#i can actually add and subtract how many options on my end!

[spindaonateaspoon]

Since my perfect wonderful sexy patron is enabling my nonsense, let me introduce everyone to a deep point of discourse at all my family gatherings

Please feel free to defend your case in the replies. I want the notes looking like the Acropolis

[ramshacklefey]

No but serious. Dungeons & Dragons is one of the least flexible systems out there. So whenever I hear someone asking, "Why can't I do X in DnD?" or "How would I do (thing that the system is totally ill-suited for)?" my first response is just "GURPS."

For those of you who aren't familiar, GURPS stands for "Generic Universal Role Playing System." I always say it's like the Linux of ttrpgs, in the sense that it's less a system and more a framework that you can use to do whatever you want with.

And I really do mean whatever you want. You want high fantasy? Done. You want gritty realism in a dystopian world? Got it. You want superheroes? Good to go. Super tech space opera? Oh boy we got you there. You want magic systems that aren't based on spell lists? Go for it. Horror games where character death is a constant and very real threat? Sure thing.

You can set up your game to be anything from a complex data driven grinder to a cinematic rules basically optional flight of fancy.

You can play characters who are anywhere from realistically squishy humans to god-like super beings.

Characters personal flaws and strengths can have a direct impact on mechanics. Character species can have a direct and serious impact on mechanics.

The existence of so many options can make GURPS seem overwhelming at first glance, but if you are willing to put in a bit of effort, it's actually a very simple system to play. Most of the hard work is front-loaded into setting and character creation. Once play starts it runs as smooth as can be.

It's totally possible to play it with just the two core books, BUT there are dozens of books that are nothing but tips and advice for how to build a particular type of world or a particular flavor of campaign.

And the books, while not nearly as pretty as DnD books, are laid out in a way that makes it incredibly easy to find exactly the information you want.

Some more mechanical things that I particularly like about it (under the cut):

Characters are created on a point-buy system, but you don't just buy your basic stats, you also buy your skills, advantages, and secondary stats. And you can gain points back by dropping stats below average or taking disadvantages.

The advantage/disadvantage system. This is sorta the core of the character building, and it is *so* much fun. See, rather than pick out a class or species, you have a list (selected by your GM from a much larger list) of things you can buy that will have mechanical impacts on you in the game. Basically, an advantage is anything that opens up more possibilities for you in-game, and a disadvantage is anything that closes off possibilities. They can be superpowers, species traits, cinematic plot armor, personality traits, or things like chronic illness, bad temper, physical or mental disabilities, or being doomed by the narrative.

Simple dice system. To play a GURPS campaign you need three d6. That's it. All checks and saves are done by rolling 3d6 (low rolls are better than high). This has an additional advantage over the d20 system in that there is a probability curve. You're more likely to roll numbers in the mid-range, which makes both critical successes and critical failures rarer, and therefore more satisfying.

Your target roll is adjusted, rather than adding/subtracting from the roll itself. Say you're trying to, idk, hack a computer. Your skill level doesn't affect your dice roll, it affects the number you need to roll in order to succeed. This makes things a lot simpler on the player's end, imo, because there's less they need to keep track of. (You're trying to roll under the skill check, so whatever the base difficulty is, the GM just adds or subtracts your skill level from that).

The basic stats are on a much tighter scale, and they make a lot more sense. Human average is a 10 in everything. When you make your character you can buy higher stats or take lower ones and get more points to spend on other things. All stats cap out at 18, because that's the highest number you can roll. At a 10 strength you are a normal person. At 18 you're basically Superman. You'd have to roll a critical failure not to succeed in a strength check, and remember: critical failures are far less common than in a d20 system.

I could keep going ad infitum here, but instead I'll just close with:

Come with me boy, play my games! We'll have cowboy times in space!

[chaosgrenade]

So I've taken a vow to move my RPG reviews/rambles to my Tumblr, and I'm willing to bet someone after this week might be in the market for some new indie fantasy RPG -- especially one that isn't using the OGL. So let me tell you about EYES BEYOND THE TORCHLIGHT!

Disclaimer: I originally reviewed this on Twitter months ago,and have decided to put it all together here in support of this game I love.

SUMMARY:

It's a fantasy heartbreaker. It has 4 archetypes (Cleric, Mage, Rogue & Warrior) and familiar fantasy ancestries (Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, and Human). It has dungeons, dragons, & themes that will surprise nobody. But it's the approach to game mechanics I've been enjoying.

The core mechanic is d20+Stat vs 12. The catch is that stats are rated in dice, from d4 to d12. There also "Boosts" and "Setbacks" that add or subtract d6s to the total. The system is player facing, with some fun twists.

For example: on successful attack rolls, the value of the Stat Die determines the amount of damage dealt to the target. On unsuccessful defense rolls, your Stat die determines how much damage is soaked (on successful defense rolls, you dodge completely). Enemies have flat damage values -- this is all one roll and go.

Character Creation is fun and flexible. It doesn't inundate a newcomer with too many choices, but it gives a lot of room to build on a theme. Your choice of ancestry and archetype provides starting Edges, and you can choose to gain extras by taking on Hindrances.

Edges & Hindrances are pretty straight forward. They give boosts (or setbacks), raise (or lower) a Stat Die in a situation, or establish a factoid feature or flaw in the narrative. These are all interesting choices, and not "build theory" number tweaks like feats in DND.

I should also note here: there's only 4 stats (Brawn, Agility, Intellect, Presence) and some derivatives (Hit Points, Armor, Initiative & Movement). Oh, and there's HERO POINTS! (Your luck/cool point meta-currency that lets you re-roll or do cool things).

Then there's Backgrounds. Your Background actually functions as your "skill" set -- any non-combat roll associated with it gets a Boost.

Let's talk a bit about what there's not -- NO LEVELS! At least, not proper (there are "tiers" of characters). At the end of every adventure, you get Advancement points. You spend these to raise stats, buy off hindrances or acquire edges. The character progression is pretty open.  

One of my players was an Ugly Dwarf Pirate, whose punching attacks deal lethal damage. His companion is a Half-Elf Warrior Poet, who can shapeshift into small animals. Tell me that doesn't sound badass out the gate!

The game also has a pretty complete bestiary of traditional fantasy game monsters, although it skimps details and expects you to already be familiar with them from other games. But hey: stat blocks for them fit on a notecard, which is my most desired aspect as a GM!

I should mention that every monster is listed with a "Threat Number" -- this is the penalty to actions opposing them. You have two choices: add the Threat to the base 12 target number or subtract it from a player's roll instead (whichever is easier).

Now let's talk POWERS -- aka magic. Powers are spells, and once you learn one you keep it. You roll dice when you cast; should you fail you have the option to either take damage OR "burn" the spell to cast it (can't cast it again until you rest).

There's a good list of Powers here, but not a crazy tome like other fantasy games have. Most are utility, with a few combat-based ones. Your token Area of Effect spell "Blast" is dangerous -- it targets EVERYTHING in an area. Fire it off in a mine you risk a cave in.

Blast and other spells also have consequences should you roll 1's on both the d20 and your Stat Die. In this case: your caster *literally explodes and dies* while also harming nearby people. Thankfully not all powers are this risky!

Anyway, plenty of treasure and magical items provided in these rules as well. Anyone can pick up a scroll or potion as a single-use power. There's your usual magical arms and armor, rings that do cool things like teleport you, grant 3 wishes, command elementals etc.  

Finally, the rules come with a sample setting and adventure. The setting is a free city on the borderlands between warring nations, with ruins and monsters about. Again, not breaking any molds, but it's pretty cool and has a lot of loose hooks to build a campaign on.

So, to wrap this up: EYES BEYOND THE TORCHLIGHT is RPG comfort food to me. I love the dice mechanics, and how easy it is to hack new content into it. Flexible & interesting player facing mechanics means it's easy to run online. It has old-school vibes without the baggage. Scott Myer wrote and illustrated this game, and now it's in the hands of the folks at MAX HP who seem to be pretty cool as well. PS -- there's an SRD for the Target 12 System that it's built on, and released under Creative Commons.

[abyssalprincess27]

Spy Cards

Me and my best friend have been making an unofficial expansion to a card game for a few months now. The original is called Spy cards, and it started out as a little add-on to the video game Bug Fables. We found an online version of the game that allowed you to make custom cards, and we proceeded to make. a lot of cards. and then we re-balanced all the vanilla cards too.

We have 761 cards in total. the game started with 92.

At this point we've essentially made a completely separate game based on Spy Cards. And we just found an option that allows you to change the core game mechanics, which would allow us to bend it to our will even further. I think that at this point the best thing to do would just be to make our own actual card game. [A full explanation of how the game works and some gameplay examples can be found at the end of this ask].

The big thing about Spy Cards is that rather than players taking turns playing cards, both players resolve their turns at the same time, which we found really unique and is essentially the basis for the game itself (or at least our version of it in which influential cards and combos are often measured in terms of how they impact the turn economy and how many turns you effectively gain or lose).

If all the cards weren't based on video game characters (this started out as just a fun little mod we were doing in our free time, after all) and the entire thing wasn't built in Spy Cards' engine, I do think this could very reasonably be it's own game already. We do a lot of play-testing and have regular balance patches to ensure the meta is fun and fair. There are lots of different deck archetypes that are both viable and fun, with plenty of room for creativity and variation in most of them.

The game works as follows:

Both players start with 5 lives, 2 TP, and a deck of I believe 13 cards. Cards require TP to play, the cost of which is displayed in the top right of the card. Cards are not discarded at the end of our turn, but excess TP is. Every turn, you gain one more TP than you had last turn, to a maximum of 10 i.e turn 1 you start with 2 TP, turn 2 you start with 3 TP, then 4, etc). Cards played can do a variety of things, the most important of which is Attack. Cards can have various amounts of attack. Whoever has the most combined attack that round wins said round, causing their opponent to lose one life point. Deplete your opponent's lives to win!

It seems simple, but their are many other game mechanics cards can have other than attack which make it far more complex. There are cards that draw other cards, place negative cards in your or your opponent's hands, grant extra attack or defence (defence subtracts from your opponent's attack) to cards played with them, and many more! The most important of these I'd say is Setup, which allows you to play cards that have effects trigger a few turns down the line. For instance, you can setup extra TP for your next turn, you can setup extra attack to shore up setup turns or bolster attacking turns, or do other stuff with it!

There are 6 types of cards:

Attackers: These are the most basic cards. They often have few or no secondary effects, instead just providing attack in exchange for TP. This card based on Waddle Dee from the Kirby series costs 2 TP to play and provides 2 Attack, with no other special effects.

This second attacker card is based on the Moss Knight enemy from Hollow Knight. It's slightly more complex, featuring both attack and setup. You trade some of the immediate power of a regular attacker for some extra power next turn, feeding into the turn economy that is so important to this game.

Effects: These are the second type of card, and together with attackers make up the lowest rank of card that you can make your deck out of. These cards are defined by having little to no immediate attack, instead focusing on stuff like Numb (block certain cards from triggering), Exile (permanently removing cards from the deck), Draw, Discard, Setup, etc.

Mini-bosses: The first limited type is Mini-bosses, of which you are only allowed 2 in a deck. These have exceptionally powerful effects that you normally won't see on regular cards. Here's one based off the Crimson Mimic from Terraria:

The Crimson mimic has the unique effect of only triggering if it can numb a card played on the field with it, in exchange for high attack combined with the powerful and coveted Lifesteal (heal 1 life upon winning this round). Midbosses can do many things that regular cards rarely or never do.

Bosses: You can only have 1 boss per deck, at least to start off with. They often have many powerful effects that promote synergies between them and the rest of your deck. Here's one based on Tinker Knight from Shovel Knight:

Empower +2 (Bot) means that every card with the class Bot (As can be seen at the bottom of the card) that is played with Tinker Knight gains 2 attack. As he is a very cheap card, you can play many cards with him for a lot of extra value. This even applies to cards that' do not have attack of their own, as long as they have the Bot attribute, which has great synergies with cards that have no upfront power but setup powerful effects that trigger later. He additionally adds 1 to your max hand size for the rest of the game, allowing you to hold more cards to play at opportune moments.

[foggypainterstudentfmp]

How I created a randomly generated power up dropper

I made some code by fiddling around with random nodes in Unreal engine for 2 hours and watching part of a slightly similar tutorial which gave me a start with what to do but wasn't particularly helpful.

Video:

Firstly I created an actor and inserted my sprite onto it then I opened the event graph. Then I use an event begin overlap instead of play as I want the code to trigger when the character walks over the power up dropper. Then create a child actor by connecting event to get child actor class as this is our other blueprint allowing us to create a separate bp within the actor. Then get a select node and put the options you want in this by promoting to variable then setting the default value to the actor you want to spawn. Do this with all the options you want to have. Then from select attach a random integer from range and then this will select option 0- however many options you set.

This is where I had to go rogue and sit for 2 hours experimenting with code (video timestamp is 4:20)

Then I removed the get child actor by class and replaced it with cast to character as this is what will trigger the random generator as it isn't an event tick. Then connect the object to other actor and off this then add a spawn actor and link class from select to class on spawn actor so then it can decide what to spawn and between the options. Then add a get world transform so it actually spawns in the world and link the child actor node before that came from child of class to this and make the instigator the player character. Then off spawn actor get a set actor location and link this to a get actor location and then get player character so it spawns the power up on the player character. Then link a destroy actor to the end of set actor location so the dropper disappears after it spawns in the power up.

I found that it kept bugging the game having a power up spawn at the exact players location as it forced the camera to become close up as it spawns it in the character so they get stuck. So I added a subtract between the get actor location and set actor location so on the x axis it spawns slightly behind the character.

[bnha-butterfly]

So you’ve officially created your Tumblr blog. What now? In this post I’ll cover graphics and setting up your navigation! I’ll also mention what you should do before you start posting your own content or before you have content to post at the end!

Graphics!

Icons

Your icon is how most people will recognize your blog on their dashboard. An easy way to do icons is to use a manga cap or an anime screenshot! Alternatively there are people who make icons that you can find it by searching Tumblr, but please check whether or not these people require you to re-blog the icons you use or give them credit in your description! If you’re using art, make sure that the artist either gives you explicit permission to use it or has stated publicly that it’s OK to use their art. (please note that if the artist is OK with repost of their art they are generally OK with you using their art in icons but make sure you credit them!) PicCrew is also another popular source to make icons but make sure you credit the artist/link the picCrew!

Headers/banners

As far as using an artists work the same rules that apply for icons apply here! Either get the explicit permission from the artist or make sure they’re OK with their work being used for these things/being re-posted. Generally I don’t use work from the artist and I just use manga caps (which you can find just by googling or searching on Pinterest for [insert character here] manga caps)

You can search Tumblr for headers because there are people who make headers and other graphics. Just make sure you pay attention to peoples rules!

If you want to try your hand at making your own banners or headers. You can use Canva to make gifs and plain banners/headers. I personally use PicsArt to make my post banners. Mainly just because I can do it on my phone and can work on it really easily. Generally any photo editing app should work. PicsArt just has a lot of stickers and effects that can really pull together a banner.

Dividers

Once again there are people who make dividers on Tumblr! But you can also use PicsArt again to do your own personal dividers so they’re more custom to your blogs theme. Although it’s important to note that you won’t be able to do those super thin line dividers on PicsArt because there is a minimum pixel width!

