, documents and books not stored in vaults - would be lost.   If the fire didn’t destroy it, the water from the firefighters putting out of would’ve finished it off.

This is the worst case scenario.

As a writer you can make the fire as small or large as you want.  Letting the Archivist/Librarian deal with the aftermath of the damage.

Famous Fires:

Universal Fire that destroyed backlots, sets, and a Film Storage Vault

National Personnel Records, St. Louis Fire in 1973

I hope this helps with your story.  Just don’t break your poor Archivist/Librarian too much :)

 - The Archivist

I can in fact mention several things I’ve found in books, and they’re all disgusting, such as old mac&cheese just inside the front flap, and very clear signs that someone has sneezed on our book.

Depending on your area, earthquakes can also do a fairly extreme amount of damage, especially if the library structure gets damaged enough to cause flooding or fires. 

Depending on the type of collection, deliberate vandalism can also happen. In certain extremely conservative or liberal parts of the country or the world, items that seem to be contradicting the social values can and have been destroyed, although if the patron does it after checking out the item we just make them pay for it.

-The Librarian

[fluffi]

so should i reply in tiny font or just regular font?

hybe should do better in spreading out the comebacks of the groups under them :/ they're already at a huge advantage, might as well use it strategically. AHA streaming mvs is so convenient for a multi. the filler vids i could use in between could be mvs from the other groups that i stan. also you know what, i still haven't watched a single final performance bc im waiting for a friend to watch with me :D

i have a chinese movie recommendation in case you want something to cry over. i still love its ost and it's been months since i watched it. i'm not sure if you watched it already but more than blue. i've never cried over a movie as much as i cried for that one. the angst *chef's kiss*. i'd do anything to wipe my memory of it and watch it again for the first time.

also sungchan is mc-ing in inkigayo every sunday! and honestly, what the hell is nct hollywood :D but a part of me thinks it's just going to be a bunch of asians living in america like johnny that'll be a part of it. just a hunch tho. imagine having all 4 units coming back in a year with like 1 unit per quarter of the year. i'm not sure if sm even has the money to do this, especially when they filed bankruptcy recently.

and i've seen a lot of twitter memes saying taro's ghosted stans T_T alexa play ghosting by txt T_T sm come on give him smth to do, you're wasting talent.

the mall didn't burn down entirely (like from the outside it looked fine). the ventilation system caught fire so it was more internal—ceilings and all that. covered things with soot(?) and ashes so the entire mall was closed for nearly 2 years. and hey, i've experienced a school fire too back when i was younger. i, too, thought it was nothing but a fire drill until i saw the charred remains of the buildings behind our school : D thankfully, no one died.

the new nct track is for a samsung commercial AHAHA it's funny because nearly everyone uses apple TT_TT and the mv screams neo culture tech tho (well as it should lmao). yes, i was talking about that part in hot sauce but yes, it grew on me too.

ateez really know how to do a performance. they put the standard so high for me when it came to performing. their facial expressions and overall stage presence just impresses me. it's been a while since i've seen idols draw me to them by those standards.

ah, the long stan list! good luck in getting through it and i hope you do have fun as you go :] (also you can check out aurora by ateez and whiplash by tbz. the songs popped up in my head as i was typing this reply, you might like them)

ohhhh, what was the pd48 scandal? i don't watch survival shows so i don't know any of the stuff going on. would you care to elaborate? about their disbandment :(( i hope you're okay now tho! are the other girls still debuting in new groups? anyone eyeing an acting career instead of being an idol?

YES, A PATTERN IN THE BIASES (if you count an analysis of two ppl as a pattern, that is.) because it's the same pattern i have for my biaswreckers :D jake & seungmin, not only do they have the same animal to represent them, they have the same 'golden retriever' type of personality that just makes you go all soft. ygwim ;n; i wish i could elaborate but both boys just devastate me in the same level and my friends pointed out that they were quite similar in some aspects.

jaemin used to send really long bbl messages :< like if there was anything he loved most it was nctzens and it was obv in his messages. speaking of dream, album repackage news today! idk what to feel bc my hot sauce albums haven't even arrived yet :D + i'm dead br0ke.

how do you even manage to read 30k TT__TT i cant handle long fics bc of my attention span :D also, yes, i found the user now, i'll check if i'll like their works soon. <33

YES YOU SHOULDVE BEEN THERE T_T what a day that was. i think seungmin is still sweet and active in bbl. not a single cent goes to waste with him. also i think i'll post the drabble some time this month.