(If you’re iffy on the size of things I’d actually advise you to download somebody else’s banner/divider and use that as a template for sizing!)

Setting up navigation!

Your navigation will be the place where the theme or aesthetic or color palette for your blog should really shine through!

(Edit: I forgot to mention this when I originally wrote this. But when I personally created my navigation I drafted everything in one very large Google Docs file. I recommend that you have everything with its links set up in a Google Docs file. Just because Tumblr has a habit of deleting posts and if you have it in a Google Docs file at the very least that auto saves and you have a back up.)

Your navigation should be broken into at least four parts! You’re about me, rules, master list, and tags (tags are optional technically but is a nice added touch). Remember this is not a Bible for what your navigation is supposed to look like, you can add and subtract to this general structure as you feel necessary!

About me!

Give as much information or as little information as you’re comfortable with. Generally you want to have your name or pen name, The pronouns you use and your time zone if you’re comfortable with it. Most people also have fun facts about them in there about me section. If you are a Black or Neurodiverse writer it’s good to have that also in your about me! A lot of people put their astrology stuff in there about me section, also the results of personality tests and things like that! This is also where you should put your BYF (before you follow) and DNI (Do not interact)

Rules

What do you put in your rules it’s really up to you. I’d advise you to look at a lot of other people’s rules to get a general idea of what you might wanna put in yours. The only thing you want to include in your rules is that you reserve your right to reject asks/request! Be sure to also include what characters you right for. Here are some things to consider in making your rules!

What demographics do you write for?

What demographics do you not write for?

Are you comfortable writing touchy subjects (things like eating disorders or self harm)?

Do you write NSFW content? Or do you cap it at mildly suggestive content?

How many characters will you limit per request?

Do you write Angst?

Do you write for ships or do you only write reader inserts?

Masterlist

Another portion of your navigation I would recommend you look at other peoples to get an idea for. There are tons of ways to organize a masterlist. The way you organize your master list will depend on the series you write for and the content you make. So look at the way people who run similar blogs to yours organize their masterlist.

Tags

So you do not need a tags portion for your navigation! The main reason people have a tags section in their masterlist is so people can blacklist tags related to anything they don’t want to see on the dashboard!

If you run both a NSFW and SFW blog (that you allow minors to follow you on) you need to tag your NSFW things so minors can block that tag. Your tags can be themed, but they don’t have to. The best way to create tags is to create things that you’re going to remember!

I stress that you create a writing tag that you put on every single piece you publish. You can also create character tags or series tags outside of the standard tags used in that fandom. (for example your character tags might be a nickname you have for a character instead of their actual name)

You can make tags for the asks you get sent and for your mutuals or named Anons! (if you get emoji anons it’s best to write out the name of the emoji instead of putting the actual emoji. Just so it’s easier to search because Tumblr does not recognize emoji‘s in it search!) you might also want to create a tag that you put on everything you re-blog for the people who only want to see your content, A tag you put on all your posts that aren’t writing (for example my “Morpho talks” tag), and a tag for the fics that you would recommend to your followers!

What if I don’t have any of my own content to post?

So this is a pretty easy one. Re-blog stuff, I didn’t start posting my own content until a month after I started this blog and at that point I already had a few followers. Bye setting yourself up as a fandom blog you’re letting people who are interested in that fandom know what you’re going to post. Don’t be afraid to shitpost and don’t be afraid to do things that show your personality! This is also a good way to practice getting into the habit of using your tags!

Don’t only re-blog art but also re-blog fics with comments in the tags! i’ve literally made a handful of mutuals just by re-blogging their stuff and the things they write with comments in the tags! Writers do not get a lot of comments on this platform but comments really encourage writers to keep on writing!

So this is a really long post. Please tell me if there’s anything else specifically you’d like me to talk about in this series!

[profoundsheepbarbarian]

A Beginner's Guide To Acoustic Treatment

An account of an acoustic newbie's journey from bare walls to a well‑balanced, sonically pleasant space.

The physics of the propagation of sound is immensely complicated, and when the assortment of materials that make up the walls, floors and ceiling (plus any windows, doors and furniture) are added to the equation, it's very difficult to predict what will happen to sound waves once they've left their source. What's more, every room is different, and it's not just the dimensions that will dictate how the room will sound... Imagine two rooms of the same shape and size. One has two‑metre-thick concrete walls, and the other a single‑layer plasterboard stud-wall. Even with those brief, albeit extreme descriptions, you probably know already that the two rooms will sound very different. Add in the multitude of room shapes, sizes, wall‑construction methods and surfaces found in home studios, and it becomes impossible to provide a one-size-fits-all guide to acoustic panel treatment.

The subject of acoustics is regularly discussed in SOS, but plenty of readers still ask for the subject to be covered from a much more basic starting point. What follows is a look at installing acoustic treatment from a complete beginner's perspective: some basic, essential information, along with a bit of advice from acoustics professionals that should give you the confidence to get started. I'll follow this up by taking you step by step through my own recent experience of treating a room.

Why Bother With Acoustic Treatment?

Untreated rooms have an uneven frequency response, which means that any mixing decisions you make are being based on a sound that is 'coloured', because you can't accurately hear what's being played. In short, you can't possibly tell how your mix will sound when played back anywhere else. It isn't just an issue for mixing, though, because any recordings you make of acoustic instruments will bear all the hallmarks of the space in which you record them. That may be a good thing if the space in question is Ocean Way or SARM West, but probably preposterously bad if it's your living room or bedroom. So, if you want your mixes to transfer well, and your recordings to be free of room 'honk', you need to pay attention to the acoustic properties of your environment — no matter how good the gear you're using.

First Things First

The first thing to grasp is the outcome you want to achieve. It's a common misconception that acoustic treatment with acoustic ceilings or acoustic baffles should kill all reverberation, and that you want a room covered floor‑to‑ceiling with foam tiles: this isn't what you're aiming for. You also need to bear in mind the limitations imposed by space and budget: most home studios are small in comparison with the Abbey Roads and AIR Lyndhursts of this world, and many home‑studio owners simply don't have the funds for bespoke treatment solutions.

So what is the aim? Andy Munro, acoustic design specialist, remarks, "acoustic design is the science that restores a neutral sound balance”. Applying that science means interfering with the path of sound to control the sound energy. Jorge Castro, chief acoustician at Vicoustic, says that "in the case of affordable treatment, we need to control the energy of the sound first. Then we can take care of the sound quality. With small spaces, bass frequencies are always a problem, and we should control the low frequencies as much as we can.” In fact, he continues, "In small rooms, I've never heard people saying they have too much absorption of low frequencies.”

Absorption & Diffusion: What, Where, Why?

To achieve the right balance, there are two main approaches: absorption and diffusion. Products that have absorptive properties include foam and rigid mineral-wool (see the 'DIY & Rockwool' box), and they 'soak up' the sound energy, turning it into heat, through friction. Most effective on high‑frequencies, absorption is essential for reducing flutter echoes and for taming bright‑sounding or 'ringy' rooms. Bass trapping is also a type of absorption, but is specifically designed to absorb low‑frequency energy. A clever combination of soft, hard, thick and thin materials, including air, is used to make the most efficient bass trap, and an empty gap between the wall and the back of the trap helps to make it even more effective.

Diffusion is the scattering of sound energy using multi‑faceted surfaces. Diffusers are commonly made of wood, plastic, or even polystyrene. Jorge Castro explains: "diffusion helps in energy control and improves the sound quality in frequencies throughout the middle and high range of the spectrum, and also improves sweet‑spot image.” The 'sweet spot' is the place between the speakers where you should be sitting to get the best stereo image (imagine that your head and the two speakers form an equilateral triangle). That pretty much concludes the theory: now for the practice!

Getting Started

Before undertaking this project, I'd read plenty about acoustics, but had never attempted to properly treat a room myself: the nearest I'd come was propping foam panels against the walls to tame flutter in the spare‑room‑cum‑studio of my rented house. I hadn't been able to glue or screw anything to the walls, for fear of incurring my landlord's wrath, and the thought of retouching the paintwork after tearing strips of self‑adhesive velcro pained me too! So this was very much a learning experience.

The space in question included an area that would provide a reasonable‑sized live room, and another that would serve as a small control room, and although both were important, I really wanted to get the performance space right. I decided that I'd buy commercially available panels, because I simply didn't have the time, space or inclination for the DIY option. Most manufacturers of acoustic products also offer a consultation service, and they often have free on‑line calculators to help you decide on a suitable treatment option, too, so even if you choose the DIY route this can be a sensible place to start, and fabric acoustic panels are also available.

I chose to get my treatment from Vicoustic, a company relatively new to the UK acoustic‑treatment market who make a range of products for studios and home theatres. I told them that, as this was the only live room for a small project studio, it needed to be quite versatile, with both a 'dead' corner for dry recordings and a more ambient space to liven up acoustic recordings where needed. I'd expected a solution with almost complete wall coverage, foam panels and diffusers covering every square inch, but Vicoustic came back with a plan that surprised me, which suggested that total coverage wasn't necessary.

In fact, Jorge says that the typical home studio needs only between 30 and 40 percent coverage to adequately treat it. So don't go over the top: remember that we're trying to control the energy, or "restore the natural sound balance,” and not to kill the sound completely.

As for the proportion of diffusion to absorption, Jorge says, "some believe it should be 50 percent absorption and 50 percent diffusion. In the home studio, because of budget and space constraints, the actual proportion can vary considerably.”

Planning

So, you've decided on your acoustic foam treatment, you've had it delivered, and it's piled in the middle of the room. The next step is sticking it up on the walls, right? Well yes... but you also want to make sure that it goes in the right place, partly to optimise its acoustic performance, and partly because you don't want it to look like it's been put up by a two‑year old! As a first‑timer, I found it useful to have the 3D drawings Vicoustic had supplied, as they enabled me to plan precisely where each panel would go. You can create a computer‑generated version of your room yourself using a freeware 3D drawing programme such as Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com). This may seem a bit over the top (sketches on the back of an envelope would do the job), but it can provide a useful guide to print out and use like a map during installation. What's more, you can plan the look of a room, moving tiles and panels around on the computer instead of having to rip them off the wall if they look silly.

Measure Twice, Stick Once

With my 'map' in hand, it was time to mark up the walls. The Vicoustic plans showed the panels equally spaced along the walls, but without any dimensions or measurements to indicate how to space the tiles, so I measured the whole room and planned the position of all the panels supplied. A quick and easy formula for plotting the position of a row of equally spaced panels soon emerged. To calculate the distance between each panel, and between the end panels and the walls, you just measure the length of the wall, subtract the total width of all the panels to be fixed to it, then divide that figure by the number of gaps between panels (or by the number of panels plus one). Marking up is then a cinch, but to get things looking good, you'll need to mark the corner points and will require a spirit level and a spare pair of hands. Once plotted and marked, it's also a good idea to double‑check that you have the same number of actual panels as you have on your plan!

Stick 'Em Up!

With the planning done, it's time to stick the panels to the walls and ceiling. The way you do this depends on the type of treatment you're applying. Large, framed panels will come with brackets and (hopefully) sturdy fixings, whereas foam‑based tiles will need to be glued, using an aerosol‑based product or a tube of paste‑like glue that needs a skeleton gun. Spray‑mounting can often give less than satisfactory results, so I was glad to discover that the Vicoustic delivery included the tube variety. With just two tubes supplied, though, I soon had to resort to alternatives, and found that the sticky gunk used to fix mirrors to walls worked exceptionally well.

To prevent the glue squidging out from the sides of the panels, I piped the glue on no less than an inch from the guide line on the wall and on the back of the panel itself, in different patterns, to increase the adhesion. With this kind of glue, I found that it would begin to set in about a minute, allowing just enough time to pull the panel off and turn it if it was the wrong way up. When sticking panels to the ceiling, I took the same approach. It was a textured ceiling, which called for lots of glue and a firm hand to seat the panels: again, it's useful if you can get a friend to lend a hand.

Hearing The Result

Once in place, the Vicoustic treatment worked very well. The main part of the room is now nicely controlled, if a bit on the 'live' side, and the diffusers ensure excellent intelligibility of speech: a sure‑fire sign of good acoustic control. I had a few spare corner traps, which were put into the dry corner, to make it even more 'dead', and it will be easy to add a few smaller foam tiles to dampen the sound further if it's found to be too 'roomy' further down the line.

Having tried some recordings in the room, I'm happy to say that excellent sound barrier can be achieved between acoustic instruments and vocals by using the different areas of the room. Because the sound inside the room is controlled, the ambience can be used to good effect if a roomy sound is desired on the recording.

Ultimate Control

So far, I've only addressed the dedicated live/recording space, and most home studios are single rooms, with both the monitoring and performance areas in the same space, so I asked Andy Munro to explain how to approach treating such a space. "The best approach,” he said, "is to sketch the room out, then divide each dimension into thirds. If the mixing position is on a third ratio, and so are the speakers, they will not stand on any of the half or quarter 'standing' wavelengths that cause a peak or trough in the bass [see the 'Standing Waves' box for more information]. The result will be a smoother sound, with fewer problems when the acoustic absorption and sound barrier is added. Ironically, most professional rooms are set up about the centre line, which tends to result in a 'hole' at certain frequencies.”

Also important in monitoring rooms is the control of early reflections. When a speaker cone is driven, it disperses acoustic energy to the listener's ears directly, and also to the walls and ceiling of the room, and the best example may be acoustic diffuser. Uncontrolled, these early reflections bounce back into the room and reach the listener a few milliseconds later than the direct sounds, because of the additional distance they've had to travel. Unless in a large room, this delay is not perceivable as a different sound; instead it disturbs the phase, and therefore the clarity, of the sound. To keep early reflections on a tight leash, the 'mirror points' of the room should be identified and treated. To do this, sit in the listening position and 'guesstimate' where a mirror would have to be placed to enable you to see each monitor cone from the sweet spot. Then apply absorption to these points. A 'ceiling cloud' can be positioned in a similar way, to control vertical reflections.

Conclusion

No matter how much you spend on instruments, amps, speakers and recording gear, you still need to pay attention to the space in which you use them. The treatment of home studios is tricky, because of their size and the construction materials used, not to mention the budget of the average home‑studio owner. It's impossible to get a 'pro-studio sound' from a space that's built as a spare bedroom, mainly due to the laws of physics, but also because 'proper' studios might have big bucks spent on acoustic design with soundproof materials. But if you can get your head around what you're trying to achieve, you can still make such a space perfectly usable, with only a small amount of money, some forward planning and a little bit of knowledge.

[scriptflorist]

Hi. All your advice assumes competent, hardworking, sensible, polite florists. However, I want to write one who is rude, lazy, has a lack of skills/knowledge. I don't want to make up too much unbelievable nonsense, but, truth is stranger than fiction and there ARE lots of absurd accounts of real life of horrible employees mentioning alarming fails that makes your head spin. Perhaps, it's hard to verify as probably fakes/urban legends mixed in.. But any ideas about writing this?

Hi. We do tend to assume that people are writing competent, good, florists. But you’re right that it’s not always the case in the real world.

In the US, at least, the only thing required to call yourself a florist is to have the money to buy the right equipment and start a floral business. That said, the floral industry at the retail level is not really a huge money maker, typically. Most flower shops earn the vast majority of their revenue on only a handful of holidays and have to spread that out to cover expenses the rest of the year.