and oml seungmin vs jake :o let's see how that goes O.O XDD

clickity-clackity AHAH do you have a mechanical keyboard? :c i wanted one too but i haven't got around to saving up for one. but yes indeed, typing asmr v relaxing \m/

sunny hyuck day, fullsun sunday, fullsunday T_T feels were very strong that day. i kept seeing edits on my twt tl and i would just s o b : D i've only stanned nct for a year but i've seen him grow so much i just wanted to crie i love him sm :') yk my mom didn't cook spaghetti for my birthday, but she cooked for hyuck's? : D

and i checked ur recs blog and indeed, full of nct T_T

also have i mentioned that your desktop thing amuses me so much HAHAH i got confused for a sec if i had twt opened or tumblr. plus, i've been wanting to mention that i noticed that our mobile themes are opposites. black and red, white and blue. it's cute XDD <3

help, people have been telling me that our asks are long but i highkey love it. i added a ‘keep reading’ for the mobile users though, sorry in advance hh.

honestly, both works. tiny font saves space but regular font does more justice for my poor eyes haha. its your call!

hybe comebacks :( yeah enhypen got lucky because they came back right before cb season so they got three wins (yay)! on the bright side, txt just got their first win and bts has six wins, so it all works out i guess. omg yes, the streaming thing is perfect. i stan like 20 groups so i have a never-ending cycle of filler mvs and its always so helpful. ooh for the final performances - you wont regret watching any of them! literally wild, kingdom's budget and talent are wild.

ooh, I don't watch any cdramas lmao. i want to but i can barely finish kdramas. if its a movie ill watch it! ive never heard of more than blue but ill check it out <3 where can i watch it?

yes yes i have just realized that sungchan is yujin's co-mc! i watched their special stage (which is literally adorable) and was today years old when i realized that the dude is sungchan pls. nct hollywood was so unexpected and i still have mixed feelings about it now. LMAO JUST ASIANS LIVING IN AMERICA...help. that would be interesting (?) but the concept reminds me of those horrendous awesomeness tv shows. lets hope sm pulls this off well and proves me wrong. lmao all 4 units coming back would probably happen, but i hope none of them get overworked :( i constantly feel like mork lee has four clones :'( also...sm filed bankcruptcy??? dang, what happened?

ugh omg yeah shotaros talent is seriously being wasted in the basement right now. as for fires, scary T-T i wasnt that fazed by them until the australia wildfires happened, and i learned about the consequences of fire and got really scared. its good that the entire mall didnt burn down though! although its weird that no one is opening it :( schools really need to tell us the difference between drills though, it might be dangerous for those rebellious kids.

yeah i just realized that the nct track is an endorsement which partly explains why i cant listen to it. the mv's visuals are stunning!! the set and people are so gorgeous aa i cant

oh yeah im not an atiny but i have acknowledged since 2020 that they have one of the best, if not the best stage presence and expressions on stage for 4th gen. i think their only worthy competitor would be stray kids actually. theyre truly one of a kind and all of them are cute especially that yeosang guy. i will definitely check out your song recommendations though!

oof the pd48 scandal is extremely complicated. to condense it in a few statements: all of the girls' rankings have been rigged since the very beginning and it was rumored that they already had their end group before the show even started. it was like this for pf48 and pdx101 (group x1) which was why x1 disbanded within a month of debuting, and izone were on hiatus for like 4 months. im not the best at explaining stuff like this haha, but i think you get it. you can check out yt or search up 'pd48 scandal', a ton of articles and videos. as for new groups, nothing has been made clear yet. theyve only made instagram handles for now and appeared on variety shows haha. as for acting career, hyewon was supposed to do acting but was forced to join pd48 so maybe she'll continue acting afterwards? nothing is confirmed yet!

lmao two similarities, its okay it counts. ah, true, i can see their similarities now that youve mentioned it, as well as how jeno is kind of like that. however, i am currently attached to jaemin so we'll see what happens from there hehe. i swerve easily.

jaemin on bubble grr, that would be a whole experience. from the bare minimum of vidoes ive seen for him wbk jaemin is so whipped for czennies. ah yes repackage! i saw the post on instagram and went to the comments to see everything screaming ‘iM bROke!’ and it was lowkey hilarious lmao. kpop is really trying to suck our money T-T.

ope the longest fic ive read is like...40k words i think? and it was by jeonginks. ill read anything eiko produces lmao, theres always so much substance in her work. ooh, tell me what you think of luvdsc’s stuff, i just finished binging their entire masterlist lmao.