If the florist is lazy, rude, and doesn’t know what they are doing, they’re going to have a hard time earning any revenue. If they’re in a city, the customers will have other options, so why deal with a rude florist? If they’re in a small town without any other options, people still might decide to call the next town over for their arrangements if the florist is rude. 

If the florist doesn’t know how to use the tools, there are a lot of sharp items used in floral design and they could seriously hurt themselves. If they don’t know how to keep the flowers fresh, or what to order, they won’t have stock to sell and will be basically throwing away money on unused and unusable flowers and greenery. They might not have appropriate containers for funeral arrangements that can be placed graveside, or not enough vases leading up to Valentine’s day. 

Speaking of Valentine’s Day. In big floral shops, and even in small ones with just a couple of employees, there’s often a lot of little things that can be done. But if this florist already doesn’t have a lot of customers because they are rude, they probably have a bit of downtime where it wouldn’t be terrible being lazy. There’s only so many bows you can premake, and so many times you can polish the silver, after all. But on Valentine’s Day? Mother’s Day? Prom or other formal dances that typically require corsages and boutonnieres? The lead up to Christmas? Any weddings they might get booked for? Those are all a LOT of work. Hours on end of work. Fiddly work in the lead up for anything using corsages and boutonnieres to wire and tape the flowers and greenery. Preparing arrangements ahead of time. Delivering arranges the day of. Installing arrangements for weddings and large Christmas orders. Taking down the arrangements and any structural support that was put up by the florist at the end of weddings. There are days with no breaks at all. 

There’s also just the possibility of mismanagement or bad management. I worked for a florist for a short time that had a no resting policy complete with a list of tasks “if there’s nothing to do, here’s what to do.” But they also automatically subtracted time from my time card for a lunch that they didn’t give me and when I asked about it they said that they figure all the time people sit down for a couple of minutes here and there add up to the equivalent of a 30 minute lunch. We didn’t work out because I felt that if I was going to have a lunch time deducted from my check, I was going to take an actual lunch break. 

I think that things like this could create interesting dynamics for florist characters. Like I said, anyone can buy a florist business, especially in small towns with few options for competition. Even if the new owner keeps an experience floral designer on board, they may try to institute management practices that are detrimental to the business like ordering the wrong things and ignoring the advice of the experienced florist because they think they know better. They have a great idea on how to save on costs, but it ends up costing more, or the flowers don’t arrive in time and they lose clients. 

You could also do some conflict narrative around mismatches in style, though this is getting more into competent florists again (depending on the pov, perhaps). A more modern and urban style florist moving to a small town that is used to traditional styles having to either get people to see the beauty in the contemporary designs or modify what they offer to meet the needs of the town. An older small town florist who hasn’t kept up with design trends with new competition in town that does and it turns out the small town likes the new trends better. Two competing florists in a big city filling different niches and trying to convince the neighborhood customers that their way is better. 

Yeah, there’s a lot you can do with florists outside of the floral foam as it were. 

~*Mod Den*~

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[olliya]

SasuSaku ship dynamics and history

The stats I’m immensely proud of: the complete SasuSaku ship stats!!!! I think I managed to deconvolute how many SasaSaku fics are really there and how it changed over the years. I also took a detailed look at the times before and after ship canonization, and I tell you, it’s interesting. At least for a nerd like me 😊

As a sneak peek, I’ll let you see my pride and joy:

Explanations, and much, much more, under the cut.

So, let’s start from this graph:

As I already explained here and here, on FF.Net there exist two types of independent systems for tagging romantic relations ships: Ship Names and Pairing Option (for explanation see here). The graph in Figure 1. shows the dynamics of SasuSaku ship where Ship Names are marked dark blue, while Pairing Option is light blue. However, without manual check there is no way to know how many fics tagged with one system are also tagged with another. I.e. we cannot know if we can, and if yes then to what extent, add these values together.

This issue was bugging me for a very long time, especially as the introduction of Pairing Option (October 2013) lies unfortunately close to the end of manga and canonization of ships (November 2014). And it’s super interesting to know how did the fandom (the Sasusaku part of it, as well as those parts of fandom whose ships weren’t confirmed) reacted for the end of manga and canonization.

So, I set off to untangle the double-tagging issue, and I’ll start with SasuSaku. NaraSaku and KakaSaku are next in line.

Additionally, since it seems that the center of gravity of Naruto fandom shifts towards AO3 (as can be seen in this analysis), I included SasaSaku dynamics on that platform as well.

Methods

FF.Net

I based my analysis on already collected data (published here) on ship dynamics by year. Those data gather number of fics published in a given year for the following tagging systems:

Pairing Option

Ship Names (Ship Names examined: SasuSaku, SakuSasu, SasukexSakura, SakuraxSasuke, SasuxSaku, SakuxSasu, Sasuke x Sakura, Sakura x Sasuke, Sasu x Saku, Saku x Sasu)

Basing on those data, I set off to excluded the double-tagged fics.

For practical reasons (minimalization of amount of clicking around I had to do), I approached the issue from two different sides.

A.     To exclude double-tagged fics tagged with Pairing Option and with Ship Name SasuSaku (main Ship Name used by the fandom) I used the Filters Tool (settings: Character A: Haruno Sakura; Character B: Uchiha Sasuke; Pairing Option: On, Sort: Publish Date). I went through resulting list of fics page-by-page, taking note of the year of publication and searching for the phrase “sasusaku” (using Ctrl+F key combination in the browser). I took note of number of times the phrase “sasusaku” appeared on each page and summed up those numbers for the fics that were published in the same year.

B.     To exclude double-tagged fics tagged with Pairing Option and with minor Ship Names, I searched for the minor Ship Name of interest (for example: “Sasuke x Sakura”) using Search Window, and, after sorting the results according to Publish Date, I searched the for the occurrences of square brackets (“[“) on the result page. Square brackets are used by FF.Net as an indicator of characters paired together through Pairing Option. However, it also was and still is used by the authors in summaries to describe romantic pairs, writing status of the fic, tropes, AUs and various other, mostly house-keeping purposes. Therefore, it was necessary to manually check if occurrence of a square bracket meant Pairing Option (and if the romantic pair indeed was SasuSaku!) or if it was merely featured in the summary. For all the minor Ship Names, I manually checked each occurrence of square bracket and took note of those that indicated romantic pair Uchiha Sasuke with Haruno Sakura, along with the publication year of the fic that was double-tagged.

Using this method, I searched through years 2006-2019. I skipped years 2003-2005 due to previously made observations about general messiness of the data from the very early years of the fandom (people weren’t tagging particularly diligently…)

Using the data collected as described above, I could subtract the double-tagged fics from the sum of fics tagged with Pairing Option and fics tagged with Ship Name.

To get better data resolution for the decrease (years 2011-2012) and subsequent rise of SasuSaku popularity (years 2013-2014), and in order to be able to corelate fic production rate with canonical events, I performed the same analysis month-by-month for the years 2010-2015.

AO3

I searched the AO3 archive by clicking into Uchiha Sasuke/Haruno Sakura tag and sorting by Publishing Date, and took note of how many fics were published per year. I did the same for the character Haruno Sakura (as I didn’t have these data yet). On AO3, authors can freely set a publication date, and the chosen date is then displayed in the header of the fic when one clicks inside it. However, the user-defined date doesn’t influence the sorting order, i.e. fics are still sorted according to their date of addition to the archive. When such an “unclear case” happened on a border of two years, the fics of uncertain publishing date were assigned to the new year (i.e. if a fic dated as from June 15th 2006 appeared between fics dated December 31st 2017 and January 1st 2018, it was assigned to the year 2018).

Limitations of the method

The elimination of double-tagged fics concerns only fics tagged with Pairing Option and one of the Ship Names. It does not eliminate the fics tagged with more than one Ship Name. I.e. a fic that has in its summary two of the Ship Names it will be still counted twice. Also, if it has one of the Ship Names in the summary and another in the title, it will also be counted twice. In an extreme case, if author used all 10 Ship Names, then the fic would be counted 10 times.

In the same time, due to mechanics of elimination method A. if a fic (that was additionally tagged with Pairing Option) contained multiple occurrence of phrase “sasusaku” in the summary or title, such fic will be subtracted multiple times (as many times as there have been repetitions of the phrase). Also, if an author had a phrase “sasusaku” in their name, their fic will also be falsely subtracted even if it wasn’t double-tagged at all (falsely, because my initial harvest of “sasusaku” fics was defined as “search story” and not “search writer”).

Results

Figure 2. presents the number of SasuSaku fics tagged with different systems (shades of blue) and the unique number of fics published per year (magenta).

Figure 3. compares the numbers of fics published on FF.Net and AO3. Please take note that simple addition of fics from the two platform can actually be misleading and incorrect. This is due to the fact that many authors publish in parallel on both platforms, and fics uploaded to FF.Net are de facto the same fics as those published on AO3. Additionally, some authors move from the older FF.Net to the newer AO3, where they re-post their older works in bulk.

Unique fic numbers on FF.Net show a main maximum in 2008 (in line with the maximum of total Naruto fics, see here) when 3308 SasuSaku fics where published, followed by steep decline with a minimum in 2012 when only 1409 were produced. There is a significant increase in fic numbers forming a secondary maximum in years 2013-2015 when ca. 2000 fics were published yearly. After this increase in activity happening around the end of manga and canonization of SasuSaku ship, a steep decline is continuing until the present day. In 2019, SasuSaku ship noted its historical minimum when only 540 fics (on average 45 per month) were published on FF.Net.

The steady increase of SasuSaku fics on AO3 is in line with the general increase of activity of Naruto fandom on this platform. It is noteworthy that in 2019, for the first time, there were more SasuSaku fics published on AO3 (779 per year, i.e. 65 per month) than on FF.Net.

Due to highly fluctuating numbers of Naruto fics published per year it is difficult to assess ship popularity basing on published fics only. The percentage of shipping fics in relation of total Naruto fics, or total fics featuring one of the romantic partners (I used Sakura) are better indicators of ship popularity. For this part of analysis, see Discussion.

To analyze the effect of canon events of the fic production, better resolution is necessary. Figure 4. summarizes SasuSaku ship dynamics during the years 2010-2015 on monthly bases.

It can be seen that with introduction of Pairing Option, the main Ship Name tag (SasuSaku) slightly lost on prominence while the Pairing Option gained acceptance, and already in January 2014 there were more less same number of fics using Pairing Option as Ship Names. However, most fics used either one type of tagging or another (double-tagging ratio was 25%-33% in years 2013-2015). Interpretation of the curve and correlations between the canon and fandom events and monthly publishing rate will be elaborate on in Discussion.

Discussion

Figure 5. shows what percentage of all Sakura’s fics consisted of SasuSaku fics in years 2006-2019 for FF.Net and 2011-2019 for AO3. This approach allows for correction for the effect of general fandom activity decline (see this analysis) that took place after year 2008.

SasuSaku of FF.Net shows two maxima, divided with a strong minimum in years 2011-2012. On AO3, after a slow start (12% in 2011) SasuSaku quickly reached the level of 20% which it held since 2013. Currently, both platforms host a very similar percentage of SasuSaku fics.

I would like to focus primarily of FF.Net, as it covers entire timeline of publishing of the manga.

The way how canon influences fandom was one of the focal points in this analysis. Sakura’s ship with Sasuke was very prominent during the earlier years of the fandom (2006-2008) when it made more than 30% of all published Sakura’s fics. And if one takes into account that not all the fics are necessary shipping ones, the dominance of SasuSaku ship becomes even more massive.

However, during later years SasuSaku lost at popularity, reaching its minimum in 2011 and 2012 when only 17,1%and 17,5% of all Sakura’s fics featured romantic pairing with Sasuke. In 2013 we see already an increase, that continues until 2015, when SasuSaku reaches a second maximum (almost as high as the first one) achieving once again 30%. After 2015 there is a decline, as this effect is independent from the general fandom decline. In last years, SasuSaku makes ca. 23% of Sakura’s fics. That might be an indirect evidence of popularity increase of others, non-canonical and more exotic ships.

To put the timeline into perspective:

Sasuke kills Itachi in chapter 394 published in March 2008; and, informed about Itachi’s true motives, declares intention to kill Konoha Elders in chapter 404 published in May 2008.

Sasuke attacks Kage Summit in chapter 460 published in August 2009.

Sasuke’s and Sakura’s encounter and mutual assassination attempt on the Bridge in Iron Country happens in chapters 482-485 published in February/March 2010. Afterwards Sasuke virtually disappears from the manga for many chapters, appearing only briefly in chapter 553 (published in September 2011) with fully evolved Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes.

His next prominent appearance is already after the beginning of Fourth Ninja War and implementation of Edo Tensei, when Sasuke encounters Itachi in chapter 576 (published in March 2012) and after Itachi’s revelations, declares the will to destroy Konoha in chapter 589 (published in June 2012).

After the meeting with the previous Hokage, in chapter 627 (published in April 2013) Sasuke changes his mind, declares will to protect Konoha and joins Shinobi Alliance four chapters later (May 2013).

Figure 6. presents percentage of unique SasuSaku fics (in respect to total Sakura’s fics) in context of manga events. During Sasuke’s quest for revenge the popularity of the ship was constantly dropping. Interestingly, it reached its low during the time period when Sasuke was basically absent from the manga. His declaration about destroying Konoha in 2012 happened also during this minimum. However, despite this declaration, already in 2013 the ship gained popularity, possibly in response to anticipated changing of sides that indeed took place in May 2013. After that, SasuSaku was on steady rise that continued throughout ship canonization.

In order to see the effects of specific manga events it is necessary to look at more detailed picture. Figure 7. presents number of unique fics published (not percentages, because gathering monthly data for total Sakura fics exceeded my capacities) and puts them in context of manga and fandom events.

Data of this high resolution tend to be choppy, nevertheless some trends can be detected. Most prominently, SasuSaku Months (fandom events held every July in years 2011-2019) give rise to sharp peaks. There is a similar peak in July 2010 but I didn’t find any evidence of SasuSaku Month that year. @sasuxsakumonth and @sasusakumonth – maybe you know more about that?

After Iron Country Bridge disaster, the number of fics indeed falls. The effect is blurred by the peak in July (if it was indeed an event), but afterwards there is a decline. During the second half of 2010 and the first half of 2011 the number of fics oscillated between 100 and 150 per month, and even SS Month didn’t produce a big increase (182 fics only). During the second half of 2011 and first half of 2012 the number was 100 fics per month.

Sasuke’s re-appearance in March 2012 seemed to revitalize the fandom and in autumn and winter of 2012 the fandom was already on the rise. In 2013 and 2014 there were already 150 fics regularly published every month, and SS Month in 2013 and 2014 reached almost 300 fics (of course not all the fics were produced specifically for the event).

A sharp decline in September - October 2014 may be an after-effect of a successful SS Month in July (and certain writers’ fatigue) or can be caused by canon events, as directly before the canonization, in chapters published in September/October 2019, Sasuke announces his “revolution”, places Sakura under death-by-Chidori-genjutsu and fights Naruto.

And finally - in answer to my initial question – canonization of SasuSaku ship in November 2014 resulted in a very prominent (comparable only with strongest SS Months), sharply rising maximum, that, additionally, tailed at least until January 2015.