seungmin vs jake yeah, i havent been catching up on skz enha content because im still obsessing over the dreamies but when that saga is over then im going to focus on my ults lmao (which might include dream soon, hehe).

yes yes i have a mechanical bluetooth keyboard that i use to connect to my computer! it literally sounds amazing lmao, its only 10am here but i feel like im going to doze off from the clickity clackitys already. i cant wait for you to get one! tell me when you do, we can match hehe.

hyuck is an aodrable brat please. hes like the best comedian of nct at this point, so hilarious and filled with variety i love him. he rose up my bias list pretty fast too. LMAO YOUR MOM IS SO COOL I LOVE HER ALREADY. if only my mom would cook for my ults’ borndays.

yes my rec blog is a mess right now, ill organize it soon haha.

omg thank you and yes my website theme is one-of-a-kind. even i get confused when i open it or edit it, and i constantly get comments about it. also i just realized our opposing theme colors and i love it! its adorable.

[17sunday]

writing on the day of dec. 6 2019

this week has been so fucking wild I had to document it or else my sleep depravation will make me forget it by tomorrow!

sunday - dec. 1 thanksgiving weekend has come to a close and i’m FUCKED, like I have so many fucking projects to complete (mind you, these are all master’s level courses) and I’ve sort of started, but I know the biggest hurdle for all of them has yet to be completed. I have severe anxiety on things not getting done and i will literally stay up if I feel like I am not making enough progress on something...so guess what I stay up till 6 am in order to run this code on Rstudio (sleep count: 3 hours)

monday - dec. 2 I am a teaching assistant for capstone, so I can’t sleep in and go to class to help out my students, keep in mind i’m tired, but I can usually thrive off of 3 hours if its only a day and I take a nap. turns out i had a lot more to do for my project presentation on tuesday than i thought (ah it always becomes that way huh?) and I had no nap because i had to go to office hours for last minute checks, then I had to work on the code....but at 1AM when I was generating the graphs, I reached an error and its hard to explain the logistics but I had to REDO all the coding analysis again and i was on such of a crunch on time yall that I COULDNT EVEN CRY AND HAVE A BREAKDOWN WHAT THE FUCK AND I SLEPT AT FUCKING ASS O CLOCK 6 AM (sleep count: 6 hours)

tuesday - dec. 3 i have a presentation in this advanced bio class (i wont specifically name the class just in case LOL) and I think I did well but my professor asks me (and everyone in the class) to do another coding shit YET HE TELLS ONE STUDENT SHE DID A LOT AND JUST ADD TO DISCUSSION LIKE U FUCKING BITCH WE ALL WORKED HARD *victoria justice voice* HOW DARE HE BULLSHIT US LIKE THAT, HE KNOWS DAMN WELL WE ALL WORK HARD AND NOW WE HAVE EXTRA SHIT AND THIS BITCH GETS NONE IM DONE WITH THIS FAVORITISM I SWEAR TO GOD but several people liked my presentation and said i did a great job so i felt so RELIEVED after the presentation, IT WAS DONE THE CODE WAS DONE and then I had lunch with jake and thai and we had the funniest fucking conversations i love them so much

THEN I HAD A FUCKING PITCH TO MAKE FOR WEDNESDAY AND I HAD A WEDNESDAY MEETING AT 8 AM BUT I SLEPT AT 6 AM AGAIN BTICH LMAO I ended up telling my professor I couldn’t make the meeting and they were fine with it, I’m glad I have an understanding professor who won’t pressure us and is understanding when things come up

I showed up to class at maybe 10:30 AM? (sleep count: 10.5 hours)