As general observation, it seems that fandom reacts to “negative events” (canon moments decreasing the chance of characters canonically getting together, absence of character from the story) with a certain delay. It is understandable, as one can imagine that negative feedback from the side of canon doesn’t make people to abstain from publishing the fics that they’ve been already working on, but rather acts demotivating which results in a diminished output of fics in subsequent months. In contrary, positive events (like ship-supporting canon moments or canonization) bring very fast reactions, as writers tend to get inspired by new, ship-supportive material.

As always, all comments, hints, suggestions and critique is absolutely welcome! Please share this post, as I think it may be of interest for relatively large group of people, while I, myself, tend to dwell in a bit different corner of the fandom.

[divergentlibby]

Budgeting with Student Loans

Student loans can be intimidating, committing to being in debt for the next decade or longer isn’t exactly ideal. That is why scholarships and grants are a great option that you should be sure to research fully to see how much you can cover for free. But scholarships aren’t usually enough to get you all the way through your degree. Especially since they tend to only cover academic expenses and in my experience the majority of my expenses in college are personal.

https://www.libbyincollege.com/lifestyle/budgeting-with-student-loans

What You Need To Know About Student Loans There are many different lenders for student loans and you should definitely do your own research before deciding which one to use. There are a couple of options when it comes to paying back your loans. You could pay a little bit every month while you’re in school, usually the interest, or defer them till you graduate which usually has a higher interest rate. I opted to defer them because it’s one less thing I have to worry about and calculate into my budget while I’m in school. Lenders will typically go through your school rather than giving you the money directly. Your school in turn will then take out any money you owe them, such as tuition and fees, before giving you the money. Disbursements of financial aid will take place after the add/drop deadline for the semester and you will only be given the money designated for that particular semester. These measures are to ensure that you are actually taking the classes you’re receiving financial aid for.

Figuring Out How Much You Need A good starting point for figuring out how much you need is your school’s website because they set the limit on how much you can borrow. The limit to the amount of financial aid you’re school will approve is called the cost of attendance, this will include money for not only tuition but also for food and other living expenses. This can be a good way to get an idea of how much things should cost but it’s not specific enough to be a stopping point.

Here’s my Cost of Attendance My expenses vary from this and yours probably will too. For example, this semester, my tuition is closer to $3000 and my books $500, it’s unlikely your school fees will be greater than the cost of attendance but don’t count on it being lower either, just in case. Because you’ll be given money in a big chunk for the whole semester it’s important to be sure you know how to make it last.

Budgeting You can either start with the cost of attendance budget and take off the academic expenses to get your living budget for the semester or you can build your budget from scratch and add expected academic expenses to it. I usually stick to the former.

The old rule of thumb is that 50% should go to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings. I try to follow this the best I can but I live off-campus and with rents the way they are around here it’s not completely feasible for me.

So because my budget for the spring semester is $11,000 I’ll subtract my academic expenses ($3500) to get my living budget of $7,500. This $7,500 needs to last me from February to May (4 months) so I have a max budget of $1,875/month.

If you want to go a step further you can figure out your disbursement total for the entire year. This is a wise choice should you not want to worry about your budget changing every few months. For me, this looks like $30,000 before academic expenses. To calculate expected academic expenses you need to know what classes you’re going to take. The school website should have expected tuition per credit hour listed somewhere and in the course catalog you can find out if there are any extra fees associated with your courses. Make sure you budget for books too, I like to eat aside $600 per semester. This leaves me with $21,000 making my monthly budget $1750. Ideally, my needs should cost $875, my wants $525, and my savings $350 to follow the 50/30/20 rule but my realistic ratio ends up looking more like 60/20/20.

Needs

Needs are necessary expenses that can’t be avoided. Rent, food, transportation, etc. Most places you rent will want you to have an income that is around 50% of what the rent will be but it’s best to keep it as low as you can. Here are some necessities you should consider budgeting for:

Rent & Insurance

Water & Electricity

Internet

Phone

Car Payment/Insurance & Gas

Groceries & Toiletries

Wants

Wants are all other unnecessary expenses. Things like shopping and eating out. Because I know my needs are going to go over their 50% budget I like to take out the difference from wants. And use what’s left for more frivolous things. Here are some avoidable but fun expenses to consider budgeting for:

Shopping

Eating Out

Activities

Subscriptions

Hobbies

Savings

Some people especially while in college ignore this part but the earlier you start saving the better your future will be. I also like to include any debt-related expenses in this category just to keep needs a little lower. Here are some savings/debt-related expenses to consider budgeting for:

Credit Card Debt

Student Loan Debt

Saving for a Particular Thing

Rainy Day Fund

What does your realistic ratio look like?​

And remember, good things are coming.

[sparklyandchic]

𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕-𝕥𝕠-𝕥𝕠𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕦𝕚𝕕𝕖

 ✨ first, a disclaimer! this is a list of things which i have found to subjectively improve my own appearance. i’m sure there’s many more treatments i’ve missed, and you may also feel that some of these treatments aren’t for you- i’ve just included everything which i have enjoyed personally in order to inform you of your options, from which you can make your own decisions on which to take part in. also, little blurb; what society or others think of you doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and it is not my goal to promote being concerned with these things here. these are meant to help you be more excited about your own appearance every morning when you wake up, and take more time and care for yourself. partaking in these activities should add to your life, not subtract. ur all cute and valuable already ✨

also second disclaimer: i initially tried to make an amazon storefront as i thought i could put all the products i mentioned on one page so you could have access to them easily, but it turns out regular people can only get an amazon affiliation. this means that if you buy anything through the amazon links i provided, i’ll receive a very tiny percentage of the profits. this doesn’t benefit you, nor does it make the price higher for you, but if you’d like to support what i’m doing, it would be cool if you bought things through the links i provided. if you hate me or something, you can just search and buy them through amazon yourself! these are all products that i used and bought from amazon far before i signed up for the amazon affiliation, i’m just genuinely obsessed with amazon but i’m not affiliated in any way with any brand i mentioned.

✨ 𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕣  ✨

bleach/dye: personally i am a huge fan of foil highlights! tons of gals look amazing with dark hair or their natural hair color, but i have found that, for me, they really brighten the face and add depth to my hair. you could also darken your hair, do balayage, or tone it a different shade. i always recommend going to an actual well-rated salon rather than attempting to do it at home. they can ensure you’re getting the proper undertones and the correct volume developer for your hair. if you’re getting your hair bleached, look for a salon that uses olaplex or a similar bond builder in the mixture to avoid completely damaging the structure of your hair. at home, i tone my hair to remove gold/brassy tones with either this pravana mask, or a tiny amount of this semi-permanent violet hair dye mixed into my conditioner (you should only leave this in for a minute the first time as it can be very strong). i’ve found most purple shampoos are quite harsh, especially on fragile hair, so i always go for conditioner.

at-home protein treatments: if your hair is damaged from dying or styling it, i highly recommend using a protein mask on it at home once a week when you can to restore the structure of your hair. olaplex no 3 is a popular option but i really like this k-beauty collagen mask for a way cheaper option that works just as well in my opinion! many brands make protein and keratin masks though so feel free to order whichever you like.

cleansing conditioner: if you’ve used every “hydrating” and “repairing” shampoo + conditioner under the sun but your hair is still dry or fragile, i recommend using cleansing conditioner instead! shampoo, even sulfate free ones, can create friction and cause tearing in your hair, but cleansing conditioner cleans your hair without stripping or damaging it! i love this one from renpure and it’s a lot cheaper than other cleansing conditioners like wen, which i found to be less effective and weigh the hair down. if your hair does ever start to feel a little weighed down or oily, use shampoo to clean it more deeply- i tend to use it once every 1-2 weeks depending on how much i’ve been working out. cleansing conditioner will also help maintain a keratin treatment as it won’t strip the treatment from your hair, which brings me to this next consideration...

keratin treatments: keratin treatments are a semi-permanent treatment which help to make your hair quite a lot straighter, and much smoother, softer, shinier, and dry quicker! these help so much if you have frizzy or damaged hair, or your curl pattern is super irregular like mine! curly hair is beautiful too but if your curl pattern is tough to manage and make look pretty, then they’re a great option. a lot of people ask me if they're damaging but i find that they really help with my damaged fake-blonde hair and my hair stylist agrees, but he said to stay away from relaxers or japanese straightening treatments if your hair is fragile as those can be very damaging! if you’re in nyc, i recommend ‘hair bar nyc,’ their treatments are around $100 and last a couple months before they start to fade. i always go for their strongest solution, the 24 karat.

hair growth vitamins: personally i had short hair for a long time and loved it and still think it looks great on so many people! but i’m currently growing it out, so i’ve been taking hair vitamins daily to speed up the process. any brand works, but i love this brand ‘hair anew’ on amazon, or any store-brand which contains extra nutrients like zinc and pantothenic acid (not just plain biotin) as i feel that they work better and also clear my skin. they also help grow your nails longer and stronger, your eyebrows thicker, and your lashes longer and thicker!

hair extensions: these are less common/necessary, but for girls whose hair is much shorter than they want it, is damaged from bleach/dye/heat, or whose hair is quite thin, clip-in extensions can be a game changer. i’ve had tape-in extensions before and found that not only did they damage my hair and thin it out incredibly badly afterward, but they also truly were a lot of work to style and still looked bad after half an hour of trying to get it to work. a pair of clip-in remy extensions should also only set you back $60-100 while any sort of semi-permanent extension is far more expensive. i currently have this brand fullshine from amazon but it may also be wise to find a beauty supply store where you can match your hair to the extensions. this is also a great method of showing your hair stylist exactly what color you want your hair dyed to be! and pro-tip, never ever use shampoo on your extensions if you want them to last more than a month before they’re ratty and you need new ones. only ever wash them with plain conditioner, every couple of weeks!

shower filters: if you live in a place which has hard water, this can make your hair more brittle, dry, frizzy, tangled, and even make your hair a shade of green, due to the dissolved minerals drying in your hair. i installed this water filter in my shower to purify the water. it only takes 5 minutes; you simply twist off your showerhead,  twist the filter on, and then twist the showerhead back on. they also help with acne, eczema, and dandruff! i definitely noticed a difference in my hair softness when i got one.

leave-in treatments: i figure my favorite leave in-conditioners and serums are worth a mention here! i’ve been using the same 2-3 products for several years and i’ve never found anything that works as well as them. the two non-negotiables for me are it’s a 10 leave-in conditioner with keratin, and either biosilk or chi silk infusion. and if and when my hair is very dry or damaged from recent bleaching, i also put some moroccanoil on the ends. 

✨ 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 ✨

brows: at-home tinting is a quick and cost effective way to make your brows more defined! i’ve used henna dyes before, which also dye the skin beneath the brows and make them look extra thick, but i found that lighter colors were always more orange than “light brown.” instead i love and use this brand of lash/brow dye. i don’t buy their developer- i just followed a reviewer’s instructions to mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and dye, and it works great! and obviously choose the color which suits your hair color. also worth mentioning, the light brown can be quite light or quite dark depending on how long you leave it on so start with 5 minutes and go from there! 

also, of course always keep your eyebrows well-shaped! if you’ve never had them shaped before, it’s a good idea to get it done professionally first and then maintain it at home with tweezers. i’m a big fan of benefit brow bar for waxing! they have stand-alone locations or smaller bars in a lot of ulta’s.

lashes: getting your lashes done is a great way to feel more done-up even without makeup! lash extensions are amazing at defining your eyes and making them look bigger and more awake, but they’re also a lot of money and upkeep. personally i love lash lifts as i have long lashes (from hair growth vitamins woo) but they just don’t curl very well and are super blonde; a lash lift dyes and curls them and lasts far longer than extensions with no bi-weekly touch-up appointments! if you're not opting for any treatments, i’d still recommend hair growth vitamins to grow your lashes longer!

you can also dye your lashes at home! i’ve tried at-home lash lift kits several times and i found them all messy and completely ineffective, possibly due to my lack of skill, but i couldn’t personally recommend them as of yet. i would recommend at-home lash tints though! if i don’t currently have my lashes curled and tinted from a lash lift, i will use this dye, which is the black version of my eyebrow tint, and use the same hydrogen peroxide formula as described above, to dye my lashes black. it’s great if you’re lazy with makeup, going swimming, or wanna look a lil extra cute when you're at home.

✨𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 ✨ 

professional facials are a great option if you want to feel pampered, get extractions from someone who knows how to do it properly, or get an intensive peel or mask. but they can also get incredibly expensive, while some of their treatments can be done entirely at home! 

physical exfoliation: this is pretty important for basically any skin type, in order to remove dead skin cells! you should avoid harsh scrubs, like those with walnut shell, as they can create microtears in the skin. sugar-based scrubs are safe, but personally i use either of these two items:

-facial brushes! i got a clarisonic years ago, and i love it! if i remove my makeup, then wash my face with my hands, but then wash my face with the clarisonic, there's generally still makeup that comes off on the brush. i would recommend a clarisonic but there’s now highly rated much cheaper versions on amazon so i don’t think i’d recommend spending $100-200 on one when this $33 version with similar sonic vibrations is available.

-microdermabrasion is a great, more advanced option, for removing dead skin cells and helping to clean out your pores. the ‘diamond’ tip runs along your skin to exfoliate dead skin cells, while a vacuum pulls off the skin cells and unclogs your pores. they are a bit more expensive- i got this $90 one for christmas and love it, though there are also similar ones which run around $60 and also have great reviews. i only use this about once a week.

chemical exfoliation: this is great for brightening up the skin. whenever my skin simply looks tired, dull, or congested, i opt for a chemical exfoliant. there are tons of chemical exfoliant options, but my go-to has to be these pads by dr dennis gross. they consist of 2 pads- one with the acids which will exfoliate your skin and one with a neutralizer- and only take about 5 minutes total to use! they are an all time favorite, as i see a difference in my skin right away, but aren’t so harsh that i get any redness or peeling afterwards. the ordinary is also a great skincare brand for all kinds of acids and oils for really cheap! they make a peeling solution which one of my friend uses and she loves it, and i’ve tried a lot of their products over the years and loved them too.

general masks: there are tons of different masks to help with different skin problems and skin types. basically, you've got clay masks for oily skin, hydrating masks for dry skin, and undereye masks for when you're tired as hell.

radiofrequency machine: i first found out about this from stephanie shepherd’s top shelf interview. it’s somewhat commonly used in high end facials, and my friend who is going to cosmetology school said they're great for acne and skin tightening! to my understanding, it works by killing bacteria in the skin, and stimulating blood flow and collagen production. the one i have is only $40, which makes it seem too good to be true, but apparently studies have shown they’re effective in wrinkle reduction, and i’ve found it really helpful for making breakouts heal faster.

other products: i haven’t actually found many other products that i think are a “holy grail” item, besidesss the embryolisse lait creme concentre. i have really dry skin, especially in the winter, and actually bought myself the smallest jar of la mer available this past christmas to see if it could help, but i found it to help absolutely nothing. the lait creme, though, has made my skin actually look like normal skin again, when it used to be extremely flakey and irritated. it’s known for commonly being used backstage at a lot of couture fashion shows, which sold me on it initially lol.

✨ 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖 ✨

teeth whitening: i use crest whitestrips to whiten my teeth at home! i’ve found them really effective, but i’d recommend using them a bit less often than the instructions recommend. the kind i have recommends using them daily at first but, anytime i’ve used them two days in a row, my teeth were sensitive and in pain for a whole day afterwards. otherwise they’re great though, just space them out a bit!

also, of course, floss and brush your teeth morning and night! i’d also recommend adding a tiny bit of baking soda on top of your toothpaste, to help with whitening. i used to do this daily back in high school and started actually getting compliments on my teeth being white.

lip filler: as many of you know, i’ve had lip filler done, and I've received a lot of questions about them, so i thought i’d include the basic rundown here. these obviously aren’t something that you should feel ugly without. your lips can be beautiful whether or not you’re following this trend. personally, i never thought i would get lip fillers, but last year i did start noticing that when i smiled in pictures, my top lip would totally disappear. i was hesitant but went and got my lips done knowing that it would dissolve in time, and i ended up loving them and feeling totally glamorous with them! i must caution you to avoid getting too much “lip flipping” done if any. over time, my injector started putting the filler around the edges of my lips to flip my lips out and make them appear bigger. it’s okay in small doses, but some injectors start cutting corners and over-doing it, which leads to the “duck face” look, and my lips have started to look slightly pursed even at rest, but are also completely lacking volume in the middle. i’m getting them dissolved and re-done soon, but let this be a lesson to you to ask for little to no lip flipping, and ask for the filler to be more in the center of your lips. before lip flipping, no one ever seemed to notice i had anything done, then suddenly after two appointments with lip flipping, everyone and their mother started asking if ive had my lips done. so i’d highly recommend them, with that caveat in mind.

 ✨ 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 + 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕥 ✨

manicures: okay so you can do your nails at home if you’re doing regular polish, or even if you're using an at-home gel polish set. you should file them into a nice shape (i prefer them round as opposed to square, as they’re less likely to break), push back and trim your cuticles if needed, and paint them. but personally i love getting acrylics or dip powder! i always get tips added if my nails aren’t very long at the moment, and i feel that it makes my fingers look longer and more elegant and feminine. either way is cute though!

pedicures: okay so getting a pedicure at the salon is a great experience, but i also see no reason to get one given that i can just trim and paint my toenails at home. i would highly recommend ordering some peeling foot masks though- these are the ones i have. they’re these little plastic sock masks that you leave on for an hour, take off, and then ~3 days later an entire layer of your skin starts peeling off and your foot is baby soft. if it’s taking a while to peel off, go soak your feet in a bowl of warm water or in a bath/shower and scrub it off. i used to sit with a foot exfoliation machine for like 20 minutes whirring away at my feet but with these you can just chill on tumblr for an hour and then a few days later  your feet are totally renewed.

✨ 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 ✨

self tanner: self-tanning is probably my #1 beauty tip. honestly i’d give up makeup, conditioner, whatever, as long as i could hold onto my bondi sands dark tanning foam. a good tan makes you look so fresh, healthy, glowing, and fit and toned. before tanning, you should try and exfoliate yourself in the shower. i use a scrubby mitt, specifically this one, which also comes with an actual tanning mitt and a mini facial tanning mitt for applying your tanner. afterwards, you’re going to want to apply some lotion on your knees, elbows, and heels, as these areas tend to be dry and soak up more self tanner and turn darker than the rest of your body. then just apply your self tanner all over with a tanning mitt, and blend well. i swear by bondi sands dark foam! st. tropez gives me an allergic reaction personally and a lot of other ones smell bad or have an orange guide-color, but bondi sands smells like coconut and has a really pretty cool-toned tan guide-color. (DHA is the active ingredient in self-tanners- its a clear chemical which reacts with the skin cells and turns them darker after a few hours, while the initial color that you see right out of the bottle is the guide-color. self-tanners will market their tan as “not orange” or something like that, but this only refers to the guide-color, not the tan itself, as they all contain DHA which turns skin the same color. regardless, i love that bondi sands has such a nice guide-color, so even when i’m pale, i can just throw some on and run out the door looking tan!) after a week or two, your tan is going to start getting patchy no matter how many layers you’ve added, so you’re either going to want to exfoliate as much off as you can and do a fresh new tan, or if i have time i’ll apply the bondi sands self-tan remover before exfoliating to get virtually all of it off.

glitter: this is a bit more out-there, but i love love love using shimmery lotions on my body. i feel like a fairy princess, but also it gets rid of that chalky flakey dry look my skin can get in the winter. before swim shoots or the victoria’s secret fashion show, models are always getting slathered in shimmery lotion or oil. there’s a lot of expensive shimmery body oils out there, but you can also just make your own with cosmetic mica and your favorite lotion (i use a gradual tanning lotion to keep my tan looking fresh). cosmetic mica is basically what they use in all the shimmery makeup you buy, and it doubles as an amazing highlighter or eyeshadow!

✨𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕡 ✨

basic tips: i’m by no means a makeup guru, but i do feel as though my makeup skills have strengthened a lot since i was a little hippie at 16 years old who just wore hemp lip balm and organic powder foundation sometimes, so here’s some tips i picked up since then. i did also take a one-day makeup masterclass in LA with a celebrity makeup artist who has done the kardashians makeup, which is where i learned virtually all these tips:

✰  let your moisturizer sit for a few minutes before applying foundation ✩ beauty blenders tend to be far better for blending liquid makeup into your skin than brushes  ✰  using just one shade of foundation on your face can make your skin look flat. either use a few different shades of foundation, or a light concealer and a darker contour stick, to add dimension to the face. also, use 2 or 3 different blush colors to add dimension  ✰  blend. more than you think you need to. your foundation, contour, blush, eyeshadow, everything. just keep blending.  ✰  don’t make your eyeliner too thick along the entire eye. this makes your eyelids and eyes look smaller. it should be thin until you thicken it at the outer corners of your eyes.  ✰  as for the rest, fill in and brush your eyebrows, wear a lip color that goes well with your skin tone, highlight the inner corners of your eyes to look more awake, use a setting spray if you want to look dewier and make your makeup last longer ✰

if you’re curious about my full makeup routine here are all the products i use:

✰  embryolisse lait creme concentre moisturizer  ✰  giorgio armani luminous silk foundation  ✰  tarte shape tape concealer  ✰  anastasia beverly hills contour stick in ‘mink’ ✰  too faced born this way setting powder ✰  wet n wild blushes in ‘mellow wine’ and ‘apricot in the middle’  ✰  huda beauty rose gold eyeshadow palette (this is pretty but doesn’t blend super well you should probably buy the abh modern renaissance palette)  ✰  stila micro tip eyeliner  ✰  too faced better than sex mascara  ✰  abh clear brow gel ✰  eyebrow powder, doesn't matter what brand but i got tamnova at the makeup course so i use that. thin eyebrow pencils are good for a natural look but my brows are too thick for them lol  ✰  this cosmetic mica for highlighter  ✰  glossier generation g lipstick in the color leo  ✰

makeup bag: a somewhat extensive list of on-the-go beauty products for you to consider carrying with you in your makeup bag:

✰ perfume. you can buy small on-the-go perfume bottles like these and fill them with your favorite scent ✰ lip products, such as lip balm, lip gloss, or lipstick ✰ lotion. i bring a small hand lotion bottle, and also carry a small container of my body lotion and cosmetic mica mixture ✰ mini lint roller ✰ tide stain stick ✰ downy wrinkle releaser fabric spray ✰ eyelash curler ✰ foundation powder ✰ mascara ✰ mini hairbrush ✰ mini dry shampoo ✰ mints, mint gum, or mini mouthwash ✰ mini deodorant ✰ summer’s eve wipes ✰ hydrating facial mist ✰ blotting papers ✰ 

✨ 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 ✨

no matter how manicured, tanned, and sparkly you are, if you act with jealousy, spite, and hatred, you will never be beautiful, on the inside or outside. live authentically, act with integrity, and be kind ♡

[hellyeahheroes]

Building Jakeem Johnny Williams in D&D 5e

I finished something that took me waay to long this week, the X-Men stuff makes me mad and I need to put it out of my head for a moment or I spend whole night ranting about fascist narratives in that title, I wanted to do at least one or two builds in this series in Black History Month, this idea was on my head for at least a month and this character just make a comeback in Teen Titans so this may be the best chance to drop a build for a character not as well-known as some and get noticed. This is a lot of reasons to say that....we’re building Jakeem Thunder today.

The goals for this build are pretty simple - we have to get Yz or Ylzk or just Thunderbolt as he is called. It shouldn’t be so hard, after all he is just an....interdimensional seemingly all-powerful being who can warp reality to his will. Okay, so that may be a bit hard. We’ll see what we can do.

Ability Scores: Just like Tulok the Barbarian I will be using standard Point Array - 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8. If you or your DM would rather you roll or use point-buy or different array, go ahead and use these as guidelines, keep in mind you need at least 13 in Charisma, Dexterity and Wisdom

Strength: 8, Yz is doing all the heavy lifting

Dexterity: 13, you are quick to act, sometimes maybe a bit too quick

Constitution: 12, you go into battles against supervillains without any armor and survive.

Intelligence: 10, human average - you’re not stupid but you’re not the brains of most superhero teams either.

Wisdom: 14, you pretty much had to fend for yourself at a young age.

Charisma: 15, you’re a pretty likable guy despite your foul-mounted attitude.

Race, which D&D should rename to species long time ago - Jakeem is a human so we’ll go with Variant Human again. You get +1 to two Ability scores, pick Charisma and Wisdom. You get one skill, choose Persuasion and one feat of your choice. After some pondering, I decided to settle on Resilient, which can grant you +1 to Constitution and proficiency with a Constitution Saving Throw.

Alternatives: If you don’t want to play a boring old human then Half-Elf with its +2 Charisma and +1 to two other Ability scores (read: Constitution and Wisdom) or Protector Aasimar will do just fine. If you want to go full extra, Eberron’s Kalashtar is also an option.

Background: Yes, we’re doing an Urchin again. Jakeem’s mother died when he was a child, his father never knew he was even born and Jakeem himself is considered a latchkey kid. Don’t look at me, I’m not the guy who makes so many superheroes orphans. Urchin gives you proficiency with Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Disguise Kit and Thieve’s Tools. City Secrets class feature grants you an ability to half your travel time while within a city for you and your companions.

Class: Okay, so which class can give us access to a genie? Maybe the one that got a new variant that is literally about giving you access to a genie in January? 

1st Level Warlock starts with proficiency in Charisma and Wisdom saving throws, two skills, I’d suggest Deception and Intimidation, and light armor and simple weapons. You also get to choose an Otherworldly Patron and I already spoiled we’re going with a Noble Genie fro January Unearthed Arcana. This new class variant has gotten some flack for being seen as stereotypical but I have also seen people of Arabian descent approving of it. Thankfully Yz just got his whole story turned into an incoherent mess by Adam Glass (I cannot believe I just wrote that with word thankfully in front of it) who decided that he is an actual genie ad brother of Djinn and his BBEG Elias and ALSO a 5th-Dimensional Imp as established before. Then again wiki search claims he was an alien at some point. This means that what you need to do is ask at your table how people feel about this class variant. If everyone is okay with it, play Yz as a genie. If anyone would be offended by it offer to take class features but play your patron as some interdimensional creature instead. Flavoring is half of the fun in building characters after all.

You get Collector’s Vessel, which you can determine to be a pen. If you lose it you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to get a replacement. You got Thunderbolt because Jay Garrick gave you a wrong pen he himself got from Johnny Thunder by accident, learn to not make their mistakes.

A number of times equal your Charisma modifier per day you can, as an action, link a willing creature within 100 feet to you for an hour or until you use this ability again, the target is reduced to 0 hit points or gets more than 100 feet away from you. When bonded like this you can choose to cast a spell from the target’s space and not yours and can add your Charisma modifier to your Perception checks. Use this to stay in the back while Thunderbolt is in the front line throwing spells right next to Shazam or Hawkman.

Speaking of Spells, you get Pact Magic. You know a number of spells you can cast...I mean, have Yz cast for you.... and have a limited number of spell slots and as you grow in levels they automatically increase with you, meaning you always cast the spell from highest slot available, up to 5th. Casting a spell burns down a spell slot, you get them back after a short rest. Cantrips, however, can be cast at any time as often as you want. If a spell calls for saving throw it is made against Save Difficulty equal 8 + your Charisma modifier + your Proficiency Bonus. The last two modifiers also sum up to your spell attack bonus, if a spell asks you for an attack roll. In addition to learning new spells you can exchange spells you know for another as you rise in levels, so if any of my suggestions doesn’t work for you, pass it out for something else. You get two spells known and two Cantrips

Prestidigitation gets you to perform a number of minor tricks for free, it is much more useful than you may think and gets you to have Yz do a lot of minor stuff easily.

Eldritch Blast is the best offensive cantrip in the game, on a successful spell attack roll target takes 1d10 force damage and on 5th, 11th and 17th level each you get to fire one extra blast each, at the same target or different ones.

Unseen Servant gets you for 1 hour to command an invisible force that gets to do a number of small and minor tasks. Again, use this to play Thunderbolt doing things for you.

Thunderwave was added to Warlock Spell list in Class Features Unearthed Arcana and forces all creatures within 15 feet fro you to make a Constitution saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away from you. Whenever they saved or not they take 2d8 thunder damage, the save merely halves it. You do not want baddies to get close to you, you’re squishy.

This is how I imagine Jakeem’s version of Eldritch Blast looks like. Just have Yz YEEET himself at people.

Let us go to Level 2 now. Since I talked about how you don’t want the enemies to get close to you, how about we do something about when they do? In a few steps? 1st level Monk gains an Unarmored Defense, making your Armor Class equal 10+ your Dexterity and Wisdom modifiers. You also gain Martial arts, which allow you to use your Dexterity in place of Strength for your unarmed attacks, have them deal 1d4 instead of static 2 points of damage and allow you to use your bonus action to make an extra unarmed attack when you attack with unarmed strikes or monk weapons. Not very in character but we will improve it in two levels.

3rd Level: on 2nd level Monks gain Ki Points in number equal your Monk level. At a cost of 1 ki point, you can take Dash, Disengage or Dodge as bonus actions, which will be helpful for the whole defense thing. You can also spend 1 ki Point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action immediately after an attack action. Your Unarmored movement also increases by 10 feet.

4th level is where we end our dip in Monk with its 3rd level. You get Deflect Missles feature - whenever you’re hit by a ranged attack you can use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity Modifier + your Monk level and if it is reduced to 0 you can throw the projectile back at the attacker as a ranged attack as if it was a monk weapon.

But the real draw of this level of Monastic Tradition and Way of the Astral Self. This allows you to call upon Arms of the Astral Self and have Yz punch your enemy in the face - it costs you 2 ki points, the arms last for 10 minutes, have a reach of 10 feet, deal radiant or necrotic damage as you see fit, can use your Wisdom modifier instead of Strength or Dexterity modifiers for attack and damage rolls, allow you to use that modifier for all Strength checks and saving throws and you can make a bonus attack with them as a bonus action. 

5th level: Our trip into a Monk ensured Jakeem can survive if someone actually gets close to him but now it’s time to focus on all other things we want. 2nd level Warlock gains one new spell known - Hex has a casting time of bonus action, can last for 1 hour with Concentration, causes the target to be dealt extra 1d6 necrotic damage and imposes disadvantage on all ability checks of one ability you choose. If the target is dropped to zero hit points, you can move it on another target as a bonus action.