wednesday - dec. 4 I’m walking death at this point. I stayed up to finish my pitch, i watched m*mas and that show was bullshit and a waste of time aka svt deserved daesang butttttt whatevers, I go to class and I’m working on other assignments and take a 30 minute nap before my 4:50PM class (which goes until 7:30 mind you). I show up to class and we do our presentations. I’m already in a rough state of mind, and i always compare myself to others so when my professor heavily complimented my peers and didn’t leave room for a nice compliment for me I was so devastated and it probably showed on my face i was on verge of TEARS. I’ve dealt with so much bullshit I couldn’t even face this I was literally just working off of no sleep and my constant self-deprecation made me sensitive but I talked to both jake and thai and they made me see a perspective i would have never seen before. before i left the class i reached out to my professor on what I can improve and she gave me pointers and she is good at reading people’s faces and said “its great bea...its so great!!” and i felt INFINITELY TIMES BETTER! she’s also so so kind to me. My friend a/hmad also said “bea i dont want you to depend on others to say good job, because no matter what, someone will always critique you” and that really hit me hard, for the first time i thought about how i perceive myself and how dependent i am to receive verbal affirmation from other people. I realized i no longer wanted to be tied to that. I want to have confidence from MYSELF because i know my OWN worth, not because i’m happy someone else sees me as worthy....it was a catalyst and now im learning...i feel like i always learn something big in college in terms of my self growth and I am SO happy for that... anyway my team and i worked late into the evening for a cyber project to figure out how to alter a PID controller and I almost broke down but my team and I were working hard and eventually we reached a solution (not what I thought would be the best, but Muthuswamy was on board!!!) and my team said “ok we aren’t getting anywhere lets go home” when it was 11PM and we all agreed. We, and me especially have been dying this week and the rest would do us good, my friends all pleaded for me to sleep early and I promised them i would :(( i love how worried they are, their kindness touches me!!! ALSO JAKE GAVE US RIDES BACK TO OUR PLACES AND FUCKING PUT ON TOKYO DRIFT AND DRIFTED LOLOLOLOLOOLOLOL

slept at 2 AM (sleep count - 18 hours)

thursday - dec. 5 FINALLY I GOT 7 HOURS OF SLEEP! I TRUSTED MY TEAM AND LET US ALL REST TO WORK HARD TOMORROW. I showed up to class where I realized the bullshit where the favorite student got to do nothing and we do everything LOL but i was whatevers about it. afterwards I booked it to the tutoring center to finish up the presentation. Jake clutched and got all the graphs looking PRETTY I LOVED IT! HE IS A TRUE BRO! we went to class a little later but muthuswamy went through presentations and was impressed and jsut wanted to make sure we make robust testing in the report which made me SO HAPPY! he seemed to recognize us and our efforts too!!! IM SO GLAD HE LIKED IT

we then had to work on homework and i swear we had the funniest fucking conversations like a/hmad’s team texts him please in front of each text and so he started texting please in the first part too LMAOOO IM SO DEAD, then like both a/hmad and s/teven worked on the homework cause j/ke and i did the project LOLLLLL and jake and i would fucking LAUGH at everything cause what is this BULLSHIT we’re learning HAHAHAHAHAH

THEN JAKE SANG HALO IN THE HALLWAY WHEN IT WAS ECHOY AND WHEN HE WALKED IN HE GOT STANDING OVATION FROM CURRENT SENIORS LMAOO

we turn in the homework by 8 and thai and i leave by 9:30 to get ihop. we were angry at service but the server who just clocked in was so NICE AHHHHHHH, we had our regular sleepover and i practiced for pitch FOR THIS STARTUP COMPETITION slept at 3am (sleep count: 25 hours)

friday (today) - dec. 6  SO NO ONE REPLIED WHAT TIME I HAD TO HELP OUT AS FACILITATOR SO I JUST SHOWED UP AT 12PM AT THE PRESENTING AREA. I enjoyed talking to my students and got some action shots taken of me hehe. then i went to the presentation and KILLED IT AND MY TEAM WON 10K OMG, i will elaborate later, still processing churro n taco LOL

[ronnykblair]

The Investment Banking Analyst: Faithful Financial Foot Soldier, or Peon Pining for Punishment?

Ah, the investment banking analyst.

It was the subject of the first article I ever wrote for this site – an article that has continued to generate comments, threats, and snarky reactions ever since.

We’ve covered this topic across many scattered articles and interviews, so I wanted to consolidate all the coverage, update it, and lay out everything you need to know in one spot.

Here’s what investment banking analysts really do, the pros and cons of the job, what to expect in an average day, and how to break in:

First: What Do Investment Bankers Do?

Investment bankers advise companies on large, corporate-level transactions such as mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity issuances.

“Advise companies” means “Work with management teams to market and sell companies, find potential targets to acquire, and make deals go through; or recommend the best terms and timing for a capital raise and then market that debt or equity issuance to investors.”

The role is part advice, part sales and marketing, and part negotiation and deal-making – on a grand scale.

In the investment banking career path, the Analysts are the foot soldiers and workhorses.

They’re near the bottom of the hierarchy, above only Summer Interns.

The Investment Banking Analyst Job Description

Many articles about investment banking say that as an Analyst, you’ll be “in charge of Excel and PowerPoint deliverables, administrative tasks, and responding to requests from clients and potential clients.”

That is true, but it misses the point of the Analyst role.

As an Analyst, your job is to do whatever it takes to support senior bankers in winning and closing deals, even if that means doing ridiculous tasks that have nothing to do with accounting or finance.

Many students from top universities kill themselves earning high grades and winning multiple internships, all to land that elusive investment banking role…

…and then they start working and are disappointed to find that most of their time is spent revising presentations, tracking buyers and sellers, and doing mind-numbing market updates.

Even in highly technical groups, you’re unlikely to spend even 50% of your time on tasks such as financial modeling and valuation.

The “average case” for your time on the job might look like this:

PowerPoint for Pitch Books and Other Presentations: 50%

Random and Administrative Tasks: 30%

Excel-Based Financial Modeling and Valuation: 20%

In less technical groups, such as Equity Capital Markets, you’ll spend even less time in Excel, and in more technical groups, such as Restructuring, you might spend closer to 40-50% of your time on technical tasks.

Finally, note that even if you happen to spend more time on the “interesting work,” it’s still not all that interesting.

Unlike in buy-side roles, where you might use your own research and market/customer analysis to inform your models, many IB models are “paint by numbers” where the numbers are linked to the client’s demands – even if those demands are unrealistic.

You may occasionally get something more interesting, such as an on-site visit, meeting a company’s finance team, or brainstorming potential buyers or sellers, but don’t get your hopes up.

Investment Banking Analyst Hours

Yes, the hours are bad for the reasons described in our article on investment banking hours.

On average, you’ll be in the office 70-85 hours per week, though you won’t necessarily be “working” that entire time.

However, you will be on call 24/7, and you’ll have to respond to urgent requests and emails all the time, making it difficult to have a life or plan regular activities.

Banks have tried to improve the hours over time with “protected weekends” and other mandatory time off, but the results have been mixed.

It’s a bit better for Analysts now than it was in the late 1990s or mid-2000s, but it’s still a grueling job that requires incredible sacrifice.

Wait… Why Would Anyone Ever Want to Be an Analyst?!!

“Wait a minute,” you say, “this job sounds awful. Most of the work is boring, you work 80 hours per week, and you deal with crazy people all day. Why would anyone do it?!!”

Good question.

Most IB Analysts do the job because:

It’s Not a Long-Term Position – You do it for 2-3 years, and then you move up into senior roles in investment banking, or you move into jobs such as private equity or hedge funds.

You Earn A Lot – Investment banking offers higher compensation than any other job out of university, except for a few quant finance roles and programming jobs at big tech companies.

You Gain Access to Great Exit Opportunities – And you can win more interesting roles in private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, corporate development, and other fields after working as an IB Analyst. For more, please see our article on exit opportunities.

The basic philosophy is “short-term pain, long-term gain.”

By killing yourself for a few years, you give yourself many future options in other, more-interesting, higher-paying jobs.

If you value your free time and don’t want to sacrifice your early 20s, this is not the right job for you.

Investment Banking Analyst Salary (and Bonus)

Base salaries at large banks in the U.S. are just under $100K USD.

Bonuses are often 0.5x to 1.0x your base salary, so average total compensation might be between $150K and $200K.

Pay is lower outside the U.S., even in other financial centers such as London, and pay also tends to be lower at boutique investment banks.

For more on this topic, please see our article on investment banker salaries.

What Does an Investment Banking Analyst Do?

Each day in your life as an Investment Banking Analyst is different, but an “average day” might look like this:

9 AM – 12 PM: Arrive at the office, update a status report on potential buyers in an M&A deal, send it out, and join an update call with the client’s management team.

The senior bankers do most of the talking, so you work on a pitch book for a different, potential deal in the background.

12 PM – 3 PM: You join a few “due diligence calls” for another deal, where the potential buyer asks customers of the seller questions about why they use its products and services.

You’re just there to monitor the calls and make sure the potential buyer doesn’t go too far with its questioning. After that, you run to Starbucks with a few Analysts for a quick break.

3 PM – 5 PM: There’s a huge incident as a traveling Managing Director requests briefing materials for an upcoming pitch ASAP, and you have to scramble around to find and send hundreds of pages of reading.

5 PM – 7 PM: Your Associate comes over to review the Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) for the client from this morning, and you start making his changes to the financial summary and market sections.

There’s a bit of downtime after this, so you order food and then shop for furniture online.

7 PM – 10 PM: As one of the VPs is leaving the office, he decides that the team needs to re-do a pitch book for an upcoming initial public offering (IPO), and he wants to see the new draft by tomorrow morning.