You also get Eldritch Invocations. Thief of Five Fates lets you cast Bane once per long rest using a spell slot. Lasting on concentration for up to a 1 minute this spell forces up to 3 targets within 30 feet to make Charisma saving throws and those that fail to roll a 1d4 they subtract from an attack or saving throw whenever they make them. Mask of Many Faces lets you cast Disguise Self at will, which for 1 hour, no concentration, lets you make yourself look as anyone as long as it’s a humanoid with a basic array of limbs as you and no more than 1 feet shorter or taller. It is an illusion so physical inspection will reveal the trickery

6th Level: 3rd level Warlock gains a Pact Boon and we’ll pick Pact of the Talisman. It modifies your Collector’s Vessel so now it allows you to add 1d4 to any skill check in which you lack proficiency. You can also give it to someone else so they get this bonus.

You get to learn your first 2nd level spell as well. Hold Person forces a target to make a Wisdom saving throw when you cast it and at the end of its every turn and unless it succeeds one it is paralyzed for up to 1 minute or if you drop concentration - they cannot take actions and all hits on them are automatically critical ones. This is great for Warlock because all your spell slots scale with you, meaning on higher levels you get to automatically target multiple targets with single Hold Person

You get one more Cantrip too. Chill Touch on this level deals 2d6 necrotic damage on successful ranged spell attack in form of a spectral hand. Until the start of your next turn, the target cannot regain hit points and if it’s an undead it also gets a disadvantage on all attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn.

7th Level: 4th level Warlock gets an Ability Score Improvement, you should have Wisdom and Constitution in odd numbers so round them up for better Armor class, Astral Self attack and damage rolls, concentration and Hit Points - remember, you gain bonus hit points retroactively as well as with next levels, meaning you’ll be getting 7 for all levels up to this moment.

You also get one more spell. Enlarge/Reduce lets you for up to 1 minute on concentration increase size of a target, granting them an advantage on all Strength checks and saving throws and deal 1d4 of extra damage. Or decrease the size giving them a disadvantage and reducing 1d4 of damage they deal. If you cast it on an unwilling target it gets a Constitution saving throw to resist the effect.

8th Level: 5th Level Warlock learns their first 3rd level spell. COunterspell is a reaction spell that lets you shut down an enemy caster’s spell level 3 or lower and if it’s of a higher level you must roll a Charisma check against DC 10 + Spell Level. Use this to have Thunderbolt save an ally from an enemy attack and get rest of the JSA happy they have you.

You also get a new Eldritch Invocation. Tomb of Levistus will be our last resort defensive feature. Once per short or long rest it lets you, as a reaction when you are hit with an attack, entomb yourself in ice and gain 10 temporary hit points per Warlock level that immediately take on as much damage as possible, but until the end of your next turn you are vulnerable to fire damage (note it specifies you gain this after taking damage that triggered this effect), your speed is reduced to zero and you are incapacitated. Since you lose a turn use this only if you’d be killed by an incoming attack.

9th Level: 6th Level Noble Genie Warlock gains Elemental Resistance, allowing you to once per long rest gain resistance to one type of damage from acid, cold, fire, lightning or thunder until the next long rest and you can share this with a creature you bond with using your collector’s vessel.

You also get one more spell. Hypnotic Pattern forces all creatures in 30-feet range from a place where you cast it to make a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed and incapacitated and have its speed turned to 0 for the duration, on concentration to 1 minute, or until it takes damage or another creature wastes an action to shake it out of it.

10th level: 7th level Warlock gains first 4th level spell - Blight will allow us to boost our offense by dealing 8d8 necrotic damage to a target, half on successful constitution save. It doesn’t work on undead or constructs but plant creatures and magical plants make the saving throw with disadvantage while other plants just die. The downside is now Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing want to have a word with you and Yz.

You gain another Eldritch Invocation - Dreadful Word gives you an ability to use a spell slot to cast Confusion once per long rest, lasting up to 1 minute on Concentration. Each creature within a 10-foot radius must succeed a Wisdom saving throw or cannot take reactions and instead of actions must roll what it does on a random table on each of its turns until the spell ends or it succeeds another saving throw at the end of each of its turns.

11th Level: 8th Level Warlock gains a new spell slot. Polymorph allows you to transform you or another creature into another creature of challenge rating equal or lower the target’s, it gains all features and ability scores of the new form for the duration, which is up to 1 hour on concentration.

You also get an Ability Score improvement, increase your Charisma for better saving throw difficulty and spell attack modifier.

12th Level: 9th level of Warlock means access to 9th level spells - Creation lets you create an object no larger than a 5-foot cube out of a material of your choice, the better the material the short it will exist. You can make a stone object for 12 hours all the way to an adamantine object for 1 minute.

You get another Eldritch Invocation - Minions of CHaos allows you spend a Warlock spell slot once per long rest to cast Conjure Elemental, which summons an elemental of Air, Fire, Earth or Water who is allied to you as long as you keep up your concentration - if it fails before the spell duration (1 hour) or elemental dropping to zero hit points, it turns on you because it is unhappy you dragged it from its home to do your dirty work. So if you want you can have Yz call buddies from 5th Dimension but be wary they can be unpredictable.

13th Level: 10th lever Warlock gets a Cantrip and we should increase our offense. Poison Spray forces a creature to make a saving throw or take 2d112 (3d12 from next level) of poison damage.

Noble Genie now gives you Protective Wish - once you bond yourself with another creature using your Collector’s Vessel you can, would one of you be threatened by an attack, use your reaction to make you two swap places. This may help you get out of the harm’s way and have Shazam or Alan Scott deal with whoever threatened to beat you up.

You also get Genie’s Entertainment. Once per long rest you can have Thunderbolt wisk away a creature to 5th Dimension where he will play with it for 1 minute and then bring them back unharmed. It can avoid it or escape by making a Charisma saving throw first when you cast it and then at the end of each of its turns, if it fails until the effect ends naturally, you regain a use of this feature

14th Level: 11th level Warlock gets another spell and a new spell slot. Hold Monster works like Hold Person but without a limit only to humanoid targets, but you will be only targetting one creature with it.

At this level, you also gain Mystic Arcanum, which lets you grab one 6th Level Spell you can cast once per long rest without spending a spell slot. Institute of Flame lasts up to 1 minute on concentration, gives you resistance to cold and immunity to fire damage, deals 1d10 fire damage to any creature that moves within 5 feet of you for the first time or ends its turn there and as an action, you can create a 15 feet long and 5 feet wide line of fire dealing 4d8 fire damage, half on a successful Dexterity saving throw.

15th Level: 12th level Warlock means an Ability Score Improvement, round up your Charisma. You also get an Eldritch Invocation - Bond of the Talisman allows you to give your amulet to another creature and then either of you can as an action teleport to where the other one is, as long as you are on the same plane of existence. So give it to Jay Garrick, have him get behind enemy lines, teleport yourself to him and have Thunderbolt YEET himself at enemy caster.

16th Level: 13th level Warlock gets a 7th Level Mystic Arcanum - works the same as previous one but for a higher spell level. Forcecage lets you trap any creature in either a 10-feet on a side box of 20-feet on a side cage with 1/2 inch bars 1/2 inch apart from one another, made of force that prevents leaving by any means other than teleportation or interplanar travel and those two require a Charisma saving throw to succeed.

You get another 5th level spell as well. Planar Binding allows you to bind a celestial, elemental, fey or fiend to you for 24 hours, no concentration. The target must make a Charisma saving throw or be bound to do your bidding for 24 hours before returning to their home plane. Bind an Elemental and bond it with your Collector’s Vessel for full Thunderbolt experience. Mind you, just like Yz can carry out your commands too literally, this creature can twist words too, as long as it doesn’t break the letter of the command.

17th Level: 14th Level Warlock gets our last Noble Genie feature - Collector’s Call. You can make a Persuasion check to convince Ylzk to let you cast legend lore without components or spell slot, give one creature within 60 feet disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the start of your next turn or heal a creature for 8d6 hit points and end one of these conditions if it has them:  blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, or poisoned. You regain use of this feature on a long rest...or if you flat out bribe Yz with 500 gold worth of treasure.

18th Level: 15th Level Warlock gains 8th Level Mystic Arcanum. Demiplane lets you cast door to a room in another dimension, new one or one you created previously or even one made by someone else if you know its properties. Once the spell ends, which is after an hour, any creature inside it is trapped unless you cast the spell again. You can use this to trap your enemies, store objects or allies and so on.

You also get a new Eldritch Invocation. Shroud of Shadow lets you cast Invisibility at will, without spending a spell slot, making you or someone else invisible until they attack or cast a spell. You can also replace Mask of Many Faces with Master of Myriad Forms, which lets you cast Alter Self that actually changes your appearance not just casts an illusion. 

19th Level: 16th level fo Warlock is our last Ability Score Improvement, choose to improve either Wisdom for better AC and Astral Form attacks or Constitution for more Hit Points and better Concentration.

20th Level: Our capstone is 17th level of Warlock for our last Spell - I don’t see anything good on 5th level so grab Banishment, which forces target creature to make a Charisma saving throw or be sent to another plane for up to 1 minute and then returning unharmed. If the target is not from the plane you are on it is sent back to their home dimension and does not return unless the spell ends early by you breaking Concentration.

You also get your mystic Arcanum for 9th level. Sadly Wish is not on Warlock spell list so if you cannot talk your DM into giving it to you grab Imprisonment. If target fails Wisdom saving throw it is imprisoned by you in means you describe. It doesn’t need to eat, breathe, drink or age and cannot do anything. The form of imprisonment must be agreed upon by you and your DM. If it succeeds the save it is immune to your future attempts. So now when Yz brother forces their sister to summon you in front of him you will lock him into one of his own rings instead f getting your ass kicked.

So this is my take on Jakeem - Pact of the Noble Genie Warlock 17/Way of the Astral Soul Monk 3. Now let us see how good this build is. 

Pros: You are a battlefield controller, with multiple options to sew chaos among your enemies. You have multiple options to blast enemies at distance and punish those who get close. Your Hit Points are around 140 which isn’t bad, it will take one or two hits before you get in the range of dreaded Power Word: Kill and you are all about staying out of the action yourself and not getting hit while Yz does the punching.

Cons: A lot of your spells require Concentration and your Constitution is not that high, Resilient feat does a lot of heavy lifting here. Your AC is not that good either since we didn’t cap Wisdom and your Dexterity is low. Finally, you have a limited set of options to do actual damage. 

But that’s fine, you are still learning. Remember you are more a trickster and strategist - not the guy who punches the devil in the face but one who makes him so confused he runs into Wildcat’s fist. Stay in the back and hurl Thunderbolt at your enemies and all you need is few allies that can be the frontline.

- Admin

[nyc-uws]

Hacks For Ordering Healthy Takeout And Delivery, By CuisineChinese, Mexican, Italian and more — restaurant food can be made more nutritious with these tricks.

By Su-Jit Lin, Guest Writer 10/06/2020 05:45am EDT

As nutrition information becomes more widely available and ingredient transparency is more widely demanded due to food allergies and sensitivities, people are continually stunned at the amount of empty, nutritionally deficient calories they’re consuming when they dine out or order delivery.

But with a few easy fixes, you can hack your order and make it fit the ideal 1:1:2 ratio of carbs, protein and vegetables that professionals recommend.

After all, when you bring your food home, you’re free to make additions, subtractions and substitutions however you please to make it more beneficially nutritious, no matter the type of cuisine you order.

Let’s address some of the most common takeout and delivery cuisines you can easily make more nutritious.

Strategize Your Sandwiches

Every sandwich needs ― to borrow Ross Gellar’s term ― a “moist-maker.” For that reason, mayo is a must for many people. However, it’s a caloric bomb, especially if it’s slathered on with a heavy hand. The good news is, you have alternatives.

When ordering a sandwich, ask the restaurant to leave off the mayo so you can finish dressing it at home with your own. Sandwiches without mayo will be less soggy when you receive them anyway.

As registered dietician Casey McCoy reasons, “adding mayonnaise yourself allows you to choose how much goes on. If they do it for you, you may end up eating more than you normally would.”

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Another reason to sauce up at home? You can cut calories with canola oil mayonnaise or get on trend with avocado oil. However, McCoy recommends olive oil as “a better fat choice.”

Aside from this simple swap, bringing a sandwich home also opens up a plethora of add-on and change-up choices, allowing you to deconstruct and customize it in the privacy of your own kitchen. There, no one will look at you askance if you take off a slice of bread to replace it with a few leaves of lettuce. And you won’t get any odd looks, either, for completely taking apart your sandwich and putting it on a bowl of salad greens. Both are great ways to increase your vegetable intake, the nutritional value of the meal, and inch up to that 2:1:1 ratio.

Healthier Salad Hacks

If a salad typically doesn’t fill you up, it’s easy to convert it into something substantial that’s still nutritious. Consider turning your salad into an overstuffed wrap using tortillas, lavash bread or pitas with better nutritional value than what is offered at most restaurants. Eschew the side of bread that usually accompanies a salad, and instead, look for whole grains, high fiber, higher protein and low sugar on the nutritional labels of home pantry staples.

Another great tip for salads is to ask for the cheese and/or sweet toppings like dried fruits and nuts on the side. Although “these additions are a great choice for a salad to actually be satisfying and fill you up appropriately,” according to McCoy, getting the high-calorie ingredients on the side can help you personalize and control how much you’re consuming.

For takeout, salad dressing is usually separated, so that’s one less ask you have to make. This allows you to use just enough so that your greens aren’t drowning in it. “Toss it in a big bowl at home while you add the dressing to make sure it’s well-dressed,” McCoy recommends, “or use some lemon for extra flavor instead of using more dressing.”

Asian Takeout Additions

It’s easy to increase the nutritional value of your Asian restaurant takeout when you order. For one, tofu is a nutritional superstar McCoy calls “a great and inexpensive source of protein that is very easily absorbed, and a rich source of isoflavones, which research has shown to have protective effects against cardiovascular disease and some cancers.”

But even better, across the continent, vegetables feature heavily in most wok-fired dishes. Her pick is often Thai, which “tends to be a pretty healthy takeout pick because they have a lot of vegetable-heavy offerings.”

You can also steam-crisp or stir-fry your own vegetables and then toss them in the sauce that came with your takeout. This can help re-proportion the dish to better fit the ideal ratio.

Boosting your vegetable quotient with a quick homemade sauté works for many of the more indulgent noodle dishes, too. Matchstick vegetables like carrots, broccoli stalks, bell peppers and cabbage blend in well with lo mein, drunken noodles, chow fun, mei fun, yaki udon, and more. For no-cook, no-fuss toss-ins, bean sprouts can contribute a refreshing bite to heavier noodle mains, as can sliced snow peas or chopped sugar snaps. For soups, adding baby bok choy is actually quite traditional, or add Chinese or nappa cabbage or romaine lettuce (don’t knock it until you try it!).

Finally, you can ask for brown rice instead of white. McCoy says “you’ll be adding fiber and nutrients that will make you feel more satisfied than refined grains like white rice.”