You start coordinating with the Equity Capital Markets (ECM) team to get market updates and case studies.

10 PM – 1 AM: The Associate signs off on the new qualitative slides in this draft of the pitch book, and he leaves the office. You continue to tweak the valuation and Excel-based parts.

1 AM – 2 AM: Another Analyst at the office is having a major problem with a complicated Excel model not working, so you decide to stay another hour to help out, and then you go home.

This is a fairly busy day, but not an outrageously busy or terrible one.

Factors that create “bad days” include:

Multiple Live Deals: If you’re on 3-4 deals that are all active at the same time, the workload is unpredictable, and you could get streams of requests throughout the day.

Big Upcoming Pitches: Since pitches have hard deadlines and bankers like to do unnecessary work, you could easily end up staying late or even pulling an all-nighter to finish a long and detailed pitch book.

Last-Minute Emergencies: For example, if a traveling MD suddenly needs information for a meeting taking place in 1-2 hours, be prepared to scramble.

“Good days” or “slow days” tend to happen when you can focus on a specific deal or client instead of being pulled in 10-15 different directions.

Interacting with management teams is probably the best part of the Analyst job, so those discussions can also create good days.

A Week in the Life of an Investment Banker

In an average week, you will not have much free time on weekdays.

Many Analysts are in the office from 9 AM to 1 AM each day, and sometimes a bit less than that on Friday or other “slow days.”

You might get called in for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday, but you’re unlikely to be there all day unless you’re working on an important deal that’s close to the finish line and that requires your presence.

If you’re wondering about the gym, sports, or having a social life, you do all of that “when you can,” which often means late at night, on weekends, or not at all.

Investment Banking Recruiting: How to Break In

The bad news about IB is that it’s still a very competitive field to get into, and you don’t have a great shot unless you go to a top university, earn high grades, and complete multiple internships.

The good news is that there’s so much information about investment banking available today that if you really want to break in, and you put in the effort, you probably can.

You might have to compromise by working at a smaller bank or non-bank initially, or you might have to “pound the pavement” with aggressive cold calls and cold emails, but it’s still doable.

By contrast, if you were recruiting for this job several decades ago (e.g., the late 1990s), it would have been nearly impossible to get in as a non-traditional candidate because there was so little information about it.

We cover the details in our article on how to get into investment banking, but the two main paths into the industry as an Analyst are:

As an Undergraduate – Complete multiple finance internships in your first and second years, earn high grades, network with alumni, win a summer IB internship at a large bank following your third year, and convert it into a full-time offer there.

As a Recent Grad – Still complete internships during undergrad, but get started with IB a bit later, so work in a related-but-not-quite-banking role after graduation, such as at a Big 4 firm or valuation firm, and then network and win an offer as a lateral hire.

The IB Analyst Job: Right for You?

If you’re reading this site, you are probably a high-achieving, Type-A personality, so I’m not going to waste time discussing whether or not IB is right for you (for that one, see our coverage of the investment banking career path).

Instead, there are two specific questions you should ask yourself:

Do you need to work as an IB Analyst first if your ultimate goal is something else in finance, such as hedge funds or private equity?

What is the long-term outlook for this job? For example, if you’re in high school or your first year in university, will IB Analyst roles still be around in the future? Will they be automated or displaced?

The short answer to the first question is, “No, you don’t necessarily need to start as an IB Analyst anymore if you can win a good offer at an established buy-side firm right out of undergrad.”

However, if you’re not sure what you want to do in the long term, then you can’t go wrong with an IB Analyst role because of the options it gives you.

For more on this one, see the investment banking vs private equity article.

On the second question: unless something very fundamental in the economy and financial markets changes, Analyst roles are unlikely to go away or even change significantly.

Many people also “predicted” that Analysts would go extinct after Excel was developed and adopted by everyone, and that didn’t exactly happen.

I could see programming skills becoming more important, as they have in sales & trading, but I doubt that most IB work will shift away from Word/Excel/PowerPoint in the near future.

So, once you put in the time and effort required to get into the industry, you start working, and then you start complaining about your job, you can look back fondly on this article:

“Wow, it’s just like he described. And… not that much has changed. Except for my compensation – bonuses are up this year! (phew)”

The post The Investment Banking Analyst: Faithful Financial Foot Soldier, or Peon Pining for Punishment? appeared first on Mergers & Inquisitions.

from ronnykblair digest https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-analyst-job/