Italian Updates

Pizza is often considered a cheat food, but there are multiple ways to make it more nutritious.

You know that slice is going to taste better after a few minutes in the toaster oven, so why not add some vegetables to it while you’re at it? Ordering a plain cheese pizza (or a vegetable one) gives you wiggle room to control your ratios. You can add grilled chicken, turkey pepperoni, turkey sausage, or sautéed and drained lean ground beef to make the proteins lean, or steam spinach or broccoli to toss on top of a white pizza and let them get toasty. Alternatively, zucchini is a nice add-on for red-sauce pies, and peppers, onions, and mushrooms are classics.

“I like to order a Caesar salad with my pizza and/or add lots of vegetable toppings to it,” McCoy said. “It sounds simple, but romaine is higher in vitamin A, folate, and fiber than kale or spinach, and anchovies have omega-3s, while olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, both of which can reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Caesar and other salads are typically on the menu at any Italian restaurant or pizza parlor, but what isn’t often advertised is that customers can usually request a side of steamed vegetables instead of the usual pasta side. This is typically some variation of a medley that may feature broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots and green beans. Sautéed or steamed broccoli, spinach and broccoli rabe are also often on offer, and they go better with marsala wine sauce dishes, française or piccata preps than clashingly sauced pasta.

Latin American Twists

Food from this corner of the world is also easy to make healthy when you order. Two effortless changes would be to request no cheese or sour cream on your dish. Instead, add your own pre-grated cheese at home — it typically comes in nonfat, part-skim, 2% or whole fat options, but McCoy suggests forgoing fat-free options for something 2% or more. “Your body needs fat,” cautions McCoy, “and fat-free isn’t as satisfying and may cause you to overeat later.”

To substitute for the sour cream, 2% Greek yogurt is an easy edit that keeps the flavors and mouthfeel indulgent while introducing helpful live and active cultures to your gut flora as well as increasing protein.

Establishments can often make other substitutions for you. Swapping white rice for brown, when available, is one of them. You can ask to swap rice for beans or request twice the peppers and onions in lieu of rice or in addition to it. Lettuce is also typically available, so just ask for it if you don’t want a whole side salad!

When it comes to Mexican food like tacos, say “yes” to all the vegetable accompaniments: the pico de gallo, the charred green onions, the shredded cabbage or lettuce. In fact, while you’re at it, dice up some more fresh tomatoes for their many vitamins and minerals and chop up more cabbage at home to bury your taco filling in, adding fiber as well as a palate-cleanser for the salt and char. Consider it more of a side than an accent.

You can also ask for corn tortillas instead of flour, which typically have far fewer calories. Corn is “less refined and contains more fiber,” than flour, McCoy said. Another alternative? Skip the tortillas entirely in dishes like fajitas, and turn them into rice and salad bowls.

The same applies for other types of Latin American food: Get a side salad with your Cuban or medianoche sandwich; ask for grilled veggies instead of rice or beans; add versatile sautéed zucchini to your ropa vieja or arroz con pollo; put your roasted pork on a salad; ask for your crema on the side and save your sweet plantains for dessert.

A Sweet Finish

And what’s dinner out without dessert? You can slightly moderate your indulgence by asking the restaurant to pack your dessert plain, skipping the restaurant’s embellishments such as whipped cream, ice cream, caramel sauces, chocolate drizzles, and the like. Instead, add your own at home. Use frozen yogurt, light ice cream or lighter whipped cream. Choose reduced sugar, no-sugar-added or added-fiber jams or jellies for accent flavors. Or just go with some fresh fruit. When you’re finishing the dish in your own kitchen, the choice is entirely yours.

As you can see, ordering in doesn’t mean having to leave your nutrition by the wayside. Go ahead and have that taco night, order the pizza after a busy day, call for Chinese, and get that dessert to split. You deserve it, and with these dietician-approved simple swaps and additions, you don’t even have to earn it.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ordering-healthy-takeout-delivery-cuisine_l_5f6224ebc5b65fd7b857cfb8

[deantemjitunit19]

Task 1 - Mini Teach

For task 1, we are asked to design a lesson that uses Art & Design in some way to teach the class skill or some knowledge. Moreover, the lesson session should last for about 10 minutes - not longer and not less. Furthermore, we also had the options whether we are going to stand up in front of the class or create a lesson in a creative way.

To start the project off, I started searching online of what I could teach and these are my mind maps below. However, they seem to be a really boring subject to listen to for about 10 minutes so I decided to scrap that idea.

I came to a conclusion to go with teaching the class hexadecimal colours after searching for something to teach that relates to art & design. However, I knew that teaching how hexadecimal colour works alone would not be enough for people to understand; if most people don’t understand the basic of colour theory first. I have decided to talk briefly about the colour theory and how it links to the hex colour codes at the beginning part of the video lesson.

After I have made my mind up that I’d go with hexadecimal colour code idea, I then begin researching from various websites as to how hex code works and how you will be able to guess colours that way. Of course, this was my first time learning about hex colour codes as well so when the deadline comes - I should be really knowledgeable about this subject.

After that, I have also researched briefly about colour theory. However, I am not going to be mentioning terms that are complicated or scientific which we do not need to know about. Just the basic knowledge of colour theory and how colour works.

Once the research is completed, it is now time for me to decide whether to stand in front of the class with a powerpoint slideshow or make a video presentation and to be honest, video presentation sounds good to me. This is because nobody would really like to listen to a boring powerpoint slideshow for a whole 10 minutes. A better way to educate people is through the uses of images, moving images, and animation. This should be enough to grab their attention for the whole 10 minutes and I do plan on doing a voice over instead of just captions as that could overwhelm the audience.

Before I begin, I’d need to write a script as to what I am going to be teaching in the video, and I also need to make sure to pace myself really well as not to go over the mark of 10 minutes. However, the time I limit myself on the video was actually 7 to 8 minutes as I wanted to leave a few minutes for the class to have a go at a mini quiz of guessing the hex colour code.

I recorded my voice using a microphone and I recorded it to only one sentence each as reading the whole script in one go would mean that there is a high chance that I’d mess it up and have to start over again, which is why I decided to record one sentence at a time and put it together in Adobe Premiere Pro. Furthermore, since English is not my first language, I tried to pronounce words as best as I can so that the audience can understand me easily.

After I have recorded the script, I then put all the voice recorded in Premiere Pro where I put them all together, and it came to almost about 8 minutes which is quite good in my opinion. The next step I did was exported the audio file and imported it into Adobe Audition where I equalize and change the volume to a standard volume. The reason why I have to equalize the sound was that the original record was really bad, and I mean some parts were really quiet and some parts are really loud. By equalizing the sound, it will give off a steady and consistence sound which is good for the viewers to listen to.

Once the scripted audio was equalized, it is time for me to export it into an MP4 file and imported the file into Adobe After Effect. I have made some of the assets in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop which I then imported it to After Effect; however, most of them were made in After Effect itself. 

I then started to animate some of the elements that match the script to make some of the areas easy to understand, rather than having the viewers only listen to myself - I thought it would be a good idea to have them see what was going on and how it work as well. Most importantly, I have also used quite a few stock footages that I have found on the internet that are free to use. Not to mention, photos that are being used in the video are from a website called ‘Unsplash’, which is a website that you can use images for free at a high resolution too.

In addition to explaining the basic colour theory and how hex colour code works, I have also made a section where I test out my ideas and using what I have learnt to try to guess the colour using the hex code. I have included that in the video to show that it was possible to guess the colour - although not accurate, as these codes are meant for the computer to process, but it is just a fun way of figuring out the colours.

I did much research into the best way into guessing the hex colour code, but none that I found were as useful or was quite difficult to comprehend and would take some time. This would be a 10 minutes lesson to the class so I want them to learn it in just the amount of 8 minutes, which they would try to take the test on themselves and see whether they have learned anything from the lesson. I realised that this was going to be difficult but I tried as best as I can to use images and animation to make it easy for them to understand.

I came up with an idea to create a number chart which displays 16 numbers from number 0 to 15. Obviously, I have already converted the letter symbol from A - F to 10 - 15 which makes it easier for the viewers to understand. The way it works is rather simple, I did mention in the video that to break the hex colour code in the simplest way, the viewers only need to focus on the first symbol of each red, green and blue colours - which then use the chart to see how much intensity the colour is.

I did also mention that RGB colours started out with darkness or black, which means that the lower the intensity is, for example, number 0 - 4, would actually be a dark colour. The lower the number is, it does not mean that you will get a darker shade of that colour, but would rather get a black colour or nothing the lower the number is. It is a complicated subject to understand but once the viewers understand this point - the rest is easy. 

Script:

Hey, welcome to a video presentation of the basic colour theory and hex colours explained. It is a good idea to understand how hex colours works as a lot of the time, you’d be working with them in Adobe software and I know it can be a little bit confusing as you’ll see letters, numbers, and pound or number sign but I’ll do my best to explain it as much as I can.

So what is hexadecimal code?

Well, if you’ve ever worked with colours on your computer, then chances are you’ve seen the hexadecimal codes before. It started off with a pound or number sign which follows by random numbers and letters that make up a colour.

However, before I begin explaining what hex colours is, let’s touch briefly on the basic colour theory and understand the differences between additive and subtractive colours.

Light or white light is a combination of all colours, and to get a better answer to this. Let’s take a look at this apple. It creates colours by subtracting or absorbing certain wavelengths of colour while reflecting other wavelengths back to the viewers. This is called subtractive colours.

If an object reflects all the white light back to the viewers, it will appear white. However, if the object adsorbs or subtracts all light illuminating it, no light is reflected back to the viewers and it will appear black. It is the subtractive process that allows everyday objects around us to show colours. Now, subtractive or CMY colours requires to be illuminated by white light to be visible and seen in original colour.

As for the additive or RGB colours, it starts with darkness or black and gradually add light to get different results of colours, and this is the perfect inversion of the subtractive primaries we have just talked about and this is because, for subtractive, we are taking away light whereas additive, we are adding light into it.

A computer screen blends varying intensities of red, green, and blue light each of its tiny pixels. These pixels are so small and tightly packed that our human eyes are fooled into the perception that there are many different colours when there are only three.

Before we get into the hexadecimal codes, let’s test my ideas of breaking down hex codes and making an inform guesses on the colours.

What we have here is a hex colour code test and what you do is make a well-informed guess base on the hex code given above to figure out the colour.

[Test]

From what I can see from the hex code, I can see that there is no red, a lot of green and a little bit of blue. Now I know for a fact that it isn’t going to be a bright green because it’s not at its highest intensity so my answer would be this colour here. That’s correct.

As for this one, I can see that there is a bit of red, a lot of green and very little blue. Now, can it be a very bright green or a lime green colour? From what I can see from the hex code, I know that there are quite a bit of red in there and red mix with green gives a yellow colour. However, since the red colour is kind of at the medium point of intensity, my guess would be for this lime green colour. And that’s correct.

And for the final one, I can see a medium amount of red, no green, and medium amount of blue. And I know that if you mix red with blue, you’d get magenta. However, because the intensity for both of the colours is at their medium point, my guess for the colour would be a darker shade of magenta. And that’s correct.

That was a quick demonstration of me trying out the test, and by the end of the video, you’d be able to make a well-informed guess as to which colour it is. So how does this work?

It’s simple to understand the RGB colour system because it’s done in the decimal system, meaning numbers are just like what you’ve learned your entire life. Zero is the lowest and 255 is the highest.

To get the colour of red, the set value needs to be at 255, 0, 0. This value will equal to a bright red colour. If the value is set to 0, 255, 0 – you’d get a bright green colour. And lastly, 0, 0, 255 will get you a bright blue colour.

The standard numeral system uses ten symbols from 0 – 9 and that’s what you’re familiar with. All of the numbers in our system are composed of 0 – 9 and any number we have are going to include these 10 numbers, including the number 0.

However, in the hex numbering system, it uses the numbers from 0 – 9 and an additional 6 letters symbols from A – F which represent the number 10 – 15

Now, why do we use letters instead of numbers? Well, when they get to 10, they want to be able to keep the single digits and there are no single digits after 9 so they would have to use letters as a representation for the number 10 – 15.

So now that we know a bit about how hex codes work, let’s break it down even more. Hex numbers start with a pound sign or hashtag and are followed by six letters or numbers. The first two digits will mean red and tell the computer how much red to add, the next two digits will mean green and how much it should add, and finally, the last two digits will mean blue and how much it should add into creating one complete colour.

In hexadecimal, you’ll define how much red, green, and blue in values between 00 to FF instead of 255 like in RGB. But to be honest, they work exactly the same way. In RGB colour, the value 0 is the lowest and the value 255 is the highest – and this means how much intensity the colour is. The same thing can be said for hexadecimal colours. The lowest intensity equal to 00 while the highest intensity equal to FF.

There is a way to convert hexadecimal numbers to an RGB value. For example, let’s take 7D in hexadecimal number and convert it to an RGB value. To do this, you’d need to take number 7 and times it by 16. And we know that the letter D equals to 13. Take the number 13 and times it by 1. Basically, you just take that number and do nothing to it. Once multiplied, add the number up to get the RGB values.

So, before we end this video and onto the quiz, I just wanted to show my thought process and explain a little bit of how you can guess the colour using hex code. Let’s start basic. So we know that the first 2 digits are red, the next 2 digits are green and the final 2 digits are blue. Now you can do the math and convert the hex code into RGB values and guess it that way if you think that’s easier. However, I think that is just way too long. Let’s keep it simple and only focus on the first digits for the red, green and blue. C equals 12 so we know that it is way past the medium intensity. 3 is a very small number for the green so let’s not worry about that and around medium intensity for blue colour.

Now we know that if you mix red and blue together, you’d get magenta and there are two shades of magenta here. It can get complicated, but just think simple. We have a high intensity for both red and blue so the obvious choice would be a vivid magenta as there is no green colour in there.

Now it isn’t necessary for us to read hex code as they are meant for a computer to process the code to generate the correct colour. However, it is great to be able to understand how it works and that there is a way of breaking down the code and make well-informed guesses.

Mini quiz:

After the video is finished, I then presented them with a mini quiz of five questions to see how much they learn from this lesson. I obviously didn’t want people in the class to feel intimidated by this broad subject, so I started the quiz with 3 simple questions that were mentioned in the video. For example question number one, the question to guess the colour is #0000FF. I did mention that 00 is the lowest intensity while FF is the highest intensity, and the viewers also know that there are six symbols in hex colour code that is divided into a group of 2 to make 6 - with each group representing red, green and blue. FF is the highest intensity and we know that the final 2 digits represent blue colour so the obvious answer would be a blue colour. It is pretty straightforward and this is just to get them started and not feel intimidated by the question.

However, question four is a little bit harder as there are more options and the question wouldn’t be as obvious as the other three. However, it is still pretty simple. Now before I explain the answer, I do feel for the class if they couldn’t get these last two questions as I have printed out a mini quiz for the class, and the colours that they are supposed to be guessing is RGB colours. However, because I have to print these out, I’d need to select the CMYK colours, plus my home printer was being annoying so the colours came out a little faded. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got the answer wrong as the colours are not even correct in the first place. I initially wanted them to try it on the computer screen, but I didn’t know where else they could to take this quiz except for Kahoot. However, I personally don’t like Kahoot and would rather avoid it as it’s annoying so I decided to print it out instead. To compensate for the incorrect colours on the sheet, I tried to make the answer obvious by having colours completely opposite one another to make the choices seem obvious to the viewers.

For question number four, the question is #C1280E and the answer is actually pretty obvious. If the class can remember what I have mentioned that the first 2 digits are red, the middle is green and the last 2 is blue - they should be able to understand this question easily. For example, C equal to number 12 for red. 2 is a very small number for green and there is no blue so the obvious answer would be the red colour.

As for the final question, the question is #B349DD and this is a hard question to test if people have learned anything from this lesson. B equal to number 11 for the red colour, 4 for the green, and D equal 13 for the blue colour. Obviously, the colour red and blue are very high in intensity and if you mix these two colours together - you’d get the colour of magenta which would be the correct answer.

Reflection:

I believe I achieved what I had set out to do at the beginning and managed to make a good quality video presentation. I successfully created the mini quiz as well and I really wanted people to have a go at it - whether they get it right or wrong doesn’t matter as these codes were meant for the computer to process it anyway, but it is a nice way of learning how the code works.

The mini quiz I gave to the class was also well received with 3 to 4 people who actually got all 5 questions correct, while all managed to get at least 3 questions correct. I totally understand it as this type of subject takes time to understand and practice with, but for a 7 minutes lesson - I believe they did extremely well learning it.

As for my presentation, I went a little over 11 minutes but overall, it was a good result. The video I’ve prepared is 8 minutes long and I was planning to have the class do the quiz for about 2 minutes. However, some people took longer than the other but it is no problem as I still think that it was successful.

Final video presentation:

[verdantsims]

Reposting because I accidentally deleted the original post during a blog purge.

General Rules

1. The entire challenge will take place in the same house. -At the end of each generation everyone will move out except for the Heir. -That means that if the heir has siblings not of age to live alone then they will need to move out with their parents to a new home. -The moving-out rule also applies to pets when the following generation does not allow pets.

2. The house can have additions (rooms) built into it but none subtracted from it -This does not include removal of walls to make bigger rooms or to re-arrange the layout, such as to add stairs for a second level. -It's not recommended to sell objects as you upgrade and grow. You never know what ancestral items may be useful in the future

3. Vampires, Aliens, Sims, Plant Sims... Anything goes

4. If you do not have the Cats & Dogs game pack then you can ignore any points related to pets. -”Pets” refers” refers to cats, dogs, and any other kind of animal that can be made from their bases. -“Pets” does not include “small pets” which were introduced with the “My First Pet” stuff pack, in-game collectible frogs or bugs, or CC fake pets. -If you wish to have small pets, frogs, bugs, or fake pets throughout the challenge, however, that is permitted.

You've always had the mind to help others. You've been good with taking care of people in the past and decided that being a doctor was the only career for you. You moved to a new town to follow your passion, but among the bars and nightclubs you've discovered another passion, a lust that cannot be tamed... Though that passion will likely come with at least one unexpected surprise. It will be up to you to figure up what kind of balance your life needs.

---RULES--

1. The color PURPLE must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Romantic, Ambitious

3. SPOUSE: Optional - If you choose to have a spouse, you may either: Create your spouse in CAS with your Sim OR Your spouse is your love-interest from when you were a teen (If your sim is from another family/previous legacy) -NOTE: If you end up losing your spouse for any reason, OR you choose not to have a spouse at the very start, you CANNOT marry any of your affairs

4. KIDS:  Must have at least one child; if sim is engaging in woohoo with affairs of the opposite gender, or if mod is present for anyone to be pregnant, all woohoo must be "Try for Baby" (Or "Risky Woohoo" is a mod is installed). All children that result must live in the household, if possible, and all children (whether able to be in the household or not) are eligible for heir status.

5. PETS: None

6. CAREER: Must be Doctor and reach level 10 (GTW) -(BG) Writer, path Author; Gotta publish all of that important research, right?

7. SKILLS: Charisma and Logic must be maxed out.

8. ASPIRATION: Serial Romance, must be completed

You spent your life watching your parent save lives and help people while helping themselves to nearly anyone who walked past. You admired your parent's genius but that's all you could ever admire. They were always busy with this or that, usually work or their other affairs, and you found entertainment and excitement for yourself. This usually meant helping yourself to other peoples' possessions. It wasn't as though you needed them, and you still don't. You have a mind like your parent and can achieve great things for great reward. You just... want them. And perhaps the money you can get for them isn't so bad, either... Money does provide many things, though the one thing it doesn't provide is a real parent. You're determine to do right by one child what your parent failed to do by you.

---RULES--

1. The color YELLOW must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Materialistic, Kleptomaniac; Every item swiped must be sold for profit! After all, it'll add up to shiner things.

3. SPOUSE: Marry a spouse from a wealthy family, either in actual funds or for story purposes.

4. KIDS: Only one child allowed. You'll give this child everything you were never given like, say actual parental interaction! -(PH) Endeavor to have the Best relationship with your child of either an authoritative or relaxed nature (Provided Happy Childhood or Respected Heir)

5. PETS: One pet is required as companion for the child at all times. The pet is to continue with the child into the next generation. Other pets are allowed but must leave with the parents at the end of the generation.

6. CAREER: Astronaut, taking the Space Ranger path, and reach level 10

7. SKILLS: Logic, Fitness, and Parenting (PH) skills must be maxed out

8. ASPIRATION: Fabulously Wealthy, must be completed

You were the doted-upon only child of a famous and wealthy Space Ranger. When your parent was on Earth you were the center of their universe. When they were away your other parent only had eyes for you. Even your pet, specially chosen for you, saw you as their whole world. It's only natural that you would want that in your soulmate! Of course, your soulmate can't be your whole world. Your parent opened the universe to you every time they returned from space. It's only natural that you want to learn everything there is to know! Sure, you could go up there and study it, yourself, but then who knows what would happen to your soulmate while you're away...

---RULES--

1. The color WHITE must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Jealous, Hot-Headed

3. SPOUSE: Must be an alien (GTW), CAS is allowed. Should have the Romantic trait -(BG) Normal Sim spouse allowed

4. KIDS: At least two children; The eldest or an elder child should be heir.

5. PETS: Maintain one primary companion pet for this generation's sim. More pets are allowed if desired. No pets may carry over into the next generation.

6. CAREER: Scientist profession, reach level 10 (BTW) -(BG) Tech Guru, path Start-up Entrepreneur; What began as home-made gizmos to reach out to aliens became a lifelong career working with technology

7. SKILLS: Handiness must be maxed out. Complete two of the following collections: Microscope prints, Space prints, Metals, Crystals, Fossils, Elements, Geodes

8. ASPIRATION: Soul Mate, must be completed

You had a good childhood. Your parents were good to you, especially your parent who spent so much time working on their science things. They tried to encourage you to follow in their shoes, but that just wasn't you. You're no goody-two-shoes. When the parents weren't looking you were making your own way. You're good with people and how to read them. Whether your goal is to play nice to get what you want or rile them up for a fight, you can get it done. That's why you're the Boss. You're no-nonsense, even off working hours. Romance isn't your thing, though, and neither are pets; You never really understood either and from watching your parents they both just seemed like a bother. You loved your younger sibling(s), though, and enjoyed taking care of them. You just hope that you can balance your working empire with kids.

---RULES--

1. The color RED must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Outgoing, Unflirty, Self-Assured (Choose two out of three)

3. SPOUSE: None; You may give dating a try, but it just doesn't work out

4. KIDS: At least three children by any means (birth, adoption, abduction); The youngest should be heir

5. PETS: None; “fake” pets , collectible frog/bugs, or small pets (My First Pet pack) are permitted

6. CAREER: Criminal, taking the Boss path, and reach level 10

7. SKILLS: Handiness and Mischief must be maxed out.

8. ASPIRATION: Public Enemy, must be completed

Everyone always said that you were fortunate to be the youngest. You were always told that being the youngest had it's perks. You begged to differ. You hated it because you wanted to be the one in charge. You've always had a mind of your own and a voice to go with it. Now that you've found your place in the world of politics you plan to go nowhere but up. Of course, you are prepared to do whatever necessary to get there. You learned a thing or two as a kid about doing underhanded things to achieve your goals. Schmooze with the right people parties, and keep your ears open, and the world is your oyster. Oh, and keep up the family appearance. The people love a good-looking family, not to mention a loyal family. Your family has been around for several generations now. Keep the good history in the press, and keep the shadier things in your back pocket: They may come in handy.

---RULES--

1. The color TEAL must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Hates Children, Snob, Foodie (Choose two out of three)

3. SPOUSE: Someone very good-looking who will look good next to you for the press

4. KIDS: One child; Any more would be too much trouble. In fact, better get a nanny on the payroll for the one you have since you and your spouse will be far too busy with parties and campaigning.

5. PETS: None; They're too much trouble

6. CAREER: Politics, take the Politician path, and reach level 10 (CL) -(BG) Business, Investor path, reach level 10; Big business and big investments have nothing on you.

7. SKILLS: Charisma and Comedy must be maxed out

8. ASPIRATION: Party Animal, must be completed

You were a neglected child. You knew more of the nanny than your own parents. One parent was always busy with work, their face before the public, or at parties, padding their social life for work. Your other parent was always loyally at their side. You're not sure if they were actually in love or not. You learned a lot from listening and watching them, though. You knew your parent's political gains had some shady hands and from their research into your family history you knew that your family didn't have such a sterling life. Heinous affairs, thieving, rabid jealousy, a whole lot of bad from your grandparent, and then your parent... It seemed destined that you would fall prey to something, too. Yet, you refused to let your family's negative history or your neglected childhood define you. After peaking in your career as a team mascot you decide to do everything you could to make up for your family's past by upholding the law and loving your family as they were meant to be.

---RULES--

1. The color GREEN must be incorporated as the primary color for either the sim's clothing or furniture

2. REQUIRED TRAITS: Family-Oriented, Squeamish (CANNOT have the following traits: Evil, Noncommittal, Kleptomaniac, Materialistic, Hates Children, Jealous, Snob, or Mean)

3. SPOUSE: Has the same trait restrictions as listed above

4. KIDS: Your first child must be adopted and can only be after you’ve reached level 2 of the detective career (GTW). You can then have as many children as you want, any way you want, once you’ve begun your new career as a Secret Agent. -(BG) First child can be adopted after reaching level 5 of Athletic career.

5. PETS: Only one pet is allowed

6. CAREER: Join the Athletic career until level three. Then join the Detective profession (GTW) until at least level 3. Finally, join the Secret Agent career, Diamond Agent path, and reach level 10. -(BG) Remain in Athletic career until level 6, then proceed to Secret Agent as normal

7. SKILLS: Logic, Fitness, and Charisma must be maxed out

8. ASPIRATION: Renaissance Sim, must complete

[mellowishsortofperson]

Today, I finally went to the Office of Student Disabilities to see if I had any options for getting extended time on my stat theory exam and my qualifying exams this summer. I’ve always had really bad anxiety about math and my grades in all of my math courses have consistently been 10-20% lower than my grades in every other course. 

And now I’m doing a master’s degree in statistics. I’m literally getting a graduate degree in math. Unfortunately, this also means that I don’t have other courses to balance my math grades anymore - if I don’t get a B, I have to retake the class next year and my master’s program could take 3 years instead of 2. 

So, my anxiety and general hatred of math is making it really really hard to finish assignments, take quizzes, and pass exams. I sat in my last exam for almost 25 minutes panicking because my mind blanked on everything I had obsessively studied for the last week. Basically, I’m desperate now. I went to my psychiatrist and asked for a letter. She gave me a letter and beta-blockers. 

Two weeks later, I have finally gotten it together and reached out to the disability office. After talking with the head of the office, she asks if I’ve ever been diagnosed with a learning disability. I’m a little shocked and say no...after all, I have good grades, good test scores, I got into a good school for college and even if I’m a nervous wreck during tests, I take good notes and generally understand the concepts in my worst courses. 

She says “Well, you have a lot of the symptoms of a learning disability called dyscalculia. You struggled with the multiplication and addition tables in elementary school which is one of the early symptoms and you have continued math-associated anxiety”. 

At this point, I’ve basically brushed it off. But after the meeting ended, I called my mom, and she’s like “yeah, there was something weird going on so I talked to your teacher and principal in elementary school, that’s when your teacher said that you couldn’t do math and would likely never succeed”. Of course, my mom is really proud of me and has been my cheerleader - she’s always told me I could do it. But, at the same time, I struggled so much and there was never any explanation of why it was so hard. When faced with a problem packet, I couldn't even start it. 

I felt so stupid. It took me until 5th or 6th grade to be able to read the time off of analog clocks consistently. I never finished multiplication tables or addition tables during timed tests. Multiplication of big numbers? Couldn’t keep them straight in my head. I couldn’t identify which fractions were bigger or smaller and I had no idea how to use inequalities. Adding fractions? Hell no. Greatest common denominator? Uh uh. Factorization? Not until I memorized the various patterns.  Find the perimeter of a shape was awful. Algebra 2? Forget it. Pre-calc? Terrible until we hit trigonometry.

 Calculus was my saving grace. I finally understood it and had adequately developed my coping mechanisms to the point that I wasn’t constantly flipping (or not flipping) inequalities or dropping negatives.  To be honest, I still can’t calculate any tips different than 20% - which makes me a generous tipper.

I’m glad my parents pushed me to continue in math. It’s good for me to know that I do have the capability to think about more complex and abstract mathematical concepts. In many ways, I think struggling was good for me because I only had myself to rely on. I developed really really good strategies to allow me to do the basic concepts. I use memorized patterns to add now. Division? Use aggressive rounding. Multiplication? Probably a calculator if i’m outside of single digits. 

But man, a huge part of me feels so so sorry for little Melissa who struggled and struggled and felt so stupid and incompetent. It finally makes sense. 

Here’s the list of dyscalculia symptoms, the bolded ones are the ones I’ve experienced and (somewhat) continue to experience.

Difficulty reading analog clocks[22]

Difficulty stating which of two numbers is larger.

Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook.

Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Visualizing numbers as meaningless or nonsensical symbols, rather than perceiving them as characters indicating a numerical value. (Hence the misnomer, "math dyslexia")

Difficulty with multiplication, subtraction, addition, and division tables, mental arithmetic, etc.

Problems with differentiating between left and right.

A "warped" sense of spatial awareness, or an understanding of shapes, distance, or volume that seems more like guesswork than actual comprehension.

Difficulty with time, directions, recalling schedules, sequences of events. Difficulty keeping track of time. Frequently late or early.

Poor memory (retention and retrieval) of math concepts; may be able to perform math operations one day, but draw a blank the next. May be able to do book work but then fails tests.

Difficulty reading musical notation.

Difficulty with choreographed dance steps.

Difficulty working backwards in time (e.g. What time to leave if needing to be somewhere at 'X' time).

Having particular difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 3 or 6 meters (10 or 20 feet) away).

When writing, reading and recalling numbers, mistakes may occur in the areas such as: number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals.

Inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.

Inability to concentrate on mentally intensive tasks.

Mistaken recollection of names. Poor name/face retrieval. May substitute names beginning with same letter.[23]

But the good news is....I can get through it. I have gotten through it. I can do math and I can do high level math. It just took me a lot longer and it still takes me a lot longer.